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Robert Adams

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The point is this: It's not what you say. It's not what you proclaim. It's what's deep, deep, deep in your heart that determines what happens to you. It's not reading books, it's not studying, it's not going to classes. It's sitting by yourself, becoming quiet, going deeper and deeper within yourself. Transcending your mind and your body until something happens.

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Rumi, 13th century Sufi poet and Mystic

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A man searching for spirit-treasure
cannot find it, so he is praying.

A voice inside says, You were given
the intuition to shoot an arrow
and then to dig where it landed,
but you shot with all your archery skill.

You were told to draw the bow
with only a fraction of your ability.

What you are looking for
is nearer than the big vein
on your neck. Let the arrow drop.

Do not exhaust yourself
like the philosophers who strain to shoot
the high arcs of their thought-arrows.

The more skill you use,
the farther you will be
from what your deepest love wants.

Rumi

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Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

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Question : You say one can realize the Self by a search for it. What is the character of this search?
Ramana Maharshi : You are the mind or think that you are the mind. The mind is nothing but thoughts. Now behind every particular thought there is a general thought, which is the `I', that is yourself. Let us call this `I' the first thought. Stick to this `I'-thought and Question it to find out what it is. When this Question takes strong hold on you, you cannot think of other thoughts.

Question : When I do this and cling to my self, that is, the `I'-thought, other thoughts come and go, but I say to myself `Who am I ?' and there is no answer forthcoming. To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so?
Ramana Maharshi : This is a mistake that people often make. What happens when you make a serious quest for the Self is that the `I'-thought disappears and something else from the depths takes hold of you and that is not the `I' which commenced the quest.

Question : What is this something else?
Ramana Maharshi : That is the real Self, the import of `I'. It is not the ego. It is the Supreme Being itself.

Question : But you have often said that one must reject other thoughts when one begins the quest but the thoughts are endless. If one thought is rejected, another comes and there seems to be no end at all.
Ramana Maharshi : I do not say that you must go on rejecting thoughts. Cling to yourself, that is, to the `I'-thought. When your interest keeps you to that single idea, other thoughts will automatically get rejected and they will vanish.

Question : And so rejection of thoughts is not necessary?
Ramana Maharshi : No. It may be necessary for a time or for some. You fancy that there is no end if one goes on rejecting every thought when it rises. It is not true, there is an end. If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought when it rises you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into your own inner self. At that level it is not necessary to make an effort to reject thoughts.

Question : Then it is possible to be without effort, without strain.
Ramana Maharshi : Not only that, it is impossible for you to make an effort beyond a certain extent.

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Sri Samartha Siddharameshwar Maharaj

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Saint Tukaram said, "Let the body live or die, I have complete faith in my Self Nature." If an aspirant reaches this level of conviction, the attitude arises, "When one experiences the 'Bliss of Brahman' (Brahmananda) who cares for the body?" When this attitude arises, it is truly praiseworthy. A dog once bit off a piece of flesh from Saint Kabir's calf muscle. Saint Kabir simply said, "Either the dog knows, or the flesh knows. Anything is possible." What could have been the feeling of the people around upon hearing this from Saint Kabir, who was a great devotee? The aspirant can easily see the degree of renunciation that Saint Kabir had reached. He fully understood that it was the flesh that was affected and not his True Nature.


Although this understanding that the Self remains unaffected was experienced by Saint Kabir, and also by Saint Tukaram when he lost his whole household, the aspirant might not get the same sense of unshaken ecstasy within oneself in the beginning when one initially undertakes the search for the "I." If by God's Grace, such Bliss does overwhelm you, you might say, "What are all these worldly possessions worth after all?," and you will never feel the need to ask such pointless questions as "Will my house be run properly?" At that point, you will have developed such an indifferent attitude that you will say, "Let whatever is to happen, happen, and let whatever has to go, go."


However, if the aspirant understands intellectually, which is easier than experiencing the Self, he raises the question "After the Knowledge of the Self is attained, and the possessive pride of the body and the mind is left behind, can one's worldly duties still be performed?" To console him, the Sadguru answers "Dear one, of course, even after realizing the utter uselessness of the body and mind one can establish a household and have children without bringing in the pride of the body and the mind. In fact, these things can be looked after very well. All of the relevant duties one did earlier can still be diligently performed."


