World Beyond

Optimism

Man is what he believes.  --Anton Chekov

The mind in its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.  --John Milton

No pessismist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.  --Helen Keller

Tao -- Forty-Three

The gentlest thing in the world
overcomes the hardest thing in the world.
That which has no substance
enters where there is no space.
This shows the value of non-action.

Teaching without words,
performing without actions:
that is the Master's way.

Right Living

Oh, the glory of growth, silent, mighty, persistent, inevitable!  To awaken, to open up like a flower to the light of a fuller consciousness.  --Emily Carr

If your capacity to acquire has outstripped your capacity to enjoy, you are on the way to the scrap heap.  --Glen Buck

Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.  --Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Tao -- Forty-Two

The Tao gives birth to One.
One gives birth to Two.
Two gives birth to Three.
Three gives birth to all things.

All things have their backs to the female
and stand facing the male.
When male and female combine,
all things achieve harmony.

Ordinary men hate solitude.
But the Master makes use of it,
Embracing his aloneness, realizing
he is one with the whole universe.

Learning

The wisest mind has something yet to learn.  --George Santayana

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.  --Henry David Thoreau

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.  --John Kenneth Galbraith

Tao -- Forty-One

When a superior man hears of the Tao,
he immediately begins to embody it.
When an average man hears of the Tao,
he half believes it, half doubts it.
When a foolish man hears of the Tao,
he laughs out loud.
If he didn't laugh,
It wouldn't be the Tao.

Thus it is said:
The path into the light seems dark,
the path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true power seems weak,
true purity seems tarnished,
true steadfastness seems changeable,
true clarity seems obscure,
the greatest art seems unsophisticated,
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest wisdom seems childish.

The Tao is nowhere to be found.
Yet it nourishes and completes all things.

Heart

Only the heart know how to find what is precious.  --Fyodor Dostoyevsky

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.  --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.  --Erich Fromm

One With God

I believe in God or a universal consciousness.

A God who respects no religion.

A God who respects no borders.

A God who respects no nationalities.

A God who respects no social standing.

A God of peace.

A God of love.

When we tune into God, we find peace and love.

God want's nothing but growth for God's ultimate creations:  Us.

We can continue to grow until our consciousness becomes one with God's.

Consciousness develops by looking within ourselves, then serving outside ourselves.

Tao -- Forty

Return is the movement of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.

All things are born of being.
Being is born of non-being.

Perseverance

Victory belongs to the most persevering.  --Napolean

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.  --Rudyard Kipling

Genius without education is like silver in the mine.  --Benjamin Franklin

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill...Great works are performed, not by strength, but perseverance.  --Samuel Johnson