.: LarsonsWorld :.
just another persons waste of time
.: Buddhist Wisdom :.
a search for enlightenment
Better
than if there were thousands
of meaningless verses is
one
meaningful
verse
that on hearing
brings peace.
And better than chanting hundreds
of meaningless verses is
one Dhamma-saying
that on hearing
brings peace.
-Dhammapada, 8, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Buddha was asked: "Is there only one summit of consciousness or are there several?"
He replied: "One and several. As one state of consciousness is realized, then the next is seen. Thus there are several and there is one."
He was then asked: "Which is first, awareness or knowledge?"
"Awareness arises first and then comes knowledge. One can then say, 'Because of my awareness, I know this as a fact.'"
-Digha Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
Through heedfulness, Indra won,
to lordship over the gods.
Heedfulness is praised,
heedlessness censured
always.
-Dhammapada, 30, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
~ ~ ~ ~
The ultimate source of peace in the family, the country, and the world is altruism.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Faith is the basis of the path, the mother of virtue; it nourishes all roots of goodness.
-Wu-chien
~ ~ ~ ~
Whatever is not yours, abandon it. When you have abandoned it, that will lead to your welfare and happinesss.
-Buddha, "Connected Discourses of the Buddha"
~ ~ ~ ~
Let us not talk of karma, but simply of responsibility toward the whole world.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Imagine All the People"
~ ~ ~ ~
As rain penetrates an improperly shingled roof, so passion overwhelms a confused mind.
-Buddha
~ ~ ~ ~
Suppose a goldsmith takes his tongs and puts some gold into the furnace to melt it. If he blows on the heat too much, it will get too hot, but if he sprinkles too much water, it will cool down. If he constantly takes it out and looks at it, it will not reach refinement. But if he does all these things from time to time, aware of the nature of gold, it will become easily molded and bright.
In the same way, there are three qualities that a practitioner should pay attention to--concentration, determination, and equanimity. If he pays the right attention to these at the right time, then his mind will become like gold, pliant and brilliant and pure.
-Anguttara Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
In one who
has gone the full distance,
is free from sorrow,
is fully released
in all respects,
has abandoned all bonds:
no fever is found.
The mindful keep active,
don't delight in settling back.
They renounce every home,
every home,
like swans taking off from a lake.
-Dhammapada, 7, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
First of all, do not predefine understanding, and do not make a principle of non-understanding.
-Ying-an
~ ~ ~ ~
Thus shall ye think of this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud;
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
-Diamond Sutra
~ ~ ~ ~
A buddha is one who does not seek. In seeking this, you turn away from it. The principle is the principle of nonseeking; when you seek it, you lose it.
-Pai-chang
~ ~ ~ ~
If one is lonely neither in a crowd nor in the deep mountains, one is an able person who knows how to enjoy absolute freedom.
-Jae Woong Kim, "Polishing The Diamond"
~ ~ ~ ~
Standing or walking, sitting or lying down, during all these waking hours, let him establish mindfulness of good will, which men call the highest state!
-Buddha
~ ~ ~ ~
Putting down all barriers, let your mind be full of love. Let it pervade all the quarters of the world so that the whole wide world, above, below, and around, is pervaded with love. Let it be sublime and beyond measure so that it abounds everywhere.
-Digha Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
Who will penetrate this earth
& this realm of death
with all its gods?
Who will ferret out
the well-taught Dhamma-saying,
as the skillful flower-arranger
the flower?
The learner-on-the-path
will penetrate this earth
& this realm of death
with all its gods.
The learner-on-the-path
will ferret out
the well-taught Dhamma-saying,
as the skillful flower-arranger
the flower.
-Dhammapada, 4, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Whatever an enemy might do
to an enemy,
or a foe to a foe,
the ill-directed mind
can do to you
even worse.
Whatever a mother, father
or other kinsman
might do for you,
the well-directed mind
can do for you
even better.
-Dhammapada, 3, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
~ ~ ~ ~
To cling to oneself as Buddha, oneself as Zen or the way, making that an understanding, is called clinging to the inward view.
Attainment by causes and conditions, practice and realization, is called the outward view.
Master Pao-chih said, 'The inward view and the outward view are both mistaken.'
-Pai-chang
~ ~ ~ ~
Those who wish to guard their practice
Should very attentively guard their minds
For those who do not guard their minds
Will be unable to guard their practice.
-Santideva, 'Bodhicaryavatara'
~ ~ ~ ~
If the element of the truth seeker did not exist in everyone,
There would be no turning away from craving,
Nor could there be a longing for nirvana,
Nor a seeking for it, nor a resolve to find it.
-Visuddhi Magga
~ ~ ~ ~
To have your mind set on calmness, you must take power over sleepiness, drowsiness and lethargy. There is no place for laziness and no recourse for pride.
-Sutta-nipata
~ ~ ~ ~
As free human beings we can use our unique intelligence to try to understand ourselves and our world. But if we are prevented from using our creative potential, we are deprived of one of the basic characteristics of a human being.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Even royal chariots
well-embellished
get run down,
and so does the body
succumb to old age.
But the Dhamma of the good
doesn't succumb to old age:
the good let the civilized know.
-Dhammapada, 11, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Master your senses,
What you taste and smell,
What you see, what you hear.
In all things be a master
Of what you do and say and think.
Be free.
Are you quiet?
Quieten your body.
Quieten your mind.
By your own efforts
Waken yourself, watch yourself,
And live joyfully.
Follow the truth of the way.
Reflect upon it.
Make it your own.
Live it.
It will always sustain you.
-from the Dhammapada
~ ~ ~ ~
The fool who thinks he is a fool is for that very reason a wise man;
But the fool who thinks he is a wise man is rightly called a fool.
-Dhammapada 63
~ ~ ~ ~
If you really want to deal with birth and death, just avoid drifting off under any circumstances, whether you are dressing or eating, attending the calls of nature, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down.
Be like someone who sees a ferocious tiger, totally engrossed in getting away and escaping with his life.
Or be like someone on a battle front, who only wants to kill the leader of a rebellion, only when he has taken the leader's head can he rest.
Why bother with grasping and rejection, purity and defilement, profane and sacred, right and wrong, and so on?
