penetrate.........................

 We must practice living deeply, loving, and acting with charity if we wish to truly honor Jesus.  The way is Jesus Himself and not just some idea of him.  A true teaching is not static.  It is not mere words but the reality of life.  Many who have neither the way nor the life try to impose on others what they believe to be the way.  But those are only words that have no connection with real life or a real way.  When we understand and practice deeply the life and teachings of Buddha or the life and teachings of Jesus, we penetrate the door and enter the abode of the living Buddha and the living Christ, and life eternal presents itself to us.

-Thich Nhat Hahn, Living Buddha, Living Christ

Paying attention.......................

     . . .in Egyptian monasticism, enormous stress is laid on the virtue of humility.  As Evagrius says, 'asceticism with humility is valuable, but asceticism without humility is extremely dangerous'.  And another Father said, 'It is better to fail with humility that to succeed with pride.'
     Above all else the Egyptian monks emphasised  self-knowledge.  The one practice which they harp on over and over again is 'paying attention to yourself', and going with this, they highlight the virtue of 'discernment', but which they mean an ability to diagnose exactly what is going on at any given moment.
     This explains why sometimes the Desert Fathers seem to be rather casual about morality.  Their concern is not that people should behave correctly according to the rules, but rather that people should be able to see their situation clearly for what it is. and so become free of the distorting perspective which underlies all our sins.
     Thus we hear of a fornicating monk, who kept a woman in his cell so indiscreetly that word got around about it.  The neighboring monks resolved to drive the monk away, and abba Ammonas, who happened to be visiting there was asked to go with them.  The offending monk heard them coming and hid his woman in a large jar.  Ammonas saw her at once, but 'hid the affair for the sake of God'.  He sat down on the jar, and then told the other monks to search the cell.  They, of course, found nothing and went away again abashed and apologetic.  Ammonas then took the culprit's hand and simply said to him, 'Brother, pay attention to yourself,' and went out.

-Simon Tugwell, Ways of Imperfection:  An Exploration of Christian Spirituality

Ouch..............................

"If ancient philosophers were veritable warriors of the mind, their modern counterparts had become more like librarians of the mind, more interested in collating and organizing ideas than putting philosophy to work on a daily basis as a psychological practice."

-Donald Robertson,  How To Think Like A Roman Emperor:  The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

     We practice the Three Dharma Seals to realize liberation.  If you memorize a 5,000 page book on the Three Dharma Seals but do not apply the teachings during your daily life, the book is of no use.  Only by using your intelligence and putting the teachings into practice can they bring you happiness.  Please base your practice on your own life and your own experiences - your successes and your failures.  The Buddha's teachings are jewels, but we have to dig deep in order to touch them fully.

-Thich Nhat Hanh,  The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching:  Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation 

No, No..........................

via

In an essay about "confirmation bias".............

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,one of my favorite thinkers shows some confirmation bias:

"It is generally possible to predict what people will think about abortion from what they think about climate change, and vice versa; and those who are concerned about wealth inequality tend to favour gun control, while those who are not, do not. Why, since these seem wholly unrelated issues, should this be so? Opinions seem to be based more and more on what team you belong to and less and less on your assessment of facts."