How is this possible, you may ask? Understand by this example: Look at the behavior of the nurse of a motherless infant. She nurses the child, carries it around, consoles it if he cries, and nurses it back to health if he gets sick, just as she would if she were the child's actual mother. If she likes the child, she even kisses it lovingly. While doing all of this work, she does not even have the feeling that the child is her own! In spite of all that she does for the child, if the father of the child dismisses her, she at once picks up her things and gets out of the house. At the time of quitting her position, she is neither happy if the child was to put on weight, nor sad if the child were to die. The reason for this attitude is that she does not have a sense of "mine" regarding the child. However, it cannot be said that she has not performed her duty properly due to the absence of this sense of "mine."


Let us look at another example. Take the case of a trustee who manages a minor's estate worth many millions of rupees. His lack of the sense of "mine" does not hinder him in his duty, and he has been managing the estate of the minor very efficiently. If the duty is not discharged properly, the trustee is liable, and will surely suffer the consequences. The trustee does not have the feeling that the estate is "mine" and accordingly, is not affected if the estate increases in value, or if even if it is decided in a legal suit that the estate does not really even belong to the minor. His duty is to look after the estate carefully as long as it is under his management. In short, in order for one's duties to be performed properly, it is not necessary that one must have the sense of "I" or "mine" while performing them. In exactly the same way, the gross and the subtle bodies form a bundle that is rooted in the five elements, and is given as a "keepsake" which is entrusted to the human being.


As a trustee, you must look after the bundle in the best possible way. If you neglect this responsibility, you will surely suffer consequences in the form of the loss of health of both body and mind. If the trustee manages the minor's estate efficiently, and the nurse looks after the child very well, they are awarded their salaries in return. Likewise, if you look after your body and mind well, and keep them in a healthy condition, you also get a return, in the form of joy. A healthy body is definitely useful in the search for the Ultimate Truth.


All of this carrying out of one's responsibilities has to be achieved without the sense of "mine." With this attitude, even if the body becomes fat or thin, or lives or dies, there is no elation or lament. If a trustee of a minor's estate is led astray by a sense of "mine" and claims ownership and embezzles from that estate, he will be jailed. In the case of spiritual practice, the identification with the body means forgetting the Self, or killing the Self. The hope of liberation recedes for the one who is bound by the idea of being a body, even though in truth, he is only nothing but the Self.

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Sri Samartha Siddharameshwar Maharaj

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Saint Tukaram said, "Let the body live or die, I have complete faith in my Self Nature." If an aspirant reaches this level of conviction, the attitude arises, "When one experiences the 'Bliss of Brahman' (Brahmananda) who cares for the body?" When this attitude arises, it is truly praiseworthy. A dog once bit off a piece of flesh from Saint Kabir's calf muscle. Saint Kabir simply said, "Either the dog knows, or the flesh knows. Anything is possible." What could have been the feeling of the people around upon hearing this from Saint Kabir, who was a great devotee? The aspirant can easily see the degree of renunciation that Saint Kabir had reached. He fully understood that it was the flesh that was affected and not his True Nature.


Although this understanding that the Self remains unaffected was experienced by Saint Kabir, and also by Saint Tukaram when he lost his whole household, the aspirant might not get the same sense of unshaken ecstasy within oneself in the beginning when one initially undertakes the search for the "I." If by God's Grace, such Bliss does overwhelm you, you might say, "What are all these worldly possessions worth after all?," and you will never feel the need to ask such pointless questions as "Will my house be run properly?" At that point, you will have developed such an indifferent attitude that you will say, "Let whatever is to happen, happen, and let whatever has to go, go."


However, if the aspirant understands intellectually, which is easier than experiencing the Self, he raises the question "After the Knowledge of the Self is attained, and the possessive pride of the body and the mind is left behind, can one's worldly duties still be performed?" To console him, the Sadguru answers "Dear one, of course, even after realizing the utter uselessness of the body and mind one can establish a household and have children without bringing in the pride of the body and the mind. In fact, these things can be looked after very well. All of the relevant duties one did earlier can still be diligently performed."


How is this possible, you may ask? Understand by this example: Look at the behavior of the nurse of a motherless infant. She nurses the child, carries it around, consoles it if he cries, and nurses it back to health if he gets sick, just as she would if she were the child's actual mother. If she likes the child, she even kisses it lovingly. While doing all of this work, she does not even have the feeling that the child is her own! In spite of all that she does for the child, if the father of the child dismisses her, she at once picks up her things and gets out of the house. At the time of quitting her position, she is neither happy if the child was to put on weight, nor sad if the child were to die. The reason for this attitude is that she does not have a sense of "mine" regarding the child. However, it cannot be said that she has not performed her duty properly due to the absence of this sense of "mine."


Let us look at another example. Take the case of a trustee who manages a minor's estate worth many millions of rupees. His lack of the sense of "mine" does not hinder him in his duty, and he has been managing the estate of the minor very efficiently. If the duty is not discharged properly, the trustee is liable, and will surely suffer the consequences. The trustee does not have the feeling that the estate is "mine" and accordingly, is not affected if the estate increases in value, or if even if it is decided in a legal suit that the estate does not really even belong to the minor. His duty is to look after the estate carefully as long as it is under his management. In short, in order for one's duties to be performed properly, it is not necessary that one must have the sense of "I" or "mine" while performing them. In exactly the same way, the gross and the subtle bodies form a bundle that is rooted in the five elements, and is given as a "keepsake" which is entrusted to the human being.


As a trustee, you must look after the bundle in the best possible way. If you neglect this responsibility, you will surely suffer consequences in the form of the loss of health of both body and mind. If the trustee manages the minor's estate efficiently, and the nurse looks after the child very well, they are awarded their salaries in return. Likewise, if you look after your body and mind well, and keep them in a healthy condition, you also get a return, in the form of joy. A healthy body is definitely useful in the search for the Ultimate Truth.


All of this carrying out of one's responsibilities has to be achieved without the sense of "mine." With this attitude, even if the body becomes fat or thin, or lives or dies, there is no elation or lament. If a trustee of a minor's estate is led astray by a sense of "mine" and claims ownership and embezzles from that estate, he will be jailed. In the case of spiritual practice, the identification with the body means forgetting the Self, or killing the Self. The hope of liberation recedes for the one who is bound by the idea of being a body, even though in truth, he is only nothing but the Self.

Evgeny shared a Доген quote         SHARE URL

Доген

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Просветление подобно отражению луны на воде. Луна не намокает, вода не волнуется. Хотя ее свет широк и велик, луна отражается даже в самой маленькой луже. Вся луна и всё небо отражаются в капле росы на траве.

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Доген

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Исследовать путь — значит исследовать себя. Исследовать себя — значит забыть себя. Забыть себя — значит быть просветленным во всем. Быть просветленным во всем — Значит убрать барьеры между собою и другими. Тогда от просветления не останется и следа, однако само просветление продолжается в повседневной жизни бесконечно.

Evgeny shared a Рамана Махарши quote         SHARE URL

Рамана Махарши

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Поэтому я и говорю вам: познайте, что в действительности вы есть бесконечное, чистое Бытие, Абсолютное Я. Вы всегда являетесь тем Я и ничем иным, кроме того Я - Самости. Следовательно, вы никогда не можете быть в действительном неведении относительно этой Самости. Ваше неведение является просто формальным, подобным неведению десяти глупцов об "утрате" десятого человека. Оно и есть это неведение, которое и вызвало их горе.

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Рамана Махарши

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Счастье - это сама сущность Самости, счастье и Самость не различаются. Счастья нет ни в одном объекте мира, но из-за нашего невежества мы воображаем, что получаем счастье от объектов. Когда ум направляется наружу, он испытывает страдания. Действительно, лишь когда его желания исполнены, он возвращается к своему источнику и наслаждается счастьем - Самостью. Подобным образом в состояниях глубокого сна, самадхи, при обмороке или когда желаемое достигнуто, а нежелательное устранено, ум обращен вовнутрь и наслаждается чистой Самостью - Счастьем.

