Education is the cultivation of the mind so that action is not self-centred:

it is learning throughout life to break down the walls

which the mind builds in order to be secure.

J. Krishnamurti

Immaturity is the craving for greater and wider experience.

Buddha

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

When you perceive for yourself that violence only leads to greater harm, is it difficult to drop violence?

Dharma Wheel

The Dharma Chakra is the Symbol of Universal and Spiritual Law. Its spokes represent the Noble Eight-Fold Path. In the center is a Double Dorje, the adamantine symbol of sovereign power and indestructible mind.

Morihei Ueshiba

True victory is not defeating an enemy.

True victory gives love and changes the enemy's heart.

Buddha

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him.

If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him,

like a shadow that never leaves him.

This traditional print depicts the cycle of worldly states of existence. The pictorial forms symbolize the self-perpetuating process of delusion. At its center are the animals representing the root causes of conditioned existence: ignorance, desire, and aversion. The next ring depicts the successive rising and falling action of Karma. Sentient beings revolve endlessly among the six realms, shown in the large middle circle. The outermost circle depicts the twelve phases of dependent origination (nidanas), links in the causal chain of cause and effect which governs existence. The entire Wheel of Life is in the grasp of Yama, Lord of Death. At the upper right, away from the endless circle stands a Bodhisattva who points toward another wheel: the Wheel of Dharma, representing the teachings of liberation.

The Tiger (Meek) is one of the Four Dignities, symbols of those qualities we develop on the sacred path of the warrior. Abiding in the Southern direction, the Tiger symbolizes unconditional confidence, disciplined awareness, kindness and modesty. It is relaxed yet energized; resting in a gentle state of being that has a natural sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

The Snow Lion (Perky) represents unconditional cheerfulness, a mind free of doubt, clear and precise. Of the Four Dignities the Snow Lion abides in the East. It has a beauty and dignity resulting from a body and mind that are synchronized. The Snow Lion has a youthful, vibrant energy of goodness and a natural sense of delight.

The Dragon (Inscrutable) enjoys resting in the sky among the clouds and wind. One of the Four Dignities it abides in the western direction. The vision of the dragon is to create an environment of fearlessness, warmth and genuineness. It is energetic, powerful and unwavering yet gentle and playful. The Sky Dragon represents generosity, spontaneous achievement, elegance, and equanimity.

The Garuda (Outrageous) is daring and fearless. One of the Four Dignities, the Garuda abides in the northern direction. Possessing great strength and power it soars beyond the beyond - no holding back. It symbolizes freedom from hopes and fears, the vast mind without reference point.

These four animals: the Garuda, the Sky Dragon, the Snow Lion, and the Tiger, are seen in the corners of many Tibetan prayer flags. Known collectively as "The Four Dignities," they represent sacred qualities and attitudes that Bodhisattvas develop on the path to enlightenment; qualities such as awareness, vast vision, confidence, joy, humility, and power.

Meditation is the ending of thought.

So, does it require competition to understand oneself? Must I compete with you in order to understand myself? And why this worship of success? The man who is uncreative, who has nothing in himself - it is he who is always reaching out, hoping to gain, hoping to become something, and as most of us are inwardly poor, inwardly poverty-stricken, we compete in order to become outwardly rich. The outward show of comfort, of position, of authority, of power, dazzles us because that is what we want.

"Good man, if one wishes to accomplish the wisdom of all wisdom, then one must decisively seek a true good knowing advisor. Good man, in seeking for a good knowing advisor, do not become weary or lax. And upon seeing a good knowing advisor, do not become satiated. As to a good knowing advisor and all his teachings, you must follow and accord. As to expedient devices employed by a good knowing advisor, do not find faults."

"Why is this land called Ultimate Bliss"? It is called "Ultimate Bliss" because the sentient beings in this land are free from the myriad sufferings, and only know every kind of joy.

Kakuzo Okakura

He only who has lived with the beautiful can die beautifully.

Zen Buddhism

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism notable for its emphasis on practice and experiential wisdom—particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening. As such, it de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct individual experience of one's own true nature.

"Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event. The history of the word experience aligns it closely with the concept of experiment. The concept of experience generally refers to know-how or procedural knowledge, rather than propositional knowledge. Philosophers dub knowledge based on experience "empirical knowledge".

A person with considerable experience in a certain field can gain a reputation as an expert."

If we can really understand the problem,

the answer will come out of it,

because the answer is not separate from the problem.

So, does it require competition to understand oneself?

Must I compete with you in order to understand myself?

And why this worship of success?

The man who is uncreative, who has nothing in himself,

it is he who is always reaching out, hoping to gain,

hoping to become something, and as most of us are inwardly poor,

inwardly poverty-stricken, we compete in order to become outwardly rich.

The outward show of comfort, of position, of authority,

of power, dazzles us because that is what we want.

If we can really understand the problem,

the answer will come out of it,

because the answer is not separate from the problem.

The true is not an ideal, a myth, but the actual.

The actual can be understood and dealt with.

The understanding of the actual cannot breed enmity,

whereas ideals do.

Ideals can never bring about a fundamental revolution,

but only a modified continuity of the old.

There is a fundamental and constant revolution only in action

from moment to moment which is not based

on an ideal and so is free of conclusion.

All We Are Saying Is ... JWL 12/08/80 RIP

"You make your own dream. That's the Beatles' story, isn't it? That's Yoko's story. That's what I'm saying now. Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It's quite possible to do anything, but not to put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don't expect Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself. That's what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshiped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be. There's nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you."

If there was no fixed point, no conclusion,

there would be no contradiction.

It is the understanding of the process of thought that is important,

and not what we are thinking about.

Attention is a strange thing.

We never look but through a screen of words, explanations and prejudices;

We never listen save through judgements, comparisons and remembrances.

The very naming of the flower, the bird, is a distraction.

The mind is never still to look, to listen.

The Value of Learning

When you have the help of another, is there freedom?

Or does freedom only come with self-knowledge?

Is self-knowledge a matter of guidance, of organised help?

Or are the ways of the self to be discovered from

moment to moment in our daily relationships?

Dependence on another, or on an organisation, breeds fear, does it not?

The Dhammapada

The swans go on the path of the sun,

they go through the atmosphere by means of their miraculous power;

the wise are led out of this world,

when they have conquered Mara and his train.

The Dhammapada

He who formerly was reckless and afterwards became sober,

brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds.

J. Krishnamurti

Can another help bring about a transformation in you?

If he can, you are not transformed;

you are merely dominated, influenced.

You have been overcome;

and whether you are overcome by envy

or by a so-called noble influence,

you are still a slave, you are not free.