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Amazon.com
“There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to “feed upon opinion” when her own soul had invited her.”
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“Mongolians believe the spirit of a horse can live on in its hair, even long after death, and in the past, nomad warriors collected the hair from their best stallions to weave into a sulde or “spirit banner,” which served to bring good luck and as a way of harnessing the spirit of nature. Genghis Khan had famously used a white spirit banner in times of peace and a black banner for guidance during war, and it was thought that after death the soul of the warrior was preserved in these tufts of stallion hair.”
-On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads
A description of the journey from the beginning of the book:
“The world expanded with every new challenge, from frostbitten toes to the dark clouds of mosquitoes that came with summer in Siberia. But most of all it was the people who left an impression on me….I found it astonishing that in the midst of an adventure I experienced more comradeship and connection with many of these people than with those where I had grown up in Australia.“
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“Although growing old and dying is inevitable, people still arrive at old age feeling betrayed by their bodies. The most ordinary aspects of life can be met with extraordinary resistance, and this resistance itself causes suffering. Once we stop denying the certainty of death, then we can take full advantage of the time that we have in this precious human form.”
Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism
Amazon.com
“Awareness: the ever-present knowing quality of mind, from which we are never separated for an instant. Even though normally we do not recognize awareness, we can no more live without it than we can live without breathing.”
Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism
Amazon.com
“…We believe the wolf is the wisest and most spiritual of animals. Look how cunning they are, how they survive in such tough conditions. To see a wolf, in our belief, is a good omen. It means you will inherit some of its wisdom.”
“Perhaps most important for nomads was the belief in the symbiosis that existed between wolf and humans on the steppe. Wolves were an integral part of keeping the balance of nature, ensuring that plagues of rabbits and rodents didn’t break out, which in turn protected the all-important pasture for the nomads’ herds.”
“Reflective of the deep sense of gratitude and respect Mongolians reserved for wolves, there was a belief that only through wolves could the spirit of a deceased human be set free to go to heaven. ”
“Over time I would come to believe that to dismiss the wolf as a bloodthirsty enemy would be akin to labeling nomads in the same ignorant way that Europeans had done for centuries.”
-On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads
A description of the journey from the beginning of the book:
“The world expanded with every new challenge, from frostbitten toes to the dark clouds of mosquitoes that came with summer in Siberia. But most of all it was the people who left an impression on me….I found it astonishing that in the midst of an adventure I experienced more comradeship and connection with many of these people than with those where I had grown up in Australia.“
Amazon.com
“Calm abiding describes a mind that abides in its own steadiness, a mind that is not always being pushed and pulled by circumstances.“
Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism
Amazon.com
“People think of home as the place where they’re comfortable and everything’s okay.“
–The Dude and the Zen Master by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman
From the introduction:
“To me, this book is sort of like a snakeskin. A snakeskin is something you might find on the side of the road and make something out of—a belt, say, or a hatband. The snake itself heads off doing more snake stuff—getting it on with lady snakes, eating rats, making more snakeskins, et cetera.“
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“Just as the sun shines whether obscured by clouds or not, clarity exists in the midst of confusion and suffering.”
Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism
Amazon.com
“In practice, it’s hard to grasp that right here, where you’re standing, is it. You can hear it over and over, but there’s a piece of you that doesn’t believe it. Instead, we work to get over there. And once we get over there, we reconsider: Oh no, this isn’t it, so now I have to get over there. Off we go again, trying to get to the next other shore. And once we get there, the whole thing starts again.“
–The Dude and the Zen Master by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman
From the introduction:
“To me, this book is sort of like a snakeskin. A snakeskin is something you might find on the side of the road and make something out of—a belt, say, or a hatband. The snake itself heads off doing more snake stuff—getting it on with lady snakes, eating rats, making more snakeskins, et cetera.“