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Рамана Махарши

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Оставаться спокойным - вот что называется проницательностью Мудрости. Для этого надо растворить ум в Самости. Телепатия, знание прошлых, настоящих и будущих событий, ясновидение не составляют проницательности Мудрости.

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Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

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Talk 55.
D.: Can advaita be realised by japa of holy names; say Rama, Krishna, etc.?
M.: Yes.
D.: Is it not a means of an inferior order?
M.: Have you been told to make japa or to discuss its order in the
scheme of things?
Silence.

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author unknown

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"That was just the strong sign Narasimha Swami was waiting for."

It is simply amazing to see whose destiny lies where. In the grand scheme of things, BVN had the destiny of giving the first authoritative biography of Bhagavan and also electrify the Shirdi Saibaba movement.

As Bhagavan always says, our job is to accept the hand of Self in these happenings and keep quiet wihtout judging. Afterall, nothing happens without being ordained by the Higher Power

Regards Murali
July 12, 2010 6:53 PM

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Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

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Satsangh means association with Sat or Reality. One who knows or has realized Sat is also regarded as Sat. Such association is absolutely necessary for all. Sankara has said, “In all the three worlds there is no boat like satsangh to carry one safely across the ocean of births and deaths.”

"Gems From Bhagavan" - Chapter VII

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African Proverb

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When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.

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Adyashanti

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What is it like to live an awakened life?

While the world is trying to solve its problems and everyone around you is engaged in the same, you’re not. While everybody around you is trying to figure it out, trying to arrive, trying to “get there,” trying to be worthy, you’re not. While everyone thinks that awakening is a grand, noble, halo-enshrouded thing, for you it’s not. While everybody is running from this life right now, in this moment, to try to get there, you’re not. Where everybody has an argument with somebody else, mostly everybody else, starting with themselves, you don’t. Where everybody is so sure that happiness will come when something is different than it is now, you know that it won’t. When everybody else is looking to achieve the perfect state and hold on to it, you’re not.

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Unknown

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15. How long should inquiry be practised?

As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the
inquiry "Who am I?" is required. As thoughts arise they should be
destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through
inquiry. If one resorts to contemplation of the Self unintermittently,
until the Self is gained, that alone would do. As long as there are
enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally forth; if they
are destroyed as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.

16. What is the nature of the Self?

What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul,
and God are appearances in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these
three appear at the same time, and disappear at the same time. The Self
is that where there is absolutely no "I" thought. That is called
"Silence". The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is "I"; the
Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self..................From the
SPIRITUAL TEACHING of RAMANA MAHARSHI Introduction by C.G.Jung chapter:

LGH

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Unknown

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Я просил сил… А жизнь дала мне трудности, чтобы сделать меня сильным.
Я просил мудрости… А жизнь дала мне проблемы для разрешения.
Я просил богатства… А жизнь дала мне мозг и мускулы, чтобы я мог работать.
Я просил возможность летать…А жизнь дала мне препятствия, чтобы я их преодолевал.
Я просил любви… А жизнь дала мне людей, которым я мог помогать в их проблемах.
Я просил благ… А жизнь дала мне возможности.
Я ничего не получил из того, о чем просил. Но я получил все, что мне было нужно.

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Kip Mazuy

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The reason why you suffer
is because you unconsciously
avoid this moment.

You are unconsciously
but constantly resisting
this moment;
separating yourself from
this moment.

So the path of awareness in meditation
is to get you back to this moment.

And the first part of meditation
is to sit still.

Because the most
physical way you avoid this
moment is by being restless
in the body.

It does not mean
that you cannot be present
while moving.

But for this meditation,
the first part is to sit still
and allow that resistance
to sitting still
be burned away
in awareness.

The second and
main way you avoid
this moment
is through identifying
with your thinking.

You are sitting still
yet you are thinking
about what you have
to do tomorrow.

The thought itself
does not take you out of this moment,
but your identifying with the thought
does.

The thought arises
"I have to go to work tomorrow"
and you are the "I" in that sentence.

And like you are in a dream,
you are lost in the imagination
of tomorrow.

You have successfully
escaped this moment.

This is identification.

Even thinking about
being present
keeps you from being present.

