If you want tranquility, focus. Isn’t it best to focus on what it takes to be a decent social animal? Such actions bring not only the tranquility that comes from doing well, but also the satisfaction that comes from focusing on doing only a few important things. Face it—most of what we say and do … More Marcus Aurelius, from “Exhortations to Himself”
Once I crossed the Sierra Madres with a bus driver named Arturo who had one arm and a stick-shift bus. Sometimes between the the shift and wheel Arturo’s good right arm would pause to make the sign of the cross toward a portrait of the Virgin that banged the windshield from a string. … More What A Miracle Is
Wise leaders act without aggression— no anger, no attacking. Wise leaders act without assumption, bringing out the best in others. Action without aggression is in harmony with all that is. Therefore it convinces others. It is the ancient path of unity.
If a triangle could speak, it would say . . . that God is eminently triangular, while a circle would say that the divine nature is eminently circular. Thus each would ascribe to God its own attributes, would assume itself to be like God, and look on everything else as ill-shaped. ~ Baruch Spinoza … More Softballing with Spinoza
Zhuangzi said this about Wholeness: How is it that one who follows The Way of the creative universe walks through walls without stopping and stands in fire without being burned? Not because of knowledge or daring; not because that one has learned something, but because that one has unlearned. Consider this: A drunken man falls … More Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) on Wholeness
meditations, translations 