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@ragwort said
The humble, meek, merciful, just, pious, and devout souls are everywhere of one religion; and when death has taken off the mask they will know one another, though the divers liveries they wear here makes them strangers. This world is a form; our bodies are forms; and no visible acts of devotion can be without forms. But yet the less form in religion the better, since God is a ...[text shortened]... ; the more silent, the more suitable to the language of a Spirit.

William Penn 1693
(QF&P 19.28)

@moonbus said
Sadness enriches the soul; we are not complete without it. A bit of wisdom from my grandmother (a Nebraska farm girl): "Wash your eggs before you put them in the basket." The basket is your mind, the eggs are experience, and the dirt clinging to the eggs is the pain associated with the gaining of experience; learn the lessons, but get past the pain of how you learned them.

When it's time to get dressed, put on your clothes.
When you must walk, then walk.
When you must sit, then sit.
Don't have a single thought in your mind about seeking Buddhahood...

What Dharma do you say must be realized, and what Tao cultivated?
What do you lack in the way you are functioning right now?
What will you add to where you are?

- Lin-chi (d 867)

MAMEEN

(For John O’Donohue)

Be infinitesimal under that sky, a creature
even the sailing hawk misses, a wraith
among the rocks where the mist parts slowly.

Recall the way mere mortals are overwhelmed
by circumstance, how great reputations
dissolve with infirmity and how you,
in particular, stand a hairsbreadth from losing
everyone you hold dear.

Then, look back down the path to the north,
the way you came, as if looking
over your entire past and then south
over the hazy blue coast as if present
to a broad future.

Recall the way you are all possibilities
you can see and how you live best
as an appreciator of horizons
whether you reach them or not.

Admit, that once you have got up
from your chair and opened the door,
once you have walked out into the clear air
toward that edge and taken the path up high
beyond the ordinary you have become
the privileged and the pilgrim,
the one who will tell the story
and the one, coming back from the mountain
who helped to make it.

…

From MAMEEN
River Flow: New and Selected Poems
Many Rivers Press © David Whyte

Whirled by the three passions,
One's eyes go blind;
Closed to the world of things,
They see again.
In this way I live:
Straw hatted, staff in hand,
I move illimitably,
Through earth, through heaven.

- Ungo (1580-1659)

Without a jolt of ambition left
I let my nature flow where it will.
There are ten days of rice in my bag
And, by the hearth,
A bundle of firewood.
Who prattles of illusion or nirvana?
Forgetting the equal dusts
Of name and fortune,
Listening to the night rain
On the roof of my hut,
I sit at each, both legs stretched out.

- Ryokan (1757-1831)

It is absolutely necessary for you to seek to obtain genuinely accurate insight and understanding.
Then you can travel freely anywhere and avoid being confused by the common sort of spiritual charmer.

- Lin Chi (d 867)

Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
And who told the ocean you can only come this far?
And who showed the moon where to hide till evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?

Chorus:
Well I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
All of creation testifies
This life within me cries
I know my Redeemer lives

Ye-e-eah
The very same God
That spins things in orbit
Runs to the weary, the worn and the weak
And the same gentle hands that hold me when I'm broken
They conquered death to bring me victory

Now I know, my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I-I-I know
My Redeemer

He lives
To take away my shame
And He lives
Forever I'll proclaim
That the payment for my sins
Was the precious life He gave
And now He's alive and
There's an empty
Grave!

And I know
My Redeemer lives
He lives
I know
My Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I-I-I know my Redeemer

I know
My Redeemer lives
*I know my Redeemer lives*

*I know, That I know, that I know, that I know, that I know
He lives
*my redeemer lives*
*Because He lives I can face tomorrow
He lives
*I know, I know*
He lives
*I spoke with Him this morning!*
He lives
*The tomb is empty*
He lives
*He Lives! I'm going to tell everybody!!*

The song is much better.

YouTube

The heavens allowed me
To settle myself
On a small piece of land
Looking into the distance
Digging far down
I delight in my own freedom
All who come here
Feel the lids fall
From their eyes
This view
Of the world without end
There is nowhere to hide

- Muso Soseki (1275-1351)

The basic essence of cultivating enlightenment should be discerned: it is the inherently complete and pure mind, in which there is no false discrimination, and body and mind are fundamentally pure, unborn, and undying. This is the basic teacher; this is better than invoking the Buddhas of the ten directions.

- Hongren (602-675)

People today have been confused for a long time. They do not know that their own mind is the real Buddha. They do not know that their own essence is the real Dharma. Wishing to seek Dharma, they attribute it to remote sages; wishing to seek Buddhahood, they do not observe their own mind.

- Chinul (1158-1210)

People who really have
Their minds on the Way
Do not forget work on the fundamental
No matter what they are doing.
Yet if they still distinguish this work
From ordinary activities
Even as they do them together,
They will naturally be concerned
About being distracted by activities
And forgetting the meditation work.
This is because of viewing
Things as outside the mind.
- Muso (1275-1351)

"For everything there is a season,
And a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to be silent, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace."

(Solomon - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) -

Attaining the heart
Of the sutra,
Are not even the sounds
Of the bustling marketplace
The preaching of the Dharma?

- Dogen (1200-1253)

“What do you mean by the true Buddha,
The true Dharma and the true Way?
Would you be good enough to explain to us?”
The Master said,
“Buddha -this is the cleanness
And purity of the mind.
The Dharma -this is the shining
Brightness of the mind.
The Way –this is the light
That is never obstructed anywhere.
The three are in fact one.
All are empty names and
Have no true reality.”

- Lin-chi (d.867)