🏛️Week 2025-05: Aeschylus - Collected Quotes

"Bronze in the mirror of the form, wine of the mind." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"But time growing old teaches all things." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"By polluting clear water with slime you will never find good drinking water." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"Death is easier than a wretched life; and better never to have born than to live and fare badly." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"Everyone's quick to blame the alien." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"For the poison of hatred seated near the heart doubles the burden for the one who suffers the disease; he is burdened with his own sorrow, and groans on seeing another's happiness." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"God's most lordly gift to man is decency of mind." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"God always strives together with those who strive." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"God loves to help him who strives to help himself." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"His resolve is not to seem the bravest, but to be." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"I have learned to hate all traitors, and there is no disease that I spit on more than treachery." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

 "I know how men in exile feed on dreams." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"In the lack of judgment great harm arises, but one vote cast can set right a house." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"It is always in season for old men to learn." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"It is best for the wise man not to seem wise." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"It is easy when we are in prosperity to give advice to the afflicted." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"Justice turns the scale, bringing to some learning through suffering." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"Memory is the mother of all wisdom." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)"Justice turns the scale, bringing to some learning through suffering." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"Obedience is the mother of success and is wedded to safety." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"Of all the gods only death does not desire gifts." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"The anvil of justice is planted firm, and fate who makes the sword does the forging in advance." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"The man whose authority is recent is always stern." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"The wisest of the wise may err." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"The words of truth are simple." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"There is no sickness worse for me than words that to be kind must lie." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"Time brings all things to pass." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"To be free from evil thoughts is God's best gift." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"When a man's willing and eager the god's join in." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"When strength is yoked with justice, where is a mightier pair than they?" (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"Whenever a man makes haste, God too hastens with him." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC) 

"Whoever is new to power is always harsh." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"Wisdom comes alone through suffering." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

"You have been trapped in the inescapable net of ruin by your own want of sense." (Aeschylus, cca. 5 century BC)

🕉️Week 2025-04: Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita

"The devotee of God wants to eat sugar, and not become sugar. (All laugh.) Do you know how a lover of God feels? His attitude is: "O God, Thou art the Master, and I am Thy servant. Thou art the Mother, and I Thy child." Or again: 'Thou art my Father and Mother. Thou art the Whole, and I am a part.' He does not like to say, "I am Brahman." They yogi seeks to realize the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. His ideal is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul. He withdraws his mind from sense objects and tries to concentrate on the Paramatman. Therefore, during the first stage of his spiritual discipline, he retires into solitude and with undivided attention practices meditation in a fixed posture. But the reality is one and the same; the difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is verily Atman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of the path of knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1882)

"A truly religious man should think that other religions also have many paths leading to the truth. One should always maintain an attitude of respect towards other religions. Dispute not, as you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, allow others also equal liberty to stand by their own faith and opinion." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings", 1898)

"So long as the bee is outside the petals of the lily, and has not tasted the sweetness of its honey, it hovers around the flower emitting the buzzing sound; but when it is inside the flower, it noiselessly drinks the nectar. So long as a man quarrels and disputes about doctrines and dogmas, he has not tasted the nectar of true faith; when he has tasted it, he becomes quiet and full of peace." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings", 1898)

"The manifestation of the Divinity must be understood to be in greater degree in those who are honoured, respected, and obeyed by a large following, than in those who have gained no such influence." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings", 1898)

"Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "Sri Ramakrishna's Teachings", 1916)

"God is directly perceived by the mind, but not by this ordinary mind. It is the pure mind that perceives God, and at that time this ordinary mind does not function. A mind that has the slightest trace of attachment to the world cannot be called pure. When all the impurities of the mind are removed, you may call that mind Pure Mind or Pure Ātman." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish lives in the mud, but its skin is always bright and shiny." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"One can easily realize God if one is free from guile. Spiritual instruction produces quick results in a guileless heart. Such a heart is like well cultivated land from which all the stones have been removed. No sooner is the seed sown than it germinates. The fruit also appears quickly." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"One cannot attain divine knowledge till one gets rid of pride. Water does not stay on the top of a mound; but into low land it flows in torrents from all sides." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"The Pure Mind and the Pure Ātman are one and the same thing. Whatever comes up in the Pure Mind is the voice of God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves. A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as "I am such an important man" or 'I am so and so'. Level the mound of "I" to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1942)

"A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in boat. A spiritual aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"A man is truly free, even here in this embodied state, if he knows that God is the true agent and he by himself is powerless to do anything." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"As a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind, so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"As the shell, the pith and the kernel of the fruit are all produced form one parent seed of the tree, so from the one Lord is produced the whole of creation, animate and inanimate, spiritual and material." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

"As the snake is separate from its slough, even so is the Spirit separate from the body." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Brahman is beyond mind and speech, beyond concentration and meditation, beyond the knower, the known and knowledge, beyond even the conception of the real and unreal. In short, It is beyond all relativity." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, 1886)

