Many people may not be aware that the spread of western science and technology throughout the world is precipitating rapid changes in traditional values and lifestyles, upsetting the balance of entire cultures.

Occupations that gave millions a place in society, however humble, are being displaced by new methods and technology that leave many with no employment or position.

The sense of inherent human worth and self -respect, which once could be maintained even in the face of poverty, is being lost as human value is coming to depend more exclusively on wealth and power. 

Knowledge of Freedom

Evaluation of Quotes of Wisdom

This week we had some interruptions in delivering the daily quotes into your email boxes. We think we have solved the problem and will continue to improve the transmission.

Sorry for any inconvenience or longings this may have created. Or, perhaps, you may have wondered how come there were no quotes. Or you may not have noticed their absence.

The pause has provided an opportunity for us to evaluate the Quotes of Wisdom blog.

If you could take a few moments to answer the following questions, it would help us to improve and share these thoughtful, timeless ideas. 

1. When you notice Quotes of Wisdom has arrived and before opening, what is your first feeling? 
2. Have the Quotes led you to further inquiry or contemplation?
3. How often do you share the Quotes?
4. In your busy life, are the Quotes relevant?

Please send your responses to azukihat@gmail.com

Thank you.

Quotes Conversations: Session 15 video link

Topic: Quotes Conversations hosted by Barry J. Schieber
Time: Sunday September 27, 2020 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

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Even the most positive states might be the answer to a question that never needed to be asked. 

Dimensions of Mind 

When a knower sets a period at the end of inquiry and claims that this is knowledge, it’s a little like posing with knowledge as a trophy: the spoils of the hunt.

Now we possess a territory that was outside the perimeter.

But possession of knowledge does not capture the liberating dynamic of knowing.

It merely replaces one framework, one boundary of knowledge with another.

Is this really helpful? 

We don’t need another theory, nor do we need to construct more units of meaning.

The knowing we are interested in is the knowing of the space that makes language and appearance possible. 

Lotus Language 

 …everything you experience, through all the ups and downs, all the twists and turns, will involve mind—how it perceives, how it reacts, how it responds.

Yet most people ignore this simple reality.

The idea that you could explore mind and even affect its operation, and the larger question of how such an exploration might change your experience, is almost never a topic of discussion. 

Creative Journey 

Most of us would say that we know how to take care of ourselves.

After all, we have gotten this far in our lives.

But somehow we forget how to be aware, and then other forces take over.

There is so much distraction and confusion to contend with, in our past history, in our present situation, and in particular in our patterns of mind and the way we think.

Once generated, the force of these patterns and way is unstoppable, whether it operates in our best interest or not.

We would like to communicate with our body and mind as friends, but we may no know how to synchronize the energies we experience and bring them into balance.

Even when we do have some understanding about how to nourish ourselves, can we apply it when we find ourselves caught up in events that are out of our control?

Our bodies may be mostly healthy now, but problems or symptoms my arise at any time.

Our friends and loved ones may be suddenly gone, upsetting our deepest wishes.

How will we respond then?

When we look at our situation in relation to others how much do we have to offer?

What can we do to honor those who have gone before us?

How can we lighten the load of future generations? How can we support their activities and speak to their concerns?

If we really want to address these questions, we will need to ask first how to take care of our own minds.

We have all experienced emotions like anger, disappointment, desire, anxiety, and confusion.

What can we do now to arrive at inner peace?

What knowledge can we apply in this lifetime today?

OK MANTRA

In an instant a sense of beauty arises, before the mind grasps it and propels it down the perpetual track toward identifying, cognizing, objectifying, and possessing, there is only a sensing, an inner response, a faint movement of feeling.

In that nanosecond, we can completely open up to beauty, just as it is.

That emergent sensing, that stirring of inner response, is the foundation that we can expand and build upon.

Similarly, we hear music, and we like it.

But instead of identifying the specifics and producing thoughts about it, let it be, just as it is, totally open.

Expand it further.

Whatever feeling you have, touch it, taste its flavor as if it were on the tip of your tongue or vibrating on the soft edge of your inner ear.

Before knowing comes in, before judgments such as “Isn’t this wonderful” come, simply see the shining light or the beauty, or hear the sound, without fixating on it.

Let the feeling open itself, merging with the senses, but not going further, not identifying, not even to the point of feeling yourself being aware. 

Joy of Being 

We need to take care of ourselves internally, to learn to take ease, open up, and be more balanced.

We have a greater purpose than following the latest sensation.

We need to embody knowledge – to feel good and feel joy, to free ourselves from the toxins and residues of poison we have been feeding ourselves for so long.

Lotus Mind