July 29, 2011
“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” ~~ Marcel Proust
words and pictures....
July 29, 2011
“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” ~~ Marcel Proust
July 28, 2011
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~~ Marcel Proust
(Photo: Black Eyed Susans ~~ © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)
July 11, 2011
Today’s Food for Thought is via The Dalai Lama…
“My advice is that if you must be selfish, be wisely selfish. Wise people serve others sincerely, putting the needs of others above their own. Ultimately you will be happier. The kind of selfishness that provokes fighting, killing, stealing, using harsh words, forgetting other people’s welfare will only result in your own loss.”
July 7, 2011
J. Krishnamurti… Is there anything sacred in life?
Is there anything sacred in life? Not invented by thought, because man, from time immeasurable, he has always asked this question: Is there something beyond all this confusion, misery, darkness, illusions; beyond the institutions and reforms; is there something really true, something beyond time, something so immense that thought cannot come to it? Man has enquired into this. And only apparently very, very, very, very few people have been free to enter into that world. And the priest from ancient of times comes in between the seeker and that which he is hoping to find. He interprets, he becomes the man who knows, or thinks he knows. And is sidetracked, diverted; lost. So if we want to enquire into that which is most holy, which is nameless, timeless, one must obviously belong to no group, no religion, have no belief, no faith, because belief and faith is accepting as true something which does not or may not exist. That is the nature of belief: taking for granted, accepting something to be true when your own enquiry, your own vitality, energy, has not found out, you believe. Because in belief there is some form of security, comfort. But a man who is seeking merely psychological comfort, such a man will never come upon that which is beyond time. ~~ Rajghat 2nd Public Talk 1st December 1963 Collected Works, Volume II
June 30, 2011
J. Krishnamurti…
Awareness is that state of mind which takes in everything -the crows flying across the sky, the flowers on the trees, the people sitting in front, the colors they are wearing- being extensively aware which needs watching, observing, taking in the shape of the leaf, the shape of the trunk, the shape of the head of another, what he is doing. To be extensively aware and from there acting, that is to be aware of the totality of one’s own being. To have a mere sectional capacity, a fragmentation of capacity or capacity fragmented, and to pursue that capacity and derive experience through that capacity which is limited—that makes the quality of the mind mediocre, limited, narrow. But an awareness of the totality of one’s own being, understood through the awareness of every thought and every feeling, and never limiting it, letting every thought and every feeling flower, and therefore being aware—that is entirely different from action or concentration that is merely capacity and therefore limited.
To let a thought flower or a feeling flower requires attention,not concentration. I mean by the flowering of a thought giving freedom to it to see what happens, what is taking place in your thought, in your feeling. Anything that flowers must have freedom, must have light; it cannot be restricted. You cannot put any value on it, you cannot say, “That is right, that is wrong; this should be, and that should not be”, thereby, you limit the flowering of thought. And it can only flower in this awareness. Therefore, if you go into it very deeply, you will find that this flowering of thought is the ending of thought. ~~ The Book Of Life
June 28, 2011
Self-importance is our greatest enemy. Think about it – what weakens us is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of our fellowmen. Our self-importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone. ~~ Carlos Castaneda