🅰Week 2026-24: On Awakening (unsourced)

"At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully." (Hakuin Ekaku

"Delusion and the awakening - both can come and go slowly or suddenly." (Heze Shenhui)

"Even if you have not awakened, if you realize that your perceptions and activities are all like dreams and you view them with detachment, not giving rise to grasping and rejecting discrimination, then this is virtually tantamount to awakening from the dream." (Muso Soseki)

"Our original nature is [...] void, omnipresent, silent, pure; it is glorious and mysterious peaceful joy - and that is all. Enter deeply into it by awakening yourself." (Huangbo Xiyun) (Huangbo Xiyun)

"Spiritual Awakening is awakening from the dream of thought." (Eckhart Tolle)

"The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not 'the thinker'. The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter - beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken." (Eckhart Tolle)

"The moment of awakening may be marked by an outbursts of laughter, but this is not the laughter of someone who has won the lottery or some kind of victory. It is the laughter of one who, after searching for something for a long time, suddenly finds it in the pocket of their coat." (Thich Nhat Hanh)

"To realize one's limitations marks the awakening of intellectual integrity, without which imagination, integrity and assiduity are barren." (Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin)

"We're here to awaken from the illusion of separateness." (Thich Nhat Hanh)

🆂Week 2026-23: On Surrender

"Enlightenment is always through surrender, but surrender is achieved through intelligence. Only idiots cannot surrender. To surrender you need great intelligence. To see the point of surrender is the climax of insight; to see the point that you are not separate from existence is the highest that intelligence can give to you." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "From I to Q", 1984)

"Love transforms, Love heals. But sometimes it lays deadly traps and ends up destroying the person who decided to surrender himself completely." (Paulo Coelho, "Manuscript Found in Accra", 2012)

"A humble and contrite heart knows that it can merit nothing before God, and that all that is necessary is to be reconciled to one's helplessness and let our holy and almighty God care for us, just as an infant surrenders himself to his mother's care." (Ole Hallesby)

"Always say 'yes' to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say 'yes' to life - and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you." (Eckhart Tolle)

“He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign." (Victor Hugo)

"If failure has the strength to turn your life into bitterness itself, then patience has the strength to turn your life into the sweetest joy. Do not surrender to fate after a single failure. Failure, at most, precedes success." (Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose)

"It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed. The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back." (Ram Dass)

"Meditation is very simple. It means to surrender the mind, the body, and the world, from moment to moment, to the silent presence in which they appear. That's all." (Francis Lucille)

"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)

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

🅼Week 2026-22: On Matial Artist (unsourced)

 "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 martial artist does not become tend but ready, not thinking but jet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come." (Bruce lee)

"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)

"A martial artist who drills exclusively to a set pattern of combat is losing his freedom. He is actually becoming a slave to a choice pattern and feels that the pattern is the real thing. It leads to stagnation because the way of combat is never based on personal choice and fancies, but constantly changes from moment to moment, and the disappointed combatant will soon find out that his 'choice routine' lacks pliability. There must be a 'being' instead of a 'doing' in training. One must be free. Instead of complexity of form, there should be simplicity of expression." (Bruce Lee)

"Each one of us starts Karate with some particular reason: to be a good fighter, to keep in good shape, to protect oneself. I wanted to become very strong myself when I first began. But Karate training soon teaches that real strength is facing oneself strictly, with severe eyes. This is the first condition of martial arts training. Therefore, all karateka must be strong inwardly, but quite gentle to others. As we train together, each contributing to a good atmosphere, let's try to bring out that serious strong mentality from deep inside." (Tsutomu Ohshima)

"I hope martial artists are more interested in the root of martial arts and not the different decorative branches, flowers or leaves." (Bruce Lee)

"Knowledge in martial arts actually means self-knowledge. A martial artist has to take responsibility for himself and accept the consequences of his own doing. The understanding of JKD is through personal feeling from movement to movement in the mirror of the relationship and not through a process of isolation. To be is to be related. To isolate is death. To me, ultimately, martial arts means honestly expressing yourself. Now, it is very difficult to do. It has always been very easy for me to put on a show and be cocky, and be flooded with a cocky feeling and feel pretty cool and all that. I can make all kinds of phoney things. Blinded by it. Or I can show some really fancy movement. But to experience oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express myself honestly, now that, my friend, is very hard to do." (Bruce Lee)

"Some people think a martial artist has to be tough against everybody - that's not true at all. A martial artist has to be strong against bad people. But we must also be able to know and understand the feelings, moods and mentalities of good and bad individuals before we can comprehend when to be strong and when to be gentle." (Tsutomu Ohshima)

"The skills of self-protection, which should provide a feeling of inner peace and security for the martial artist, so often develop without a balance in the personality and lead the lesser martial artist into warped realms of unceasing conflict and competition which eventually consume him." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"The way of the martial artist is the way of enduring, surviving and prevailing over all that would destroy him. More than delivering strikes and slashes, and deeper in significance than the simple outwitting of an enemy, Ninpô is the way of attaining that which we need while making the world a better place. The skill of the Ninja is the art of winning." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

🅼Week 2026-21: On Matial Arts (unsourced)

 "A kata is not fixed or immoveable. Like water, it's ever changing and fits itself to the shape of the vessel containing it. However, kata are not some kind of beautiful competitive dance, but a grand martial art of self-defense - which determines life and death." (Kenwa Mabuni)

"A teacher must never impose this student to fit his favourite pattern; a good teacher functions as a pointer, exposing his student's vulnerability (and) causing him to explore both internally and finally integrating himself with his being. Martial art should not be passed out indiscriminately." (Bruce Lee)

"I believe that the only way to teach anyone proper self-defence is to approach each individual personally. Each one of us is different and each one of us should be taught the correct form. By correct form I mean the most useful techniques the person is inclined toward. Find his ability and then develop these techniques. I don't think it is important whether a side kick is performed with the heel higher than the toes, as long as the fundamental principle is not violated. Most classical martial arts training is a mere imitative repetition - a product - and individuality is lost." (Bruce Lee)

"I hope martial artists are more interested in the root of martial arts and not the different decorative branches, flowers or leaves." (Bruce Lee)

"I'm not telling you to defeat the enemy, but be a man who can live. Never be enslaved by martial arts take pleasure in them." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"Karate is the most Zen-like of all the Martial Arts.  It has abandoned the sword.  This means that it transcends the idea of winning and losing to become a way of thinking and living for the sake of other people in accordance with the way of Heaven.  Its meanings, therefore, reach the profoundest levels of human thought." (Mas Oyama)

"Knowledge in martial arts actually means self-knowledge. A martial artist has to take responsibility for himself and accept the consequences of his own doing. The understanding of JKD is through personal feeling from movement to movement in the mirror of the relationship and not through a process of isolation. To be is to be related. To isolate is death. To me, ultimately, martial arts means honestly expressing yourself. Now, it is very difficult to do. It has always been very easy for me to put on a show and be cocky, and be flooded with a cocky feeling and feel pretty cool and all that. I can make all kinds of phoney things. Blinded by it. Or I can show some really fancy movement. But to experience oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express myself honestly, now that, my friend, is very hard to do." (Bruce Lee)

"Originally this was the most important thing about martial arts - to reach a higher level, to become a strong human being. Strong doesn't mean big arms. It means who can be a more strict human being with himself. That is the ideal of martial arts." (Tsutomu Ohshima)

"One should not have a glance or attitude that lets others know that one is practicing martial arts." (Toda sensei)

"Studying the martial Way is like climbing a cliff: keep going forward without rest. Resting is not permissible because it causes recessions to old adages of achievement. Persevering day in, day out improves techniques, but resting one day causes lapses. This must be prevented." (Mas Oyama)

"The path of Martial Arts begins and ends with courtesy. So be genuinely polite on every occasion." (Mas Oyama)

"The strongest men and the greatest martial arts masters are born that way, so no effort can attain that; but when it comes to exerting our whole heart and disregarding our lives, to whom should we be inferior? No one should think he’ll lose, even to the greatest warriors. Why is that? Because if you back off such a person, who will back off you?" (Suzuki Shosan)

"To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is." (Bruce Lee)

"To practice Zen or the Martial Arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserve - as if you might die in the next instant." (Taisen Deshimaru)

"Train the body and develop stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision of life. The root of the martial arts is not there." (Taisen Deshimaru)

"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)

"Understand that the essence of martial arts is not the art itself, but what's hidden deep within yourself." (Gogen Yamaguchi)

🅼Week 2026-20: On Matial Arts

"Other schools become theatrical, dressing up and showing off to make a living, commercializing martial arts. […] Do you think you have realized how to attain victory just by learning to wield a long sword and training your body and your hands? This is not a certain way in any case. […]" (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 1645)

"The field of martial arts is particularly rife with flamboyant showmanship, with commercial popularization and profiteering on the part of both those who teach the science and those who study it. The result of this must be, as someone said, that "amateuristic martial arts are a source of serious wounds". (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 1645)

"The master carpenter, knowing the measurements and designs of all sorts of structures, employs people to build houses. In this respect, the master carpenter is the same as the master warrior. . . . As the master carpenter directs the journeymen, he knows their various levels of skill and gives them appropriate tasks. . . . Efficiency and smooth progress, prudence in all matters, recognizing true courage, recognizing different levels of morale, instilling confidence, and realizing what can and cannot be reasonably expected-such are the matters on the mind of the master carpenter. The principle of martial arts is like this [...]" (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 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" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 1645)

"The purpose of martial arts is to stop injustice, thus you must never have the intention to take up arms. A peaceful spirit is of utmost importance in order to have the proper mindset to learn fencing. To be a swordsman is to be a lethal weapon; the most fortunate scenario would be to never have to use your martial skills in your lifetime. It is permissible to use your martial skills with justifiable reason, but you must not speak ill of other schools of fencing and you must not boast of your own sword-fighting skills to people who do not know the art." (Saito Yakuro, cca 19th century)

"The objective of martial arts has always been to defend oneself and not to attack others [...]" (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"The secret principle of martial arts is not vanquishing the attacker but resolving to avoid an encounter before its occurrence. To become the object of an attack is an indication that there was an opening in one's guard, and the important thing is to be on guard at all times." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"To stand still is to regress; those who think that they have learned everything and become conceited braggarts proclaiming their own merits after learning the movements of some kata and acquiring dexterity in their physical movements are not fit to be considered as serious trainees in the martial arts." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"Since karate is a martial art, you must practice with the utmost seriousness from the very beginning." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-dō Nyūmon: The Master Introductory Text", 1943)

"Aikido, though praised as a healthful system of self-defense techniques, would be nothing apart from the laws of the great universe. The martial way begins and ends with courtesy, itself an attitude of thankfulness to and reverence for nature. To be mistaken on this basic point is to make of the martial arts no more than weapons of injury and death." (Koichi Tohei, "Book of Ki: Co-ordinating Mind and Body in Daily Life", 1976)

"You must learn to allow patience and stillness to take over from anxiety and frantic activity for the sake of doing something, Between martial artists of the first rank, there is room for only one mistake. Before an exchange of blows, several minutes may be spent in controlled patience and planning while each man respectfully observes his opponent, studying his position or stance, watching, getting ideas, and charging his energy. When one man thinks he is going to attack, his opponent may quickly change his stance. If he has overreacted, his opponent makes a note of it. This is a weakness which he will later attempt to use to his advantage." (Jim Lau)  [in Joe Hyams's, "Zen in the Martial Arts", 1979]

"The burning desire of the Founder in establishing aikido was to keep the most valuable legacy of budo alive in the modern world. In order to accomplish his goal he went beyond differences in outward form to grasp the essence of each martial art and to bring it to life in a new form. The motivating force was his intense spiritual quest to discover a life-giving and life-affirming philosophy in budo. The result was the transformation of the heart of budo into the heart of aikido, the way of harmony and love." (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "The Spirit of Aikido", 1981)

"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)

"When you have had the experience of defeating one or two opponents, you will come to understand what constitutes good and bad in the martial arts. Gradually, with practice and experience in handling opponents [...] you will become able to discern the psychology of your opponents through fighting a variety of different people." (Kazumi Tabata, "Secret Tactics: Lessons From the Great Masters of Martial Arts", 2003)

🅿Week 2026-19: On Paths (unsourced)

 "Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth." (Bruce Lee)

"Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity." (Lao Tzu)

"Efficiency in sparring and fighting is not a matter of correct classical, traditional form. Efficiency is anything that scores. Creating fancy forms and classical sets to replace sparring is like trying to wrap and tie a pound of water into a manageable shape of paper sack. For something that is static, fixed, dead, there can be a way or a definite path; but not for anything that is moving and living. In sparring there's no exact path or method, but instead a perceptive, pliable, choice-less awareness. It lives from moment to moment." (Bruce Lee)

"Every path, every street in the world is your walking meditation path." (Thich Nhat Hanh)

"Every step is on the path." (Lao Tzu)

"I realized that perseverance and step-by-step progress are the only ways to reach a goal along a chosen path." (Mas Oyama)

"If I had just a little bit of wisdom
I should walk the great path and fear only straying from it." (Lao Tzu)

"In a day, when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path." (Swami Vivekananda)

"It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed. The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back." (Ram Dass)

"Long and narrow is the ancient Path, - I have touched it, I have found it, the Path by which the wise, blowers of the Eternal, attaining to salvation, depart hence to the high world of Paradise." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon." (Ikkyu Sojun)

"O mighty one, The Four Recollections

Having been shown to be unmistakably the sole Path traversed by the Buddhas,

Do thou maintain zealous watchfulness over them at all times;

Through carelessness herein, all spiritual efforts become fruitless." (Nagarjuna)

"Philosophy's work is finding the shortest path between two points." (Kahlil Gibran)

"The path of Martial Arts begins and ends with courtesy. So be genuinely polite on every occasion." (Mas Oyama)

"To follow the path look to the master follow the master walk with the master see through the master become the master." (Jianzhi Sengcan)

"True budo is to discipline the self and to lose the will to fight  [...] It is to lose all enemies, and is an absolute path for self-completion. The martial techniques provide discipline for the journey of uniting the spirit and the body through channeling the laws of heaven. Techniques provide the medium for ‘Way’." (Morihei Ueshiba)

"Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing. Awareness is without choice, without demand, without anxiety; in that state of mind, there is perception. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. Awareness has no frontier; it is giving of your whole being, without exclusion." (Bruce Lee)

"Whither will my path yet lead me? This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it." (Hermann Hesse)

🅿Week 2026-18: On Paths

"Many roads lead to the path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice." (Bodhidharma, cca. 6th century)

"Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the Path." (Bodhidharma, cca. 6th century)

"There are two modes of acquiring knowledge, namely, by reasoning and experience. Reasoning draws a conclusion and makes us grant the conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, nor does it remove doubt so that the mind may rest on the intuition of truth unless the mind discovers it by the path of experience." (Roger Bacon, "Opus Majus", 1267)

