Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Little Book of Eastern Wisdom

96 Pages·2011·0.64 MB·English

by  Gold

Open Your Mind, Open Your Life:
A Book of Eastern Wisdom
Copyright © 2002 by Lionstead Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews. For
information, write Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, an Andrews McMeel Universal company,
1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.
www.andrewsmcmeel.com
APPR
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Gold, Taro.
Open your mind, open your life : a book of Eastern wisdom / Taro Gold.
p. cm.
E-ISBN: 978-0-74079345-5
1. Philosophy, Asian—Quotations, maxims, etc. I. Title.
B121.G65 2002
181—dc21
2002020800
Book design by Holly Camerlinck
Illustrations by Matthew Taylor
Jacket design by Laura Shaw
Cover photo © Sakamoto Photo Research Laboratory /CORBIS
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PREFACE
For what purpose should one cultivate wisdom?
May you always ask yourself this question.
This simple yet profound sentiment is engraved at Soka University of
Tokyo, one of Asia’s leading centers of learning. A message to students
by Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, an educator and Buddhist philosopher, it perfectly
captures the spirit of Open Your Mind, Open Your Life.
Our answers to this question, all uniquely personal, reveal our common
desire to be happy. I originally wrote Open Your Mind, Open Your Life
with this perspective—and was soon humbled to see it celebrated as an
oasis of advice and insight on our shared journey to lasting happiness.
Building upon that valued tradition, this new and expanded volume of
Open Your Mind, Open Your Life continues to illuminate life’s path with
more than 300 inspiring guideposts based on the timeless wisdom of
Eastern thought. Readers who treasure the smaller version of Open Your
Mind, Open Your Life will be happy to find most of the material here is
new, while some is shared with the smaller edition. It is my sincere hope
that both volumes will continue to encourage without end.
—Taro Gold
INTRODUCTION
T
HOUGHT CREATES REALITY…
Everything humanity has ever created began with a thought. The place
where you live, the clothes that you wear, and the paper on which these
words are written were once only thoughts in someone’s mind. Your
decision to read this, too, began with a thought.
H
APPINESS SHAPES THOUGHT…
Everything we think is colored by our happiness, or lack thereof.
Although individual definitions of happiness vary greatly, we all want to
be happy. Early in life, we look for happiness among family, friends,
even toys. Later in life, we may look for happiness in religion, money,
sex, alcohol, education, marriage. . . . We all know where we have
looked. But did we find what we were searching for?
O
PENNESS MANIFESTS HAPPINESS…
Genuine happiness, or enlightenment, is already within us; we have only
to reveal it. As spring water rushes through open earth, so happiness
flows through open lives. The question is how to open our lives to this
inherent joy. The following pages hold answers to that question, thought
by thought, from an Eastern perspective. Most of them may be new to
you, some may seem like common sense (which is not so common), and
others are universal truths not unique to the East. May each of them
promote lasting happiness and ways of thinking that truly open your life.
T
rue happiness in life is found always within.
S
eek to learn something from everyone you encounter.

I
f you want to have what you have not, you must do what
you do not.
L
ove, cherish, and respect yourself. Become your own best
friend and take care of yourself, for you are the only person
with whom you will surely have a lifelong relationship.