Thoughts to Share

From Steve Ridley, Denver, CO

I wanted to share this clearly stated reminder of Swami Chetanananda’s with VFJ readers:

The World

The World is everything manifest. It is not an illusion, but it is not the substance of reality. It is like a play, and we are simply acting out parts. It has a certain magic and we should learn to play our parts very well, but we should never come under its spell.

Spiritual people use their experience in the world to learn discrimination, compassion, and freedom from judgment and fear. They are equally happy with austerity or opulence. They move through the world with great detachment, seeing it as nothing other than an opportunity for growth.

– Swami Chetanananda
Songs From the Center of the Well

From Kathy Grassel, Albuquerque, NM

Source: New Mexico TCC News, Jan. 96

One of my students, Karen Klett, came across this gem in a book she’s reading on science and the Tao. Isn’t it grand?

The wind was flapping a temple flag and two monks were having an argument about it.
One said the flag was moving, the other said the wind was moving.
They could come to no agreement on the matter.
They argued back and forth.
Eno the Patriarch said,
“It is not that the flag or the wind is moving;
it is that your honorable minds
are moving.”

From Lee Campbell, Phoenix, AZ

The Superior Man prizes three things: the first is gentleness, the second is frugality, the third is humility. By being gentle he can be bold; by being frugal, he can be liberal; and by being humble he becomes a leader among men.

– Lao-tse

* * *

A Zen Master living as a hermit on a mountaintop was asked by a monk, “What is the Way?”

“What a fine mountain this is!” the master replied.

“I am not asking about the mountain. I am asking you about the Way.”

“So long as you cannot go beyond the mountain, my son, you cannot reach the Way.”

– Unknown