Could be Buddhist… but isn’t (post your quotes)

Scire licet nobis nihil esse in morte timendum,
nec miserum fieri qui non est posse neque hilum,
differre an nullo fuerit iam tempore natus,
mortalem vitam mors cum inmortalis ademit.

Titus Lucretius Carus
Latin poet and philosopher
From De rerum natura (On the nature of things)

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Miley Cyrus on the latest Letterman show:

“and I realize now the show can go on.
But ‘the show must go on’?
Like, that, I can’t live by anymore.”

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"An honest man dwells amongst thieves only so long as he does not know them as such. No sooner does he come to know them than he is sure to shun their company and flee from the spot. So too the mind dwells amongst unreal dualities as long as it is ignorant of the transcendent One. But when it becomes aware of True Unity, it is sure to be united with it. When the ignorant mind comes to know the Supreme Bliss attendant on the state of Nirvana, it is ready to resort to it, as the inland stream runs to join the boundless sea. "
Returning to Shiva - Yoga Vasishtha Maharamayana

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family pain

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In this material world everyone is suffering—the birds, the beasts, the trees, the animals, the plants, and even Brahmā and Indra. Indra is also not safe; he is always in anxiety about competitors who may come.

-Swami Prabhupada, Teachings of Queen Kunti, Chapter Eighteen.

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I read Auden’s poem every year on September 1.

Here are some excerpts:

Link to Complete Poem, plus reading by Jeremy Irons

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We must love one another and die :slight_smile:

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…into the Deathless.

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123

  1. Hence there is a twofold death; the one, indeed, universally known, in which the body is liberated from the soul; but the other peculiar to philosophers, in which the soul is liberated from the body. Nor does the one entirely follow the other.

– Porphúrios (Porphyry), " Sententiae"

(may need to substitute citta for soul)

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School holidays -kids wanted to go see the new Transformers movie - so a Transformers movie marathon of all the other movies just happened here first.

Not super profound, but I over heard this line and it caught my attention.

‘Every galaxy I’ve travelled, your species, you’re all the same, you all think you are the centre of the universe, … you have no idea’ - Megatron - Decepticon Transformer

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lawnmower

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“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face” - Mike Tyson

Therein what is a plan? A plan for the future, based on the underlying tendency towards repulsion from painful feeling, consisting of desired actions of body, speech, and mind to undertake with the goal of avoiding painful feeling.

Therein what is punched in the face? Painful feeling arisen from the six classes of contact.

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Montherlant once said:

One must, at all times, keep one’s promise, even when the latter has been given to a dog.

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“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift

Hey, hey, hey

Just think while you’ve been getting down and out about the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world,

You could’ve been getting down to this sick beat.

Instead of getting caught up in the petty mundane ( social media, politics, low talk, etc ) you could have been practicing continual mindfulness and situational awareness, perhaps enjoying some wholesome feelings and getting some insights.

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Huxley: “Magna est veritas et praevalebit!” translating and modifying the quote as follows, “Truth is great, certainly, but considering her greatness, it is curious what a long time she is apt to take about prevailing.”

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I firmly believe that, if the whole materia medica could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be all the better for mankind and all the worse for the fishes.

Oliver W. Holmes

[1] (1) After experience had taught me that all the usual surroundings of social life are vain and futile; seeing that none of the objects of my fears contained in themselves anything either good or bad, except in so far as the mind is affected by them, I finally resolved to inquire whether there might be some real good having power to communicate itself, which would affect the mind singly, to the exclusion of all else: whether, in fact, there might be anything of which the discovery and attainment would enable me to enjoy continuous, supreme, and unending happiness.

[2] (1) I say “I finally resolved,” for at first sight it seemed unwise willingly to lose hold on what was sure for the sake of something then uncertain. (2) I could see the benefits which are acquired through fame and riches, and that I should be obliged to abandon the quest of such objects, if I seriously devoted myself to the search for something different and new. (3) I perceived that if true happiness chanced to be placed in the former I should necessarily miss it; while if, on the other hand, it were not so placed, and I gave them my whole attention, I should equally fail.

[3] (1) I therefore debated whether it would not be possible to arrive at the new principle, or at any rate at a certainty concerning its existence, without changing the conduct and usual plan of my life; with this end in view I made many efforts, in vain. (2) For the ordinary surroundings of life which are esteemed by men (as their actions testify) to be the highest good, may be classed under the three heads–Riches, Fame, and the Pleasures of Sense: with these three the mind is so absorbed that it has little power to reflect on any different good.

[4] (1) By sensual pleasure the mind is enthralled to the extent of quiescence, as if the supreme good were actually attained, so that it is quite incapable of thinking of any other object; when such pleasure has been gratified it is followed by extreme melancholy, whereby the mind, though not enthralled, is disturbed and dulled. (2) The pursuit of honors and riches is likewise very absorbing, especially if such objects be sought simply for their own sake, [a] inasmuch as they are then supposed to constitute the highest good.

[5] (1) In the case of fame the mind is still more absorbed, for fame is conceived as always good for its own sake, and as the ultimate end to which all actions are directed. (2) Further, the attainment of riches and fame is not followed as in the case of sensual pleasures by repentance, but, the more we acquire, the greater is our delight, and, consequently, the more are we incited to increase both the one and the other; on the other hand, if our hopes happen to be frustrated we are plunged into the deepest sadness. (3) Fame has the further drawback that it compels its votaries to order their lives according to the opinions of their fellow-men, shunning what they usually shun, and seeking what they usually seek.

[6] (1) When I saw that all these ordinary objects of desire would be obstacles in the way of a search for something different and new–nay, that they were so opposed thereto, that either they or it would have to be abandoned, I was forced to inquire which would prove the most useful to me: for, as I say, I seemed to be willingly losing hold on a sure good for the sake of something uncertain. (6:2) However, after I had reflected on the matter, I came in the first place to the conclusion that by abandoning the ordinary objects of pursuit, and betaking myself to a new quest, I should be leaving a good, uncertain by reason of its own nature, as may be gathered from what has been said, for the sake of a good not uncertain in its nature (for I sought for a fixed good), but only in the possibility of its attainment.

[7] (1) Further reflection convinced me that if I could really get to the root of the matter I should be leaving certain evils for a certain good. (2) I thus perceived that I was in a state of great peril, and I compelled myself to seek with all my strength for a remedy, however uncertain it might be; as a sick man struggling with a deadly disease, when he sees that death will surely be upon him unless a remedy be found, is compelled to seek a remedy with all his strength, inasmuch as his whole hope lies therein. (7:3) All the objects pursued by the multitude not only bring no remedy that tends to preserve our being, but even act as hindrances, causing the death not seldom of those who possess them, [b] and always of those who are possessed by them.

[8] (1) There are many examples of men who have suffered persecution even to death for the sake of their riches, and of men who in pursuit of wealth have exposed themselves to so many dangers, that they have paid away their life as a penalty for their folly. (2) Examples are no less numerous of men, who have endured the utmost wretchedness for the sake of gaining or preserving their reputation. (3) Lastly, are innumerable cases of men, who have hastened their death through over-indulgence in sensual pleasure.

[9] (1) All these evils seem to have arisen from the fact, that happiness or unhappiness is made wholly dependent on the quality of the object which we love. (2) When a thing is not loved, no quarrels will arise concerning it–no sadness will be felt if it perishes–no envy if it is possessed by another–no fear, no hatred, in short no disturbances of the mind. (3) All these arise from the love of what is perishable, such as the objects already mentioned.

[10] (1) But love towards a thing eternal and infinite feeds the mind wholly with joy, and is itself unmingled with any sadness, wherefore it is greatly to be desired and sought for with all our strength. (2) Yet it was not at random that I used the words, “If I could go to the root of the matter,” for, though what I have urged was perfectly clear to my mind, I could not forthwith lay aside all love of riches, sensual enjoyment, and fame.

[11] (1) One thing was evident, namely, that while my mind was employed with these thoughts it turned away from its former objects of desire, and seriously considered the search for a new principle; this state of things was a great comfort to me, for I perceived that the evils were not such as to resist all remedies. (11:2) Although these intervals were at first rare, and of very short duration, yet afterwards, as the true good became more and more discernible to me, they became more frequent and more lasting; especially after I had recognized that the acquisition of wealth, sensual pleasure, or fame, is only a hindrance, so long as they are sought as ends not as means; if they be sought as means, they will be under restraint, and, far from being hindrances, will further not a little the end for which they are sought, as I will show in due time.

On the Improvement of the Understanding
(Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect)

by
Baruch Spinoza

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1016/1016-h/1016-h.htm#para1

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