My quotes for peace The quote book of Sylvain (En)

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I entered on, and abode in, the First Ecstasy.-Yet, such pleasant feelings as then arose in me did not take possession of my mind; nor did they as I successively entered on, and abode in, the Second, Third, and Fourth Ecstasies

Buddha Sakyamuni quote, Buddhism
Majjhima-nikaya, XXXVI [Maha-saccaka-sutra], Translation by Lord ChaImers, Further Dialogues of the, Buddha, I (London, 1926), pp. 17.4-7

B y deep meditations, let him recognize the subtle nature of the supreme Soul (1), and it presence in all organisms, both the highest and the lowest.

The Law of Manu quote, Hinduism
VI, 65, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

(1) Brahman

D elighting in what refers to the Soul, (1) sitting (in the postures prescribed by the Yoga), independent (of external help), entirely abstaining from sensual enjoyments, with himself for his only companion, he shall live in this world, desiring the bliss (of final liberation). . . .

By the restraint of his senses, by the destruction of love, (2) and hatred, and by the abstention from injuring the creatures, (3) he becomes fit for immortality.

The Law of Manu quote, Hinduism
VI, 49,60, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

1 Atman. 2 Or, affection, passion (raga). 3 Ahimsa, non-injury

L et him reflect on the transmigrations of men, caused by their sinful deeds, on their falling into hell, and on the torments in the world of Yama,

On the separation from their dear ones, on their union with hated men, on their being overpowered by age and being tormented with diseases,

On the departure of the individual soul from this body and its new birth in (another) womb, and on its wanderings through ten thousand millions of existences,

The Law of Manu quote, Hinduism
VI, 61-63, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

H e who after passing from order to order, after offering sacrifices and subduing his senses, becomes, tired with (giving) alms and offerings of food, an ascetic, gains bliss after death. [...]

Departing from his house fully provided with the means of purification (Pavitra), (1) let him wander about absolutely silent, and caring nothing for enjoyments that may be offered (to him).

Let him always wander alone, without any companion, in order to attain (final liberation), fully understanding that the solitary (man, who) neither forsakes nor is forsaken, gains his end.

He shall neither possess a fire, nor a dwelling, he may go to a village for his food, (he shall be) indifferent to everything, firm of purpose, mediating (and) concentrating his mind on Brahman. . . .[…]

The Law of Manu quote, Hinduism
VI, 33,34,41-43, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

1 Construed as either his capacities after having completed three states of life, or his 'equipment' such as staff and water-pot.

L et him not desire to die, let him not desire to live; let him wait for (his appointed) time, as a servant (waits) for the payment of his wages.

The Law of Manu quote, Hinduism
VI, 45, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

B ut having thus passed the third part of (a man's natural term of) life in the forest, he may live as an ascetic during the fourth part of his existence, after abandoning all attachments to worldly objects. (1)

The Law of Manu quote, Hinduism
VI, 33, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

(1) Reference here is to the ideal four stages (ashramas) of the Brahman's life: student (brahmacarin), householder (grihastha), hermit or forest-dweller (vanaprastha), and finally, ascetic or mendicant (yati, bhikshu, parivrajaka, samnyasin).

T here is an oracle of Necessity, ancient decree of the gods, eternal and sealed with broad oaths: whenever one of those demi-gods, whose lot is long-lasting life, has sinfully defiled his dear limbs ' with bloodshed, or following strife has sworn a false oath, thrice ten thousand seasons does he wander far from the blessed, being born throughout that time in the forms of all manner of mortal things and changing one baleful path of life for another. The might of the air pursues him into the sea, the sea spews him forth on to the dry land, the earth casts him into the rays of the burning sun, and the sun into the eddies of air. one takes him from the other, but all alike abhor him. Of these I too am now one, a fugitive from the gods and a wanderer, who put my trust in raving strife.

I wept and wailed when I saw the unfamiliar place.

For already have I once been a boy and a girl, a fish and a bird and a dumb sea fish.

Empedocles quote, Philosophy / Pythagoricism
Fragments' 115, 117, 118

M ENO: What was it, and who were they?

SOCRATES: Those who tell it are priests and priestesses of the sort who make it their business to be able to account for the functions which they perform. Pindar speaks of it too, and many another of the poets who are divinely inspired. What they say is this-see whether you think they are speaking the truth. They say that the soul of man is immortal. At one time it comes to an end-that which is called death-and at another is born again, but is never finally exterminated. On these grounds a man must live all his days as righteously as possible. […]

Thus the soul, since it is immortal and has been born many times, and has seen all things both here and in the other world, has learned everything that is.