Otherwise, it's all a waste of effort-when will peace ever be attained?
If you work in this way, it has some relevance to birth and death; otherwise, it's all contrivance, without benefit on the way. A former teacher said, 'Don't get stuck in small successes, you must reach the state of the ancients before you attain freedom in life and death.' Otherwise it is all something on the shore of birth and death; there's really no end in sight.
-Chien-ju
~ ~ ~ ~
The threshold between right and wrong is pain.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
A good motivation is what is needed: compassion without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their human rights and dignities. That we humans can help each other is one of our unique human capacities.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
They go to many a refuge,
To mountains, forests,
Parks, trees, & shrines:
People threatened with danger.
That's not the secure refuge,
Not the supreme refuge,
That's not the refuge,
Having gone to which
You gain release
From all suffering & stress.
-Dhammapada, 14, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Few cross over the river.
Most are stranded on this side.
On the riverbank they run up and down.
But the wise person, following the way,
Crosses over, beyond the reach of death.
Free from desire,
Free from possessions,
Free from attachment and appetite,
Following the seven lights of awakening,
And rejoicing greatly in his freedom,
In this world the wise person
Becomes themselves a light,
Pure, shining, free.
-from the Dhammapada
~ ~ ~ ~
Neither from itself nor from another,
Nor from both,
Nor without a cause,
Does anything whatever, anywhere arise.
-Nagarjuna, Mulamadhyamaka-Karika
~ ~ ~ ~
Do not just memorize sayings, recite words, and discuss Zen and the way based on books. The Zen way is not in books.
Even if you can recite the teachings of the whole canon and all the masters and philosophers, they are just useless words of no avail when you are facing death.
-Chien-ju
~ ~ ~ ~
A monk asked, 'What is Shouchu's sword?'
Shouchu said, 'Why?'
The monk said, 'This student wants to know.'
Shouchu said, 'Wrong!'
-Zen's Chinese Heritage
~ ~ ~ ~
Motivation is very important, and thus my simple religion is love, respect for others, honesty: teachings that cover not only religion but also the fields of politics, economics, business, science, law, medicine-everywhere. With proper motivation these can help humanity.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Attention is living; inattention is dying.
The attentive never stop; the inattentive are dead already.
-Dhammapada 21, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
The pleasure and joy that arise in dependence on the eye: this is the gratification in the eye. That the eye is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in the eye. The removal and abandonment of desire and lust from the eye: this is the escape from the eye.
-Buddha, "The Connected Discourses of the Buddha"
~ ~ ~ ~
A man approached the Blessed One and wanted to have all his philosophical questions answered before he would practice.
In response, the Buddha said, 'It is as if a man had been wounded by a poisoned arrow and when attended to by a physician were to say, 'I will not allow you to remove this arrow until I have learned the caste, the age, the occupation, the birthplace, and the motivation of the person who wounded me.' That man would die before having learned all this. In exactly the same way, anyone who should say, 'I will not follow the teaching of the Blessed One until the Blessed One has explained all the multiform truths of the world' -that person would die before the Buddha had explained all this.'
-from the Majjhima Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
The fire which fiercely burns the desert grass (dies out), and then the grass will grow again;
But when the fire of lust burns up the heart, then how hard for true religion there to dwell!
-Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King
~ ~ ~ ~
Those of superior faculties and great wisdom get the point right off the bat--guidance doesn't mean gum-beating and lip-flapping. Truly awakened people with clear eyes would just laugh.
The great masters of India and China only met mind to mind--from the first, there was never any "mind" to attain. But if you make a rationale of mindlessness, that is the same as having a certain mentality.
-Ying-an
~ ~ ~ ~
Abandon wrongdoing. It can be done. If there were no likelihood, I would not ask you to do it. But since it is possible and since it brings blessing and happiness, I do ask of you: abandon wrongdoing.
Cultivate doing good. It can be done. If it brought deprivation and sorrow, I would not ask you to do it. But since it brings blessing and happiness, I do ask of you: cultivate doing good.
-Anguttara Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
Our problems, both those we experience externally such as wars, crime and violence and those we experience internally as emotional and psychological suffering will not be solved until we address this underlying neglect of our inner dimension. That is why the great movements of the last hundred years and more--democracy, liberalism, socialism, and Communism--have all failed to deliver the universal benefits they were supposed to provide, despite many wonderful ideas. A revolution is called for, certainly, but not a political, an economic, or a technical revolution. We have had enough experience of these during the past century to know that a purely external approach will not suffice. What I propose is a spiritual revolution.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Not to do any evil,
To cultivate good,
To purify one's mind--
This is the advice of the Buddhas.
-Dhammapada, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Live in joy,
In love,
Even among those who hate.
Live in joy,
In health,
Even among the afflicted.
Live in joy,
In peace,
Even among the troubled.
Look within.
Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of the way.
-from the Dhammapada
~ ~ ~ ~
This body, bhikkhus, is perishable, consciousness is of a nature to dissolve, and all objects of clinging are impermanent, suffering and subject to change.
-Itivuttaka
~ ~ ~ ~
The substance of your mind is apart from annihilation and apart from eternity; its essence is neither polluted nor pure. Calm and complete, it is equal in ordinary people and sages, functioning responsively without convention. All realms of experience and all states of being are only manifestations of your own mind--do the moon reflected in water or images in a mirror have origination and extinction?
If you actually know this, you are fully equipped. The reason that the sages have manifested a spiritual presence to provide exemplars, and have set forth a wide variety of puzzling sayings, is simply to illustrate the fundamental peace of the body of reality, bringing about a return to the root.
-Shih-t'ou
~ ~ ~ ~
Fools are happy when acquiring wealth; noble people find happiness in giving it all away. Lepers feel better when they scratch their sores, but note how the wise dread leprosy.
-Sakya Pandita, In Ordinary Wisdom
~ ~ ~ ~
I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with belief in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another--an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of meta-physical or philosophical reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or hell. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayers and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit--such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Like a merchant with a small
But well-laden caravan
--a dangerous road,
like a person who loves life
--a poison,
one should avoid
--evil deeds.
-Dhammapada, 9, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Remember the clear light, the pure clear white light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything in the universe returns; the original nature of your own mind. The natural state of the universe unmanifest.
Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.
-Tibetan Book of the Dead
~ ~ ~ ~
It is crucial to know when it is appropriate to withdraw our attention from things that disturb our mind. However, if the only way we know how to deal with certain objects is to avoid them, there will be a severe limit as to how far our spiritual practice can take us.
-Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Introduction to Tantra"
~ ~ ~ ~
As long as evil has yet to ripen,
the fool mistakes it for honey.
But when that evil ripens,
the fool falls into
pain.
Month after month
the fool might eat
only a tip-of-grass measure of food,
but he wouldn't be worth
one sixteenth
of those who've fathomed
the Dhamma.
-Dhammapada, 5, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
There is pleasure when a sore is scratched,
But to be without sores is more pleasurable still.
Just so, there are pleasures in worldly desires,
But to be without desires is more pleasurable still.
-Nagarjuna, "Precious Garland"
~ ~ ~ ~
Not by harming life
Does one become noble.
One is termed noble
For being gentle
To all living things.
-Dhammapada, 19, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Materialistic knowledge can only provide a type of happiness that is dependent upon physical conditions. It cannot provide happiness that springs from inner development.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
When we fall on the ground it hurts us, but we also need to rely on the ground to get back up.
-Kathleen McDonald, How to Meditate
~ ~ ~ ~
If you want to avoid experiencing reversal, just cut off dualism; then measurements cannot govern you. You are neither Buddha nor sentient being; you are not near or far, not high or low, not equal or even, not going or coming.
-Pai-chang
~ ~ ~ ~
By giving, merit grows, by restraint, hatred's checked. He who's skilled abandons evil things. As greed, hate and folly wane, Nibbana's gained.
-Digha Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
Friends, I know nothing which is as tractable as a tamed heart. The tamed heart is indeed tractable.
Friends I know nothing which tends toward loss as does an untamed heart. Indeed, the untamed heart tends toward loss.
-from the Anguttara Nikaya, translated by Gil Fronsdal
~ ~ ~ ~
Like a frontier fortress,
guarded inside & out,
guard yourself.
Don't let the moment pass by.
Those for whom the moment is past
grieve, consigned to hell.
-Dhammapada, 22, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Such human qualities as morality, compassion, decency, wisdom and so forth have been the foundations of all civilizations. These qualities must be cultivated and sustained through systematic moral education in a conductive social environment, so that a more humane world may emerge.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
It is precisely because our present life is so inseparably linked with desire that we must make use of desire's tremendous energy if we wish to transform our life into something transcendental.
-Lama Thubten Yeshe, Introduction to Tantra
~ ~ ~ ~
When facing the end, generally beautiful scenes appear. According to your mental inclinations, the most impressive are experienced first. If you do not do bad things right now, then there will be no unpleasant scenes when you face death. Even if there are some unpleasant scenes, they too will change into pleasant scenes.
-Pai-chang
~ ~ ~ ~
Clinging to sense pleasures, to sensual ties,
Seeing in fetters nothing to be blamed,
Never will those tied down by fetters
Cross the flood so wide and great.
-Udana
~ ~ ~ ~
One avoids vain talk, and abstains from it. One speaks at the right time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is useful, speaks of the law and the discipline; one's speech is like a treasure, uttered at the right moment, accompanied by arguments, moderate and full of sense. This is called Right Speech.
-Adapted from the Aguttara Nikaya, translated by Nyanatiloka
~ ~ ~ ~
He's called a Brahmin
for having banished his evil,
a contemplative
for living in consonance,
one gone forth
for having forsaken
his own impurities.
-Dhammapada, 26, translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
It is not sufficient for religious people to be involved with prayer. Rather, they are morally obliged to contribute all they can to solving the world's problems.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
This fundamental consciousness in itself is nothing at all. In the voidness of reality lack of realizer and realized is realized, lack of seer and seen is seen, lack of knower and known is known, lack of perceiver and perceived is perceived.
-Milarepa, Drinking the Mountain Stream
~ ~ ~ ~
Before the cosmic net is spread, how can its thousands of pearls be seen? When it is suddenly raised by its universal rope, the myriad eyes spontaneously open.
-Ts'ao-t'ang
~ ~ ~ ~
In whom there dwells no self-deception and no pride,
Whose lust and selfishness are gone, who is desireless,
Whose wrath is put away, whose self hath cool become-
He is brahmin, he [is] a recluse, he is a monk.
-Udana
~ ~ ~ ~
An accomplished person does not by a philosophical view, or by thinking become arrogant, for he is not of that sort; not by holy works, nor by tradition is he to be led, he is not led into any of the resting places of the mind.
-adapted from the Sutta-nipata, translated by V. Fausboll
~ ~ ~ ~
Don't give way to heedlessness
or to intimacy
with sensual delight--
for a heedful person,
absorbed in jhana,
attains an abundance of ease.
-Dhammapada, 2, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
On a certain day, month and year one should observe the ceremony of tree-planting. Thus, one fulfils one's responsibilities, serves one's fellow-beings which not only brings happiness but benefits all.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, October 1993
~ ~ ~ ~
Attachment is the mind stuck to an object.
-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, The Door to Satisfaction
~ ~ ~ ~
Don't say mindlessness is itself Zen; there is an even more recondite road herein. After you have overturned the donkey-tethering stake, as you hit the south you move the north.
-Huai-shan
~ ~ ~ ~
Who would have thought that all things are the manifestation of the Essence of Mind!
-The Sutra of Hui Neng
~ ~ ~ ~
As a blind man feels when he finds a pearl in a dustbin, so am I amazed by the miracles of awakening rising in my consciousness. It is the nectar of immortality that delivers us from death, the treasure that lifts us from death, the treasure that lifts us above poverty into the wealth of giving to life, the tree that gives shade to us when we roam about scorched by life, the bridge that takes us across the stormy river of life, the cool moon of compassion that calms our mind when it is agitated, the fun that dispels darkness, the butter made from the milk of kindness by churning it with the dharma. It is a feast of joy to which all are invited.
-adapted from the Bodhicharyavatara by Shantideva
~ ~ ~ ~
Those with initiative,
mindful,
clean in action,
acting with due consideration,
heedful, restrained,
living the Dharma:
their glory
grows.
