Wise Quotes Collection

[Kunga]

As soon as you see something,
you already start to intellectualize it.
As soon as you intellectualize something,
it is no longer what you saw.

~ Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

[Cahoot]

"Give a man a fish and you've fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and, if he turns into a dry-fly catch-and-release angling fanatic up to his liver in icy water wearing ridiculous waders and an absurd hat, pestering trout with 3-pound test line on a $1,000 graphite rod, and going on endlessly about Royal Coachman lures that he tied himself using muskrat fur and partridge feathers …"

- P.J. O'Rourke

[Kunga]

There are two signs of a person who has attained spiritual knowledge. First, he has no pride; second, he develops a serene attitude.

~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

[Cahoot]

"Water doesn't care whether it is quenching thirst or not.”

“When you look at anything, it is the ultimate you see, but you imagine that you see a cloud or a tree.”

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

[Cahoot]

“A mind that is always comparing, always measuring, will always engender illusion. If I am measuring myself against you, who are clever, more intelligent, I am struggling to be like you and I am denying myself as I am, and I am creating an illusion. So when I have understood that comparisons in any form only lead to greater illusion and greater misery, that when I analyse myself, or when I identify myself with something greater, whether it be the state, a saviour, an ideology, when I understand that all such comparative thinking leads to greater conformity and therefore greater conflict, then I put it completely away. Then my mind is no longer seeking, no longer groping, searching, asking, questioning, demanding, waiting - which does not mean that my mind is satisfied with things as they are - then my mind has no illusion or imagination. Such a mind can move in a totally different dimension. The dimension in which we live, the life of everyday, the pain, pleasure, and fear that has conditioned the mind, that has limited the nature of the mind, all that is completely gone. Then there is enjoyment, which is something entirely different from pleasure. Pleasure is brought into being by thought, as thought brings into being fear. But enjoyment, the real joy, the feeling of great bliss, is not of thought. Then the mind functions in a dimension in which there is no conflict, there is no sense of `otherness', no sense of duality.”

J. Krishnamurti
http://www.jiddu-krishnamurti.net/en/19 ... ublic-talk

[Diebert van Rhijn]

A mind that is always comparing, always measuring, will always engender illusion.

Yes, actually he mind always is doing that. It's what the mind is, a measuring cup sometimes believing it's more than that, comparing with imaginary states of mind.

Then the mind functions in a dimension in which there is no conflict, there is no sense of `otherness', no sense of duality.

Without duality there's no sense at all. Then again he did stress at the end of his life that nobody ever had understood him so there's no reason to think anyone does now. He appears to have remained extremely idealistic though in this reaching, possibly because of how he was brought up. He's a very bright thinker but victim of his own following to some extent.

[Cahoot]

He is simply describing and questioning. Anyone can do it.

[Kunga]

The Self is always aware. When the Self identifies itself as the seer it sees objects. The creation of the subject and the object is the creation of the world. Subjects and objects are creations in Pure Consciousness. You see pictures moving on the screen in a cinema show. When you are intent on the pictures you are not aware of the screen. But the pictures cannot be seen without the screen behind. The world stands for the pictures and Consciousness stands for the screen. The Consciousness is pure. It is the same as the Self which is eternal and unchanging. Get rid of the subject and object and Pure Consciousness will alone remain.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

[Kunga]

Fa-tsang's Treatise on the Golden Lion :

It discusses the idea of the co-arising of the world using the gold of a statue as a simile for emptiness (li) and the lion taken as a whole form to represent phenomena (shih).

The gold has no self-nature. The arising of the lion is due only to dependence, so it is called dependent arising. The lion is empty [not self-sustaining]; there is only the gold. Also, emptiness, having no self-nature, manifests itself through form. This means that since the gold takes in the totality of the lion, apart from the gold there is no lion to be found. This means that when we see the lion coming into existence, we are seeing only the gold coming in to existence as form. There is nothing apart from the gold.

