Just studying Buddhism, then meditating and going to Buddhist monasteries, talking to Buddhist monks, combined with the Thai people themselves, changed the way I look at the world.
In my mind, there is no reason why Stoicism shouldn't become as popular as Buddhism, especially in the Western world, where the dominant culture, Christianity, itself absorbed a large number of elements from Greco-Roman Stoicism.
Sometimes you have a flash of insight, but it's not strong enough to survive. Therefore in the practice of Buddhism, samadhi is the power to maintain insight alive in every moment, so that every speech, every word, every act will bear the nature of that insight. It is a question of cleaning. And you clean better if you are surrounded by those who are practicing exactly the same.
Buddhism teaches us not to want things, not to avoid things, not to be upset by the loss. In the I Ching, there's a hexagram that says, "Be like the sun at midday". View all things as being equal.
We interact with others and we decide who we are. Are we reclusive? Are we outgoing? Are we successful? Are we going to be a failure? We cast a role for ourselves and we step into it.
I don't know how much you know about Zen, but you'll know less when I'm done with you.
Reciprocity, a symbiotic relationship, is a relationship in which two people have worked out certain terms. I am using you in certain ways; you are using me in certain ways. That is a balanced relationship.
To occupy yourself with tasks that are useful to yourself and others, you can get your mind off your problems.
Humility is courage, the open acceptance of your own perfection.
What we do outwardly will only interrupt the flow of our perfect attention is it is not in harmony with the dharma.
All I have to teach you are feelings, the words don't matter much. But as you listen, feel the stillness of my mind, not my mind but of mind. . . infinite mind.
To become wise, meditate on the third eye, between the eyebrows and a little bit above. Focus on that spot, the Agni chakra.
Feel the wind. This wind blows from world to world and from life to death. This is the wind of dharma. Be in love with the wind. It is an intimate lover. It enraptures you. It blows you through eternity.
If you had to pick between one or the other, I can't say which one is better; but I would certainly say, in my orientation, the light of samadhi is all-pervasive. Samadhi will free you.
Economics is important because it's possible to buy the places that are necessary to live in relative inaccessibility and seclusion, or to move with a bit of style and chicness into the middle of civilization.
You may have had countless lives, and many more stretching before you, and what else have you got to do with your time?
Our awareness creates life. Life does not exist independently of perception.
This world we exist in is populated by people who have really shut themselves off from life.
Our very awareness is the window upon which reality presents itself.
Meditation essentially means having a great time.