26 June 2021

Week 2021-25: On Mind (The Spiritual Mind)

"The more a man thinks the better adapted he becomes to thinking, and education is nothing if it is not the methodical creation of the habit of thinking. Precisely. Theoretically, education is a mental training aiming at greater intellectual elasticity, but the question is whether education does not often strain, instead of train, a mind." (Ernest Dimnet, "The Art of Thinking", 1928)

"Most mistakes in philosophy and logic occur because the human mind is apt to take the symbol for the reality." (Albert Einstein, "Cosmic Religion: With Other Opinions and Aphorisms" , 1931) 

"Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst." (Lin Yutang, "The Importance of Living", 1937)

"The limits of thought are not so much set from outside, by the fullness or poverty of experiences that meet the mind, as from within, by the power of conception, the wealth of formulative notions with which the mind meets experiences." (Susanne Langer, "Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art", 1942) 

"A single word from you will show the mind inside; a single word and your whole being is exposed. Not even a word is needed; just a gesture and your chattering mind will be there. Even if you are silent, your silence will not reveal anything other than the chattering monkey within." (Osho, "Hsin Hsin Ming: The Book of Nothing", [talks] 1974)

"The mind cannot be healthy because it can never be whole. Mind is always divided; division is its base." (Osho, "Hsin Hsin Ming: The Book of Nothing", [talks] 1974)

"The untrapped mind is open enough to see many possibilities, humble enough to learn from anyone and anything, forbearing enough to forgive all, perceptive enough to see things as they really are, and reasonable enough to judge their true value." (Matsushita Konosuke, "Nurturing Dreams: My Path in Life", 1989)

"The mind has power over the body and speech, and therefore any training of body and speech must begin with the mind." (Dalai Lama, "Stages Of Meditation", 2002)

"The mind is something that happens within you. Thinking is something that happens within what you are. Thinking does not define what you are. Thinking doesn't define anything." (Adyashanti, "The Basic Teachings - Part 1: Principles of the Teaching", 2009)

"A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"All outer and inner phenomena are designations of the mind. Except in the mind, they exist nowhere else." (Sambuti)

"All phenomena are mind itself, because appearances are reflections." (Mahasiddha Birwapa)

"An educated mind is useless without a focused will, and dangerous without a loving heart." (Winfried Deijmann)

"Be quiet in your mind, quiet in your senses, and also quiet in your body. Then, when all these are quiet, don't do anything. In that state truth will reveal itself to you." (Kabir)

"Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate." (Chuang-Tzu)

"Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances." (Benjamin Franklin)

"If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place." (Lao Tzu)

"In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few." (Shunryu Suzuki)

"In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate." (Rene Descartes)

"Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." (Leonardo da Vinci)

"Keep constantly in mind in how many things you yourself have witnessed changes already. The universe is change, life is understanding." (Marcus Aurelius)

"Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets." (Leonardo da Vinci)

"Maturity of mind is the capacity to endure uncertainty." (John Finley)

"Mind alone is the seed of everything." (Saraha)

"More important than learning how to recall things is finding ways to forget things that are cluttering the mind." (Eric Butterworth)

"Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind." (David G. Allen)

"The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds." (John M Keynes)

"The helps offered to improve the mind consist in certain ways of thinking which facilitate thinking." (Gottfried W Leibniz)

"The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms." (Thich N Hanh)

"The two most powerful agencies in man's nature are reason and mind." (Plutarch)

"The universality of change, when completely understood, is the seeing into the heart of all things, and the mind that thus understands is the mind that truly seeks the way." (Nagarjuna)

"The world is a projection of your mind. Good mind, good world. Bad mind, bad world. No mind, no world." (Swami Parthasarathy)

"Things are not difficult to make; what is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them." (Constantin Brâncuși)

"To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders." (Lao Tzu)

"To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not." (Akhenaton)

"When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence." (Sri Aurobindo)

19 June 2021

Week 2021-24: On Mind (Warrior's Mind)

"A good martial artist puts his mind on one thing at a time. He takes each thing as it comes, finishes with it, and passes on to the next." (Bruce Lee)

"A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it." (Bruce Lee)

"Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality." (Bruce Lee)

"Do not place hope in finding a secret technique. Polish the mind through ceaseless training; that is the key to effective techniques." (Kyuzo Mifune)

"In extreme situations, the entire universe becomes our foe; at such critical times, unity of mind and technique is essential - do not let your heart waver!" (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"It is because a mirror has no commitment to any image that it can clearly and accurately reflect any image before it.  The mind of a warrior is like a mirror in that it has no commitment to any outcome and is free to let form and purpose result on the spot, according to the situation." (Yagyu Munenori)

"See first with your mind, then with your eyes, and finally with your body." (Yagyū Munenori)

"The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing,' for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death." (Takuan)

"The possession of anything begins in the mind." (Bruce Lee)

"The secret of kime (tightening the mind) is to exclude all extraneous thoughts, thoughts that are not concerned with achieving your immediate goal." (Bruce Lee)

"There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"Training with the right attitude of mind is the key to transforming what we do from a sport to a martial art" (Shifu Yan Lei)

"Whatever state of mind you are in, ignore it. Think only of cutting." (Miyamoto Musashi)

"When you practice archery, if your mind is occupied with shooting the arrow, the shot will be disturbed, and will not be settled (smooth). If you are wielding the long sword, and your mind is fixed on wielding the sword, the sword will not move smoothly." (Yagyu Munenori)

