"Thomas Aquinas Stops Writing" - (excerpt) Anthony de Mello - THE SONG OF THE BIRD
The story goes that Thomas Aquinas, one of the world's ablest theologians, suddenly stopped writing. When his secretary complained that his work was unfinished, Thomas replied, "Brother Reginald, some months ago I experienced something of the Absolute, so all I have ever written about God seems to me now to be like straw." How could it be otherwise when the scholar becomes a seer?
“Right and Wrong — Unknown
When Bankei held his seclusion-weeks of meditation, pupils from many parts of Japan came to attend. During one of these gatherings a pupil was caught stealing. The matter was reported to Bankei with the request that the culprit be expelled. Bankei ignored the case.
"Buddha's Flower Sermon "
"Toward the end of his life, the Buddha took his disciples to a quiet pond for instruction. As they had done so many times before, the Buddha’s followers sat in a small circle around him, and waited for the teaching.
"The Waves and the Ocean are One - We and God are One" by Atman Nityananda
The waves are one with the ocean. Both are sea water. The waves are only an expression of the ocean. The ocean is permanent and the waves are impermanent. The ocean is the substratum and the waves the phenomenon that appears due to and in the substratum. But the waves never stop to be the ocean.
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"The River" (excerpt) by Herman Hesse
I am only a ferryman and it is my task to take people across this river. I have taken thousands of people across and to all of them my river has been nothing but a hindrance on their journey. They have travelled for money and business, to weddings and on pilgrimages; the river has been in their way and the ferryman was there to take them quickly across the obstacle.
"Where is the Tao?" by Derek Lin in Chuang Tzu Stories
One day, a scholar by the name of Donguozi asked Chuang Tzu: “That which we call the Tao — where is it?”
The two of them were outside, and Chuang Tzu said: “Everywhere. There is no place where the Tao isn’t.”
Donguozi didn’t quite understand this, so he asked: “Can you be more specific and point it out for me?”
Chuang Tzu looked around and saw ants crawling underfoot, so he pointed to them: “The Tao is among these ants.”
This surprised Donguozi. He asked: “Why such a lowly place?”
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” - a translation of Hans Christian Andersen's “Keiserens Nye Klæder" by Jean Hersholt
Many years ago there was an Emperor so exceedingly fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on being well dressed. He cared nothing about reviewing his soldiers, going to the theatre, or going for a ride in his carriage, except to show off his new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might, about any other ruler, "The King's in council," here they always said. "The Emperor's in his dressing room.”
"Bashert" — Definition
A person's soulmate, or "it was meant to be,” considered as predestined.
(feminine - basherte):
“Oneness" in their past, present, and future is thus what defines a truly predestined (bashert) couple. They share a common soul-root (their past), common goals (their future), and always (in the present) remember their common origin as they proceed toward their common goal.
"Through a Window" by Jane Goodall
There are many windows
through which we can look out into the
world, searching for meaning …
… Most of us, when we ponder on the
meaning of our existence,
peer through but one of these
windows onto the world.
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"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.