Then Fa-tsang presents the "Ten Mysterious Gates" to explain this:
(1) Emptiness comes into being simultaneously with phenomena.
(2) This simultaneity doesn't obstruct the existence of unique identities.
(3) Distinct forms interpenetrate and thus contain each other.
(4) Despite this, they remain unique.
(5) When one looks at phenomena, emptiness is hidden, and when one looks at emptiness, phenomena are hidden.
(6) Despite this, they are completely compatible.
(7) Each phenomena reflects an image of every other phenomena, infinitely.
(8) Speaking phenomenally is for revealing ignorance, speaking of emptiness is for revealing truth, they're two sides of the same coin.
(9) All phenomena arise in moments dependent on all other moments.
(10) Both phenomena and emptiness depend on mental transformations.

(1) The gold and the lion arise simultaneously, perfectly complete. (2) The gold and the lion arise compatible with each other, the one and the many not obstructing each other. In this situation, emptiness [li] and forms [shih] are distinct. Whether one considers the one [emptiness] of the many [forms], each entity maintains its own position.

(3) If the eye of the lion takes in the whole of the lion, then the whole lion is purely the eye. (4) Since the various organs, and even each hair of the lion, takes in completely the whole lion in so far as they are all gold, then each element of the lion penetrates the whole of the lion. The eye of the lion is its ear, its ear is its nose, its nose is its tongue, and its tongue is its body. Yet, they all exist freely and easily, not hindering or obstructing each other.

(5) If one contemplates the lion, there is only the lion, and the gold is not seen. The gold is hidden and the lion is manifest. If one contemplates the gold, there is only the gold, and the lion is not seen. The lion is hidden and the gold is manifest. (6) The gold and the lion may be hidden or manifest. The principle [emptiness] and the jointly arisen [phenomena] mutually shine. Principle and phenomena appear together as completely compatible.

(7) In each eye, ear, limb, joint and hair of the lion is reflected a golden lion. All these golden lions in all the hairs simultaneously enter in to a single hair. Thus in each hair, there are an infinite number of lions. In addition, all single hairs, together with the infinite number of lions, enter in to a single hair. In a similar way, there is an endless progression of realms interpenetrating realms just like the jewels of Indra's net.

(8) The lion is spoken of in order to demonstrate the result of ignorance, while its golden essence is spoken of in order to make clear its true nature. (9) This lion is a created dharma, arising and passing away in every moment. Yet, since the different periods of time are formed dependent on one another, they are merging harmoniously and mutually penetrating together without obstruction in each moment of time. (10) The gold and the lion may be hidden or manifest, but neither has any own-being. They are constantly being evolved through the transformations of the mind.

Wisdom means that when we see the lion, we realize right away that all dharmas are produced by causes, and are from the very beginning quiescent and empty. By being free from attachments to the world and from renunciation of the world, one flows along this way into the sea of perfect knowledge, and the afflictions that result from desires will no longer be produced. Whether one sees beauty or ugliness, the mind is calm like the sea. Wrong views cease, and there are no negative mental formations. One escapes bondage, is free from hindrances, and forever cuts the roots of duhkha. This is called the entry into Nirvana.

[Kunga]

"Love is the only cause of happiness.
Its nature is all-pervasive like space.
Love is the sunlight of the mind."

~Garchen Rinpoche

[Cahoot]

“Once a man has vanquished fear, he is free from it for the rest of his life because, instead of fear, he has acquired clarity - a clarity of mind which erases fear.”

- The Teachings of Don Juan

[Urizen]

“Conflict does produce a certain result by the use of the will, but conflict never is creative.” Jiddu Krishnamurti

All creativity springs from conflict and desire. Dualism actualises creativity. What we see in the above quotation, as is often found among neo-Hindus out of touch with their own tradition, is a confusion between the transcendence of dualism, and the nullification of dualism. This is an elememtary error born of profound ignorance, not enlightenment. It leads to all manner of spiritual muddle. Don't be deceived by modern distorters of Vedanta and Buddhism. Jiddu Krishnamurti was a false prophet and charlatan who taught a few truths in order to conclude with a grand lie.