Through initiative, heedfulness,
restraint, & self-control,
the wise would make
an island
no flood
can submerge.
-Dhammapada, 2, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
As a Buddhist monk my concern extends to all members of the human family and, indeed, to all sentient beings who suffer. I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their own happiness or satisfaction.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Oslo, December 1989
~ ~ ~ ~
A man named Liu Shiyu asked Yangshan, 'May I hear the principle of attaining mind?'
Yangshan said, 'If you want to attain mind, then there's no mind that can be attained. It is this unattainable mind that is known as truth.'
-Zen's Chinese Heritage
~ ~ ~ ~
Ch'eng-t'ien was asked, 'How should I apply my mind twenty-four hours a day?' He replied, 'When chickens are cold, they roost in trees; when ducks are cold, they plunge into water.' The questioner said, 'Then I don't need cultivated realization, and won't pursue Buddhahood or Zen mastery.' Ch'eng-t'ien responded, 'You've saved half my effort.'
~ ~ ~ ~
We who are like senseless children
Shrink from suffering, but love its causes.
We hurt ourselves; our pain is self-inflicted!
Why should others be the object of our anger?
-Santideva, Bodhicaryavatara
~ ~ ~ ~
The supreme Understanding transcends all this and that. The supreme Action embraces great resourcefulness without attachment. The supreme Accomplishment is to realize immanence without hope.
-Translation by Garma C.C. Chang
~ ~ ~ ~
The teaching of those
who live in the Dhamma,
worthy ones, noble:
whoever maligns it
--a dullard
inspired by evil view--
bears fruit for his own destruction,
like the fruiting bamboo.
-Dhammapada, 12, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
You can confront the prospect of your own death and try to analyze it and, in so doing, try to minimize some of the inevitable sufferings it causes. Neither way can you actually overcome it. However, as a Buddhist, I view death as a normal process of life. Knowing that I cannot escape it, I see no point in worrying about it.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Pain is inevitable, suffering is not.
-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English
~ ~ ~ ~
It is like the water of the ocean: even without wind there are waves everywhere. Suddenly knowing of the waves all around is the gross within the subtle; letting go of knowledge in the midst of knowing is like the subtle within the subtle. This is the sphere of the enlightened.
-Pai-chang
~ ~ ~ ~
By realizing that all forms are self-awareness,
I have beheld my consort's face-the true Mind Within.
-Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
~ ~ ~ ~
Owing to worldly beliefs, which he is free to accept or reject, a person wanders in Samsara. Therefore, practicing the Dharma, freed from every attachment, grasp the whole essence of these teachings.
-Tibetan Book of The Great Liberation
~ ~ ~ ~
The monk delighting in heedfulness,
seeing danger in heedlessness,
advances like a fire,
burning fetters
great & small.
The monk delighting in heedfulness,
seeing danger in heedlessness
--incapable of falling back--
stands right on the verge
of Unbinding.
-Dhammapada, 2, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Even in the case of individuals, there is no possibility to feel happiness through anger. If in a difficult situation one becomes disturbed internally, overwhelmed by mental discomfort, then external things will not help at all. However, if despite external difficulties or problems, internally one's attitude is of love, warmth, and kindheartedness, then problems can be faced and accepted.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
A monk asked, 'If on the road one meets a person of the Way, how could one respond to that person with neither words nor silence?'
Daopi said, 'With kicks and punches.'
-Zen's Chinese Heritage
~ ~ ~ ~
When mind and Buddha are both observed, that is seeing; when mind and Buddha are both forgotten, that is stopping. Once concentration and insight are balanced, what mind is not Buddha, what Buddha not mind? Mind and Buddha being thus, then myriad situations, myriad conditions, are all meditation.
-Ts'ao-t'ang
~ ~ ~ ~
If you turn your light inwardly, you will find what is esoteric within you.
-The Sutra of Hui Neng
~ ~ ~ ~
The impulse "I want" and the impulse "I'll have"--lose them! That is where most people get stuck--without those, you can use your eyes to guide you through this suffering state.
-Sutta Nipata
~ ~ ~ ~
There's but little breath left
on the boundary of this life and next.
Not knowing if I'll be here next morning,
why try to trick death
with life-schemes for a permanent future?
-Milarepa, "Drinking The Mountain Stream"
~ ~ ~ ~
The wanderer Bhaggava accused the Buddha of saying that the universe was caused merely by chance. The Buddha replied:
"I have heard others of your sect, Bhaggava, say that when I awoke and found the truth, which was beautiful, I remained in that bliss and then regarded the universe as ugly and meaningless in comparison.
"But I never taught that, Bhaggava. This is what I do say: 'Whenever one awakes and finds the beautiful, then one knows indeed what beauty is.'"
-Majjhima Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
Since your mind is not physical,
No one else can destroy it.
But because of its attachments to the body,
It is harmed by physical suffering.
-Bodhicharyavatara
~ ~ ~ ~
Having cut every fetter,
he doesn't get ruffled.
Beyond attachment,
unshackled:
he's what I call
a brahmin.
Having cut the strap & thong,
cord & bridle,
having thrown off the bar,
awakened:
he's what I call
a brahmin.
-Dhammapada, 26, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Fleeting is this world
Growth and decay its very nature
Things spring to being and again they cease
Happy the marvel of them and the peace.
-Nidana Vagga
~ ~ ~ ~
Tibetan lamas often say: "Not seeing is the perfect seeing." Strange words, perhaps, but they have a profound meaning. They describe the advanced meditator's experience of spacious, universal reality, the experience beyond dualism.
-Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Introduction to Tantra"
~ ~ ~ ~
Kutadanta accused the Buddha: "I am told that you teach the law of life and the way, yet you tear down religion. Your followers despise rituals and abandon sacrifices. But reverence for the gods can only be shown through sacrifices. The very nature of religion is that of worship and sacrifice."
The Buddha replied: "Greater than the massacring of bullocks is the sacrifice of self. He who offers up his evil desires will see the uselessness of slaughtering animals at the altar. Blood has no power to cleanse, but the giving up of harmful actions will make the heart whole. Better than worshiping gods is following the ways of goodness."
-Digha Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
To all of you gathered here
I say: Good fortune.
