“The question we need to ask ourselves is whether there is any place we can stand in ourselves, where we can look at all that is happening around us without freaking out, where we can be quiet enough to hear our predicament, and where we can begin to find ways of acting that are at least not contributing to further destabilization.” - Ram Dass (Richard Alpert)
Hardship, in forcing us to exercise greater patience and forbearance in daily life, actually makes us stronger and more robust. From the daily experience of hardship comes a greater capacity to accept difficulties without losing our sense of inner calm. Of course, I do not advocate seeking out hardship as a way of life, but merely wish to suggest that, if you relate to it constructively, it can bring greater inner strength and fortitude.
“
—
Dalai Lama
All the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness can and do promote inner values. But the reality of the world today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate. This is why I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion altogether.
“
—
Dalai Lama
Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.
“
—
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha
My Number One Commitment ~ Dalai Lama (by gyalwarinpoche)
Let us cultivate love and compassion, both of which give life true meaning. This is the religion I preach. It is simple. Its temple is the heart. Its teaching is love and compassion. Its moral values are loving and respecting others, whoever they may be. Whether one is a lay person or a monastic, we have no other option if we wish to survive in this world.
Spend five minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected to one another.
Until you have the inner discipline that brings calmness of mind, external facilities and conditions will never bring the joy and happiness you seek. On the other hand, if you possess this inner quality, calmness of mind, a degree of stability within, even if you lack the various external factors that you would normally require to be happy, it will still be possible to live a happy and joyful life.
People inflict pain on others in their selfish pursuit of happiness and satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a sense of universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share.
I am convinced that human nature is basically affectionate and good. If our behavior follows our kind and loving nature, immense benefits will result, not only for ourselves, but also for the society to which we belong. I generally refer to this sort of love and affection as a universal religion. Everyone needs it, believers as much as non-believers. This attitude constitutes the very basis of morality.
Democratic Socialism and Transcendental Pragmatism
Peace in Opposition
Nonviolence in Resolution
Interconnection in Community
Transcendence in Work
Beauty in Art
Sustainability in Balance
Light in Truth
Wisdom in Equality
Love in Cooperation
Unity in Diversity
Freedom in Preservation
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from MoonBeamShadow. Make your own badge here.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."
- John Muir
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." - Kurt Vonnegut
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” - Pablo Picasso
"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree... Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." - Albert Einstein
"Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group." - Carl Sagan
"Dreams are the touchstones of our characters." - Henry David Thoreau
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that source in you. Let us work together for unity and love." - Mahatma Gandhi
"Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing." - William Butler Yeats
"By Being, It Is." - Parmenides
"Without music, life would be a mistake." - Friedrich Nietzsche
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being." - Carl Jung
"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things." - Rene Descartes
"We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on." - Richard Feynman
"Then he said 'Remember Bob: no fear, no envy, no meanness,' and I said 'hmmm, right.'" - Bob Dylan
"The reverse side also has a reverse side." - Japanese Proverb
"We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep." - William James
"If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do... How would I be? What would I do?" - Buckminster Fuller
"The most vital issue of the age is whether the future progress of humanity is to be governed by the modern economic and materialistic mind of the West or by a nobler pragmatism guided, uplifted and enlightened by spiritual culture and knowledge...." - Sri Aurobindo
"The Self alone exists; and the Self alone is real. Verily the Self alone is the world, the I-I and God. All that exists is but the manifestation of the Supreme Being." - Ramana Maharshi
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind." - John F. Kennedy
