You've heard of Zen. You may even have had moments of Zeninstances of insight and a feeling of connectedness and understanding that seem to come out of nowhere. But what exactlyis Zen?

The scholarly answer to that question is that Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that emerged in China about 15 centuries ago. In China, it is called Ch'an Buddhism. Ch'an is the Chinese rendering of the Sanskrit word dhyana, which refers to a mind absorbed in meditation. "Zen" is the Japanese rendering of Ch'an. Zen is called Thien in Vietnam and Seon in Korea. In any language, the name can be translated as "Meditation Buddhism."

Some scholars suggest that Zen originally was something like a marriage of Taoism and traditional Mahayana Buddhism, in which the complex meditative practices of Mahayana met the no-nonsense simplicity of Chinese Taoism to produce a new branch of Buddhism that is today known the world over.

Be aware that Zen is a complicated practice with many traditions. In this discussion, the term "Zen" is used in a general sense, to represent all different schools.

Zen began to emerge as a distinctive school of Mahayana Buddhism when the Indian sage Bodhidharma (ca. 470543) taught at the Shaolin Monastery of China. (Yes, it's a real place, and yes, there is a historic connection between kung fu and Zen.) To this day, Bodhidharma is called the First Patriarch of Zen.

Bodhidharma's teachings tapped into some developments already in progress, such as the confluence of philosophical Taoism with Buddhism. Taoism so profoundly impacted early Zen that some philosophers and texts are claimed by both religions. The early Mahayana philosophies of Madhyamika(ca. third century A.D.) and Yogacara(ca. third century A.D.) also played huge roles in the development of Zen.

Under the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng (638713 A.D.), Zen shed most of its vestigial Indian trappings, becoming more Chinese and more like the Zen we now think of. Some consider Huineng, not Bodhidharma, to be the true father of Zen since his personality and influence are felt in Zen to this day. Huineng's tenure was at the beginning of what is still called the Golden Age of Zen. This Golden Age flourished during the same period as China's Tang Dynasty, 618907 A.D., and the masters of this Golden Age still speak to the present through koans and stories.

During these years, Zen organized itself into five "houses," or five schools. Two of these, called in Japanese the Rinzai and the Soto schools, still exist and remain distinctive from each other.

Zen was transmitted to Vietnam very early, possibly as early as the seventh century. A series of teachers brought Zen to Korea during the Golden Age. Eihei Dogen (12001253) was not the first Zen teacher in Japan, but he was the first to establish a lineage that lives to this day. The West took an interest in Zen after World War II, and now Zen is well established in North America, Europe, and elsewhere.

Bodhidharma's definition:

Zen is sometimes said to be "the face-to-face transmission of the dharma outside the sutras." Dharma refers to the teachings, and sutras, in a Buddhist context,are sacred texts or scriptures, many of which are considered to be transcriptions of the oral teachings of the Buddha. Throughout the history of Zen, teachers have transmitted their realization of dharma to students by working with them face-to-face. This makes the lineage of teachers critical. Genuine Zen teachers can trace their lineage of teachers back to Bodhidharma, and before that to the historical Buddha, and even to those Buddhas before the historical Buddha.

Certainly, large parts of the lineage charts have to be taken on faith. But if anything is treated as sacred in Zen, it's the teachers' lineages. With very few exceptions, calling oneself a "Zen teacher" without having received a transmission from another teacher is considered a serious defilement of Zen.

Zen has become extremely trendy in recent years, and those who are seriously interested are advised to be wary of anyone proclaiming to be or advertised as a "Zen master." The phrase "Zen master" is hardly ever heard inside Zen. The title "Zen master" (in Japanese, zenji) is only given posthumously. In Zen, living Zen teachers are called "Zen teachers," and an especially venerable and beloved teacher is called roshi, which means "old man."

Bodhidharma's definition also says that Zen is not an intellectual discipline you can learn from books. Instead, it's a practice of studying the mind and seeing into one's nature. The main tool of this practice is zazen.

The meditation practice of Zen, called zazen in Japanese, is the heart of Zen. Daily zazen is the foundation of Zen practice.

You can learn the basics of zazen from books, websites,and videos. However, if you're serious about pursuing a regular zazen practice, it is important to sit zazen with others at least occasionally; most people findthat sitting with others deepens the practice. If there's no monastery or Zen center handy, you might find a "sitting group" of laypeople who sit zazen together at someone's home.

As with most forms ofBuddhist meditation, beginners are taught to work with their breath to learn concentration. Once your ability to concentrate has ripened (expect this to take a few months), you may either sit shikantazawhich means "just sitting"or dokoanstudy with a Zen teacher.

As we find with many aspects of Buddhism, most peoplehave to practice zazen for a while to appreciate zazen. At first you might think of it primarily as mind training, and of course, it is. If you stay with the practice, however, your understanding of why you sit will change. This will be your own personal and intimate journey, and it may not resemble the experience of anyone else.

One of the most difficult parts of zazen for most people to comprehend is sitting with no goals or expectations, including an expectation of "getting enlightened." Most peopledo sit with goals and expectations for months or years before the goals are exhausted and they finally learn to "just sit." Along the way, people learn a lot about themselves.

You may find "experts" who will tell you zazen is optional in Zen, but such experts are mistaken. This misunderstanding of the role of zazen comes from misreadings of Zen literature, which is common because Zen literature often makes no sense to readers intent on literalness.

It isn't true that Zen makes no sense. Rather, "making sense" of it requires understanding language differently from the way we normally understand it.

Zen literature is full of vexatious exchanges, such as Moshan's "Its Peak Cannot Be Seen," that defy literal interpretation. However, these are not random, Dadaist utterings. Something specific is intended. How do you understand it?

Bodhidharma said that Zen is "direct pointing to the mind." Understanding is gained through intimate experience, not through intellect or expository prose. Words may be used, but they are used in a presentational rather than a literal way.

Zen teacher Robert Aitken wrote in "The Gateless Barrier":

No secret decoder ring will help you decipher Zenspeak. After you've practiced awhile, particularly with a teacher, you may catch onor not. Be skeptical of explanations of koan study that are found on the internet, which are often peppered with academic explanations that are painfully wrong, because the "scholar" analyzed the koan as if it were discursive prose. Answers will not be found through normal reading and study; they must be lived.

If you want to understand Zen, you really must go face the dragon in the cave for yourself.

Wherever Zen has established itself, it has rarely been one of the larger or more popular sects of Buddhism. The truth is, it's a very difficult path, particularly for laypeople. It is not for everybody

On the other hand, for such a small sect, Zen has had a disproportionate impact on the art and culture of Asia, especially in China and Japan. Beyond kung fu and other martial arts, Zen has influenced painting, poetry, music, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony.

Ultimately, Zen is about coming face-to-face with yourselfin a very direct and intimate way. This is not easy. But if you like a challenge, the journey is worthwhile.

Aitken, Robert. The Gateless Barrier. North Point Press, 1991.

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Zen 101: An Introduction to Zen Buddhism - ThoughtCo

Dan Pena, also known as The 50 Billion Dollar Man, is an American born entrepreneur, philanthropist and the worlds most successful high performance business success coach.

In 1982 he founded Great Western Resources with $820 dollars and during an 8 year period in a bear market he grew it into a $450 million dollar business.

For the past 20 plus years hes been running his eight-day Castle Seminar from his home Guthrie Castle in Scotland; teaching students his Quantum Leap Advantage (QLA) methodology and has created to date somewhere in the region of $800 billion in equity value amongst his mentees and devotees.

Hes the author of several books, most notably Your First Hundred Million, he is the recipient of countless awards and recognitions, and he was appointed by her majesty the Queen as member of the Order of Saint John.

Dan pulls no punches as we discuss the influences and events that shaped him, what makes him an effective mentor, his life goals and legacy, and even the ghosts of Guthrie Castle!

This is not for the faint of heart.

00.00 Trailer

00.18 Introduction

01.45 Dans early life and background

09.45 Dans parents and work ethic

22.40 How can people develop self esteem?

28.30 The changes in Brian Rose of London Real

34.00 What makes Dan an effective coach?

47.30 If Dan woke up with no money whatsoever, whats the first thing he would do?

50.20 Dan on his biggest failure

58.40 Dan on his purpose

1.07.20 How does Dan define success?

1.08.25 How important is money to Dan?

1.11.00 Why does Dan live in Scotland?

1.12.30 The best piece of advice Dan has ever received

1.15.40 What would Dans 5 year old self think of him now?

1.20.00 Was Dans dad proud of him?

1.21.00 How do we evolve from where we are?

1.22.00 Dan on Guthrie Castle and its history

1.26.50 How does Dan account for ghosts?

1.28.30 What does Dan think will happen when he passes?

1.35.10 What would Dan change in the world?

You can find Dan at:

http://www.danpena.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/CastleSeminar/

Tweets by danspena

https://www.instagram.com/danspena/

https://www.youtube.com/c/DanPe%C3%B1

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpena/

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Dan Pena - The 50 Billion Dollar Man - INSPIRED EDINBURGH

Having self-awareness means that you have a clear recognition of your overall personality.

This includes your strengths and weaknesses, thoughts and beliefs, emotions, and sources of motivation. Having self-awareness helps you understand other people and how they view you and your actions.

Many people assume that self-awareness comes easily and naturally, but this sense of heightened awareness can actually be hard to come by.

