Y ou can’t talk to hole-in-the-corner scholars about the Way, because they are constricted by their doctrines.

quote 4027  |   Tchuang Tzu Zhuangzi, chap.17 (shool of Tchuang Tzu), trad. A.C. Graham, 1981, p.145

S ome people indulge in quarrels, saying, "One cannot attain anything unless one worships our Krishna," or "Nothing can be gained without the worship of Kali, our Divine Mother," or "One cannot be saved without accepting the Christian religion." This is pure dogmatism. The dogmatist says, "My religion alone is true, and the religions of others are false." This is a bad attitude. God can be reached by different paths."

quote 3882  |   Ramakrishna Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 191

W isdom is not to be found in the art of oratory, or in great books, but in a withdrawal from these sensible things and in a turning to the most simple and infinite forms. You will learn how to receive it into a temple purged from all vice, and by fervent love to cling to it until you may taste it and see how sweet That is which is all sweetness. Once this has been tasted, all things which you now consider as important will appear as vile, and you will be so humbled that no arrogance or other vice will remain in you. Once having tasted this wisdom, you will inseparably adhere to it with a chaste and pure heart. You will choose rather to forsake this world and all else that is not of this wisdom, and living with unspeakable happiness you will die.

quote 3840  |   Nicholas of Cusa De sapientia; Dolan, 1962; pp. 115-116

A ccustomed long to applying each new experience to my own spiritual growth, I have forgotten all creeds and dogmas.

quote 3741  |   Milarepa Evans-Wentz, 1971;pp 245-247

O ne should not engage in theological disputes; there is room for many different viewpoints, and no single viewpoint is the final truth. One should reflect, instead, on the means to awaken devotion, and one should engage oneself in the practice of those means.

quote 3681  |   The Bhakti Sutras 74-81

T he man who surrenders his human will leaves sorrows behind, and beholds the glory of the Self by the grace of God. ... Not through much learning is the Atman reached, nor through the intellect and 'the sacred teachings. It is reached by those whom He chooses; to His chosen the Self reveals His glory.

quote 3596  |   The Upanishads Katha Upanishad, II; based on Mascaro, Juan, 1965

R eligion in fact is not knowledge, but a faith and aspiration; it is justified indeed both by an imprecise intuitive knowledge of large spiritual truths and by the subjective experience of souls that have risen beyond the ordinary life, but in itself it only gives us the hope and faith by which we may be induced to aspire to the intimate possession of the hidden tracts and larger realities of the Spirit. That we turn always the few distinct truths and the symbols or the particular discipline of a religion into a hard and fast dogmas, is a sign that as yet we are only infants in the spiritual knowledge and are yet far from the science of the Infinite.

quote 3486  |   Aurobindo Ghose A Practical Guide to Integral Yoga

S omeone was saying: "I have studied so many branches of knowledge and mastered so many concepts; yet I still do not know which concept in man will abide forever. I have not discovered it yet." If it could be known by means of words, there would be no need for the annihilation of individual existence or for so much suffering. You must strive to rid yourself of your own individuation before you can know that thing which will remain.

quote 3298  |  Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi Signs of the Unseen: The Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi, p. 203, Trans. W.M. Thackston, Jr. Putney, Vermont: Threshold Books, 1994

I f you see your nature, you don't need to read sutras or invoke buddhas. Erudition and knowledge are not only useless but also cloud your awareness. Doctrines are only for pointing to the mind. Once you see your mind, why pay attention to doctrines?

quote 3244  |   Bodhidharma The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. Trans. Red Pine. New York: North Point Press, 1987. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. Trans. Red Pine. New York: North Point Press, 1987, p. 35

J ust as a reservoir is of little use when the whole countryside is flooded, scriptures are of little use to the illumined man or woman who sees the Lord everywhere.

quote 3227  |   The Bhagavat Gita BG 2:46, p. 66, The Bhagavad Gita. Trans. Eknath Easwaran. Tomales, CA.: Nilgiri Press, 1985.

A ll that is left to us by tradition is mere words. It is up to us to find out what they mean.

quote 3150  |   Ibn 'Arabi Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson

S hems asked a sheikh, "What are you doing. I am looking at the moon's reflection in this lake" replied the sheikh. "Why don't you look directly at the sky? Are you so blind that you do not see the true object in all you contemplate?" Shems'reply had such an effect on the sheikh that he asked Shems to accept him as his disciple. "You do not have the strength to bear my company," replied Shems. 'The strength is within me," said the sheikh. "Please accept me. "Then bring me a pitcher of wine, and we will drink together in the Baghdad market.' Fearing public opinion (because alcohol is forbidden by Islam), the sheikh replied, 'I cannot do this" Shems shouted, "You are too timid for me. You haven't the strength to be among the intimate friends of God. I seek only those who know how to reach the Truth.'

quote 2999  |   Others Sufis Teaching Shems Tabrizi, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.132

T his Love is beyond the study of theology, that old trickery and hypocrisy. If you want to improve your mind that way, sleep on.

quote 2929  |  Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.116

D o not commit yourself to lengthy discussions of religion - such talk only succeeds in making religion a complex and confused matter. God has made religion easy and simple.

quote 2919  |   Muhammad Hadith, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.89

T his seems to many to be a terrible contradiction of the traditional God, who lives behind a veil somewhere and whom nobody ever sees. The priests only give us an assurance that if we follow them, listen to their admonitions, and walk in the way they mark out for us, then, when we die, they will give us a passport to enable us to see the face of God! What are all these heaven ideas but simply modifications of this nonsensical priestcraft?

quote 2689  |   Vivekananda "Vedanta: Voice of Freedom", Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 205 S. Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105.

T he Lord Buddha then said:-Should anyone looking at an image or a likeness of the Tathagata, claim to know the Tathagata and should offer worship and prayer to him, you should consider such a person a heretic who does not know the true Tathagata.

quote 2532  |   The Maha Prajna Paramita Diamond Sutra, 26, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

B ut those disciples, in whom these three fetters (Self-illusion, Skepticism and Attachment to Rule and Ritual) have vanished, they have all entered the Stream (sotapanna), have for ever escaped the states of woe, and are assured of final enlightenment.

quote 2477  |   Buddha Sakyamuni Majjhima Nikaya, 22

A friend who was engaging in sitting in meditation attained some insight. He ran to make an inquiry of the Teacher. The Teacher said, "Formerly, when I stayed in Ch'u-chou seeing that students were mostly occupied with intellectual explanations and debate on similarities and differences, which did them no good, I therefore taught them sitting in meditation. For a time they realized the situation a little bit (they saw the true Way) and achieved some immediate results. In time, however, they gradually developed the defect of fondness of tranquillity and disgust with activity and degenerated into lifelessness like dry wood. Others purposely advocated abstruse and subtle theories to startle people.

quote 2446  |   Wang Yangming Wang Wen-ch'eng Kung ch'uan-shu, or Complete Works of Wang Yang-ming, Instruction for a Practical Living, 3:25a-b, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 35  Under the influence of Zen Buddhism, most Neo-Confucianists taught sitting in meditation. Wang was no exception. In fact, in the first phase of his teaching, he emphasized it. However, it was soon replaced by an active approach, notably "polishing and training in actual affairs." This doctrine has exerted great influence on both China and Japan.

Y en Hui said, "I have made some progress." "What do you mean?" asked Confucius. "I have forgotten humanity and righteousness," replied Yen Hui. "Very good but that is not enough," said Confucius. On another day Yen Hui saw Confucius again and said, "I have made some progress. "What do you mean?" asked Confucius. "I have forgotten ceremonies and music," replied Yen Hui. "Very good, but that is not enough," said Confucius. Another day Yen Hui saw Confucius again and said, "I have made some progress." "What do you mean?" asked Confucius. Yen Hui said, "I forget everything while sitting down." Confucius face turned pale. He said, "What do you mean by sitting down and forgetting everything?" "I cast aside my limbs," replied Yen Hui, "discard my intelligence, detach from both body and mind, and become one with Great Universal (Tao).(1)" This is called sitting down and forgetting everything.

quote 2249  |   Tchuang Tzu Chuang Tzu, chapter VI, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 8.  This is not a cult of unconsciousness. Lu Ch'ang-keng has correctly said, "To forget means to have one's mind in all things but not to have any mind about oneself, and to have one's feelings in accord with all things but not to have any feelings of oneself." Lu is here quoting Ch'eng Hao (Ch'eng Ming-tao, 1032-1085), who said that "there is nothing better than to become broad and extremely impartial and to respond spontaneously to all things as they come. ` In fact, Chuang Tzu's doctrine of "sitting down and forgetting everything" strongly stimulated Neo-Confucian thought.

N ow, if any one should put the question, whether I admit any theory at all, he should be answered thus: The Perfect One is free from any theory, for the Perfect One has understood what corporeality is, and how it arises and passes away. He has understood what feeling is, and how it arises and passes away. He has understood what perception is, and how it arises and passes away. He has understood what the mental formations are, and how they arise and pass away. He has understood what consciousness is, and how it arises and passes away.

quote 2128  |   Buddha Sakyamuni Majjhima Nikaya, 72