"There's more to life ...."

There’s more to life than thinking.  Everyone is soooo serious ….

Joan Erikson

"There are no lines in nature ...."

There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.

Edouard Manet

"You can't be suspicious ...."

You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.

Hal Borland

"... If you really understand Zen ...."

“… If you really understand Zen, you can use any book.  You could use the Bible.  You could use Alice in Wonderland.  You could use the dictionary, because the sound of the rain needs no translation.”

Alan Watts

"Stone walls do not a prison make ...."

Stone walls do not a prison make,

  Nor iron bars a cage;

Minds innocent and quiet take

  That for an hermitage;

If I have freedom in my love

  And in my soul am free,

Angels alone, that soar above,

  Enjoy such liberty.

Richard Lovelace

"Towards a True Kinship of Faiths"

“… there is also the option to see the contrasting views – one’s own and the other’s – in relation to the differing mental dispositions and aspirations that make up the wonderful diversity of the human family.  In essence, what is required is the ability to recognize the truth in the interconnectedness of all things, even in our disagreements.  This issue is not necessarily to see or go into all the intricate details of these connections; it is rather, to acknowledge the big picture, to see any given event within that larger vision.  So the process entails both returning to the basic simplicity of our shared human nature and looking out with the widest possible perspective.  The shift of perspective alone can open the door of our hearts.”

“Toward a True Kinship of Faiths”, The Dalai Lama