With practice, however, you can learn to increase your self-knowledge and find new ways to interpret your thoughts, actions, feelings, and conversations that you have with other people.

Achieving self-awareness gives you the opportunity to make positive changes in your behavior and increase your self-confidence.

Here are 33 self-awareness activities that can help increase self-awareness in adults and students.

What is Self-Awareness (and Five Ways to Increase It)

Not sure about how to be more self-aware? In this video, we define self-awareness and five proven strategies that can help you increase it. And for more actionable, habit-related videos, be sure to subscribe to our brand new YouTube Channel.

Self-Awareness Activities - Written Exercises

1. Write morning pages.

This exercise comes from Julia Camerons An Artists Way, which teaches readers techniques to gain self-confidence by harnessing their creative talents and skills.

For this exercise, compose three pages of longhand stream-of-consciousness writing every morning as soon as you wake up. Not only does this help declutter your mind, but it also helps you recognize the things that are in the forefront of your brain that you may need to address that day.

Keeping a journal creates a permanent record of your thoughts, feelings, and the events in your life. This will allow you to look back on important life events and rediscover how you felt at the time. This can be a learning experience because, as you grow and live through new trials and tribulations, the way that you react to certain situations may change.

By reading about your past experiences, you can see how you have grown or matured, and put things into perspective. Its also nice to have a written record of your past.

3. Use feedback analysis.

When you are faced with an important decision, write down exactly how and why you came up with your decision. What factors motivated you, and what steps did you take to come to your conclusion?

After a set time (usually nine months), go back and reflect on your decision-making process. Assess the outcome of your choice in detail and analyze your ability at the time to make the best decision based on your self-awareness at the time.

4. Create a life vision-mission.

In an organization, mission and vision statements serve three important roles. They state the purpose of the organization, they inform people of strategy development, and they display measurable goals and objectives to gauge the success of the organization.

Creating a vision-mission statement for your life can define your clear direction and rank your priorities. It will help set measurable goals and provide a tactical way to measure success.

5. Write a personal manifesto.

A personal manifesto describes your core values and beliefs, the specific ideas and priorities that you stand for, and how you plan to live your life. This acts as both a statement of personal principles and a call to action.

A personal manifesto can help frame your life, point you in the right direction to help achieve your goals, and act as a tool to remind you of your primary concerns.

To get started, ask yourself questions such as: What things do you stand for? What are your strongest beliefs? How do you want to live your life? How do you want to define yourself? What words do you want to live by? A personal manifesto can be a powerful tool for bringing about your best life. Refer to your personal manifesto often.

6. Record your ABCs.

This is a good activity to do after you experience an adverse event. It is a helpful way to debrief yourself and get a chance to reflect and discover your beliefs after a big, negative incident occurs in your life.

Doing this can help you understand your response to stress. While many people can experience the same activating adverse event, their thought processes about it can have a great impact on their lives moving forward. Using the ABC model can help people recognize their automatic thoughts when they're upset or mad, and change those thoughts into positive things.

For example, imagine you are stuck in a long line, but you are in a rush. You may become very anxious at the thought of possibly being late to your next obligation, causing you to complain out loud to the people around you about how long the line is taking to move. Alternatively, you may decide to relax and put on your headphones to listen to some calming music while you wait. Either way, the "A" remains the same, but the "B" and "C" show how you respond to the stress.

This can help you look at things more positively and lead you to find alternatives to solving problems and staying calm.

7. Write a regret letter.

Write a letter to your younger self. This is a surprisingly cathartic exercise that is more than simply listing what you wish youd known. Tell your younger self about the regrets youve had in your life so far, and apologize for any mistakes that you may have made and opportunities that you let pass by.

Aside from gaining a feeling of empowerment from accepting your vulnerable younger self, your words can also help others who are in similar situations as you faced in the past. Your newfound wisdom can let readers know that they are not alone in their struggles, and provide them with advice on how to move forward.

8. Do the funeral test.

This exercise was made popular by Stephen Covey in his book,The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

To do this, write your own eulogy and answer questions such as:

Doing this will help you add more purpose to your everyday activities and how you live your life. It may also help you think twice before reacting to a situation harshly or making a decision before thinking about its possible outcomes first.

9. Record your personal narrative.

How would you tell the story of your life to yourself? What would your autobiography look like?

One essential component of our personalities are our life stories, so mapping out what yours is may help you make some positive changes for the future.

10. Write down your most important tasks regularly.

Your most important tasks (MITs) are the things that you need to accomplish each day to help you achieve your long-term goals. Every night, write a to-do list of your three priority tasks for the following day.

This will allow you to start your day with a purpose and keep you aware of where your focus should be. It will help set a precedent for the day if you are able to accomplish your main goals first and get them out of the way to make room for other items on your to-do list.

