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The Buddha and other living Buddhas who have come after him all have one thing in common: they attained this higher state of life by struggling against hardships. It is impossible to evolve highly without encountering serious trouble, trauma, and vicious trials. A noble state of life is achieved only when issues are present and only when one develops the skillful ability to transform the negative into a positive and a burden into a benefit. So, rather than avoid and flee from sufferings, whether they are minor or major, reframe your mind so that you can emotionally digest the issue and emerge wiser, kinder, more insightful and more compassionate.
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If you search through the bible looking up the few references to eggs, you won’t find a single text which makes any kind of connection to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Yet, if you search your own memory concerning Easter you will certainly remember baskets of brightly colored eggs along with Easter egg hunts.
The connection between Easter and eggs is a mysterious and tenuous one. It has been traced in the West to 1290 when court records indicate that Edward I, King of England, distributed 450 eggs - some covered with gold - to the royal household at Easter. In some European countries, Christians would bring eggs to the church for a blessing the day before Easter.
One legend traces the egg all the way back to Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom Jesus expelled seven demons. The last glimpse of her in scripture takes place on the first Easter when she encounters the Risen Christ at the empty tomb and then informs the disciples. (John 20:18). However, according to the Orthodox tradition, Mary then went to Rome and appeared at Caesar’s court. There she protested Pilate’s poor administration of justice at Jesus’ trial and announced to the court that Jesus had risen from the dead. She picked up an egg from the table using it as an object lesson to explain Resurrection as new life breaking out. Caesar was incredulous, declaring that a person could no more rise from the dead than the egg Mary was holding could turn red. Immediately, the egg did turn red. That’s why today it is common among Orthodox Christians to dye eggs red.
The connection between Easter and eggs is a mysterious and tenuous one. It has been traced in the West to 1290 when court records indicate that Edward I, King of England, distributed 450 eggs - some covered with gold - to the royal household at Easter. In some European countries, Christians would bring eggs to the church for a blessing the day before Easter.
One legend traces the egg all the way back to Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom Jesus expelled seven demons. The last glimpse of her in scripture takes place on the first Easter when she encounters the Risen Christ at the empty tomb and then informs the disciples. (John 20:18). However, according to the Orthodox tradition, Mary then went to Rome and appeared at Caesar’s court. There she protested Pilate’s poor administration of justice at Jesus’ trial and announced to the court that Jesus had risen from the dead. She picked up an egg from the table using it as an object lesson to explain Resurrection as new life breaking out. Caesar was incredulous, declaring that a person could no more rise from the dead than the egg Mary was holding could turn red. Immediately, the egg did turn red. That’s why today it is common among Orthodox Christians to dye eggs red.
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War and the large military establishments are the greatest sources of violence in the world. Whether their purpose is defensive or offensive, these vast powerful organizations exist solely to kill human beings. - Dalai Lama 14th
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To know oneself is a long process. First we must study. - P. D. Ouspensky
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Start making connections with people you wish were your family. Non-family relationships can be deeper and easier than family relationships, because they come without the baggage of the past. -Laurie Pawlik Kienlen
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For meditation to work, it needs to become a path, a journey, rather than a random experience that we dip into from time to time. - Gelong Thubten
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Anger clouds judgment; rage destroys it. - Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
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Daily meditation unfolds inner peace, love and bliss, and a great happening happens. That happening is the balance between body, mind and consciousness. Meditation brings perfect health. - Vasant Lad
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There are four types of temperament:
He who is easily angered and easily appeased, his loss is canceled by his gain.
He whom it is hard to anger but hard to appease, his gain is canceled by his loss.
He whom it is hard to anger and easy to appease, this is a saintly temperament.
He whom it is easy to anger and hard to appease, this is a wicked temperament.
- Ethics of the Fathers 5:14
He who is easily angered and easily appeased, his loss is canceled by his gain.
He whom it is hard to anger but hard to appease, his gain is canceled by his loss.
He whom it is hard to anger and easy to appease, this is a saintly temperament.
He whom it is easy to anger and hard to appease, this is a wicked temperament.
- Ethics of the Fathers 5:14
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As to national defense, it is simply wasteful. It diverts treasure from education, public health, social welfare, the arts, and from the construction and maintenance of transportation systems and public utilities. The poor suffer, we all suffer. - Robert Aitken