Failure affects us only when we decide to give up easily, and success comes when we decide to stand on our own two feet.
Therefore, our fate depends on how firmly we are able to hold our ground. So, do not give failure the chance to make us miserable.
Fame and wealth are like flowing river. We cannot hold onto them forever. Thus, in my opinion, it is more beneficial to learn how to simply let go when the time comes, rather than try to keep them forever. In this way, we might find satisfaction. Otherwise we will remain fixated on having and not having - both are suffering.
Fulfilling our needs and wishes is like trying to empty the ocean. It is simply an impossible task even if we devoted our entire life to it. Our desires only imprison us, always leading to more suffering. Therefore, in my opinion, it is beneficial to embrace contentment, which helps us to reach a state of satisfaction.
We cannot afford to let our mindfulness go even for a moment, because dangers are never far behind us.
It is always easy to see the faults of others, but it is much more difficult to recognize our own faults, which may not be obvious to us. So, our main concern should firstly be to always remain mindful, and secondly, to strive to immediately recognize the moment that any negative emotion arises. Finally, we should never provide a place for such faults in our hearts. This will not only lessen the burden of our wrongdoing, but it may also serve as a new beginning.
Words are floating like dust in the air, so we have to wisely filter out the words that make us unhappy, jealous, and angry. Gossip is like a disease, and listening to and getting caught up in gossip will only bring harm to ourselves and others. Thus, in my opinion, we should simply avoid and ignore worthless words.
I first visited Niagara Falls in 1987 and today, for the second time, I am here again. Since my first visit 30 years ago, I didn't see much change with the waterfall itself, but when I look at myself I see a big difference compared with before. Buddhist teachings emphasize impermanence, and so I am happy to accept these changes and move forward.
We cannot be deceived by the seemingly humble requests of our attachment, because the moment we give in to them, we may never see the end of our unfulfilled wants and needs. Therefore, we should take care not to become trapped in the endless chase to feed our desire.
Words and thoughts are yours when you have them, however the moment you spill them out to others, you are simply a spectator. Therefore, when you can keep it to yourself, you should, because, just like a bird, it will never come back to you once you set it free.
We need language in order to communicate with each other, however, sometimes when we are able to connect deeply, then the language is just a secondary tool to convey messages to others.
We may like to read about others because we want to improve ourselves by better understanding how other people are. However, in my opinion, it is more beneficial to look within to find out how we are as a person. Without looking deep within, we might never truly understand ourselves, although we may pretend to ourselves that we do. Therefore, it is certainly meaningful to look to others to learn from their good qualities and to overcome their negative attitudes, but it is through knowing ourselves that we may bring about the changes we need and enhance divine qualities for a meaningful life.