11. Create a bucket list.

Having a bucket list will help you identify your personal and professional goals. When the daily routines of your life begin to set in, you are likely to let the days pass by without thinking too much about your long-term goals and desires.

Use a bucket list to keep yourself focused, and make an effort every day to accomplish at least one small task that will lead you towards crossing things off of your bucket list.

Self-Awareness Tests You Can Take By Yourself

12. Know and understand your personality type.

Knowing your personality type will help you understand why you're different or similar to other people, help you manage your time and energy better, and help you recognize your emotions.

When you are armed with this information, you will be better equipped to view other people as being different rather than wrong. It will also help you understand what you need to be able to thrive, and allow you to structure your days accordingly.

There are many free psychometric tests you can take online, including:

13. Discover your Eulerian Destiny.

Filling out the Eulerian Destiny circles provokes critical thinking and self-reflection.

Doing this requires you to look at four areas of your life by answering the following questions:

Take a while to write these things down in four overlapping circles and see where they all meet. This may take time and serious thinking, but it can result in defining and refining your purpose in life. This will provide you with a framework to form your future and a basis of self awareness.

14. Utilize The Freedom Diagram.

The Freedom diagram is one of the fun self-swareness activities. It is a short and practical guide to help figure out where you should use your energy in life, you can use The Freedom Diagram.

The three components of The Freedom Diagram are talent, fun, and demand. Talent refers to what you just happen to be good at doing. The fun component is what you wish you could do all the time, even if you werent paid to do it. Demand is what people in the world actually need or want, and will pay for.

Creating this guide for you will help you decide what skill you should focus on building so you have a higher chance of success.

Self-Awareness Activities - Thought Process Exercises

15. Ask the "Three Whys."

Many self-awareness activities simply asking yourself difficult questions and trying to answer as honestly as possible. The "three whys" is the perfect example of that.

The "Three Whys" are exactly what they sound like. Before making a big decision, or if you are trying to get to the root of an issue, ask yourself "why?" three times. This will help to reveal deep and specific issues that you may not otherwise consider.

It's not coincidental that "why?" is a rather simple question. It is an important realization that you must go a few layers deeper before making any critical decision. Whether you are trying to create a new business, hire a new employee, add a new feature to an existing product, or buy something expensive, you always have to dig a bit deeper to reveal the truth behind your motives.

16. Put a name to your feelings and emotions.

Expanding your emotional vocabulary will allow you to articulate yourself better. Once you are able to specifically identify what you are feeling, it will allow you to release stress and resentment that may be building up inside of your mind.

Here is a list of feeling words that are better able to describe your emotions than simply "good" or "bad". Getting more specific to explain how you feel is a cathartic way to relieve stress and anxiety.

17. Pay attention to your self-talk.

Have you ever noticed how we are quick to praise other people in the same instances where we often criticize ourselves? When we fall just short of achieving a goal or we dont live up to some high expectation, we tend to judge ourselves and dismiss our efforts.

How you talk to yourself in response to your successes and failures affects how you view yourself, and how you think others view you as well. Rather than focusing on small things that you are not able to accomplish at a given moment, think about how far you have come, or your successes up to that point. Focus on the positive rather than the negative.

18. Question your assumptions.

Assumptions are a natural thing that people use to help make quick sense of the world. You probably expect people who are in a certain place to look and dress in a particular way. If your expectations do not meet reality, you make assumptions that can be absolutely wrong.

James Altucher suggests putting a question mark instead of a period after each of your opinions. This helps you create an argument with yourself on some of your beliefs and worldviews, which can prevent you from falling prey to irrational thoughts.

19. Ask questions about yourself.

The Proust Questionnaire is a self-exploration questionnaire that is designed to help you uncover your outlook on life and get clarity on how you think. This questionnaire is about one's personality, and will make you think about what you want out of life and the things that you appreciate the most.

20. Observe your stream of consciousness.

Your stream of consciousness is unpredictable, and not always influenced by the world around you. For example, you may be at work trying to focus on a project when all of a sudden you start thinking about a memory you made years ago on a family vacation.

Be an observer of your own thoughts and feelings, especially those that are negative. Let these thoughts simply pass you by as you move on.

21. Build the Pause-and-Plan Response habit.

We are all well aware of the fight-or-flight mode that we tend to find ourselves in during stressful situations. During these times, it is common to stop thinking rationally and just go with your initial urge. If you act in the moment, you likely will not make the best decision.

How can you overcome your natural fight-or-flight response and reactivate the rational thinking areas of your brain? The key is to engage the pause-and-plan response habit. Here, your brain is able to connect with your body to accomplish your goals and pause your impulses.

The pause-and-plan response is able to lead you in the opposite direction of where the fight-or-flight response takes you. Rather than speeding up, your pulse slows down and your muscles relax. This will help set you up to make positive choices.

Self-Awareness Activities - Physical Exercises

22. Be aware of your body language.

Sometimes self-awareness activities are not about what you do or say but how you go about doing it. Body language is an example of this.

Not only will your posture and gestures affect how you perceive yourself, they will also have a great impact on how others perceive you. Your body language will also set the tone for how others act around you.

For example, if people feel that your body language is showing that you are uncomfortable, they may try to look for the cause of your discomfort so they can remove it. Alternatively, if someone feels that you are relaxed, they are likely to be able to relax as well, and enjoy their interaction with you.

While few people have actually trained themselves to deliberately analyze people's body language, everyone still subconsciously reacts to it. For instance, if your body language demonstrates that you are bored or disinterested in what is going on around you, others will think twice before engaging in conversation with you.

Evaluate your own body language by studying a video of yourself so you can find ways to improve.

23. Practice grounding techniques.

Grounding techniques can be used to help keep you in the present. People who have anxiety about future events often forget to live in the moment and take things as they come. Practicing techniques to keep you grounded will help relieve anxiety and make future tasks seem easier to do.

24. Observe other people.

Just as we can use our bodies to communicate how we want other people to perceive us, we can also observe other people to try to figure them out. Observing other people can be a fun and potentially worthwhile hobby. If you stop to watch the behavior, postures, and mannerisms of the people around you, it can help you learn about how similar or different you are from them.

While you don't want to constantly compare yourself to others, it is something that you will naturally do when you are faced with other people in your environment.

Some traits that you are likely to notice are someone's appearance, their self-esteem, their emotional state, their warmth, and their extroversion. Knowing that other people are observing you as well will certainly help you be more self-aware.

25. Take a morning walk.

Taking a walk first thing in the morning can help you connect with your senses and examine your thoughts and feelings. Take this time to meditate about what is going on in your life, and your goals for the day. Sort through your feelings and make an action plan to be productive with your time.

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26. Practice Zhan Zhuang.

Zhan Zhuang is a simple yet effective tai chi standing practice that helps you gain mental clarity and energy. While practicing Zhan Zhuang, you keep your body still and mostly upright, and become aware of your body as it stabilizes itself. Doing this will help you gain control over your health, posture, and muscle stability. Heres how you can start practicing it.

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33 Self-Awareness Activities for Adults and Students

Hilary Hinton Ziglar was an American salesman, motivational speaker, and author. He was better known as Zip Ziglar. According to the latest estimates, his net worth stands at $15 million. He was born on the 6th of November, 1926 in Coffee Country, Alabama.

Ziglars fame and wealth came from his work as an author, salesman and as the Vice President and Training Director of Automotive Performance Company. He worked as a motivational speaker of Christian Values and also wrote several books that dealt with a lot of issues. Ziglar is an avid author. He has written many books, such as; "Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World", "See You at the Top", "The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar", "Confessions of a Grieving Christian", "Born to Win: Find Your Success Code", "Top Performance: How to Develop Excellence in Yourself and Others", and many others.

He served in the US Navy during World War II between 1943 and 1945. He was in the V-12 Navy College Training Program and attended the University of South Carolina.

Ziglar has worked in several companies as a salesman. Eventually in 1968, he became the training director and vice president for the Automotive Performance Company. This is when he had an accident. However, he continued to travel and give motivational seminars despite falling down the stairs that lead to short term memory problems.

He met Jean, his wife when he was just 17 years of age. That was in 1944. They got married in 1946 and stayed married untilZiglars death. He died on 28th November 2012 due to pneumonia at the age of eighty-six, in a hospital in Dallas.

Earnings & Financial Data?

The below financial data is gathered and compiled by TheRichest analysts team to give you a better understanding of Zig Ziglar Net Worth by breaking down themost relevant financial events such as yearly salaries, contracts, earn outs, endorsements, stock ownership and much more.

Estimated annual earnings of Zig Ziglar

$2,500,000

Estimated earnings received from speaking engagements

$50,000

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Zig Ziglar Net Worth | TheRichest

Quotes can be much then a source of inspiration and motivation. When used as a contemplation or affirmation they can be transforming!

With the Labor Day weekend here and most of us have a long weekend this would be a great time for some focused contemplation and affirmations.or as Tony Robbins says describes them incantations.

To give a brief overview of each so youll be able to experience the power of the below mental strength quotes here are the basics.

Contemplation focusing on a single thought and asking questions about how this quote applies or can apply to your life. The contemplation should last 5 minutes and ONLY focus on a single quote and deeply think about its meaning, what it means to you, how you can use it, how it can help you. Keep creating deeper questions. If you can answer the question quickly go deeper. At some point you should stump yourself and have to wait for the answer. This is contemplation.

