Pearls of Buddhist Wisdom 2012

• CAUTIOUS AND CALM  ~ "It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), USA
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• SUMMER RAIN  ~ "A frog floating In the water jar Rains of summer." Samaoda Shiki (1867-1902) Japan (Haiku)
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• THE SEVEN AGES ~  "He who thinks to realize the hopes and desires of his youth when he is older is always deceiving himself, for every decade of a man's life possesses its own kind of happiness, its own hopes and prospects." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) Germany
• WONDERFUL WAKING  ~ "Life contains a lot of evils, as fragile as a bubble cast up by a wave, and so how marvelous to wake from sleep still breathing and say, 'I'm awake! There's still time! ' " Atisa (982-1054), Tibet
• PUNISHING HIMSELF  ~ "The liar's punishment is not that he is not believed but that he cannot believe anyone else." George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
• POSITIVE SEARCHING  ~ "What we see depends mainly on what we look for." John Lubbock (1834-1914) England
• CYCLE OF DOORS ~ "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." Helen Keller (1880-1968), USA
• WISDOM OF AGE  ~ "The longer one lives, the less importance one attaches to things, and also the less importance to importance." Jean Rostand (1894-1977), France
• LAYING ASIDE SORROW  ~ "Peace of mind cannot come from weeping and wailing. On the contrary, this will lead to more suffering and greater pain. The man who cannot leave his sorrow behind him only travels further into pain." The Nipata Sutta
• EARTHLY PEACE  ~ "What life can compare with this? Sitting quietly by the window, I watch leaves fall and the flowers bloom as the seasons come and go." Seccho (982-1052) China
• SATISFACTION  ~ "Only those who know when enough is enough can ever have enough." Lao Tzu (6th century BCE), China
• MIND NATURE  ~ "The nature of your mind, which cannot be pinpointed, is innate and original wakefulness. It is important to look into yourself and recognize your nature." Padmasambhava (8th Century), Tibet
• GONE IN A MOMENT  ~ "Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world: a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream." The Diamond Sutra
• TURN WITHIN ~  "The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral. Those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness; they are like those who lick honey from a razor's edge. How pitiful are they who cling to concrete reality; turn your attention within, my friends." Nyoshuh Khen Rinpoche (1932-1999) Tibet