"There can be no self in practising the path of the unfabricated, the Treasury of Luminosity, or views of self at all. Self and views are different names for the same thing, the face of a ghost or the face of a spirit. There is just this luminosity. It is not a matter of establishing any opinions about anything at all, from the views of self and what belongs to self or to ideas about the Buddha and the Dharma." (Koun Ejo, "Kōmyōzō zanmai" ["The Practice of the Treasury of Luminosity"], cca 13th century)

"Samurai should always wish to keep to the righteous path and try not to fall into the way of depravity, no matter what happens. Those samurai who keep on with the right path will achieve high honours with the aid of Buddha and the gods, while those who have fallen into a corrupt way will naturally meet with misfortune and be laughed at by the people of the world." (Musha Monogatari, 1654)

"Genuine insight into one's True Nature only emerges in the midst of Great Doubt and Great Faith; it is not the result of accumulated learning and discrimination. When the time is ripe, it appears of itself. Following this ripening process step by step is the purpose of this book. It is relatively easy to accomplish the important matter of insight into one's True Nature, but uncommonly difficult to function freely and clearly (according to this understanding), in motion and in rest, in good and in adverse circumstances. Please make strenuous and vigorous efforts towards this end, otherwise all the teachings of Buddha and patriarchs become mere empty words, rather than the living Dharma. Tread the path of sincere practice with uninterrupted concentration, and once things have become clear, then it is the time to take up and penetrate the sayings (of the Sutras and Masters)." (Torei Enji, "The Inexhaustible Lamp", cca. 1800)

"The insights gained and garnered by the mind in its wanderings among basic concepts are benefits that theory can provide. Theory cannot equip the mind with formulas for solving problems, nor can it mark the narrow path on which the sole solution is supposed to lie by planting a hedge of principles on either side. But it can give the mind insight into the great mass of phenomena and of their relationships, then leave it free to rise into the higher realms of action." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)

"Simply stated, aikido is a budo open to all people who aspire to unify the ki of the universe with the ki of oneself. For all members of the human race, it is the path to attaining harmony with all beings. The gates of aikido are open to people of all ages, classes, sexes, nationalities and races. Non-discrimination and non-exclusiveness are basic characteristics of aikido." (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "The Spirit of Aikido", 1981)

"Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question... Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Teachings of Don Juan", 1968)

"Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Teachings of Don Juan", 1968)

"The path of awakening begins with a step the Buddha called right understanding." (Jack Kornfield & Joseph Goldstein, "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation", 1987)

"We are awakened to the profound realization that the true path to liberation is to let go of everything." (Jack Kornfield, "A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life", 1993)

"Acknowledging that sometimes, often at very crucial times, you really have no idea where you are going or even where the path lies. At the same time, you can very well know something about where you are now (even if it is knowing that you are lost, confused, enraged or without hope)." (Jon Kabat-Zinn, "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life", 1994) 

"Meditation is simply about being yourself and knowing something about who that is. It is about coming to realize that you are on a path whether you like it or not, namely, the path that is your life. Meditation may help us see that this path we call our life has direction; that it is always unfolding, moment by moment; and that what happens now, in this moment, influences what happens next." (Jon Kabat-Zinn, "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life", 1994)

"The spiritual path can only be traveled through the daily experience of love." (Paulo Coelho, "By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept", 1994)

"Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: 'Does this path have a heart?'" (Carlos Castaneda, "The Wheel of Time: The Shamans of Mexico Their Thoughts About Life", 1998)

"A prerequisite to progress on the path is to realize that you are ignorant." (Sheng Yen, "Song of Mind: Wisdom from the Zen Classic Xin Ming", 2004)

"What is truly a part of our spiritual path is that which brings us alive. If gardening brings us alive, that is part of our path, if it is music, if it is conversation [...] we must follow what brings us alive." (Jack Kornfield, "The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology", 2008)

"A path will be revealed only when you read a sutra with a warm heart and put its teachings into practice. Otherwise, a sutra has no value in life. It is no exaggeration to say that it will take more than a lifetime for a reader to carry out every recommendation in a book." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"There are essentially two paths to enlightenment. One path is art and the other path is religion. The two paths are closely interrelated." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"Every conscious thought you have, every moment you spend on an idea, is a commitment to be stuck with that idea and with aspects of that level of thinking, for the rest of your life. Spending just 10 seconds focusing on a topic that does not serve your interests is to invest your energy along a path that will continue to draw from you and define you." (Kevin Michel, "Moving Through Parallel Worlds to Achieve Your Dreams", 2013)

"Every conscious thought you have, every moment you spend on an idea, is a commitment to be stuck with that idea and with aspects of that level of thinking, for the rest of your life. Spending just 10 seconds focusing on a topic that does not serve your interests is to invest your energy along a path that will continue to draw from you and define you." (Kevin Michel, "Moving Through Parallel Worlds to Achieve Your Dreams", 2013)

"Our consciousness and awareness, which includes our choices as to where we place our focus, alters the paths of our lives, and creates a split in reality, leading to the creation of two or more worlds at any moment in time." (Kevin Michel, "Moving Through Parallel Worlds to Achieve Your Dreams", 2013)

"The subconscious mind is shielding or showing numerous potential paths, based on what it determines would represent a consistent reality for you." (Kevin Michel, "Moving Through Parallel Worlds to Achieve Your Dreams", 2013))

🆂Week 2026-17: On Self-Control

"Patience, absolute self-control, learning the capabilities of those under you so you can make up for their deficits through training." (Orson Scott Card, "Ender in Exile", 2008)

"The wise who control their body, who likewise control their speech, the wise who control their mind are indeed well controlled." (Gautama Buddha, "Dhammapada", cca 1st century

"Self-control, which was universally required of samurai. The discipline of fortitude on the one hand, inculcating endurance without a groan, and the teaching of politeness on the other, requiring us not to mar the pleasure or serenity of another by manifestations of our own sorrow or pain, combined to engender a stoical turn of mind, and eventually to confirm it into a national trait of apparent stoicism." (Nitobe Inazö, "Bushidö: The Soul of Japan", 1900)

"A good player recognizes these moves for what they are: a process of sounding out and experimentation. The good player is patient. He is observant, controlling his patience, and organizing his composure. When he sees an opportunity he explodes." (Jim Lau,) [in Joe Hyams's, "Zen in the Martial Arts", 1979] 

"Mental disease is to stick to a certain idea. Mental disease is to freeze on certain things or victory. The mind can work freely, if one has enough room to be able to hear the sound of wind and water. One can control one’s mind by releasing it. When one removes the source of thoughts, one’s mind starts to be free from all thoughts. Master the road of experts who remove thoughts by gaining other thoughts." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"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)

🅲Week 2026-16: On Control (unsourced)

 "Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy - by one, or more, or all of these - and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details." (Swami Vivekananda)

"Face your fear, empty yourself, trust your own voice, let go of control, have faith in outcomes, connect with a larger purpose, derive meaning from the struggle." (Jigoro Kano)

"For the uncontrolled there is no wisdom, nor for the uncontrolled is there the power of concentration; and for him without concentration there is no peace. And for the unpeaceful, how can there be happiness?" (Bhagavad Gita)

"He who defends with love will be secure; Heaven will save him, and protect him with love." (Lao Tzu)