Affirmation/Incantations Again, select one quote and repeat is out loud (to yourself) with emotion. This is not a simple memorization process; this is to create energy, passion and new belief. Also, select a different word to emphasize. Say that you select Mens best successes come after their disappointments. For the first 5 times you say it out loud with energy on the entire phrase. Then emphasize the word mens, for 5 times, then best, and so forth until you have repeated the entire phrase. I find this process very inspirational when I talk a walk.

If you really want to experience a shift this weekend, combine the contemplation and affirmations. Perform the contemplation first thing in the morning for 5 minutes. Then go out for a walk and use the same quote and perform your incantations.

I guarantee you feel a difference.

Sohere are 40 very powerful mental strength quotes for personal empowerment and personal success.

1. Try not to become a man of success but a man of value. Albert Einstein

2. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau

3. Inspiration and geniusone and the same. Victor Hugo

4. To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: Leave no stone unturned. Edward Bulwer Lytton

5. If you would create something, you must be something. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

6. Every artist was first an amateur. Ralph Waldo Emerson

7. The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be. Horace Bushnell

8. Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps, till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself. W. C. Doane

9. Do we not all agree to call rapid thought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration? George Eliot

10. No great man ever complains of want of opportunities. Ralph Waldo Emerson

11. Men do less than they ought, unless they do all they can. Thomas Carlyle

12. Mens best successes come after their disappointments. Henry Ward Beecher.

13. Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true. Leon J. Suenes

14. The power of imagination makes us infinite. John Muir

15. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus

16. It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, Always do what you are afraid to do. Ralph Waldo Emerson

17. Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. George S. Patton

18. If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes. St. Clement of Alexandra

19. We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities. Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day. Thornton Wilder

21. The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke

22. Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks. Johann Gottfried Von Herder

23. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle

24. Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need. Voltaire

25. If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe Latin Proverb

26. Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action. Benjamin Disraeli

27. You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind. Author Unknown

28. The best way out is always through. Robert Frost

29. o not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking. William B. Sprague

30. Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. Samuel Johnson

31. Fortune favors the brave. Publius Terence

32. hen the best things are not possible, the best may be made of those that are. Richard Hooker

33. He who hesitates is lost. Proverb

34. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Albert Einstein

35. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

36. We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls. Winston Churchill

37. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson

38. For hope is but the dream of those that wake. Matthew Prior

39. Constant dripping hollows out a stone. Lucretius

40. Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purposea point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Mary Shelley

Please let me know how you plan to use these quotes, or if you have a favorite of your own in the comments below.and enjoy the long weekend.you deserve it!

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Lynne Twist is a co-founder of The Pachamama Alliance, and founder of The Soul of Money Institute. She has dedicated herself to alleviating poverty and hunger, and supporting social justice and environmental sustainability.

In 1995, a group of people, including John Perkins, and Bill and Lynne Twist, answered a call from the Amazon rainforest and Mother Earth herself. At the invitation of leaders of the Achuar indigenous people of Ecuador, they traveled to their Amazon home to learn more about this imminent call their hearts yearned for an answer. The Achuar shared with them the urgent threat to their lands and culture, their vision for self-determination, and a request for allies from the North who would change the dream of the modern world by shifting its culture of over-consumption to a culture that honors and sustains life.

This group committed to a partnership with the Achuar, and, upon their return to the United States, co-founded The Pachamama Alliance to carry this commitment out.

To date, Lynne is a Pachamama Alliance board member and fundraiser. She also leads journeys into the Amazon rainforest through the organizations Pachamama Journeys program.

From working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta to the refugee camps in Ethiopia and the threatened rainforests of the Amazon, Lynnes on-the-ground work has brought her a deep understanding of the social tapestry of the world and the historical landscape of the times we are living in. Her 40+ years of global work are testament to her commitment to alleviating poverty and hunger and supporting social justice and environmental sustainability.

Her journey has led to features in over 10 films, including: The Shift (Michael Goorjian, 2010), Crude Impact (James Jandak Wood, 2006) and Women of Wisdom and Power (Lili Fournier, 2000) and Money & Life (Katie Teague).

In addition, she has been interviewed by dozens of media outlets including The Huffington Post, Mehmet Oz Radio, Oprah and Friends Radio, NPR, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle and PBS.

A sought-after speaker, Lynne travels the world giving keynote presentations and workshops for conferences including: United Nations Beijing Womens Conference, Nobel Womens Conference on Sexual Violence, State of the World Forum Conference, Alliance for a New Humanity Conference with Deepak Chopra, Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Governors Conference on California Women, among others.

