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The Essence of Wisdom: Words from the Masters to Illuminate the Spiritual Path - Hardcover

 
9780767903059: The Essence of Wisdom: Words from the Masters to Illuminate the Spiritual Path
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0767903056 ISBN 13: 9780767903059
Verlag: Broadway Books (A Division of Bantam Doubleday Del, 1998

Inhaltsangabe

Representing a wide range of Eastern and Western spiritual and literary traditions, a collection of one hundred inspirational and illuminating quotations shares the wisdom and insights of Lao-tzu, Blake, Emerson, The Buddha, Rilke, Heraclitus, and other masters of spiritual wisdom.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Stephen Mitchell's many books include The Book of Job, Tao Te Ching, Parables and Portraits, The Gospel According to Jesus, Real Power (with James A. Autry), and Meetings with the Archangel.

Aus dem Klappentext

riter and translator presents an anthology of essential quotations from the masters of spiritual wisdom.

The most powerful messages are the simplest ones. With that in mind, Stephen Mitchell has selected one hundred illuminating sayings from the great Eastern and Western literary and spiritual traditions. Ranging in length from one sentence to a dozen lines, the brief passages in The Essence of Wisdom convey the life-transforming insights of the Buddha, Lao-tzu, Heraclitus, the Zen and Sufi masters, Spinoza, Blake, Emerson, Rilke, and other sages.

The book is arranged to follow the course of the inner life from its beginning to the fullest embodiment of wisdom. Each quotation stands alone on the page. Each is a meditation in itself, meant not only to be read, but to be absorbed and reflected upon. This remarkable book gathers the words of the world's deepest thinkers and spiritual teachers, and speaks to us in the clear voice of enlightenment.

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Foreword

The sayings collected here embody the essence of spiritual wisdom. Each of them, though partial, is complete. Through each part you can see the whole.

I have arranged the sayings in a kind of impromptu progression, from the earlier steps along the path to the full embodiment of wisdom. But in spiritual practice, the elementary is often the elemental, and the first step may also turn out to be, at a deeper level, the last step. So although page Y in this book has a higher number than page X, it may not present a more profound or a more refined insight. The progression isn't necessarily linear. It is meant to be taken lightly.

Nevertheless, there is a vast difference in experience between some of the earlier sayings and some of the later ones. Take, for example, the saying I have put at the beginning and the one at the end. "In the struggle between yourself and the world," Kafka says, "second the world." Y³n-men, when asked what is the essence of wisdom, says, "When spring comes, the grass grows by itself." Kafka's is a wonderful saying, with an exquisite sense of timing: it perches the ego out on a limb and then has it, like a cartoon character, saw itself off in mid-air. The humor is deadly serious, though, and the advice goes deep, as anyone knows who has had even a glimpse of the intelligence of the universe. But even to take sides against the ego is to assume the struggle, and thus to be forever involved in it. How far this is from the effortless serenity of Y³n-men, where the mind has become an element as natural as sunlight or rain. And how do we get from point alpha to point omega? "This thing we tell of can never be found by seeking," says the Sufi Master Bistami, "yet only seekers find it."

The Essence of Wisdom is not meant to be read as you would read most books. Each saying stands alone on an otherwise empty page because, in order to resonate deeply, it needs at least that much emptiness around it. (If the economics of publishing were different, each saying would have its own book.) Each is a meditation in itself, enough for a day's reading; you might try reading one at the beginning of your day, then carrying it with you in your mind, lightly, as the day progresses, and reading it again just before you go to sleep. Even better: rather than reading them, I hope you can find a way to let these sayings read you. Wherever you don't understand them, and wherever you do understand, let them keep ripening in the empty spaces inside you. The more open you are, the more they will bear fruit.


The first three sayings from The Essence of Wisdom:

In the struggle between yourself and the world, second the world.
--Franz Kafka

We are close to waking up when we dream that we are dreaming.
--Novalis

Our "original mind" includes everything within itself. It is always rich and sufficient within itself. You should not lose your self-sufficient state of mind. This does not mean a closed mind, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.
--Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi

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Verlag
Broadway Books (A Division of Bantam Doubleday Del
Erscheinungsdatum
1998
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0767903056
ISBN 13 
9780767903059
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Auflage
1
Anzahl der Seiten
128
Herausgeber
Mitchell Stephen
Kontakt zum Hersteller
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Verantwortliche Person
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