Appreciation for our little community
Jeroen
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlands Veteran
I came across this...
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was living among the Sakyans. Now there is a Sakyan town named Sakkara. There Ven. Ananda went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, "This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie."
"Don't say that, Ananda. Don't say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, he can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path.“
And just thought, the last few years I have been very busy with books and websites, and the balance provided by internet sangha’s such as this one has been essential to me. There aren’t too many people with Buddhist leanings in the area, so spiritual friends online have been a great substitute! Take a bow, much love to you all.
Comments
Thanks @Kerome ❤️❤️❤️
Yeah. We may not be quite as Buddhist as some Buddhist sites, but the Buddha wasn't Buddhist either, so I think we're doing ok. Thank you @Kerome . Back Atcha. 🙂
seek out and nurture good friends.
Phrasing: ... fear a Bad Friend, For, while an enraged elephant can only take your life, a bad friend can destroy your seed of Buddha (enlightenment).
A good fiend is hard to befriend.
Good point from @Lionduck
I need all the befriending, encouragement to abandon my past shellfish nature. Obviously my craziness is not worth spreading.
Seeds of Buddha. I must have some seed somewhere here ...
How does your garden grow?
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
I wouldn’t say that, I think a little bit of craziness is very necessary, without it there can be no true freedom. It’s worthwhile to teach people to access their own internal crazy genius.
@lobster and @Kerome:
We are all a little crazy. That is what keeps us sane.
OK ...
... not that I need any encouragement ...
My feeling is that though we may feel we are isolated we are in fact all interconnected ... wait I am sure I read that in a fortune cookie ...
I welcome the tendency towards a diverse community rather than a perverse narrowing towards orthodoxy [whatever that might be].
I read this in a newsletter from Plum Village today:
“Alone we are vulnerable, but with brothers and sisters to work with, we can support each other. We cannot go to the ocean as a drop of water—we would be evaporated before reaching our destination. But if we become a river, if we go as a Sangha, we are sure to arrive at the ocean. Taking refuge in a Sangha will allow the Sangha to carry us, to transport us, and we will suffer less.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Thanks for a very wholesome thread @Kerome