Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.

If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism." --Albert Einstein

Einstein, Spinoza and Me

 When Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the question students asked him most was: Do you believe in God? And he always answered: I believe in the God of Spinoza.

Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, along with Descartes.

According to Spinoza, God would say: “Stop praying. I want you to go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've made for you."

“Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That's where I live and there I express my love for you."

“Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don't blame me for everything that others made you believe."

“Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son's eyes—you will find me in no book!"

“Stop asking me, ‘Will you tell me how to do my job?’ Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry or bothered. I am pure love."

“Stop asking for forgiveness, there's nothing to forgive. If I made you, I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies, and best of all, free will. Why would I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How could I punish you for being the way you are, if I'm the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?"

“Respect your peers, and don't give what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life—alertness is your guide."

“My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, not a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now—and it is all you need."

“I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record. You are absolutely free to create in your life. It’s you who creates heaven or hell."

“Live as if there is nothing beyond this life, as if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist. Then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is an afterlife, rest assured that I won't ask if you behaved right or wrong, I'll ask, ‘Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?’

“Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me, I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea."

“Stop praising me. What kind of egomaniac God do you think I am? I'm bored with being praised. I'm tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That's the way to praise me."

“Stop complicating things and repeating as a parrot what you've been taught about me. Why do you need more miracles? So many explanations?"

“The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.”

Now. Go. Have a nice day.

Quote of the Day

 

Quotes of the Day -- On God---and Einstein

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

--Albert Einstein

Quote of the Day -- On Religion

“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.

If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

--Albert Einstein

Quotes of the Day -- On Presidential Treason and Why We Must Speak Up and Out

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." --Albert Einstein

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." --Thomas Jefferson

"Softest on the people who need discipline, hardest on people who need compassion." --Unknown

"He who does not oppose evil, commands it to be done." --Leonardo Da Vinci

"What you allow, you encourage." --Carrie Heinze-Musgrove

"Your silence is consent." --Plato

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." --Desmond Tutu

"Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor." --Ginette Sagan

"Every social injustice is not only cruel, but it is economic waste." --William Feather

"Standing up to bullies is the hallmark of a civilized society." --Robert Reich

"One does not have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and absence of understanding are sufficient." --Charles M. Blow

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever humans endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormenter, never the tormented." --Elie Wiesel

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest it." --Elie Wiesel

"You think that your silence on certain topics, perhaps in the face of injustice, or unkindness, or mean-spiritedness, causes others to reserve judgement of you. Far otherwise; your silence utters very loud: you have no oracle to speak, no wisdom to offer, and your fellow people have learned that you cannot help them. Doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her voice? We would be well to do likewise." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." --Martin Luther King Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." --Martin Luther King Jr.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." --Martin Luther King Jr.

"There are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice." --Ayaan Hirsi Ali

"I chose to defend human rights because I cannot maintain my silence in the face of injustice."  --Chen Guangcheng

"The more you answer the injustice of others, the more you heal your own soul."  --Julia Post

"If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it." --Zora Neale Hurston

"I have come to believe that the one thing people cannot bear is a sense of injustice. Poverty, cold, even hunger, are more bearable than injustice."  --Milicent Fenwick

"The glaring injustice is there for all who are not blinded by prejudice, to see." --Bram Fischer

"Real love cannot be silent in the face of injustice." --Mel White

"I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." --Lily Tomlin

"Do not tolerate brilliant jerks, the cost to teamwork is too high." --Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO

"It takes a village to raise a child, and it also takes a village to allow the abuse of one."  --Unknown

"As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, and one for helping others." --Audrey Hepburn

"The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings." --Albert Schweitzer

"What does it mean to hold space for someone else? It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgment and control."   --Heather Plett

"Remember: Oppression thrives off isolation. Connection is the only thing that can save you. Remember: Oppression thrives on superficiality. Honesty about your struggles is the key to your liberation. Remember: Your story can help save someone’s life. Your silence contributes to someone else’s struggle. Speak so we can all be free. Love so we all can be liberated. The moment is now. We need you." --Yolo Akili

"It is precisely because of my love for humanity that I get enraged at systems that prevent people from flourishing and being free. It’s frustrating to see my righteous anger at unjust systems misinterpreted as hatred for individuals, but it’s more frustrating to see the oppressed suffer while those maladjusted to injustice remain silent. I won’t be silent. Silence is violence. "--Nyle Fort

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out for I was not a socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists and I did not speak out for I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out for I was not a not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me."  --Martin Niemöller

"Whether you give a man a fish or teach him how to fish, your job hasn’t changed. Your job is fish. It is not to make value judgments about whether the person is deserving of fish. It is not to criticize the person for not knowing how to fish already. And it is certainly not your job to stand around and debate the relative efficacy of fish charity vs. fish education while the person in front of you goes hungry. This person is your fellow human. Your job is fish   --Unknown

"Have you ever wondered what you would do during the civil rights movement? Stop wondering. It is the civil rights movement. What are you doing?"  --Chris Savage

"Certainly, I think there is a lot to be gained from people gathering together to show solidarity. But in a world where the institutions that we’re protesting in front of are losing their legitimacy and their power, I’m not sure that this has the impact that it once did. If we think of evil as this one person, this one big event, then we tend to want to match that with one big display of resistance. But actually, if evil is banal — a set of ordinary, mundane decisions day by day — then maybe we have to start living differently day by day."  --Pollack