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Worthy, honorable, and perfectly self enlightened was the blessed Buddha!
Consummated in knowledge and behaviour,
totally transcended,
expert in all dimensions,
knower of all worlds,
unsurpassable trainer of those who can be tamed,
both teacher and guide of gods as well as of humans,
blessed, exalted, awakened, and perfectly self enlightened was the blessed Buddha!
Perfectly formulated is this Buddha Dhamma,
visible right here and now,
immediately effective,
timeless,
inviting each and every one to come and see for themselves,
inspect, examine, and verify.
Leading each and every one through progress towards perfection.
Directly observable, experiencable and realisable by each intelligence...
Perfectly training is this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's Noble Disciples.
They're training the right way,
the true way,
the good way,
the direct way!
Therefore do these eight kind of individuals,
these four Noble pairs,
deserve both gifts, self sacrifice, offerings, hospitality, and reverential salutation with joined palms,
since this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's Noble Disciples,
is an unsurpassable,
and indeed is forever an unsurpassed field of merit in this world,
for this world,
to honour, respect, support, uphold, and protect...
Reverence to the 3 jewels
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
"Just sit down, and shut the fuck up."
(My Shiatsu, Qi Gong, and Meditation tutor, Tim Mulvagh, starting a 15-minute, pre-lesson meditation session.
“Generosity, kind words, doing a good turn for others, treating all people alike: these bonds of sympathy are to the world what the linchpin is to the chariot wheel.”
Whatever arises in the mind, just watch it.
No picking and choosing between good and bad, fast and slow.
No me, no you, no self at all.
Just what there is. It's very simple.
Cling to nothing.
Renunciation of attachments seems intimidating because it feels as if we are being asked to give up things which give us a lot of pleasure–or, a least , more pleasure than pain.
If we still perceive things in this way there can be no renunciation in the Buddhist sense. True renunciation can only occur through clear seeing.
By looking again and again at our mind we see that, in fact, the pleasure that we receive from our attachments is much less than we thought, the suffering much more. When we see this truth with a peaceful mind we throw off the attachment without regret.
Ajahn Chah said it was like a fisherman who grabs a poisonous snake from the net thinking it is an eel. The moment he realises what he is holding he throws it as far away as he can.
"Heart and Hand” by Ajahn Jayasaro
2
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
edited December 2019
This world of dew
is just a world of dew,
and yet...
— Issa
In the city of Nara
Fragrance of chrysanthemums;
Buddhas of yore.
— Bashō
Deva: Why are your forest monks, venerable sir, looking so serene?
Buddha: They never lament over the past.
Neither do they yearn for any future that is yet to come.
They just maintain themselves in the present, here and now.
Therefore is their appearances so serene and calm.
“Don’t run back to the past,
don’t hope for the future.
What’s past is left behind;
the future has not arrived;
and phenomena in the present
are clearly seen in every case.
Knowing this, foster it—
unfaltering, unshakable.
Today’s the day to keenly work—
who knows, tomorrow may bring death!
For there is no bargain to be struck
with Death and his mighty hordes.
The peaceful sage explained it’s those
who keenly meditate like this,
tireless all night and day,
who truly have that one fine night.”
“One day, the Buddha preached that ‘If our intentions are good, the path, results and destination will be good, but if our intentions are bad, the path, results and destination will be bad. So, to have a fruitful life and to gain peace and happiness here and now as well as after, we should maintain pure intention all the time. Also, pure intention helps us to purify our mind from greed, Anger, hatred, jealousy, ill-will and delusion and at the same time, it helps us to Cultivate pure thoughts like Loving-kindness, Compassion and wisdom in order to attain ultimate happiness within us...."
"May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes....
May all sentient beings be free from dangers and suffering and its causes....
May all sentient beings not be separated from sorrowless bliss....
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity free of bias, attachment and anger, and share Loving-kindness and compassion with others....."
May the Noble Triple Gems Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha bless you, all other family members, Dhamma friends and every being to have good health, peace, ease, comfort, success and happiness by being free from all sicknesses, problems, worries, difficulties and sufferings....! I'm sharing lot of merits and mettā to all of you. May every heart be filled with joy, compassion, happiness and success. May the happiness be set up at every corners of the world.....!
If we wish to make progress in the way of Silence we must be convinced that the will cannot of itself impose calm and serenity. The role of the will is a very modest one—like that of the shepherd who chooses where his sheep shall graze; or of the dog who gathers in the flock and watches over it. Nothing more, but nevertheless of great importance. Neither the shepherd nor the dog can prevent one of the sheep from straying. They do not worry about it—their task is to bring back the wanderer to the pasture.
A silence entirely occupied in a tireless re-assembling of the flock is an excellent exercise. The Holy Spirit works secretly in the depths. The soul is unaware of what is happening and cannot rejoice in the process. But let it persevere; one day it will find itself, without knowing how, in a wide space within, free and bathed in light. The painful times of silence in which dog and shepherd accomplished their hard task have borne their fruit.
—Pierre Lacout, God is Silence (published in 1993 by Quaker Books)
DZOGCHEN PONLOP RINPOCHE | “If we want to be free of the pain we inflict on ourselves and each other — in other words, if we want to be happy — then we have to learn to think for ourselves. We need to be responsible for ourselves and examine anything that claims to be the truth. That’s what the Buddha did long ago to free himself from his own discontent and persistent doubts about what he heard, day after day, from his parents, teachers, and the palace priests …
“Those teachings today still describe a deeply personal inner journey that’s spiritual, yes, but not religious. The Buddha wasn’t a god — he wasn’t even a Buddhist. You’re not required to have more faith in the Buddha than you do in yourself. His power lies in his teachings, which show us how to work with our minds to realize our full capacity for wakefulness and happiness. These teachings can help us satisfy our search for the truth — our need to know who and what we really are.
“Where do we find this truth? Although we can rely to some degree on the wisdom we find in books and on the advice of respected spiritual authorities, that’s only the beginning. The journey to genuine truth begins when you discover a true question — one that comes from the heart — from your own life and experience. That question will lead to an answer that will lead to another question, and so on. That’s how it goes on the spiritual path.
“We start by bringing an open, inquisitive, and skeptical mind to whatever we hear, read, or see that presents itself as the truth. We examine it with reason and we put it to the test in meditation and in our lives. As we gain insight into the workings of the mind, we learn how to recognize and deal with our day-to-day experiences of thoughts and emotions. We uncover inaccurate and unhelpful habits of thinking and begin to correct them. Eventually we’re able to overcome the confusion that makes it so hard to see the mind’s naturally brilliant awareness. In this sense, the Buddha’s teachings are a method of investigation, or a science of mind…”
Those of my disciples who completely understand my instructions realize the undefiled
freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. And they live having realized it
with their own insight due to the ending of defilements.
Of those disciples who only partly understand my instructions, some, with the ending of the five lower fetters, become reborn spontaneously. They are extinguished there, and are not liable to return from that world.
Some, with the ending of three fetters, and the weakening of greed, hate, and delusion,
become once-returners. They come back to this world once only, then make an end of
suffering. And some, with the ending of three fetters, become stream-enterers, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening.
And so the going forth of all those respectable people was not in vain, was not wasted, but was fruitful and fertile.
Put away all hindrances, let your mind full of love pervade one quarter of the world, and so too the second quarter, and so the third, and so the fourth.
And thus the whole wide world, above, below, around and everywhere, altogether will continue to pervade with love-filled thought, abounding, sublime, beyond measure, free from hatred and ill will.
adapted from the Digha Nikaya, translated by Maurice Walshe
“[Recollect] the Dhamma and the Sangha. Think about the people who’ve devoted their lives to the practice of the Dhamma and were able to reap the fruit of that practice.
“As you look at what you’re doing in the course of the day, you may find that there are obstacles to fully devoting yourself to the practice. But at least what time you can manage, is time well-spent. Try to keep your mind, keep your thoughts coming back, back, back to these values, to these practices. Whenever you’re free, go back to the breath.
“Try to develop mindfulness, alertness, ardency in your practice. Even if you can’t do it full-time, do it whenever you find room to squeeze in the practice. And hopefully the practice will begin to squeeze some of those other obstacles out of the way."
@person said:
“We do not say that because things are empty they do not exist; we say that because things exist they are empty.” A Prasaṅgika-Madhyamaka Tibetan saying
Compare that Thought to that of Epictetus, quoted in yesterday's (Jan 2) 2020 Zen Calendar:
"Learn to wish that everything should come to pass exactly as it does."
Both insights point in the same general direction, I think:
Because things exist, they are empty.
Because things transpire, they will do so.
Try to develop mindfulness, alertness, ardency in your practice.
Ardency I found useful.
