All nature is a temple, formal, wild or bare
I'm at the feet of all creation, for the time that I am here,
Deciding what to plant, to pleasure not myself,
Perhaps I'll be remembered for the beauty that I felt.

No footsteps taken backwards, just the hill that I'll descend,
Townsfolk will tell stories and mourn our era's end,
And say we laboured just for love, in this vale of Chiltern chalk
Where Botanica is exalted and nurtures those who walk.

- Olivia Harrison, an excerpt from Tree Time from her book Came the Lightning, Twenty Poems for George.

Everything an Indian does is in a circle. And that is because the power of the world always works in circles. The universe is circles within circles, and everything is one circle. And all the circles are connected to each other. Each family is a circle. And those family circles connect together and make a community. And the community makes its circle where it lives on earth. The community cares for that part of the earth but cares for it as a circle, which is to say in a cooperative and egalitarian way where everybody is cared for and everybody is respected.

- Black Elk, Hehaka Sapa, holy man of the Oglala Lakota People

Being is like the sun.
It cannot be extinguished.
It shines brightly even in the darkest places.

Art is an area where it is impossible to walk without stumbling. There are in store for you many unsuccessful days and whole unsuccessful seasons: there will be great misunderstandings and deep disappointments. You must be prepared for all this, accept it and nevertheless, stubbornly, fanatically follow your own way.

- Anton Chekhov, a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. From Lisa Congdon's "Fortune Favors the Brave" book.

Break into the peace within, 
Hold attention in stillness, 
And in the world outside 
You will ably master the ten thousand things.  

All things rise and flourish 
Then go back to their roots. 
Seeing this return brings true rest, 
Where you discover who you really are. 

Knowing who you are, you will find the constant. 
Those who lack harmony with the constant court danger, 
But those who have it gain new vision.  

They act with compassion; 
Within themselves, they can find room for everything. 
Having room, they rule themselves and lead others wisely. 
Being wise, they live in accordance 
With the nature of things. 
Emptied of self and one with nature, 
They become filled with the Tao. 
The Tao endures forever. 

For those who have attained harmony with the Tao 
Will never lose it, 
Even if their bodies die.

- Lao Tzu (c. 604-531 BCE) was a legendary Chinese sage whose collection of verses, the Tao Te Ching, is the basis of Taoism. This passage is published in Easwaran’s spiritual anthologies, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow” and “Timeless Wisdom.” 

When caregivers (or therapists) bring to the child (or client) their own Self energy and know themselves and others as whole in reality, embodying the qualities of true security, love, effortless compassion, openness, and allowing, they implicitly and explicitly foster the child’s innate sense of wholeness. Children in this type of environment grow to see the shared beingness with others and the world, which profoundly impacts their experience of life and influences their interactions and relationships with the world and others. Their Self is leading them internally and externally.

- Monique M. Verrier

Creation consists of pairs of opposites or polarities. Call these polarities or pairs two's. These polarities become creative when they interact. For example, how male and female elements interact in order to create more beings. This is how all creativity occurs.

The wise person knows about pairs of opposites and their interactions. Wise persons know how to be creative. In order to lead, the wise person learns how to follow. In order to prosper, the wise person learns to live simply. In both cases, it is the interaction that is creative.

Leading without following is sterile. Trying to become rich by accumulating more and more is a full-time career and not free at all. Being one-sided always produces unexpected and paradoxical results. Being well-defended will not protect you; it will diminish your life and eventually kill you.

Exceptions to these examples of traditional wisdom are very hard to find.

It’s funny how people just won’t accept change
As if nature itself they’d prefer re-arranged
So hard to move on when you’re down in a hole
Where there’s so little chance to experience soul
I’m grateful to anyone who is happy or free
For giving me hope while I’m looking to see
The light that has lighted the world
 
- George Harrison, English musician, singer, and songwriter,

Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.

- Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and founder of analytical psychology

An enemy is a rare thing.

- The 14th Dalai Lama