Quotes from the book "Think like a Monk" - Part IV
Continued from: For previous blog, Quotes from the book "Think like a Monk" - Part III:
There are three routes to happiness, all of them centered on knowledge: learning, progressing and achieving.
Make your mind your friend.
All spiritual teaching - this is not an oversimplification - is about how to be present to the moment... but the problem is, we're almost always somewhere else: reliving the past or worrying about the future.
The crane stands still in water, ignoring the small fish as they pass by. Her stillness allows her to catch the bigger fish.
Detachment is not that you own nothing, but that nothing should own you.
We train our brains. In the end, it is your mind that translates the outside world into happiness or misery.
Pride of wealth destroys wealth, pride of strength destroys strength and in the same manner pride of knowledge destroys knowledge.
There is a meme that shows warren Buffett and Bill Gates standing side by side. The caption reads, "$162 Billion in one photo and not a Gucci belt in sight".
If you are satisfied with who you are , you don't need to prove your worth to anyone else.
You are who you are when no one is watching.
The arrogant ego desires respect , whereas the humble worker inspires respect.
You can only be filled up with knowledge and rewarding experiences if you allow yourself to be empty.
If you don't break your ego, life will break it for you.
Why was I wasting my expertise picking up trash? The monks said that I was missing the point. Some tasks build competence, and some build character.
The two things to remember are the bad we've done to others and the good others have done for us. The two things that we were told to forget are the good we've done for others and the bad others have done to us.
Nobody ever says, "Wow , this meal has the perfect amount of salt". Salt goes unrecognized when it is perfect amount , it takes the blame when it taste goes wrong.
Un-forgiveness is like cancer. It will eat you from the inside out.
What belongs to you today, belonged to someone yesterday and will be someone else's tomorrow.
Look out for these opportunities to detach from your ego:
- Receiving an insult: Observe your ego, take a broader view, respond to the situation, not the insult.
- Receiving a compliment: Take this opportunity to be grateful for the teacher who helped you further this quality.
- Arguing with a partner: The desire to be right, to win, comes from your ego's unwillingness to admin weakness.
- Topping people: When we listen to others, we often one-up them with a story that shows how we have it better or worse.
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