Dig up craving
--as when seeking medicinal roots, wild grass--
by the root.
Don't let Mara cut you down
--as a raging river, a reed--
over & over again.
-Dhammapada, 24, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
The mighty ocean has but one taste, the taste of salt. Even so, the true way has but one savor, the savor of freedom.
-Majjhima Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
Bhikkus, if beings knew, as I know, the result of giving and sharing, they would not eat without having given nor would they allow the stain of meanness to obsess them and take root in their minds. Even if it were their last morsel, their last mouthful, they would not enjoy eating without having shared it, if there were someone to share it with.
-Itivuttaka
~ ~ ~ ~
View all problems as challenges. Look upon negativities that arise as opportunities to learn and to grow. Don't run from them, condemn yourself, or bury your burden in saintly silence. You have a problem? Great. More grist for the mill. Rejoice, dive in, and investigate.
-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, "Mindfulness in Plain English"
~ ~ ~ ~
Some people live closely guarded lives, fearful of encountering someone or something that might shatter their insecure spiritual foundation. This attitude, however, is not the fault of religion but of their own limited understanding. True Dharma leads in exactly the opposite direction. It enables one to integrate all the many diverse experiences of life into a meaningful and coherent whole, thereby banishing fear and insecurity completely.
-Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Wisdom Energy
~ ~ ~ ~
Speak harshly to no one,
or the words will be thrown
right back at you.
Contentious talk is painful,
for you get struck by rods in return.
-Dhammapada, 10, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Winning gives birth to hostility.
Losing, one lies down in pain.
The calmed lie down with ease,
having set
winning & losing
aside.
-Dhammapada, 15, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Wisdom does not mean knowledge but experiential understanding. Wisdom helps you to change radically your habits and perceptions, as you discover the constantly changing, interconnected nature of the whole of existence.
-Martine Batchelor, "Meditation For Life"
~ ~ ~ ~
You follow desire, and you are not satisfied.
Again you follow desire, and again you are not satisfied.
Again you try, and again you are not satisfied.
-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "Transforming Problems Into Happiness"
~ ~ ~ ~
Where there is dependence, there is instability, where there is no dependence, there is no instability, where there is no instability, there is quietude, where there is quietude, there is no desire, where there is no desire, there is no coming and going, where there is no coming or going, there is no birth and death, where there is no birth or death, there is neither this world nor that world, nor both: that is the end of sorrow.
-Udana
~ ~ ~ ~
We should always live in the dark empty sky. The sky is always the sky. Even though clouds and lightning come, the sky is not disturbed. Even if the flashing of enlightenment comes, our practice forgets all about it. Then it is ready for another enlightenment.
-Shunryu Suzuki, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"
~ ~ ~ ~
You should be an island to yourself, a refuge to yourself, not dependent on any other but taking refuge in the truth and none other than the truth. And how do you become an island and a refuge to yourself?
In this way. You see and contemplate your body as composed of all the forces of the universe. Ardently and mindfully you steer your body-self by restraining your discontent with the world about you. In the same way, observe and contemplate your feelings and use that same ardent restraint and self-possession against enslavement by greed or desire. By seeing attachment to your body and feelings as blocking the truth, you dwell in self-possession and ardent liberation from those ties.
This is how you live as an island to yourself and a refuge to yourself. Whoever dwells in this contemplation, islanded by the truth and taking refuge in the truth--that one will come out of the darkness and into the light.
-Digha Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
When you see with discernment,
'All fabrications are inconstant'--
you grow disenchanted with stress.
This is the path to purity.
When you see with discernment,
'All fabrications are stressful'--
you grow disenchanted with stress.
This is the path to purity.
When you see with discernment,
'All phenomena are not-self'--
you grow disenchanted with stress.
This is the path
to purity.
-Dhammapada, 20, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Where neither water nor yet earth
Nor fire nor air gain a foothold,
There gleam no stars, no sun sheds light,
There shines no moon, yet there no darkness reigns.
When a sage, a brahmin, has come to know this
For himself through his own experience,
Then he is freed from form and formlessness,
Freed from pleasure and from pain.
-Udana 1:10
~ ~ ~ ~
We are not compelled to meditate by some outside agent, by other people, or by God. Rather, just as we are responsible for our own suffering, so are we solely responsible for our own cure. We have created the situation in which we find ourselves, and it is up to us to create the circumstances for our release.
-Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Wisdom Energy"
~ ~ ~ ~
The truth indeed has never been preached by the Buddha, seeing that one has to realize it within oneself.
-Lamkara Sutra
~ ~ ~ ~
So don't be in a hurry and try to push or rush your practice. Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step. In regard to peacefulness, if you become peaceful, then accept it; if you don't become peaceful, then accept that also. That's the nature of the mind. We must find our own practice and persistently keep at it.
-Ajahn Chah, "Bodhinyana"
~ ~ ~ ~
Be loving, be kind
And follow the ways of goodness.
Committed, and longing for the goal,
Always keep going with courage.
To dally and delay will not help you.
But to be ardent is sure and safe.
When you see it, cultivate the path,
So you will touch and make your own
The Deathless Way.
-Psalms of the Early Buddhists
~ ~ ~ ~
When a person lives heedlessly,
his craving grows like a creeping vine.
He runs now here
& now there,
as if looking for fruit:
a monkey in the forest.
If this sticky, uncouth craving
overcomes you in the world,
your sorrows grow like wild grass
after rain.
If, in the world, you overcome
this uncouth craving, hard to escape,
sorrows roll off you,
like water beads off
a lotus.
-Dhammapada, 24, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Remember the clear light, the pure clear white light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything in the universe returns; the original nature of your own mind. The natural state of the universe unmanifest.
Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.
-Tibetan Book of the Dead
~ ~ ~ ~
The man immersed in
gathering blossoms,
his heart distracted:
death sweeps him away--
as a great flood,
a village asleep.
The man immersed in
gathering blossoms,
his heart distracted,
insatiable in sensual pleasures:
the End-Maker holds him
under his sway.
-Dhammapada, 4, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
~ ~ ~ ~
When you see others' errors and you want to guide them because you think they are wrong and you feel compassion for them, you should employ tact to avoid angering them, and contrive to appear as if you were talking about something else.
