16 dances with a beam of light,
20 Om Muni Muni Maha Muni Yea Swaha
22 Gun dro nga tang yul nge nga
23 Gewa ju jik dza nyon druk
24 Nye nyon nyi shu shen gyur shi
25 Sem chung nga jik di dak o.
27 religious letter games...
48 om a ra ba tsa na di di di di di di di di di di di di di di di di di di di di
50 Om Mani Padme Hum (Hail to the Lotus Jewel)
52 The paths are many, the truth is one
54 Mickey Mouse has no wife, no horse, no mustache
56 where you are is where you were when you are where you will be.
59 don't let them immanentize your personal eschaton
61 nga tsho gyis rang gi gyo bar sems can song ba'i dgos.
62 (we should be self-motivating sentient beings.)
66 Acts without impediment
69 Yet he does not know himself
70 To be "kind," to be "gentle"
72 When an archer is shooting for nothing
74 If he shoots for a brass buckle
75 He is already nervous.
76 If he shoots for a prize of gold
79 He is out of his mind!
81 His skill has not changed. But the prize
82 Divides him. He cares.
83 He thinks more of winning
88 By giving, resources; by ethics, bliss
90 One may lead a horse to water, but cannot make him think.
94 neither i nor you nor anything exists truly
95 i, you and everything each have our own existence
96 the view between the two extremes is the middle way
99 Mickey Mouse and Mickey Rooney have something in common.
101 Natural language is hard.
102 -- (a prominent natural language scholar; do you know who? i don't.)
104 not this not this not this, what is it?
110 sangs rgyas kyi tshad mas ma nges ba'i phyir.
111 (the subject "horns of a rabbit" does not exist because it is not an object
112 validly cognized by a buddha.)
115 what you don't see is what you get when you don't look. -- fred t. hamster
117 this bell's knelling is never quelled,
118 while service is rendered,
119 tin staccato splattered over cupric strands,
120 spraying crazed meaning to distant lands.
124 To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.
127 It is hard to think of what one is doing when one is doing it.
130 No program is so finished that a few bug fixes won't destroy it.
133 Words obscure meaning. -- fred t. hamster
135 There's a Ribong in my Attic, There's a Ribong in my Chair.
136 There's a Ribong in my Dipstick, There's a Ribong in my Hair.
137 In fact, there's a Ribong everywhere.
140 In the context of a spreadsheet system, the user must ensure that the
141 sheet is thoroughly spread onto the bed.
144 nechung: unable to open fortunes.dat file. (just kidding)
146 are you only using half your brain?
147 if you can only think in terms of logical conclusions, rational assumptions,
149 if you can only think in terms of intuitive jumps, esthetic motivations,
150 and the fluid nature of reality,
151 then you probably are stuck on one side of your head. try moving into
155 time has eight eyes and three elbows...
156 and millions of clocks.
159 i refuse to ignore what i cannot perceive. -- fred t. hamster
161 if you can't change your mind,
162 are you sure you've still got one?
164 The only people who deserve to be called "Americans" are called "Indians".
167 you are contemplative and analytical by nature
172 -- Merlin in Excalibur
174 Charlottesville, Virginia: gravity well for the soul.
176 if one is always ambiguous enough, he is never wrong.
177 but he never says anything either.
180 Protect Children, Feed Bunnies, Heal Sickness, Understand Reality
183 Improve the environment and the government;
184 feed politicians toxic waste.
186 alright, so it was a slow night.
187 alright, so it was a slow knight.
188 all night, what a slow knight.
189 there's slightly white snow tonight.
190 tight flights light from the height of night.
194 sasquatch in my breakfast cereal. -- fred t. hamster
196 "what i say is unimportant." -- david w andrews
197 "i'll keep that in mind." -- chris koeritz
199 "are Israelis Catholic?" -- christine kelly
203 -- seen in April 1991 High Times
207 -- co-authored by dave and chris
209 we grow old as soon as we cease to love and trust.
210 -- Madame De Choiseul
212 marijuana is a natural mollifier.
214 I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the
215 monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.
220 -- Christian N. Bovee
222 Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist,
223 but the ability to start over.
224 -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
226 One meets his destiny often in the road he takes to avoid it.
229 The cobra will bite you whether you call it cobra or Mr. Cobra.
232 The first casualty when war comes is truth. -- Hiram Johnson, 1917
234 Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the
235 love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity
237 -- Samuel Johnson, from The Idler, 1758
239 Luck sometimes visits a fool, but never sits down with him.
242 How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? -- Satchel Page
244 Yeah, you got a point there man. Just let
245 your hair grow and nobody'll ever find out.
248 Eloquence is vehement simplicity. -- Richard Cecil
250 Two of my correspondents labeled me 'self-righteous', by which
251 they seem to have meant that they think they are righter
255 Every thought I have imprisoned in expression I must free by my deeds.
258 the other is a measure of the self. -- fred hamster
260 it is not who we are that defines us, but what we do.
261 the actions we take are the real indication of where our minds
262 and bodies are at, an expression of our being.
263 when one does not act, one cannot harm,
264 but by not acting when action could help another,
267 if what you are doing right now isn't broadening your mind
268 or elevating your spirit through total awareness of the essence,
269 then find that broadness! that elevation!
270 if an activity doesn't wake you up and tickle you,
271 then tickle yourself. that load which cannot be unburdened
274 the only people i don't like are those who don't want me to like them...
275 and i try to like them when they're not paying attention.
278 to george h. w. bush (on the occasion of our last meeting):
279 "you're a suit where a person should be."
281 The numbah uh bits in a compyooter word should NOT bee ayut, nor
282 sixuhteeen, nor thirty tooo, mah frayends. For vayrilee, it should
283 bee fifty! Theeuss would gayruntee that the sanctitty of our
284 great nayshun would be forevah preeserved! Theyuh would be just
285 one bit for each an every good stayett in this heyuh fahnnn nasyshun,
286 the YOOnited Stayetts of AhhMayReekah!
288 Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
289 -- Lord Acton, Letter, 5 April 1887
291 No man means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean,
292 for words are slippery and thought is viscous.
293 -- Henry B. Adams, "The Education of Henry Adams", 1907
295 One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible.
296 -- Henry B. Adams, "The Education of Henry Adams", 1907
298 It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
299 -- Alfred Adler, 1939
301 Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us.
302 -- Roy Adzak, quoted in "Contemporary Artists", 1977
304 A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. -- Aesop
306 Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything. -- Aesop
308 We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified. -- Aesop
310 The paper burns, but the words fly away. -- Ben Joseph Akiba
312 Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never play cards with a man named Doc.
313 And never lie down with a woman who's got more trouble than you.
314 -- Nelson Algren, "What Every Young Man Should Know"
316 Most of us spend the first 6 days of each week sowing wild oats,
317 then we go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure.
320 Leisure time is that five or six hours when you sleep at night.
323 I don't want to achieve immortality through my work.
324 I want to achieve it through not dying.
327 The lion and the calf shall lie down together
328 but the calf won't get much sleep.
331 If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a
332 large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.
333 -- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers"
335 The difference between sex and death is that with death
336 you can do it alone and no one is going to make fun of you.
337 -- Woody Allen, quoted in "New York Tribune", 1975
339 It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people.
340 The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed
341 to enjoy the waking hours much more.
342 -- Woody Allen, "Side Effects" 1981
344 Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
345 -- Muhammad Ali, in "Time", 1978
347 Doing easily what others find difficult is talent;
348 doing what is impossible for talent is genius.
349 -- Henri-Frederic Amiel, "Journal", 1883
351 In any country there must be people who have to die. They are the
352 sacrifices any nation has to make to achieve law and order.
353 -- Idi Amin Dada, 1976
355 God has been replaced, as he has all over the West,
356 with respectability and air conditioning.
357 -- Imamu Amiri Baraka, "Home", 1966
359 Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity
360 of opportunity to be otherwise.
361 -- Maya Angelou, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", 1969
363 Death is life's answer to the question 'Why?' -- Anonymous
365 God is not dead. He is alive and working on a less ambitious project.
368 In March July, October, May,
369 The Ides are on the fifteenth day,
370 The Nones the seventh: all other months besides
371 Have two days less for Nones and Ides.
374 Never argue with a fool--people might not know the difference. -- Anonymous
376 Never go to sea with two chronometers; take one or three. -- Anonymous
378 The fewer clear facts you have in support of an opinion,
379 the stronger your emotional attachment to that opinion.
382 Vote early and vote often. -- Anonymous, on US election banners, 1850's
384 You're never alone with schizophrenia. -- Anonymous
386 Resolved, that the women of this nation in 1876, have greater cause
387 for discontent, rebellion and revolution than the men of 1776.
390 Women like silent men. They think they're listening. -- Marcel Archard
392 We make war that we may live in peace. -- Aristotle
394 What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. -- Aristotle
396 Wit is cultured insolence. -- Aristotle
398 That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. -- Neil Armstrong
400 What passes for optimism is most often the effect of an intellectual error.
401 -- Raymond Aron, "The Opium of the Intellectuals", 1957
403 We are still speaking the same language,
404 but neither of us is hearing the other.
405 -- Hafez Assad, on Syrian relations with Egypt, in "Time", 3 April 1989
407 If Gary Hart had seen Fatal Attraction two years ago,
408 he'd probably be President.
409 -- Bruce Babbitt, 1988 Presidential Campaign
411 Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper. -- Francis Bacon, 1624
413 Rebellions of the belly are the worst. -- Francis Bacon
415 It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations.
416 -- Walter Bagehot, "Biographical Studies", 1863
418 Be careful what you set your heart upon--for it will surely be yours.
419 -- James Baldwin, "Nobody Knows My Name" 1961
421 Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart;
422 for his purity, by definition, is unassailable.
423 -- James Baldwin, "Nobody Knows My Name" 1961
425 The future is like heaven--everyone exalts it,
426 but no one wants to go there now.
427 -- James Baldwin, "Nobody Knows My Name", 1961
429 It is easier to be a lover than a husband for the simple reason
430 that it is more difficult to be witty every day
431 than to say pretty things from time to time.
432 -- Honore de Balzac, "The Physiology of Marriage", 1829
434 Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster
435 that devours everything: familiarity.
436 -- Honore de Balzac, "The Physiology of Marriage", 1829
438 The duration of passion is proportionate
439 with the original resistance of the woman.
440 -- Honore de Balzac, "The Physiology of Marriage", 1829
442 It's the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time.
445 Television is the first truly democratic culture--the first culture
446 available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want.
447 The most terrifying thing is what people do want.
448 -- Clive Barnes, in "New York Times", 1969
450 What is an adult? A child blown up by age.
451 -- Simone de Beauvoir, "La Femme rompue", 1967
453 Now comes the mystery.
454 -- Henry Ward Beecher, last words, 8 March 1887
456 Critics are like eunuchs in a harem: they know how it's done,
457 they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.
460 The most important things to do in this world are to get something
461 to eat, something to drink and somebody to love you.
462 -- Brendan Behan, in "Weekend", 1968
464 Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.
465 -- Hector Berlioz, "Almanach des lettres francaises"
467 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
470 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. -- Psalms 111:10
472 Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
475 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
476 fools despise wisdom and instruction.
479 The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
482 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other,
483 or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches.
486 And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span?
489 Greater love hath no man than this,
490 that a man lay down his life for his friends.
493 Spring beckons! All things to the call respond;
494 the trees are leaving and cashiers abscond.
495 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
497 Beauty, n: the power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.
498 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
500 Belladonna, n. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison.
501 A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.
502 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
504 Bore, n: a person who talks when you wish him to listen.
505 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
507 Conservative, n: a statesman who is enamoured of existing evils, as
508 distinguished from a Liberal who wishes to replace them with others.
509 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
511 Cynic, n: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are,
512 not as they ought to be.
513 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
515 Marriage, n: the state or condition of a community
516 consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves,
518 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
520 Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.
521 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
523 Politeness, n: The most acceptable hypocrisy.
524 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
526 Yankee, n: In Europe, an American.
527 In the Northern States of our Union, a New Englander.
528 In the Southern States the word is unknown. (See DAMYANK.)
529 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
531 The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets the grease.
532 -- Josh Billings, "The Kicker"
534 People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.
537 Universal suffrage is the government of a house by its nursery.
540 The first sign of a nervous breakdown is when you start
541 thinking your work is terribly important.
544 An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes
545 which can be made, in a narrow field.
548 The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the
549 opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.
552 If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. -- Derek Bok, 1978
554 The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
555 -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
557 Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed.
558 If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't have what it takes.'
559 They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes.'
562 Censorship, like charity, should begin at home,
563 but unlike charity, it should end there.
566 No good deed goes unpunished. -- Clare Boothe Luce
568 When in doubt, mumble; when in trouble, delegate; when in charge, ponder.
571 Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. -- Victor Borge
573 Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand,
574 but we must build as if the sand were stone.
575 -- Jorge Luis Borges, 1972
577 We never know whether we are victors or whether we are defeated.
578 -- Jorge Luis Borges, "Borges On Writing", 1974
580 It is possible to store the mind with a million facts
581 and still be entirely uneducated.
582 -- Alec Bourne, "A Doctor's Creed"
584 Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. If we continue
585 to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant
586 may prove to be our executioner.
587 -- General Omar Bradley
589 Grub first, then ethics. -- Bertolt Brecht
591 I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it.
592 -- Ashleigh Brilliant
594 Please don't ask me what the score is, I'm not even sure what the game is.
595 -- Ashleigh Brilliant
597 To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first,
598 and call whatever you hit the target.