In these latter times of the Kali Yuga, the spiritual seeker must keep this ever on his mind: that the nullification of dualism is a counterfeit of the transcendence of dualism. The agents of deceptiom have been very effective in propagating this falsehood. Anyone who represents nullification as transcendence, however 'enlightened' he makes himself out to be, is a liar and a charlatan. Don't be led astray by such deceptions.

[Cahoot]

Anyone who represents nullification as transcendence, however 'enlightened' he makes himself out to be, is a liar and a charlatan.

Case in point, a classic self-referential loop of a blindspot created on the spot, the creation of a world from within, the world is within you, the world is yours.

*

I’ve been doing this for a few years now. It’s weird at first, but more effective in regards to the designed purpose of the situation.

How to Set Rear View Mirrors to Eliminate Blind Spots

http://www.wikihow.com/Set-Rear%E2%80%9 ... lind-Spots

[Urizen]

As soon as you see something,
you already start to intellectualize it.
As soon as you intellectualize something,
it is no longer what you saw.

~ Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

Quite so; but consider: conceptual thought can also act as a support for the actualisation of intuition and insight, by orientating thought to that which is beyond itself. Neo-Hindus and pseudo-Buddhists, contrary to the spiritual traditions they pretend to represent in their vain and egotistical affectations of enlightenment, too often neglect this in their idiotic shunning of 'conceptual thought'. Their entire approach, though it may have its uses for some mentalities, usually leads people to subjectivism, emotionalism, relativism, and irrationalism. The source of their confusion, as one often finds, is a failure to understand the distinction between transcendence and nullification--the point us to soar above rationality, not to annihilate it.

Therefore one should put down one's Yoganandas and Krishnamurtis, and pick up the sacred texts themselves. Modernist distortion of timeless wisdom only prolongs ignorance and vanity. If modern interpreters must be consulted, there is I suppose Schuon and Guenon, who at least understood what they spoke of, but it is best to work inside of a particular tradition, to read the sacred texts, and follow traditional practices. Modern ideas and methods will not lead to enlightenment.

[Dennis Mahar]

You've got a criminal element:
Neo-Hindus and pseudo-Buddhists,
Yoganandas and Krishnamurtis
Modern ideas and methods

You've got a rescuing element:
sacred texts
Schuon
Guenon
Yourself

Who is the victim in the story.
Is it safe to go out?

[Urizen]

Case in point, a classic self-referential loop of a blindspot created on the spot, the creation of a world from within, the world is within you, the world is yours.

The subjectivist error, in a nut shell. The divine substance is not co-equal with its corporeal manifestation, even if charlatan gurus have lead you to believe otherwise. Solipsism is not Enlightenment; keep looking.

[Urizen]

You've got a criminal element:
Neo-Hindus and pseudo-Buddhists,
Yoganandas and Krishnamurtis
Modern ideas and methods

You've got a rescuing element:
sacred texts
Schuon
Guenon
Yourself

Who is the victim in the story.
Is it safe to go out?

More subjectivism. It is sad to see so many sincere seekers, full of holy desire, being lead astray by pretenders to Enlightenment. True Enlighenment is simply the wisdom in the nature of things. No man can lay claim to that wisdom. Even worms proclaim it, and they do a better job at it than people. Listen to that wisdom which flows through you, prefer its voice to your own babbling, and act in unison with it until you cease to act.

[Cahoot]

Anyone who represents nullification as transcendence, however 'enlightened' he makes himself out to be, is a liar and a charlatan.

Case in point, a classic self-referential loop of a blindspot created on the spot, the creation of a world from within, the world is within you, the world is yours.

The subjectivist error, in a nut shell. The divine substance is not co-equal with its corporeal manifestation, even if charlatan gurus have lead you to believe otherwise. Solipsism is not Enlightenment; keep looking.

Precisely what you are doing. Open your eyes.

You are the liar

You are the charlatan

You are the believer

Creator of a straw world

All from you see

Check your mirrors.

[Urizen]

Anyone who represents nullification as transcendence, however 'enlightened' he makes himself out to be, is a liar and a charlatan.

Case in point, a classic self-referential loop of a blindspot created on the spot, the creation of a world from within, the world is within you, the world is yours.

The subjectivist error, in a nut shell. The divine substance is not co-equal with its corporeal manifestation, even if charlatan gurus have lead you to believe otherwise. Solipsism is not Enlightenment; keep looking.

Precisely what you are doing. Open your eyes.

Case in point, a classic self-referential loop of a blindspot created on the spot, the creation of a world from within, the world is within you, the world is yours.

The subjectivist error, in a nut shell. The divine substance is not co-equal with its corporeal manifestation, even if charlatan gurus have lead you to believe otherwise. Solipsism is not Enlightenment; keep looking.

Precisely what you are doing. Open your eyes.

It is not enough to open your eyes while you gaze into the abbys. If you have eyes to see the darkness, it is because you are made for the light.

So don't entertain the notion of solipsism for one moment. It is a whisper from the darkness. A demonic lie.

[Cahoot]

Demons on the list too.

Got it.

When someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEakV0ZqRqI

[Urizen]

When someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes!

Only your vanity says yes. The God in you says nothing, and smiles at your pretensions.

[Cahoot]

Why thank you for the smiles of kindness and understanding, God in me.

It’s a natural balance, easy as pie, movement unborn of conflict, elemental.

(you may quote me)

[Urizen]

"A great man performs what none in ten thousand could accomplish, moves on, and tells nobody about it." Lavater

[Kunga]

As soon as you see something,
you already start to intellectualize it.
As soon as you intellectualize something,
it is no longer what you saw.

~ Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

Quite so; but consider: conceptual thought can also act as a support for the actualisation of intuition and insight, by orientating thought to that which is beyond itself. Neo-Hindus and pseudo-Buddhists, contrary to the spiritual traditions they pretend to represent in their vain and egotistical affectations of enlightenment, too often neglect this in their idiotic shunning of 'conceptual thought'. Their entire approach, though it may have its uses for some mentalities, usually leads people to subjectivism, emotionalism, relativism, and irrationalism. The source of their confusion, as one often finds, is a failure to understand the distinction between transcendence and nullification--the point us to soar above rationality, not to annihilate it.

Therefore one should put down one's Yoganandas and Krishnamurtis, and pick up the sacred texts themselves. Modernist distortion of timeless wisdom only prolongs ignorance and vanity. If modern interpreters must be consulted, there is I suppose Schuon and Guenon, who at least understood what they spoke of, but it is best to work inside of a particular tradition, to read the sacred texts, and follow traditional practices. Modern ideas and methods will not lead to enlightenment.

What attracted me to the Suzuki quote was the similarity of :

First there is a mountain...
Then there is no mountain...
Then there is...

Same analogy

As far as being "modern" or "ancient" , true wisdom is timeless, and can be transmitted regardless of past/present/future, as time is a tool and ultimately non-existent...

[Dennis Mahar]

More subjectivism. It is sad to see so many sincere seekers, full of holy desire, being lead astray by pretenders to Enlightenment. True Enlighenment is simply the wisdom in the nature of things. No man can lay claim to that wisdom. Even worms proclaim it, and they do a better job at it than people. Listen to that wisdom which flows through you, prefer its voice to your own babbling, and act in unison with it until you cease to act.

Thanks.
You gave us a bunch of bad guys and a bunch of good guys (good to see the worms got a gong).

Now we've got the victim element:

many sincere seekers, full of holy desire,

It's uncanny how that trio turns up in all the conversations.
what would we do without them.

Looks like another job for the Complaints Department.