-Tact, Dogen
~ ~ ~ ~
Conquer your foe by force, you increase his enmity; conquer by love, and you will reap no after-sorrow.
-Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King
~ ~ ~ ~
I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one's own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Never give up
No matter what is going on
Never give up
Develop the heart
Too much energy in your country is spent
Developing the mind instead of the heart.
Be compassionate not just to your friends but to everyone
Be compassionate.
Work for peace in your heart and in the world.
Work for peace and I say again
Never give up.
No matter what is happening,
No matter what is going on around you,
Never give up.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
How to cope with wavering thoughts?
Versatile are flying clouds,
Yet from the sky they're not apart.
Mighty are the ocean's waves,
Yet they are not separate from the sea.
Heavy and thick are banks of fog,
Yet from the air they're not apart.
Frantic runs the mind in voidness,
Yet from the Void it never separates.
-Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
~ ~ ~ ~
Whoever clings to mind sees not the truth of what's beyond the mind.
Whoever strives to practice Dharma finds not the truth of Beyond-practice.
One should cut cleanly through the root of mind and stare naked.
One should thus break away from all distinctions and remain at ease.
-Tilopa, "The Song of Mahamudra"
~ ~ ~ ~
There's no fire like passion,
no seizure like anger,
no snare like delusion,
no river like craving.
-Dhammapada, 18, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
~ ~ ~ ~
Buddha said to the bodhisattva Universal Eye. 'Is there anyone who can tell the whereabouts of the various illusory appearances in magical writings?' He answered, 'No.'
Buddha said to Universal Eye, 'Since even the illusory appearances in illusions cannot be explained, how about the esoteric physical realm of the Universally Good bodhisattva, the esoteric verbal realm of the Universally Good bodhisattva? Yet if you enter into them, you can penetrate and can see.'
It is bright in the mind's eye, radiant in material form; don't call the silver world a temporary silver citadel.
-Universal Good, Pei-chien
~ ~ ~ ~
The most valuable learning is not about memorizing facts and figures. It is not about higher grade point averages and accumulating degrees. It is about life itself, and its impact is on the heart.
-Rodney Smith, "Lessons From the Dying"
~ ~ ~ ~
I believe in justice and truth, without which there would be no basis for human hope.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Mind cannot see itself-
Subject and object cannot be dual;
Therefore, to see the mind
You must look and probe with the eye of wisdom.
When probed and examined analytically
With such analytic investigation
The mind is like the wick of a lamp
Illumined only through its own radiance.
-Milarepa, "Drinking the Mountain Stream: Songs of Tibet's Beloved Saint"
~ ~ ~ ~
Like a mirage in the springtime, the mind is found bewildered; animals imagine water but there is no reality to it.
There is here nothing but thought construction, it is like an image in the air; when they thus understand all, there is nothing to know.
-adapted from the Lankavatara Sutra, translated by D.T. Suzuki
~ ~ ~ ~
But when, having gone
to the Buddha, Dhamma,
& Sangha for refuge,
you see with right discernment
the four noble truths--
stress,
the cause of stress,
the transcending of stress,
& the noble eightfold path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
that's the secure refuge,
that, the supreme refuge,
having gone to which,
you gain release
from all suffering & stress.
-Dhammapada, 13, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
~ ~ ~ ~
If you want to understand readily, just be un-minding at all times and all places, and you will naturally harmonize with the path.
Once you are in harmony with the path, then inside, outside, and in between are ultimately ungraspable; immediately empty yet solid, you are far beyond dependency.
This is what ancient worthies called 'each state of mind not touching on things, each step not positioned anywhere.'
-Unminding, Ying-an
~ ~ ~ ~
If we train our breathing, we can control our emotions-that is, we can cope with the happiness and pain in our lives. We should practice until we feel this; our practice is not complete until we can see this clearly.
-Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, "Mindfulness with Breathing"
~ ~ ~ ~
Nature's Law dictates that, in order to survive, bees must work together. As a result, they instinctively possess a sense of social responsibility. They have no constitution, no law, no police, no religion or moral training, but because of their nature, they labor faithfully together. Occasionally, they may fight, but in general, based on cooperation, the whole colony survives. We human beings have a constitution, laws and a police force. We have religion, remarkable intelligence and a heart with a great capacity for love. We have many extraordinary qualities, but in actual practice, I think we are lagging behind those small insects. In some respects, I feel we are poorer than the bees.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit-such as love and compassion, patience, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
It is easy for the good person to do good deeds, but for the evil one it is difficult to do good deeds. It is easy for the evil person to do bad deeds, but it is difficult for the good one to do bad deeds.
-Udana
~ ~ ~ ~
Let alone seven years, monks, whoever practices on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness for six, five, four, three, two years, one year, or one month, can also expect one of two fruits-either the highest understanding in this very life or can attain the fruit of no-return.
Let alone a month, monks, whoever practices the Four Establishments of Mindfulness one week can also expect one of two fruits-either the highest understanding in this very life or the fruit of no-return.
-Adapted from Satipatthana-sutta, translated by Thich Nhat Hanh and Annabel Laity
~ ~ ~ ~
If there's no wound on the hand,
that hand can hold poison.
Poison won't penetrate
where there's no wound.
There's no evil
for those who don't do it.
-Dhammapada, 9, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
~ ~ ~ ~
Chih-men was asked, 'What is my self?'
He replied, 'Who is asking?'
The questioner said, 'Please help me more.'
Chih-men said, 'The robber is a coward at heart.'
-The Self
~ ~ ~ ~
As kusa grass, wrongly grasped,
Only cuts one's hand,
So the ascetic life, wrongly taken up,
Drags one down to hell.
-"Connected Discourses of the Buddha"
~ ~ ~ ~
A monk asked, 'All of the buddhas and all of the buddadharmas come forth from this sutra. What is this sutra?'
Qinshan said, 'Forever turning.'
-"Zen's Chinese Heritage"
~ ~ ~ ~
Just as in the autumn a farmer, ploughing with a large plough cuts through all the spreading rootlets as he ploughs; in the same way, bhikkhus, the perceiving of impermanence, developed and frequently practiced, removes all sensual passion, removes and abolishes all conceit of 'I am'.