"If one achieves a genuine breakthrough, then [one realizes that ] a Confucian is no different from a Buddhist, and a Buddhist is no different from a Confucian; a monk is no different from a layman, and a layman is no different from a monk; an ordinary man is no different from a sage, and a sage is no different from an ordinary man. [In fact] I am you and you are I; Heaven is earth and earth is Heaven; waves are the same as water, and water is no different from waves. Kumis and rich butter are but one taste; bracelets and hairpins are all melted from gold [...] When you reach this state, you are in control of everything." (Ta-hui Tsung-kao)

"If you govern people with laws and control them by punishment, they will seek to avoid punishment, but have no sense of Confucianism shame. If you govern them by virtue and control them with properness, they will have their own sense of shame, and guide themselves into doing good." (Confucius)

"In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present." (Lao Tzu)

"Softness triumphs over hardness, feebleness over strength. What is more malleable is always superior over that which is immoveable. This is the principle of controlling things by going along with them, of mastery through adaptation." (Lao-Tzu)

"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words." (Philip K. Dick)

"The need for approval, the need to control things, and the need for external power are needs that are based on fear. When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power." (Deepak Chopra)

"The one Godhead secret in all beings, all-pervading, the inner Self of all, presiding over all action, witness, conscious knower and absolute... the One in control over the many who are passive to Nature, fashions one seed in many ways." (Svetosvatara Upanishad)

"The most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control." (Ogden Nash)

"The tissue of the world is built from necessities and randomness; the intellect of men places itself between both and can control them; it considers the necessity and the reason of its existence; it knows how randomness can be managed, controlled, and used." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

"Through meditation we can learn simple exercises to help us understand and control our thinking. We can learn to gain access to powers of spirit that connect us to realms of higher thinking and knowledge. Most importantly, we can learn the balance of mind and spirit that is so necessary to make life enjoyable and fruitful." (Randolph Winters)

"We can control our lives by controlling our perceptions." (Bruce H. Lipton)

"What is education? Is it book-learning? No. Is it diverse knowledge? Not even that. The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is called education." (Swami Vivekananda)

"When your opponent is inside your circle and you cannot or will not retreat any farther, you must fight. But until then, you should maintain your control and your distance." (Bruce Lee)

"You must learn to allow patience and stillness to take over from anxiety and frantic activity for the sake of doing something, Between martial artists of the first rank, there is room for only one mistake. Before an exchange of blows, several minutes may be spent in controlled patience and planning while each man respectfully observes his opponent, studying his position or stance, watching, getting ideas, and charging his energy. When one man thinks he is going to attack, his opponent may quickly change his stance. If he has overreacted, his opponent makes a note of it. This is a weakness which he will later attempt to use to his advantage." (Jim Lau)

🅲Week 2026-15: On Control

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

"He who knows much about others may be learned,

but he who understands himself is more intelligent.

He who controls others may be powerful,

but he who has mastered himself is mightier still." (Lao Tsu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"In explaining Judo, often we say 'Gentleness often controls sturdness' (as 'Ju' or Yawara implies tenderness) : Judo shows free mental-attitude created by gentle and elastic capability, physical and mental, which enables a player in face of emergency to change his position and act or avert a danger in accordance with the requirement of time and place given." (Kyuzo Mifune, "Canon of Judo: Principle and Technique", 1956

"[...] before you can control your opponent's body you must first control his mind." (Sadami Yamada, "Principles and Practice of Aikido", 1966)

"In no system which shows mental characteristics can any part have unilateral control over the whole. In other words, the mental characteristics of the system are imminent, not in some part, but in the system as a whole." (Gregory Bateson, "Steps to an Ecology of Mind", 1972)

"You must learn to allow patience and stillness to take over from anxiety and frantic activity for the sake of doing something, Between martial artists of the first rank, there is room for only one mistake. Before an exchange of blows, several minutes may be spent in controlled patience and planning while each man respectfully observes his opponent, studying his position or stance, watching, getting ideas, and charging his energy. When one man thinks he is going to attack, his opponent may quickly change his stance. If he has overreacted, his opponent makes a note of it. This is a weakness which he will later attempt to use to his advantage." (Jim Lau)  [in Joe Hyams's, "Zen in the Martial Arts", 1979]

"To tune the spirit when someone is trampling on you is called control." (Carlos Castaneda, "The Fire from Within", 1984)

"In our techniques we enter completely into, blend totally with, and control firmly an attack. Strength resides where one's ki is concentrated and stable; confusion and maliciousness arise when ki stagnates." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"Appearances are not reality; but they often can be a convincing alternative to it. You can control appearances most of the time, but facts are what they are. When the facts are too sharp, you can craft a cheerful version of the situation and cover the facts the way that you can covered a battered old four-slice toaster with a knitted cozy featuring images of kittens." (Dean Koontz, "The Good Guy", 2007)

"In my experience, the biggest challenge people face is learning to get out of their own way. When you can see just how easy change can be, you can begin to take control over your life and make all the changes you want - but you need to take the action." (Richard Bandler, "Get the Life You Want: The Secrets to Quick and Lasting Life Change with Neuro-Linguistic Programming", 2008)

"What I have learned, above all, is to keep marching forward because the best news is that since chance does play a role, one important factor in success is under our control: the number of at bats, the number of chances taken, the number of opportunities seized." (Leonard Mlodinow, "The Drunkard's Walk", 2008)

"Mental disease is to stick to a certain idea. Mental disease is to freeze on certain things or victory. The mind can work freely, if one has enough room to be able to hear the sound of wind and water. One can control one’s mind by releasing it. When one removes the source of thoughts, one’s mind starts to be free from all thoughts. Master the road of experts who remove thoughts by gaining other thoughts." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"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)

"No price is too great to pay for inner peace. Peace is the harmonious control of life. It is vibrant with life-energy. It is a power that easily transcends all our worldly knowledge. Yet it is not separate from our earthly existence. If we open the right avenues within, this peace can be felt here and now." (Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, "The Jewels of Happiness: Inspiration and Wisdom to Guide Your Life-Journey", 2015)

🆃Week 2026-14: On Training (unsourced)

"A martial artist who drills exclusively to a set pattern of combat is losing his freedom. He is actually becoming a slave to a choice pattern and feels that the pattern is the real thing. It leads to stagnation because the way of combat is never based on personal choice and fancies, but constantly changes from moment to moment, and the disappointed combatant will soon find out that his 'choice routine' lacks pliability. There must be a 'being' instead of a 'doing' in training. One must be free. Instead of complexity of form, there should be simplicity of expression." (Bruce Lee)

"Although it is important to study and train for skill in techniques, for the man who wishes to truly accomplish the way of budo, it is important to make his whole life in training and therefore not aiming for skill and strength alone, but also for spiritual attainment." (Mas Oyama)

"As far as possible, I want nothing more than to don my training gi and teach Karate." (Mas Oyama)

"Because zazen is training to realize the One Mind of yourself, it is a mistake to set up an aim outside of yourself [...] Not setting up an aim is the true aim." (Kawajiri Hogin)

"Budo training is to protect all things and nurture the power of unconditional divine love within" (Morihei Ueshiba)

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

"Each one of us starts Karate with some particular reason: to be a good fighter, to keep in good shape, to protect oneself. I wanted to become very strong myself when I first began. But Karate training soon teaches that real strength is facing oneself strictly, with severe eyes. This is the first condition of martial arts training. Therefore, all karateka must be strong inwardly, but quite gentle to others. As we train together, each contributing to a good atmosphere, let's try to bring out that serious strong mentality from deep inside." (Tsutomu Ohshima)

"Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed." (Thomas W Moore)

