236 lines
9.4 KiB
Plaintext
236 lines
9.4 KiB
Plaintext
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ANXIETY
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A person who has faith and confidence in God's provision need not
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worry about worldly cares. For one who has deep insight into Reality,
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concerns about possessions and acquisitions seem ephemeral and
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meaningless. Hence the scriptures counsel the traveller in the spirit to
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avoid meaningless attachments to possessions, position, or fame. The
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faithless person, being attached to these things, becomes anxious when
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they are lacking, and he is constantly driven to grasp after them. But in
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the life of faith there is a simplicity and detachment that produces
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neither anxiety nor care. To live like the birds of the air or the
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animals of the forest, for whom God provides the necessities of life; to
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trust in God and the spiritual principle that God will protect and provide
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for those who put Heaven first; to be selfless, and hence unconcerned
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about such mundane matters as life or death: this is the attitude of the
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wise man.
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Any who believes in his Lord has no fear, either of loss or of any
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injustice.
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Islam. Qur'an 72.13
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All are afraid of death; nowhere is there fearlessness. But the virtuous
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saints never fear death and the state after death.
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Hinduism. Matsya Purana 212.25
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My Lord, boundless as
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The sun and moon
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Lighting heaven and earth;
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How then can I have concerns
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About what is to be?
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Shinto. Man'yoshu XX
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Qur'an 72.13: Cf. Qur'an 2.112, p. 770.
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One who has mastered Dhamma, one much learned,
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Has no such thought as, Ah! 'tis well with me!
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Look you! how tortured is he that has possessions!
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One to another human folk are bound.
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Buddhism. Udana 13
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Day in, day out, I am with Amida;
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Let the sun set whenever it pleases.
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How grateful indeed I am!
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Namu-Amida-Butsu!
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Buddhism. Myokonin
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Unless the Lord builds the house,
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those who build it labor in vain.
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Unless the Lord watches over the city,
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the watchman stays awake in vain.
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It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
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eating the bread of anxious toil;
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for he gives his beloved sleep.
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Judaism and Christianity. Psalm 127.1-2
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Do not strain your eyes in longing for the things We have given for
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enjoyment to parties of them, the splendor of the life of the world,
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through which We test them: but the provision of your Lord is better and
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more enduring.... We do not ask you to provide sustenance; We provide it
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for you. The fruit of the hereafter is for righteousness.
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Islam. Qur'an 20.131-32
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Those who surrender to God all selfish attachments are like the leaf of a
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lotus floating clean and dry in water. Sin cannot touch them. Renouncing
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their selfish attachments, those who follow the path of service work with
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body, senses, and mind for the sake of self-purification. Those whose
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consciousness is unified abandon all attachment to the results of action
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and attain supreme peace.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 5.10-12
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How many animals do not carry their own provision! God provides for them
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and for you. He is Alert, Aware.
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Islam. Qur'an 29.60
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Udana 13: Cf. Suhi, M.5 804; Myokonin: The Myokonin is a collection of
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poems by Japanese Pure Land saints. Pure Land Buddhists keep the mind
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fixed on Ultimate Reality by constantly chanting Namu-Amida-Butsu, All
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Hail to Amitabha Buddha; see Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 3.30, p. 833.
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Qur'an 20.131-32: An important element in the attitude of trust in God's
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provision is to avoid comparing oneself with others. Bhagavad Gita
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5.10-12: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 2.47-50, p. 941; Srimad Bhagavatam 9, p. 992.
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In the Changes it is said, "If a man is agitated in mind, and his
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thoughts go hither and thither, only those friends on whom he fixes his
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conscious thoughts will follow" [Hexagram 31: Influence].
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The Master said, "What need has nature of thought and care? In
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nature all things return to their common source and are distributed along
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different paths; through one action, the fruits of a hundred thoughts are
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realized. What need has nature of thought, of care?"
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Confucianism. I Ching, Great Commentary 2.5.1
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Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall
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eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on.
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Is not life more than food and clothing? Look at the birds of the air:
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they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
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Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you
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by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you
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anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
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they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory
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was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the
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field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he
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not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be
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anxious, saying "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we wear?" For the
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gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you
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need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
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these things shall be yours as well.
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Christianity. Matthew 6.25-33
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Whoever has bread in his basket and says, "What am I going to eat
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tomorrow?" only belongs to those who are little in faith.
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Judaism. Talmud, Sota 48b
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"My clothes are torn, I shall soon go naked," or "I shall get a new suit":
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such thoughts should not be entertained by a monk. At one time he will
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have no clothes, at another time he will have some. Knowing this to be a
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salutary rule, a wise monk should not complain about it.
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Jainism. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 2.12-13
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Though the fig tree do not blossom,
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nor fruit be on the vines,
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the produce of the olive fail
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and the fields yield no food,
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the flock be cut off from the fold
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and there be no herd in the stalls,
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yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
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I will exult in the God of my salvation.
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Judaism and Christianity. Habakkuk 3.17-18
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Matthew 6.25-33: Cf. Srimad Bhagavatam 9, p. 992. Habakkuk 3.17-18: Cf.
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Sri Raga, M.1, p. 876.
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The Exalted One said to Bhaddiya, "Bhaddiya, what motive have you,
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who are wont to resort to forest-dwelling, to the roots of trees, to
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lonely spots, in exclaiming, 'Ah! 'tis bliss! Ah! 'tis bliss!'?"
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"Formerly, sir, when I enjoyed the bliss of royalty as a
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householder, within my palace guards were set and outside my palace guards
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were set. So also in the district and outside. Thus, sir, though guarded
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and protected, I dwelt fearful, anxious, trembling, and afraid. But now,
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sir, as I resort to forest-dwelling, to the roots of trees, to lonely
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spots, though alone, I am fearless, assured, confident, and unafraid. I
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live at ease, unstartled, lightsome, with heart like that of some wild
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creature. This, sir, was the motive I have for exclaiming, 'Ah! 'tis
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bliss! Ah! 'tis bliss!'"
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Buddhism. Udana 19-20
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The restless mind is not fixed at one spot;
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Like a deer it nibbles at tender shoots.
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Should man lodge in mind the divine lotus feet,
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His life span is lengthened, his mind awakened, immortal he becomes.
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All beings are in the grip of anxiety;
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But by contemplation of God comes joy.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Ramkali Dakhni Onkar, M.1, p. 932
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The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free
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from anxiety about results; all his selfish desires have been consumed in
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the fire of knowledge. The wise, ever satisfied, have abandoned all
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external supports. Their security is unaffected by the results of their
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action; even while acting, they really do nothing at all [i.e., nothing
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producing karma]. Free from expectations and from all sense of
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possession, with mind and body firmly controlled by the Self, they do not
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incur sin by the performance of physical action.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 4.19-21
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The man who has had his feet cut off in punishment discards his fancy
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clothes--because praise and blame no longer touch him. The chained
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convict climbs the highest peak without fear--because he has abandoned all
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thought of life and death. These two are submissive and unashamed because
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they have forgotten other men, and by forgetting other men they have
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become men of Heaven. You may treat such men with respect and they will
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not be pleased; you may treat them with contumely and they will not be
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angry. Only because they are one with the Heavenly Harmony can they be
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like this.
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Taoism. Chuang Tzu 23
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Ramkali Dakhni Onkar, M.1: Cf. Sri Raga, M.1, p. 876; Atharva Veda
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10.8.43-44, p. 582. Bhagavad Gita 4.19-21: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 2.47-50. p.
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941; Tao Te Ching 2, p. 941; Sutta Nipata 1072-76, p. 532. Chuang Tzu 23:
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It is a well-known phenomenon that people who have faced death,
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imprisonment, or absolute disgrace can rise above ordinary notions of good
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and evil and become people of profound wisdom. Cf. Chuang Tzu 6, p. 234;
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31, p. 961.
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