-Samyutta Nikaya
~ ~ ~ ~
According to Buddhist psychology, most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for, attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities. The pursuit of the objects of our desire and attachment involves the use of aggression and competitiveness. These mental processes easily translate into actions, breeding belligerence. Such processes have been going on in the human mind since time immemorial, but their execution has become more effective under modern conditions. What can we do to control and regulate these 'poisons' -delusion, greed and aggression? For it is these poisons that are behind almost every trouble in the world.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
What, now is the Nobel Truth of the Origin of Suffering?
It is craving, which gives rise to fresh rebirth, and, bound up with pleasure and lust, now here, now there, finds ever-fresh delight. But where does this craving arise and take root? Wherever in the world there are delightful and pleasurable things, there this craving rises and takes root. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind are delightful and pleasurable: there this craving arises and takes root.
-The Four Nobel Truths (from the Samyutta Nikaya, translated by Nyanatiloka)
~ ~ ~ ~
The man of conviction
endowed with virtue,
glory, & wealth:
wherever he goes
he is honored.
-Dhammapada, 21, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
From this point on you really know. This is called the pinnacle of Zen, the sovereignty of Zen. It is also called knowledge of what is knowable; it produces all the various states of meditation, and anoints the heads of all spiritual princes. In all fields of form, sound, fragrance, flavor, feeling, and phenomena, you realize complete perfect enlightenment. Inside and outside are in complete communion, without any obstruction at all.
-Pai-chang, "The Sphere of the Enlightened"
~ ~ ~ ~
[Wisdom] is like a lamp, O king, which a man might introduce into a house in darkness. When the lamp had been brought in it would dispel the darkness, cause radiance to arise, and light to shine forth, and make the objects there plainly visible. Just so would wisdom in a man have such effects as were just now set forth.
-Milindapanha
~ ~ ~ ~
Not recognizing that there's no connection between term and meaning, those who wander in endless jargon get so exhausted.
-Adept Godrakpa, "Hermit of Go Cliffs"
~ ~ ~ ~
The brief elation we experience appeasing sensual impulses is very close to what the drug addict feels when indulging his or her habit. Temporary relief is soon followed by a craving for more. And in just the same way that taking drugs in the end only causes trouble, so too does much of what we undertake to fulfill our immediate sensory desires. We must acknowledge that there can be no hope of gratifying the senses permanently. At best, the happiness we derive from eating a good meal can only last until the next time we are hungry.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
If you worship those worthy of worship,
--Awakened Ones or their disciples--
who've transcended
complications,
lamentation,
& grief,
who are unendangered,
fearless,
unbound:
there's no measure for reckoning
that your merit's 'this much.'
-Dhammapada, 13, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
He whose 36 streams,
flowing to what is appealling, are strong:
the currents--resolves based on passion--
carry him, of base views, away.
They flow every which way, the streams,
but the sprouted creeper stays
in place.
Now, seeing that the creeper's arisen,
cut through its root
with discernment.
-Dhammapada, 24, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ordinary life and Buddhahood have no distinction. Great knowledge is not different from ignorance. Why should one seek outwardly for a treasure, when the field of the body has its own bright jewel?
-Pao-chih, "The Nonduality of Buddhahood and Ordinary Life"
~ ~ ~ ~
"To this sage who sees what is good I have come supplicatingly with a question, 'How is anyone to look upon the world so as not to be seen by the king of death?'"
'Look upon the world as void, O Mogharagan,' said the Buddha, 'being always wakeful; having destroyed the view of oneself as really existing, one may overcome death; the king of death will not see the person who thus regards the world.'
-Adapted from the Sutta-nipata, translated by V. Fausboll
~ ~ ~ ~
A man was rowing his boat upstream on a very misty morning. Suddenly, he saw another boat coming downstream, not trying to avoid him. It was coming straight at him. He shouted, 'Be careful! Be careful!' but the boat came right into him, and his boat was almost sunk. The man became very angry, and began to shout at the other person, to give him a piece of his mind. But when he looked closely, he saw that there was no one in the other boat. It turned out that the boat just got loose and went downstream. All his anger vanished, and he laughed and he laughed.
-Thich Nhat Nanh, "Being Peace"
~ ~ ~ ~
As a mother watches over her child, willing to risk her own life to protect her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings, suffusing the whole world with unobstructed loving kindness.
-Metta Sutta
~ ~ ~ ~
Do you want to know what my body is? My body is the same as the whole earth.
Do you want to know what my mind is? My mind is the same as space itself.
Do you want to know what my vision is? I see there is nothing to see.
Do you want to know what I hear? I hear the unheard.
Since I have been seeing and hearing, why then do I speak of the unheard? "If you listen with your ears, after all you cannot understand; when you hear through your eyes, only then will you know."
-Ssu-hsin
~ ~ ~ ~
What does the spring wind have in mind,
Coming day and night to these groves and gardens?
It never asks who owns the peach and damson trees
But blows away their crimson without a word.
-Ch'i-chi, "Clouds Should Know Me By Now"
~ ~ ~ ~
Don't be discriminatory, don't keep a grasping and rejecting attitude. For this reason it is said, "Truth has no comparison, because it is not relative to anything."
-Hui-chung
~ ~ ~ ~
I prostrate to the Perfect Buddha,
The best of teachers, who taught that
Whatever is dependently arisen is
Unceasing, unborn,
Unannihilated, not permanent,
Not coming, not going,
Without distinction, without identity,
And free from conceptual construction.
-Nbgbrjuna
~ ~ ~ ~
I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we may succeed in building a better world through human understanding and love, and that in doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
If one is lonely neither in a crowd nor in the deep mountains, one is an able person who knows how to enjoy absolute freedom.
-Jae Woong Kim, "Polishing The Diamond"
~ ~ ~ ~
When you look into the word "No", it is only essential to arouse a feeling of doubt about the word "no"and look into it. Ask yourself, why did Chao-chou say the word "No"? Look into it this way twenty-four hours a day.
-Ming-pen
~ ~ ~ ~
All tremble at the rod,
all are fearful of death.
Drawing the parallel to yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
-Dhammapada, 10, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Those who hear this truth even once and listen with a grateful heart, treasuring it, revering it, gain blessings without end.