"Education is not training but rather the process that equips you to entertain yourself, a friend and an idea." (Wallace Sterling

"Education is the best way to train ourselves that we will secure our own well-being by concerning ourselves with others." (Dalai Lama)

"I believe that the only way to teach anyone proper self-defence is to approach each individual personally. Each one of us is different and each one of us should be taught the correct form. By correct form I mean the most useful techniques the person is inclined toward. Find his ability and then develop these techniques. I don't think it is important whether a side kick is performed with the heel higher than the toes, as long as the fundamental principle is not violated. Most classical martial arts training is a mere imitative repetition - a product - and individuality is lost." (Bruce Lee)

"In training ourselves to solve koan, we should neither make guesses or comments nor try to understand them. It is unnecessary to know the meanings of the words or justify our attitudes toward the koan presented to us. On the contrary, we should neither be empty and tranquil nor expect to be enlightened. It is still worse to be absent-minded. Whether we walk, dwell, sit, or lie down, we should always be one with the koan and try to keep in touch with them all the time." (Ta-hui Tsung-kao)

"It is a grave mistake to think that budo is about being stronger than your partner or opponent and that you have to defeat him. In true budo, there is no partner. Th ere is no enemy. True budo is to become one with the universe. It is to be united with the universe’s center. In aikido, we do not train to become strong or to defeat opponents, but to make even a small contribution to peace for all people in the world. To that purpose we must strive to harmonize with the center of the universe."  (Morihei Ueshiba)

"Judo is the way to the most effective use of both physical and spiritual strength. By training you in attacks and defenses it refines your body and your soul and helps you make the spiritual essence of Judo a part of your very being. In this way you are able to perfect yourself and contribute something of value to the world. This is the final goal of Judo discipline." (Jigoro Kano)

"Karate is Budo and if Budo is removed from Karate it is nothing more than sport karate, show karate, or even fashion karate-the idea of training merely to be fashionable." (Mas Oyama)

"Let me give you a bit of warning: just because you get very good at your training it should not go to your head that you are an expert. Remember, actual sparring is the ultimate, and the training is, only a means toward this. Besides running, one should also do exercises for the stomach - sit-ups, leg raises, etc. Too often one of those big-belly masters will tell you that his internal power has sunk to his stomach; he's not kidding, it is sunk and gone! To put it bluntly, he is nothing but fat and ugly." (Bruce Lee)

"Since Karate exists for cultivating the spirit and training the body, it must be a moral way surpassing mere techniques." (Mas Oyama)

"Subjecting yourself to vigourous training is more for the sake of forging a resolute spirit that can vanquish the self than it is for developing a strong body." (Mas Oyama)

"The purpose of all our training is to find peace within ourselves." (Shifu Yan Lei)

"The true value of Budo is to train the mind to see clearly and maintain spiritual strength." (Toshitsugu Takamatsu)

"To lead an untrained people to war is to throw them away." (Confucius)

"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)

"Through courtesy you will take a humble attitude toward your opponent in training and be grateful to him." (Shigeru Egami

"To observe and watch one's own mind is something really interesting. The untrained mind will run and follow its old habit patterns. Because it has not been trained and taught, it will get lost in all kinds of stories and issues. Therefore we have to train our mind. The meditation practice in Buddhism is all about training one's own mind." (Ajahn Chah)

"What is education? Is it book-learning? No. Is it diverse knowledge? Not even that. The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is called education." (Swami Vivekananda)

"When raw nature dominates training, you will be rustic. When training dominates raw nature, you will be clerical. When raw nature and training are combined well, you will be a superior person." (Confucius)

"You may train for a long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning karate is not very different from learning a dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of karate-do." (Gichin Funakoshi)

🆃Week 2026-13: On Training

"Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort." (Epictetus, "Discourses", cca. 108)

"Other schools become theatrical, dressing up and showing off to make a living, commercializing martial arts. […] Do you think you have realized how to attain victory just by learning to wield a long sword and training your body and your hands? This is not a certain way in any case. […]" (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 1645)

"[…] the power of knowledge of the art of the sword. This is something that requires thorough examination, with a thousand days of practice for training and ten thousand days of practice for refinement. […]" (Miyamoto Musashi, "Go Rin No Sho" ["The Book of Five Rings"], 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 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", cca. 1800)

"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)

"True Budo is done for the sake of 'building peace'. Train every day so as to make peace between this spirit [Budo] and all things manifested on the face of the Earth." (Morihei Ueshiba, "Budo Training in Aikido", 1933)

"In training, do not expect good results in a short time. [...] train systematically, without becoming impatient or overexerting yourself, and develop gradually, advancing steadily, one stop at a time, with increased application of force and numbers of exercises practiced." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"To stand still is to regress; those who think that they have learned everything and become conceited braggarts proclaiming their own merits after learning the movements of some kata and acquiring dexterity in their physical movements are not fit to be considered as serious trainees in the martial arts." (Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text", 1935)

"What is absolutely necessary in the beginning, however, is to follow the imagination. […] This use of imagination during initial study and practice will be difficult to trust and will not be susceptible to proof. Only after a long period of training will you be able to apply it in a natural manner […]" (Yearning K Chen, "T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Sword, Saber, Staff, and Dispersing-Hands Combined", 1943)

"When (someone) studies aikido with the intention of using it as a tool for fighting, they don’t last long. Budo is not like dancing or watching a movie. Rain or shine, you must practice at all times during your daily life in order to progress. In particular, aikido is like spiritual training practiced using a budo form. lt can never be cultivated as a tool by those who would use it for fighting. Also, individuals inclined towards violence cease to behave in that manner when they learn aikido." (Kisshomaru Ueshiba, [interview] 1957)

"The mind can go either direction under stress - toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Zen without the accompanying physical experience is nothing but empty discussion. Martial ways without truly realizing the 'Mind' is nothing but beastly behavior. We agree to undertake all of this as the essence of our training." (Omori Sogen, "Canon", 1979)

"As your training progresses, always remember that the key to gaining the ability for spontaneous and creative technique lies in good ukemi." (Mitsugi Saotome, "The Principles of Aikido", 1989)

"Generally speaking, building up Qi by using the mind alone without physical movement is much harder than using the mind and movement together. However, since the mind is so important in Qigong training, learning how to regulate your mind has become one of the major trainings." (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"Many people think that Qigong is a difficult subject to understand. In some ways, this is true. However, regardless of how difficult the theory and practice of a particular style of Qigong might be, the basic Qi theory and principles are very simple and remain the same for all of the Qigong styles. Basic Qi theory and Qigong principles are the roots of all Qigong practice, and it is from these roots that the different styles of training blossomed. Naturally, the results and the depth achieved are different from style to style. If, however, you understand the root of what you are doing, it does not matter which style you are practicing, because you will be able to grasp the key to the practice and grow." (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"One part of Qigong training is learning how to regulate your Fire Qi and Water Qi so that they are balanced. This involves learning to use your wisdom mind to dominate and direct your emotional mind."  (Jwing-Ming Yang, "The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets for health, longevity" 2nd Ed., 1997)

"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)

"Train not by thought, but by practice. Learn a wide variety of arts and skills, and do not fix on only one. Know not only your own techniques but also those of many others. Find out rationally what is an advantage and what is a disadvantage. Foster an intuitive ability to judge all things. Feel an essence that you cannot see on the surface. Pay attention to the very smallest of phenomena. (Everything takes its own course, and sometimes we get unexpected results.) Do nothing in vain, for the energy and time we have is limited." (Kazumi Tabata, "Secret Tactics: Lessons From the Great Masters of Martial Arts", 2003)

