The lama told the prince, who was about to become ruler of the huge kingdom . . .

“In order to become successful in this world, you need three qualities: wisdom, compassion, and courage. These three will lead to a successful, happy, and fulfilled life.” ~ via Shambhala Sun

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‘Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.’ ~ Lao Tzu

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Injustice/Invisible Justice, Also Known As Karma

"Question: I spend precious time and energy fuming over what others have done to me. My emotions make me feel like a prisoner of these people… and the more I try to punish them, the less freedom I have to be at peace with myself!

Answer: Here is a beautiful lesson in invisible justice, one that will help you let go of any revenge-filled, self-tangling thought. We need never concern ourselves with whether or not some wrongdoer will get his just due. Here's why: any person who does wrong to another is already punished. More correctly stated, anyone who acts unjustly in life instantaneously ensures that he or she will be corrected by the celestial laws that govern all such trespasses. It doesn't matter one bit that you or I don't see this law enacted to our satisfaction. The fact remains: an invisible system of justice for all already exists. This means we need never judge anyone, nor wish some sentence of suffering upon him or her. This understanding is a gift of great freedom known only by the true few. And we can count ourselves among these liberated ones if we are willing to learn what we must.

There is great wisdom in the timeless idea of letting go and letting God. The love of God transforms all things bitter into something better. This truth proves the existence of a great and universal system of invisible justice. And if we look deeper still, we will find within it the promise of this welcome relief: we are forever relieved of the conflict and misery of wanting to penalize those who may have caused us pain. We can let go of all forms of lashing out at others because we see the truth of how things actually work. Getting wrongly caught up in the conflict of wanting to fix the bad behavior of someone else only opens the door and invites other problems and pain into our own life!

Now we can leave these people alone to their own trials and torment, for we have seen that their negative nature is one and the same as their punishment; and further we have seen that whatever weight we would try to add on to their backs only falls onto our own. To act from this higher self-awareness not only helps free us from the initial pain born of a negative reaction to what others have done to us, but it also keeps us from wrongly investing ourselves in trying to correct what is already in the throes of being corrected! And once we stop locking ourselves up with wasted judgments and their attendant, never-ending worries, we find that not only are we free, but that there's no power in the universe capable of holding us captive again."

~ Guy Finley, Excerpted from Let Go and Live in the Now


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Guilt

“Guilt was never a rational thing; it distorts all the faculties of the human mind, it perverts them, it leaves a man no longer in the free use of his reason, it puts him into confusion.” ~ Edmund Burke, 18th Century philosopher

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Suppressed Pressures

"You must remember that other people have far greater inner conflicts and confusions than they reveal. You sometimes see
these suppressed pressures burst through with a flash of anger, sarcasm or accusation." ~ Vernon Howard

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"Our world suffers so much from dogmatic attitudes." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

7 Universal Truths

1. You are exactly where you are supposed to be
2. Fear and pain are life’s greatest teachers
3. Laughter and play are the keys to the fountain of youth
4. Exercise and rest are the keys to vibrant health
5. Touch and intimacy are basic human needs
6. Everything is impermanent
7. Everything is connected

~ via Oh She Glows Blog

Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts; the only true gift is a portion of thyself ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved." ~ George Sand

Death

"Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see." - Helen Keller


 "It is worth dying to find out what life is." - T.S. Eliot


 "A man is not completely born until he is dead." - Benjamin Franklin


 "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." - T.S. Eliot


"In the light of the near-death experience, death is nothing more than the illusion of separateness and finality, and those who can believe in this vision of death, like near-death experiencers themselves, lose all fear of it, for how can you fear that which does not exist?" - Dr. Kenneth Ring


"To fear death is nothing other than to think oneself wise when one is not. For it is to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may not even turn out to be one of the greatest blessings of human beings. And yet people fear it as if they knew for certain it is the greatest evil." – Socrates



 "As each second passed there was more to learn, answers to questions, meanings and definitions, philosophies and reasons, histories, mysteries and so much more, all pouring into my mind. I remember thinking, 'I knew that, I know I did, where has it all been?'" - Virginia Rivers describing her near-death experience


"The "hell" that I experienced was the pain, anguish, hurt and anger that I had caused others, or that I suffered as a result of my actions/words to others. "Hell" was what I had created for myself and my own soul through turning my back on unconditional love, compassion and peace." - Tina, a near-death experiencer

The Second Arrow

"The Buddha speaks about the "second arrow." When an arrow strikes you, you feel pain. If a second arrow comes and strikes you in the same spot, the pain will be ten times worse. The Buddha advised that when you have some pain in your body or your mind, breathe in and out and recognize the significance of that pain but don't exaggerate its importance. If you stop to worry, to be fearful, to protest, to be angry about the pain, then you magnify the pain ten times or more. Your worry is the second arrow.

You should protect yourself and not allow the second arrow to come, because the second arrow comes from you." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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Is there a spiritual path for those who are fighting incurable diseases?

" . . . While you're alive, enjoy every moment and look deeply to touch your true nature of no birth and no death. That cloud in the sky -- she cannot die, she can only become snow or rain. To be a cloud floating in the sky is beautiful; but to become rain falling on the ground is also beautiful. With that insight, you'll continue without fear. And if in your daily life you can produce beautiful thoughts, beautiful speech, and compassionate actions, you will continue beautifully in the future in many ways. The dissolution of this body is the end of anything. That insight is crucial for true happiness and non-fear." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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Codependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls

"As long as we look outside of Self - with a capital S - to find out who we are, to define ourselves and give us self-worth, we are setting ourselves up to be victims.

We were taught to look outside of ourselves - to people, places, and things; to money, property, and prestige - for fulfillment and happiness. It does not work, it is dysfunctional. We cannot fill the hole within with anything outside of Self.

You can get all the money, property, and prestige in the world, have everyone in the world adore you, but if you are not at peace within, if you don't Love and accept yourself, none of it will work to make you Truly happy."

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