599 -- Ashleigh Brilliant
601 No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.
602 -- Jacob Bronowski, in "Encounter", 1971
604 Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance.
605 -- Sam Brown, in "Washington Post", 1977
607 Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow.
608 -- Matthew Browne, "Lilliput Levee"
610 As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically
611 reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children.
612 -- Anita Bryant, 1977
614 Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.
615 -- William F. Buckley
617 Before you kill something make sure you have something better
618 to replace it with; something better than political opportunist
619 slamming hate horsesh*t in the public park.
620 -- Charles Bukowski, "Notes of a Dirty Old Man", 1969
622 We love your adherence to democratic principles.
623 -- George HW Bush speaking to Ferdinand Marcos, June 1981
625 The final lesson of Viet Nam is that no great nation
626 can long afford to be sundered by a memory.
627 -- George HW Bush, 1989 Inaugural Address
629 The caribou love [the Alaska oil pipeline].
630 They run up against it, and they have babies.
631 -- George HW Bush, 1988 and again "New York Times", 3 April 1989
633 It would be inappropriate for the President of the United States
634 to try to fine-tune for the people of Hungary how they ought to eat -
635 how the cow ought to eat the cabbage, as we say in the United States.
636 -- George HW Bush, quoted in "Philadelphia Inquirer", 13 July 1989
638 An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.
639 -- Nicholas Murray Butler
641 Friendship is like money, easier made than kept. -- Samuel Butler
643 The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.
644 -- Samuel Butler, "The Fair Haven", 1873
646 Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense
647 to know how to lie well.
648 -- Samuel Butler, "Notebooks" 1912
650 Marriage is distinctly and repeatedly excluded from heaven.
651 Is this because it is thought likely to mar the general felicity?
652 -- Samuel Butler, "Notebooks" 1912
654 One was never married, and that's his hell; another is, and that's his plague.
655 -- Robert Burton, 1651
657 For truth is always strange; stranger than fiction.
658 -- Lord Byron, "Don Juan", 1818
660 The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds;
661 and the pessimist fears this is true.
662 -- James B. Cabell, "The Silver Stallion" 1926
664 Men willingly believe what they wish. -- Julius Caesar
666 What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story.
667 And the greatest good is little enough:
668 for all life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams.
669 -- Pedro Calderon de la Barca, "Life is a Dream"
671 It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.
672 -- Arthur Calwell, 1968
674 An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
677 Every revolutionary ends up either by becoming an oppressor or a heretic.
678 -- Albert Camus, "The Rebel", 1951
680 When I sell liquor, its called bootlegging; when my patrons serve
681 it on a silver tray on Lake Shore Drive, it's called hospitality.
684 You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun
685 than you can with a kind word alone.
688 Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work.
689 -- Al Capp, in "Esquire", 1970
691 It is long accepted by the missionaries that morality is inversely
692 proportional to the amount of clothing people wore.
695 "Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be,
696 and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic!"
697 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"
699 Because of the greatness of the Shah, Iran is an island of stability
701 -- Jimmy Carter, 31 December 1977
703 Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie!" till you can find a rock.
706 As long as people will accept crap,
707 it will be financially profitable to dispense it.
708 -- Dick Cavett, in "Playboy", 1971
710 Everything beautiful has its moment and then passes away.
711 -- Luis Cernuda, "Las Ruinas"
713 A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience.
714 -- Miguel de Cervantes
716 I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women,
717 French to men, and German to my horse.
718 -- Charles V, King of France
720 In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.
723 He who asks is a fool for five minutes,
724 but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
727 The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.
730 I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly,
731 or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
734 I like a man who grins when he fights. -- Winston Churchill
736 I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us.
737 Pigs treat us as equals.
740 It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
743 Man will occasionally stumble over the truth,
744 but most times he will pick himself up and carry on.
747 Politics are very much like war. We may even have to use poison gas at times.
750 The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings;
751 the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
754 Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others.
755 -- Winston Churchill, Speech, January 1952
757 Preparation, knowledge, and discipline can deal with any form of danger.
758 -- Tom Clancy, "The Hunt for Red October", 1984
760 Who will protect the public when the police violate the law?
763 It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God,
767 Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.
770 Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
771 -- Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of the Future", 1962
773 You're either part of the solution or part of the problem.
774 -- Eldridge Cleaver, 1968
776 The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.
777 -- Eldridge Cleaver, "Soul on Ice", 1968
779 America is the only nation in history which miraculously
780 has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without
781 the usual interval of civilization.
782 -- Georges Clemenceau, 1 December 1945
784 War is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military.
785 -- Georges Clemenceau
787 When you have nothing to say, say nothing. -- Charles Caleb Colton
789 I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
792 If we don't know life, how can we know death? -- Confucius
794 Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
797 Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. -- Confucius
799 What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. -- Confucius
801 When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them;
802 when we see persons of a contrary character,
803 we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
806 Imprisoned in every fat man a thin man is wildly signaling to be let out.
807 -- Cyril Connolly, "The Unquiet Grave" 1945
809 Slums may well be breeding grounds of crime,
810 but middle class suburbs are incubators of apathy and delirium.
811 -- Cyril Connolly, "The Unquiet Grave" 1945
813 Truth is a river that is always splitting up into arms that reunite.
814 Islanded between the arms the inhabitants argue for a lifetime
815 as to which is the main river.
816 -- Cyril Connolly, "The Unquiet Grave" 1945
818 Always be nice to those younger than you, because they are the ones
819 who will be writing about you.
820 -- Cyril Connolly, "Journal and Memoir" 1983
822 Youth is a period of missed opportunities.
823 -- Cyril Connolly, "Journal and Memoir" 1983
825 The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.
826 -- Cyril Connolly, "Journal and Memoir" 1983
828 You shall judge a man by his foes as well as by his friends.
829 -- Joseph Conrad, "Lord Jim", 1900
831 The horror! The horror!
832 -- Joseph Conrad, "Heart of Darkness", 1902
834 I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and
835 invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people.
836 -- Calvin Coolidge, Speech, 21 September 1928
838 Don't talk unless you can improve the silence. -- Laurence Coughlin
840 A man feared that he might find an assassin;
841 Another that he might find a victim.
842 One was more wise than the other.
843 -- Stephan Crane, "The Black Riders and Other Lines", 1895
845 I stood upon a high place, and saw, below, many devils,
846 running, leaping, and carousing in sin.
847 One looked up, grinning, and said, "Comrade! Brother!"
848 -- Stephan Crane, "The Black Riders and Other Lines", 1895
850 I walked in a desert.
852 "Ah, God, take me from this place!"
853 A voice said, "It is no desert."
854 I cried, "Well, but---
855 "The sand, the heat, the vacant horizon."
856 A voice said, "It is no desert."
857 -- Stephan Crane, "The Black Riders and Other Lines", 1895
859 I was in the darkness;
860 I could not see my words
861 Nor the wishes of my heart.
862 Then suddenly there was a great light---
863 "Let me into the darkness again."
864 -- Stephan Crane, "The Black Riders and Other Lines", 1895
866 A man said to the universe, "Sir, I exist." "However," replied the universe,
867 "the fact has not created in me a sense of obligation."
868 -- Stephan Crane, "War is Kind", 1899
870 There is growing evidence that smoking has pharamacological ...
871 effects that are of real value to smokers.
872 -- Joseph F. Cullman III (Pres. of Phillip Morris)
873 Annual Report to Stockholders, 1962
875 There are no atheists in the foxholes.
876 -- William Thomas Cummings, 1942
878 Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days.
879 An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to
880 make it meaningful: a meaningful friend, or a meaningful day.
881 -- the 14th Dalai Lama, interview in "TIME", 11 April 1988
883 The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time
884 of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.
887 The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents,
888 and the second half by our children.
891 There is no such thing as justice--in or out of court.
892 -- Clarence Darrow, Interview, April 1936
894 When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President;
895 I'm beginning to believe it.
898 The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is,
899 in fact, a return to the idealised past.
900 -- Robertson Davies, "A Voice from the Attic", 1960
902 There is no such thing as a nonracial society
903 in a multiracial country.
904 -- F. W. de Klerk, President of South Africa,
905 quoted in _Time_, 11 September 1989
907 There are a million ways to lose a work day,
908 but not even a single way to get one back.
909 -- Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister, _Peopleware_, 1987
911 People are always talking about tradition, but they forget we have
912 a tradition of a few hundred years of nonsense and stupidity, that
913 there is a tradition of idiocy, incompetence and crudity.
914 -- Hugo Demartini, in "Contemporary Artists", 1977
916 Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly
917 and safely insane every night of our lives.
918 -- William Dement, in "Newsweek", 1959
920 We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them
921 to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up.
924 I never deny, I never contradict. I sometimes forget.
927 There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
930 Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle, old age a regret.
931 -- Benjamin Disraeli, "Coningsby" 1844
933 The average Ph.D. thesis is nothing but a transference of bones
934 from one graveyard to another.
935 -- J. Frank Dobie, "A Texan in England", 1945
937 Love built on beauty, soon as beauty dies.
938 -- John Donne, "Elegy II, The Anagram"
940 Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself,
941 but talent instantly recognizes genius.
942 -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Valley of Fear", 1914
944 One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do
945 and always a clever thing to say.
946 -- Will Durant, in "Reader's Digest", 1972
948 Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
949 -- Will Durant, in "National Enquirer", 1980
951 A man's got to know his limitations.
952 -- Clint Eastwood in "Magnum Force", 1973
954 History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely
955 once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
958 Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.
959 -- Thomas Alva Edison, "Life", 1932
961 There is no substitute for hard work.
962 -- Thomas Alva Edison, "Life", 1932
964 To err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer.
965 -- Paul Ehrlich, in "The Farmers Almanac, 1978"
967 Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
970 Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present,
971 but an equation is something for eternity.
974 Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it
975 is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us
976 any closer to the secret of the Old One. I, at any rate, am convinced that He
980 God may be subtle. But He is not malicious.
983 I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war
984 fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people
985 of the earth will be killed.
988 I never think of the future--it comes soon enough.
991 The important thing is not to stop questioning.
994 The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has
995 merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.
998 The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
1001 You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his
1002 tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand
1003 this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signls here, they
1004 receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.
1007 Before God we are all equally wise--and equally foolish.
1008 -- Albert Einstein, "Cosmic Religion"
1010 The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.
1011 -- Albert Einstein, "Life", 1950
1013 Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and
1014 the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.
1015 -- Albert Einstein, "Ideas and Opinions", 1954
1017 A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
1018 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
1020 I think that people want peace so much that one of these days
1021 government had better get out of their way and let them have it.
1022 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
1024 In the final choice a soldier's pack is not so heavy as a prisoner's chains.
1025 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
1027 We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.
1028 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
1030 What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight -
1031 it's the size of the fight in the dog.
1032 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1958
1034 This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
1035 -- T. S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men", 1925
1037 The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines
1038 what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men.
1039 -- Havelock Ellis, "Little Essays of Love and Virtue", 1922
1041 The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.
1042 -- Havelock Ellis, "The Dance of Life", 1923
1044 The sun and the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago...
1045 had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
1046 -- Havelock Ellis, "The Dance of Life", 1923
1048 What we call "morals" is simply blind obedience to words of command.
1049 -- Havelock Ellis, "The Dance of Life", 1923
1051 Always do what you are afraid to do. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
1053 Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.
1054 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
1056 What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters
1057 compared to what lies within us.
1058 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
1060 When it is dark enough you can see the stars.
1061 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
1063 To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.
1064 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Journal", 20 December 1822
1066 A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere.
1067 Before him, I may think aloud.
1068 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Essays", 1841
1070 I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
1071 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Essays", 1841
1073 To be great is to be misunderstood.
1074 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Essays", 1841
1076 I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
1077 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Journal", May 1849
1079 Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.
1080 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Conduct of Life", 1860
1082 Hitch your wagon to a star.
1083 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Conduct of Life", 1860
1085 A wise man first determines what is within his control;
1086 all else is then irrelevant.
1089 We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
1092 War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.
1093 -- Desiderius Erasmus
1095 A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.
1098 A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way
1099 that everyone believes he has the biggest piece.
1100 -- Ludwig Erhard, in "The Observer", 1958
1102 There's a difference between beauty and charm. A beautiful woman
1103 is one I notice. A charming woman is one who notices me.
1106 Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do
1107 with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
1110 Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
1113 The best of seers is he who guesses well.
1116 The camera cannot lie. But it can be an accessory to untruth.
1117 -- Harold Evans, "Pictures on a Page", 1978
1119 Passions are fashions.
1122 When you read a classic you do not see in the book more than you did before.
1123 You see more in you than there was before.
1124 -- Clifton Fadiman, "Any Number Can Play", 1957
1126 The only accident [at Three Mile Island] is that this thing leaked out.
1127 You could have avoided this whole thing by not saying anything.
1128 -- Craig Faust (control-room operator at TMI), 1979,
1129 quoted from "Loose Talk"
1131 If people really liked to work, we'd still be plowing the land with sticks
1132 and transporting goods on our backs.
1135 A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes.
1136 -- James Feibleman, "Understanding Philosophy", 1973
1138 The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
1139 -- Fanny Fern, "Willis Parton"
1141 Computer: a million morons working at the speed of light.
1144 The first principle is that you must not fool yourself -
1145 and you are the easiest person to fool.
