Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Gesar of Ling Epic

By Gesar of Ling

Like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Hindu Mahabharata, Gilgamesh and other cultural epics passed down verbally from generation to generation; the Gesar story preserves, translates, and transmits a culture's wisdom, values, and practical advice. With historical evidence going back as far as 300 BCE, the story slowly evolved for centuries with the poetic and prose retellings of special balladeers. Considered the longest epic like this in the history of the world, compilations now included over a mission verses filling c. 120 volumes. Today, an estimated 100 bards in Tibet, Mongolia, China, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Nepal continue this traditional retelling. The numerous proverbs continue to inspire and transmit these values of loyalty, wisdom, compassion, and skillful means.

Themes

Quotes from Gesar of Ling Epic

“A field which has not been worked will not bear fruit even if the six grains are sown.”

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Themes: Gardening

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“A man who guzzles the ocean
Needs a stomach the size of the sky.”

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Themes: Greed

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“A superior maiden has the looks of a goddess, longevity, merit, and splendor surround her. Her mind and thoughts are like a crystal vase that seems to be filled with the amrita of everlasting companionship.”

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“Although the stars are greater in number, it is the moon which dispels the darkness.”

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Themes: Simplicity

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“Although there is no intention to hurt each other's feelings with evil words that's the likely outcome if the mind is stirred to anger.”

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Themes: Anger

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“Anything is possible to dream in the spring;
Anything can grow in the summer fields.”

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Themes: Dream

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“Being able to make your own decisions
Is more empowering than receiving a hundred golden letters from the imperial chieftain.”

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Themes: Free Will

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“Better an auspicious connection than a hundred material goods.”

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Themes: Friendship

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“Don't pound the black poison ax of selfishness on the solid gold boulder of our common welfare.”

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“Each man his own song; each bird, its own voice.”

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Themes: Sacred World

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“Even though there is no pain in the body, there is still pain in the mind.”

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Themes: Suffering

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“Except for the enemies of the Buddha's doctrine and those who bring harm to sentient beings, I, Gesar, have no enemies.”

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Themes: Enemy

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“Final decisions should be made face to face... with verbal consensus, mental concurrence, and equality of intention.”

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Themes: Strategy

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“For the merchant who ventures afar—unless he takes his own means into account; the enticements of the marketplace will be never-ending.”

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Themes: Know Yourself

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“For their minds are dry as a piece of rock;
If you do not carve its hard surface with a chisel,
Even if you soak it in a stream, it will not give way.”

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Themes: Perseverance

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“Freedom from conceptualization is the secret of the great secret.”

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Themes: Golden Chains

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“Happiness follows sadness just as day follows night;
The glow of dawn guides us out of the dark of night.”

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Themes: Happiness

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“Having personal freedom
Brings greater happiness than assuming a thousand golden thrones.”

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Themes: Freedom

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“I need a wife who is a wisdom dakini, who is without the biased conduct of a worldly life”

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Themes: Marriage

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“if the conch moon did not rise in the sky, who could find their way in the pitch black of night?”

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Themes: Moon

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“If the many don't offer up their opinions, the learned will not come to resolution.”

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Themes: Democracy

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“If the minds of one hundred men are in harmony, it is like the synchronized gait of one hundred horses.”

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Themes: Mind

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“If the proverb's secret inner meaning does not become clear,
If you can't feel the results in your life,
All those words are just bubbles of spit.”

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“If the rain has not moistened the crops, then what is the point of placing seeds there?”

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Themes: Water Agriculture

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“If there is transgression of the hierarchy, it is a matter of the secular law of the chieftains.”

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“If you do not know the measure of your own sleep,
The slumber of your ignorance will be inexhaustible.”

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Themes: Ignorance

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“If you do not take the path of a miserable mind, how can you encounter the wealth of mental joy?
If you cross over the treacherous crag, you'll arrive at the flat plain.”

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Themes: Obstacles

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“If you don't liberate yourself through realization on the spot, it will be difficult to benefit others with compassion.”

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Themes: Carpe diem

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“If you throw the six grains in a meadow, there will be no sprouts.
If you plant seeds in a plowed field, then you get results.”

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“If you yourself are unable to be fulfilled,
Your greedy rich man's mind will never be satisfied.”

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Themes: Greed

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“It's easy to extinguish a fire when it's small,
You don't even need water.
It's easy to subjugate an enemy when he is small,
You don't even need weapons.”

