Quotes from Sangharakshita

To be able to do one thing at a time is the whole art of life.

Love where there is no reason to love

Worlds on worlds are rolling ever From creation to decay, Like the bubbles on a river, Sparkling, bursting, borne away.

when you are tired your lower nature always takes over.

We believe in ourselves in this narrow, limited, egoistic sense, as identified with the body and the lower mind. We are blind to any higher vision, any more ultimate selfhood, any more universal mind or consciousness. This belief in self in this sense is a fetter that has to be broken before we can enter the Stream and break through into a higher, wider dimension of being and consciousness.

Tara is the spiritual daughter of Avalokitesvara. She is usually either white or green in colour, and according to another beautiful legend she was born from the tears of Avalokitesvara as he wept over the sorrows of existence. In the midst of a great pool of his tears there appeared a white lotus. The lotus opened, and there was Tara , the very essence, indeed the quintessence, of compassion.

The bodhicitta (spirit of enlightenment) starts arising when one sees what a mess we are all in. One can't begin to see that until one is a little way out of the mess oneself.

The Enlightened person is like a clear window through which the light of reality shines, through which that light can be seen almost as it is. Or one can say that he or she is like a crystal or diamond concentrating and reflecting that light.

The Bodhisattva, being joyful, spreads confidence and happiness wherever he or she goes. In a sense it is one's duty to be happy and joyful. One can't gladden others unless one is glad oneself.

The wisdom of the Tath?gata is not to be measured by the yardstick of human intelligence, nor limited by the cravings of the human heart.

All intending students of Buddhism would do well to remember, however, that the heart of the Dharma, the spiritual essence that underlies and interpenetrates all doctrinal formulations, metaphysical disciplines, and aesthetic expressions, will be revealed, not in proportion to the bulk of our scholastic equipment, but only to the extent to which we have cultivated right motive.

We can help people a great deal by thinking about them positively and developing metta towards them. And sometimes we can help people just by keeping out of their way – or rather by not getting in their way. Sometimes people need space, and we help them most by giving it to them, or at least not taking it from them.

Nitya is 'permanent', 'eternal'

Foundations of Mindfulness found in the Satipa??h?na Sutta of the Majjhima Nik?ya?

The Christian evangelist falls into a similar trap if he opens up his Bible and says, 'It must be true, it's written here,' – because, of course, the fact that certain assertions are printed in a book does not prove them to be true. He will have to demonstrate that the Bible has that kind of authority, and if he cannot do so, he will have no reason to be annoyed if other people cannot accept what he says.

Very few people know the real meaning of friendship. More often than not, there is too much emphasis on sentiment, and too little on action. Metta is something that must be lived.