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“You keep going.
That is the bodhisattva’s way.
As long as it benefits even one being you have to, without any sense of discouragement, go on.”

– His Holiness the 16th Karmapa

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Paying the Bills, Ethically

If we are embarking on a spiritual path, we need to live our lives ethically, and this means ensuring that we do as little harm as possible to anyone or anything while we’re earning our daily bread.

– Krishnan Venkatesh, “Why Right Livelihood Isn’t Just About Your Day Job”

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Tsoknyi Rinpoche; Roshi Joan Halifax
We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.
What we most need to do is to hear, within us, the sound of the earth crying.

– Thich Nhat Hanh

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Joy Has Many Flavors

Joy has many different flavors. It might overflow from us in song or dance, or it might gently arise as a smile or a sense of inner fullness. Joy is not something we have to manufacture. It is already in us when we come into the world, as we can see in the natural delight and exuberance of a healthy baby. We need only release the layers of contraction and fear that keep us from it.

– James Baraz, “Lighten Up!”

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With no-mind, blossoms invite the butterfly; With no-mind, the butterfly visits the blossoms; When the flower blooms, the butterfly comes. When the butterfly comes, the flower blooms. I do not “know” others. Others do not “know” me. Not-knowing each other we naturally follow the Way.

– Ryokan

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Set Your Direction

No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can always set our compass to our highest intentions in the present moment.

– Jack Kornfield, “Set the Compass of Your Heart”

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Seven Secrets To Stop Interruptions in Meditaiton

Why Become Enlightened?

Why become enlightened? This is a question I sometimes ask myself. The answer I give is twofold: to make the world a better place and to avoid the pain of clinging to an existence that is unhappy. My belief is that somewhere down the line these two reasons converge: that my own ability to reach peace with myself will benefit the whole world.

– Kate Brandt, “When the World is Perfect”

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Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

– Desmond Tutu

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The natural impulse of our hearts and souls when they’re locked in by rigid beliefs is a kind of claustrophobia. We fight back inwardly because nothing in nature likes to follow dogmatic rules. The peace we need in our lives is not a rock, it’s a river. It isn’t rigid, it flows. The “right thing to do” may look different in different situations.

– Martha Beck

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Practicing with Loss

Loss is a fact of life. Impermanence is everywhere we look. We are all going to suffer our losses. How we deal with these losses is what makes all the difference. For it is not what happens to us that determines our character, our experience, our karma, and our destiny, but how we relate to what happens.

– Lama Surya Das, “Practicing with Loss”

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