"Patience, absolute self-control, learning the capabilities of those under you so you can make up for their deficits through training." (Orson Scott Card, "Ender in Exile", 2008)

"In terms of the martial arts, there are two training methods: one focuses on the rational aspect of training while the other emphasizes the technical aspect. The martial arts owe its origin to people’s attempts to rationally unify the mind, body, and skill. In the martial arts, truth will reveal itself once your mind gains insight into the empty nature of the world and your body masters and perfects physical techniques." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"The meaning of tanren (discipline, training) lies in the effort to burn out the energy of one’s mind and body with burning flames. Tanren requires mental integration and concentration that lead to the deep root." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"Through training, one reaches the state of mindlessness. Only then, will one be able to discard the thoughts of anxiety, the opponent’s technique and defenses. Being in the state of mindlessness means to entrust one’s mind and body to the universe."Through training, one reaches the state of mindlessness. Only then, will one be able to discard the thoughts of anxiety, the opponent’s technique and defenses. Being in the state of mindlessness means to entrust one’s mind and body to the universe." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

🆈Week 2026-12: On Yin & Yang

"Countless words count less 

than the silent balance between yin and yang" (Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching", cca 400 BC)

"The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things. [...] The complete whole is the complete whole. So also is any part the complete whole... But forget about understanding and harmonizing and making all things one. The universe is already a harmonious oneness; just realize it." (Lao Tzu, cca 400 BC)

"That is the truth. Not the hammer and sickle. Not the stars and stripes. Not the cross. Not the sun. Not gold. Not yin and yang. But the smile." (John Fowles, "The Magus", 1965)

"The heart of a human being is no different from the soul of heaven and earth. In your practice always keep in your thoughts the interaction of heaven and earth, water and fire, yin and yang." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"All of our punishment institutions, including jails, laws, church confessionals, and so forth, are systems of illusion. The order of the universe, the infinite justice of yin and yang, naturally takes care of all motion and compensation. We don't need to invent arbitrary ways to make balance with punishments." (Michio Kushi & Edward Esko, "Spiritual Journey: Michio Kushi's Guide to Endless Self-Realization and Freedom", 1994)

"In a universe animated by the interaction of yin (female) and yang (male) energies, the moon was literally yin visible. Indeed, it was the very germ or source of yin, and the sun was its yang counterpart." (Li Bai, "The Selected Poems of Li Po", 1996)

"The absolute universe is one. Then two opposing forces appeared, and the relative world was born. In the orient this dualism is called 'yin' and 'yang', in the west, 'plus' and 'minus'." (Koichi Tohei, "Shokushu" "Ki Sayings", 2003)

"Nature is dominated by yin and yang. There are positive and negative forces, and good and evil on this planet. Great achievements are always followed by failures of the similar magnitude. Do not let your guard down in times of happiness. Life requires mental strength that enables one to cope calmly with unfortunately events. Always be prepared for something bad to happen." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"Material force moves and flows in all directions and in all manners. Its two elements unite and give rise to the concrete. Thus the multiplicity of things and human beings is produced. In their ceaseless successions the two elements of yin and yang constitute the great principles of the universe." (Chang Tsai)

"The art of the sword consists of never being concerned with victory or defeat, with strength or weakness, of not moving one step forward, nor one step backward, or the enemy not seeing me and my not seeing the enemy. Penetrating to that which is fundamental before the separation of heaven and earth where even yin and yang cannot reach, one instantly attains proficiency in the art." (Takuan)

🆂Week 2026-11: On Satori

"The practice of Buddhism depends on whether your teacher is right or wrong. The potentiality of the pupil is like good material, and the teacher is like the master of art. Even if the material is good, good work will not be produced without a good artisan. On the other hand, even a crooked piece of wood will immediately reveal the skill of workmanship in the hands of a good worker. This will testify to the fact that true or false satori (enlightenment) depends on the adequacy of the teacher." (Dogen Zenji, "Gakudo Yojinshu" ["Points to Watch in Practicing the Way"], cca. 13th century)

"At the highest level of satori from which people return, the point of consciousness becomes a surface or a solid which extends throughout the whole known universe. This used to be called fusion with the Universal Mind or God. In more modern terms you have done a mathematical transformation in which your centre of consciousness has ceased to be a travelling point and has become a surface or solid of consciousness... It was in this state that I experienced 'myself' as melded and intertwined with hundreds of billions of other beings in a thin sheet of consciousness that was distributed around the galaxy. A 'membrane'." (John C Lilly, "Tanks for the Memories: Floatation Tank Talks" 1995)

"Thinking is not enough. Nothing is. There is no final enough of wisdom, experience--any fucking thing. No Holy Grail, No Final Satori, no final solution. Just conflict." (William S Burroughs, [journal entry] 1999)

"I believe from the bottom of my heart that what we call religion is the very most important matter for human beings. I cannot stress enough that the ultimate goal of religion, whether we call it satori or peace of mind, is for each individual to live in peace and tranquility, to live a full and satisfying life." (Soko Morinaga, "Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity" 2002)

"Satori is achieved when one’s mind connects to the mind of the universe. When one’s mind connects to the mind of the universe, one comes to be able to understand reason of nature without being taught. When one’s mind connects to the mind of the universe, one comes to bear supernatural power. Buddha described the supernatural world as ku (knowing the void)." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"If we achieve satori and the satori shows, like a bit of dogshit stuck to the top of our nose, that is not so good." (Taisen Deshimaru)

"They take trouble to create something called “emptiness” which they regard as separate from their own being. They aspire to this idea of emptiness, and in addition, they try to be empty of mental activity again and again. Thus, their deluded knowledge will keep on increasing so much that it will impede their becoming empty even if they wait for one hundred years. Even if they succeed in becoming empty in this way, it will be to no avail. It is mistaken to believe that to become empty is satori. If to become empty meant satori (enlightenment), human beings would be enlightened every time they wake up in the morning because they become empty every night during their sleep." (Kawajiri Hogin)

"Those who practice only in silence/tranquility, cannot establish their [internal] freedom when entering into activity. When they engage into worldy activities, their usual satori (enlightment) will eventually disappear without any trace." (Hakuin Ekaku)

🛸Week 2026-10: James G Ballard - Collected Quotes

"However selective the conscious mind may be, most biological memories are unpleasant ones, echoes of danger and terror. Nothing endures for so long as fear." (James G Ballard, "The Drowned World", 1962)

"Speculative fantasy, as I prefer to call the more serious fringe of science fiction, is an especially potent method of using one’s imagination to construct a paradoxical universe where dream and reality become fused together, each retaining its own distinctive quality and yet in some way assuming the role of its opposite, and where by an undeniable logic black simultaneously becomes white." (James G Ballard, "Time, Memory, and Inner Space’", 1963)

"It marked the beginning of the giant’s surrender to that all-demanding system of time in which the rest of humanity finds itself, and of which, like the million twisted ripples of a fragmented whirlpool, our finite lives are the concluding products." (James G Ballard, "The Drowned Giant", 1965)

"Our lives today are not conducted in linear terms. They are much more quantified; a stream of random events is taking place." (James G Ballard, [Conversation with George MacBeth on Third Programme - BBC], 1967)

"Everything is becoming science fiction. From the margins of an almost invisible literature has sprung the intact reality of the 20th century." (James G Ballard, "Fictions of Every Kind", 1971)

"The role of the writer today has totally changed - he is now merely one of a huge army of people filling the environment with fictions of every kind. To survive, he must become far more analytic, approaching his subject matter like a scientist or engineer. If he is to produce fiction at all, he must outimagine everyone else, scream louder, whisper more quietly. For the first time in the history of narrative fiction, it will require more than talent to become a writer." (James G Ballard, "Fictions of Every Kind", 1971)

"Even the vagal flushes that seized at my chest seemed extensions of that real world of violence calmed and tamed within our television programmes and the pages of news magazines." (James G Ballard, "Crash", 1973)

"The catastrophe story, whoever may tell it, represents a constructive and positive act by the imagination rather than a negative one, an attempt to confront the terrifying void of a patently meaningless universe by challenging it at its own game. [. . .] Each one of these fantasies represents an arraignment of the finite, an attempt to dismantle the formal structure of time and space which the universe wraps around us at the moment we first achieve consciousness." (James G Ballard, "Cataclysms and Dooms" 1977)

"I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that’s my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again [...] the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul." (James G Ballard, Re/Search 8–9, [interview with Andrea Juno and V. Vale], 1984)

🅲Week 2026-09: On Contemplation (unsourced)

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"Contemplation is to knowledge, what digestion is to food the way to get life out of it." (Tryon Edwards)

"Further, this power which conceives these ideas does at times gain from sense forms mental, imaginative, and innate in (instinctive to) itself; and in such a case it does this in that it lays before itself the forms that are in the conceiving power and in the remembering (preserving) power, by employing the imaginative and the conjecturing power, and then contemplates them, and finds them to have participated in some forms and to have differed in some other forms; and finds some amongst the forms that are in these powers to be essential and others to be accidental." (Avicenna Latinus [Ibn Sina])

"If you want to understand suffering you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there. Where suffering lies is right where non-suffering will arise, it ceases at the place where it arises. If suffering arises you must contemplate right there, you don't have to run away. You should settle the issue right there. One who runs away from suffering out of fear is the most foolish person of all. He will simply increases his stupidity endlessly." (Ajahn Chah)

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

"In order to meditate, it is very important to first identify what we are meditating on. If we meditate without identifying that, there is the danger it will become idiot meditation or idiot Dharma. If we do not first fully comprehend through listening and contemplating the meaning of what we are meditating on, how can we practice?" (Gyalwa Karmapa)

"In the Martial Arts, introspection begets wisdom. Always see contemplation on your actions as an opportunity to improve." (Mas Oyama) [motto]

"In the same way, if we are confronted with koan, we have to contemplate it in the same way. Such a time is not the time for zazen, but for koan only, and we have nothing to do with zazen as suggested by the saying that the virtuous woman does not serve two husbands, nor does the loyal retainer serve two lords. Thus, when we are supposed to act, all we have to do is to act. We have to act for all our lives. When our whole bodies act, there is no dualistic self in us. When there is no self, there is nothing which is in opposition to us. I do not doubt that the universe is one with the whole active self." (Toin)

"Prayer can assume very different forms, from quiet, blessed contemplation of God, in which eye meets eye in restful meditation, to deep sighs or sudden exclamations of wonder, joy, gratitude or adoration." (Ole Hallesby)

"The unknown, our own true nature, has the capacity to wake itself up when you start to fall in love with letting go of all the mental structures you hold onto. Contemplate this: there is no such thing as a true belief." (Adyashanti)

"There's no wisdom from a man without harmony, and without harmony there is no contemplation. Without contemplation there cannot be peace, and without peace there can be no joy..." (Bhagavad Gita)

"When a garden is used as a place to pause for thought, that is when a Zen garden comes to life. When you contemplate a garden like this it will form as lasting impression on your heart." (Muso Soseki)

"When you are engaged in some work or other, you become one with it. In the intervals of your work, you immediately resume your contemplation on the koan. For instance, when you are smoking by the fireside or doing something like that, you are considered to be in the intervals of your work. At such a time you are absorbed in the contemplation on the koan free from dualistic thoughts and imaginations. This is one example of kufu in movement." (Kawajiri Hogin, "Zazen no Shokei" [The Warning/Observation on Zazen])

🅲Week 2026-08: On Contemplation

"[...] so external sensation is the image of this perception of the soul, which is in its essence truer and is a contemplation of forms alone without being affected. From these forms, from which the soul alone receives its lordship over the living being, come reasonings, and opinions and noetic acts; and this is precisely where ‘we’ are." (Plotinus, "Enneads", cca. 270 AD)

"Zazen is seated meditation-the opposite of contemplation-the emptying of the mind of all thoughts in order simply to be. In the midst of all evil, not a thought is aroused in the mind-this is called za. Seeing into one's Self-nature, not being moved at all-this is called Zen." (Dajian Huineng, cca 7th century)

"If you would be free of greed, first you have to leave egotism behind. The best mental exercise for relinquishing egotism is contemplating impermanence." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"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)

"As we contemplate the edifice of the universe, in its vastest extension, in its minutest divisibility, we cannot resist the notion that an idea underlies the whole, according to which God and Nature creatively interact forever and ever. Intuition, contemplation, reflection give us an approach to these mysteries, We are emboldened to venture upon ideas; in a more modest mood we fashion concepts that might bear some analogy to those primal beginnings." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "Doubts and Resignation", 1820)

"It is not enough to contemplate ourselves objectively; we must also treat ourselves objectively." (Ernst, Baron von Feuchtersleben, "The Dietetics of the Soul; Or, True Mental Discipline", 1838)

"Religion and science are the two conjugated faces of phases of one and the same act of complete knowledge - the only one which can embrace the past and future of evolution so as to contemplate, measure and fulfill them." (Pierre T de Chardin, "The Phenomenon of Man", 1955)

"The unknown, our own true nature, has the capacity to wake itself up when you start to fall in love with letting go of all the mental structures you hold onto. Contemplate this: there is no such thing as a true belief." (Steven Gray [Adyashanti], "Emptiness Dancing" , 2004)

"One method for calming the mind is to contemplate the transient nature of our thoughts. When you are aware that your thoughts arise and perish of their own accord, there will be no need to be ruled or conditioned by them. Your mind will settle into observing them with detached awareness and your emotions will become even. If you can do this, you will soon be able to pacify your mind." (Sheng Yen, "The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination", 2008)

🅷Week 2026-07: On Harmony (unsourced)

"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well." (Gandhi)

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony." (Thomas Merton)

"It is in virtue that happiness consists, for virtue is the state of mind which tends to make the whole of life harmonious." (Zeno)

"Meditation is, first of all, a tool for surveying our territory so we can know what is going on. With the energy of mindfulness, we can calm things down, understand them, and bring harmony back to the conflicting elements inside us." (Thich Nhat Hanh)

"It is a grave mistake to think that budo is about being stronger than your partner or opponent and that you have to defeat him. In true budo, there is no partner. Th ere is no enemy. True budo is to become one with the universe. It is to be united with the universe’s center. In aikido, we do not train to become strong or to defeat opponents, but to make even a small contribution to peace for all people in the world. To that purpose we must strive to harmonize with the center of the universe."  (Morihei Ueshiba)

"Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony." (Heraclitus of Ephesus)

"Out of chaos, find simplicity, From discord, find harmony." (Bruce Lee)

