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This
is a page for anyone who's ever struggled along a spiritual path,
strived to improve their 'inner self' or worked hard
to attain 'enlightenment'...
A martial arts student
went to his teacher and said earnestly, "I am devoted to studying your
martial system. How long will it take me to master it." The teacher's
reply was casual, "10 years." Impatiently, the student answered, "But
I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will
practice everyday, 10 or more hours a day if I have to. How long will
it take then?" The teacher thought for a moment, "20 years."
-- Zen Story
The following
is taken from "A Course In Miracles":
"...Many have spent a lifetime in preparation,
and have indeed achieved their instants of success. This course does
not attempt to teach more than they learned in time, but it does aim
at saving time. You may be attempting to follow a very long road to
the goal you have accepted. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement
by fighting against sin. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long
periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All
such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet
the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look
to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy..."
"...When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation and
fight against the giving in to sin; when the light comes at last into
the mind given to contemplation; or when the goal is finally achieved
by anyone, it always comes with just one happy realization; 'I
need do nothing.' "
"...'I
need do nothing' is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty.
Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is
given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation."
Taken from A
Course In Miracles, Chapter 18 of the TEXT section.
[Visit
the Foundation for Inner Peace to find
out more]
"In
the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
Less and less is done.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone."
"The Tao of the sage is work without effort."
Tao Teh Ching
- by Lao Tzu, 6th Century BC.
"
I am a lazy man. Laziness keeps me from believing that enlightenment
demands effort, discipline, strict diet, non-smoking, and other evidences
of virtue. There is a paradise in and around you right now, and to be
there you don't even have to make a move. All potential experiences
are within you already. You can open up to them at any time. There is
an odd chance that this is what someone needs to read in order to feel
better about himself..."
"No resistance."
"Love
it the way it is."
"Love
as much as you can from wherever you are."
"Whether
I am conscious of it or not, I am one with the cause of all that exists."
"Whether
I feel it or not, I am one with all the love in the universe."
"Go
beyond reason to love: it is safe. It is the only safety.
"Enlightenment
doesn't care how you get there."
"Whatever
you are doing, love yourself for doing it."
"There
is nothing you need to do first in order to be enlightened."
From The
Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment - by Thaddeus Golas, 1972.
It's
OK to have it easy!
EASY
- now there's a word that's something of a taboo. Most of us at some time
or other during childhood were taught that "easy = cop out," "easy
= less rewarding," "easy = lazy = bad," that we're not supposed to
take the "easy option," etc. etc... Why shouldn't we have an
easy life?
From
Sarah Nelson:
"Here are some more of the things which have inspired me over the
years, reminding me to laugh as much as possible, to relax and not take
myself too seriously, to let go of struggle, follow my heart and remember
I am FREE!"
-
Lazy
Man's Guide to Enlightenment - by Thaddeus Golas. A delightful
little book. Profound and concise - with a "go straight to the back
page" option for the really lazy.
-
The
Continuum Concept (excerpts) - by Jean Liedloff, 1975. Deeply
inspired by living amongst South American Stone Age Indians the author
urges us to re-awaken our own innate wisdom, particularly in the realm
of child rearing, and remember how to be happy.
-
The
Tao of Pooh (intro) - by Benjamin Hoff, 1982. A wonderful
book about Pooh Bear as the Taoist master he is...
-
Life
was never meant to be a Struggle - by Stuart Wilde 1987.
A great little booklet about giving up struggle in all areas of
life.
-
-
Jonathan
Livingston Seagull: A Story - by Richard Bach. A beautiful
tale of following the heart's desire for greater things...
"Organizations
cannot make you free. No man from outside can make you free; nor can
organized worship, nor the immolation of yourselves for a cause, make
you free; nor can forming yourselves into an organization, nor throwing
yourselves into works, make you free."
"My
only concern is to set men absolutely, unconditionally free."
Truth
is a Pathless Land - Krishnamurti, 1929.
This speech was given by Krishnamurti on dissolving The Order of the Star
in the East. The Order was founded in 1911 to proclaim the coming of the
World Teacher. Krishnamurti was made Head of the Order. On August 2, 1929,
the opening day of the annual Star Camp at Ommen, Holland, he dissolved
the Order before 3000 members.
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