From bd2f376a7a1aba0ff2fd302c7014a40a1c6b79c8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Snider Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:02:47 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] feat: add zen training set (Allen) to training/lem/zen/ 10 examples across train/test/valid splits. Co-Authored-By: Virgil --- training/lem/zen/test.jsonl | 2 ++ training/lem/zen/train.jsonl | 6 ++++++ training/lem/zen/valid.jsonl | 2 ++ 3 files changed, 10 insertions(+) create mode 100644 training/lem/zen/test.jsonl create mode 100644 training/lem/zen/train.jsonl create mode 100644 training/lem/zen/valid.jsonl diff --git a/training/lem/zen/test.jsonl b/training/lem/zen/test.jsonl new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7eddeaf --- /dev/null +++ b/training/lem/zen/test.jsonl @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "How does one attain serenity?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "THOUGHT AND PURPOSE\n\nUNTIL thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent\naccomplishment. With the majority the bark of thought is allowed to\n\"drift\" upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and such\ndrifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of\ncatastrophe and destruction.\n\nThey who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to\npetty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are\nindications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately\nplanned sins (though by a different route), to failure, unhappiness,\nand loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power evolving universe.\n\nA man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set\nout to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing\npoint of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or\nit may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time\nbeing; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his\nthought-forces upon the object, which he has set before him. He\nshould make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself\nto its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into\nephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road\nto self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails\nagain and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must\nuntil weakness is overcome), the _strength of character gained_ will\nbe the measure of _his true_ success, and this will form a new\nstarting-point for future power and triumph.\n\nThose who are not prepared for the apprehension of a _great_ purpose\nshould fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their\nduty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in\nthis way can the thoughts be gathered and focussed, and resolution\nand energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which\nmay not be accomplished.\n\nThe weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth\n_that strength can only be developed by effort and practice,_ will,\nthus believing, at once begin to exert itself, and, adding effort to\neffort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never\ncease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.\n\nAs the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and\npatient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong\nby exercising himself in right thinking.\n\nTo put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with\npurpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only\nrecognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all\nconditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly,\nand accomplish masterfully.\n\nHaving conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a\n_straight_ pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right\nnor the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded; they\nare disintegrating elements, which break up the straight line of\neffort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of\ndoubt and fear never accomplished anything, and never can. They\nalways lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong\nthoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.\n\nThe will to do springs from the knowledge that we _can_ do. Doubt\nand fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages\nthem, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.\n\nHe who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His\nevery thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are\nbravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably\nplanted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit, which does not fall\nprematurely to the ground.\n\nThought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who\n_knows_ this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a\nmere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who\n_does_ this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his\nmental powers."}]} +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What is the core philosophy of As a Man Thinketh?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT\n\nALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the\ndirect result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe,\nwhere loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual\nresponsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength,\npurity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are\nbrought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be\naltered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own,\nand not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved\nfrom within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he\nremains.\n\nA strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is _willing_ to\nbe helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself;\nhe must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires\nin another. None but himself can alter his condition.\n\nIt has been usual for men to think and to say, \"Many men are slaves\nbecause one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.\" Now,\nhowever, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse\nthis judgment, and to say, \"One man is an oppressor because many are\nslaves; let us despise the slaves.\"\n\nThe truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance,\nand, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting\nthemselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the\nweakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor;\na perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail,\ncondemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and\noppressed.\n\nHe who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish\nthoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.\n\nA man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his\nthoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by\nrefusing to lift up his thoughts.\n\nBefore a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must\nlift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in\norder to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any\nmeans; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A man\nwhose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think\nclearly nor plan methodically; he could not find and develop his\nlatent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having\ncommenced to manfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position\nto control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not\nfit to act independently and stand alone. But he is limited only by\nthe thoughts, which he chooses.\n\nThere can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a\nman's worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his\nconfused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of\nhis plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance.\nAnd the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and\nrighteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more\nblessed and enduring will be his achievements.\n\nThe universe does not favour the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious,\nalthough on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it\nhelps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great\nTeachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to\nprove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more\nand more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.\n\nIntellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to\nthe search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and\nnature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and\nambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics;\nthey are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of\npure and unselfish thoughts.\n\nSpiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He\nwho lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts,\nwho dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as\nthe sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and\nnoble in character, and rise into a position of influence and\nblessedness.\n\nAchievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of\nthought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity,\nrighteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the aid\nof animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of\nthought a man descends.