It is an emotional intensity. A fierce and disciplined focus or virya. Many of us are part timers. We get part time pay back ...
Develop from the negative or stay with the selfie new wager ...
The instructed disciple of the Noble Ones does not regard material shape as self, or self as having material shape, or material shape as being in the self, or the self as being in material shape.
Nor does he regard feeling, perception, the impulses or consciousness in any of these ways.
He comprehends each of these aggregates as it really is, that it is impermanent, suffering, not self, compounded, woeful.
He does not approach them, grasp after them or determine “my self” - and this for a long time conduces to his welfare and happiness.
The instructed disciple of the Noble Ones beholds of material shape, feeling, perception, the impulses or consciousness: “This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self.” So that when the material shape, feelings, perception, the impulses, or consciousness change and become otherwise there arise not from him grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation, and despair.
It is as if we are naked and living in a thorn bush.
Whenever we try to move we are wounded by circumstances.
People and things are like thorns piercing our flesh.
And no situation ever feels entirely comfortable.
Unborn emptiness has let go of the extremes of being and non-being...Thus it is both the centre itself and the central path. Emptiness is the track on which the centered person moves
“We don’t meditate to hate our bodies or other bodies. Unsatisfactoriness depends on clinging to impermanent bodies. A mindful meditator should remind himself or herself that an attractive object has triggered sense desire. One should then develop wise reflection or mindful reflection.
“The Buddha gave a very meaningful simile to underscore the meaning of mindful reflection, or yoniso manasikara. Suppose you throw a stick to a dog. The dog runs after the stick and bites on it or brings it back to you. But if you throw a stick to a lion, he does not run after the stick. He runs after you! He wants to know where the stick came from. The lion wants to go to the root.
“Similarly, mindful reflection goes to the root. We have six roots. They are greed, hatred, and ignorance on the unwholesome side. And nongreed, nonhatred, and nondelusion on the wholesome side. When an unwholesome emotional state arises, we should be mindful enough to go to its roots and mindfully reflect that it is impermanent, unsatisfactory, and without self.”
~ Bhante Gunaratana
(p. 129, “WHAT WHY HOW: Answers to Your Questions About Buddhism, Meditation, and Living Mindfully,” from the chapter ‘Working With Thought and Speech.’ Wisdom Publications 2020) https://wisdomexperience.org/wisdom-article/ask-bhante-g/
Let go of the past, let go of the future,
Let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence.
With mind wholly liberated,
You shall come no more to birth or death.
Dhammapada 24.348
0
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
“Many people think excitement is happiness...But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
“The dharma starts from seeing things as they are.”
Blissful is passionlessness in the world,
The overcoming of sensual desires;
But the abolition of the conceit I am,
That is truly the supreme bliss.
Udana 2.11
0
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Even if you consume as many books
As the sands of the Ganges
It is not as good as really catching
One verse of Zen.
If you want the secret of Buddhism,
Here it is: Everything is in the Heart!
Comments
Worthy, honorable, and perfectly self enlightened was the blessed Buddha!
Consummated in knowledge and behaviour,
totally transcended,
expert in all dimensions,
knower of all worlds,
unsurpassable trainer of those who can be tamed,
both teacher and guide of gods as well as of humans,
blessed, exalted, awakened, and perfectly self enlightened was the blessed Buddha!
Perfectly formulated is this Buddha Dhamma,
visible right here and now,
immediately effective,
timeless,
inviting each and every one to come and see for themselves,
inspect, examine, and verify.
Leading each and every one through progress towards perfection.
Directly observable, experiencable and realisable by each intelligence...
Perfectly training is this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's Noble Disciples.
They're training the right way,
the true way,
the good way,
the direct way!
Therefore do these eight kind of individuals,
these four Noble pairs,
deserve both gifts, self sacrifice, offerings, hospitality, and reverential salutation with joined palms,
since this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's Noble Disciples,
is an unsurpassable,
and indeed is forever an unsurpassed field of merit in this world,
for this world,
to honour, respect, support, uphold, and protect...
Reverence to the 3 jewels
"Just sit down, and shut the fuck up."
(My Shiatsu, Qi Gong, and Meditation tutor, Tim Mulvagh, starting a 15-minute, pre-lesson meditation session.
Works for me.)
“Generosity, kind words, doing a good turn for others, treating all people alike: these bonds of sympathy are to the world what the linchpin is to the chariot wheel.”
Jataka 20
Whatever arises in the mind, just watch it.
