To only volunteer service when it is convenient to you is of little spiritual meaning. To devote one’s heart and body to advancing all the things of this world, regardless of personal convenience, is true service to God. It is a mistake to think that such service is difficult. As long as we have passion and sincerity, we can act in a fitting manner.
No matter how widely kind words and a compassionate heart are spread around, they will never lessen or be lost. The man who takes a single sheet of paper and a brush, and uses them to the fullness of their potential, is acting in true service of heaven and earth.
Once a man has had a brush with death, you might expect that he then resolve to do God’s work—but in fact such people are all too rare.
Selfish faith leads to ruin. Unless we abandon self-interest completely for the sake of God and humanity, we cannot find true salvation, nor enter the eternal light.
No matter what you do, as long as you have a clear understanding of why you are doing it, that alone is merit enough.
We must always act with the consciousness that our actions are for God. Though two things might appear identical on the surface, if the feeling inside is different, their effects must necessarily be different as well.
When a close friend has taken ill, it is only proper to pray for the easing of their pain.
Impossible to recall the feel of water while engulfed in flames, or to look upon a flower and not find it beautiful. Adolescence brings thoughts of love; an empty belly cries for food.
In treating something which arises from the depths of the soul, the only remedy is a spiritual one.
To educate someone in the manner of one who places dried fish before a cat while constantly shouting “don’t touch!”, will, even though centuries pass, bring them no closer to being a better person.
If we take a good look at the way people act, it is shocking to observe the extent to which they are leading lives of self-deceit. On seeing this, one can’t help but wonder just for what purpose we are born into this world.
While it is an unavoidable fact that without money one can hardly do anything in today’s world, people have become far too attached to wealth.
Money alone can never bring spiritual peace and satisfaction. In fact, the wretches in this world who endure great spiritual agony for the sake of earning money are none too few. Though these people toil day and night at work they have no interest in, somewhere deep in a corner of their hearts their true interests cry to be heard, and unable to silence them, they go to their graves with their innermost desires and practical concerns still fighting it out with each other.
Is it really so hard to live? If only you are happy just to get by from day to day, then there is no need for such spiritual turmoil. No matter how poor they are, rare is the person who goes for three days without a meal.
Essentially, all our troubles spring from lack of faith and resolve, and the blind desire to keep up appearances while catering to the whims of society.
Everything in the universe is necessary in its own way. Lying is said to be wrong, but this is not absolutely so. Depending on the circumstances, there are times when a lie is necessary. Fighting is wrong, yet there are times when to fight is the only way.
For men in ancient Greece who took pride in their strength, winning the laurel wreath of victory at the Olympic Games was the ultimate lifelong goal, and they spent their days in training to achieve this. At the time, to appear in the games was considered the highest of honors.
In recent times, anyone who manages to graduate from college is praised by others, and everyone has come to believe that receiving a diploma is the most important thing in life. By merely rearranging petty and self-evident theories and claiming they are something new, students are granted bachelor’s degrees and doctorates, and then they go about lording it over their fellows. Essentially, in modern society life has come to be dominated by academics.
Casting a sober eye over the course of human action since the dawn of history, it is clear that the things which men have been advocating and devoting their greatest energy to over the years have all been truly absurd.
This is every bit as true of today’s society. A century from now, when our descendants look back upon the way we now run about aimlessly and madly, surely they will laugh in wonder.
Man can never wholly rise above the necessities of living in the here and now. But, if we spend our days bound in every way to the present and to human nature, we will soon lose sight of the very reason we were born in the first place.
Essentially, there is no better way to live than to believe that you are now at your best, and to move forward unhesitatingly, without worrying about things around you.
You must hold faith in yourself to the very end. At the same time, you should strive always to act in accord with nature. It is fine if others do not know my name, nor should I mind living from hand to mouth in a tenement house. As long as I am satisfied and at peace in my heart, I ask for nothing more. To pander to society, and act in ways I do not feel, is not for me.
Clinging to our absurd attachments, during the brief time we are given on this earth, is not readily justifiable. It would be best if we spent a little more time thinking about how to live together in joy and ease.
