THE DALAI LAMA

I believe deeply that we must find, all of us together, a new spirituality.
This new concept ought to be elaborated alongside the religions in such a way that all people of good will could adhere to it.

Native American chant

All the earth is sacred
Every step we take
All the air is sacred
Every breath we take

JOHN LENNON

Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.

ANTHONY POWELL

One of the worst things in life is not how nasty the nasty people are. You know that already. It is how nasty the nice people can be.

from the Tao Te Ching

There is no greater sin than desire,
no greater curse than discontent,
no greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself.
Therefore he who knows that enough is enough
will always have enough.

Chinese saying

If you want to be happy for a short time - get drunk; happy for a long time - fall in love; happy for ever - take up gardening.

BUDDHA

Forego everything that you have thought up to now meaningful, significant.
Sacrifice everything for this ultimate, because this is the only thing that will make you contented, that will make you fulfilled, that will bring spring to your being -
And you will blossom into a thousand and one flowers.

ANON

Life is not measured by the breath we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

H.L. MENCKEN

Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone somewhere may be happy.

ANON

With every breath I take today, I vow to be awake,
And every step I take, I vow to take with a grateful heart -
So I may see with eyes of love into the hearts of all I meet,
To ease their burden when I can,
And touch them with a smile of peace.

PAUL HAREY

In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these.

OVID

Let others praise ancient times. I am glad I was born in these.

BASHO

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise men.
Seek what they sought.

THICH NHAT HANH

Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, I am determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology, even Buddhist ones.
Buddhist teachings are guiding means to help me learn to look deeply and to develop my understanding and compassion.
They are not doctrines to fight, kill or die for.

ANON

It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

BUDDHA

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die -
So let us all be thankful.

Italian Proverb

After the game, the King and the Pawn go in the same box.

WILLIAM COWPER

Absence of occupation is not rest.
A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.

DHAMMAPADA

Few among men are they who cross to the further shore.
The other folk only run up and down the bank on this side.

ANON

If you would be happy all your life,
plant a garden

GK CHESTERTON

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down.
Without the rain, there would be no rainbow

thoughts about heaven..........

The kingdom of heaven is within you - Jesus Christ

He who knows himself knows heaven - Mohammed

So doth heaven abide within thee, why search without. - Vedas

MAX KAUFFMAN

My son has taken up meditation. At least it’s better than sitting and doing nothing.

FRANZ KAFKA

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen.
Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be still and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked - it has no choice.
It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

what they said about death..........

I don’t mind dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens. - Spike Milligan

Life is a great surprise; I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.
- Vladimir Nabokov

I have a feeling that there is an afterlife but no one will know where it’s being held.
- Woody Allen

THE DALAI LAMA

May I become at all times -

a protector for those without protection,
a guide for those who have lost their way,
a ship for those with oceans to cross,
a bridge for those with rivers to cross,
a sanctuary for those in danger,
a lamp for those without light,
a place of refuge for those who lack shelter, and
a servant to all in need.

ANTONIO MACHADO

Traveller, there is no path. Paths are made by walking

Growing old - 65 to 80

I’m sixty-five and I guess that puts me in with the geriatrics, but if there were fifteen months in every year, I’d only be forty-eight.
- James Thurber

Seventy is wormwood,
Seventy is gall.
It’s better to be seventy than not alive at all.
- Phyllis McGinley

My diseases are asthma and dropsy and, what is less curable, seventy-five.
- Samuel Johnson

I don’t feel eighty. In fact I don’t feel anything till noon. Then it’s time for my nap.
- Bob Hope

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Dwell, O mind, within yourself.
Enter no other’s home.
If you but seek there, you will find all you are searching for.
God, the true Philosopher’s Stone, who answers every prayer, lies hidden deep within your heart, the richest gem of all.
How many pearls and precious stones are scattered all about the outer court that lies before the chamber of your heart !

BUDDHA

No matter how many holy words you read, no matter how many holy words you speak, what good are they if you don’t act on them?

The tongue is like a sharp knife - it kills without drawing blood.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going the whole way, and not starting.