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61 " we face the woeful prospect that we’re intelligent creatures living in a meaningless world. "
― Steve Hagen , Buddhism Plain and Simple
62 " Reality, of course, is neither concave nor convex, neither cold nor hot, neither self nor other. If we conceive cold apart from the rest of Reality—not only apart from heat, but apart from ourselves as well—we suffer from it. "
63 " We move through the world in a narrow groove, preoccupied with the petty things we see and hear, brooding over our prejudices, passing by the joys of life without even knowing that we have missed anything. Never for a moment do we taste the heady wine of freedom. We are as truly imprisoned as if we lay at the bottom of a dungeon, heaped with chains. "
64 " We’re like the comic strip character Hagar the Horrible who, when asked which he’d choose, power, gold, or true happiness, chose power: “With power, I could get the gold, and then I’d be happy.” We find Hagar’s idea humorous because we know better. Yet most of the time we ignore this very knowledge, and act (or at least think) much like Hagar. "
65 " [The mind is] simply thus, the fabric of the world itself – the ongoing arising and falling away that are matter, energy, and events. "
66 " After … all the philosophy and science that we've laboured on for centuries, it's becoming very hard to find a story we can buy. "
67 " Right view is not a concept or belief. … [It] is simply seeing Reality as it is, here and now, moment after moment[;] ... relying on bare attention … before conceptual thought arises[;] … relying on what we actually experience rather than on what we think. "
68 " the sense we generally have that it [self] exists somewhere inside us, if not in our bodies, then at least in our minds. "
69 " Liberation of mind is realising that we don't need to buy any story at all. It's realising that before our confused thought, there actually is Reality. We can see it. All we have to do it to fully engage in this moment as it has come to be. "
70 " Buddhist writings (including this book) can be likened to a raft. A raft is a very handy thing to carry you across the water, from one shore to another. But once you’ve reached the other shore, you no longer need the raft. Indeed, if you wish to continue your journey beyond the shore, you must leave the raft behind. Our problem is that we tend to fall in love with the raft. "
71 " [W]hat purpose does it serve to deny actual experience in order to run with an idea instead? "
72 " Liberation of mind is realising that we don't need to buy any story at all. It's realising that before our confused thought, there actually is Reality. We can see it. All we have to do is to fully engage in this moment as it has come to be. For this, the eightfold path points the way. "
73 " Liberation of mind is realising that we don't need to buy any story at all. It's realising that before our confused thought, there actually is Reality. We can see it. All we have to do is to fully engage in this moment as it has come to be. "
74 " When you say, 'When I was six years old, … ' the 'I' refers to something that must have been the same at the age of six as it is now. If it isn't the same, … what in the world does 'I' refer to? "
75 " To see doesn't mean to initiate a programme of inaction. … To act or not to act is not the question. The question is whether or not we're awake. (…) [T]o … see what's happening in each moment, and base our actions on what we see, not on what we think. "
76 " [W]e [also] create a … problem when we put people on a pedestal … . Whenever we make anyone – a minister, a teacher, an athlete, a genius, our ancestors, the Buddha – bigger than life, it's easy … to forget that the person you're discussing is a human being. … You'll forget that you're made of the very same stuff they are. "
77 " [W]e long for something permanent … Yet … experience provides nothing but change. "
78 " [W]hen we speak about people based on what we think, feel, or hope rather than on what we observe or experience, we deprive them of their humanity. We have replaced what they are, in all their fluid vitality, with our own crystallised ideas, opinions, and beliefs. "
79 " We see this repeatedly in the news. We get neat little packaged reports – even on complex issues. We're told who the bad guys are, who the good guys are, who the victims are, who the perpetrators are. "
80 " We all know the maxim “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” It’s because we want the horse to drink that we become frustrated, because it’s literally not in our power to accomplish the job we’ve set out to do for ourselves. "