Philosophy 02 (Nov 15 - Dec 24)

[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

[winston]

“All life is a movement in relationship.

There is no living thing on earth which is not related to something or other...

In that relationship, which is the mirror in which we can see ourselves, we can discover what we are, our reactions, our prejudices, our fears, depression, anxieties, loneliness, sorrow, pain, grief.

We can also discover whether we love, or whether there is no such thing as love.

So, we will examine this question of relationship because that is the basis of love.”

– J. Krishnamurti

[winston]

Ten Teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh for His 95th Birthday

A selection of wisdom and practices from the Vietnamese Zen master and peace activist

1. How to Love Yourself and Others
2. How to Soothe Our Fear of Silence in an Increasingly Connected and Noisy World
3. How to Walk Like a Buddha
4. How to Carve Out a Sacred Space in Your Home (and Why You Should)
5. Why We Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Suffering
6. How to Transform the Fear of Losing a Loved One
7. Why Buddhists Take Refuge in the Three Gems (and How to Think About the First One)
8. Why Community Is So Important
9. Why Everyone Can Benefit from Buddhism
10. How to Break Free from Fear

Source: Tricycle

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/thich-n ... -308285249

[winston]

Relationships

"In relationship, the primary cause of friction is oneself: the self that is the center of unified craving.

If we can realize that it is not how another acts that is of primary importance, but how each one of us acts and reacts, and that if that reaction and action can be fundamentally, deeply understood—then relationship will undergo a deep and radical change.

In this relationship with another, there is not only the physical problem but also that of thought and feeling on all levels and one can be harmonious with another only when one is harmonious integrally in oneself.

In relationship, the important thing to bear in mind is not the other but oneself, which does not mean that one must isolate oneself but understand deeply in oneself the cause of conflict and sorrow.

So long as we depend on another for our psychological wellbeing—intellectually or emotionally—that dependence must inevitably create fear from which arises sorrow.

Source: J Krishnamurthi

[winston]

Relationships

To understand the complexity of relationship, there must be thoughtful patience and earnestness.

Relationship is a process of self-revelation in which one discovers the hidden causes of sorrow.

This self-revelation is only possible in relationship.

I am laying emphasis on relationship because in comprehending deeply its complexity, we are creating an understanding that transcends reason and emotion.

If we base our understanding merely on reason then there is isolation, pride
and lack of love in it, and if we base our understanding merely on emotion, then there is no depth in it;

There is only a sentimentality that soon evaporates and no love.

From this understanding, only can there be completeness of action.

This understanding is impersonal and cannot be destroyed. It is no longer at the behest of time.

If we cannot bring forth understanding from the everyday problems of greed and of our relationship, then to seek such understanding and love in other realms of consciousness, is to live in ignorance and illusion."

Excerpt from On Relationship
J. Krishnamurti

[winston]

The Art Of Looking

"If you’ve ever looked at a flower, what takes place?

First, you name the flower. You say it belongs to a certain species. Then you say, 'I like it,' or 'I don’t like it,' 'How beautiful,' 'I wish I had it,' and so on.

Thought and past knowledge interferes with seeing.

What you are seeing is not the flower but the conclusions—the likes and dislikes which you have.

Can you look at the flower without the observer? That means to look without the knowledge, the pleasure, the naming, and so on.

Then when you look you will see that there is no observer who is looking; then you are directly in communion with that flower."

J. Krishnamurti

[winston]

How to quit a bad habit?

To replace the evil habit with a good habit.

The evil habit is not good for my life.

If we cannot forgive the people around us, we will not be peaceful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okFjDGGVAuc

[winston]

Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality;

There is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.

- Ayn Rand

[winston]

It is not because men's desires are strong that they act ill; it is because their consciences are weak.

- John Stuart Mill

[winston]

“I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble”

= RUDYARD KIPLING