The Profound Joy of Sharing Quotes!

Dear Sangha Community,

Spring is a time of renewal and a fresh look at life. Poems, words and quotes can do that for us. I have been feeling the simple words of a Haiku, a quote or lyric or even a single word as a direct message to my heart and mind.

I was chatting with our grandson, Sid, this week and we got talking about how much we love words. For example, we love how words that read the same can have different sounds and meanings. (Example: “I need to read what I read again.)

That lead us to talking about quotes and sayings that make us smile . . . and get stuck in our heads. Sid’s current one (thanks to Tower of Power) is “Don’t change horses in the middle of the stream.” Ha-ha!

As you know, I LOVE QUOTES! For me the process of finding the right quotes that fit the topic of our classes is essential to bringing meaning and diversity to our times together. Over the years I have shared everything from Winnie the Pooh and Frog and Toad to Lama Tsultrim, Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hahn. Their words speak to us in different ways and can spark a fresh feeling, an image, a remembrance or an understanding. At the same time they provide a sense of the sacred in the world.

Do any of you remember “Angel Cards?”

They were tiny rectangular cards with an image of an angel and one word. This week I was organizing my altar cabinet and I found a little embroidered box that belonged to my mother. She kept her well-loved Angel Cards in the box and so I have decided to draw one everyday as a message from her. Mine today was “Openness.” It was perfect because I was feeling a bit closed in with all that I had to do this week. The word gave me a fresh perspective and a breath of spring air. Pause, breath, open.

We can do this with the Lojong Slogans. These simple phrases such as “Be grateful to everyone,” “Don’t ponder others,” “Always maintain a joyful mind,” can be a gift to our heart-mind that awakens a fresh new perspective.

One of my sources for quotes is Tricycle Magazine: Daily Dharma. You can sign up to receive these free quotes sent to your email on this website: https://tricycle.org/

Do you have favorite quotes or words?

Do you have them memorized or posted in your home? I would love to know YOURS!

Please add your favorites in the comments section below!

Let’s see how many we can collect as a sangha community.

And one of my favorites . . . . MAY ALL BEINGS BENEFIT!

Heartstreams, Ellen Yeshe Choepel

9 thoughts on “The Profound Joy of Sharing Quotes!”

    1. Yes! I love that one too and it has been a message and reminder to me when things are challenging.
      Thanks for sharing a quote, Jan!
      Heartstreams, Ellen

  1. All I have to do is go back through your weekly emails Ellen, to find tons of meaningful quotes. I appreciate you finding these gems to share with us.
    I offer the one you shared this Saturday. It is staying with me.
    “Fear is the cheapest room in the house.
    I would like to see you living
    In better conditions.”
    -Hafiz

    1. Ellen Booth Church

      Isn’t it interesting that often just the right quote or poem appears just when you need it? I loved finding this for Saturday’s class. I love that you still have the emails!

  2. Ellen Booth Church

    This is from Skipper!
    NOTHING IS EXTRANEOUS
    “Call something an obstacle, it is an obstacle. Call it an opportunity, it is an opportunity.
    Nothing is extraneous to the spiritual life.'” -Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

  3. Ok, so this one is from sci-fi…
    I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see it’s path. Where fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
    – Frank Herbert, Dune

    Woah! Right?

  4. Ellen Booth Church

    Here is a quote from today!
    “Pause practice can transform each day of your life.
    It creates an open doorway to the sacredness of the place in which you find yourself. The vastness, stillness, and magic of the place will dawn upon you, if you let your mind relax and drop for just a few breaths the storyline you are working so hard to maintain. If you pause just long enough, you can reconnect with exactly where you are, with the immediacy of your experience.”- Pema Chodron

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