Ancient knowledge ...self knowing

Discussion in 'Philosophy' started by freethinker, Feb 26, 2015.

  1. #1 freethinker, Feb 26, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 26, 2015
    So I've compiled a list of some of the most famous spiritual teachers, enlightened guru's, mathematical geniuses, crucial societal contributors, poet's, and the greatest thinkers from our human history who have all pointed to the exact same thing.  Contrary to what media, government, and religious manipulators have told you, we aren't to bomb each other into the understanding of our limited viewpoints.  Explosions aren't going to convince anyone on how life is 'supposed' to be, or how someone is supposed to behave.  True understanding will only come if we go within and understand ourselves first and foremost.  It's not an external problem as you will hopefully come to realize.                                                                                                                                                 
    This took me some time to put together so hopefully you will read this compilation and possibly peek some interest in yourSELF.  Most, if not all of these thinkers are smarter than me or you ever were or will be so maybe just for a minute we can put aside our ignorance and biased egoic attitudes and retain the core message trying to be conveyed here....with love.                                                                                                                                      
    "The kingdom of heaven is within"-Luke 17:20-21

    "If you believe that heaven is in the sky, then the birds go in ahead of you"-Jesus (Gospel of Thomas)                                                                                                                                                                                                            
     
    "He who knows himself knows his Lord". -Muhammad

    "What we are looking for is what is looking"-St. Francis of Asissi                                                                                                                                                                                                                
     
    "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."-Albert Einstein                                                                                                                                                                                                            
     
    "Of all knowledge, the wise and good seek most to know themselves." -William Shakespeare
     
    "Why are you so enchanted by this world, when a mine of gold lies within you?"~Rumi                                                                                                             
     
    "Be still and know that I am god"-Psalm 46:10

    “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”-Buddha                                                                                                                                                                                                              
     
    "Thou sleep'st: awake, and see thyself."-William Shakespeare
     
    “Purity or impurity depends on oneself, No one can purify another.”-Buddha

    “The Way is not in the sky; the Way is in the heart.” -Buddha                                                                                                                                                                                                              
     
    “Indeed he succeeds who purifies his own self”                                                                                -Quaran                                                                                                                                                                                                              
     
    "When we seen men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves." -Confucious                                                                                                                                                                                                       
     
    "If you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty and you are poverty." -Saint Thomas
     
    "Knowing thyself is the beginning of all Wisdom" -Aristotle                                                                                                                                                                                                             
     
    “No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself. No man is free who cannot command himself.”
    ―Pythagoras                                                                                                                                                                                                       
     
    “Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.”-Ramana Maharshi                                                                                                                                                                                                           
     
    'Know Thyself'-Plato                                                                                                                                                                                                                
     
    "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."~Rumi                                                                                                                                                                                                                
     
    "Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens."
    -Carl Jung                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
     
    "To be aware is to be awake. You are aware anyhow, you need not try to be. What you need is to be aware of being aware." - Nisargadatta                
     
    "Know thyself and thou wilt know the universe." ~ Pythagoras                                                                                                                                                                                                        
     
    "The secret of Buddhism is to remove all ideas, all concepts, in order for the truth to have a chance to reveal itself." - Thich Nhat Hanh                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
     
    "Instead of searching for what you do not have, find out what it is that you have never lost." - Nisargadatta
     
    "Each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against ourselves." ~Martin Luther King, Jr
     
    "To know oneself is to know the everlasting reality that is consciousness, and to know it is to be it."-Kashani
     
    The last one is my personal favorite.  Hope you enjoy and found something useful. 
     
  2. There are literally hundreds of more quotes and enlightened people who have also come to this EXACT same conclusion, however I omitted them due to repetitiveness.  Anyone and everyone is more than welcomed to add to this post with their own personal or favorite quoted on the topic.
     
  3. No!

    That is a wrong assumption...and you KNOW it.

    Otherwise, good quotes leading to the basic teaching that is all too looked over and undermined in today's world.
     
  4. Never believe someone who claims to be enlightened. I believe it follows suite that you should not believe someones claim that others are enlightened. Such a thing is aspired to but never attained. Ideals are aspired to and referenced but do not exist in nature...
     