\n\nA man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty\naltitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness\nand wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts\nto take possession of him.\n\nVictories attained by right thought can only be maintained by\nwatchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly\nfall back into failure.\n\nAll achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or\nspiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are\ngoverned by the same law and are of the same method; the only\ndifference lies in _the object of attainment._\n\nHe who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would\nachieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must\nsacrifice greatly."}]} diff --git a/training/lem/zen/train.jsonl b/training/lem/zen/train.jsonl new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5c67f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/training/lem/zen/train.jsonl @@ -0,0 +1,6 @@ +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What is the relationship between thought and character?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "THOUGHT AND CHARACTER\n\nEFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES\n\nEFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH AND THE BODY\n\nTHOUGHT AND PURPOSE\n\nTHE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT\n\nVISIONS AND IDEALS\n\nSERENITY"}]} +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "How does thought affect our circumstances in life?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "FOREWORD\n\nTHIS little volume (the result of meditation and experience) is not\nintended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-upon subject\nof the power of thought. It is suggestive rather than explanatory,\nits object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and\nperception of the truth that--\n\n\"They themselves are makers of themselves.\"\n\nby virtue of the thoughts, which they choose and encourage; that\nmind is the master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character\nand the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have\nhitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in\nenlightenment and happiness.\n\nJAMES ALLEN.\n\nBROAD PARK AVENUE,\n\nILFRACOMBE,\n\nENGLAND"}]} +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What is the effect of thought on health and the body?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "AS A MAN THINKETH"}]} +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What is the connection between thought and purpose?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "THOUGHT AND CHARACTER\n\nTHE aphorism, \"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,\" not only\nembraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to\nreach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is\nliterally _what he thinks,_ his character being the complete sum of\nall his thoughts.\n\nAs the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so\nevery act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and\ncould not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those\nacts called \"spontaneous\" and \"unpremeditated\" as to those, which\nare deliberately executed.\n\nAct is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits;\nthus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own\nhusbandry.\n\n \"Thought in the mind hath made us, What we are\n By thought was wrought and built. If a man's mind\n Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes\n The wheel the ox behind....\n\n ..If one endure\n In purity of thought, joy follows him\n As his own shadow--sure.\"\n\nMan is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause\nand effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of\nthought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and\nGodlike character is not a thing of favour or chance, but is the\nnatural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of\nlong-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and\nbestial character, by the same process, is the result of the\ncontinued harbouring of grovelling thoughts.\n\nMan is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury of thought he\nforges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions\nthe tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy\nand strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of\nthought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and\nwrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the\nbeast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character,\nand man is their maker and master.\n\nOf all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been\nrestored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening\nor fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this--that man is\nthe master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and\nshaper of condition, environment, and destiny.\n\nAs a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own\nthoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within\nhimself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may\nmake himself what he wills.\n\nMan is always the master, even in his weaker and most abandoned\nstate; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master\nwho misgoverns his \"household.\" When he begins to reflect upon his\ncondition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being\nis established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his\nenergies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful\nissues. Such is the _conscious_ master, and man can only thus become\nby discovering _within himself_ the laws of thought; which discovery\nis totally a matter of application, self analysis, and experience.\n\nOnly by much searching and mining, are gold and diamonds obtained,\nand man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will\ndig deep into the mine of his soul; and that he is the maker of his\ncharacter, the moulder of his life, and the builder of his destiny,\nhe may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his\nthoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon\nhis life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient\npractice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even\nto the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining\nthat knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. In\nthis direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that \"He that\nseeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened;\" for\nonly by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man\nenter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge."}]} +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "How does thought factor into achievement?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES\n\nMAN'S mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently\ncultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or\nneglected, it must, and will, _bring forth._ If no useful seeds are\n_put_ into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will _fall_\ntherein, and will continue to produce their kind.\n\nJust as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds,\nand growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man\ntend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and\nimpure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and\nfruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this\nprocess, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the\nmaster-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also\nreveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with\never-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind elements\noperate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.\n\nThought and character are one, and as character can only manifest\nand discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer\nconditions of a person's life will always be found to be\nharmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a\nman's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his\n_entire_ character, but that those circumstances are so intimately\nconnected with some vital thought-element within himself that, for\nthe time being, they are indispensable to his development.\n\nEvery man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which\nhe has built into his character have brought him there, and in the\narrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is\nthe result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those\nwho feel \"out of harmony\" with their surroundings as of those who\nare contented with them.\n\nAs a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may\nlearn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which\nany circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to\nother circumstances.\n\nMan is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to\nbe the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he\nis a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and\nseeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes\nthe rightful master of himself.\n\nThat circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for\nany length of time practised self-control and self-purification, for\nhe will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has\nbeen in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is\nthis that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects\nin his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes\nrapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.\n\nThe soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it\nloves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its\ncherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened\ndesires,--and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives\nits own.\n\nEvery thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to\ntake root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into\nact, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.\nGood thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.\n\nThe outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of\nthought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are\nfactors, which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the\nreaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.\n\nFollowing the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he\nallows himself to be dominated, (pursuing the will-o'-the-wisps of\nimpure imaginings or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and\nhigh endeavour), a man at last arrives at their fruition and\nfulfilment in the outer conditions of his life. The laws of growth\nand adjustment everywhere obtains.\n\nA man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of\nfate or circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling thoughts and\nbase desires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by\nstress of any mere external force; the criminal thought had long\nbeen secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity\nrevealed its gathered power. Circumstance does not make the man; it\nreveals him to himself No such conditions can exist as descending\ninto vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious\ninclinations, or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness\nwithout the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations; and man,\ntherefore, as the lord and master of thought, is the maker of\nhimself the shaper and author of environment. Even at birth the soul\ncomes to its own and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it\nattracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which\nare the reflections of its own purity and, impurity, its strength\nand weakness.\n\nMen do not attract that which they _want,_ but that which they _are._\nTheir whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but\ntheir inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it\nfoul or clean. The \"divinity that shapes our ends\" is in ourselves;\nit is our very self. Only himself manacles man: thought and action\nare the gaolers of Fate--they imprison, being base; they are also\nthe angels of Freedom--they liberate, being noble. Not what he\nwishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His\nwishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they\nharmonize with his thoughts and actions.\n\nIn the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of \"fighting\nagainst circumstances?\" It means that a man is continually revolting\nagainst an _effect_ without, while all the time he is nourishing and\npreserving its _cause_ in his heart. That cause may take the form of\na conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it\nstubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls\naloud for remedy.\n\nMen are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to\nimprove themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does\nnot shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the\nobject upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of\nheavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth\nmust be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can\naccomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a\nstrong and well-poised life?\n\nHere is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that\nhis surroundings and home comforts should be improved, yet all the\ntime he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to\ndeceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his\nwages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of\nthose principles which are the basis of true prosperity, and is not\nonly totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is\nactually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by\ndwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly\nthoughts.\n\nHere is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent\ndisease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums\nof money to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous\ndesires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural viands\nand have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to have\nhealth, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a\nhealthy life.\n\nHere is an employer of labour who adopts crooked measures to avoid\npaying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger\nprofits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is\naltogether unfitted for prosperity, and when he finds himself\nbankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he blames\ncircumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his\ncondition.\n\nI have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the\ntruth that man is the causer (though nearly always is unconsciously)\nof his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a good end, he is\ncontinually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts\nand desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end. Such\ncases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this\nis not necessary, as the reader can, if he so resolves, trace the\naction of the laws of thought in his own mind and life, and until\nthis is done, mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of\nreasoning.\n\nCircumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply\nrooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so, vastly with\nindividuals, that a man's entire soul-condition (although it may be\nknown to himself) cannot be judged by another from the external\naspect of his life alone. A man may be honest in certain directions,\nyet suffer privations; a man may be dishonest in certain directions,\nyet acquire wealth; but the conclusion usually formed that the one\nman fails _because of his particular honesty,_ and that the other\n_prospers because of his particular dishonesty,_ is the result of a\nsuperficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost\ntotally corrupt, and the honest man almost entirely virtuous. In the\nlight of a deeper knowledge and wider experience such judgment is\nfound to be erroneous. The dishonest man may have some admirable\nvirtues, which the other does, not possess; and the honest man\nobnoxious vices which are absent in the other. The honest man reaps\nthe good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also brings\nupon himself the sufferings, which his vices produce. The dishonest\nman likewise garners his own suffering and happiness.\n\nIt is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because\nof one's virtue; but not until a man has extirpated every sickly,\nbitter, and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful\nstain from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare\nthat his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad\nqualities; and on the way to, yet long before he has reached, that\nsupreme perfection, he will have found, working in his mind and\nlife, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot,\ntherefore, give good for evil, evil for good. Possessed of such\nknowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance\nand blindness, that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and\nthat all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable\noutworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self.\n\nGood thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad\nthoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but\nsaying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from\nnettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world,\nand work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral\nworld (though its operation there is just as simple and\nundeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it.\n\nSuffering is _always_ the effect of wrong thought in some direction.\nIt is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with\nhimself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of\nsuffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure.\nSuffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be no object in\nburning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure\nand enlightened being could not suffer.\n\nThe circumstances, which a man encounters with suffering, are the\nresult of his own mental in harmony. The circumstances, which a man\nencounters with blessedness, are the result of his own mental\nharmony. Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of\nright thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is\nthe measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may\nbe blessed and poor. Blessedness and riches are only joined together\nwhen the riches are rightly and wisely used; and the poor man only\ndescends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden\nunjustly imposed.\n\nIndigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness. They\nare both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder. A man\nis not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and\nprosperous being; and happiness, health, and prosperity are the\nresult of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer, of\nthe man with his surroundings.\n\nA man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile,\nand commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his\nlife. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases\nto accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself\nup in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against\ncircumstances, but begins to _use_ them as aids to his more rapid\nprogress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and\npossibilities within himself.\n\nLaw, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe;\njustice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life; and\nrighteousness, not corruption, is the moulding and moving force in\nthe spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but to\nright himself to find that the universe is right; and during the\nprocess of putting himself right he will find that as he alters his\nthoughts towards things and other people, things and other people\nwill alter towards him.\n\nThe proof of this truth is in every person, and it therefore admits\nof easy investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis.\nLet a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at\nthe rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions\nof his life. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it\ncannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies\ninto circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize into habits of\ndrunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of\ndestitution and disease: impure thoughts of every kind crystallize\ninto enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into\ndistracting and adverse circumstances: thoughts of fear, doubt, and\nindecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits,\nwhich solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish\ndependence: lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness\nand dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and\nbeggary: hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits\nof accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of\ninjury and persecution: selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize\ninto habits of self-seeking, which solidify into circumstances more\nor less distressing. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all\nkinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which\nsolidify into genial and sunny circumstances: pure thoughts\ncrystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which\nsolidify into circumstances of repose and peace: thoughts of\ncourage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits,\nwhich solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom:\nenergetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and\nindustry, which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness: gentle\nand forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which\nsolidify into protective and preservative circumstances: loving and\nunselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for\nothers, which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding\nprosperity and true riches.\n\nA particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad,\ncannot fail to produce its results on the character and\ncircumstances. A man cannot _directly_ choose his circumstances, but\nhe can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his\ncircumstances.\n\nNature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts, which\nhe most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most\nspeedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.\n\nLet a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will\nsoften towards him, and be ready to help him; let him put away his\nweakly and sickly thoughts, and lo, opportunities will spring up on\nevery hand to aid his strong resolves; let him encourage good\nthoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to wretchedness and\nshame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations\nof colours, which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are\nthe exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts.\n\n \"So You will be what you will to be;\n Let failure find its false content\n In that poor word, 'environment,'\n But spirit scorns it, and is free.\n\n \"It masters time, it conquers space;\n It cowes that boastful trickster, Chance,\n And bids the tyrant Circumstance\n Uncrown, and fill a servant's place.\n\n \"The human Will, that force unseen,\n The offspring of a deathless Soul,\n Can hew a way to any goal,\n Though walls of granite intervene.\n\n \"Be not impatient in delays\n But wait as one who understands;\n When spirit rises and commands\n The gods are ready to obey.\""}]} +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What role do visions and ideals play in shaping our lives?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH AND THE BODY\n\nTHE body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the\nmind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically\nexpressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks\nrapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful\nthoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty.\n\nDisease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought.\nSickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body.\nThoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a\nbullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just as\nsurely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease\nare the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole\nbody, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure\nthoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the\nnervous system.\n\nStrong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigour and\ngrace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds\nreadily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of\nthought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.\n\nMen will continue to have impure and poisoned blood, so long as they\npropagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life\nand a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and\na corrupt body. Thought is the fount of action, life, and\nmanifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.\n\nChange of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts.\nWhen a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure\nfood.\n\nClean thoughts make clean habits. The so-called saint who does not\nwash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthened and purified\nhis thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent microbe.\n\nIf you would protect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew\nyour body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy,\ndisappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace. A\nsour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts.\nWrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, and pride.\n\nI know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocent face of a\ngirl. I know a man well under middle age whose face is drawn into\ninharmonious contours. The one is the result of a sweet and sunny\ndisposition; the other is the outcome of passion and discontent.\n\nAs you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the\nair and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a\nbright, happy, or serene countenance can only result from the free\nadmittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and goodwill and\nserenity.\n\nOn the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others\nby strong and pure thought, and others are carved by passion: who\ncannot distinguish them? With those who have lived righteously, age\nis calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun. I have\nrecently seen a philosopher on his deathbed. He was not old except\nin years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as he had lived.\n\nThere is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills\nof the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill for\ndispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually in\nthoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be\nconfined in a self made prison-hole. But to think well of all, to be\ncheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all--such\nunselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day\nby day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring\nabounding peace to their possessor."}]} diff --git a/training/lem/zen/valid.jsonl b/training/lem/zen/valid.jsonl new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7eddeaf --- /dev/null +++ b/training/lem/zen/valid.jsonl @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "How does one attain serenity?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "THOUGHT AND PURPOSE\n\nUNTIL thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent\naccomplishment. With the majority the bark of thought is allowed to\n\"drift\" upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and such\ndrifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of\ncatastrophe and destruction.\n\nThey who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to\npetty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are\nindications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately\nplanned sins (though by a different route), to failure, unhappiness,\nand loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power evolving universe.\n\nA man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set\nout to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing\npoint of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or\nit may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time\nbeing; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his\nthought-forces upon the object, which he has set before him. He\nshould make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself\nto its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into\nephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road\nto self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails\nagain and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must\nuntil weakness is overcome), the _strength of character gained_ will\nbe the measure of _his true_ success, and this will form a new\nstarting-point for future power and triumph.\n\nThose who are not prepared for the apprehension of a _great_ purpose\nshould fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their\nduty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in\nthis way can the thoughts be gathered and focussed, and resolution\nand energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which\nmay not be accomplished.\n\nThe weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth\n_that strength can only be developed by effort and practice,_ will,\nthus believing, at once begin to exert itself, and, adding effort to\neffort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never\ncease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.\n\nAs the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and\npatient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong\nby exercising himself in right thinking.\n\nTo put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with\npurpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only\nrecognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all\nconditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly,\nand accomplish masterfully.\n\nHaving conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a\n_straight_ pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right\nnor the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded; they\nare disintegrating elements, which break up the straight line of\neffort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of\ndoubt and fear never accomplished anything, and never can. They\nalways lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong\nthoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.\n\nThe will to do springs from the knowledge that we _can_ do. Doubt\nand fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages\nthem, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.\n\nHe who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His\nevery thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are\nbravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably\nplanted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit, which does not fall\nprematurely to the ground.\n\nThought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who\n_knows_ this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a\nmere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who\n_does_ this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his\nmental powers."}]} +{"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What is the core philosophy of As a Man Thinketh?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT\n\nALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the\ndirect result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe,\nwhere loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual\nresponsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength,\npurity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are\nbrought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be\naltered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own,\nand not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved\nfrom within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he\nremains.\n\nA strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is _willing_ to\nbe helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself;\nhe must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires\nin another. None but himself can alter his condition.\n\nIt has been usual for men to think and to say, \"Many men are slaves\nbecause one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.\" Now,\nhowever, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse\nthis judgment, and to say, \"One man is an oppressor because many are\nslaves; let us despise the slaves.\"\n\nThe truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance,\nand, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting\nthemselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the\nweakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor;\na perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail,\ncondemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and\noppressed.\n\nHe who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish\nthoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.\n\nA man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his\nthoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by\nrefusing to lift up his thoughts.\n\nBefore a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must\nlift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in\norder to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any\nmeans; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A man\nwhose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think\nclearly nor plan methodically; he could not find and develop his\nlatent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having\ncommenced to manfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position\nto control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not\nfit to act independently and stand alone. But he is limited only by\nthe thoughts, which he chooses.\n\nThere can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a\nman's worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his\nconfused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of\nhis plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance.\nAnd the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and\nrighteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more\nblessed and enduring will be his achievements.\n\nThe universe does not favour the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious,\nalthough on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it\nhelps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great\nTeachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to\nprove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more\nand more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.\n\nIntellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to\nthe search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and\nnature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and\nambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics;\nthey are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of\npure and unselfish thoughts.\n\nSpiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He\nwho lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts,\nwho dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as\nthe sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and\nnoble in character, and rise into a position of influence and\nblessedness.\n\nAchievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of\nthought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity,\nrighteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the aid\nof animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of\nthought a man descends.\n\nA man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty\naltitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness\nand wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts\nto take possession of him.\n\nVictories attained by right thought can only be maintained by\nwatchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly\nfall back into failure.\n\nAll achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or\nspiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are\ngoverned by the same law and are of the same method; the only\ndifference lies in _the object of attainment._\n\nHe who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would\nachieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must\nsacrifice greatly."}]}