Into the Light

Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.

From whom can we learn most?

In my own experience, the period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life. ...Through a difficult period, you can learn, you can develop inner strength, determination, and courage to face the problem. Who gives you this chance? Your enemy.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

A wise old one...

The wise ones of old had subtle wisdom

And depth of understanding,

So profound that they could not be understood.

And because they could not be understood,

Perforce must they be so described:

Who can find repose in a muddy world?

By lying still, it becomes clear.

Who can maintain his calm for long?

By activity, it comes back to life.

One who embraces this Tao

Guards against being over-full.

Because he guards against being over-full,

He is beyond wearing out and renewal.

Happiness

The happiness we seek, a genuine lasting peace and happiness, can be attained only through the purification of our minds. This is possible if we cut the root cause of all suffering and misery—our fundamental ignorance.

HH the Dalai Lama

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is giving up the right to retaliate. Forgiveness is the willingness to have something happen the way it happened. It's not true that you can't forgive something; it's a matter of the will, and you always have the choice. Forgiveness is never dependent on what the other person does or does not do; it is always under our control. Forgiveness is giving up the insistence on being understood.... Jesus forgave those who crucified him. This is a radically new way of thinking. For those who accept and practice this discipline, there is a release of energy and a sense of freedom.

- Pixie Koestline Hammond

The Surge

It's not what you think.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Deaths among Iraqi civilians, security forces and insurgents jumped in March because of the recent spasm of violence in the country's Shiite regions, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

 

In March, 923 Iraqi civilians were killed in violence across the country and 1,358 were wounded, according to the Interior, Defense and Health ministries. The figure is sharply higher than February, when 633 civilians died and 701 were wounded.

Deaths among security forces spiked as well, with 54 soldiers killed and 100 wounded and 102 police killed and 173 wounded. In February, 20 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded, and 65 police were killed and 122 wounded.

Anger

"Anger is the fire in one's mind that burns away all of one's virtuous deeds."