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The Tao of Not Giving Up

If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, keep moving. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you’re not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don’t take it personally when they say “no” — they may not be smart enough to say “yes.” ~ Kieth OlbermannWhen I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall.. think of it, always. – Mahatma Gandhi

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’” ~Mary Anne Radmacher
Source image: Oudeschool

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The Tao of Fear

My top list of quotes and ideas on fear:

  1. Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real
  2. “Fearlessness is a divine quality. What is fear? Is is an imaginary zero; it is maya’s deception. It is a mental delusion. Is is a negative modification that arises in the mind-lake when one forgets his real, divine nature. It is a whirlpool that emanates from the citta (mind) when one has lost his power of vicara (enquiry) and discrimination. It is the dark wave that proceeds from the ocean of antahkarana (mind) when one has intense attachment to the body.
  3. Friends, there is nothing to fear really. Fear is due to acceptance of suggestion. Victory over fear really means victory over the thing that we fear. We attract to ourselves the very things we are afraid of. That is the universal law of nature. You need not be afraid of anything else in this world save fear itself.” ~ Swami Sivananda
  4. “Of things some are in our power, and others are not… examine it by the rules which you possess, and by this first and chiefly, whether it relates to the things which are in our power or to the things which are not in our power: and if it relates to anything which is not in our power, be ready to say, that it does not concern you.” ~ Epictetus from The Enchiridion
  5. “…I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” ~ Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (translation by M.D. Herter Norton)
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The Habits of Happiness with Matthieu Ricard (Lessons from the French Buddhist Monk)

  1. Everyone wants Happiness: No one wakes up in the morning and says “May I suffer.” Even the man who is about to hang himself is seeking happiness by ending his life.
  2. Pleasure and Happiness: Pleasure is dependent on time, object, place — it changes with nature. For example, your first serving of chocolate is great, the second is nice and the third leads to disgust.
  3. Well Being = Happiness: Deep sense serenity and fulfillment — a state that underlies all emotional states (joys, sorrows, etc.).
  4. Outer Conditions ≠ Well Being (or Happiness): Our control on the outside world is limited , temporary and illusory. We think if we can gather all he conditions to be happy, then we will be happy. To have everything to be happy dooms the destruction of happiness because if something is missing we will not be happy.
  5. Mind Translates all Experiences: There are certain states of mind that flourish well-being (loving kindness, compassion, etc.) and others that don’t (anger, hatred, jealousy, arrogance, obsessive desire).
  6. The Nature of Mind = Consciousness: Consciousness is like a mirror that allows all images to arise on it — everything good and bad can reflect on it but consciousness does not become good or bad.
  7. Mind Training: Two mental factors cannot happen at the same time. You cannot in the same gesture want to hurt and help someone.