Up the Dharma
Dear Friends,
As we may know, Dharma is a volitional challenge ...
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/23917/the-company-of-wolves
There is safety/refuge BUT some of us are ready for the hardened/diamond/adamatine getting our teeth into Dharma ... Fortunately the diversity of our contributors and lambs in wolves clothing, will allow us that luxury of going that little bit deeper ...
Do not accept any of my words on faith,
Believing them just because I said them.
Be like an analyst buying gold, who cuts, burns,
And critically examines his product for authenticity.
Only accept what passes the test
By proving useful and beneficial in your life.
The Buddha (Jnanasara-samuccaya)
After going beyond enlightenment, un-enlightenment and starting again, where do we go? Inspiration and ideas to the usual dharma pack ... I am off for a spot of moon howling ... don't worry about the sun, the moon is still present ...
Comments
I don't plan to go anywhere.
I have no plan.
I am very happy here and now, in my samsara in nirvana.
I have this routine of reading every morning the Five Mindfulness practices, the Discourse on Happiness, the sutta on the Better Way to live Alone and the Five Remembraces to serve as compass, to give me a sense of direction, to remind me what I stand for.
And every day, there is some new insight to them.
But no enlightenment for me: just inner peace.
https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/
https://plumvillage.org/sutra/discourse-on-happiness/
https://plumvillage.org/sutra/discourse-on-knowing-the-better-way-to-live-alone/
And the Five Remembrances:
@DhammaDragon ...... I'm stealing that routine, hahaha.
What a concise daily starter! ......I like it! ?☕️???
Believe me, @Vastmind: for a simple, starter Dharma pack, nothing beats this simple routine.
I believe and will be sticking with Nothing
Tee Hee.
However before turning Puppies into Reflective puddles and the usual howling, what is the perfect routine? @DhammaDragon suggests study/remembrance/affirmation.
Mine used to be the Mahayana dictum 'Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form.'
O Sariputra, Form does not differ from Emptiness
And Emptiness does not differ from Form.
Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form.
The same is true for Feelings,
Perceptions, Volitions and Consciousness.
... from the Heart Sutra
http://path.homestead.com/heartsutra.html
Now I am running on empties ...
The lonely Dharma steppenwolf...
I have issues getting outside of my head. Pure Land devotion helps me stay grounded. When I open my heart to Amida I simultaneously open my heart to the Dharma of all Buddhas. It has been greatly beneficial to not have to think, only focus, and know I am generating the Dharma and good action in my devotion.
Different schools of Buddhism appeal to different personalities.
I use to sing the Heart Sutra when I go through my daily routine of mala praying.
The Heart Sutra is like the picture that is worth a thousand words: either you grasp it in a nanosecond, or its frugrality elludes you for ages.
@DhammaDragon the most illusive wisdom seems to be the simplest. The heart sutra says everything is nothing and nothing is everything (at least when paraphrased by myself). It is simple. What is difficult is the conditioning we've developed against this truth.
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" Luke 11:19
"Meditating on the lotus of your heart,
in the center is the untainted;
the exquisitely pure, clear, and sorrowless;
the inconceivable;
the unmanifest,
of infinite form;
blissful, tranquil, immortal;
the womb of Brahma."
(Kaivalyopanishad)
By the power of the Buddha, they will see that Pure Land as though seeing their own images in a bright mirror. When they see that land of ultimate and wondrous joy, they will rejoice and immediately acquire the insight into the non-origination of all existence." (Visualisation of Amitabha Sutra)
No matter what path we follow, if we slowly deconstruct our egos and earnestly seek the truth, we will find it--within ourselves. As we constantly cultivatel practice we are constantly Upping the Dharma.