So then the second part
is to learn to either
witness your thinking,

let go of your thinking,

inquire into what is here
beyond thinking,

rest your attention on the bliss
that is here beyond thinking

or to even focus thought
by repeating a mantra.

Any of these methods
are to help keep you present
or at least give you a taste
of the present moment.

But the truth of it is that
you cannot be present.

The "you" who you think you are,
is that which is separate
from the present moment.
It is the very resistance
to the present moment.

So another way to look at it
is that you relinquish the idea of yourself
to realize the present moment,
to realize your are the present moment

and in this
you are free from suffering.

For however long
you can remain
free from thought identification
resting in your natural state
of pure awareness
there is peace.

And every time
you drop into pure awareness
this peace expands
and floods into
all aspects of your life.

Blessings,


Kip

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Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

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The following is verse 40 of “Reality in 40 Verses” by Sri Ramana Maharshi:

“If asked: ‘Which of these three is final liberation: - with form, without form, or with and without form?’ I say, ‘Liberation is the extinction of the ego which inquires ‘With form, without form, or with and without form?’”

Liberation is the extinction of the ego.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego that inquires.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego that speculates about what liberation is or is not.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego that wonders if the experience it has had is liberation or not.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego that imagines the Self has parts or qualities or aspects or form.
Liberation is the end of the ego that experiences.
Liberation is the end of experience.
Liberation is the end of the experiencer.

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One Taste

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The Tantric Sage might say

Indeed,indeed
---is not the whole point of life, to be fully at home in the body
and its desires, the mind and its ideas, the Spirit and its light.

To embrace them fully,evenly simultaneously
since all are equally, gestures of Awareness/Absolute Being

To inhabit lust and watch it play,
To enter ideas and follow their brilliance ,
To be swallowed by Spirit and awaken to A GLORY that time forgot to name .
BODY and MIND and SPIRIT all contained ,equally contained ,
In the ever-present AWARENESS that grounds the entire display

Life pulses , Mind Imagines ,Emotions wave ,Thoughts wander ,
What are all these but the endless movements of Absolute Being
Forever at play with its own gestures ,
Whispering quietly to all who would listen, is this not you yourself ?
From One Taste

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Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

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SHOWING ADVAITA IN ACTIVITIES

84. Question: Sri Bhagavan has written that one should not show advaita (non-duality) in one's activities. Why so? All are one. Why differences?

Bhagavan: If you saw someone molesting a woman would you just let him go, thinking "All is one?" There is a scriptural story about this. Some people once gathered together to test whether it is true, as said in the Bhagavad Gita, that a jnani (realized being) sees everything as one. They took a Brahmin, (a member of the highest Hindu caste system), a cow, an elephant, and a dog to the court of King Janaka, who was a jnani. When all had arrived, King Janaka sent the Brahmin to the place of Brahmins, the cow to its shed, the elephant to the place allotted to elephants, the dog to its kennel. He then ordered his servants to take care of his guests and feed them all appropriate food. The people asked, "Why did you separate them individually? Is not everything one and the same for you?"

"Yes, all are one," replied Janaka, "but self-satisfaction varies according to the nature of the individual. Will a man eat the straw eaten by the cow? Will the cow enjoy the food that a man eats? One should only give what satisfies each individual person or animal. Although the same man may play the role of all the characters in a play, his actions will be determined by the role that he is playing at each moment. In the role of a king, he will sit on a throne and rule. If the same person takes on the role of a servant, he will carry the sandals of his master and follow him. His real Self is neither increased nor decreased while he plays these roles. The Jnani never forgets that he himself has played all these roles in the past."

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Gangaji

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The desire to be in control, the illusion of being in control, and the hope of being in control are all based on the megalomaniacal belief that you know when and what the outcome should be.

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Thich Nhat Hanh

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Many people think excitement is happiness.... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

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author unknown

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He who thinks by the inch and talks by the yard deserves to be kicked by the foot.

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Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Yes, I appear to hear and see and talk and act, but to me it just happens as to you digestion or perspiration happens. The body-mind machine looks after it, but leaves me out of it. Just as you do not need to worry about growing hair, so I need not worry about words and actions. They just happen and leave me unconcerned, for in my world nothing ever goes wrong.

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Zen Saying

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Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you any where.

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