No picking and choosing between good and bad, fast and slow.
No me, no you, no self at all.
Just what there is. It's very simple.
Cling to nothing.
Ajahn Chah
Renunciation of attachments seems intimidating because it feels as if we are being asked to give up things which give us a lot of pleasure–or, a least , more pleasure than pain.
If we still perceive things in this way there can be no renunciation in the Buddhist sense. True renunciation can only occur through clear seeing.
By looking again and again at our mind we see that, in fact, the pleasure that we receive from our attachments is much less than we thought, the suffering much more. When we see this truth with a peaceful mind we throw off the attachment without regret.
Ajahn Chah said it was like a fisherman who grabs a poisonous snake from the net thinking it is an eel. The moment he realises what he is holding he throws it as far away as he can.
"Heart and Hand” by Ajahn Jayasaro
This world of dew
is just a world of dew,
and yet...
— Issa
In the city of Nara
Fragrance of chrysanthemums;
Buddhas of yore.
— Bashō
When you’re alone watch your mind.
When you’re with others watch your speech.
Author unknown
"Our life is momentary, and, at the same time, each moment includes its own past and future ....In this way our momentary life will continue"
~Shunryu Suzuki~
Deva: Why are your forest monks, venerable sir, looking so serene?
Buddha: They never lament over the past.
Neither do they yearn for any future that is yet to come.
They just maintain themselves in the present, here and now.
Therefore is their appearances so serene and calm.
Samyutta Nikaya 1.5
“Don’t run back to the past,
don’t hope for the future.
What’s past is left behind;
the future has not arrived;
and phenomena in the present
are clearly seen in every case.
Knowing this, foster it—
unfaltering, unshakable.
Today’s the day to keenly work—
who knows, tomorrow may bring death!
For there is no bargain to be struck
with Death and his mighty hordes.
The peaceful sage explained it’s those
who keenly meditate like this,
tireless all night and day,
who truly have that one fine night.”
The BUDDHA | Majjhima Nikaya 131
https://suttacentral.net/mn131/en/sujato
“One day, the Buddha preached that ‘If our intentions are good, the path, results and destination will be good, but if our intentions are bad, the path, results and destination will be bad. So, to have a fruitful life and to gain peace and happiness here and now as well as after, we should maintain pure intention all the time. Also, pure intention helps us to purify our mind from greed, Anger, hatred, jealousy, ill-will and delusion and at the same time, it helps us to Cultivate pure thoughts like Loving-kindness, Compassion and wisdom in order to attain ultimate happiness within us...."
"May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes....
May all sentient beings be free from dangers and suffering and its causes....
May all sentient beings not be separated from sorrowless bliss....
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity free of bias, attachment and anger, and share Loving-kindness and compassion with others....."
May the Noble Triple Gems Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha bless you, all other family members, Dhamma friends and every being to have good health, peace, ease, comfort, success and happiness by being free from all sicknesses, problems, worries, difficulties and sufferings....! I'm sharing lot of merits and mettā to all of you. May every heart be filled with joy, compassion, happiness and success. May the happiness be set up at every corners of the world.....!
No mother nor father nor any other kin can do greater good for oneself than a mind directed well.
Dhammapada 3.43
Difficult to detect and very subtle,
the mind seizes whatever it wants;
so let a wise one guard one’s mind,
for a guarded mind brings happiness.
Dhammapada 3.36
"The fool thinks he has won a battle,
when he bullies with harsh speech;
but knowing how to be forbearing
alone makes one victorious."
~The Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya I.7.1 [3]) m
If we wish to make progress in the way of Silence we must be convinced that the will cannot of itself impose calm and serenity. The role of the will is a very modest one—like that of the shepherd who chooses where his sheep shall graze; or of the dog who gathers in the flock and watches over it. Nothing more, but nevertheless of great importance. Neither the shepherd nor the dog can prevent one of the sheep from straying. They do not worry about it—their task is to bring back the wanderer to the pasture.
A silence entirely occupied in a tireless re-assembling of the flock is an excellent exercise. The Holy Spirit works secretly in the depths. The soul is unaware of what is happening and cannot rejoice in the process. But let it persevere; one day it will find itself, without knowing how, in a wide space within, free and bathed in light. The painful times of silence in which dog and shepherd accomplished their hard task have borne their fruit.
