The Archive

Thirty teachings. Seven traditions. One river.

STOIC

You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Marcus Aurelius· Meditations

TAOIST

Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing yourself is enlightenment.

Laozi· Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33

BUDDHIST

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

The Buddha· Dhammapada

HERMETIC

As above, so below; as below, so above. As within, so without; as without, so within.

Hermes Trismegistus· The Emerald Tablet

BIBLICAL

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

Qoheleth· Ecclesiastes 3:1

SUFI

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.

Rumi· The Masnavi

STOIC

Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.

Marcus Aurelius· Meditations, Book X

TAOIST

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

Laozi· Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1

BUDDHIST

If you want to know the past, look at your present. If you want to know the future, look at your present.

Padmasambhava· Tibetan Buddhist Teaching

PERENNIAL

The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me.

Meister Eckhart· Sermons

STOIC

He who fears death will never do anything worthy of a man who is alive.

Seneca· Letters to Lucilius, Letter 78

SUFI

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

Rumi· The Masnavi

TAOIST

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.

Chuang Tzu· The Inner Chapters

BIBLICAL

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

Solomon· Proverbs 4:7

PERENNIAL

The present moment always will have been.

Epictetus· Discourses

BUDDHIST

There is no fire like passion, no shark like hatred, no snare like folly, no torrent like greed.

The Buddha· Dhammapada, verse 251

HERMETIC

The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding.

Three Initiates· The Kybalion

STOIC

Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.

Seneca· Letters to Lucilius, Letter 32

TAOIST

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Laozi· Tao Te Ching

SUFI

The wound is the place where the light enters you.

Rumi· The Masnavi

PERENNIAL

What we are looking for is what is looking.

St. Francis of Assisi· Attributed

STOIC

The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.

Epictetus· Discourses, Book 2

BIBLICAL

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

Paul· Romans 12:2

BUDDHIST

When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Laozi· Tao Te Ching

HERMETIC

The universe is mental — held in the mind of the All.

Three Initiates· The Kybalion, Chapter 1

STOIC

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

Marcus Aurelius· Meditations, Book VII

TAOIST

Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

Laozi· Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67

SUFI

You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?

Rumi· The Masnavi

PERENNIAL

He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.

Laozi· Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33

BUDDHIST

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

The Buddha· Attributed