More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Haemin Sunim
Read between
October 11 - October 24, 2023
When everything around me is moving so fast, I stop and ask, “Is it the world that’s busy, or is it my mind?”
According to the Buddha’s teaching, however, the boundary between the mind and the world is actually thin, porous, and ultimately illusory. It is not that the world is objectively joyful or sad and produces a corresponding feeling in us. Rather, feelings originate with the mind projecting its subjective experience onto the world. The world isn’t inherently joyful or sad; it just is.
When we look at the outside world, we are looking at only a small part that interests us. The world we see is not the entire universe but a limited one that the mind cares about. However, to our minds, that small world is the entire universe.
Reality exists because our minds exist. Without the mind, there would be no universe.”
The world has never complained about how busy it is.
There is a famous Buddhist saying that everyone appears as buddhas in the eyes of the Buddha and everyone appears as pigs in the eyes of a pig. It suggests that the world is experienced according to the state of one’s mind. When your mind is joyful and compassionate, the world is, too. When your mind is filled with negative thoughts, the world appears negative, too. When you feel overwhelmed and busy, remember that you are not powerless. When your mind rests, the world also rests.
When you have an unpleasant feeling, don’t grab hold of it and turn it over and over. Instead, leave it alone so it can flow. The wave of emotion will naturally recede on its own as long as you don’t feed it by dwelling on it.
The wise do not fight the world. In the most relaxed and playful manner, they simply embody the truth that they are one with it.
When we are joyful, our heart opens up to new things. When we are in a bad mood, we can’t be open to new things, no matter how wonderful they are. Without joy in our heart, our progress in life is slow and uninteresting.
spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti said, pure attention without judgment is not only the highest form of human intelligence, but also the expression of love.
When people who don’t know you well admire you, they are seeing their projected illusion, not your real self. In contrast, when people who know you well respect you, it is probably because you deserve it.
Remember that you are neither your feelings nor the story your mind tells about you to make sense of them. You are the vast silence that knows of their emergence and their disappearance.
No matter how effective the medicine may be, if you demand that someone take it, it can taste like poison.
A person does not live the way he says he would. He lives the way he has been living.
If I want to convince someone, I first listen attentively and try to understand them. Even if I am right, they won’t be convinced until they feel heard and respected.
When you ask a question and there is no response, then that is the answer.
Choose happiness, not success, as your life’s goal. If you become successful but aren’t happy, then what is the point?
If you think you are either superior or inferior to someone, an invisible wall goes up between you. Treat him like an old friend you haven’t seen in a while. When you let your guard down, so will he.
When you speak ill of others, it hurts you more than anyone— because your negativity is loudest within you.
There is a saying in an early Buddhist scripture: “Paper wrapped around incense smells of incense, and string binding fish smells of fish.” Whether we like it or not, we naturally become influenced by our surroundings. Ask yourself, “Who do I want to emulate?
“Whether we like it or not, we are all connected, and it is unthinkable to be happy all by oneself.” —HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA
Only when you are happy can you help to make the world a happier place.
The great Korean Zen master Kyeongbong (1892–1982) once said: “Those who have not realized their True Self live like the blind, unintentionally scratching someone else’s leg. If you would like to scratch your own leg, first awaken to your True Self.”
“He who knows only one religion knows none.” —MAX MÜLLER (1823–1900), GERMAN SCHOLAR OF COMPARATIVE LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND MYTHOLOGY
If you have developed critical intelligence but neglected emotional intelligence, then you may not be sensitive to the suffering of others. If you have developed emotional intelligence but neglected spiritual intelligence, then you may lose hope after seeing the world’s suffering. If you have developed spiritual intelligence but neglected critical intelligence, then you may fall victim to the abuse of a cult.
