“You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link.This is but half the truth.You are also as strong as your strongest link.To measure you by your smallest deed is to reckon the power of the ocean by the frailty of its foam.To judge you by your failures is to cast blame upon the seasons for their inconstancy.”
― Kahlil Gibran, quote from The Prophet
lobster
All my impediments are mined. Fortunately all The Buddhas (and others) are also Mind. We have to inflate and burst until our Bodies and Bodhi shine and our buddhas just a shoo step away...
“No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.”
~ Kahlil Gibran, quote from The Prophet
lobster
I think rebirth would work like the hydrological system here on Earth. Clouds transform into drops which fall individually and through the path of least resistance they eventually evaporate and again form clouds. It's all the same water but no individual drop ever repeats.
I remember from transcribing a talk into text where my teacher had referred to a written teaching, the subject of the talk, as "frozen awakened mind/heart". So being frozen it's not the same as the actual mind of the author (or orator) but we get something from that mind and we try "to defrost" it I guess
Jeffrey
I think this is one of those things that are correct only through certain lenses. As @person points out, we don't cut off the finger pointing to the moon. There is a Middle Way.
Like a teaching that teaches how to think rather than what to think, Buddhism is more like a practice as opposed to a belief system.
The First and Second Noble Truths make sense. That which lives suffers unease either through physical and mental maladies or the stress that comes with them. As we work on the Fourth Noble Truth which is the Eightfold Path, we can directly witness the Third Noble Truth which is that suffering can be transformed.
Beliefs are ok to put to the test but I try not to have faith in them. Especially my own.
A thirteenth Century monk wrote:
_When you hold the lantern for others, you light the way for yourself.
_
Yes, my wife used to spin dog hair and knit Tam o'shanters. Very warm, always smelled kind of ripe.
Fosdick
@lobster said:
Curious Poses ~ Lucy GreavesTips and interesting facts about selected Asana
For example a reverse of the child pose (actually made up) but makes perfect sense
Happy Baby Pose
I've also heard of happy baby pose referred to as dead bug pose by one of the yoga instructors I follow.
person
“The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of the word is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.”
― Chuang Tzu
Jeffrey
One can memorize all "80,000 teachings" of the Buddha and know the words yet not realize the heart of the Buddha. It is said that Devadatta memorized all the teachings of Siddhartha. Yet he failed to understand Siddhartha's heart and opposed him as his self declared enemy, attacking Siddhartha and his disciples repeatedly.
Suri and Handkuo were considered simple beings, unable to eve distinguish between themselves who was who. Yet, they understood the Buddha's heart and were among the first to achieve Enlightenment.
Study is a necessary part of Buddhist practice. But study without understanding is no more than an exercise in ego. It is not the words, but what is within the words, the message hidden within the message, that we must seek. It is in using the words to understand the heart of the Buddha and thus open one's own heart to the true message and meaning of the words.
A scholar studied the writings and practices of a certain school of Buddhism for twenty years. He knew the "How", but did not understand the "Why" of that school's success.
When he approached a senior member of that school, he explained his conundrum.
To which the leader said to him (the scholar), that it was time for him to see the why. It was time for him to DO. It is said that once the scholar took the action, pt all that theory, all that study, into action, by applying it through action, he immediately understood.
From the leg of stude and the leg of practice grows the leg of understanding and faith.
Without practice, study is just unverified theory
Without study, practice is like wandering in a fog.
Without practice and study, faith is meaningless, blind
Thus Faith is at first no more than a willingness to study and practice.
As one studies, learning the WHY
As one practices, sharpening the HOW
One's faith grows and manifests into the NOW
The mind grows, the heart expands to enfold all within and without
The Buddha shines from within to light the way for self and others.
I forget who said it but I was told that :
We are all children of the Buddha
Being children of the Buddha, we are each Buddha
We just haven't awakend to that reality yet.
Peace to all