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Stephen Mitchell

Stephen Mitchell Books

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The Book of Job

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Gilgamesh

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“Prince Wen-hui’s cook, Ting, was cutting up an ox. Every touch of his hand, every ripple of his shoulders, every step of his feet, every thrust of his knees, every cut of his knife, was in perfect harmony, like the dance of the Mulberry Grove, like the chords of the Lynx Head music. Well done! said the prince. How did you gain such skill? Putting down his knife, Ting said, I follow the Tao, Your Highness, which goes beyond all skills. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox. After three years, I had learned to look beyond the ox. Nowadays I see with my whole being, not with my eyes. I sense the natural lines, and my knife slides through by itself, never touching a joint, much less a bone. A good cook changes knives once a year: he cuts. An ordinary cook changes knives once a month: he hacks. This knife of mine has lasted for nineteen years; it has cut up thousands of oxen, but its blade is as sharp as if it were new. Between the joints there are spaces, and the blade has no thickness. Having no thickness, it slips right through; there’s more than enough room for it. And when I come to a difficult part, I slow down, I focus my attention, I barely move, the knife finds its way, until suddenly the flesh falls apart on its own. I stand there and let the joy of the work fill me. Then I wipe the blade clean and put it away. Bravo! cried the prince. From the words of this cook, I have learned how to live my life.”

Inspirational Quotes
Book:The Second Book of the Tao
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“In a cookie factory, different cookies are baked in the shape of animals, cars, people, and airplanes. They all have different names and forms, but they are all made from the same dough, and they all taste the same.”

PeopleMadeDifferentFormNamesAnimalCarTasteShapesFactoriesAirplaneCookiesDoughDifferent Names
Book:Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn
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“[Jesus] teaches that just as the sun gives light to both wicked and good, and the rain brings nourishment to righteous and unrighteous, God's compassion embraces all people. There are no pre-conditions for it, nothing we need to do first, nothing we have to believe. When we are ready to receive it, it is already there. And the more we live in its presence, the more effortlessly if flows through us, until we find that we no longer need external rules or Bibles or Messiahs.”

PeopleIfsNeedsGivingFirstsBelieveLightJesusCompassionTeachSunConditionsReadyRainFlowEmbraceWickedRighteousNourishmentMessiah
Author:Stephen Mitchell
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“There are two kinds of women: those who marry princes and those who marry frogs. The frogs never become princes, but it is an acknowledged fact that a prince may very well, in the course of an ordinary marrige, gradually, at first almost imperceptibly, turn into a frog. Happy the woman who after twenty-five years still wakes up beside the prince she fell in love with.”

YearsFirstsWellsKindMayStillsTwoFactsTurnsCoursesFiveOrdinaryWake UpTwentiesFive YearsFrogsTwenty Five
Book:The Frog Prince: A Fairy Tale for Consenting Adults
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“What may appear to be proud ungrateful and headstrong fron the outside may from the inside express an unshakable integrity of character. Pride, if it doesn't step over the line into arrogance, is simply an unprejudiced self-esteem. Ingratitude is the appropriate response to a kindness that has hooks on it. Headstrong is another word for trusting your own heart.”

IfsHeartMaySelfCharacterLinesStepsKindnessSelf EsteemPrideProudIntegrityResponseEsteemArroganceAppropriateBe ProudHookUngratefulIngratitudeUnshakableHeadstrong
Author:Stephen Mitchell
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“Children understand that 'once upon a time' refers not only--not even primarily--to the past, but to the impalpable regions of the present, the deeper places inside us where princes and dragons, wizards and talking birds, impassable roads, impossible tasks, and happy endings have always existed, alive and bursting with psychic power.”

ChildrenPastTalkingAliveImpossibleBirdTasksDeeperRegionsDragonsPsychicsWizardsHappy EndingsOnce Upon A TimeBursting
Author:Stephen Mitchell
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“Whatever thought grips the mind at the time of death is the one which will propel it and decide for it the nature of its future birth. Thus if one wants to attain god after death, one has to think of him steadfastly... This is not as simple as it sounds, for at the time of death the mind automatically flies to the thought of an object (i.e. money, love) which has possessed it during its sojourn in the world. Thus one must think of god constantly.”

IfsThinkingWorldWantMindSoundSimpleObjectsBirthPossessedAfter Death
Author:Stephen Mitchell
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“The physical body is acknowledged as dust, the personal drama as delusion. It is as if the world we perceive through our senses, the whole gorgeous and terrible pageant, were the breath-thin surface of a bubble, and everything else, inside and outside, is pure radiance. Both suffering and joy come then like a brief reflection, and death like a pin.”

IfsWorldWholeBodyJoySufferingTerribleDramaPureReflectionBreathsSurfaceSensesDustPerceiveDelusionBubblesGorgeousPinsRadiancePhysical BodyPageantInside And Outside
Author:Stephen Mitchell
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