If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.

— Buddha

Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always.

[From the film Gandhi]

The intelligent person should take the essence out of all sources, from scriptures small as well as great, — like the bee from flowers.

— Uddhava Gita

Yeah, in addition to taking the essential wisdom from all sources, you can also pollinate the wisdom!

(Photo by Tambako the Jaguar)

We should be able to enjoy the wonders of life in us and everywhere around us. The whispers of rustling pine boughs. Flowers blooming. The beautiful blue sky. Fluffy white clouds. The smile of a neighbor. Each of these is a small miracle of life that has the capacity to nourish and heal us. They’re there for us right now. The question is: are we there for them?

— Thich Nhat Hanh

Here is a video with absolutely beautiful pictures and wonderful thoughts!

Louie Schwartzberg on Gratitude and Happiness

Your effort to smile and laugh is making you cry and weep. You are doing the opposite. There is nothing you need to do. Just smile and laugh. Life has no purpose, no mission. It is a game. It’s a play. Life has no message. Life itself, is an expression of joy.

— Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Happiness is not something that comes after acquiring an external object, happiness is not something that should be pursued, it’s not something that can be pursued.

Happiness is your natural state of being.

It’s not that you have to do something in order to be happy, it’s the other way around. When you are naturally happy, whatever you do is an expression of happiness, and your very presence radiates happiness.

Life itself, is an expression of happiness and joy. You are happy, now in this very moment

Photo by Camdiluv ♥

You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that God’s creative principle works in you.

— Paramahansa Yogananda

Photo by Brunna Peretti Loureiro

When our mind is calm, it reflects reality accurately, without distortion.

— Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo by Steve Arnold

We must know at each moment how to lose everything that we may gain everything; we must be able to shed the past like a dead body that we may be reborn into a greater plenitude.

— Mother Mirra

Today is the festival of ‘Bhogi’ in parts of southern India. On this day, people discard old things and bring in the new. The festival of Bhogi paves way for the festival of ‘Pongal’ tomorrow (also celebrated in different parts of India with different names like Sankaranti, Uttarayan, etc.), which marks the beginning of a new month and new times.

Discarding the old is necessary for the new to come in. We see that with every aspect of nature… a leaf sprouts, fresh and green it sanctifies its existence by being what it is, after some time it dries, and then gracefully falls. It then becomes part of the soil, adding to the fertility of the soil so that new plants and new leaves like itself can spring forth. We see that everywhere… flowing river is healthy, but if it becomes stagnant, it becomes scum. The river has to lose itself into the sea if it has to stay alive.

The human being is no different. Every second, millions of cells in your body are dead, and million new cells are being born. Our physical appearance change over time, our thoughts change, and someday we’ll have to shed this physical identity and be born again.

But sometimes, we become too attached to certain things in life, certain mental concepts, opinions. Have you noticed that even when other people change, we are hesitant to change our opinion about them? Without shedding off the old, we keep adding things to life, keep adding concepts to the mind, it becomes heavier and heavier, after a time it becomes too heavy to carry along and it drains away all our energy. Even at this point, some people simply refuse to let it go, their attachment is too strong. But whether or not we let it go, change is the law of nature, things will be taken away, and our attachment to things can make the process very painful.

Pain is not caused by change itself, but it is caused by our attachment to things and concepts, our refusal to accept the law of change. Pain is nothing but our refusal to let it go.

We need not be afraid, there need not be pain. We simply need to acknowledge the law of change. We simply need to shed our attachment to the old, be open for the new. When we understand and apply this simple wisdom to our lives, change becomes graceful, life becomes lighter and joyful.

Photo by Jesse Kruger

Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be. If you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.

It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds.

Every thought that we think, every deed that we do, after a certain time becomes fine, goes into seed form, so to speak, and lives in the fine body in a potential form, and after a time it emerges again and bears its results. These results condition the life of man. Thus he moulds his own life. Man is not bound by any other laws excepting those which he makes for himself.

— Swami Vivekananda (born on 12 January)

Read quotes from the works of Swami Vivekananda for more such inspiring thoughts.

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

— William James

Photo by Bethan Phillips