1146 -- Richard Feynman, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"
1148 Anybody who hates children and dogs can't be all bad. -- W. C. Fields
1150 I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally. -- W. C. Fields
1152 It isn't what they say about you, it's what they whisper. -- Errol Flynn
1154 Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
1157 The Law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich, as well as the poor,
1158 to sleep under the bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
1161 I am responsible only to God and history.
1164 I still believe that people are really good at heart.
1165 I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation
1166 consisting of confusion, misery and death.
1169 Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn at no other.
1170 -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac
1172 In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.
1173 -- Benjamin Franklin, 1789
1175 Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
1178 Clothe an idea in words and it loses its freedom of movement.
1181 The news is the one thing the networks can point to with pride.
1182 Everything else they do is crap--and they know it.
1183 -- Fred Friendly, 1980
1185 The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal.
1188 A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather
1189 and ask for it back when it begins to rain.
1192 A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday
1193 but never remembers her age.
1196 A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.
1199 A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel.
1202 The world is full of willing people;
1203 some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.
1206 The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
1207 But I have promises to keep,
1208 And miles to go before I sleep,
1209 And miles to go before I sleep.
1210 -- Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", 1923
1212 We compound our suffering by victimising each other.
1213 -- Athol Fugard, in "The Observer", 1971
1215 The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun.
1216 -- R. Buckminster Fuller
1218 The most important thing about Spaceship Earth -
1219 an instruction book didn't come with it.
1220 -- R. Buckminster Fuller, quoted in "Contemporary Architects", 1980
1222 It's not your blue blood, your pedigree or your college degree.
1223 It's what you do with your life that counts.
1224 -- Millard Fuller, in "Time", 16 January 1989
1226 Getting divorced just because you don't love a man is
1227 almost as silly as getting married just because you do.
1230 If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
1231 -- John Kenneth Galbraith
1233 Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.
1234 -- John Kenneth Galbraith
1236 Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing
1237 between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
1238 -- John Kenneth Galbraith
1240 The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises
1241 in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral
1242 justification for selfishness.
1243 -- John Kenneth Galbraith
1245 In economics, the majority is always wrong.
1246 -- John Kenneth Galbraith, in "Saturday Evening Post", 1968
1248 One of the greatest pieces of economic wisdom is to know what you do not know.
1249 -- John Kenneth Galbraith, in "Time", 1961
1251 I could prove God statistically. -- George Gallup
1253 He who awaits much can expect little.
1254 -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
1255 "El Coronel no Tiene quien le Escriba"
1257 Si Dios no hubiera descansado el domingo
1258 habria tenido tiempo de terminar el mundo.
1259 (If God hadn't rested on Sunday,
1260 He would have had time to finish the world.)
1261 -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
1262 "Los Funerales de Mam Grande", 1974
1264 No creo en Dios, pero le tengo miedo.
1265 (I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him.)
1266 -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "El Amor en los Tiempos de Calera", 1985
1268 The true statesman is the one who is willing to take risks.
1269 -- Charles de Gaulle, 1967
1271 A country can be judged by the quality of its proverbs. -- German Proverb
1273 If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars.
1276 I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant,
1277 and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
1280 Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.
1283 In hell there is no other punishment than to begin over
1284 and over again the tasks left unfinished in your lifetime.
1287 The secret of success is sincerity.
1288 Once you can fake that you've got it made.
1291 Expecting something for nothing is the most popular form of hope.
1294 All things are only transitory. -- Goethe
1296 We are not abandoning our convictions, our philosophy or traditions,
1297 nor do we urge anyone to abandon theirs.
1298 -- Mikhail Gorbachev, UN address, 7 December 1988
1300 The truest wild beasts live in the most populous places.
1301 -- Baltasar Gracian, "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" 1647
1303 Thirty days hath November,
1304 April, June, and September,
1305 February hath twenty-eight alone,
1306 And all the rest have thirty-one.
1307 -- Richard Grafton, 1562
1309 I think when a person has been found guilty of rape
1310 he should be castrated. That would stop him pretty quick.
1311 -- Billy Graham, 1974
1313 The illusion that times that were are better than those that are,
1314 has probably pervaded all ages.
1315 -- Horace Greeley, "The American Conflict", 1864-1866
1317 If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.
1318 -- Motto of the Green Berets
1320 Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.
1321 -- Graham Greene, 1981
1323 Figures won't lie, but liars will figure.
1324 -- Charles H. Grosvenor
1326 It's round the world I've traveled; it's round the world I've roamed;
1327 but I've yet to see an outlaw drive a family from its home.
1328 -- Woody Guthrie, "Pretty Boy Floyd"
1330 Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.
1331 -- Alex Hamilton, "The Listener", 1978
1333 The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.
1334 -- R. W. Hamming, "Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers", 1973
1336 War will cease when men refuse to fight.
1339 Licker talks mighty loud w'en it gets loose fum de jug.
1340 -- Joel C. Harris, "Uncle Remus: Plantation Proverbs"
1342 Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has
1343 just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.
1346 In times like these, it is helpful to remember
1347 that there have always been times like these.
1350 The probability of anything happening is in inverse ratio to its desirability.
1351 -- John W. Hazard, "Changing Times" 1957
1353 Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater. -- William Hazlitt
1355 Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained
1356 with the greatest violence.
1359 Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity,
1360 and some people have mediocrity thrust upon them.
1361 -- Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
1363 Plain women know more about men than beautiful ones do.
1364 But beautiful women don't need to know about men.
1365 It's the men who have to know about beautiful women.
1366 -- Katherine Hepburn
1368 Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived
1369 and how he died that distinguish one man from another.
1370 -- Ernest Hemingway, quoted in "Sunday Times", 1966
1372 Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased
1373 at the price of chains and slavery?
1376 All is flux, nothing stays still. -- Heraclitus
1378 Nothing endures but change. -- Heraclitus
1380 Some actions have an end but no beginning; some begin but do not end.
1381 It all depends upon where the observer is standing.
1384 I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that
1385 brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass
1386 over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner
1387 eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
1389 -- Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965
1391 Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks. -- Herodotus
1393 If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of
1394 fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.
1397 There's nothing in the middle of the road
1398 but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.
1399 -- Jim Hightower, in "Time", 3 April 1989
1401 To do nothing is also a good remedy. -- Hippocrates
1403 Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
1404 -- Alfred Hitchcock, in "The Observer", 1960
1406 In films murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is
1407 and what a messy thing it is to kill a man.
1408 -- Alfred Hitchcock, 1966
1410 The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.
1413 What luck for the rulers that men do not think.
1416 Never tolerate the establishment of two continental powers in Europe.
1417 -- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf", 1933
1419 Strength lies not in defense but in attack.
1420 -- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf", 1933
1422 Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong.
1423 -- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf", 1933
1425 The great masses of the people... will more easily
1426 fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.
1427 -- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf", 1933
1429 You can discover what your enemy fears most
1430 by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
1431 -- Eric Hoffer, in "The Faber Book of Aphorisms", 1964
1433 The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it. -- Abbie Hoffman
1435 Justice is incidental to law and order. -- J. Edgar Hoover
1437 Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero!
1438 (Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow!)
1441 Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
1442 (It is sweet and honorable to die for one's country.)
1445 He has half the deed done who has made a beginning. -- Horace
1447 Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled. -- Horace
1449 Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
1452 Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men. -- Kin Hubbard
1454 When a fellow says it ain't the money but
1455 the principle of the thing, it's the money.
1458 Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature.
1459 -- Kin Hubbard, "Abe Martin's Broadcast", 1930
1461 Habit is the nursery of errors. -- Victor Hugo
1463 We believe that to err is human. To blame it on someone else is politics.
1464 -- Hubert H. Humphrey
1466 The right to be heard does not automatically
1467 include the right to be taken seriously.
1468 -- Hubert H. Humphrey, 1965
1470 A woman has to be twice as good as a man to go half as far. -- Fannie Hurst
1472 The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from
1473 ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference,
1474 and undernourishment.
1475 -- Robert Hutchins, "Great Books" 1954
1477 Maybe this world is another planet's Hell. -- Aldous Huxley
1479 The most distressing thing that can happen to a prophet
1480 is to be proved wrong. The next most distressing thing is
1482 -- Aldous Huxley, "Brave New World Revisited", 1956
1484 Experience is not what happens to you.
1485 It is what you do with what happens to you.
1486 -- Aldous Huxley, in "Reader's Digest", 1956
1488 Technological progress has merely provided us with more
1489 efficient means for going backwards.
1490 -- Aldous Huxley, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", 1956
1492 A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.
1493 -- Henrik Ibsen, "An Enemy of the People", 1882
1495 The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.
1496 -- Henrik Ibsen, "An Enemy of the People", 1882
1498 There is always something to upset the most careful of human calculations.
1501 Few rich men own their own property. The property owns them.
1502 -- Robert G. Ingersoll
1504 To think contrary to one's era is heroism.
1505 But to speak against it is madness.
1508 The will to win is worthless if you don't get paid for it. -- Reggie Jackson
1510 It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are.
1511 -- Clive James, in "The Observer", 1976
1513 A great many people think they are thinking
1514 when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
1517 The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
1520 El amor es un camino que de repente aparece y de tanto caminarlo se te pierde.
1521 -- Victor Jara, "El Amor es un Camino"
1523 In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to Liberty.
1526 I think [a black]... could scarcely be found capable of
1527 tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid.
1528 -- Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on Virginia", 1787
1530 It is always the best policy to tell the truth, unless,
1531 of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.
1534 To seek permission is to seek denial. -- Steve Jobs
1536 Men are like wine--some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.
1537 -- Pope John XXIII, 1978
1539 I never trust a man unless I've got his pecker in my pocket.
1540 -- Lyndon B. Johnson
1542 If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River,
1543 the headline that afternoon would read: PRESIDENT CAN'T SWIM.
1544 -- Lyndon B. Johnson
1546 No member of our generation who wasn't a Communist
1547 or a dropout in the thirties is worth a damn.
1548 -- Lyndon B. Johnson, 1960
1550 Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
1551 -- Samuel Johnson, 7 April 1775
1553 The heart has its prisons that intelligence cannot unlock.
1554 -- Marcel Jouhandeau, "De la grandeur"
1556 Do you not know, my son, with what little understanding the world is ruled?
1559 An ounce of emotion is equal to a ton of facts. -- John Junor
1561 In the fight between you and the world, back the world. -- Franz Kafka
1563 There are two cardinal sins from which all the others spring:
1564 impatience and laziness.
1567 The more things change, the more they remain the same.
1568 -- Alphonse Karr, "Les Guepes", January 1849
1570 You do not destroy an idea by killing people; you replace it with a better one.
1573 Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced.
1574 -- John Keats, Correspondence, 1819
1576 College isn't the place to go for ideas. -- Hellen Keller
1578 We have met the enemy and he is us. -- Walt Kelly in "POGO"
1580 If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.
1581 -- Florynce Kennedy, 1976
1583 Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.
1586 Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.
1589 We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind
1590 in the history of the world--or to make it the last.
1593 And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you;
1594 ask what you can do for your country.
1595 -- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961
1597 If a free society cannot help the many who are poor,
1598 it cannot save the few who are rich.
1599 -- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961
1601 Those who make peaceful revolution impossible
1602 will make violent revolution inevitable.
1603 -- John F. Kennedy, 12 March 1962
1605 Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
1606 -- Robert F. Kennedy
1608 Some men see things as they are and say why?
1609 I dream things that never were and say 'Why not?'
1610 -- Robert F. Kennedy, quoted in "Esquire", 1969
1612 Without feeling there's no reason to live.
1613 -- Andre Kertesz, photographer, 1894-1985
1615 In the long run we are all dead.
1616 -- John Maynard Keynes, "The General Theory", 1936
1618 In a fight you don't stop to choose your cudgels. -- Nikita Khruschev
1620 Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build
1621 bridge even when there are no rivers.
1624 Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
1625 -- Soren Kierkegaard, "Life"
1627 Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
1628 -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
1630 It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me,
1631 but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.
1632 -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
1634 Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the
1635 the philanthropist to over-look the circumstances of
1636 economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.
1637 -- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Strength to Love", 1963
1639 The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort,
1640 but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
1641 -- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Strength to Love", 1963
1643 He travels the fastest who travels alone.
1646 Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.
1649 The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
1652 Television--a medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well-done.
1655 Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.
1658 Credulity is the man's weakness, but the child's strength.
1661 People don't ask for facts in making up their minds. They would rather
1662 have one good, soul-satisfying emotion than a dozen facts.
1663 -- Robert Keith Leavitt
1665 It is well that war is so terrible, or we should get too fond of it.
1666 -- Robert E. Lee, December 1862
1668 To light a candle is to cast a shadow.
1669 -- Ursula K. Le Guin, "A Wizard of Earthsea", 1975
1671 When smashing monuments, save the pedestals--they always come in handy.
1674 It is true that liberty is precious--so precious that it must be rationed.
1677 The world began without man, and it will complete itself without him.
1678 -- Claude Levi-Strauss, "Tristes Tropiques", 1955
1680 Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive,
1681 but what they conceal is vital.
1684 Ask a man which way he is going to vote, and he will probably tell you.
1685 Ask him, however, why, and vagueness is all.
1686 -- Bernard Levin, in "Daily Mail", 1964
1688 A real diplomat is one who can cut his neighbor's throat
1689 without having his neighbor notice it.
