If a country is governed wisely,
its inhabitants will be content.
They enjoy the labor of their hands
and do not waste time inventing
labor-saving machines.
Since they dearly love their homes,
they are not interested in travel.
There may be a few wagons and boats,
but these do not go anywhere.
There may be an arsenal of weapons,
but nobody ever uses them.
People enjoy their food,
take pleasure in being with their families,
spend weekends working in their gardens,
delight in the doings of the neighborhood.
And even though the next country is so close
that people can hear its roosters crowing and its dogs barking,
they are content to die of old age
without ever having gone to see it.
ε
«ε | lxxx
Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.
δΈεε
| lxxvi
A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
- Albert Einstein
...when we have to pay for the air that we breathe, remember this moment...
...it is all just a story, we believe whatever we choose to believe, usually in a way that is either most meaningful, or least painful, but once new information, in the form of experience, arises, the story naturally changes, and what was once important can become insignificant, what was one insidious can becomes beautiful, what was once obvious can become confusing, what was one forgotten can be remembered, and what was once hidden can lead us to revelations, yet one thing remains consistent & persistent, and "i AM" That...
When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao,
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.
There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,
no greater misfortune than having an enemy.
Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.
εεε
| xlvi
The world is an illusion, a dream. It only appears to be real to the person who is unaware that it is a dream...
- Alan Watts
If you wish to escape from prison, the first thing you must realise is that you are in prison...
- G. I. Gurdjieff
π‘οΈ = remembering...
...accept what is, without, & know peace within...
...accept what is, within, & know peace without...
