It will pass

A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!" "It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly.
A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!'
"It will pass,"the teacher replied matter-of-factly.

Insane world!

Current news of terrorism indicates that human beings are more interested in death than in life.
It is not just a question of few hundred people dying; it is a question of the whole universe becoming without life, without consciousness. It is a tremendous problem.

It is an insane world. You have to be aware - at least individually you can drop all death-orientation. And the only way to drop it is to love life, to love love, to love laughter, to rejoice - not in a paradise after death, but here now. Before death destroys, you have to find the eternal in you.

The external can be found only by rejoicing people, loving people, compassionate people, silent people; not people who are against life, they can never find the source.

I want you to be life-affirmative, against destruction. You have to be creative in your small ways. Maybe you create poetry, music, dance; maybe a small garden with flowers. Inside you have to find your buddha. The more people find the buddha in their innermost being, the more secure is this beautiful planet earth.

Excerpted from 'Yakusan: Straight to the Point of Enlightenment' by Osho

What is enlightenment?

A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"
The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."

Still mind

"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders." - Lao Tzu

No such thing as time

Siddharth comes to realize that the river is everywhere at the same time, in the mountain, through the land and in the sea. It teaches that “there is no such thing as time.” So too, Siddharth the boy, Siddharth the youth and Siddharth the man are only separated by shadows, not by reality. So too, is it with life and death. “Nothing was, nothing will be, everything has reality and presence.”
Excerpted from 'If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him!' by Sheldon Kopp

Working Very Hard

A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, "I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it."
The teacher's reply was casual, "Ten years."
Impatiently, the student answered, "But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?"
The teacher thought for a moment,"20 years."

Let it go

"By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning." - Lao Tzu

I can do something

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do." - Helen Keller

The moon cannot be stolen

A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal.
The Zen Master returned and found him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."
The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away.
The Master sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, " I wish I could give him this beautiful moon."

Moving Mind

Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind.
"It's the wind that is really moving," stated the first one.
"No, it is the flag that is moving," contended the second.
A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them.
"Neither the flag nor the wind is moving," he said, "It is MIND that moves."

Look inside

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." - Carl Jung

Wisdom is not communicable

“Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish”. There is nothing to tell because the distinctions between the things are illusions. “Truth can’t be taught….. because the paradox of paradoxes is that of each truth the opposite is equally true.”

Excerpted from 'If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him!' by Sheldon Kopp

Tragedy of life

“The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” - Norman Cousins

Man's misery

“All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.” - Blaise Pascal

Searching eye

Every human being must be trained to "look into all things with a searching eye" so that truth can be independently ascertained. - Bahá'u'lláh

Real tragedy

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato