Philosophy 02 (Nov 15 - Dec 24)

[winston]

“In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control.

Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices.”

- Epictetus

[winston]

Was Yoda a Good Guru?

By Kyle Hill

Source: Discover Magazine

http://www.mindpowernews.com/YodaGuru.html

[winston]

An Inquiry into the Nature of the Self

"The self must cease through awareness of its own limitation, the falseness of its own existence.

However deep, wide, and extensive it may become, the self is always limited, and until it is abandoned, the mind can never be free.

The mere perception of that fact is the ending of the self, and only then is it possible for that which is the real to come into being."

– Krishnamurti

[winston]

Happiness Is Free

You just need to focus on being happy, because you can only do one thing at a time in life.

Being happy is the simplest thing in the world. Just do something that completely occupies your attention.

Source: Thought Pollution

http://www.mindpowernews.com/HappinessFree.html

[winston]

Amor Fati: The Immense Power of Learning To Love Your Fate

By Brendan Hufford

“My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it… but love it.”

The power that you can have in life of accepting your fate is so immense, that it’s almost hard to fathom.

You feel that everything happens for a purpose, and that it is up to you to make this purpose something positive and active.”

We can choose Amor Fati, to love our fate by first taking control over our perceptions, and then by turning our new paradigm into action.

“Once you see the world as it is, for what it is, you must act.”

Source: Daily Stoic

http://www.mindpowernews.com/AmorFati.html

[winston]

Thought

"Anything that thought tries to discover which is beyond itself, thought itself must come to an end. You understand?

This is logic. You understand, sir? So can one find out if thought can completely end, except where it is necessary?

That is, learning a language, talking, and so on. How will you find out? How will you, enquiring if there is something beyond all this confusion, misery, sorrow, this travail of humanity, of which one is, find out if there is something that thought has never, never touched? How will you find out?

That's part of meditation, not only to have the body absolutely quiet, absolutely, and also to have a mind that is not occupied with anything - with your personal problems, with world problems, because you are the world, the world is not separate from you.

So to find that out, if there is or if there is not something beyond all this, that's part of meditation.

It is not part of search; if you search, then you are searching with a motive and a desire. Then what you find is what you have already found."

– J. Krishnamurti

[winston]

"Surely, to find out what is true your mind must be free to inquire, which means that it cannot merely accept or believe.

I can give you a description of the truth, but it will not be the same thing as your experiencing the truth for yourself."

– J. Krishnamurti

[winston]

How am I to change?

"So the question "How am I to live in this world?" has now become "How am I to change?" - bearing in mind that the how doesn't mean a method but is an enquiry to understand.

What is change? Is there any change at all? Or can you ask whether there is any change at all, only after there has been a total change and revolution? Let's begin again to find out what this word means.

Change implies a movement from what is to something different. Is this something different merely an opposite or does it belong to a different order altogether?

If it is merely an opposite then it is not different at all because all opposites are mutually dependent, like hot and cold, high and low.

The opposite is contained within and determined by, its opposite; it exists only in comparison and things that are comparative have different measures of the same quality and therefore they are similar.

So change to an opposite is no change at all. Even if this going towards what seems different gives you the feeling that you are really doing something, it is an illusion."

J. Krishnamurti
Excerpt from The Urgency of Change

[winston]

Life Without Sex?

Ancient texts insist celibacy is a must on the yogic path, but few modern yogis opt for such an ascetic lifestyle.

by CLAUDIA CUMMINS

Brahmacharya in body, speech, and mind. It means you abstain from casual sexual contact and casual sexual conversation, like sexual jokes. You are also not supposed to think sexually about the other gender-or the same gender, if that’s your inclination.

Today, brahmacharya is often interpreted as moderation, monogamy, continence, or restraint.

Source: Yoga Journal

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/ph ... thout-sex/

[winston]

"Is it not very important, while we are young, to be loved and to love?

It seems to me that most of us neither love nor are loved.

I think it is essential, while we are young, to understand this problem very seriously because it may be that while we are young we can be sensitive enough to feel it, to know its quality, to know its perfume and perhaps when we grow older, it will not be entirely destroyed.

So, let us consider the question—that is, not that you should not be loved but that you should love.

What does it mean? Is it an ideal?

Is it something far away, unattainable? Or is it something that can be felt by each one at odd moments of the day?"

- J. Krishnamurti