1692 He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help. -- Abraham Lincoln
1694 Nearly all men can stand adversity,
1695 but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
1698 Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
1701 The ballot is stronger than the bullet. -- Abraham Lincoln
1703 Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong
1704 impulse to see it tried on him personally.
1707 You can fool all the people some of the time,
1708 and some of the people all the time,
1709 but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
1712 Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee,
1713 and just as hard to sleep after.
1714 -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
1716 Where all men think alike, no one thinks very much.
1719 I have always thought the actions of men the best
1720 interpreters of their thoughts.
1723 Winning is not everything. It's the only thing.
1724 -- Vince Lombardi, 1965
1726 The ignorant man always adores what he cannot understand.
1727 -- Cesare Lombroso, "The Man of Genius"
1729 Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
1732 In war there is no substitute for victory.
1733 -- General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, 19 April 1951
1735 There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.
1736 -- General Douglas MacArthur, 1955
1738 Caminante, son tus huellas el camino, y nada m s;
1739 caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.
1740 -- Antonio Machado, "Proverbios y cantares, VI"
1742 It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.
1743 -- Niccolo Machiavelli
1745 All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death
1746 than the animals that know nothing.
1747 -- Maurice Maeterlinck
1749 The atom bomb is a paper tiger...
1750 Terrible to look at but not so strong as it seems.
1753 Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
1754 -- Mao Zedong, "Quotations from Chairman Mao", 1966
1756 Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
1757 -- Mao Zedong, "Quotations from Chairman Mao", 1966
1759 An optimist is a guy that has never had much experience.
1760 -- Donald R. Perry Marquis, "archy and mehitabel", 1927
1762 Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.
1765 From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
1768 Religion... is the opium of the masses.
1769 -- Karl Marx, "Critique of the Hegelian Philosophy of Right", 1844
1771 Unrecognized faults lead to wasted efforts
1772 -- Joanot Martorell, "Tirant lo Blanc", 1490
1774 Impropriety is the soul of wit.
1777 Love is only the dirty trick played on us
1778 to achieve continuation of the species.
1779 -- W. Somerset Maugham, "A Writer's Notebook" 1949
1781 I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages.
1782 -- William H. Mauldin, "Up Front" 1944
1784 Having two bathrooms ruined the capacity to co-operate.
1787 The people here [in Nicaragua] are amazingly friendly, when you
1788 figure we're here to overthrow their government.
1789 -- Richard Melton, US Ambassador to Nicaragua
1791 A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence
1792 and yet keep both ears to the ground.
1795 Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
1798 No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
1801 Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
1804 The American public knows what it wants,
1805 and deserves to get it good and hard.
1808 There's always an easy solution to every human problem -
1809 neat, plausible, and wrong.
1812 Time is the great legalizer, even in the field of morals.
1813 -- H. L. Mencken, "A Book of Prefaces", 1917
1815 Nine times out of ten, in the arts as in life,
1816 there is actually no truth to be discovered;
1817 there is only error to be exposed.
1818 -- H. L. Mencken, "Prejudices, Third Series", 1922
1820 The older I grow the more I distrust
1821 the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.
1822 -- H. L. Mencken, "Prejudices, Third Series", 1922
1824 Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.
1825 -- H. L. Mencken, "A Mencken Chrestomathy", 1949
1827 Conservatives are not necessarily stupid,
1828 but most stupid people are conservatives.
1831 He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.
1834 A good listener is not only popular everywhere,
1835 but after a while he gets to know something.
1838 Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing for something.
1841 I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.
1844 Some of the greatest love affairs I've known
1845 have involved one actor, unassisted.
1848 When you take stuff from one writer it's plagiarism;
1849 but when you take it from many writers, it's research.
1852 I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it.
1855 Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in,
1856 and those inside equally desperate to get out.
1857 -- Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
1859 The value of life lies not in the length of days,
1860 but in the use we make of them...
1861 Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not
1862 on your tale of years, but on your will.
1863 -- Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, 1580
1865 Obstacles are those frightful things you see
1866 when you take your eyes off the goal.
1869 Only the sinner has the right to preach.
1870 -- Christopher Morley
1872 There is only one success, to be able to spend your life in your own way.
1873 -- Christopher Morley
1875 You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.
1876 -- John Morley, "Rousseau", 1876
1878 Any party which takes credit for the rain
1879 must not be surprised if its opponents blame it for the draught.
1882 If the nation's economists were laid end to end,
1883 they would point in all directions.
1886 As a student I learned from wonderful teachers
1887 and ever since then I've thought everyone is a teacher.
1888 -- Bill Moyers, interviews on "Fresh Air", 1991
1890 Anyone who isn't confused really doesn't understand the situation.
1893 Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.
1896 The big majority of Americans, who are comparatively well off,
1897 have developed an ability to have enclaves of people living in the
1898 greatest misery without almost noticing them.
1901 Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death
1902 should not be an even greater one.
1903 -- Vladimir Nabokov, quoted in "Time", 1981
1905 The speed of exit of a civil servant is directly proportional
1906 to the quality of his service.
1907 -- Ralph Nader, "The Spoiled System"
1909 Everybody is interesting for an hour, but few people can last more than two.
1910 -- V. S. Naipul, interview in "Time", 10 July 1989
1912 If you wish to be a success in the world,
1913 promise everything, deliver nothing.
1916 In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
1919 Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
1922 A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
1923 -- Napoleon, "Maxims" 1804-1815
1925 History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
1926 -- Napoleon, "Maxims" 1804-1815
1928 Women are nothing but machines for producing children.
1929 -- Napolean, quoted in "The Book of Insults", 1978
1931 Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.
1934 Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
1935 -- George Jean Nathan
1937 Nobody believes the official spokesman ...
1938 but everybody trusts an unidentified source.
1941 Lack of will power has caused more failure than
1942 lack of intelligence or ability.
1943 -- Flower A. Newhouse
1945 Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.
1948 If I have seen far, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
1951 O God, give us serenity to accept what cannot be changed,
1952 courage to change what should be changed,
1953 and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
1954 -- Reinhold Niebuhr, sermon, 1934
1956 Democracy is finding proximate solutions to insoluble problems.
1959 They [Nazis] came first for the Communists,
1960 and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
1961 Then they came for the Jews,
1962 and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
1963 Then they came for the Catholics,
1964 and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
1965 Then they came for me,
1966 and by that time there was no one left to speak up.
1967 -- Martin Niemueller
1969 In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.
1970 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
1972 One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly.
1973 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
1975 What does not destroy me, makes me strong.
1976 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
1978 Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?
1979 -- Friedrich Nietzsche, "Beyond Good and Evil", 1885-1886
1981 A ship is always referred to as "she"
1982 because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder.
1983 -- Chester Nimitz, Speech, 13 February 1940
1985 I have nothing to hide.
1988 I would have made a good pope.
1991 Voters quickly forget what a man says.
1994 Your President is no crook!
1997 Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth -
1998 to see it like it is, and tell it like it is -
1999 to find the truth, to speak the truth, and live the truth.
2000 -- Richard Nixon, accepting the Presidential Nomination, 1968
2002 When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.
2003 -- Richard Nixon, in interview with David Frost, 19 May 1977
2005 Laws were made to be broken.
2006 -- Christopher North
2008 Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our own point of view.
2009 -- Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Return of the Jedi"
2011 There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.
2012 -- Kenneth H. Olson, President of DEC,
2013 Convention of the World Future Society, 1977
2015 The optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds,
2016 and the pessimist knows it.
2017 -- J. Robert Oppenheimer, "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" 1951
2019 Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.
2022 Liberal--a power worshipper without power.
2025 On the whole human beings want to be good,
2026 but not too good and not quite all the time.
2027 -- George Orwell, collected essays
2029 All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
2030 -- George Orwell, "Animal Farm" 1945
2032 Big Brother Is Watching You
2033 -- George Orwell, "1984", 1948
2035 Who controls the past controls the future.
2036 Who controls the present controls the past.
2037 -- George Orwell, "1984", 1948
2039 At 50 everyone has the face he deserves.
2040 -- George Orwell, "Journals", 1949
2042 Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives,
2043 but on balance life is suffering and only the very young
2044 or the very foolish imagine otherwise.
2045 -- George Orwell, "Shooting an Elephant", 1950
2047 It is convenient that there be gods,
2048 and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.
2049 -- Ovid, "Ars Amatoria"
2051 To be loved, be lovable.
2052 -- Ovid, "Ars Amatoria"
2054 The chief product of an automated society
2055 is a widespread and deepening sense of boredom.
2058 It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as
2059 to fill the time available for its completion.
2060 -- C. Northcote Parkinson, in "The Economist", 1955
2062 The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
2065 If all men knew what others say of them,
2066 there would not be four friends in the world.
2067 -- Blaise Pascal, 1656
2069 Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed.
2070 -- Blaise Pascal, "Pensees", 1670
2072 Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor
2073 of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply... For fear will
2074 rob him of all if he gives too much.
2075 -- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948
2077 God forgives us... Who am I not to forgive?
2078 -- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948
2080 I have one great fear in my heart, that one day
2081 when they [the whites of South Africa] have turned to loving,
2082 they will find we [the blacks] are turned to hating.
2083 -- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948
2085 Then what is it worth, this mining industry? And why should it
2086 be kept alive, if it is only our poverty that keeps it alive? ...
2087 Is it we that must be kept poor so that others may stay rich?
2088 -- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948
2090 What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another?
2091 -- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948
2093 Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die? ...
2094 Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand.
2095 But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle,
2096 is beyond all human wisdom.
2097 -- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948
2099 Yet [white] men [of South Africa] were afraid,
2100 with a fear that was deep, deep in the heart,
2101 a fear so deep that they hid their kindness, ...
2102 They were afraid because they were so few.
2103 And fear could not be cast out, but by love.
2104 -- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948
2106 To give up the task of reforming society is to
2107 give up one's responsibility as a free man.
2110 Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often
2111 discover what they lack.
2114 Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do
2115 and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
2116 -- George S. Patton, "War As I Knew It", 1947
2118 Assuming that either the left wing or the right wing gained
2119 control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles.
2122 Public office is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
2123 -- Boies Penrose, 1931
2125 An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow
2126 why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.
2127 -- Laurence J. Peter
2129 Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.
2132 Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear
2133 but forgetting where you heard it.
2136 In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
2137 -- Laurence Peter, "The Peter Principle" 1969
2139 Democracy is a process by which the people are free
2140 to choose the man who will get the blame.
2141 -- Laurence Peter, "Peter's Quotations", 1977
2143 Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear
2144 but forgetting where you heard it.
2145 -- Laurence Peter, "Peter's Quotations", 1977
2147 A man who is always ready to believe what is told him will never do well.
2148 -- Gaius Petronius, "Satyricon"
2150 Difference of religion breeds more quarrels than difference of politics.
2151 -- Wendell Phillips, Speech, 7 November 1860
2153 Sometimes democracy must be bathed in blood.
2156 The measure of man is what he does with power.
2159 If everybody's behavior can be explained by simple stupidity and greed,
2160 there's no point in assuming a conspiracy.
2163 I don't need a friend who changes when I change
2164 and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.
2167 Cinema should make you forget you are sitting in a theater.
2170 Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true.
2173 Amusement is the happiness of those who cannot think.
2176 If you do not raise your eyes you will think you are the highest point.
2177 -- Antonio Porchia, "Voces", 1968
2179 One lives in the hope of becoming a memory.
2180 -- Antonio Porchia, "Voces", 1968
2182 They talk most who have the least to say.
2185 A city is a large community where people are lonesome together.
2188 A good workman is known by his tools.
2191 Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret,
2192 especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous.
2195 Maxim 914: Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.
2198 Maxim 1070: I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
2201 Practice is the best of all instructors.
2204 If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.
2205 -- J. Danforth Quayle
2207 There is nothing that a good defense cannot beat a better offense.
2208 In other words, a good offense wins.
2209 -- J. Danforth Quayle, on "Star Wars",
2210 quoted in "Time", 19 September 1988
2212 Happy campers you have been, happy campers you are,
2213 and happy campers you will always be.
2214 -- J. Danforth Quayle, on arrival in American Samoa,
2215 quoted in "Time", 8 May 1989
2217 I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and
2218 the only regret I have was that I didn't study
2219 Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people.
2220 -- J. Danforth Quayle, quoted in "Time", 8 May 1989
2222 What a waste it is to lose one's mind or not to have a mind.
2224 -- J. Danforth Quayle, addressing the United Negro
2225 College Fund, quoted in "Time", 26 June 1989
2227 Mars is essentially in the same orbit [as the Earth]...
2228 We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water.
2229 If there is water, there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe.
2230 -- J. Danforth Quayle, interviewed on Cable Network
2231 News, 11 August 1989
2233 Religions tend to disappear with man's good fortune.
2234 -- Raymond Queneau, "A Model History"
2236 I have been staying in Moscow for only 24 hours,
2237 but already I feel almost at home.
2238 -- Hashemi Rafsanjani, in "New York Times",
2241 A nuclear power plant is infinitely safer than eating,
2242 because 300 people choke to death on food every year.
2243 -- Dixy Lee Ray, 1977, quoted from "Loose Talk"
2245 Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.
2248 Growing and decaying vegetation in this land are responsible
2249 for 93 percent of the oxides of nitrogen.
2252 If you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all.
2255 Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards,
2256 if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.
2259 Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?
2262 Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite
2263 at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.
2264 -- Ronald Reagan, "Saturday Evening Post" 1965
2266 I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964
2267 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary.
