Quotes from David Michie

existential overload

A reaction is automatic, habitual," Ludo said. "A response is considered. That's the difference. What's important is to create space, to open ourselves up to possibilities beyond the habitual, which rarely serve us well. Anger is never an enlightened response. We may be wrathful—speaking in mock-angry tones to stop a child who is about to step near a fire, for example—but that's very different from real anger.

to cultivate compassion for others, first we begin with ourselves.

It was the ruling King of Bhutan himself who, in the 1980s, set up a system that measured national advancement according to Gross National Happiness rather than Gross Domestic Product.

Yes, karma propels us into all kinds of unexpected situations," His Holiness said. "This is another reason we should behave with love and compassion toward all living beings. We never know in what circumstances we will meet up with them again. Sometimes even in this same lifetime.

Acknowledge. Accept. Let go.

All is cause and effect. Action and reaction.

For those beings with a broader perspective of Planet Earth, boredom is sometimes accompanied by a darker companion—guilt. We know that compared to many others, our lives are actually quite comfortable. We don't live in a war zone or in abject poverty; we don't have to dwell in the shadows on account of our gender or religious opinions. We're free to eat, dress, live, and walk however we like, thank you very much. But even so, we're bored beyond measure.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: 'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.' Interesting, isn't it?

even the most powerful first impressions could mask a very different truth.

The Indian Buddhist guru Shantideva had some wise words on this very subject," Lobsang said. He began to quote: "'When crows encounter a dying snake, / They will act as though they were eagles. / Likewise, if my self-confidence is weak, / I shall be injured by the slightest downfall.

Be wisely selfish, little Snow Lion. Gain happiness for yourself by giving it to others.

also reflected on His Holiness's advice about how to deal with problems in life. They are never asked for, but how we deal with them defines our future happiness or unhappiness.

When we think of other beings with compassion, this makes us happiest. When we consider how to help others avoid suffering and give them contentment, we, ourselves, are the first to benefit.

Whatever is in our mind, we project onto the world outside us. Step by step, if we transform the way we think, especially by letting go of the self-grasping mind, we also transform our reality.

human behavior being inexplicable to rational felines,

In the Dharma, there is no place for guilt. Guilt is useless. It is pointless to feel bad about something in the past that we can't change. But regret? Yes. This is more useful. Do you both feel sincere regret for what you did?

Buddha was once asked to describe the essence of his teachings," Rinpoche said. "Do you know what he replied? 'Abandon harmfulness. Cultivate goodness. Subdue your mind.

Enduring happiness was only possible with equanimity. As long as our happiness depended on circumstances, it would be as fleeting and unreliable as the events themselves.

egocentric melodrama.

The problem," observed a tall Indian man sitting next to Serena, "is that we get stuck in our comfort zone, even when it isn't very comfortable.

If pleasure is a circumstantial enjoyment, happiness refers to a deeper sense of fulfilment not dependent on circumstance, and which is usually accompanied by qualities such as peacefulness, purposefulness and benevolence. Unlike pleasure, which requires situations to be constantly renewed or upgraded, happiness is a state of mind that grows the more we experience it.

Fourth: no swamp, no lotus. The most transcendent of flowers grows out of the filth of the swamp. Suffering is like the swamp. If it makes us more humble, more able to sympathize with others and more open to them, then we become capable of transformation and of becoming truly beautiful, like the lotus.

What if someone conducted tens of thousands of hours of rigorous investigation to discover truths about the nature of consciousness? Suppose other people replicated the research over hundreds of years. How amazing would it be not just to have an intellectual understanding of the mind's potential but also to establish the most rapid and direct way to realize it? That is the science of Buddhism.