i found this way back in my blog.....and thought it was good for a revisit:
"Enlightenment exists as an idea projected by thought as one of many means to keep itself occupied. Outside of this ideation, enlightenment has no existence. This is not abstract, although the talking about it is. My interest lies in a fully engaged life and the living of life in freedom.
I have a deep interest in the possibilities inherent in the experiment that takes place when people put themselves together in a living situation where the challenges of life are met with the same inquiry and transparency that we create in the rarified atmosphere of a public dialogue or weekend retreat. What kind of community will we structure out of this intensity to live fully? Can this be brought into the practicality of our lives or is it just some abstract verbage? Further, for those of us who are raising children, there is a great need for safe, creative, stable and loving environments."
~ steven harrison, www.doingnothing.com/talks_06.php
also want to invite anyone else to post their favorite harrison (or related) quote.
"Enlightenment exists as an idea projected by thought as one of many means to keep itself occupied. Outside of this ideation, enlightenment has no existence. This is not abstract, although the talking about it is. My interest lies in a fully engaged life and the living of life in freedom.
I have a deep interest in the possibilities inherent in the experiment that takes place when people put themselves together in a living situation where the challenges of life are met with the same inquiry and transparency that we create in the rarified atmosphere of a public dialogue or weekend retreat. What kind of community will we structure out of this intensity to live fully? Can this be brought into the practicality of our lives or is it just some abstract verbage? Further, for those of us who are raising children, there is a great need for safe, creative, stable and loving environments."
~ steven harrison, www.doingnothing.com/talks_06.php
also want to invite anyone else to post their favorite harrison (or related) quote.
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California
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Re: favorite quotes
Wed, January 30, 2008 - 4:24 PMI don't recall which of Steven's books these are from, but they are my favorite quotes.
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The seeker in his searching comes to the river. Across the river a yogi is in deep concentration. The seeker calls out to him, "Can you help me get to the other side?"
The yogi looks up from his meditation and replies, "You are already on the other side."
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The concerned man brings a chicken to the psychiatrist, saying, "Doctor, it's my brother, he thinks he's a chicken." -
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Re: favorite quotes
Sat, February 23, 2008 - 6:02 PM
sooooooooo many by steven!!!
where to start?!
i love just about anything he says in "being one" -
gotta be my all time favorite publication of his
(and i have his entire collection)
just got his newes the other day, the shimmering world, and so, here's 3 favorites:
LOVE IS EVERYTHING AND, AS SUCH, CANNOT BE CONTAINED BY ANYTHING.
WHEN WE BREATHE, THE UNIVERSE BREATHES.
WE MAY SAY THAT THE WORLD IS ILLUSION, BUT IT IS THE VIEWER THAT IS THE ILLUSION. THE ILLUSION IS THAT THE VIEWER IS CONSTANT AND SOLID.
the more i read the new book (which is often, over & over since i received it),
the more i can say that they are all my favorite quotes.
if you get one steven harrison work, get THE SHIMMERING WORLD.
simply awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: favorite quotes
Sat, February 23, 2008 - 6:11 PMnice to hear a review, aurelia. when i heard about the book, i thought it was a very good idea.
and i agree about "being one". that one made me weep outright, it was so exactly what i felt within myself, but could never have put into words.
another favorite quote that just pops into my head:
"in the absence of a viewer, the view appears".
(okay, i may be paraphrasing. i lent that book out.....)
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Re: favorite quotes
Mon, March 3, 2008 - 10:13 AMMy favourite qoute is (my own translation from swedish):
We were born free, as an expression of life. We are not children of any parents or culture. There are no actual demands on us to be this way or that way. There are only made-up demands. We do not need to find any child that has been created inside of us, and we don't need to figure out anything about the symbols that our parents are. We don't need to succeed or care about failure in a constructed culture.
We are children of life and not children of any invention.
Life has only one demand on us and we fulfill it trough ourselves.
And so on, I like the whole chapter. It's from his second book, I don't know what it is called in english.
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Re: favorite quotes
Tue, March 4, 2008 - 9:52 AMi think that's either "being one" or "getting to where you are."
ylle, if you wanna give me the chapter, page # and paragraph (i realize these won't match exactly) i'll see how my english version puts it. translations are fascinating in themselves.... -
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Re: favorite quotes
Tue, March 4, 2008 - 12:21 PMSulevay:
It's from Getting to where you are, page 178, and the chapter is called Pain, failure and dissapointment.
I read it to my father once, he is still so sad about how things were in his family growing up, i thought that he would appreciate it. But i think he just felt that it was written by someone very intelligent and that he couldnt understand it. A bit strange because it's really not a complicated chapter in any way. I would understand if he would back away if I read something about that the thoughts thinks the thinker or something like that. -
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Re: favorite quotes
Tue, March 4, 2008 - 3:28 PMylle, your translation is very close to the original english, in fact. tho i like this last line, in the book:
Life has only one demand of us, and it is inherently fulfilled by us.
(next line: Life demands of us that we be as we are. That's it. There is no failure.)
nice! lalala....
it's funny, cuz traveling with steven, i felt subject to constant critique from him and others - even about the way i look! - which was quite a brain fuck.
of course, "critique" is how it felt to me....and interpretations inevitably occur on both sides. but i came home reassured in some intangible way of exactly the sentiment expressed in those lines you posted.
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Re: favorite quotes
Mon, March 3, 2008 - 10:32 AMSupreme misfortune occurs when theory outstrips performance.
Leonardo Da Vinci -
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Re: favorite quotes
Tue, March 4, 2008 - 9:53 AMcharles, you are such a renegade...but that's a good one.
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Re: favorite quotes
Wed, March 12, 2008 - 1:46 PM"Transparency in the world of spirituality is long overdue."
"I have the highest regard for Ramana, and I honor him every day by having nothing to do with him."
"Aren't those so-called enlightened beings defined as such by those of us who choose to define ourselves as unenlightened?"
In referring to the enlightened:
"Put them in a convenience store in New York City on the night shift for twelve hours and then see what happens."
... all taken from The Questions to Life's Answers -
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Re: favorite quotes
Wed, March 12, 2008 - 1:59 PMyep! love those too. zingers!
my copies of all of steven's books are crowded with multi-colored post-its from where i marked my favorite lines. it's downright embarrassing, lending them out.....
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