In addition, she has co-presented and shared the stage with some of todays most influential thought leaders including: Angeles Arrien, Marianne Williamson, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, F.W. de Klerk, Stephen Covey, Riane Eisler, Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jane Goodall, Jean Houston, Roshi Joan Halifax and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.Watch Lynnes talk at TEDx WallStreet

In 2003, Lynne founded The Soul of Money Institute. The Institute is a center for exploring and sharing the best practices, theories, and attitudes that enable people to relate to money and the money culture with greater freedom, power, and effectiveness.

Lynnes book, The Soul of Money, is a wise and inspiring exploration of the connection between money and leading a fulfilling life. This compelling and fundamentally liberating book shows us that examining our attitudes toward money how we earn it, spend it, invest it, and give it awaycan offer surprising insight into our lives, our values and the essence of prosperity. Through moving stories and practical principles, Lynne demonstrates how we can replace feelings of scarcity and guilt with experiences of sufficiency and freedom.

In this book and its audio CD workshop, Unleashing the Soul of Money, Lynne shares from her own life and work a journey illuminated by remarkable encounters with the richest and poorest people on earth, from the famous (Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama) to the anonymous but unforgettable heroes of everyday life.

Lynne has also contributed chapters to more than ten books, including:

She has also written numerous articles for RSF Quarterly, Fetzer Institute, Noetic Sciences Quarterly, and YES! Magazine, among others.

Lynnes ideas help transform our perspective on abundance, gratitude, generosity, and what is enough. Her work is based upon the following principles:

Through The Soul of Money Institute, Lynne has worked with over 100,000 people in 50 countries in board retreats, workshops, keynote presentations and one-on-one coaching in the arenas of fundraising with integrity, conscious philanthropy, strategic visioning and having a healthy relationship with money, when you make it, spend it, donate it or invest it.

Lynnes Soul of Money Institute clients cover a wide variety of profit, social profit (nonprofit) and educational institutions including: Nobel Womens Initiative, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Charles Schwab, United Way, The Red Cross, Amnesty International, Sierra Club, Women Presidents Organization, Young Presidents Organization, Entrepreneurs Organization, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The Stanford Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard University.

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Lynne Twist | Pachamama Alliance

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Achieving Personal Success | Alison

Anyone who has ever dipped a toe in the pool of new-age mysticism is likely to have come across Osho. The bearded Indian mystic has had his books translated into more than 60 languages, published by more than 200 publishing houses youre likely to find his works next to the crystals and yoga mats in your local hippy shop.

Yet if you go on the Osho website, or are one of the 200,000 people that visit the Osho International Centre in Pune, India each year youll hear nothing about the most eventful section of his life, before he was rebranded as Osho, and known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

Rajneesh, who died in 1990, was a popular spiritual leader in India, attracting thousands of followers called sannyasins or orange people to practise free love and take part in his unusual style of meditation: lots of primal screaming followed by dancing as if Fatboy Slim had just come on to Glastonburys Pyramid stage.

By the 1980s he was at odds with the government in India and so decided to buy a ranch in Oregon. The land was largely uninhabitable but he sent his followers ahead to create a utopia. They built a giant dam, an airport, an electricity station and a meditation centre that could hold 10,000 people. They called it Rajneeshpuram, and when it was ready, Rajneesh and his followers relocated to the US.

The cult that formed was as paranoid as scientology, as bizarre as Jonestown, and as controlled as the Manson family. Yet until the release of Wild Wild Country, Netflixs latest hit documentary series directed by brothers Mclain and Chapman Way, it had not entered the cultural conversation in the same way as those movements. Now it seems people can talk about little else. The six-part documentary, available to view now, scored 100% on the review site Rotten Tomatoes, and received even more glowing endorsements from other filmmakers, including Barry Jenkins, the Oscar-winning director of Moonlight, who tweeted: Im on my second watch of Wild Wild Country. Ill probably make it through a third. The film has spurred hundreds of articles revisiting the events as other journalists attempt to get in touch with former members or relive their sannyasins experiences.

The tenor of the excitement around the show isnt just about the intimate footage the directors have unearthed, or the fact they secured in-depth interviews with nearly all the cults living leaders. Viewers also seem to be shocked that they didnt already know this story. Jenn McAllister, a YouTuber with more than three million subscribers, had a typical reaction of those not yet born during the period: I cant believe that happened in the US and I never knew until now.

Perhaps this is because pop culture has been keen to retread the same couple of cult stories. In the past few years Emma Clines novel The Girls, a fictional reimagining of life in the Manson family, became a bestseller. Quentin Tarantinos next film Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, is also based on Manson. The most recent series of the Emmy-winning American Horror Story takes influences from both the Jim Jones and Manson movements, and Louis Therouxs My Scientology Movie was the latest major documentary on that movement. The hunger for these stories shows no sign of abating.

