When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing real, nothing absent.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in the void,
you are neither holy nor wise,
just an ordinary person who has completed their work.

~ Layman Pang

The root of all dharmas is one’s own mind:
Convincing when unexamined, ingenious in its deception;
Yet, when investigated, without basis or origin;
In essence, free of coming, staying or going.
All the phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa
Are but pure or impure projections of one’s own mind.
In reality, neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa exists.

Empty from the very beginning, pure from the first —
Still, this emptiness is not a nihilistic void,
For there is spontaneous presence in the nature of clear light.
Responsive pure awareness is the basis for all that unfolds.
Rigpa is beyond designation and verbalization.
From its potential saṃsāra and nirvāṇa arise in all their multiplicity.
The manifestation and the one that brings it about are not two:
In the experience of this non-duality, remain—unaltered.

~  Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. – Calvin Coolidge

Christmas is a tonic for our souls. It moves us to think of others rather than of ourselves. It directs our thoughts to giving.” ― B.C. Forbes

I don’t want Christmas season to end, because it’s the only time I can legitimately indulge in on particular addiction: glitter. – Eloisa James, Paris in Love

Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends. – Margaret Thatcher

Christmas is the day that holds all time together. — Alexander Smith

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. – Hamilton Wright Mabie

Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand. – Dr. Suess

Peace on earth will come to stay, When we live Christmas every day. – Helen Steiner Rice

The world has grown weary through the years, but at Christmas, it is young. – Phillips Brooks

Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance — each beautiful, unique, and gone too soon. – Deborah Whipp

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly. – Andy Rooney Continue reading →

I want you to understand clean clear that we distinguish two things: negative, or sinful, and positive. Attachment, or desire, can be negative and sinful, but it can also be positive. The positive aspect is that which produces pleasure: samsaric pleasure, human pleasure — the ability to enjoy the world, to see it as beautiful, to have whatever you find attractive.

So you cannot say that all desire is negative and produces only pain. Wrong. You should not think like that. Desire can produce pleasure — but only temporary pleasure. That’s the distinction. It’s temporary pleasure. And we don’t say that temporal pleasure is always bad, that you should reject it. If you reject temporal pleasure, then what’s left? You haven’t attained eternal happiness yet, so all that’s left is misery.

But you should not make the mistake of trying to actualize temporary pleasure [as an end in itself]. You can enjoy it while you have it but you should not squeeze yourself striving for it. The problem is the mind that believes temporary pleasure to be the best there is. That’s a total delusion, an over-estimated conception. Like looking at a cloud in the sky and thinking, “What a beautiful cloud; I wish it would last forever.” You’re dreaming.

~ Lama Yeshe

Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. —John Wesley

Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely. ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise. Every failure is a stepping stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every unpleasant incident or temptation is a test of your inner strength. Therefore nil desperandum. March forward hero!” ― Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future. – Swami Sivananda

Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.
Therefore the Master takes action by letting things take their course.
He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning.
He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose.
What he desires is non-desire; what he learns is to unlearn.
He simply reminds people of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing but the Tao.
Thus he can care for all things.

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching