Religious Thought 234

When help is rendered by weighing the receiver's need and not the donor's reward, its goodness grows greater than the sea.

- Tirukkural 11:103

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All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?

- Dhammapada 129-130

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Religious Thought 233

Without love in the heart, Life is like a sapless tree in a barren desert. What good is a body perfect in outer ways, If inwardly it is impaired by lack of love? With love enshrined in the heart, one lives. Without it, the body is but bone encased in skin.

- Tirukkural 8:78-80

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I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one's own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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Religious Thought 232

Remember the whole thing is just a play and the Lord has assigned you a part. Act your part well; there all your duty ends. He has designed the play and he enjoys it.

- Sai Baba

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What monks, is the world? The eye and shapes, the ear and sounds, the nose and smells, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile objects, the mind and mental objects--these form the world as we know it. When an eye and a shape are there, then the consciousness of seeing arises. From this consciousness comes sensation; that which is sensed is thought over; that which is thought over is projected outward as the external world. So I declare that in this six-foot-long body with its perceptions and thinking lies the world, the beginning of the world, the ending of the world, and the way to the ending of the world.

- Majjhima Nikaya

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Religious Thought 231

The Gnani wants to become Brahman, but the bhakta wants to taste the sweetness, not be the sugar.

- Ramakrishna

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Do not underestimate your ability.

- Geshe Chekawa, in Advice From a Spiritual Friend

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Religious Thought 230

A poor devotee points to the sky and says, "God is up there." An average devotee says, "God dwells in the heart as the Inner Master." The best devotee says, "God alone is and everything I perceive is a form of God."

- Ramakrishna

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The bliss of a truth-seeking life is attainable for anyone who follows the path of unselfishness. If you cling to your wealth, it is better to throw it away than let it poison your heart. But if you don't cling to it but use it wisely, then you will be a blessing to people. It's not wealth and power that enslave men but the clinging to wealth and power.

- Majjhima Nikaya

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Religious Thought 229

If all the land were turned to paper and all the seas turned to ink, and all the forests into pens to write with, they would still not suffice to describe the greatness of the guru.

- Kabir

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Subhuti asked the Buddha: "The highest, most awakened mind that you have attained--is that mind the unattainable?" "Yes, Subhuti. With regard to that highest and most awakened mind, I have not attained anything. That mind is everywhere equally. It cannot be attained or grasped, but it can be realized. It is realized through the practice of all good actions when they are done in the spirit of no self and no object of self."

- Prajnaparamita

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Religious Thought 228

There is a city with eleven gates Of which the ruler is the unborn Self, Whose light forever shines. They go beyond Sorrow who meditate on the Self And are freed from the cycle of birth and death. For this Self is supreme!

- Katha Upanishad

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To disregard oneself, this is the best dharma. This is the best service to Buddha's religion. Practicing meditation for life is the best gift. To those sentient beings without protection.

- "Hundred Thousand Songs: Selections From Milarepa, Poet-Saint of Tibet"

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Religious Thought 227

"Listen to the principles of yoga. By practicing these you can break through the bonds of karma. On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is not failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear. Those who follow this path, resolving deep within themselves to seek Me alone, attain singleness of purpose. For those who lack resolution, the decisions of life are many--branched and endless."

- Bhagavad Gita 2:39-41

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One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of ones time in religious offerings to the gods.

- Dhammapada

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