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“Just as karma from past lifetimes cannot be sidestepped,
Wrinkles on one's forehead cannot be erased.”

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Themes: Karma

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“Just as one turns to the warmth of the sun, whoever shows great kindness must be rewarded.”

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Themes: Kindness

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“Like a man struck by a stone he throws in the air, the leader who lacks a gentle mind will be punished by karma as he punishes others.”

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“No need to tell you what you already know.
No need to point out what you already see.”

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Themes: Less is More

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“No tracks of the bird in the sky;
No path of wind for the bird”

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Themes: No Trace

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“Only poison will cure illness brought on by poison;
If you want to cut iron only iron will do.”

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Themes: Medicine

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“Power in another's hand,
Is like our own hair caught in a tree branch.”

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Themes: Power

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“Sons and nephews without fathers and uncles
May be strong, but it is said that they are like a tigress wandjyering an empty plain.”

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Themes: Family

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“Straight arrows hit the distant target,
One sign and the wise person understands.”

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“The good looks of that reckless maiden
May be pleasant to look at,
But if you get together with her, it will be a den of corruption.”

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Themes: Confusion

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“The maiden girl carries her gold as ornaments on her body. Her aim is to attract a gigolo... planning to make her cunt and its coverings common property... The mind of a girl and that of a pig are the same: one will wiggle their ass in front of a boy and the other in front of food.”

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Themes: Prostitution

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“The merit of the colorful meadow magnetizes the rain without invitation. The merit of the irrigation ditches in the field magnetizes the southern clouds without invitation.”

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Themes: Virtue

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“The more a rich man values a horse,
The more stubborn-headed the merchant is on his selling price.”

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Themes: Business

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“The rich man with no generosity,
Though he has collected wealth through avarice,
At the time of death will be naked and empty-handed.”

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“The ruler who has no loving kindness
May enforce the law, but will lose his districts.”

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“The sun of happiness will dawn.
The darkness of suffering will be cleared.”

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Themes: Confidence

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“The warrior who has no restraint,
Though hearty and brave, will die by the sword.”

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Themes: Discipline

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“There are more maidens here than grass on the mountains, but an eligible life-mate is rarer than gold.”

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Themes: Marriage

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“There must be a great purpose for a great mountain to shake.
There must be a great purpose to roll out the carpet of the great plain.”

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Themes: Meaningfulness

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“Those who are penniless but still obsessed with business seem to have sold themselves out to debt.”

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Themes: Slavery

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“Though the sun and moon both appear in the azure firmament, the blue sky does not favor one over the other.”

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Themes: Equality

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“Unless we are crushed by conditions... unless our own mouths water from hunger, we never appreciate a poor man's need to hoard.”

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“Unless words have great meaning, they will not escape his mouth. Unless there is a point to his actions, he will not resolve his mind.”

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Themes: Inscrutable

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“When a mischievous horse is allowed to run free, the rider will be thrown to the ground.”

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“When at war, if somebody is lost to the enemy, a full account should be reported to the warriors.”

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“When flames consume the mountains and valleys it is too late. If the canals are not built when the water is low, when the floods breach the banks it is too late.”

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Themes: Water

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“When good fortune comes to the mouth, the tongue accidentally pushes it out.”

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Themes: Mistakes

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“When heat and moisture unite on the square plain, whatever you do helps the green grass to grow. When life flourishes like the rising patterns within a skullcup, whatever harm is inflicted will become beneficial.”

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Themes: Transmutation

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“When it comes to life itself, don't be stingy with possessions; when it comes to possessions, don't be careless; when it come to care-taking, be zealous in your exertion.”

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Themes: Materialism

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“When the glorious gate of merit turns upside down, no matter how hard you work, all you get are blisters.”

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“When the treasure wealth of a great chieftain is kept, it doesn't increase; but when given away, it does.”

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Themes: Wealth

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“When you're cold, your clothes have no weight;
When you're starving, your food has no nutrition.”

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“With the armor and weapons of patience and knowledge, what need is there for an iron bow and sharp weapons?”

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Themes: Patience

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“Without farming, harvests are difficult, without exertion, accomplishing a goal is difficult.”

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“Words without deeds
Are like a bird without wings.”

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“You are of the ancestral lineage of the gods of clear light, the lineage of the mahasiddhas... therefore, your dream is not deluded.”

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Related Lineages (1 lineages)

Tibetan Vajrayana

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