2268 -- Ronald Reagan, 20 October 1965
2270 I would have voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
2271 -- Ronald Reagan, 1968
2273 All the wastes in a year from a nuclear power plant
2274 can be stored under a desk.
2275 -- Ronald Reagan, quoted in "Burlington Free Press", 15 February 1980
2277 History shows that when the taxes of a nation approach about 20% of the
2278 people's income, there begins to be a lack of respect for government....
2279 When it reaches 25%, there comes an increase in lawlessness.
2280 -- Ronald Reagan, quoted in "Time", 14 April 1980
2282 Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released
2283 by vegetation. So let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough
2284 emissions standards for man-made sources.
2285 -- Ronald Reagan, quoted in "Sierra", 10 September 1980
2287 I have just signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever;
2288 we begin bombing in 5 minutes.
2289 -- Ronald Reagan, weekly radio address, 11 August 1984
2291 Facts are stupid things.
2292 -- Ronald Reagan, 1988 Republican Convention
2294 The scientists split the atom; now the atom is splitting us.
2295 -- Quentin Reynolds, in "Quote & Unquote", 1970
2297 The streets are safe in Philadelphia,
2298 it's only the people who make them unsafe.
2301 We need excellence in public education and if the teachers can't do it,
2302 we'll send in a couple of policemen.
2303 -- Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia Bulletin, Oct 19, 1973
2305 One of the weaknesses of our age is our apparent inability
2306 to distinguish our needs from our greeds.
2307 -- Don Robinson, quoted in "Reader's Digest", 1963
2309 If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind,
2310 give it more thought.
2313 We always love those who admire us,
2314 but we do not always love those whom we admire.
2315 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld
2317 Wit sometimes enables us to act rudely with impunity.
2318 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld
2320 Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches
2321 beyond their own understanding.
2322 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, "Maxims" 1665
2324 Old people like to give good advice,
2325 as solace for no longer being able to provide bad examples.
2326 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, "Maxims" 1665
2328 Repentance is not so much remorse for what we have done
2329 as the fear of the consequences.
2330 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, "Maxims" 1665
2332 The reason that lovers never weary each other
2333 is because they are always talking about themselves.
2334 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, "Maxims" 1665
2336 Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are
2337 for finishing it.... You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing
2338 would fall flat in a week.
2341 Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
2344 Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
2347 There is nothing as stupid as an educated man
2348 if you get him off the thing he was educated in.
2351 There's no trick to being a humorist when you have
2352 the whole government working for you.
2355 This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session
2356 as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.
2359 We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb
2360 and clap as they go by.
2363 Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else.
2364 -- Will Rogers, "The Illiterate Digest", 1924
2366 I never met a man I didn't like.
2367 -- Will Rogers, speech, June 1930
2369 Half our life is spent trying to find something to do
2370 with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.
2371 -- Will Rogers, "The Autobiography of Will Rogers", 1949
2373 The world is an enormous injustice.
2376 We've sent a man to the moon, and that's 29,000 miles away. The center
2377 of the Earth is only 4,000 miles away. You could drive that in a week,
2378 but for some reason nobody's ever done it.
2381 No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
2382 -- Eleanor Roosevelt, "This is My Story", 1937
2384 The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those
2385 who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.
2386 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
2388 It is common sense to take a method and try it.
2389 If it fails, admit it frankly and try another.
2390 But above all, try something.
2391 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Speech, 22 May 1932
2393 The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
2394 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1st Inaugural Address, 1933
2396 A technique is a trick that works.
2399 One half of the children born die before their eighth year.
2400 This is nature's law; why try to contradict it?
2401 -- Jean Jacques Rousseau, "Emile, ou de l'education", 1762
2403 People who know little are usually great talkers,
2404 while men who know much say little.
2405 -- Jean Jacques Rousseau, "Emile, ou de l'education", 1762
2407 Never trust anyone over thirty. -- Jerry Rubin, 1966
2409 The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always
2410 so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
2413 Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -
2414 more than ruin, more even than death.
2415 -- Bertrand Russell, "Selected Papers"
2417 You can outdistance that which is running after you,
2418 but not what is running inside you.
2421 A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you.
2424 Women and elephants never forget an injury.
2425 -- Saki, "Reginald", 1904
2427 A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.
2428 -- Saki, "The Square Egg", 1924
2430 Neither soldiers nor money can defend a king
2431 but only friends won by good deeds, merit, and honesty.
2432 -- Sallust, "De bello Iugurthino"
2434 Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves,
2435 spits on its hands and goes to work.
2436 -- Carl Sandburg, in "New York Times", 1959
2438 In these times you have to be an optimist to open your eyes
2439 when you awake in the morning.
2440 -- Carl Sandburg, in "New York Post", 1960
2442 A man's feet should be planted in his country,
2443 but his eyes should survey the world.
2446 Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.
2449 Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
2452 When the rich make war it's the poor that die.
2453 -- Jean-Paul Sartre, "Le Diable et le bon Dieu", 1951
2455 Tolerance means excusing the mistakes others make.
2456 Tact means not noticing them.
2457 -- Arthur Schnitzler
2459 Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision
2460 for the limits of the world.
2461 -- Arthur Schopenhauer, "Studies in Pessimism"
2463 There's a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker.
2464 -- Charles M. Schulz
2466 Comment is free, but facts are sacred.
2467 -- C. P. Scott, c.1900
2469 They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist---
2470 -- General John B. Sedgwick, last words, 1864
2472 They that govern the most make the least noise.
2473 -- John Seldon, 1689
2475 People will swim through sh*t if you put a few bob in it.
2478 It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing.
2479 -- Seneca, "Epistles"
2481 There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
2482 -- Seneca, "On Tranquility of the Mind"
2484 Every reign must submit to a greater reign. -- Seneca, "Thyestes"
2486 Singing makes all the sad people happy because it is the voice of happiness.
2489 A government that robs Peter to pay Paul
2490 can always depend upon the support of Paul.
2491 -- George Bernard Shaw
2493 Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it.
2494 -- George Bernard Shaw
2496 If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.
2497 -- George Bernard Shaw
2499 It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.
2500 -- George Bernard Shaw
2502 Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior
2503 to all others because you were born in it.
2504 -- George Bernard Shaw
2506 Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman, but believing what he read made him mad.
2507 -- George Bernard Shaw
2509 We've already established what you are, ma'am.
2510 Now we're just haggling over the price.
2511 -- George Bernard Shaw
2513 Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.
2514 -- George Bernard Shaw, "The Rejected Statement"
2516 He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
2517 -- George Bernard Shaw, "Man and Superman", 1903
2519 Lack of money is the root of all evil.
2520 -- George Bernard Shaw, "Man and Superman", 1903
2522 Liars ought to have good memories.
2525 All reformers, however strict their social conscience,
2526 live in houses just as big as they can pay for.
2527 -- Logan Pearsall Smith
2529 I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
2532 I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.
2535 The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.
2538 If God had meant there to be more than 2 factors of production,
2539 He would have made it easier for us to draw three-dimensional diagrams.
2542 Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.
2545 Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole.
2548 If you want a thing well done, do it yourself.
2549 -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
2551 A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.
2554 The writer is the engineer of the human soul.
2557 Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party.
2558 -- Joseph Stalin, Speech, 19 April 1923
2560 Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union.
2561 -- Joseph Stalin, 1935
2563 Must the hunger become anger and the anger fury before anything will be done?
2566 Time is the only critic without ambition.
2567 -- John Steinbeck, "Writers at Work', 1977
2569 There are really not many jobs that actually require a penis or a
2570 vagina, and all other occupations should be open to everyone.
2573 A hungry man is not a free man.
2576 In America, any boy may become president and I suppose
2577 that's just one of the risks he takes.
2580 Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact
2581 that sometimes he has to eat them.
2584 The time to stop a revolution is at the beginning, not the end.
2585 -- Adlai Stevenson, 9 September 1952
2587 The cruelest lies are often told in silence.
2588 -- Robert Louis Stevenson, "Virginibus Puerisque", 1881
2590 Success always necessitates a degree of ruthlessness.
2591 Given the choice of friendship or success, I'd probably choose success.
2592 -- Sting (Gordon Summer), 1980
2594 If God, as some now say, is dead, He no doubt died of trying
2595 to find an equitable solution to the Arab-Jewish problem.
2596 -- I. F. Stone, 1967
2598 Ninety per cent of everything is crap.
2599 -- Theodore Sturgeon
2601 There is nothing in this world constant but inconstancy.
2604 Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and
2605 thinking what no one else has thought.
2606 -- Albert Szent-Gyorgi
2608 And you may ask yourself "Am I right? Am I wrong?"
2609 And you may say to yourself "MY GOD! WHAT HAVE I DONE?"
2610 -- The Talking Heads
2612 The nice thing about standards is that there are
2613 so many of them to choose from.
2614 -- Andrew S. Tanenbaum
2616 A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, will tell you.
2617 -- Bert Taylor, "The So-Called Human Race", 1922
2619 The hunger for love is much more difficult
2620 to remove than the hunger for bread.
2621 -- Mother Teresa, quoted in "Time", 4 December 1989
2623 El infierno es el lugar donde no se ama.
2624 (Hell is the place where love is not found.)
2627 If you want anything said, ask a man.
2628 If you want anything done, ask a woman.
2629 -- Margaret Thatcher
2631 You don't tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.
2632 -- Margaret Thatcher, 1976
2634 Under a government which imprisons any unjustly,
2635 the true place for a just man is also a prison.
2636 -- Henry David Thoreau
2638 That government is best which governs least.
2639 -- Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience" 1849
2641 The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
2642 -- Henry David Thoreau, "Walden", 1854
2644 If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
2645 perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
2646 -- Henry David Thoreau, "Walden", 1854
2648 The savage in man is never quite eradicated.
2649 -- Henry David Thoreau, "Journal", 26 September 1859
2651 I think that maybe if women and children
2652 were in charge we would get somewhere.
2655 It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.
2658 You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
2659 -- James Thurber, "The Thurber Carnival", 1945
2661 The Law of Raspberry Jam--The wider any culture is spread,
2662 the thinner it gets.
2663 -- Alvin Toffler, "The Culture Consumers", 1964
2665 The trouble with the rat-race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
2668 The function of genius is not to give new answers,
2669 but to pose new questions--which time and mediocrity can solve.
2670 -- Hugh Trevor-Roper, "Men and Events"
2672 The dictatorship of the Communist Party is maintained
2673 by recourse to every form of violence.
2674 -- Leon Trotsky, "Terrorism and Communism", 1924
2676 If you can't convince them, confuse them.
2679 If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
2682 It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
2685 Most of the problems a President has to face have their roots in the past.
2686 -- Harry S. Truman, "Memoirs, Vol. II", 1955
2688 A President cannot always be popular.
2689 -- Harry S. Truman, "Memoirs, Vol. II", 1955
2691 It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job;
2692 it's a depression when you lose yours.
2693 -- Harry S. Truman, 1958
2695 Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship.
2696 -- Harry S. Truman, 1959
2698 A little more moderation would be good. Of course,
2699 my life hasn't exactly been one of moderation.
2700 -- Donald Trump, in "Time", 16 January 1989
2702 I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking
2703 anything, you might as well think big.
2704 -- Donald Trump, in "Time", 16 January 1989
2706 The more laws and order are made prominent,
2707 the more thieves and robbers there will be.
2710 Words divide us, action unites us.
2711 -- Slogan of the Tupamaros
2713 If I had any humility I would be perfect.
2716 Man is the only animal that blushes--or needs to.
2719 The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
2722 The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
2725 When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand
2726 to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished
2727 at how much he had learned in seven years.
2730 Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority,
2731 it is time to reform.
2734 Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority,
2735 it's time to pause and reflect.
2738 Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear.
2739 -- Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson", 1894
2741 Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy
2742 you must have somebody to divide it with.
2743 -- Mark Twain, "Following the Equator", 1897
2745 Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.
2746 -- Mark Twain, Correspondence, 1908
2748 Good politics are often inextricably intertwined.
2749 -- Morris Udall, "Too Funny to Be President", 1988
2751 Lord, give us the wisdom to utter words that are gentle and tender,
2752 for tomorrow we may have to eat them.
2753 -- Morris Udall, quoted in "Sierra", May/June 1989
2755 To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be.
2756 -- Miguel de Unamuno, "The Tragic Sense of Life", 1913
2758 Nada muere, todo baja del rio del tiempo al mar de la eternidad y alli queda.
2759 -- Miguel de Unamuno, "Ver con los Ojos y Otros Relatos Novelescos"
2761 No es acaso todo esto un sueno de Dios o de quien sea,
2762 que se desvanecera en cuanto El despierte,
2763 y por eso le rezamos y elevamos a El canticos a himnos,
2764 para adormecerle, para cunar su sueno?
2765 -- Miguel de Unamuno, "Niebla", 1914
2767 Nadie tiene mas imaginacion que la realidad.
2768 -- Miguel de Unamuno, "El Espejo de la Muerte", 1941
2770 The Vice Presidency is sort of like the last cookie on the plate.
2771 Everybody insists he won't take it, but somebody always does.
2774 Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.
2775 (And perhaps at some later date it will be pleasant to remember these things.)
2778 Time is flying never to return.
2781 It is not enough to succed. Others must fail.
2784 There's a lot to be said for being noveau riche,
2785 and the Reagans mean to say it all.