    Interesting nonetheless thank you for the post
     
  5. Excellent post my friend!
     
  6. From the Wan-Ling record of Huangbo:
     
    Once, I asked the master that: "There are a few hundred monks dwelling on that mountain.  How many of them have acquired your Dharma?" The master responded: "To know how many of them have acquired it is impossible because the Tao is expressed and comprehended only by Mind, not by words. All thoughts and words are used only as expedients to teach innocent children."
    Question: "What is the Buddha?" The master responded: "The Mind is Buddha; no-mind is the Tao. Just be without mind and stop your thinking. Just be of that Mind where there is no existence or non-existence, no long and no short, no self and no others, neither negative nor positive, and neither within nor without. Just know, above all, that non-differentiating Mind is the Buddha, that Buddha is the Mind and that the Mind is voidness. Therefore, the real Dharmakaya is just voidness. It is not necessary to seek anything whatsoever, and all who do continue to seek for something only prolong their suffering in samsara. Even if they were to practice the Six Paramitas for as many numberless kalpas as there are sandgrains in the Ganges River, they would still not reach the Supreme Stage. And why not? Just because such practice depends on primary and secondary causes, and when these causes separate, the practitioner of this path will still have only reached a stage of impermanence. Therefore, even the Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya are not the real Buddha. Also, the one who spreads Dharma is not the real Buddha. In reality, therefore, everybody should recognize that only one's own Mind is the Original Buddha."
    Question: "The holy without-mind' is Buddha, but might the worldly without-mind' sink into emptiness?" The master answered: "Hold neither a concept of holy nor of worldly; think neither of emptiness nor tranquillity in the Dharma. Since originally there is no non-existent Dharma, it is, therefore, not necessary to have a view of existence as such. Furthermore, concepts of existence and non-existence are all perverted views just like the illusion created by a film spread over diseased eyes. Analogously, the perceptions of seeing and hearing, just like the film that creates the illusion for diseased eyes, cause the errors and delusions of all sentient beings. Being without motive, desire or view, and without compromise, is the way of the Patriarch. In addition, being without motive is the principle that allows the flourishing of Buddha. In contrast, discriminating view, firmly grasped, encourages the thriving of the army of Mara."
    Question: "If the Mind is already the original Buddha, should we still need to practice the Six Paramitas and all such methods?" The master said: "We are enlightened only by Mind, no matter whether we follow the Six Paramitas or other methods. All such methods and teaching are used only as expedients to help save all sentient beings. The goal is to realize Bodhi, liberation and Dharmakaya; even the four Phalas (Fruitions) and the ten stages of a Bodhisattvas progress are nothing but expedient teaching ? surely not ends in themselves ? to help sentient beings realize the Buddha Mind. Since, in reality, the Mind is Buddha, the first and only teaching necessary for saving sentient beings is THE MIND IS BUDDHA'." If we were without concepts of birth and death as well as suffering and affliction, it would not then be necessary to have the Dharma of Bodhi. So all the Dharma ever spoken by Buddha was and is expediently designed to liberate the minds of all sentient beings. However, if all beings are without mind, it is not necessary to have any Dharma at all. The Buddha and the Patriarchs never talk about anything other than One Mind, which is also called the One Vehicle. Therefore, even if you seek in the ten directions, you will find no other vehicle that is the Truth except this realization of One Mind. So, in the Assembly that has this Right View, there are no leaves or branches ? only the One Vehicle.
    However, it is extremely difficult for most beings to believe in or to grasp the profound meaning of this Dharma. Bodhidharma came to the two countries of Liang and Wei, just in order to spread the Venerable Wai-Kuo's esoteric belief in the Dharma and the understanding that one's own Mind is Buddha. Without-body' and without-mind' is the great Tao! Since all sentient beings have fundamentally the same nature, everybody should be able to believe deeply. Mind and self-nature are not different. One's self-nature is Mind. One's Mind is self-nature. It is frequently said that the recognition and realization of this identification of mind and self-nature is beyond comprehension."
     
  7. "Do not compare yourself to others. If you do so, you're insulting yourself."
    -Hitler
     

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