I have told many times the story of Bodhidharma and his meeting with the Chinese emperor Wu — a very strange meeting, very fruitful. Emperor Wu perhaps was at that time the greatest emperor in the world; he ruled all over China, Mongolia, Korea, the...
Zorba was dumbfounded. He tried hard to understand; he could not believe in such happiness. All at once, he was convinced. He rushed towards me and took me by the shoulders. 'Do you dance?' he asked me intensely. 'Do you dance?' 'No.' 'No?' He was flabbergasted, and let his arms dangle...
Everybody can appreciate acts of kindness. But when it comes to explaining why we do them, people often take one of two extreme positions. Some think kindness is something completely selfless that we do out of love and care, while others believe it is just...
Traditionally Heracleitus was known as the "weeping philosopher" or "the obscure." He was, according to Plutarch, afflicted with terrible diseases. All that remains of his work are 139 fragments. Some of these are as obscure as his moniker would suggest: "Souls have a sense of...
If, therefore, any one of those dogs who yelp at philosophy were to say, as they are wont to do, "Why, then, do you talk so much more bravely than you live? Why do you check your words in the presence of your superiors, and...
Nina's Monologue (from The Seagull of Anton Chekhov) Why do you say that you have kissed the ground I walked on? You should kill me rather. [She bends over the table] I am so tired. If I could only rest--rest. [She raises her head] I am...
Questioner: What is the work of man? Krishnamurti: What do you think it is? Is it to study, pass examinations, get a job and do it for the rest of your life? Is it to go to the temple, join groups, launch various reforms? Is it...
On Virtue It happens even to us who are mere abortions of men that we can occasionally enrapture our Soul far beyond her ordinary state when she is awakened by the words or examples of another man: but it is a kind of passion which impels...
Immediately prescribe some character and form of conduce to yourself, which you may keep both alone and in company. Be for the most part silent, or speak merely what is necessary, and in few words. We may, however, enter, though sparingly, into discourse sometimes when occasion...
The Tang dynasty, one of the longest dynasties in Chinese history (618–907), is hailed by historians as China’s golden age. It didn’t come about by chance. It owed much to the conscious efforts of its co-founder, Emperor Taizong. Tang TaizongI is one of history’s greatest rulers, ranking...