2786 -- Gore Vidal, in "The Observer", 1981
2788 A witty saying proves nothing. -- Voltaire
2790 If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. -- Voltaire
2792 Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft...
2793 and the only one that can be mass-produced with unskilled labor.
2794 -- Wernher von Braun
2796 We are what we pretend to be. -- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
2798 One's company, two's a crowd and three's a party.
2799 -- Andy Warhol, in "Exposures", 1979
2801 The sports page records people's accomplishments;
2802 The front page nothing but their failures.
2803 -- Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren
2805 My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us
2806 to occupy the land until Jesus returns.
2807 -- James Watt, in "The Washington Post", 24 May 1981
2809 If you worry about your customers,
2810 you won't have to worry about money.
2811 -- Les Welch, in "Bicycle USA", March/April 1990
2813 I passionately hate the idea of being with it,
2814 I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.
2815 -- Orson Welles, 1966
2817 I never loved another person the way I loved myself. -- Mae West
2819 Too much of a good thing is wonderful. -- Mae West
2821 When choosing between two evils, I always like to take
2822 the one I've never tried before.
2823 -- Mae West, in "Klondike Annie" 1936
2825 Do I contradict myself?
2826 Very well then I contradict myself,
2827 (I am large, I contain multitudes.)
2828 -- Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass", 1855
2830 There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.
2833 No man is rich enough to buy back his past.
2836 There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about,
2837 and that is not being talked about.
2840 A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
2841 -- Oscar Wilde, "The Picture of Dorian Grey", 1891
2843 Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them;
2844 sometimes they forgive them.
2845 -- Oscar Wilde, "The Picture of Dorian Grey", 1891
2847 There is no sin except stupidity.
2848 -- Oscar Wilde, "The Critic as Artist", 1891
2850 We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
2851 -- Oscar Wilde, "Lady Windermere's Fan", 1892
2853 Relations are simply a tedious pack of people,
2854 who haven't got the remotest knowledge of how to live,
2855 nor the smallest instinct about when to die.
2856 -- Oscar Wilde, "The Importance of Being Earnest", 1895
2858 Hindsight is always 20:20.
2861 Voters do not decide issues. They decide *who* will decide issues.
2862 -- George F. Will, in "Newsweek", 1976
2864 Anyone can hate. It costs to love.
2867 Only the winners decide what were war crimes.
2868 -- Gary Wills, in "New York Times", 1975
2870 Not-really-trying is just as much effort as trying-really-hard.
2871 The only difference... is that not-really-trying receives no reward.
2872 -- A. N. Wilson, "Incline Our Hearts", 1989
2874 If you think nobody cares if you're alive,
2875 try missing a couple of car payments.
2878 You can't expect to hit the jackpot if you don't
2879 put a few nickels in the machine.
2880 -- Flip Wilson, 1971
2882 Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others.
2883 -- Jonathan Winters in "The Twilight Zone"
2885 The limits of my language means the limits of my world.
2886 -- Ludwig Wittgenstein
2888 Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses
2889 possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting
2890 the figure of man at twice its natural size.
2891 -- Virginia Woolf, "A Room of One's Own", 1929
2893 TV is chewing gum for the eyes.
2894 -- Frank Lloyd Wright
2896 I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.
2899 Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
2900 -- William Butler Yeats
2902 He who is conceived in a cage yearns for the cage.
2903 -- Yevgeny Yevtushenko, 1968
2905 It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!
2908 Most people wouldn't know music if it came up and bit them on the ass.
2911 One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you
2912 only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds.
2913 -- Frank Zappa, 1979
2915 Progress might be a circle, rather than a straight line.
2916 -- Eberhard Zeidler, in "Contemporary Architects", 1980
2918 Once when I was in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, I met a
2919 mysterious old stranger. He said he was about to die and
2920 wanted to tell someone about the treasure. I said, "Okay, as
2921 long as it's not a long story. Some of us have a plane to catch,
2922 you know." He started telling his story, about the treasure
2923 and his life and all, and I thought "This story isn't too long".
2924 But then, he kept going, and I started thinking, "Uh-oh, this
2925 story is getting long." But then the story was over, and I said
2926 to myself: "You know, that story wasn't too long after all".
2927 I forgot what the story was about, but there was a good movie
2928 on the plane. It was a little long though.
2929 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2931 I believe in making the world safe for our children,
2932 but not for our children's children, because i don't
2933 believe children should be having sex.
2934 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2936 In weightlifting, I don't think that sudden uncontrolled urination should
2937 automatically disqualify you.
2938 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2940 Blow ye winds, like the trumpet blows, but without that noise.
2941 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2943 When the age of the Vikings came to a close, they must have sensed it.
2944 Probably, they gathered together one evening, slapped each other on the
2945 back and said, "Hey, good job".
2946 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2948 I can still recall old Mister Barnslow getting out every morning and nailing
2949 a fresh load of tadpoles to that old board of his. Then he'd spin it round
2950 and round, like a wheel of fortune, and no matter where it stopped he'd yell
2951 out, "Tadpoles! Tadpoles is a winner!" We all thought he was crazy. But
2952 then, we had some growing up to do.
2953 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2955 If I ever opened a trampoline store, I don't think I'd call it Trampo-Land,
2956 because you might think it was a store for tramps, which is not the
2957 impression we are trying to convey with our store. On the other hand, we
2958 would not prohibit tramps from browsing, or testing the trampolines, unless
2959 a tramp's gyrations seemed to be getting out of control.
2960 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2962 I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep both Dracula
2963 _and_ Superman away.
2964 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2966 Too bad you can't just grab a tree by the very tiptop and bend it clear to
2967 the ground and then let her fly, because I bet you'd be amazed at all the
2968 stuff that comes flying out.
2969 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2971 I remember that fateful day when Coach took me aside. I knew
2973 "You don't have to tell me," I said. "I am off the team, aren't I?"
2974 "Well," said the coach, "You never were really _on_ the team. You
2975 made that uniform you're wearing out of rags and towels, and your helmet
2976 is a toy space helmet. You show up at practice and then either steal the
2977 ball and make us chase you to get it back, or you try to tackle people at
2978 inappropriate times."
2979 It was all true what he was saying. And yet, I thought, something is
2980 brewing inside the head of the coach. He sees something inside of me,
2981 some kind of raw talent that he can mold. But that's when I felt the
2983 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2985 When I heard that trees grow a new "ring" for each year they live, I thought,
2986 we humans are kind of like that; we grow a new layer of skin each year; and
2987 after many years we are thick and unwieldy from all our skin layers.
2988 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2990 If you're in a boxing match, try not to let the other guy's glove touch your
2991 lips, because you don't know where that glove has been.
2992 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2994 It's too bad that whole families have been torn apart by something as
2995 simple as wild dogs.
2996 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
2998 Marta says the interesting thing about fly fishing is that it's two lives
2999 connected by a thin strand. Come on, Marta. Grow up.
3000 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3002 The old pool shooter had many a game in his life. But now it was time to
3003 hang up the cue. When he did, all the other cues came crashing to the floor.
3004 "Sorry," he said with a smile.
3005 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3007 If I ever do a book on the Amazon, I hope I am able to bring a certain
3008 lightheartedness to the subject, in a way that tells the reader we are going
3009 to have fun with this thing.
3010 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3012 Even though he was an enemy of mine, I had to admit that what he had
3013 accomplished was a brillant piece of stratagy. First, he punched me, then
3014 he kicked me, then he punched me again.
3015 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3017 The sound of fresh rain run-off splashing from the roof reminded me of the
3018 sound of urine splashing into a filthy Texaco latrine.
3019 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3021 I think somebody should come up with a way to breed a very
3022 large shrimp. That way, you could ride him, then, after you
3023 camped at night, you could eat him. How about it, science?
3024 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3026 I scrambled to the top of the precipice where Nick was waiting. "That was
3027 fun," I said. "You bet it was", said Nick. "Lets climb higher." "No," I
3028 said, "I think we should be heading back now." "We have time," Nick
3029 insisted. I said we didn't, and Nick said we did. We argued back and forth
3030 like that for about 20 minutes, then finally decided to head back. I didn't
3031 say it was an interesting story.
3032 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3034 Some folks say it was a miracle. Saint Francis suddenly appeared and knocked
3035 the pitch clean over the fence. But I think it was just a lucky swing.
3036 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3038 Too bad there's not such a thing as a _golden_ skunk, because you'd probably
3039 be _proud_ to be sprayed by one.
3040 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3042 To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And, at the same
3043 time unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between, plus some things I
3044 can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing". This is truth, to me.
3045 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3047 I bet a fun thing would be to go way back in time to where there was going to
3048 be an eclipse and tell the cave men, "If I have come to destroy you, may the
3049 sun be blotted out from the sky". Just then the eclipse would start, and
3050 they'd probably try to kill you or something, but then you could explain about
3051 the rotation of the moon and all, and everyone would get a good laugh.
3052 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3054 I think in one of my previous lives I was a mighty king, because I like
3055 people that do what I say.
3056 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3058 Today I accidentally stepped on a snail on the sidewalk in front of our
3059 house. And I thought, I too am like that snail. I build a defensive wall
3060 around myself, a "shell" if you will. But my shell isn't made out of a hard,
3061 protective substance. Mine is made out of tinfoil and paper bags.
3062 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3064 A man doesn't automatically get my respect. He has to get down in the dirt
3066 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3068 If you're ever stuck in some thick undergrowth, in your underwear, don't
3069 stop and start thinking of what other words have "under" in them, because
3070 that's probably the first sign of jungle madness.
3071 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3073 Sometimes the beauty of the world is so overwhelming, I just want to throw
3074 back my head and gargle. Just gargle and gargle, and I don't care who hears
3075 me, because I am beautiful.
3076 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3078 Fear can sometimes be a useful emotion. For instance, let's say you're an
3079 astronaut on the moon and you fear that your partner has been turned into
3080 Dracula. The next time he goes out for the moon pieces, wham!!, you just
3081 slam the door behind him and blast off. He might call you on the radio and
3082 say he's not Dracula, but you just say, "Think again, bat man."
3083 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3085 I wish scientists would come up with a way to make a dogs a lot bigger, but
3086 with a smaller head. That way, they'd still be good as watchdogs, but they
3087 wouldn't eat so much.
3088 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3090 I bet for an Indian, shooting an old fat pioneer woman in the back with an
3091 arrow, and she fires her shotgun into the ground as she falls over, is like
3092 the top thing you can do.
3093 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3095 I think a good movie would be about a guy who's a brain scientist but he gets
3096 hit on the head and it damages the part of the brain that makes you want
3098 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3100 I wouldn't be surprised if someday some fishermen caught a big shark and cut
3101 it open, and there inside was a whole person. Then they cut the person open,
3102 and in him is a little baby shark. And in the baby shark there isn't a
3103 person, because it would be too small. But there's a little doll or
3104 something, like a Johnny Combat little toy guy--something like that.
3105 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3107 It makes me mad when I go to all the trouble of having Marta cook up about
3108 a hundred drumsticks, then the guy at Marineland says, "You can't throw
3109 chicken to the dolphins. They eat fish." Sure they eat fish, if that is all
3110 you give them. Man, wise up.
3111 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3113 If the Vikings were around today, they would probably be amazed at how much
3114 glow-in-the-dark stuff we have, and how we take so much of it for granted.
3115 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3117 It's not good to let any kid near a container that has a skull and
3118 crossbones on it, because there might be a skeleton costume inside and the
3119 kid could put it on and really scare you.
3120 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3122 If you had a school for professional fireworks people, I don't think you
3123 could cover fuses in just one class. It's just too rich a subject.
3124 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3126 People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they
3127 forget the negative side, which is the preening.
3128 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3130 If I lived back in the Wild West days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my
3131 holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy
3132 said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started
3133 laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's
3134 right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody
3135 would be real quiet and ashamed, because they made fun of the soldering iron
3136 of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink.
3137 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3139 When I think back on all the blessings I have been given in my life, I can't
3140 think of a single one, unless you count that rattlesnake that granted me
3142 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3144 I hope in the future Americans are thought of as a warlike, vicious people,
3145 because I bet a lot of high schools would pick "Americans" as their mascot.
3146 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3148 Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad. And then I think, "Aw,
3149 who cares?" And then I think "Hey, what's for supper?"
3150 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3152 If you ever discover that what you're seeing is a play within a play, just
3153 slow down, take a deep breath, and hold on for the ride of your life.
3154 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3156 I can see why it would be prohibited to throw most things off the top of
3157 the Empire State Building, but what's wrong with little bits of cheese?
3158 They probably break down into their various gases before they even hit.
3159 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3161 If you're a circus clown, and you have a dog that you use in your act, I
3162 don't think it's a good idea to to dress the dog up like a clown, because
3163 people see that and they think, "Forgive me, but that's just too much".
3164 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3166 Here's a good joke to do during an earthquake: straddle a big crack in the
3167 ground, and if it opens wider, go "Whoa! Whoa!" and flail your arms around,
3168 like you're going to fall in.
3169 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3171 If you ever go temporarily insane, don't shoot somebody, like a lot of people
3172 do. Instead, try to get some weeding done, because you'd really be suprised.
3173 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3175 It makes me mad when people say I turned and ran like a scared rabbit. Maybe
3176 it was like an angry rabbit, who was running to go fight in another fight,
3177 away from the first fight.
3178 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3180 I think a good way to get into a movie is to show up where they're making the
3181 movie, then stick a big cactus plant onto your buttocks and start yowling
3182 and running around. Everyone would think it was funny, and the head movie guy
3183 would say, "Hey, let's put him in the movie."
3184 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3186 Instead of having "answers" on a math test, they should just call them
3187 "impressions", and if you got a different "impression", so what, can't we
3189 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3191 If God dwells inside us, like some people say, I sure hope He likes
3192 enchiladas, because that's what He's getting!
3193 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3195 Probably to a shark, about the funniest thing there is a wounded seal,
3196 trying to swim to shore, because _where_does_he_think_he's_going_?!
3197 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3199 Perhaps, if I am very lucky, the feeble efforts of my lifetime will someday
3200 be noticed, and maybe, in some small way, they will be acknowledged as the
3201 greatest works of genius ever created by Man.
3202 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3204 Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine,
3205 which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.
3206 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3208 Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself:
3209 "Mankind." Basically, it's made up of two separate words--"mank" and "ind."
3210 What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
3211 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3213 I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they choose a king, they don't
3214 just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good
3216 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3218 It takes a big man to cry, but it takes an even bigger man to laugh at
3220 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3222 I guess we were all guilty, in a way. We all shot him, we all skinned him,
3223 and we all got a complimentary bumper sticker that said, "I helped skin
3225 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3227 I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is
3228 they don't want anybody walking in and lying down in the crash stuff, then,
3229 when somebody comes up, act like they just woke up and go, "What was
3231 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3233 The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.
3234 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3236 Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus Flytrap. The flytrap can bite
3237 and bite, but it won't bother the frog because it only has little tiny
3238 plant teeth. But some other stuff could happen and it could be like
3240 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3242 I'd rather be rich than stupid.
3243 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3245 If you were a poor Indian with no weapons, and a bunch of conquistadors
3246 came up to you and asked where the gold was, I don't think it would be a
3247 good idea to say, "I swallowed it. So sue me."
3248 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3250 If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger,
3251 screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave Man, I
3253 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3255 I bet one legend that keeps recurring throughout history, in every culture,
3256 is the story of Popeye.
3257 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3259 When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they
3261 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3263 To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography,
3264 and the dancers hit each other.
3265 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3267 What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a
3268 solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know.
3269 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3271 We tend to scoff at the beliefs of the ancients. But we can't scoff at
3272 them personally, to their faces, and this is what annoys me.
3273 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3275 Probably the earliest flyswatters were nothing more than some sort of
3276 striking surface attached to the end of a long stick.
3277 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3279 I think someone should have had the decency to tell me the luncheon was
3280 free. To make someone run out with potato salad in his hand, pretending
3281 he's throwing up, is not what I call hospitality.
3282 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3284 To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary. I've
3285 wondered where this started, and I think it goes back to the time I went to
3286 the circus, and a clown killed my dad.
3287 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3289 As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness about it that was
3290 very pleasurable-until I realized it wasn't a nectarine at all, but A HUMAN
3292 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3294 Most people don't realize that large pieces of coral, which have been
3295 painted brown and attached to the skull by common wood screws, can make a
3296 child look like a deer.
3297 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3299 If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We
3300 might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
3301 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3303 Better not take a dog on the space shuttle, because if he sticks his head
3304 out when you're coming home his face might burn up.
3305 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3307 You know what would make a good story? Something about a clown who makes
3308 people happy, but inside he's real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea.
3309 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3311 Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm
3312 myself down. I'll go over to the persons house and ring the doorbell.
3313 When the person comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on
3314 the porch? A jack-o-lantern with a knife stuck in the side of it's head with
3315 a note that says "You." After that I usually feel a lot better, and no
3317 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3319 If you're a horse, and someone gets on you, and falls off, and then gets
3320 right back on you, I think you should buck him off right away.
3321 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3323 If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing is to keep
3324 the students from just trying to yodel right off. You see, we build to
3326 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3328 If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe
3329 you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey,
3331 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3333 I'd like to see a nude opera, because when they hit those high notes, I bet
3334 you can really see it in those genitals.
3335 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3337 Anytime I see something screech across a room and latch onto someone's
3338 neck, and the guy screams and tries to get it off, I have to laugh, because
3340 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3342 He was a cowboy, mister, and he loved the land. He loved it so much he
3343 made a woman out of dirt and married her. But when he kissed her, she
3344 disintegrated. Later, at the funeral, when the preacher said, "Dust to
3345 dust," some people laughed, and the cowboy shot them. At his hanging, he
3346 told the others, "I'll be waiting for you in heaven--with a gun."
3347 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3349 The memories of my family outings are still a source of strength to me. I
3350 remember we'd all pile into the car-I forget what kind it was-and drive and
3351 drive. I'm not sure where we'd go, but I think there were some trees there.
3352 The smell of something was strong in the air as we played whatever sport we
3353 played. I remember a bigger, older guy we called "Dad." We'd eat some stuff,
3354 or not, and then I think we went home. I guess some things never leave you.
3355 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3357 If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is
3358 "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to
3359 tell him is "probably because of something you did."
3360 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3362 Contrary to what most people say, the most dangerous animal in the world is
3363 not the lion or the tiger or even the elephant. It's a shark riding on an
3364 elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see.
3365 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3367 As we were driving, we saw a sign that said "Watch for Rocks." Martha said
3368 it should read "Watch for Pretty Rocks." I told her she should write in
3369 her suggestion to the highway department, but she started saying it was a
3370 joke-- just to get out of writing a simple letter! And I thought I was lazy!
3371 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3373 One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my
3374 little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out
3375 warehouse. "Oh, no," I said, "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried,
3376 but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started
3377 to drive over to the the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.
3378 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3380 If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flipper, which one would you think
3381 liked dolphins the most? I'd say Flippy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong,
3382 though. It's Hambone.
3383 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3385 Laurie got offended because I used the word "puke."
3386 But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like.
3387 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3389 We used to laugh at Grandpa when he'd head off and go fishing. But we
3390 wouldn't be laughing that evening when he'd come back with a whore he
3392 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3394 I wish a robot would get elected president. That way, when he came to
3395 town, we could all take a shot at him and not feel too bad.
3396 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3398 As the evening sky faded from a salmon color to a sort of flint gray, I
3399 thought back to the salmon I caught that morning, and how gray he was, and
3400 how I named him Flint.
3401 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3403 If you're a young Mafia gangster out on your first date, I bet it's real
3404 embarrassing if someone tries to kill you.
3405 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3407 Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first
3408 instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell
3409 on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny.
3410 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3412 If you go parachuting, and your parachute doesn't open, and your friends
3413 are all watching you fall, I think a funny gag would be to pretend you were
3415 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3417 When I was a kid, my favorite relative was Uncle Caveman. After school
3418 we'd all go play in his cave, and every once in a while he would eat one of
3419 us. It wasn't until later that I found out that Uncle Caveman was a bear.
3420 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3422 I think people tend to forget that trees are living creatures. They're
3423 sort of like dogs. Huge, quiet, motionless dogs, with bark instead of fur.
3424 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
3426 Another major social development of the time was the Temperance
3427 Movement, led by Carrie Nation, who headed an organization called
3428 Scary Looking Women with Hatchets. They would swoop down upon saloons
3429 and smash all the whiskey bottles, then go back to their headquarters,
3430 fire up reefers as big as Roman candles, and laugh until dawn. This
3431 resulted in so much social turmoil that in 1918 Congress decided to
3432 have a total prohibition on alcohol, which was approved early on a
3433 Saturday morning by a vote of 9-2, with 416 members unable to attend
3434 because of severe headaches. Thus began the nation's "Noble
3435 Experiment," which was eventually judged to be a noble failure and
3436 replaced by the current sensible and coherent alcohol policy of
3437 showing public-service TV announcements wherein professional sports
3438 figures urge people not to drink, interspersed with TV commercials
3439 wherein professional sports figures urge people to drink.
3440 -- from "Dave Barry Slept Here", 1989
3444 The Tao that can be known is not Tao.
3445 The substance of the World is only a name for Tao.
3446 Tao is all that exists and may exist;
3447 The World is only a map of what exists and may exist.
3449 One experiences without Self to sense the World;
3450 One experiences with Self to understand the World.
3451 The two experiences are the same within Tao;
3452 They are distinct only within the World.
3453 Neither experience conveys Tao
3454 Which is infinitely greater and subtler than the World.
3458 When Beauty is ascribed to the World
3459 Ugliness has been learned;
3460 When Good is ascribed to the World
3461 Evil has been learned.
3464 Alive and dead are abstracted from growth;
3465 Difficult and easy are abstracted from progress;
3466 Long and short are abstracted from contrast;
3467 High and low are abstracted from position;
3468 Song and speech are abstracted from harmony;
3469 After and before are abstracted from sequence.
3471 For this reason the sage controls without instruction,
3472 And teaches without words.
3473 He lets all things rise and fall,
3474 Nurtures, but does not interfere,
3475 Gives without demanding,
3478 3. Control without Action
3480 Not praising the worthy prevents cheating
3481 Not esteeming the rare prevents theft
3482 Not flaunting beauty prevents lust
3484 So the sage controls people by:
3485 Emptying their hearts,
3486 Filling their bellies,
3487 Weakening their ambitions,
3488 And strengthening their bodies.
3490 If people lack knowledge and desire
3491 The crafty among them can not act;
3492 If no action is taken
3493 Then all live in peace.
3495 4. Properties of Tao
3497 Tao is a depthless vessel;
3498 Used by the Self, it is not filled by the World;
3499 It cannot be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;
3500 Its depths are hidden, ubiquitous and eternal;
3501 I don't know where it came from,
3502 But it came before Nature.
3507 It treats all things impartially.
3508 The Sage is not kind,
3509 And treats all people impartially.
3511 Nature is like a bellows
3512 Empty, yet supplying all needs,
3513 The more it moves, the more it yields;
3514 The sage draws upon Tao in the same way
3515 And so can not be exhausted.
3519 Like a riverbed, the heart is never filled
3520 It is an ineffable female
3521 Whose entrance is the root of the World;
3522 Tao is ever present within it:
3523 Draw upon it and it will never fail.
3527 Nature is everlasting
3528 Because it does not have a Self.
3530 In the same way the sage
3531 Serves his Self last and finds it served first,
3532 Regards his body as accidental and finds it endures;
3533 Because his Self does not require service
3538 The best of man is like water,
3539 Which benefits all things, and does not contend with them,
3540 Which flows in places that others disdain,
3541 Where it holds fast to Tao.
3544 In dwelling holds fast to the land,
3545 In feeling holds fast to the heart,
3546 In dealing holds fast to men,
3547 In talking holds fast to truth,
3548 In governing holds fast to order,
3549 In crafting holds fast to competence,
3550 In acting holds fast to opportunity;
3551 So he does not contend, and is without blame.
3555 Stretch a bow to its limit and it is soon broken;
3556 Temper a blade to its sharpest and it is soon blunted;
3557 Amass the greatest treasure and it is soon stolen;
3558 Claim credit and honour and you will soon fall;
3559 Retire once your purpose is achieved--this is the best way.
3563 Embracing Tao, can you become embraced?
3564 Supple, breathing gently, can you become newborn?
3565 Clearing your vision, can you become clear?
3566 Nurturing your beloved, can you become impartial?
3567 Opening your heart, can you become female?
3568 Knowing the world, can you embrace Tao?
3570 Bearing and nurturing,
3571 Creating but not owning,
3572 Giving without demanding,
3573 Controlling without authority.
3576 11. Wealth and Worth
3578 Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
3579 Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
3580 Clay is moulded into a vessel;
3581 Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
3582 Walls are built around a hearth
3583 Because of the doors we may use the house.
3584 Thus wealth comes from what is,
3585 But worth from what is not.
3589 Too much color blinds the eye
3590 Too much tone deafens the ear
3591 Too much taste dulls the palate
3592 Too much play maddens the mind
3593 Too much desire tears the heart.
3595 The sage provides for the belly but not for the senses;
3596 He lets go of sensation and accepts substance.
3600 The mythic masters said: "Praise and blame cause anxiety;
3601 The objects of hope and fear are within your Self."
3603 "Praise and blame cause anxiety"
3604 For you must hope and fear to receive or to lose them.
3606 "The objects of hope and fear are within your Self"
