Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.

~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Whoever has dealings with others cannot afford to ignore the double nature
of human nature. Failure to recognize it leads to confusing consequences.
Looking neither for the good alone nor for the bad alone, but remaining
emotionally detached during such an act of recognition, is a philosophical
attribute. He who possesses it may hold no illusion about the mixed motives
in others and yet still practise goodwill toward them. This must be so, for
the primal source of all Goodness inspires him daily and constantly to hold
to this practice.

~ Paul Brunton

[Notebooks Category 13: Human Experience > Chapter 2: Living in The World >
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Life only demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible — not to have run away.

~ Dag Hammarskjold

Do not permit the events of your daily life to bind you, but never withdraw yourself from them.

~ Zen Proverb

This world is a bridge, pass over quickly and build no house upon it.

~ Shaykh Isa (Jesus)


[Inscription on a bridge in Lahore dating back to Mogul times]

The truth is lived, not taught.

~ Hermann Hesse

There is no single path to enlightenment. Yoga has no monopoly. Life itself is the great enlightener. I met a man once who, after the shock of hearing his wife tell him that she had ceased to love him, that she had for some time had a secret lover, and that she requested a divorce so as to be able to marry him, felt a collapse of all his hitherto confidently held values and beliefs. For some days he was so affected that he could not eat. But his mind by then had become so extraordinarily lucid concerning these matters and himself, that he experienced moments of truth. Through them he came into a great peace and understanding, an inner change. What was the morning sun which awakened him? He did no yogic exercises, entered no churches, was too intent on his worldly business to read spiritual books. This brings me back to the theme: do not submit to the pressure of those who say there is only a single way to salvation (the way they follow or teach) do not let the mind be trammelled or narrowed. The truth is that the ways are many, are spread out in all directions, are individual.

~ Paul Brunton

It is only when you realise that life is
taking you nowhere that it begins to
have meaning.

~ Ouspensky

'We thought of life by analogy with a journey, with a
pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end
and the thing was to get to that end. Success or
whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead.
But we missed the point the whole way along.
It was a musical thing and you were supposed to
sing or to dance while the music was being played'.
~ Alan Watts

Your purpose is to be at peace,
to love all beings, and to know who you are.
This is the purpose of life.
Slowly you will know this and get through.

- Papaji

As you go about your life, don't give 100 percent of
your attention to the external world and to your mind.
Keep some within. Feel the inner body even when
engaged in everyday activities, especially when engaged
in relationships or when you are relating with nature.
Feel the stillness deep inside it. Keep the portal open.

~ Eckhart Tolle

It is not the worship of a person that is
crucial, but the steadiness and depth of
your devotion to the task. Life itself is
the Supreme Guru; be attentive to its
lessons and obedient to its commands.
When you personalize their source, you
have an outer Guru; when you take them
from life directly, the Guru is within.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj