THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

Thought for March 2010

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.


Henry Miller














THOUGHT ARCHIVE

Thought for February 2010

The universe is full
of magical things
patiently waiting for
our wits to grow sharper.


Eden Phillpotts
(also attributed to William Butler Yeats)

Thought for January 2010

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,
adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. . . .
Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow
speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again,
though it contradict every thing you said to-day.


Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thought for December 2009

It doesn't much matter
what you do in particular,
so much as you live
while you're doing it.

Henry James

Thought for November 2009

As long as anyone believes
that their ideal and purpose
is outside them,
that it is above the clouds,
in the past
or in the future,
they will go outside themselves
and seek fulfillment
where it cannot be found.

They will look for solutions and answers
at every point except
where they can be found
--in themselves.

Erich Fromm

Thought for October 2009

Resistance to what is
is the greatest waste
of our capacity to flourish.


D Ward

Thought for September 2009

Three Rules of Work:
Out of clutter find simplicity;
From discord find harmony;
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Albert Einstein

Thought for August 2009

The invariable mark of wisdom
is to see the miraculous in the common.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thought for July 2009

We cannot change anything until we accept it.

Carl Jung

Thought for June 2009

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless.

The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.

Mother Teresa

Thought for May 2009

A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner:

"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time."

When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied,

"The one I feed the most."

unattributed

Thought for April 2009

You would worry less
about what other people
thought of you
if you knew
how seldom they did.

Paul McKenna

Thought for March 2009

When you allow hope
to triumph over the past
you are setting yourself free
from your pain.

D Ward

Thought for February 2009

Do you seek answers only in times of distress?

Could that search in times of joy
eradicate the need to re-visit
the same distresses?

D Ward

Thought for January 2009

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free.

Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing.

Chuang Tzu

Thought for December 2008

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

Harriet Beecher Stowe


Thought for November 2008

Whether one believes in a religion or not,
and whether one believes in rebirth or not,
there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion.

Dalai Lama


Thought for October 2008

It can be more difficult to accept generosity than bestow it.

Deborah Ward



Thought for September 2008

In giving you are throwing a bridge across the chasm of your solitude.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Thought for August 2008

Loving is Allowing.

White Bull

Thought for July 2008

A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

Charles Dickens

Thought for June 2008

Do not speak- unless it improves on silence.


Thought for May 2008

Within the body there are billions of different particles. Similarly, there are many different thoughts and a variety of states of mind. It is wise to take a close look into the world of your mind and to make the distinction between beneficial and harmful states of mind. Once you can recognize the value of good states of mind, you can increase or foster them.

Dahli Lama

Thought for April 2008

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.

The Buddha

Thought for February 2008

We spend most of our time and energy in a kind of horizontal thinking. We move along the surface of things going from one quick base to another, often with a frenzy that wears us out.

We collect data, things, people, ideas, "profound experiences," never penetrating any of them. . . .

But there are other times. There are times when we stop. We lose ourselves in a pile of leaves or its memory.

We listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper.

James Carroll


Thought for January 2008

If there was nothing wrong in the world
there wouldn't be anything for us to do.

George Bernard Shaw


Thought for December 2007

Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem.

If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge.

Fritz Perls


Thought for November 2007

Your vision will become clear
only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens.

Carl Jung


Thought for October 2007

When you do things from your soul
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

When action comes from another section,
the feeling disappears. 

Jalaluddin Rumi


Thought for September 2007

If you want others to be happy,
practice compassion.

If you want to be happy,
practice compassion.

The Dalai Lama
Thought for August 2007

One with outward courage
dares to die;

One with inward courage
dares to live.

Lao-tzu
Thought for July 2007

Because one believes in oneself,
one doesn't try to convince others.

Because one is content with oneself,
one doesn't need others' approval.

Because one accepts oneself,
the whole world accepts him or her.

The Tao Te Ching

Thought for June 2007

We can hear things that are true

but until we feel them for ourself

they contain little meaning.

-- Deborah Ward

Thought for May 2007

When you compare yourself to another person

how much of yourself are you forgetting

and

how much of the other are you not seeing?

-- Deborah Ward

Thought for March 2007

Can you consider that failure may be nothing more than a gentle nudge to ensure you do not stray too far from the path of your true heart's desire?

-- Deborah Ward

Thought for February 2007

Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing.

-- Willliam Butler Yeats


Thought for January 2007

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day,
a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting
somewhere behind the morning.

J.B. Priestley

Thought for December 2006

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
- Dogen.


Thought for November 2006


Two monks were once traveling together down a muddy road.
A heavy rain was falling. Coming around the bend,
they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash,
unable to cross the intersection.

"Come on, girl," said the first monk. Lifting her
in his arms, he carried her over the mud.

The second monk did not speak again until that night
when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer
could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females,"
he said. "It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"

"I left the girl there," the first monk said.
"Are you still carrying her?"

Thought for October 2006

Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process he was stung.

He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung.

The other monk asked him, "Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know its nature is to sting?"

"Because," the monk replied, "to save it is my nature."