Pictures For Thought
Pictures For Thought
Pictures For Thought
Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the 'I' thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981), student of Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, and Advaita sage
"The seeker is he who is in search of himself. Give up all questions except one: Who am I? After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The I am is certain. The I am this is not. Struggle to find out what you are in reality. To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not. Discover all that you are not -- body, feelings, thoughts, time, space, this or that -- nothing, concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. The clearer you understand that on the level of mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker will you come to the end of your search and realise that you are the limitless being.
Wei Wu Wei (Terence Gray, 1895-1986), Irish aristocrat, student of Ramana Maharshi and of Chan Buddhism, and Advaita sage
Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 per cent Of everything you think, And of everything you do, Is for yourself And there isn't one.
Gangaji (Merle Antoinette ("Toni") Roberson,1942- ), student of Papaji, and Advaita sage
I truly have nothing to teach you. There have been many teachers who have taught exquisite and useful codes of conduct, methods of meditation, ways of living and manifesting in the world. I am simply pointing to the stillness that is alive in the core of your being and inviting you to turn your attention to That, to let That live your life.
Ram Dass (Richard Alpert, 1931- ), student of Neem Karoli Baba, and guru of selfless service and compassion
Ram Dass changed the world in 1971 with the publication of his hugely influential Be Here Now - a book that quickly brought spiritual practice and meditation to millions of Westerners. Not only did its stunning information and design impel readers right into a realization of the essential present, it introduced Eastern spiritual practice to the West in a totally accessible way. The book still stands as the highly readable centerpiece of Western articulation of Eastern philosophy, and how to live joyously a hundred per cent of the time in the present, luminous or mundane. It is still part of the timeless present. Being here now is still being here now.
Swami Muktananda (1908-1982), disciple of Nityananda, and controversial guru of siddha yoga
In this world of desires, a person becomes his own enemy and begins to torture himself. He himself becomes a sinner and then groans. He himself serves the poison of ignorance to himself and thus commits suicide. While he is hostile to himself, he blames others. Why do you commit suicide for lack of knowledge? Give up your illusions and see yourself as you really are. Uplift yourself by means of knowledge. Serve the nectar of wisdom to yourself. Achieve greatness. The soul dwells as the perceiving Consciousness in every being. Reflect on the inner Truth. Explore your own depths. Direct your seeking within. Revel in your own being.
Leslie Temple-Thurston (1950?-), awakened through TM, and Advaita sage and founder of Corelight
Using our capacity to be in the witness, we must use vigilance to watch ourselves throughout the day. We must observe dispassionately what sort of state we are in all the time. The criteria we would be watching for are tiredness or tension in the body; a slumping posture; irritability; exhaustion; tunnel vision on a mental, emotional, or physical level; or feelings of overwhelm, depression and boredom.
Sharon Salzberg (1952- ), Buddhist meditation teacher and cofounder of Insight Meditation Society
It is hard to look at our own problems, negativities, hatreds, fears, and to admit they are there. We tend to cut off these parts of ourselves, to push them away. Or we succumb to them at times. But there is a way of learning how to see these things in ourselves without taking them so to heart, so to speak. We can learn to say, "This is a habit of the mind or this is a conditioning of the mind and it doesnt feel good."
Joseph Goldstein (1944- ), Buddhist meditation teacher and cofounder of Insight Meditation Society
I don't think there's ever an escape from the world as long as we are alive. The goal is freedom from attachment. It's being free from the thirst of desire. It's not nonexistence.
Jack Kornfield (1945- ), Buddhist meditation teacher, cofounder of Insight Meditation Society, and founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center
For almost everyone who practices, cycles of awakening and openness are followed by periods of fear and contraction. Times of profound peace and newfound love are often overtaken by periods of loss, by closing up, fear, or the discovery of betrayal, only to be followed again by equanimity or joy.
Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944- ), mindfulness meditation teacher and founder of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at University of Massachusetts Medical School
The two fundamental things that most people get out of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, independent of symptom reduction, are these. First, the breath is an ally and can be used to calm down and see more clearly. The other, related discovery, is that you are not the content of your thoughts. You don't have to believe them or react to them. That's incredibly liberating.
"Life is Divine...You are alive. You are Divine...All and everything is Divine. Honor the divinity of Life".
Next
some autobiography
Poplar Grove Schoolhouse (1904) Plum City, WI (my dad is in front row, 6th from left)
Parents and three oldest of nine children in 1933, at house where I was born in 1930
In 2003, after remodeling and under different ownership, the house looked like this
One of two other things Pierce County, WI is noted for: The birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)
Little house in the big woods, reconstructed on original site near Pepin WI.
Namaste
I as Awareness/Presence salute You as Awareness/Presence