—Pierre Lacout, God is Silence (published in 1993 by Quaker Books)
DZOGCHEN PONLOP RINPOCHE | “If we want to be free of the pain we inflict on ourselves and each other — in other words, if we want to be happy — then we have to learn to think for ourselves. We need to be responsible for ourselves and examine anything that claims to be the truth. That’s what the Buddha did long ago to free himself from his own discontent and persistent doubts about what he heard, day after day, from his parents, teachers, and the palace priests …
“Those teachings today still describe a deeply personal inner journey that’s spiritual, yes, but not religious. The Buddha wasn’t a god — he wasn’t even a Buddhist. You’re not required to have more faith in the Buddha than you do in yourself. His power lies in his teachings, which show us how to work with our minds to realize our full capacity for wakefulness and happiness. These teachings can help us satisfy our search for the truth — our need to know who and what we really are.
“Where do we find this truth? Although we can rely to some degree on the wisdom we find in books and on the advice of respected spiritual authorities, that’s only the beginning. The journey to genuine truth begins when you discover a true question — one that comes from the heart — from your own life and experience. That question will lead to an answer that will lead to another question, and so on. That’s how it goes on the spiritual path.
“We start by bringing an open, inquisitive, and skeptical mind to whatever we hear, read, or see that presents itself as the truth. We examine it with reason and we put it to the test in meditation and in our lives. As we gain insight into the workings of the mind, we learn how to recognize and deal with our day-to-day experiences of thoughts and emotions. We uncover inaccurate and unhelpful habits of thinking and begin to correct them. Eventually we’re able to overcome the confusion that makes it so hard to see the mind’s naturally brilliant awareness. In this sense, the Buddha’s teachings are a method of investigation, or a science of mind…”
~Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche (excerpt from a 2010 Washington Post essay, titled “The Buddha Was Not a Buddhist”) http://www.dpr.info/articles/the-buddha-was-not-a-buddhist/
Beautiful @Dhammika
Came upon that somewhere and it was so on point, @Bunks.
One who is virtuous and wise
shines forth like a blazing fire;
like a bee collector nectar
one acquires wealth by harming none.
Digha Nikaya
3.265
Those of my disciples who completely understand my instructions realize the undefiled
freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. And they live having realized it
with their own insight due to the ending of defilements.
Of those disciples who only partly understand my instructions, some, with the ending of the five lower fetters, become reborn spontaneously. They are extinguished there, and are not liable to return from that world.
Some, with the ending of three fetters, and the weakening of greed, hate, and delusion,
become once-returners. They come back to this world once only, then make an end of
suffering. And some, with the ending of three fetters, become stream-enterers, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening.
And so the going forth of all those respectable people was not in vain, was not wasted, but was fruitful and fertile.
DN 19 - Mahagovinda Sutta
When we stop thinking we start living.
Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo
The present moment hovers between past and future just as life hovers between birth and death
~Stephen Batchelor~
On this path there's only abandoning.
We practice to uproot all views stemming from self-importance.
Ajahn Chah
Cum all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant ... eh ... wrong religion ... 🤪
Shine on 🤩
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_mind
Put away all hindrances, let your mind full of love pervade one quarter of the world, and so too the second quarter, and so the third, and so the fourth.
And thus the whole wide world, above, below, around and everywhere, altogether will continue to pervade with love-filled thought, abounding, sublime, beyond measure, free from hatred and ill will.
adapted from the Digha Nikaya, translated by Maurice Walshe
“[Recollect] the Dhamma and the Sangha. Think about the people who’ve devoted their lives to the practice of the Dhamma and were able to reap the fruit of that practice.
“As you look at what you’re doing in the course of the day, you may find that there are obstacles to fully devoting yourself to the practice. But at least what time you can manage, is time well-spent. Try to keep your mind, keep your thoughts coming back, back, back to these values, to these practices. Whenever you’re free, go back to the breath.
“Try to develop mindfulness, alertness, ardency in your practice. Even if you can’t do it full-time, do it whenever you find room to squeeze in the practice. And hopefully the practice will begin to squeeze some of those other obstacles out of the way."
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Try This at Home"
All life is a ceaseless mutation: emerging, modifying,disappearing
~Stephen Batchelor~
Compare that Thought to that of Epictetus, quoted in yesterday's (Jan 2) 2020 Zen Calendar:
"Learn to wish that everything should come to pass exactly as it does."
Both insights point in the same general direction, I think:
Because things exist, they are empty.
Because things transpire, they will do so.
Ardency I found useful.
