(Wherein I list all that life has taught.)
The greatest lessons that a man has to learn, nobody can teach him. No grown-up can be another man's disciple. [1]
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Before enlightenment, a man gets up each morning to spend the day tending his fields, returns home to have his supper, goes to bed, makes love to his woman, and falls asleep. But once he has attained enlightenment, then a man gets up each morning to spend the day tending his fields, returns home to have his supper, goes to bed, makes love to his woman, and falls asleep.
Graduation, job, marriage, children, grandchildren -- none of life's supposedly great events can make you happy "ever after". If you are happy today and every day, you will remain so. If you are unhappy today and every day, you will remain so.
* * *
The meaning of life is to live. The rule of life is to have no rules.
Life is a compromise between personal and professional growth, of going with the society and seeking out individuality.
Life was not so much better in the past as we would like to fantasise, nor is it in the abyss now. History is full of similar cycles, and the wheel continues to turn today. The only difference is that you are experiencing it -- not reading about it in a text book.
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The secret to getting things done is not having too many things: tasks and appointments, as well as stuff you own.
Slow down, and do only a few things every day, one thing at a time, applying your whole self to it without getting distracted. Do not multitask; do not start a job if you cannot give it enough time and attention -- instead, reschedule it.
Boredom is inevitable. It's okay to get bored, but not to resist it artificially.
Live simple: don't buy anything unless you really need it. Materialism costs much more than money: your time, attention, spirit.
Eradicate clutter, within you, and outside of you. Focus follows.
* * *
Intelligence is over-rated. 80% of life is all about dumb endurance.
It's okay to make mistakes. The happy move on; the unhappy brood.
No matter how far you've trodden the wrong path, turn back.
Guilt and worry are two useless emotions. Guilt cripples the present due to the past; worry cripples the present due to the future. Learn your lessons and move on -- don't feel guilty. Don't let anybody make you feel guilty. Plan your future if you can, but don't worry.
Learn to forgive yourself, and others, again and again. Do you have the art of letting go?
* * *
If you are convincing yourself to do something, you are doing the wrong thing. This is the litmus test.
* * *
Over-reacting and under-reacting is what can control your life, and most often does.
You don't need to give reasons for all that you do, esp. when it has no bearing on others. "I felt like it" is fine, most of the time.
What you speak, what you do is what binds you. What you speak, what you do is what liberates you.
You cannot speak or listen well and also be acutely aware of yourself or the world. Do you lose yourself when you speak, or when you listen? Or do you keep thinking about image and impressions? Focus on the idea!
* * *
Change it, accept it, or leave it.
When you are in the wrong mood, everything appears wrong.
Have you ever grown irritable after a nice meal? (What am I hinting at?)
If you want to be assertive, start asking 'Why?'.
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99% of the time, men are irrational. [2]
* * *
Is there a healthy anger? When I defend myself against an assault designed to destroy me, that is healthy. When I attack people because they remind me of a rejected part of myself, that is unhealthy. One response affirms and builds, the other judges and tears down. [3]
You cannot change people.
Joy is internal; success is a creation of the society. Joy is in writing this site; success is whether it is popular.
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What is one's nature endures. What endures is one's nature. Artificiality is transient.
* * *
Love is egolessness. Ego is lovelessness. Where there is love, how can there be ego? Where there is ego, how can love still be there?
A relationship lasts as long as, and only so long as, both parties feel wanted by each other.
The secret to happiness is meaningful and loving relationships with family, relatives and friends. Money, power, possessions -- none of these matter very much. [4]
If I am 25, it is not a quarter of my life. It is more like half.
The greatest investment you can make for yourself, for now and after retirement, is an hour of intense physical exercise, every morning. It gives you appetite, sleep, vigour. A sound mind in a sound body!
* * *
In every truth the opposite is equally true. ... Everything that is thought and expressed in words is one-sided, only half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity. [5]
The enemy of happiness is intellect. See; do not think. Can you keep your mind still, like a clear pond? For how long?
For years, a pupil studied hundreds upon hundreds of books on spirituality and enlightenment. The day he attained enlightenment, he dumped all of them in his backyard and burnt them.
--
1 Sheldon Kopp, If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him!
2 cf. Daniel Gilbert, I'm OK—You're Biased Cache
3 Hugh Prather, Notes to Myself
4 cf. "My grandfather came from a land of abject poverty where everybody was happy." —Cartoon caption, The New Yorker
5 Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha