In one line: Another remarkable, easy-to-digest, short, and fun read on spirituality; great perspective on reprogramming our minds to have a happier life.
QUOTE: “Look at the birds of the air. Look at the flowers of the field. They don’t sow, they don’t spin. They don’t have a moment of anxiety for the future. Not like you.” — Jesus (p20)
QUOTE: “For whatever the situation I find myself in, I have learned to be self-sufficient. I am experienced in being brought low, and I have known what it meant to have abundance. I have learned how to cope with every circumstance: how to eat well or go hungry; how to be well provided for or do without.” — Philippians (p23)
QUOTE: “Don’t teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and irritates the pig.” (For people who don’t want to listen or have no desire to hear what you’re saying — p25)
QUOTE: “When the eye is unobstructed, the result is sight. When the ear is unobstructed, the result is hearing. When the mouth is unobstructed, the result is taste. When the mind is unobstructed, the result is truth. And when the heart is unobstructed, the result is joy and love. You’ve got it all, but it’s obstructed. Drop it.” — Chinese Proverb
- You don’t know what happiness is until attachment and desires are dropped.
- Before enlightenment I used to be lonely. After enlightenment I’m still lonely but loneliness isn’t what it used to be.
QUOTE: “Don’t resist evil. When they strike you on one cheek, turn and offer the other. When you take away one devil, seven more come. You deal with these things by not fighting them. Because the more you fight them, the more you empower them.” (P51)
QUOTE: “Plunge into the heat of battle and keep your heart at the lotus feet of the lord.” — Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita
QUOTE: “For peace of heart, resign as general manager of the universe.” (P 59)
- Moksha — Sanskrit for freedom
QUOTE: “Life is something that happens while we’re engaged in other things” — John Lennon
- Nothing has the power to upset you in reality; it’s your programming and in your mind that makes you upset
- Spirituality means no longer being at the mercy of people, events or anything else
- Our culture has programmed us to be upset when someone dies, or disapproves, leaves or rejects us. We’ve been trained to depend emotionally on people. To not be able to live emotionally without people (P74)
- When we upset ourselves, we have less energy to do something and less perception. We’re not seeing things right anymore. We’re overreacting (P76)
- Maturity is when you no longer blame anyone. You don’t blame others, you don’t blame yourself. You see what’s wrong, and you set about remedying it (P79)
- You don’t fix it. You let it be. It will go away. The more you try to fix it the stronger it gets (P82)
- The difficulties are in your programming; if someone insults you, you get to choose your response and if it’s received the same way if you send a letter to the wrong address it gets returned to the sender (P 84)
- You don’t have to change your programming to stop getting upset, you just have to understand that that’s what’s triggering you (P 85)
- Taking action to right a wrong is okay, but taking action to relieve upset feelings is not
QUOTE: “When there is no tension and no upset, all of the forces within you are unleashed.” (p 97)
- Story to revisit: The story of Ramchandra–the guy pulling the rickshaw who sold his skeleton (p19)
- Story to revisit: Diamond story/parable (p27)
- Story to revisit: Camels getting tied to pegs in the desert, just got thru the motions; you forgot to untie him (p 63, 64)
- Story to revisit: Sin and judging people (P 87)
- Story to revisit: Understanding our programming and loving our parents (P 95 and 96)
Philoso-Feed 