11 June 2021

Week 2021-23: The Way of the Warrior

"It is said the warrior's is the twofold Way of pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both Ways. Even if a man has no natural ability he can be a warrior by sticking assiduously to both divisions of the Way. Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death." (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho", 1645)

"The Way of the warrior does not include other ways, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, certain traditions, artistic accomplishments, and dancing. But even though these are not part of the Way, if you know the Way broadly, you will see it in everything." (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho", 1645)

"The way of warrior skill is the way of nature. When you are in line with the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of all situations, you will be able to cut and strike the enemy naturally." (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho", 1645)

"To attain the Way of strategy as a warrior you must study fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the warrior. With your spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void." (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho", 1645)

"You must contemplate the Way of the warrior's skill so you will be able to beat a man in combat by the use of your eye. With diligent training, you will be able to beat ten men in combat by using your spirit." (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho", 1645)

"The most effective way to live is as a warrior. A warrior may worry and think before making any decision, but once he makes it, he goes his way, free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting him. That's the warrior's way." (Carlos Castañeda, "A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan", 1971)

"The real Art of Peace is not to sacrifice a single one of your warriors to defeat an enemy. Vanquish your foes by always keeping yourself in a safe and unassailable position; then no one will suffer any losses. The Way of a Warrior, the Art of Politics, is to stop trouble before it starts. It consists in defeating your adversaries spiritually by making them realize the folly of their actions. The Way of a Warrior is to establish harmony." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1992)

"You haven't yet opened your heart fully, to life, to each moment. The peaceful warrior's way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability—to the world, to life, and to the Presence you felt. All along I've shown you by example that a warrior's life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love. Love is a warrior's sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death." (Dan Millman, "Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior: A Companion to the Book that Changes Lives", 2007)

"The path of the Warrior is lifelong, and mastery is often simply staying on the path." (Richard S Heckler)

"The Way of a Warrior cannot be encompassed by words or in letters: grasp the essence and move on toward realization!" (Morihei Ueshiba)

"The Way of a Warrior is based on humanity, love, and sincerity; the heart of martial valor is true bravery, wisdom, love, and friendship. Emphasis on the physical aspects of warriorship is futile, for the power of the body is always limited." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"The way of a warrior is not to kill and destroy but to foster life, to continually create." (Morihei Ueshiba)


06 June 2021

Week 2021-22: On Masters

"Failure is an opportunity.
If you blame someone else,
there is no end to the blame.
Therefore the Master
fulfills her own obligations
and corrects her own mistakes.
She does what she needs to do
and demands nothing of others." (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"Therefore the Master takes action
by letting things take their course.
He remains as calm at the end 
as at the beginning.
He has nothing,
thus has nothing to lose.
What he desires is non-desire;
what he learns is to unlearn.
He simply reminds people
of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing but the Tao.
Thus he can care for all things." (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"When the Master governs, the people
are hardly aware that he exists.
Next best is a leader who is loved.
Next, one who is feared.
The worst is one who is despised.

If you don't trust people,
you make them untrustworthy.

The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!" (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching"
, cca 400 BC)

"You have to consider things yourselves. This is the way things are passed down from the masters: they can teach theory only. You are the ones who have to get the truth from it. [….] You must educate yourself. Teaching is just pointing out what you cannot see without help. You are not ‘given’ anything by the teacher." (Issai Chozan, "The Mysterious Skills of the Old Cat" ["Neko No Myoujutsu"], 1727)

"In NLP terms, then, a master is not someone who already knows the answers and has the solutions but someone who is able to ask worthwhile questions and direct the process of learning, problem solving and creativity to form new maps of the world that lead to useful new answers and possibilities." (Robert B Dilts, "Modeling with NLP", 1998)

"Masters of one art have mastered all because they have mastered themselves. With dominion over both mind and muscle, they demonstrate power, serenity, and spirit. They not only have talent for their sport, they have an expanded capacity for life. The experts shine in the competitive arena; the masters shine everywhere." (Dan Millman, "Body Mind Mastery: Training for Sport and Life", 1999)

"A good martial artist puts his mind on one thing at a time. He takes each thing as it comes, finishes with it, and passes on to the next. Like a Zen master, he is not concerned with the past or the future, only with what he is doing at that moment. Because his mind is tight, he is calm and able to maintain strength in reserve. And then there will be room for only one thought, which will fill his entire being as water fills a pitcher. You wasted an enormous amount of energy because you did not localize and focus your mind. Always remember: in life as well as on the mat an unfocused or 'loose' mind wastes energy." (Bruce Lee)

"Any person capable of angering you becomes your master." (Epictetus)

"Believe me, you will find more lessons in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you what you cannot learn from masters." (Bernard of Clairvaux, Epistola CVI)

"Of course, when there is total surrender, complete relinquishment of all concern with one's past, present and future, with one's physical and spiritual security and standing, a new life dawns, full of love and beauty; then the Master is not important, for the disciple has broken the shell of self-defense. Complete self-surrender by itself is liberation." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master." (Leonardo da Vinci)

"The master dwells in the substantial and not in the superficial. Rests in the fruit and not in the flower." (Lao Tzu)

"The master leads
by emptying people's minds
and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition
and toughening their resolve." (Lao Tzu)

"The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision.
He allows things to come and go.
He prefers what is within to what is without." (Lao Tzu)