It is true, that the actions of many are in response to an Illusion, if you respond as they do then you also are responding to an Illusion.

In doing so you are subscribing to that which is false and what one subscribes to is what is delivered.

~Richard Thomas

This was mother Theresa?! We had this "Anyway" poster at home when I was a kid... never knew it was her... damnnn.. should have read the fine print lol

Amen to that Suchitra.

"God helps those who help themselves."

You will never do it quite right in the eyes of others, therefore you can only try to do what you think is right in your own way.

In order to do this you don´t have to do anything in fact, just be is enough, but also the most difficult thing to do :)

It is interesting how the Christians believe we are irrevocably under the condemnation of original sin, in contrast to Judaists who believe we are progressing (even though I see no such progression in the world today, aye, at times it seems we are actually even regressing), again in contrast to the Hindu way of acknowledging that 'evil' is apart of life as is the good,

and it will only be when, as I believe it was Richard who used this excellent metaphor, that when the white dot is placed on a white background, the one shall be unified with the all; leaving simply One left . . .

and evil shall no more have a place within our Oneness.

Peace

"White dot on a white background"

That's a nice way of putting it across.

We keep attributing all too human elements to God. Why should He either seek to "punish" us or "forgive" us? And I have to use "God" or "He/She" for want of any other word to communicate. I can call it "Ultimate Reality" or I can call it "Brahman". Would it help? For all too often, we keep chasing the words and lose the essence.

So I find nothing wrong with saying "it is between you and God", so long that it is being said in context where I (and now you can again question, what is "I"?) am encouraged to become a white dot and merge with the white background.

The Buddha was wise. He remained silent about God.

A very refreshing piece of poem , but the problem is this is Kalyug - (God cannot show it's presence in this yug that's why Lord Hanuman is said to be saviour in this yug , it seems he too is not listening or should I say watching).

Anyways what would be cure or should I say analgesic for bruises one takes in the event of takes on on's soul in the business being alive......

A nice piece of poetry, very refreshing , but the only problem is that it's Kalyug can't see signs of God being around. Besides what is one supposed to do with bruises one gets , in the course of our daily intercourses.....
Well it's Kalyug , may one has to wait Dwapar starts.. :)

A nice piece of poetry, very refreshing , but the only problem is that it's Kalyug can't see signs of God being around. Besides what is one supposed to do with bruises one gets , in the course of our daily intercourses.....
Well it's Kalyug , may one has to wait Dwapar starts.. :)

Dear Ispita,

This refreshing piece of poetry has been circulating on the Internet for ages. Author unknown.

But I like it anyway. ;)

Cheers!
Navin

Navin, thanks for that info.

The Paradoxical Commandments written by Kent M. Keith in 1968 seems to be the original source.

ORIGINAL VERSION:

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001
http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/

THE POPULAR VERSION(posted by Suchitra Krishnamurti):-

this version is credited to Mother Teresa

Those verses were reportedly were written on the wall of Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta, and are widely attributed to her.

Some sources say that those words were written on the wall in Mother Teresa's own room. In any case, their association with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity has made them popular worldwide, expressing as they do, the spirit in which they lived their lives.

They seem to be based on a composition originally by Kent Keith, but much of the second half has been re-written in a more spiritual way.
___________________________________________

http://prayerfoundation.org/mother_teresa_do_it_anyway.htm

It doesn´t matter whose quotes they are. What matters is: What will WE do with them?

Timeless wisdom is the same as a timeless song:
the Uni-Verse....

EXPECTING NO FRUIT BUT DOING - Bhagavad Gita 3:19

expecting no fruit but doing
always that need to be done
working unattached to actions
he achieves the highest things

tasmad asaktah satatam
karyam karma samacara
asakto hy acaran karma
param apnoti purusah

***

BETTER BE IN ACTION THAN INACTION - Bhagavad Gita 3:8

get into action that you must do
better be in action than inaction
even your body to keep going
it has to do something

niyatam kuru karma tvam
karma jyayo hy akarmanah
sarira-yatrapi ca te
na prasiddhyed akarmanah


***

HE THUS FOOLS HIMSELF - Bhagavad Gita 3:6

keeping his action in check
yet thinking things of senses
he thus fools himself and
a pretender he becomes


karmendriyani samyamya
ya aste manasa smaran
indriyarthan vimudhatma
mithyacarah sa ucyate

***

UNMOVED BY SUCCESS OR FAILURE - Bhagavad Gita 18:28

Unattached to material things
Ego-less, courageous and resolute
Unmoved by success or failure
He is of moral aptitude


mukta-sango 'naham-vadi
dhrty-utsaha-samanvitah
siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikarah
karta sattvika ucyate

***

DISHONOR IS WORSE THAN DEATH - Bhagavad Gita 2:34

Speaking ill of you forever
People will disgrace you
For a man of honor
Dishonor is worse than death

akirtim capi bhutani
kathayisyanti te 'vyayam
sambhavitasya cakirtir
maranad atiricyate

***

DID JESUS PRACTICE WHAT HE PREACHED?

Christians, do you practice
What Bible teaches?

Did Jesus practice
What he preached?

He preached
Peace in Matthew

And then
Murder in Luke

whitewings.sulekha.com

Dear Mieke,
When I was in Europe, I felt a deep connection to the sites and sounds and music of a 'different' culture and people - but not really different.

This feeling of a universal oneness, is real to me.
In the final 'analysis' living fully in the present moment,
is
It's
own
reward.

With love,
~ Kate

Jesus always said: it is you who says this.

I just have to be and the right answers come to me, when appropriate.

That is the lesson i have to learn.

Thanks Kate... :)

THE TRUE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE

The first man was Adam
And the woman was Eve

Adam made love to Eve
Cain, a son was born

Adam made love to Eve another time
And Abe, another son was born

Cain killed Abe in jealousy
For he made God more happy

Later Cain married a woman
Who bore many children

Who was this woman?
Where did she come from?

The story of creation is a lie
And the lie is true if there was

No God and nor were there
Adam, Cain, Abe or Eve

whitewings.sulekha.com

DID JESUS PRACTICE WHAT HE PREACHED?

THE TRUE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE

interesting...

According to a pamphlet recently shoved into the mailbox, "The End of False Religion is Near!"

Well, i'll drink to that.

But it's likely a promise they can't keep. Too bad.

It is of course a Jehovah's Witness pamphlet, citing for their great headline Zephaniah 2:2, 3. I'm not a Bible whiz but i did learn that Zeph is indeed a genuine book of the Bible, but that hopeful sentence does not appear in the two online versions i checked out, nor anything remotely like
it for that matter. References elsewhere suggested JWs have their own version of the Bible. Sigh. I guess they're a false religion too, calling other religions false. I don't wanna get too infinite-regressive here but . . .

Mention of this pamphlet turned up at http://issuepedia.org/Apocalypticism .

That's close enough to PotKettleBlackism for me.

Sarlo

they can't be all bad...

my landlord here is a JW, and they don't celebrate
Xmas, nor any other holidays, and had me take down the red-white and blue flag:

I'm not sure why.
Afraid to ask!
yeah - i think it's another
END TIMES thingie.

yeah, perhaps they recognize that the earth will retaliate some day for abuses against it.

when that happens, I wouldn't want to be near a US flag either.

clay

“when that happens, I wouldn't want to be near a US flag either.” ~clay

......I seriously doubt Mother Earth

makes such distinctions regarding

'who did what'.

Matthew

perhaps not so much MOTHER EARTH, per se, but the forces inherent Whom/Which run Mother Earth...

the *Divine Intelligence* no-name, genderless Wonder. Science and metaphysics and mysticism all come together, y'know! ;-)

i think we-all in these whole unimaginably gagrgantuan universes are just some microbes on another guy's toothbrush in a bigger galaxy and even larger universes.
like fractals.
gotta run...

v

yeah, no doubt 'Mother Earth' only sees the All as One.

unlike those who would seek to gain as much as possible for themselves by plundering Mother Earth.

cheers,

clay

"unlike those who would seek to gain as much as possible for themselves by plundering Mother Earth."

Er, you mean like those Right Wing nut jobs who think that they will be raised up in the sky to meet the returning Jesus who'll be riding an energy-efficient white horse with hordes of energy-efficient angels not far behind?

Lord, save us from your disciples.

Gary

"unlike those who would seek to gain as much as possible for themselves by plundering Mother Earth."

.......Do you know anyone that doesn't do that?
I don't mean plundering the earth, I mean
looking out for #1(themselves). It shows up in a myriad of ways, plundering the earht only being one of them. Everyone is doing it everyday. Who actually lives for the other, serving something besides their own self interests? There is no scale to this. Every self-serving act is on equal footing with every other self-serving act. So we can look at those who plunder the earth and blame and criticize and never see that we are doing the exact same thing, that is, living from the exact same context of self-reference.

Matthew

Then there are people who give everything to #2(others) and just look out for #2. That way your living for the other, and that #2 becomes a #1 who gives to another #2 etc etc. So veryone is living for the other..
Gosh what a concept huh..

Blessings
Randy

....No. Giving to #2 is still looking out for #1 because it's what works in the best interest of #1.

Matthew

Not really Matthew if you follow it to it's full conclusion you will have everyone looking after everyone..

I know to simple to grasp..
:>)

Randy

I suspect (HIGHLY) that even Mother Theresa was looking out for # 1 in that she probably thought that by washing the leprous scabs of the untouchables of Calcutta she was making Jesus happy or that by doing that she would be "Saved!" in some way.

Gary

Hey, what's up guys?

Mother Theresa was just BEING Mother Theresa as the lepers are BEING the untouchable lepers of Calcutta.

Anything else is attribution which is no solution to the paradox of Who is Number One and Who is Number Two....

Love,
Anna

(Number one to me and number two to you or was it visa versa?;-)

I'm sure that Bush is just BEING Bush as well, but that doesn't mean that he shouldn't be impeached.

PS: there is no number 2.

Gary

"I suspect (HIGHLY) that even Mother Theresa was looking out for # 1 in that she probably thought that by washing the leprous scabs of the untouchables of Calcutta she was making Jesus happy or that by doing that she would be "Saved!" in some way." ~ Gary

Hi Gary,

There is a beautiful verse in the Kathopanishad, which goes something like this, "Everything that
is done, is done for the sake of the pleased self."

So in truth, everyone does do everything for the sake of the self.

The first time I heard this was when I first met Byron Katie, and she pointed out that no one ever
does anything except for themselves.

When someone pointed out an 'unselfish' act which someone had done, she said, "Yes, they did it because it made them feel good."

This is true.

I think there are a few ways to look at this. One is that we do things or want things in order to feel good. That is we fulfill a desire in order that our minds relax, and for that one instant in that relaxed state, our minds are no longer wanting minds, and we experience happiness, that reflection of our true nature which shines in and through every thought.

Not understanding how this circuitous process works, we seek to repeat it over and over again to find happiness, to get a pleased and relaxed mind if only for a second.

Then there are some other ways to look at it as well. Everything I do I do because I have a value for it, because it pleases me. So what is my highest value?

And some people's values seem to be more harmonious with the creation, more in line with dharma than others.

And then what about those who have realized that the locus of happiness is actually the self which is ever present to every thought, no matter what that thought is? Then that mind does not necessarily have to manipulate the creation in order to get a moment of peace. It can just relax into that happiness.

Then I am sure that there are those who realize quite directly and experientially that I and everyone are the same self, and in this case helping another is no different from helping
myself. It's exactly the same.

I think certain people whom we term 'saintly' may be in that category.

But I think that what we call saintliness is actually natural behavior for one whose mind is not in pain. And obviously there is a lot of pain in the minds of people in this world, a lot of confusion, which leads to a lot of actions that a person thinks will make them happy, but which actions in the long run make them very unhappy.

If you view it like this, I think one can have a lot of compassion for oneself and for others, because everyone is running after the same happiness, and that happiness happens to be
me, my own true nature. I just don't know that.

I don't think anyone should be down on themselves for doing everything for the sake of the self. Everyone does this, because myself is the locus of supreme happiness, and everyone intuitively knows this. My self is the most beloved, and I try and please it in everyway that I can, not knowing that it is the actual source of all pleasure.

Best wishes,
Durga

Unfortunately, some seem to think that their happiness depends a lot on other people's UN-happiness, not recognizing the one self of all
of us, or rather mistaking the ego-self for the real self.

Gary

Thanks for the reminders from Mother Theresa, Suchitra; to always be on our highest awareness, to treat others, as we would have ourselves treated.

with loving kindness,
North

((((Thank YOU)))))

Dear Suchitra, thanks for the words of Mother Theresa. The words of Mother Theresa posted by you are very difficult to follow. In other words she is asking us to lead a saintly selfless life. Too tough. Fine sounds great, but to put them in action is almost impossible for those whose awareness levels (which Deepak talks about) doesn’t keep them ‘honest’ …forget about kindness, honesty at all times towards every one…which Mother Theresa asks us to do.

People think that they need 'reminders' of the saying like that of Mother Theresa which they would like to integrate...I appreciate that. Being aware of one self is a first step to integrate those qualities other wise you are just being hypocritical and in a denial. ('Denial' as in "the Bush Administration is in a constant state of Denial".)

You don’t have to live in the past to take responsibility and be transparent and self reflect. Taking responsibility of past actions and of current behavior, and being honest about it for once, throws you out of this loop… or the vicious circle of self delusion.

“You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God
It was never between you and them anyway”

Yes, in the final analysis...but before that it is between you and your mind or the ego. Then it is between you and ‘them’…that is other people…if you can break these ‘distinctions’ (Deepak beautifully puts it in his writings about this same concept) then you realize your true self (I AM). Then you can be true to those words of self-less actions of Mother Theresa. Inaction towards inspirational words is the same as action towards empty words.