"...the fools of this world prefer to look for sages far away. They don't believe that the wisdom of their own mind is the sage. The sutras say, 'Among men of no understanding, don't preach this sutra." And the sutras say, 'Mind is the teaching.' But people of no understanding don't believe in their own mind or that by understanding this teaching they can become a sage. They prefer to look for distant knowledge and long for things in space, buddha-images, light, incense, and colors. They fall prey to falsehood and lose their minds to insanity." - Bodhidharma
@We Are Cartographers Names are authority to those who seek authority figures. Truth is truth (if truth can be defined) no matter who says it. I'll mitigate that to say, instead of truth, wisdom is wisdom no matter who the teacher is. It could come from the life of a plant or the action of an animal or the mouth of a man, it is up to the individual to learn from it. Unfortunately, as you said, names are authority to most people. For me, the experience of the man doesn't determine the value of the knowledge, but the value of the knowledge will prove the value of the man's experience. B) In short, I agree with @mammamaia on that point. (BTW maia, thank you for sharing the wisdom of your experience!) @thirdwind I really like the one you shared. This philosophy has been the central poit of my expanding education.
@Kramitdfrog if you're going to quote Yoda then I think the following quote is far wiser than the one you mentioned: "Do or do not, there is no try." Personally I like: "Nothing is certain and even that is uncertain." "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night" - Edgar Allen Poe. "The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives." - Albert Einstein. "Anyone at anytime can be educated in anything that strikes their fancy" - (paraphrased) Isaac Asimov.
I would recommend you be careful with your choice of words. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you didn't just call me naive. However, do note that in context, such meaning is implicit and I don't appreciate it. Thanks, buddy. Now, I never said I'm above the phenomenon so to imply that I'm better off than others. But in my opinion wisdom is not about who says what, but what I learn. Wisdom is wisdom; whether I learn from watching a snails effort to climb a wall or some authority tells me "patience and persistence are central to success." It all depends on the level of credibility and value I place on the message. Men don't live forever, ideas do. So I'll quote someone who has proven their credibility in a certain area if I want to add clout to an argument, but otherwise, who says what doesn't determine how information will resonate with my inner being.
"2 + 2 = 4." - Mahatma Gandhi "2 + 2 = 4." - Adolf Hitler Which would you rather have in your signature?
For image-sake I would quote Ghandi, but knowing the truth of the matter I accept the information from either source.
That's awesome. Eastern philosophy has a ton of insightful teachings, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who appreciates it.
@We Are Cartographers Then I'll advise you to insinuate nothing you don't intend to say. Maybe you were trying to call me naive without openly saying it, or maybe you were be open, or maybe you weren't saying that at all. Regardless, that was the message you conveyed, whether you meant it or not. So... um... yeah... don't call me naive, it's an uncalled for interpretation, and I could presume to say it is naive to to assume one's view of how things work is somehow more accurate than another's. But that is perspective. Facts would call it ethnocentrism. Now that's the end of it on my part. I don't see the point in dragging on about something so insignificant. This thread is for quotes, not debates.
Exactly. Some dismiss everything in Hagakure because Tsunetomo never partook in combat himself, but that doesn't mean some of his writings don't ring just as true as Musashi's who presumably got his first kill at age 13, fighting a grown man armed with a real katana while Musashi only wielded a stick (or was it a bokken? Can't remember). Speaking of Hagakure, for a long while I thought one quote was from Hagakure until I found the quote I was thinking about and realized I had just come up with my own, slightly modified version of it: "When facing difficult situations, it is best to dash forward bravely and with joy." I try to live by that even if it came from little old me instead of Tsunetomo.
You should make this one of your draeisms. If Einstein comes to haunt me because I type his name under something he never said... well, that'd be flippin' awesome actually! Of course it's nice if someone points out that it was actually Einstein's parrot who said "'half-brain' is not an insult. Au contraire, it means the person still has empty space in his head to be filled with knowledge," but at the end of the day I feel it's all the same, really, 'cause the real sources of old quotes are quite difficult to verify.
That is a very good example, and I love the quote too! In fact I'm quoting you on it right now ha ha! Thanks KaT. I think I just might. And I have to agree. I would have some questions for him now that he's seen the other side. (e.g. "is there some sort of physical or metaphysical tie in between the immaterial and the material?") My assumption is that the connection would be energy...at all levels at varying frequencies.
"Regret what you do, not what you don't." From a conversation I had with an old uni friend when we were reflecting on our uni careers over a cuppa.
Good thread!...Here's a few of my favs: What we have inherited from our fathers and mothers is not all that ‘walks in us.’ There are all sorts of dead ideas and lifeless old beliefs. They have no tangibility, but they haunt us all the same and we can not get rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper I seem to see Ghosts gliding between the lines. Ghosts must be all over the country, as thick as the sands of the sea. ~ Ibsen - Ghosts The 'kingdom of Heaven' is a condition of the heart - not something that comes 'upon the earth' or 'after death.'. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche Existence really is an imperfect tense that never becomes a present. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche If you want to know who your friends are, get yourself a jail sentence. ~ Charles Bukowski
"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." Arthur Schopenhauer
"Aw, go to hell." Flossie Gaddis "Never give up hope. Ever." my choir teacher "You're the only one who can make you happy." my mom