"Honour both spirit and form, the sentiment within as well as the symbol without." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"It's enough to have faith in one aspect of God. You have faith in God without form. That is very good. But never get into your head that your faith alone is true and every other is false. Know for certain that God without form is real and that God with form is also real. Then hold fast to whichever faith appeals to you." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"It is easy to talk on religion, but difficult to practice it." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Knowledge leads to unity, and Ignorance to diversity." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Many are the names of God, and infinite the forms that lead us to know Him. In whatsoever name or form you desire to call Him, in that very form and name you will see Him." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Right discrimination is of two kinds — analytical and synthetical. The first leads one from the phenomena to the Absolute Brahman, while by the second one knows how the Absolute Brahman appears as the universe." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true Knowledge, all else is only a negation of Knowledge." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita)

"The magnetic needle always points to the north, and hence it is that sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

"The nearer you come to God, the less you are disposed to questioning and reasoning. When you actually attain Him, when you behold Him as the reality, then all noise, all disputations, come to an end." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

"The young bamboo can be easily bent, but the full grown bamboo breaks when it is bent with force. It is easy to bend the young heart towards God, but the untrained heart of the old escapes the hold whenever it is so drawn." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

"To drink pure water from a shallow pond one should gently take the water from the surface without disturbing the pond in the least. If it is disturbed, the sediments rise up and make the whole water muddy. If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices, without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita) 

🅿Week 2025-03: On Posture

“The posture assumed must be steady and easy.” (Patanjali, “Yoga Sutra", cca. 400)

"When right posture (asana) has been attained there follows right control of prana and proper inspiration and expiration of the breath.” (Patanjali, “Yoga Sutra", cca. 400)

"Once the posture has been stabilized and the breath regulated, push forth the lower abdomen; one thinks not of good or evil." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"The devotee of God wants to eat sugar, and not become sugar. (All laugh.) Do you know how a lover of God feels? His attitude is: "O God, Thou art the Master, and I am Thy servant. Thou art the Mother, and I Thy child." Or again: 'Thou art my Father and Mother. Thou art the Whole, and I am a part.' He does not like to say, "I am Brahman." They yogi seeks to realize the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. His ideal is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul. He withdraws his mind from sense objects and tries to concentrate on the Paramatman. Therefore, during the first stage of his spiritual discipline, he retires into solitude and with undivided attention practices meditation in a fixed posture. But the reality is one and the same; the difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is verily Atman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of the path of knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God." (Ramakrishna, "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", 1882) 

"However keen you may be to begin your study, before you venture on to the mat and attempt any of the basic techniques it is necessary to know something of the principles that govern aikido, for unless you do understand a little about posture, movement, balance, gentleness and courtesy, you will not be a satisfactory pupil." (Sadami Yamada, "Principles and Practice of Aikido", 1966)

"In other words, just practice Zen meditation in a certain posture. Do not think about anything. Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything. Then eventually you will resume your own true nature. That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself." (Shunryu Suzuki, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", 1970)

"Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down. When coming out of sitting, don't think that you're coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures. If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself." (Ajahn Chah, "Steady Practice", 1978)

"A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"In sitting on the meditation cushion and assuming the meditation posture, we connect ourselves with the present moment in this body and on this earth." (Jack Kornfield, "A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life", 1993)

"The Martial Way is centred in posture. Strive to maintain correct posture at all times." (Mas Oyama) [motto]

🅱Week 2025-02: On Breathing

"A human being is only breath and shadow." (Sophocles, "Ajax the Locrian" ["Aias Locrus"], cca. 5 century BC)

"It is not large, and not minute; not short, not long; without blood, without fat; without shadow, without darkness; without wind, without ether; not adhesive, not tangible; without smell, without taste; without eyes, ears, voice, or mind; without heat, breath, or mouth; without personal or family name; unaging, undying, without fear, immortal, dustless, not un¬ covered or covered; with nothing before, nothing behind, nothing within. It consumes no one, and is consumed by no one. It is the imseen seer, the un¬ heard hearer, the unthought thinker, the unknown knower." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, cca. 7th century) 

"Once the posture has been stabilized and the breath regulated, push forth the lower abdomen; one thinks not of good or evil." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"Those who follow conventional views believe that what is illusory is real, what is transient is permanent, and so they are concerned only with gain and loss and coarse profit. Their lives are like candles in the wind and yet they place their trust in what is uncertain even for tomorrow. Breathing out does not mean that you will necessarily breath in again. And so they are filled with glee and despair at momentary changes." (Koun Ejo, "Komyozo-Zanmai" ["Samadhi of the Treasury of the Radiant Light", 13th century)

"The breath of life eventually takes leave of all of us; whether we are young or old, if we live we must die. The number of the dead grows; the blossoms of the flowers fade; the leaves of the trees fall. Things are like foam in a dream. As fish gather in tiny pools of water, so life moves on as the days pass by. Parents and children, husbands and wives who passed their lives together, do not remain together. What use is high standing or wealth? Red cheeks in the morning, dead bones in the evening. Not to trust in the things of this perishing world but to enter upon the way of Buddha - thus will one stir up the mind that seeks the ways and believes in the exalted Dharma." (Muso Soseki, 1351)

"All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love's sake, because it is the only law of life, just as you breathe to live." (Swami Vivekananda, [letter] 1895)

"Students should always be conscious to the advantages of fundamental principles, which are: practicing the movements slowly and evenly, inhaling and exhaling naturally so as to accumulate qi and concentrate the shen [spirit], and never employing muscular strength [li] too excessively. It is through softness and gentleness that you achieve mastery. This softness and gentleness means soft and continuous movements in conjunction with harmonious breathing." (Yearning K Chen, "T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Sword, Saber, Staff, and Dispersing-Hands Combined", 1943)

"Through slowness you can later be soft; through evenness you can later be gentle. The capability of being soft and gentle will cause the muscle and bone to be opened. The qi and blood will circulate harmoniously. From this the breath will become deep and long and the spirit of vitality can be stimulated and brought forth." (Yearning K Chen, "T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Sword, Saber, Staff, and Dispersing-Hands Combined", 1943)

"Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts." (Thich Nhat Hanh, "The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation", 1975)

"There are people who are born and die and never once are aware of their breath going in and out of their body. That's how far away they live from themselves." (Ajahn Chah, "The Peace Beyond", [talk] 1978)

"The subtle working of ki is the maternal source that affects changes in breath. It is also the source of martial art as love. When one unifies mind and body by virtue of ki and manifests ai-ki (harmony of ki), delicate changes in breath-power occur spontaneously and 'waza' (proper technique) flows freely." (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "The Spirit of Aikido", 1981)

"Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. 
Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment." (Thich Nhat Hanh, "Being Peace", 1987)

"Breathing meditation can quiet the mind, open the body, and develop a great power of concentration." (Jack Kornfield, "A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life", 1993)

"If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive - that you can touch the miracle of being alive ~ then that is a kind of enlightenment." (Thich Nhat Hanh, "book Living Buddha, Living Christ", 1995)

"Regulating the mind and the breathing cannot be separated. When the mind is regulated, the breathing can be regulated. When the breathing is regulated, the mind is able to enter a deeper level of calmness. They help each other mutually." (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"You should understand that your natural breathing is constantly affected by your thoughts and emotions." (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"There is a close connection between breathing and mind. When breathing is disturbed, one’s mind is disturbed. When mind is disturbed, one’s breathing is disturbed." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"Where mindfulness is, true life, solidity, freedom, and healing also manifest. We all have the ability to generate this energy of mindfulness. Do walking meditation, breathe mindfully, drink your tea mindfully, and cultivate this energy that dwells in you, that illuminates you, and makes life possible." (Thich Nhat Hanh, "You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment", 2010)

"Without those things that produce the air that we breathe, there would be no air for us to breathe. In that way, we always depend on others and everything around us and therefore our well-being depends upon their wellbeing as well." (Gyalwa Karmapa, "The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out", 2013)

"Chanting is no more holy than listening to the murmur of a stream,
couting prayer beads no more scared than simply breathing,
religious robed no more spiritual than work clothes." (Lao Tzu)

🆅Week 2025-01: On Virtue

"Boasting of wealth and virtue brings your demise." (Lao Tzu, (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"Give up virtue, renounce wisdom;

people will benefit a thousand times.

Give up kindness, renounce morality,

people will embrace love and filial piety.

Give up cleverness, renounce greed,

bandits and thieves will vanish." (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"When the great Too is forgotten,
virtue and morality arise.
When knowledge and intelligence are born,
the great pretense begins.
When there is no harmony within the family,
filial piety and devotion arise.
When the country is confused and in chaos,
loyal officials appear." (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"The greatest virtue is to be prudent, and wisdom is to speak the truth and with understanding to act according to nature. (Heraclitus of Ephesus, "Fragments" [75.112], cca. 5th century)

"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues." (Marcus Tullius Cicero, "Pro Plancio" ["Defense of Plancius"], 54 BC) 

"Courage is the virtue which champions the cause of right." (Marcus Tullius Cicero, "De officiis" ["On Duties"], cca.44 BC)

"He who understands virtue will have a sufficient amount, that is all. He will not allow sensual desires to be a burden to his mind, the small to injure the great, or the secondary to destroy the fundamental." (Chang Tsai, "Cheng-meng" ["Correcting Youthful Ignorance"], 1076)

"The virtues and the vices are all put in motion by interest." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald, "Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims", 1665)

"The strength and its functioning vary greatly according to the depth or shallowness of insight, and the corresponding freedom of action. It is for this reason that now as in the past students with the same insight and training differ as to strength and virtue." ((Torei Enji, "The Inexhaustible Lamp" ["Shumon Mujinto Ron"], cca. 1800)

"To secure our own happiness and causes of happiness, we must first act to create wholesome causes of happiness. We must create virtue. We must engage in good conduct. We must generate wholesome attitudes. These are important." (Gyalwa Karmapa, "A Talk on Being a Principled Person of Good Conduct", 2009)

"People control themselves with virtue. One must practice virtue to alleviate spiritual strains and remember peace of mind to appreciate the generosity of the gods." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"He who governs by way of virtue [/ excellence] can be compared to the [North] Pole Star, which keeps its place while all the other stars position themselves around it." (Confucius)