It is an emotional intensity. A fierce and disciplined focus or virya. Many of us are part timers. We get part time pay back ...
Develop from the negative or stay with the selfie new wager ...
The instructed disciple of the Noble Ones does not regard material shape as self, or self as having material shape, or material shape as being in the self, or the self as being in material shape.
Nor does he regard feeling, perception, the impulses or consciousness in any of these ways.
He comprehends each of these aggregates as it really is, that it is impermanent, suffering, not self, compounded, woeful.
He does not approach them, grasp after them or determine “my self” - and this for a long time conduces to his welfare and happiness.
The instructed disciple of the Noble Ones beholds of material shape, feeling, perception, the impulses or consciousness: “This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self.” So that when the material shape, feelings, perception, the impulses, or consciousness change and become otherwise there arise not from him grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation, and despair.
From the Samyutta Nikaya
The ancient teachings illumine the mind and the mind illumines the ancient teachings.
-- HAKUIN
(as quoted in yesterday's (Jan 4) segment in the 2020 Zen Calendar)
It is as if we are naked and living in a thorn bush.
Whenever we try to move we are wounded by circumstances.
People and things are like thorns piercing our flesh.
And no situation ever feels entirely comfortable.
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
The only thing we have to do is die. Everything else is a choice.
Venerable Thubten Chodron
All suffering there is in this world comes from wishing ourselves to be happy.
All happinesses there is in this world comes from wishing others to be happy.
Shantideva
Though one may conquer a thousand times a thousand people,
Yet one indeed is the noblest victor who conquers oneself
Dhammapada
With my body, speech and mind, humbly I prostrate.
And make offerings, both set out and imagined.
Delight in heedfulness!
Guard well your thoughts!
Draw yourself out of the bog of evil,
even as an elephant draws itself out of the mud.
Dhammapada 23.327
Unborn emptiness has let go of the extremes of being and non-being...Thus it is both the centre itself and the central path. Emptiness is the track on which the centered person moves
~Tsongkhapa~
Thoroughly understanding the Dhamma
and freed from longing through insight,
the wise one rid of all desire
is as calm as a pool unstirred by the wind.
Itivuttaka 3.92
Weak people revenge.
Strong people forgive.
Intelligent people ignore.
Albert Einstein (apparently)
“We don’t meditate to hate our bodies or other bodies. Unsatisfactoriness depends on clinging to impermanent bodies. A mindful meditator should remind himself or herself that an attractive object has triggered sense desire. One should then develop wise reflection or mindful reflection.
“The Buddha gave a very meaningful simile to underscore the meaning of mindful reflection, or yoniso manasikara. Suppose you throw a stick to a dog. The dog runs after the stick and bites on it or brings it back to you. But if you throw a stick to a lion, he does not run after the stick. He runs after you! He wants to know where the stick came from. The lion wants to go to the root.
“Similarly, mindful reflection goes to the root. We have six roots. They are greed, hatred, and ignorance on the unwholesome side. And nongreed, nonhatred, and nondelusion on the wholesome side. When an unwholesome emotional state arises, we should be mindful enough to go to its roots and mindfully reflect that it is impermanent, unsatisfactory, and without self.”
~ Bhante Gunaratana
(p. 129, “WHAT WHY HOW: Answers to Your Questions About Buddhism, Meditation, and Living Mindfully,” from the chapter ‘Working With Thought and Speech.’ Wisdom Publications 2020)
https://wisdomexperience.org/wisdom-article/ask-bhante-g/
"Zen is not some special state, it is our normal condition, silent, peaceful, awake, without agitation."
Taisen Deshimaru
The greatest thing you can offer someone is something that you want for yourself
Me (Paraphrasing something I read years ago)
Similarly, something I once heard, and I forget where (sadly):
"The best way to hold on to something cherished, is to give it away, with Love."
Let go of the past, let go of the future,
Let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence.
With mind wholly liberated,
You shall come no more to birth or death.
Dhammapada 24.348
“Many people think excitement is happiness...But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh
“The dharma starts from seeing things as they are.”
—An anonymous Belgian Buddhist
Blissful is passionlessness in the world,
The overcoming of sensual desires;
But the abolition of the conceit I am,
That is truly the supreme bliss.
Udana 2.11
Even if you consume as many books
As the sands of the Ganges
It is not as good as really catching
One verse of Zen.
If you want the secret of Buddhism,
Here it is: Everything is in the Heart!
— Ryokan