Like most of the cults, the sannyasin movement began with members dreaming of a better future. Whats exceptional about Wild Wild Country is its episodic treatment manages to make the cult attractive: a sense of purpose, self-realisation, free love. The show sucks you in to Rajneeshs teachings and the charisma of his personal secretary, Ma Anand Sheela. Yet by episode four the commune has engaged in the sedation of thousands of homeless people, immigration fraud, failed assassination plots, and the largest bio-terrorist attack in UShistory. The cult infected 751 people with salmonella by contaminating restaurant salad bars. The 1984 attack, planned to incapacitate voters and allow it to win seats in a local election, led to a 20-year jail sentence for Sheela.

I remember all of this quite vividly, says Rick Ross, from the Cult Education Institute, when I ask why commune members werent more suspicious of the leaders. I was contacted by family members of people living in Oregon. They contacted me because they were concerned for their loved ones safety, the potential for the group to become violent or criminal, and the fact that they were giving very large amounts of money to Rajneesh.

The documentary leaves lots of unanswered questions about whether the sannyasins were a genuine spiritual movement or a scam, not least because most of the former members still speak about Rajneesh with affection. But Ross believes there is no question that the intent was malicious. They were very methodical, deliberate. Rajneesh was intelligent he was educated, he had a PhD. He was a master at manipulation and influence techniques. Its common with these kinds of groups. They dont play fair or transparently with the people they target. People are tricked and then they are trapped.

Ross reels off cults that have emerged since Rajneesh: the Aum Shinrikyo movement that in 1995 let off sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo underground, killing 12 people; the American white-supremacist FLDS Church which, like Rajneesh, has political control of two cities, its own police forces and a leader who is in prison for child abuse and rape; the Order of the Solar Temple which is associated with the mass suicides of dozens of members in France and Switzerland. His very long list highlights that awareness of previous cults does nothing to stop the next.

The problem is that no one signs up to be in a cult, no one is a self-confessed cult member. Often these groups have a lot of legitimate criticism about society there is a lot of inequality, a rat race which stifles individuality, says Suzanne Newcome a research fellow at Inform, the new religious movements network at LSE.

The problem, she says, is it has always been to difficult to work out whether a group offering things like therapy, meditation, life advice, yoga and retreats is a going to have a positive or negative impact. Once people might become aware theyve joined a cult theyre often too invested and its hard to get out.

The Osho movement today, 28 years after its founders death, is a more tempered version than in Oregon, and focuses on selling books and meditation retreats. Yet it is still unwilling to accept the findings of the documentary. The Osho Times, its official organ, says the documentary fails to show this was a US government conspiracy, from the White House on down, aimed at thwarting Oshos vision of a community based on conscious living. Even in death, Rajneesh continues to manipulate his followers.

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The free-love cult that terrorised America and became ...

A prolific author and speaker, Alan Wilson Watts is credited with the interpretation and introduction of Eastern philosophyto theWesternaudience.

As his mothers students were children of missionaries to Asia, Watts began to be fascinated by Asian art, literature, and philosophy; so in time, he learned Chinese and started to explore the fundamental beliefs and practices of religions and philosophies of India and East Asia.

After a rigorous research in Zen Buddhism, Watts published one of the first books on the topic The Way of Zen introducing the burgeoning youth culture to it. Due to all the wisdom it embodies, Watts even suggested that Buddhism could be presented and taught as a form of psychotherapy, and not only as a religion.

Alan Watts is the author of more than 25 books on various topics such as philosophy, Eastern and Western religion, natural history, semantics, cybernetics and the anthropology of sexuality.

Watts was a man who tried and explored all that he could on mystical insight. Here are 25 Alan Watts quotes to help you become more aware of yourself and your surroundings.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the Gods made for fun.

This is the real secret of life to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

Every intelligent individual wants to know what makes him tick, and yet is at once fascinated and frustrated by the fact that oneself is the most difficult of all things to know.

A scholar tries to learn something everyday; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily.

No one is more dangerously insane than one who is sane all the time: he is like a steel bridge without flexibility, and the order of his life is rigid and brittle.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

One is a great deal less anxious if one feels perfectly free to be anxious, and the same may be said of guilt.

The world is filled with love-play, from animal lust to sublime compassion.

What we have to discover is that there is no safety, that seeking is painful, and that when we imagine that we have found it, we dont like it.

Words can be communicative only between those who share similar experiences.

If you cannot trust yourself, you cannot even trust your mistrust of yourself so that without this underlying trust in the whole system of nature you are simply paralyzed.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize that they are one and the same process as the universe.

Hospitals should be arranged in such a way as to make being sick an interesting experience. One learns a great deal sometimes from being sick.

Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them.

Our pleasures are not material pleasures, but symbols of pleasure attractively packaged but inferior in content.

It is hard indeed to notice anything for which the languages available to us have no description.

Its better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way.

Society is our extended mind and body.

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The 25 Best Alan Watts Quotes of All Time - Goalcast