Word Problems

The following lines are not my own, they are quotes which serve as railcars running along a track of thought...

Pain is inevitable,
Suffering is optional.
Our suffering is the problem,
the answer is waking up.
Hope is a waking dream.
I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope,
for hope would be hope for the wrong thing.
Whatever satisfies the soul is Truth.
Three things cannot be long hidden;
the sun, the moon, and the Truth.
The cause is hidden; the effect is visible to all.
When you have seen beyond yourself,
then you may find
peace of mind is waiting there.
Just keep in mind, the more we value things
outside of our control, the less control we have.
Holding on is believing there is only past;
letting go is knowing that there is a future.
Without desire there is stillness,
and the world settles by itself.

***
(Attributions in order by line:
1-4 Buddhist texts
5 Aristotle
6 & 7 T.S. Eliot
8 Walt Whitman
9 & 10 Buddhist saying
11 Ovid
12-14 George Harrison
15 & 16 Epictetus
17 & 18 Daphne Rose Kingma
19 & 20 Lao Tzu



Painting by Francesco Rustici (1610-1625), Allegory of Wisdom and Prudence' in Public domain.