Monk Quotes

“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

“Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.”
― Ryokan

“Man of an hard heart! Hear me, Proud, Stern, and Cruel! You could have saved me; you could have restored me to happiness and virtue, but would not! You are the destroyer of my Soul; You are my Murderer, and on you fall the curse of my death and my unborn Infant’s! Insolent in your yet-unshaken virtue, you disdained the prayers of a Penitent; But God will show mercy, though you show none. And where is the merit of your boasted virtue? What temptations have you vanquished? Coward! you have fled from it, not opposed seduction. But the day of Trial will arrive! Oh! then when you yield to impetuous passions! when you feel that Man is weak, and born to err; When shuddering you look back upon your crimes, and solicit with terror the mercy of your God, Oh! in that fearful moment think upon me! Think upon your Cruelty! Think upon Agnes, and despair of pardon!”
― Matthew Gregory Lewis, The Monk

“Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree. It completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you are.”
― Matthieu Ricard

“Happiness is an illusion, Natalie. It doesn't actually exist."

"Of course it does," I said. "It's what you feel when you're not sad."

"That's unconsciousness. And I'm pretty sure that I'm miserable when I am unconscious, too.”
― Lee Goldberg, Mr. Monk on the Couch

“For several centuries, the Celtic church of Ireland was spared the Greek dualism of matter and spirit. They regarded the world with the clear vision of faith. When a young Celtic monk saw his cat catch a salmon swimming in shallow water, he cried, "The power of the Lord is in the paw of the cat!”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

“All Julie has to do is explain to her friends that she's using it to individually seal each item that she throws out."
"Then they'd think she was a geek," I said.
"She will thank me later," Monk said.
"Why would she thank you for being considered a geek?"
"Don't you know anything about teenage life?" Monk said. "It's a badge of respect."
"It is?"
"I was one," he said.
"You don't say."
"A very special one. I was crowned King of the Geeks, not once, but every single year of high school," Monk said. "It's a record that remains unbroken in my school to this day."
"Were there a lot of students who wanted to be King of the Geeks?"
"It's like being homecoming king, only better. You don't have to go to any dances," Monk said. "You aren't even invited.”
― Lee Goldberg, Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop

“He skims through the speech he prepared (for the 50th Independence day):

… Before the Apocalypse, the system gave us a goal, forcing us to exhaustion at the end of the day. We had no time to look inside. The system was a slave-reproduction module where we thought we were free. With time lost, we lost our only chance of final evolution at the end of our one life …

… The system succeeded, enough to turn talents into machines, warriors into lazy citizens, knights into faithful slaves, writers and artists into pets and trophies. They succeeded, and they laughed. But not after the Apocalypse. Not after the War. We fought. We lost many, but we won through evolution. Now, things are different. Now things are better …

Bullshit!—Yuan stops at this point. Too many lies!
Nothing has changed.
Nothing is better.
How can a monk with a voice lie? Moreover, a war hero favoring the Apocalypse—too dark! What was he thinking last night?

“Delete all of it,” he mutters sternly.”
― Misba, The High Auction

“Peaceful and kind one monk is more valuable than violent and rude ten thousand men!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Sometimes I'm Dervish, sometimes Advaita, and the Brain Scientist keeps out the superstition.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“I wear the same casual outfit everywhere, pair of jeans with a shirt or tshirt - people wear fancy clothes either to look and feel good, or impress others, I have no need for either, so I walk like beggar.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“Vanity and validation are for the small of mind,
Himalayan Human has no need for cosmetic adornment.
The Sun is beyond the realms of humility and hubris,
I'm neither humble nor hubrous, just burning with mission.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“The Sun is beyond the realms of humility and hubris, I'm neither humble nor hubrous, just burning with mission.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“I wear the same casual outfit everywhere, pair of jeans with a shirt or tshirt - people wear fancy clothes either to look and feel good, or impress others, I have no need for either, so I walk like beggar.

Vanity and validation are for the small of mind, Himalayan Human has no need for cosmetic adornment. The Sun is beyond the realms of humility and hubris, I'm neither humble nor hubrous, just burning with mission.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“The Beggar King (Sonnet 2314)

I wear the same casual outfit everywhere,
pair of jeans with a shirt or tshirt -
people wear fancy clothes either to
look and feel good, or impress others,
I have no need for either, so I walk like beggar.

Vanity and validation are for the small of mind,
Himalayan Human has no need for cosmetic adornment.
The Sun is beyond the realms of humility and hubris,
I'm neither humble nor hubrous, just burning with mission.

I wear my backbone as battery, brain is my currency,
heart is my bedrock, character is my legacy.
I see neither man nor woman, I only see human;
I see neither rich nor poor, I only see behavior.

