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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
David Michie
Read between
August 29 - September 3, 2020
What makes you purr? Of all the questions in the world, this is the most important. It is also the great leveler. Because no matter whether you are a playful kitten or a sedentary senior, a scrawny alley Tom or a sleek-coated uptown girl, whatever your circumstances you just want to be happy.
her yoga clothes—black, free-trade, organic cotton
“Yoga is vidya,” he said, “which is Sanskrit for being with life as it is, not life as I would like it to be. Not life if only this was different, or if only I could do that. “So, how do we begin yoga? By getting out of our heads and into the present moment. The only moment that actually exists is the here and now.”
In the stillness we discover that there are other ways of knowing things than through the intellect.”
“The only time we can experience happiness is in this moment, here and now.”
“We create our own superstitions and then persuade ourselves to believe in them.”
What’s the point of having all the success in the world if you have no inner peace?”
simply to wake up in good health truly is a blessing, because sickness and death can strike at a moment’s notice.
for a truly happy and meaningful life, it is necessary first to face death. Authentically, not just as an idea. Because after that, the twilight skies are never so resplendent, the curls of incense never so mesmerizing, the smoked salmon morsels garnished with Dijonnaise sauce down at the café never so lip-smackingly, whisker-tinglingly, tail-swishingly delicious.
Like His Holiness, he seemed to emanate a particular energy. Along with a sense of oceanic peace he also conveyed a feeling of timelessness, as if this state of exalted wisdom had always existed just as it existed now, and always would exist.
It is a tragic misunderstanding to have such self-limiting beliefs, to think that you are nothing but a bag of bones, rather than boundless consciousness; to believe that death is an ending, not a transition. Worst of all is not to realize how every action of body, speech, and mind affects your future experience of reality, even beyond this time and this life. Beliefs like these make people waste the opportunities of our very precious human life. Our minds are so much greater than this!”
“Interesting how through the ages, when people have shown mystical powers they’ve been either revered or reviled. A much more sensible reaction, you’d have thought, would be to wonder, how can I, too, develop those powers?”
“There’s evidence that animals have the ability to pick up on things in ways that other people would describe as paranormal. Like the phenomenon of dogs that know when their owners are coming home.”
“Four tools,” Geshe Wangpo said, looking at us each in turn. “First: impermanence. Never forget: this, too, will pass. The only thing you know for sure is that however things are now, they will change. If you feel bad now, no problem. Later you will feel better. You know this is true. It has always been true, correct? And it is still true now.” They were nodding. “Second: what is the point of worrying? If you can do something about it, fix it. If not, what is the point of worrying about it? Let go! Every minute you spend worrying, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. Don’t allow your thoughts
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The Holy Secret is this: If you wish to end your suffering, seek to end the suffering of others. If you wish for happiness, seek the happiness of others. Exchanging thoughts of self for thoughts of others—this is the most effective way to be happy.”
