Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (Shambhala Classics)

Absence of doubt is trusting in the heart, trusting yourself.

The setting-sun point of view is based on fear.

Great Eastern Sun vision, on the other hand, is based on appreciating ourselves and appreciating our world, so it is a very gentle approach. Because we appreciate the world, we don’t make a mess in it. We take care of our bodies, we take care of our minds, and we take care of our world.

We can always return to that primordial ground. That is the logic of the Great Eastern Sun.

The setting-sun approach is to shield ourselves from dirt as much as we can, so that we don’t have to look at it—we just get rid of anything unpleasant.

Death comes, obviously. You can never avoid death. Whatever you do, death occurs. But if you have lived with a sense of reality and with gratitude toward life, then you leave the dignity of your life behind you, so that your relatives, your friends, and your children can appreciate who you were.

The way of the Great Eastern Sun is based on seeing what is needed and how things happen organically.

Being without doubt means that you have connected with yourself, that you have experienced mind and body being synchronized together. When mind and body are synchronized, then you have no doubt.

When we say sun here, we mean the sun of human dignity, the sun of human power. The Great Eastern Sun is a rising sun rather than a setting sun, so it represents the dawning, or awakening, of human dignity—the rising of human warriorship.