Savages are known by aristocratic opulence,
Sapiens is known by vagrant virtue-n-valiance.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“Call me pilgrim or call me beggar,
you be my Shams, I, your Mevlana.
Call me neuro or call me nigger,
to some I'm Valium, to others Viagra.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“For example, a monk’s celibacy might armor the pelvis. It blocks orgasmic release and reinforces emotional numbness. Reich’s solution was orgastic potency. This is the ability to fully surrender to orgasm. It dissolves armor and restores vitality.”
― Laurence Galian, Crossing the Forbidden Highway: The Untold Story of Orgone, Body Therapy, and Suppressed Emotion

“The differentiation between family men and monks has brought great harm to the world. Only a class of aristocracy is created. You are a family man, so you are the lower class, and we are monks, so we are the higher class. Is God different for a monk and a family man? Even if anybody leads a family life, is it his fault? Does the fault come upon that God who makes him so?

So long as this tradition in the religious world continues, you are superior and I am inferior. No! Everybody is equal in the spiritual world.. There is no question of superiority or inferiority. And this is the true equality.”
― Sri Jibankrishma or Diamond

“I don't need a seat at your table,
all your tables are inconsequential.
You can have your puny jungle,
the Universe belongs to me.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Sonnets From The Mountaintop

“First I was a monk, then I was a scientist, later I was a poet, finally I am the Human Race. You still hang from the trees, yet you claim to understand the Himalayas!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Sonnets From The Mountaintop

“When I'm pissed at somebody's stupidity, I don't get rude, cruel or violent, I get extremely patronizing, unbearably brotherly, that's my way of not losing control.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Sonnets From The Mountaintop

“First I was a monk, then I was a scientist, later I was a poet, finally I am the Human Race.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Sonnets From The Mountaintop

“I'm a mad monk,
I won't return to paradise -
the world is a giant headache,
yet my suffering is my cure.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace

“I'm exhausted, I want to sleep, but I'm afraid, if I fall asleep, I might not wake up - so I toil, till the soil is human.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace

“I'm A Mad Monk (Sonnet 2702)

I'm a mad monk,
I won't return to paradise -
the world is a giant headache,
yet my suffering is my cure.

I'm exhausted, I want to sleep,
but I'm afraid, if I fall asleep,
I might not wake up -
so I toil, till the soil is human.

Soy un monje loco,
no volveré al paraíso -
o la tierra es de todos,
o ilegales todos somos.

The world ain't mine,
the world ain't yours -
either earth belongs to all,
or we are all illegal.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace

“Don't Be The Salt (Sonnet)

Wandering the earth as a monk scientist
I've understood one thing about converts -
people convert to christianity looking for bread,
people convert to hinduism looking for answers,
people convert to buddhism in search of freedom,
people convert to islam in order to heal -

it has nothing to do with god,
it has nothing to do with truth -
every person carries a secret wound,
religion we run to is the bandage that fits.

I am born of dust, and as I'm nearing to be dust again,
my tolerance of intolerance has become apocalyptic.
We are all wounded, looking for a bandaid -
some act like salt, I choose to be ointment.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace

“I don't think, I roar.
I don't write, I pour.
I don't live, I combust,
so you may outgrow the shore.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace

“No Other, But One
(Naskaristana 2503)

Some say tawhid,
some say advaita,
some say ubuntu,
some say divinidad.

Tawhid doesn't mean
all other gods are false,
tawhid means it's all one god.

Divinity doesn't mean
mortal must submit to divine,
divinity means mortal and divine are one.

Divinity done properly dissolves the self,
poetry done passionately dissolves the self,
neuroscience done honestly dissolves the self.

Shallow theology fights science,
deep theology becomes it.
Shallow science fights spirituality,
deep science becomes it.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hazrat-e Humanity: The Uncultured Polyglot

“Rewiring Divinity, 2732
(Diary of A Monk Scientist)

One thing you must realize,
there is no absolute truth in this world,
whatever you put your life and mind into, goes.

I found the world's perception
of religion prehistoric,
so I poured my existence into rewiring
the very reality of divinity -

because, there is no other divinity out there,
whatever we humans come up with, goes -
and if some prehistoric baboons with two brain cells
could normalize blind faith as divinity,

then a human being with a hundred billion nerve cells,
could cast aside such blindness and redo divinity
from ground up, and this time, not as a coping mechanism
against the unknown, but as enhancement of our humanity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace

“Early Naskar, 2015-17, was mostly borrowed research with occasional original Naskar, mid Naskar, 2017-21, was mostly original Naskar with occasional borrowed data, late phase Naskar, 2021 onward, is pure Naskar, beyond the scale and scope of institutions.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace