Be quite

“A seed while growing makes no sound. A tree when falling makes huge noise. Destruction shouts, but creation is always quite. Be quite, achieve more.” ~ Unknown

No greed

“Sayeen Itna Deejiye, Ja Mein Kutumb Samaye
Main Bhi Bhookha Na Rahun, Sadhu Na Bhookha Jaye” ~ Kabir

Give so much O God, suffice to envelop my clan
I should suffer no hunger, nor the visitor goes unfed

Undisturbed

Lord Buddha was sitting under a banyan tree. One day, a furious Brahmin came to him and started abusing him. The Brahmin thought that Buddha would reciprocate in the same manner, but to his utter surprise, there was not the slightest change in the expression on his face. Now, the Brahmin became more furious. He hurled more and more abuses at Buddha. However, Buddha was completely unmoved. Actually there was a look of compassion on his ace. Ultimately the Brahmin was tired of abusing him. He asked, "I have been abusing you like anything, but why are you not angry at all ?"

Lord Buddha calmly replied, "My dear brother, I have not accepted a single abuse from you." "But you heard all of them, didn't you?" The Brahmin argued half-heartedly. Buddha said, "I do not need the abuses, so why should I even hear them?" Now the Brahmin was even more puzzled. He could not understand the calm reply from Buddha. Looking at his disturbed face, Buddha further explained, "All those abuses remain with you." "It cannot be possible. I have hurled all of them at you," the Brahmin persisted. Buddha calmly repeated his reply, "But I have not accepted even a single abuse from you ! Dear brother, suppose you give some coins to somebody, and if he does not accept them, with whom will those coins remain?" The Brahmin replied, "If I have given the coins and not needed by someone, then naturally they would remain with me."

With a meaningful smile on his face, Buddha said, "Now you are right. The same has happened with your abuses. You came here and hurled abuses at me, but I have not accepted a single abuse from you. Hence, all those abuses remain with you only. So there is no reason to be angry with you." The Brahmin remained speechless. He was ashamed of his behavior and begged for Buddha's forgiveness.

Freedom from thought

"The ending of sorrow is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge is always within the shadow of ignorance. Meditation is freedom from thought and a movement in the ecstasy of truth. Meditation is explosion of intelligence." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Man's own mind

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways." ~ Buddha

Problem and solution

"If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Difference

“How the world sees you makes a small difference. How you see yourself makes all the difference.”
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 3 (September, 2010)

Like a shadow

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. " ~ Buddha

Freedom and love

"Freedom and love go together. Love is not a reaction. If I love you because you love me, that is mere trade, a thing to be bought in the market; it is not love. To love is not to ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something- and it is only such love that can know freedom." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Mask of ideas

"Do not repeat after me words that you do not understand. Do not merely put on a mask of my ideas, for it will be an illusion and you will thereby deceive yourself." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Healed people heal

"Hurt people hurt and healed people heal." ~ Gil Fronsdal

Without judgement

“The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgement." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Still mind

"To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Restless mind

“Maala Pherat Jug Bhaya, Mita Na Man Ka Pher
Kar Ka Manka Chhor De, Man Ka Manka Pher” ~ Kabir

Eons have passed whirling rosary, restless remains the mind
Give up the beads of rosary and rotate the beads of mind

Law, order and society

Lao Tzu became very famous, a wise man, and he was without doubt one of the wisest men ever. The emperor of China asked him very humbly to become his chief of the supreme court, because nobody could guide the country's laws better than he could. He tried to persuade the emperor, "I am not the right man," but the emperor was insistent.

Lao Tzu said, "If you don't listen to me... just one day in the court and you will be convinced that I am not the right man, because the system is wrong. Out of humbleness I was not saying the truth to you. Either I can exist or your law and order and your society can exist. So... let us try it."

The first day a thief who had stolen almost half the treasures of the richest man in the capital was brought into the court. Lao Tzu listened to the case and then he said that the thief and the richest man should both go to jail for six months.

The rich man said, "What are you saying? I have been stolen from, I have been robbed—what kind of justice is this, that you are sending me to jail for the same amount of time as the thief?"

Lao Tzu said, "I am certainly being unfair to the thief. Your need to be in jail is greater, because you have collected so much money to yourself, deprived so many people of money... thousands of people are downtrodden and you are collecting and collecting money. For what? Your very greed is creating these thieves. You are responsible.
The first crime is yours."