-Hakuin Zenji, "Song of Zazen"
~ ~ ~ ~
It is said that there are only two tragedies in life:
not getting what one wants,
and getting it.
-Bhanta Henepola Gunaratana, "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness"
~ ~ ~ ~
A person of wisdom should be truthful, without arrogance, without deceit, not slanderous and not hateful. The wise person should go beyond the evil of greed and miserliness.
Do not get excited by what is old, do not be contented with what is new. Do not grieve for what is lost or be controlled by desire.
-Sutta-nipata, translated by H. Saddhatissa
~ ~ ~ ~
There is no spot, O king, where Nirvbna is situate, and yet Nirvbna is, and he who orders his life right will, by careful attention, realize Nirvbna. Just as fire exists, and yet there is no place where fire (by itself) is stored up. But if a man rubs two sticks together the fire comes; just so, O king, Nirvbna exists, though there is no spot where it is stored up. And he who orders his life aright will, by careful attention, realize Nirvbna.
-Milindapanha
~ ~ ~ ~
We must acknowledge that there can be no hope of gratifying the senses permanently. At best, the happiness we derive from eating a good meal can only last until the next time we are hungry.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
As a bee--without harming
the blossom,
its color
its fragrance--
takes its nectar & flies away:
so should the sage
go through a village.
-Dhammapada, 4, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
[P]assion is the cause of blindness, of not seeing, of not knowing, of loss of insight: it is joined with vexation, it does not conduce to Nibbbna.
-Anguttara-Nikbya
~ ~ ~ ~
Non-violence means dialogue, using our language, the human language. Dialogue means compromise; respecting each other's rights; in the spirit of reconciliation there is a real solution to conflict and disagreement. There is no hundred percent winner, no hundred percent loser-not that way but half-and-half. That is the practical way, the only way.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Life responds when we risk.
-Rodney Smith, "Lessons From the Dying"
~ ~ ~ ~
One moon appears everywhere in all bodies of water; the moons in all bodies of water are contained in one moon. This is a metaphor for one mind producing myriad things and myriad things producing one mind. This refers to dream illusions, flowers in the sky, half-seeming, half empty.
-Hsueh-yen
~ ~ ~ ~
An evil deed, when done,
doesn't-like ready milk-
come out right away.
It follows the fool,
smoldering
like a fire
hidden in ashes.
-Dhammapada, 5, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Those who try Zen meditation even once wipe away beginningless crimes. Where are all the dark paths then? The Pure Land itself is near.
Those who hear this truth even once and listen with a grateful heart, treasuring it, revering it, gain blessings without end.
-Hakuin Zenji, "Song of Zazen"
~ ~ ~ ~
Life has no whence; it is carrying forth, and carrying forth again. Death has no whither; it is carrying away; and carrying away again. Ultimately how is it? If the mind does not differ, myriad things are one suchness.
-Dtgen, "Rational Zen"
~ ~ ~ ~
Without good motivation, science and technology, instead of helping, bring more fear and threaten global destruction. Compassionate thought is very important for humankind.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Happiness and suffering come from your own mind, not from outside. Your own mind is the cause of happiness; your own mind is the cause of suffering. To obtain happiness and pacify suffering, you have to work within your own mind.
-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "The Door To Satisfaction"
~ ~ ~ ~
In learning this path, it is only important to walk on the real ground, to act on the basis of reality. The slightest phoniness, and you fall into the realm of demons.
-Liao-an
~ ~ ~ ~
As rain seeps into
an ill-thatched hut,
so passion,
the undeveloped mind.
As rain doesn't seep into
a well-thatched hut,
so passion does not,
the well-developed mind.
-Dhammapada, 1, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you will realize the unity of all things.
The Buddha meditated for six years, Bodhidharma for nine. The practice of meditation is not a method for the attainment of realization-it is enlightenment itself.
-Zen Master Dogen
~ ~ ~ ~
The king said: "He who will not be reborn [one who is enlightened], Nbgasena does he still feel any painful sensation?"
The Elder replied: "Some he feels and some not."
"Which are they?"
"He may feel bodily pain, O king; but mental pain he would not"
"How would that be so?"
"Because the causes, proximate or remote, of bodily pain still continue, he would be liable to it. But the causes, proximate or remote, of mental agony having ceased, he could not feel it. For it has been said by the Blessed One: "One kind of pain he suffers, bodily pain: but not mental.""
-Milindapanha
~ ~ ~ ~
One of the major aims and purposes of religious practice for the individual is an inner transformation from an undisciplined, untamed, and unfocused state of mind towards one that is disciplined, tamed and balanced.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
~ ~ ~ ~
Our mind is like an onion, and each day and month of practice progressively peels away the layers of delusion.
-Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, "Advice From a Spiritual Friend"
~ ~ ~ ~
Worldly afflictions are as extensive as an ocean, noisy and clamorous; but they all arise from the thoughts in your own mind. When not a single thought is conceived, you are liberated from them all.
-Ta-t
~ ~ ~ ~
As a single slab of rock
Won't budge in the wind,
So the wise are not moved
By praise,
By blame.
Like a deep lake,
Clear, unruffled, & calm;
So the wise become clear,
Calm,
On hearing words of the Dhamma.
-Dhammapada, 6, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
~ ~ ~ ~
Everywhere clinging to pleasure is destroyed, the great dark is torn apart, and Death, you too are destroyed.
-Therigatha, translated by Susan Murcott
~ ~ ~ ~
Things in themselves are void, so never cling to Voidness lest you stray [into] formalism.
-Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
~ ~ ~ ~
As human beings we have good qualities as well as bad ones. Now, anger, attachment, jealousy, hatred, are the bad side; these are the real enemy. The true troublemaker is inside.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
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You can't ever get everything you want. It is impossible. Luckily, there is another option: You can learn to control your mind, to step outside of this endless cycle of desire and aversion. You can learn not to want what you want, to recognize desires but not be controlled by them.
-Bhanta Henepola Gunaratana, "Mindfulness in Plain English"
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Why bother with grasping and rejection, purity and defilement, profane and sacred, right and wrong, and so on?
Otherwise, it's all a waste of effort-when will peace ever be attained?
-Chien-ju