Plato quote, Philosophy / Platonism
Meno, 81, b, Translated by W. K. C. Guthrie, in Hamilton and Caims (ed.), Plato.- The Collected Dialogues (New York: Bollingen Series LXXI, 1961), P. 364

I t is not, let me tell you, said I, the tale to Alcinous told that I shall unfold, but the tale of a warrior bold, Er, the son of Armenius, by race a Pamphylian. He once upon a time was slain in battle, and when the corpses were taken up on the tenth day already decayed, was found intact, and having been brought home, at the moment of his funeral, on the twelfth day as he lay upon the pyre, revived, and after coming to life related what, he said, he had seen in the world beyond. He said that when his soul went forth from his body he journeyed with a great company and that they came to a mysterious region where there were two openings side by side in the earth, and above and over against them in the heaven two others, and that judges were sitting between these, and that after every judgement they bade the righteous journey to the right and upward through the heaven with tokens attached to them in front of the judgement passed upon them, and the unjust to take the road to the left and downward, they too wearing behind signs of all that had befallen them, and that when he himself drew near they told him that he must be the messenger to mankind to tell them of that other world, and they charged him to give ear and to observe everything in the place. And so he said that here he saw, by each opening of heaven and earth, the souls departing after judgement had been passed upon them, while, by the other pair of openings, there came up from the one in the earth souls full of squalor and dust, and from the second there came down from heaven a second procession of souls dean and pure, and that those which arrived from time to time appeared to have come as it were from a long journey and gladly departed to the meadow and encamped there as at a festival, and acquaintances greeted one another, and those which came from the earth questioned the others about conditions up yonder, and those from heaven asked how it fared with those others. And they told their stories to one another, the one lamenting and wailing as they recalled how many and how dreadful things they had suffered and seen in their journey beneath the earth-it lasted a thousand years-while those from heaven related their delights and visions of a beauty beyond words. To tell it all, Glaucon, would take all our time, but the sum, he said, was this. For all the wrongs they had ever done to anyone and all whom they had severally wronged they had paid the penalty in turn tenfold each, and the measure of this was by periods of a hundred years each, so that oil the assumption that this was the length of human life the punishment might be ten times the crime-as for example that if anyone had been the cause of many deaths or had betrayed cities and armies and reduced them to slavery, or had been participant in any other iniquity, they might receive in requital pains tenfold for each of these wrongs, and again if any had done deeds of kindness and had been just and holy men they might receive their due reward in the same measure. And other things not worthy of record he said of those who had just been born and lived but a short time, and he had still greater requitals to tell of piety and impiety towards the gods and parents and of self-slaughter.

Plato quote, Philosophy / Platonism
Republic, X, 614 b, Translation by Paul Shorey, in Hamilton and Cairns (ed.), Plato: The Collected Dialogues (New York Bollingen Series LXXI, 1961), PP. 838-40

B y this time I was thoroughly terrified, not so much fearing death as the treachery of my own kind. Nevertheless, I [went on and] inquired of Africanus whether he himself was still alive, and also whether my father Paulus was, and also the others whom we think of as having ceased to be.

'Of course they are alive,' he replied. 'They have taken their flight from the bonds of the body as from a prison. Your so-called life [on earth] is really. death. Do you not see your father Paulus coming to meet you?'

At the sight of my father I broke down and cried. But he embraced me and kissed me and told me not to weep.

As soon as I had controlled my grief and could speak, I began - 'Why, 0 best and saintliest of fathers, since here [only] is life worthy of the name, as I have just heard from Africanus, why must I live a dying life on earth? Why may I not hasten to join you here?'

'No indeed,' he replied. 'Unless that God whose temple is the whole visible universe releases you from the prison of the body, you cannot gain entrance here. For men were given life for the purpose of cultivating that globe, called Earth, which you see at the centre of this temple. Each has been given a soul, [a spark] from these eternal fires which you call stars and planets, which are globular and rotund and are animated by divine intelligence, and which with marvellous Velocity revolve in their established orbits. Like all god-fearing men, therefore, Publius, you must leave the soul in the custody of the body, and must not quit the life on Earth unless you are summoned by the one Who gave it to you; otherwise you will be seen to shirk the duty assigned by God to man. […]

When I had recovered from my astonishment over this great panorama, and had come to myself, I asked: 'Tell me what is this loud, sweet harmony that fills my ears?'

