Bonsai of Thoughts (Translated)

Bonsai of Thoughts: One Hundred Forty-One

1. Just as clouds veil the sun,
knowledge veils understanding.

2. One who lacks tolerance
for other faiths and beliefs
has not glimpsed even a fragment of truth.

3. As close as fish stay to the river,
that close does God remain to man.

4. Learning is so terribly difficult
that almost everyone wants to teach.

5. The more compassion you give,
the greater grows your reign.
The more compassion you seek,
the greater grows your bondage.

6. With eyes open I see so much,
with heart open I see so much more.

7. What one seeks
is precious only to the seeker.

8. Gazing at the ocean,
as far as one's vision extends,
that much is the ocean to them!
The same holds true for truth.

9. Not through ritual offerings,
nor through displays of devotion,
but through the heart's yearning alone is worship achieved.

10. When you want to understand, understanding comes.
When you want to make others understand, understanding becomes difficult.

11. What is not deep
makes the most noise.

12. Winter night.
Still clinging to pride—
what use is that, beloved!

13. Rather than all learning,
knowing how to live
is far more urgent.

14. Knowledge that teaches us to think less of others
may be many things, but religion it certainly is not.

15. Sleep is for rest,
wakefulness for joy.

16. Worship in which God's presence cannot be felt
is not worship, merely custom.

17. Instead of emotion, the mind changes,
and with it, the body transforms.

18. There is no love there
where one feels an invisible duty
to prove even illness
to the beloved.

19. In the union of two souls
silence alone becomes sound.

20. One gains as much
as one feels.
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