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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
“Who knows that the mind is a fiction and does not contain any reality, also knows that his own mind neither exists nor does-not-exist. Mortals keep bringing life to the mind by insisting it exists. The Deathless keep denying the mind and insist it does not exist.”
— Bodhidharma
Love things the way they are,
and your love will be like the sun,
making the flowers grow.
~ Ajahn Brahm
@Bunks I like this. It is new-agey, magical, mystical AND more importantly very true. It demonstrates how the Theravadin seniors are in tune with the changing terminology and needs of students.
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."
~Carl Jung~ (honorary Buddhist)
2
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
“Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the path.”
— Bodhidharma
“Freeing oneself from words is liberation.”
— Bodhidharma
“If you know that everything comes from the mind, don't become attached. Once attached, you're unaware. But once you see your own nature, the entire Canon becomes so much prose. It's thousands of sutras and shastras only amount to a clear mind. Understanding comes in midsentence. What good are doctrines? The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are illusions… Don't cling to appearances, and you'll break through all barriers…”
— Bodhidharma
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
“When you are deluded, there is a world to escape.
When you are aware, there is nothing to escape.”
— Bodhidharma
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
“To seek is to suffer. Not to seek is bliss.”
— Bodhidharma
Westerners are generally in a hurry, so they have greater extremes of happiness and suffering. The fact that they have much kilesā, can be a source of wisdom later on.
To live the lay life and practice Dhamma, one must be in the world but remain above it.
Sīla, beginning with the basic Five Precepts, is the all important parent to all good things. It is for removing all wrong from the mind, removing that which causes distress and agitation. When these basic things are gone, the mind will always be in a state of samādhi.
At first, the basic thing is to make sīla really firm. Practice formal meditation when there is the opportunity. Sometimes it will be good, sometimes not. Don’t worry about it, just continue. If doubts arise, just realize that they, like everything else in the mind, are impermanent.
From this base, samādhi will come, but not yet wisdom. One must watch the mind at work — see like and dislike arising from sense contact, and not attach to them.
Don’t be anxious for results or quick progress. An infant crawls at first, then learns to walk, then to run and when it is fully grown, can travel half way round the world to Thailand.
Comments
“Who knows that the mind is a fiction and does not contain any reality, also knows that his own mind neither exists nor does-not-exist. Mortals keep bringing life to the mind by insisting it exists. The Deathless keep denying the mind and insist it does not exist.”
— Bodhidharma
@Bunks I like this. It is new-agey, magical, mystical AND more importantly very true. It demonstrates how the Theravadin seniors are in tune with the changing terminology and needs of students.
Kind of a Buddhist quote:
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."
~Carl Jung~ (honorary Buddhist)
“Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the path.”
— Bodhidharma
“Freeing oneself from words is liberation.”
— Bodhidharma
“If you know that everything comes from the mind, don't become attached. Once attached, you're unaware. But once you see your own nature, the entire Canon becomes so much prose. It's thousands of sutras and shastras only amount to a clear mind. Understanding comes in midsentence. What good are doctrines? The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are illusions… Don't cling to appearances, and you'll break through all barriers…”
— Bodhidharma
“When you are deluded, there is a world to escape.
When you are aware, there is nothing to escape.”
— Bodhidharma
“To seek is to suffer. Not to seek is bliss.”
— Bodhidharma
Westerners are generally in a hurry, so they have greater extremes of happiness and suffering. The fact that they have much kilesā, can be a source of wisdom later on.
To live the lay life and practice Dhamma, one must be in the world but remain above it.
Sīla, beginning with the basic Five Precepts, is the all important parent to all good things. It is for removing all wrong from the mind, removing that which causes distress and agitation. When these basic things are gone, the mind will always be in a state of samādhi.
At first, the basic thing is to make sīla really firm. Practice formal meditation when there is the opportunity. Sometimes it will be good, sometimes not. Don’t worry about it, just continue. If doubts arise, just realize that they, like everything else in the mind, are impermanent.
From this base, samādhi will come, but not yet wisdom. One must watch the mind at work — see like and dislike arising from sense contact, and not attach to them.
Don’t be anxious for results or quick progress. An infant crawls at first, then learns to walk, then to run and when it is fully grown, can travel half way round the world to Thailand.
~ Ajahn Chah
As usual, excellent enlightened advice from Ajahn Chah-Cha, the dancing Tea Buddha...
“It has been well said that Buddhism is Hinduism stripped for export.”
— Alan Watts