"The Great Harmony is called the Way (Tao, Moral Law). It embraces the nature which underlies all counter processes of floating and sinking, rising and falling, and motion and rest. It is the origin of the process of fusion and intermingling, of overcoming and being overcome, and of expansion and contraction. At the commencement, these processes are incipient, subtle, obscure, easy, and simple, but at the end they are extensive, great, strong, and firm. It is ch'ien (Heaven) that begins with the knowledge of Change, and k'un (Earth) that models after simplicity. That which is dispersed, differentiated, and capable of assuming form becomes material force (ch'i), and that which is pure, penetrating, and capable of assuming form becomes spirit. Unless the whole universe is in the process of fusion and intermingling like fleeting forces moving in all directions, it may not be called Great Harmony." (Chang Tsai)

"The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence." (Rabindranath Tagore)

"There is harmony in our activity, and where there is harmony there is calmness." (Daisetzu T Suzuki)

"Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence." (Alan Watts)

"To define Buddhism without a lot of words and phrases, we can simply say, 'Don't cling or hold on to anything. Harmonize with actuality, with things as they are.'" (Ajahn Chah)

"When we in prayer seek only the glorification of the name of God, then we are in complete harmony with the spirit of prayer. Then our hearts are at rest both while we pray and after we have prayed. Then we can wait for the Lord." (Ole Hallesby)

"When we succeed in truly thanking God, we feel good at heart. The reason is that we have been created to give glory to God, now and forever-more. And every time we do so, we feel that we are in harmony with His plans and purposes for our lives. Then we are truly in our element. That is why it is so blessed." (Ole Hallesby)

"Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." (Anatole France)

"When you walking along naturally, you're walking in the harmony of the Unborn." (Bankei Yōtaku)

🅶Week 2026-06: On Growth

"He that would make a real progress in knowledge must dedicate his age as well as first fruits - the latter growth as well as the first-fruits - at the altar of truth." (Bishop George Berkeley, "Siris", 1744)

"Growth is limited by that necessity which is present in the least amount. And, naturally, the least favorable condition controls the growth rate." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"Pouncing on an idea as soon as it appears kills the idea. Too early and too enthusiastic logical attention either freezes the idea or forces it into the old moulds. Concentration on an idea isolates it from its surroundings and arrests its growth. The glare of attention inhibits the fertile semi-conscious processes that go to develop an idea." (Edward de Bono, "New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking in the Generation of New Ideas", 1967)

 "It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow." (Robert Pirsig, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", 1974)

"Magic is hidden in the language we speak. The webs that you can tie and untie are at your command if only you pay attention to what you already have (language) and the structure of the incantations for growth." (Richard Bandler & John Grinder, "The Structure of Magic", 1975)

"The most pervasive paradox of the human condition which we see is that the processes which allow us to survive, grow, change, and experience joy are the same processes which allow us to maintain an impoverished model of the world - our ability to manipulate symbols, that is, to create models. So the processes which allow us to accomplish the most extraordinary and unique human activities are the same processes which block our further growth if we commit the error of mistaking the model of the world for reality." (Richard Bandler & John Grinder, "The Structure of Magic", 1975)

"We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth." (Mitsugi Saotome, "The Principles of Aikido", 1989)

"Each day of human life contains joy and anger, pain and pleasure, darkness and light, growth and decay. Each moment is etched with nature's grand design - do not try to deny or oppose the cosmic order of things." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)

"We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance." (John A Wheeler, Scientific American Vol. 267, 1992)

"[...] all problems can be reperceived as challenges, or 'opportunities' to change, grow or learn." (Robert B Dilts, "Sleight of Mouth: The Magic of Conversational Belief Change", 1999)

🅴Week 2026-05: On Energy

"By standing alone and unchanging, you will find that everything comes to you and the energy of the cosmos will never be exhausted." (Lao Tsu)

"Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one's growth." (Lao Tzu)

"For truth is simple and without fuss, whereas error affords opportunity for dissipating time and energy." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1829)

"Meditation is the most effective form of relaxation. It not only relaxes the body and mind but also feeds them with vital energy, peace and happiness." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Meditation: Easy system propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", 1962)

"The heart is the sovereign of the five organs, tea is the chief of the bitter foods, and bitter is the chief of the tastes. For this reason the heart loves bitter things, and when it is doing well all the other organs are properly regulated. [...] When, however, the whole body feels weak, devitalized, and depressed, it is a sign that the heart is ailing. Drink lots of tea, and one 's energy and spirits ww be restored to full strength." (Myōan Eisai, "Drink Tea and Prolong Life", cca 12th century)

"Just concentrate your whole energy into this Mu, and do not allow any discontinuation. When you enter this Mu and there is no discontinuation, your attainment will be as a candle burning and illuminating the whole universe." (Ekai, "The Gateless Gate", cca. 13the century)

"When brute-force is too strong, it cannot exist for long; and likewise intrinsic energy cannot be totally devoid of strength either." (Yearning K Chen, "T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Sword, Saber, Staff, and Dispersing-Hands Combined", 1943)

"Compassion automatically invites you to relate with people because you no longer regard people as a drain on your energy." (Chögyam Trungpa, "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism", 1973)

"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)

"When the conscious mind expands to embrace deeper levels of thinking, the thought wave becomes more powerful and results in added energy and intelligence." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, "Thirty Years Around the World: 1957-1964", 1986)

"Meditation is silence, energising and fulfilling. Silent is the eloquent expression of the inexpressible." (Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, "The Silent Teaching: A Beginner's Guide to Meditation", 1996)

"Train not by thought, but by practice. Learn a wide variety of arts and skills, and do not fix on only one. Know not only your own techniques but also those of many others. Find out rationally what is an advantage and what is a disadvantage. Foster an intuitive ability to judge all things. Feel an essence that you cannot see on the surface. Pay attention to the very smallest of phenomena. (Everything takes its own course, and sometimes we get unexpected results.) Do nothing in vain, for the energy and time we have is limited." (Kazumi Tabata, "Secret Tactics: Lessons From the Great Masters of Martial Arts", 2003)

"Intention is not something you do, but rather a force that exists in the universe as an invisible field of energy, a power that can carry us. (Wayne Dyer, "The Power of Intention", 2004)

"Thoughts are mental energy; they're the currency that you have to attract what you desire. You must learn to stop spending that currency on thoughts you don't want." (Wayne Dyer, "Being in Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires", 2006)

"Fill yourself with a flow of energy (ki). Set off your waza with momentum and overwhelm the opponent. There is only a single chance to beat him. Any initiative waza should come from you decisively. Use all your energy when you move offensively and defensively. When not moving offensively or defensively, conserve your energy." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"The meaning of tanren (discipline, training) lies in the effort to burn out the energy of one’s mind and body with burning flames. Tanren requires mental integration and concentration that lead to the deep root." (Kazumi Tabata, "Mind Power: Secret Strategies for the Martial Arts", 2010)

"Every conscious thought you have, every moment you spend on an idea, is a commitment to be stuck with that idea and with aspects of that level of thinking, for the rest of your life. Spending just 10 seconds focusing on a topic that does not serve your interests is to invest your energy along a path that will continue to draw from you and define you." (Kevin Michel, "Moving Through Parallel Worlds to Achieve Your Dreams", 2013)

"Small shifts in your thinking, and small changes in your energy, can lead to massive alterations of your end result." (Kevin Michel, "Moving Through Parallel Worlds to Achieve Your Dreams", 2013)

"No price is too great to pay for inner peace. Peace is the harmonious control of life. It is vibrant with life-energy. It is a power that easily transcends all our worldly knowledge. Yet it is not separate from our earthly existence. If we open the right avenues within, this peace can be felt here and now." (Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, "The Jewels of Happiness: Inspiration and Wisdom to Guide Your Life-Journey", 2015)