He replied, 'This music is produced by the impulse and motion of these spheres themselves. The unequal intervals between them are arranged according to a strict proportion, and so the high notes blend agreeably with the low, and thus various sweet harmonies are produced. Such immense revolutions cannot, of course, be so swiftly carried out in silence, and it is only natural that one extreme should produce deep tones and the other high ones. Accordingly, this highest sphere of Heaven, which bears the stars, and whose revolution is swifter, produces a high shrill sound, whereas the lowest sphere, that of the Moon, rotates with the deepest sound. The Earth, of course, the ninth sphere, remains fixed and immovable in the centre of the universe. But the other eight spheres, two of which move with the same speed, produce seven different sounds-a number, by the way, which is the key to almost everything. Skilful men reproducing this celestial music on stringed instruments have thus opened the way for their own return to this heavenly region, as other men of outstanding genius have done by spending their lives on Earth in the study of things divine. . . .' […]

'Yes, you must use you best efforts,' he replied, 'and be sure that it is not you who are mortal, but only your body, nor is it you whom your outward form represents. Your spirit is your true self, not that bodily form that can be pointed out with the finger. Know yourself, therefore, to be a god-if indeed a god is a being that lives, feels, remembers, and foresees, that rules, governs, and moves the body over which it is set, just as the supreme God above us rules this world. And just as that eternal God moves the universe, which is partly mortal, so an eternal spirit moves the fragile body. . .

Cicero quote, Philosophy
On the Republic,' VI, 14,15,18,26, Translation by Frederick C. Grant, in his Ancient Roman Religion, Library of Religion paperbook series (New York, 1957), PP. 147-56

P ut not your trust in life, for at the last death must overtake you;
and dog and bird will rend your corpse and your bones will be tumbled on the earth.
For three days and nights the soul sits beside the pillow of the body.
And on the fourth day at dawn (the soul) accompanied by the blessed Srosh, the good Vay, and the mighty Vahram, and opposed by Astvihat (the demon of death), the evil Vay, the demon Frehzisht and the demon Vizisht, and pursued by the active ill-will of Wrath, the evil-doer who bears a bloody spear, (will reach) the lofty and awful Bridge of the Requiter to which every man whose soul is saved and every man whose soul is damned must come. Here does many an enemy lie in wait.
Here (the soul will suffer) from the ill-will of Wrath who wields a bloody spear and from Astvihat who swallows all creation yet knows no sating,
and it will (benefit by) the mediation of Hihr, Srosh, and Rashn, and will (needs submit) to the weighing (of his deeds) by the righteous Rashn who lets the scales of the spiritual gods incline to neither side, neither for the saved nor yet for the damned, nor yet for kings and princes:
not so much as a hair's breadth does he allow (the scales) to tip, and he is no respecter (of persons),
for he deals out impartial justice both to kings and princes and to the humblest of men. […]
And when the soul departs from thence, then is a fragrant breeze wafted towards him, (a breeze) more fragrant than any perfume.
Then does the soul of the saved ask Srosh saying, 'What breeze is this, the like of which in fragrance I never smelt on earth?'
Then does the blessed Srosh make answer to the soul of the saved, saying, 'This is a wind (wafted) from Heaven; hence is it so fragrant.'

The Menok i Khrat quote, Zoroastrianism
I, 71-78 & 91-93, edited by Anklesaria. Translation by R. C. Zaehner, in his The Teachings of the Magi (London, 1956), pp. 133-8

W hen the expiration hath ceased, the vital-force will have sunk into the nerve-centre of Wisdom (1) and the Knower (2) will be experiencing the Clear Light of the natural condition (3). Then the vital force, being thrown backwards and flying downwards through the right and left nerves (4) the Intermediate State (Bardo) momentarily dawns. […]

At this moment, the first glimpsing of the Bardo of the Clear Light of Reality, which is the Infallible Mind of the Dharma-Kaya, is experienced by all sentient beings. […]

In this third stage of the Bardo, the karmic illusions come to shine. It is very important that this Great setting-face-to-face of the Chonyid Bardo be read: it hath much power and can do much good.

About this time [the deceased] can see that the share of food is being set aside, that the body is being stripped of its garments, that the place of the sleeping-rug is being swept; (5) can hear all the weeping and wailing of his friends and relatives, and, although he can see them and can hear them calling upon him, they cannot hear him calling upon them, so he goeth away displeased.

At that time, sounds, lights, and rays-all three-are experienced.

0 nobly-born, thou wilt experience three Bardos, the Bardo of the moment of death, the Bardo [during the experiencing] of Reality, and the Bardo while seeking rebirth. Of these three, up to yesterday, thou hadst experienced the Bardo of the moment of death. Although the Clear Light of Reality dawned upon thee, thou wert unable to hold on, and so thou hast to wander here. Now henceforth thou art going to experience the [other] two, the Chonyid Bardo and the Sidpa Bardo. (6)
Thou wilt pay undistracted attention to that with which I am about to set thee face to face, and hold on;

0 nobly-born, that which is called death hath now come. Thou art departing from this world, but thou art not the only one; [death] cometh to all. Do not cling, in fondness and weakness, to this life. Even though thou clingest out of weakness, thou hast not the power to remain here. Thou wilt gain nothing more than wandering in this Samsara. (7) Be not attached [to this world]; be not weak. Remember the Precious Trinity.(8) […]

0 nobly-born, when thy body and mind were separating, thou must have experienced a glimpse Of the Pure Truth, subtle, sparkling, bright dazzling, glorious, and radiantly awesome, in appearance like a mirage moving across a landscape in spring-time in one continuous stream of vibrations. Be not daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor awed. That is the radiance of thine own true nature. Recognize it.

From the midst of that radiance, the natural sound of Reality, reverberating like a thousand thunders simultaneously sounding, will come. That is the natural sound of thine own real self. Be not daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor awed.

The body, which thou hast now is called the thought-body of propensities.(9) Since thou hast not a material body of flesh and blood, whatever may come,-sounds, lights, or rays,-are, all three, unable to harm thee: thou art incapable of dying. It is quite sufficient for thee to know that these apparitions are thine own thought-forms. Recognize this to be the Bardo.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead quote, Tradition / Asian / Tibetan
W.Y. Evans-Wentz (translator and editor), The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Oxford, 3rd ed.; 1957), pp. 90-2, 95-7, 101-4

1 The 'nerve-centres' are the 'psychic centres' (cakra). The 'nerve-centre of wisdom' is located in the heart-centre (anahata-cakra). 2 'Knower,' i.e. the mind in its knowing functions. 3 The mind in its natural, or primal, state. 4 That is, the 'psychic nerves,' pingala-nadi and ida-nadi. 5 The references are (1) to the share of food being set aside for the deceased during the funeral rites; (2) to his corpse being prepared for the shroud; (3) to his bed or sleeping-place. 6 The Chonyid Bardo is the intermediate state during the experiencing of Reality. The Sidpa Bardo represents the state wherein the deceased is seeking rebirth. 7 Samsara, the universal becoming. 8 That is, the Buddha, the Dharma (=the Law, the Doctrine), the Samgha (the entire community of monks and hermits). 9 'Thought-body' or 'mind-body' born of the past worldly existence.

F inally, as the time of his death approaches he sees a bright light, and being unaccustomed to it at the time of his death he is perplexed and confused. He sees all sorts of things such as are seen in dreams, because his mind is confused. He sees his (future) father and mother making love, and seeing them a thought crosses his mind, a perversity (viparyasa) arises in him. If he is going to be reborn as a man he sees himself making love with his mother and being hindered by his father; or if he is going to be reborn as a woman, he sees himself making love with his father and being hindered by his mother. It is at that moment that the Intermediate Existence is destroyed and life and consciousness arise and causality begins once more to work. It is like the imprint made by a die; the die is then destroyed but the pattern has been imprinted.

Various Sutras quote, Buddhism
Saddharma-smrityupasthana Sutra, from chapter XXXIV, Translation by Arthur Waley, in Conze et al, Buddhist Texts through the Ages (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer (Publishers) Ltd., 1954)

The Chinese translation of this material (from which the present English translation was made) dates from ca. A.D. 542.

H e is becoming one, he does not see, they say; he is becoming one, he does not smell, they say; he is becoming one, he does not taste, they say, he is becoming one, he does not speak, they say; he is becoming one, he does not hear, they say; he is becoming one, he does not think, they say; he is becoming one, he does not touch, they say; he is becoming one, he does not know, they say. The point of his heart becomes lighted up and by that light the self departs either through the eye or through the head or through other apertures of the body. And when he thus departs, life departs after him. And when life thus departs, all the vital breaths depart after him. He becomes one with intelligence. What has intelligence departs with him. His knowledge and his work take hold of him as also his past experience.

The Upanishads quote, Hinduism
Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, IV, 4, 1-2, S. Radhakrishnan (editor and translator), The Principal Upanishads (New York: Harper & Row, 1951) pp. 269-70, 296

A ccording to the Shawnee, 'a soul goes to earth and jumps through the mother's vagina and into the body of the child through the fontanelle just before birth.'