Great Throughts Treasury

"Thought can only discover its own projection, cannot discover anything new; thought can only recognize that which it has experience, it cannot recognize that which it has not experience."

"Thought has no place, limited, fragmented, but thought cannot possibly comprehend or understand or calm upon that which is whole. Thought can never find out that which is timeless, if there is a reality, if there is truth. Thoughts can never, in any circumstances, come upon that immensity; and without the comprehension of that totality, of that dimension which time is thought and measure does not exist, thought must find its own place and limited self to that space."

"Thought is never new, but relationship is always knew; and thought approaches this thing that is vital, real, new, with the background of the old. That is, thought tries to understand relationship according to the memories, patterns, and conditioning of the old ? and hence there is conflict. Before we can understand relationship, we must understand the background of the thinker, which is to be aware of the whole process of thought without choice; that is, we must be capable of seeing things as they are without translating them according to our memories, our preconceived ideas, which are the outcome of past conditioning."

"Thought is repetitive, mechanical, and relationship is not, so you discover love is not the product of thought. Therefore there is no such thing as divine love and human love, there was only love."

"To put it very simply, when the self is not, there is beauty, silence, space; then that intelligence, which is born of compassion, operates through the brain"

"Two watches to observe without choice, to see yourself as you are without any movement of desire or change, which is an extremely arduous thing to do."

"We are always depending on somebody; and that dependence will inevitably bring about corruption."

"We need a mind and a heart that is not put together by thought. Thought is not going to solve our problems, because these problems have come into being through the activities of thought."

"What a person is attached to a belief, person, or an idea, there is in that attachment conflict, fear, jealousy, anxiety, that is part of the atrophy the brain, this constant repetition."

"When we observe what is actually going on world and deeply in our own consciousness, that observation can remain pure, direct, clear, when there is no extraction of what is observed into an idea. Most of us live with ideas, which are not actualities. Ideas then become all-important, not what actually is."

"Without passion life has no meaning."

"A mind that practices love cannot love.ÿ"

"Achieve order within yourself?an inward tranquility which knows no disturbance at any moment?in the daily life of the home and the office.ÿ"

"Are you aware of the significance of every thought, of every reaction that you happen to have?ÿ"

"As long as you ask questions you are breaking through, but the moment you begin to accept, you are psychologically dead. So right through life don't accept a thing, but inquire, investigate. Then you will find that your mind is something really extraordinary, it has no end, and to such a mind there is no death.ÿ"

"Being discontented, we either seek a different job or merely succumb to environment?instead of causing us to question life, the whole process of existence.ÿ"

"Do not pursue whatÿshouldÿbe, but understand whatÿis.ÿ"

"Freedom lies outside the pattern of society; but to be free of that pattern you have to understand the whole content of it, which is to understand your own mind.ÿ"

"Goodness, generosity, or love does not come into being save through the search for reality.ÿ"

"In the search for reality, energy creates its own discipline. But mere discipline, without full comprehension of all this, has no meaning, it is a most destructive thing.ÿ"

"It is necessary for all of us to awaken in ourselves this spirit of cooperation, for then it will not be a mere plan or agreement which causes us to work together, but an extraordinary feeling of togetherness, the sense of joy in being and doing together without any thought of reward or punishment.ÿ"

"It is only in a very quiet mind that great things are born; and a quiet mind does not come about through effort, through control, through discipline.ÿ"

"Love is the most practical thing in the world. To love, to be kind, not to be greedy, not to be ambitious, not to be influenced by people but to think for yourself--these are all very practical things, and they will bring about a practical, happy society.ÿ"

"Meditation is the process of understanding your own mind.ÿ"

"Mere isolation in an enclosing idea is not a release from conflict.ÿ"

"Freedom lies beyond the field of consciousness."

"Free yourself from the psychological structure of society, which is to free yourself from the essence of conflict.ÿ"

"Most people are unhappy; and they are unhappy because there is no love in their hearts.ÿ"

"Most people like to live in illusions.ÿ"

"Only when the mind is tranquil--through self-knowledge and not through imposed self-discipline--only then, in that tranquility, in that silence, can reality come into being. It is only then that there can be bliss, that there can be creative action.ÿ"

"Our conflict is in relationship, at all levels of our existence; and the understanding of this relationship, completely and extensively, is the only real problem that each one has.ÿ"

"The man who is seeking truth is free of all societies and cultures.ÿ"

"The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is.ÿ"

"The very attention given to finding out if the mind can be completely quietÿisquietness.ÿ"

"Through self-knowledge you begin to find out what is God, what is truth, what is that state which is timeless. In self-knowledge is the whole universe; it embraces all the struggles of humanity.ÿ"

"To know oneself is to study oneself in action, which is relationship.ÿ"

"To understand what is right meditation there must be an awareness of the operation of one's own consciousness, and then there is complete attention.ÿ"

"We are empty shells if we do not possess, if we do not fill our life with furniture, with music, with knowledge, with this or that. And that shell makes a lot of noise, and that noise we call living; and with that we are satisfied. When there is a disruption, a breaking away of that, then there is sorrow, because you suddenly discover yourself as you are--an empty shell, without much meaning.ÿ"

"We have so committed ourselves in different ways that we have hardly any time for self-reflection, to observe, to study.ÿ"

"When the mind sees itself in the mirror of relationship, from that perception there is self-knowledge.ÿ"

"You can be creative only when there is abandonment--which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not gaining, of not arriving. Then there is great austerity, simplicity, and with it there is love.ÿ"