#lighten

If death is perfect enlightenment, life appears to be the perfect opposite. ↗

— Anthony Marais

#life #perfect-enlightenment #death

When one of the emperors of China asked Bodhidharma (the Zen master who brought Zen from India to China) what enlightenment was, his answer was, “Lots of space, nothing holy.” Meditation is nothing holy. Therefore there’s nothing that you think or feel that somehow gets put in the category of “sin.” There’s nothing that you can think or feel that gets put in the category of “bad.” There’s nothing that you can think or feel that gets put in the category of “wrong.” It’s all good juicy stuff—the manure of waking up, the manure of achieving enlightenment, the art of living in the present moment. ↗

— Pema Chödrön

#meditation #art

Philosophy cannot be extinguished, though men will try ... The spirit seeks the light, that is its nature. It wishes to return to its origin, and must forever try to reach enlightenment. ↗

— Iain Pears

#human-spirit #philosophy #dreams

The sinister, the terrible never deceive: the state in which they leave us is always one of enlightenment. And only this condition of vicious insight allows us a full grasp of the world, all things considered, just as a frigid melancholy grants us full possession of ourselves. We may hide from horror only in the heart of horror. (“The Medusa”) ↗

— Thomas Ligotti

#horror #insight #sinister #terror #insight

Out of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most. ↗

— Mark Twain

#lost

I shall no longer be instructed by the Yoga Veda or the Aharva Veda, or the ascetics, or any other doctrine whatsoever. I shall learn from myself, be a pupil of myself; I shall get to know myself, the mystery of Siddhartha." He looked around as if he were seeing the world for the first time. ↗

— Hermann Hesse

#yoga

Whoever sees me sees the teaching, and whoever sees the teaching sees me. ↗

— Gautama Buddha

#enlightenment

He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened. ↗

— Lao Tzu

#understanding-others #enlightenment

There are only so many times that you can utter ‘It does not hurt’ before it begins to hurt even more than the hurt. You become enlightened of the feeling of feeling hurt, which is worse, I am certain, than the existent hurt. ↗

— Jonathan Safran Foer

#enlightenment

Because it’s no longer enough to be a decent person. It’s no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself. ↗

— Joss Whedon

#enlightment #humanity #understanding #enlightenment