All that we are is the result of what we have thought. - The Compassionate Buddha

Krishna: When you keep thinking about sense objects, attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust of possession that burns to anger. Anger clouds the judgment; you can no longer learn from past mistakes. Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise, and your life is utter waste. But when you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you live in the wisdom of the Self. - The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 2:62-65 (Translation by Eknath Easwaran)

If a country is governed wisely, its inhabitants will be content. They enjoy the labor of their hands and do not waste time inventing labor-saving machines. Since they dearly love their homes, they are not interested in travel. There may be a few wagons and boats, but these do not go anywhere. There may be an arsenal of weapons, but nobody ever uses them. People enjoy their food, take pleasure in being with their families, spend weekends working in their gardens, delight in the doings of the neighborhood. And even though the next country is so close that people can hear its roosters crowing and its dogs barking, they are content to die of old age without ever having gone to see it. 八十 | lxxx

Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail. 七十六 | lxxvi

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. - Albert Einstein

...when we have to pay for the air that we breathe, remember this moment...

...it is all just a story, we believe whatever we choose to believe, usually in a way that is either most meaningful, or least painful, but once new information, in the form of experience, arises, the story naturally changes, and what was once important can become insignificant, what was one insidious can becomes beautiful, what was once obvious can become confusing, what was one forgotten can be remembered, and what was once hidden can lead us to revelations, yet one thing remains consistent & persistent, and "i AM" That...

When a country is in harmony with the Tao, the factories make trucks and tractors. When a country goes counter to the Tao, warheads are stockpiled outside the cities. There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy. Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe. 四十六 | xlvi

The world is an illusion, a dream. It only appears to be real to the person who is unaware that it is a dream... - Alan Watts

If you wish to escape from prison, the first thing you must realise is that you are in prison... - G. I. Gurdjieff

🛡️ = remembering...

...accept what is, without, & know peace within... ...accept what is, within, & know peace without...

When the Student is ready, The Master appears...

You cannot become that which you already are, only end the pretence of that which you are not...

Neo, sooner or later, you're going to realise just as I did, there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path... The Matrix

There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living; there is nothing harder to learn. - Seneca

The Tao cannot be perceived. Smaller than an electron, it contains uncountable galaxies. If powerful men and women could remain centred in the Tao, all things would be in harmony. The world would become paradise. All people would be at peace, and the law would be written in their hearts. When you have names and forms, know that they are provisional. When you have institutions, know where their functions should end. Knowing when to stop, you can avoid any danger. All things end in the Tao as rivers flow into the sea. 三十二 | xxxii

"Some men see things as they are, and say why. I dream of things that never were, and say why not?" - Robert F. Kennedy

...the further we perceive in time, the more we come to realise that free will & choice are but illusions, designed only for one purpose, to keep us separated & apart from that which is already whole...

If you want to be given everything, give everything up... 二十二 | xxii