3607 For, without Self, neither fortune nor disaster can befall.
3610 He who regards the World as the Self is able to control the World;
3611 He who loves the World as the Self is able to nurture the World.
3613 14. The Continuity of Tao
3615 Looked at but cannot be seen--it is beyond form;
3616 Listened to but cannot be heard--it is beyond sound;
3617 Grasped at but cannot be touched--it is beyond reach;
3618 Depthless things evade definition,
3619 And blend into a single mystery.
3621 In its rising there is no light,
3622 In its falling there is no darkness,
3623 A continuous thread beyond description,
3624 Lining what can not exist,
3628 Meet it, it has no face,
3629 Follow it, it has no back.
3631 Understand the past, but attend the present;
3632 In this way you know the continuity of Tao,
3633 Which is its essence.
3635 15. The Mythic Masters
3637 The Mythic Masters of Tao had understanding
3638 So profound they can not be understood.
3640 Because they cannot be understood
3641 I can only describe their appearance:
3642 Cautious, like one crossing thin ice,
3643 Hesitant, like one who fears danger,
3644 Modest, like one who is a guest,
3645 Smooth, like melting ice,
3646 Genuine, like unshaped wood,
3647 Empty, like a riverbed,
3648 Opaque, like muddy water.
3650 He who can lie still while the mud settles,
3651 And remain still until the water flows
3652 Does not seek fulfillment
3653 And may transcend Nature.
3655 16. Transcending Nature
3657 Empty the Self completely;
3658 Embrace perfect peace.
3659 The World will rise and move;
3660 Watch it return to rest.
3661 All the flourishing things
3662 Will return to their source.
3664 This return is peaceful;
3665 It is the way of Nature,
3666 An eternal decay and renewal.
3667 Understanding this brings enlightenment,
3668 Ignorance of this brings misery.
3670 Who understands Nature's way becomes all-cherishing;
3671 Being all-cherishing he becomes impartial;
3672 Being impartial he becomes magnanimous;
3673 Being magnanimous he becomes part of Nature;
3674 Being part of Nature he becomes one with Tao;
3675 Being one with Tao he becomes immortal:
3676 Though his body will decay, Tao will not.
3680 The best rulers are scarcely known by their subjects;
3681 The next best are loved and praised;
3682 The next are feared;
3684 They have no faith in their subjects,
3685 So their subjects become unfaithful to them.
3687 When the best kings achieve their purpose
3688 Their subjects claim the achievement as their own.
3692 When Tao is forgotten
3693 Duty and justice arise;
3694 Then wisdom and sagacity are born
3695 Along with hypocrisy.
3697 When family relationships dissolve
3698 Then respect and devotion arise;
3699 When a nation falls to chaos
3700 Then loyalty and patriotism are born.
3704 If we could discard wisdom and sagacity
3705 Then people would profit a hundredfold;
3706 If we could discard duty and justice
3707 Then loving relationships would form;
3708 If we could discard artifice and profit
3709 Then corruption and theft would disappear -
3710 Yet such remedies treat only symptoms
3711 And so are inadequate.
3713 People need personal remedies:
3714 Reveal your naked Self,
3715 Embrace your original nature,
3716 Bind your self-interest,
3717 Control your desire.
3721 I know nothing and nothing troubles me.
3722 I see no difference between yes and no.
3723 I see no difference between good and evil.
3724 I do not fear what the people fear in the night.
3726 The people are merry as if at a tremendous party
3727 Or playing in the park at springtime;
3728 But I am tranquil and wandering,
3729 Like a newborn before it learns to smile,
3730 Lonely, with no true home.
3732 The people have enough and to spare,
3734 And my heart is foolish,
3737 The people are bright and certain,
3738 Where I am dim and confused;
3739 The people are clever and wise,
3740 Where I am dull and ignorant,
3741 Aimless as a wave drifting over the sea,
3742 Attached to nothing.
3744 The people are busy with purpose,
3745 Where I am impractical and uncouth.
3746 I am apart from all other people
3747 Yet I am sustained by Nature, their mother.
3749 21. Expressions of Tao
3751 Love is expressed by following Tao.
3753 Tao is evasive and intangible
3754 But expresses all form and substance;
3755 Tao is dark and subtle
3756 But expresses Nature;
3757 Nature is unchanging,
3758 But expresses sensation.
3760 Since before knowledge
3761 Tao has expressed these things.
3763 By faith in my senses.
3765 22. Contention and Contentment
3767 Accept and you become whole,
3768 Bend and you straighten,
3770 Decay and you renew,
3771 Want and you acquire,
3772 Fulfill and you become confused.
3774 The sage embraces the one
3775 As the World embraces Tao;
3776 He does not display himself, so is clearly seen,
3777 Does not justify himself, so is famed,
3778 Does not boast, so is credited,
3779 Does not glory, so excels,
3780 Does not contend, and so no one contends against him.
3782 The mythic masters said, "Accept and you become whole",
3783 Once whole, the World is your home.
3787 Nature says only a few words:
3788 High wind does not last long,
3789 Nor does heavy rain.
3790 If Nature's words do not last
3791 Why should those of man?
3793 To follow Tao, become Tao; Tao will embrace you.
3794 To give love, become love; love will embrace you.
3795 To lose Tao, become lost; loss will embrace you.
3796 You must trust in order to be trusted.
3800 If you stand on tiptoe you can not stand steady;
3801 If you stride too long you can not stride well;
3802 If you display yourself you can not be clearly seen;
3803 If you justify yourself you can not be respected;
3804 If you promote yourself you can not be believed;
3805 If you pride yourself you can not excel.
3806 These behaviours are dregs and tumors,
3807 Disgusting things avoided by love.
3809 25. Four Infinities.
3811 Before the World exists
3815 Ubiquitous and ever moving,
3816 The mother of the World.
3817 I can not know its name, so I call it Tao;
3818 I can not know its limit, so I call it infinite.
3820 Being infinite, it flows away forever
3821 Flowing away forever, it will return to the Self.
3823 For the Self follows the way of the World
3824 The World follows the way of Nature
3825 And Nature follows the way of Tao.
3829 Therefore Nature is infinite,
3830 Therefore the World is infinite,
3831 Therefore the Self is infinite.
3832 There are four infinities,
3833 And the Self is one of them.
3835 26. Gravity and Calm
3837 Gravity is the root of Lightness,
3838 Calm, the master of Haste
3840 The commander of a great fleet should not act lightly or hastily.
3841 Acting lightly, he loses touch with the World,
3842 Acting hastily, he loses control of the Self.
3844 The sage will travel all day without losing his vehicles.
3845 Surrounded by desirable things,
3846 He remains calm and unattached.
3850 A good traveller leaves no trail to be followed
3851 A good speaker leaves no questions to be asked
3852 A good accountant leaves no workings to be checked
3853 A good container leaves no lock to be opened
3854 A good fastener leaves no knots to be unravelled
3856 So the sage nurtures all men
3857 And abandons no one.
3858 He accepts everything
3859 And rejects nothing.
3860 He attends to the smallest details.
3862 So the strong must guide the weak,
3863 For the weak are raw material to the strong.
3864 If the guide is not respected
3865 Or the material is not nurtured
3866 Confusion will result, no matter how clever one is.
3867 This is the essence of subtlety.
3869 28. Being the Female
3871 Knowing the male, being the female,
3872 Being the course through which flows the World,
3873 One possesses unfailing Love
3874 And exists again as a newborn.
3876 Knowing the light, being the dark,
3878 One becomes unerring Love
3881 Knowing honour, being humble,
3882 Being the valley of the World,
3884 And one becomes as unshaped wood.
3886 When wood is shaped it becomes tools.
3887 Used by the sage, tools become powerful;
3888 A good carpenter wastes little.
3892 Those who wish to change the World
3893 According with their desire
3896 The World is shaped by Tao;
3897 It cannot be shaped by the Self.
3898 If one tries to shape it, one damages it;
3899 If one tries to possess it, one loses it.
3902 Sometimes things will flourish,
3903 And sometimes they will not.
3904 Sometimes life is hard
3905 And sometimes it is easy.
3906 Sometimes people are strong
3907 And sometimes they are weak.
3908 Sometimes you get where you are going
3909 And sometimes you fall by the way.
3911 The sage is never extreme, extravagant, or complacent.
3915 Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,
3916 For violence has a habit of returning;
3917 Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,
3918 And lean years follow a great war.
3920 A general is well advised
3921 To achieve nothing more than his orders,
3922 No matter how strong his army;
3923 To carry out his orders
3924 But not glory, boast or be proud;
3925 To do what is dictated by necessity,
3926 But not by bloodlust;
3927 For even the fiercest force will weaken with time,
3928 And then its violence will return, and kill it.
3930 31. Tools of Violence
3932 Soldiers are tools of violence, feared by all;
3933 The sage will not employ them.
3934 His purpose is creation;
3935 Their purpose is destruction.
3937 Weapons are tools of violence, not of the wise man;
3938 He uses them when there is no choice
3939 For he values peace and tact,
3940 And does not delight in conquest.
3942 For who delights in conquest
3943 Delights in the slaughter of men;
3944 Who delights in the slaughter of men
3945 Cannot control them.
3947 Slaughters should be mourned
3948 And conquest should be celebrated with a funeral.
3952 Tao has no true definition.
3953 Like unshaped wood, it has no use;
3954 If a ruler understands this
3955 His whole country flourishes and obeys
3956 In harmony with his Self,
3957 Just as sweet rain falls
3958 Needing no instruction
3959 To slake the thirst of all.
3961 When Tao is shaped by use,
3962 The shape gains a name in the World;
3963 One should not keep too many names
3964 Lest their shapes stop up the Self;
3965 Instead let Tao flow through the Self into the World
3966 As water courses down a riverbed into the sea.
3970 He who understands the World is learned;
3971 He who understands the Self is enlightened.
3972 He who conquers the World has strength;
3973 He who conquers the Self has love.
3974 He who is contented has riches;
3975 He who is determined has purpose.
3976 He who maintains his home will long endure
3977 He who maintains his influence will live long after death.
3979 34. Tao Favours Nothing
3981 Infinite Tao flows everywhere, creating and destroying,
3982 Implementing all the World, attending to the tiniest details,
3983 Claiming nothing in return.
3985 It nurtures all things,
3986 Though it does not control them;
3988 So it seems inconsequential.
3990 It is the substance of all things;
3991 Though it does not control them;
3993 So it seems all-important.
3995 Because it favours no finite thing,
4000 Tao lacks art and flavour;
4001 It can neither be seen nor heard,
4002 Yet its application cannot be exhausted.
4004 So, if you offer music and food
4005 Strangers may stop with you;
4006 But if you accord with the shape of Tao
4007 The people of the World will keep you
4008 In safety, health, community, and peace.
4012 To reduce someone's influence, first cause it to expand;
4013 To reduce someone's force, first cause it to increase;
4014 To overthrow someone, first cause them to be exalted;
4015 To take something from someone, first give it to them.
4017 This is the subtlety by which the weak overcome the strong,
4018 For fish should not leave their depths;
4019 And soldiers should not leave their camouflage.
4021 37. Quieting the Heart
4023 Tao does not act, yet leaves nothing undone.
4024 If the Self understands this
4025 All things of the World will naturally flourish;
4026 Flourishing, they will be restrained by Nature.
4028 Nature does not possess desire;
4029 Without desire, the heart becomes quiet,
4030 And so the whole World may be made tranquil.
4034 The kind act without self-interest;
4035 The just act to serve self-interest;
4036 The religious act to reproduce self-interest.
4038 When Tao is lost, there is love;
4039 When love is lost, there is kindness;
4040 When kindness is lost, there is justice;
4041 And when justice is lost, there is religion.
4043 Well established hierarchies are not easily uprooted;
4044 Closely held beliefs are not easily released;
4045 So religions enthrall generation after generation.
4047 Religion is the dissolution of love and trust,
4048 The beginning of confusion.
4049 Belief is a colourful hope or fear,
4050 The origin of folly.
4052 The sage goes by knowledge, not by hope;
4053 He dwells in the fruit, not the flower;
4054 He accepts the former, and rejects the latter.
4058 In mythic times things were whole:
4059 All the sky was clear,
4060 All the earth was stable,
4061 All the mountains were strong,
4062 All the riverbeds were full,
4063 All of nature was alive,
4064 All the rulers were supported.
4066 For without clarity the sky tears;
4067 Without stability the earth cracks;
4068 Without strength the mountain collapses;
4069 Without water the riverbed stagnates;
4070 Without life nature dies back;
4071 And without support rulers fall.
4073 So the ruler depends upon his subjects,
4074 The noble depend upon the humble;
4075 Rulers call themselves orphaned, lonely or disabled,
4076 To win the people's sympathy,
4077 For wholeness gains no support.
4079 So there is weakness in power,
4080 And power in weakness;
4081 Rather than tinkle like jade,
4082 One should clatter like stones.
4084 40. Application of Tao
4086 The motion of Tao is to return;
4087 The use of Tao is to accept;
4088 All things are made of Tao,
4089 And Tao is made of nothing.
4093 When the strong learn Tao, they practice it diligently;
4094 When the average learn Tao, they practice it sometimes;
4095 When the weak learn Tao, they laugh out loud;
4096 Those who do not laugh do not learn at all.
4098 Therefore is it said:
4099 Who understands Tao seems foolish;
4100 Who progresses in Tao seems to fail;
4101 Who follows Tao seems to wander.
4103 For the greatest force appears vulnerable;
4104 The brightest truth appears coloured;
4105 The richest character appears incomplete;
4106 The strongest heart appears meek;
4107 The most beautiful nature appears fickle;
4109 For the square, perfected, has no corner;
4110 Art, perfected, has no meaning;
4111 Sex, perfected, has no climax;
4112 Form, perfected, has no shape.
4114 So Tao can not be sensed or known:
4115 It transmits sensation and transcends knowledge.
4120 Love bears restraint;
4121 Restraint bears acceptance;
4122 Acceptance bears the World;
4123 All things begin with love and end with restraint,
4124 But it is acceptance that brings harmony.
4126 As others teach, I teach:
4127 "Those without harmony end with violence";
4130 43. Overcoming the Impossible
4132 The soft overcomes the hard;
4133 The formless penetrates the impenetrable;
4134 Therefore I value taking no action.
4136 Teaching without words,
4137 Work without action,
4138 Are understood by no one.
4142 Fame or Self: which is dearer?
4143 Self or wealth: which is more valuable?
4144 Profit or loss: which is more torturous?
4146 Great love incurs great expense,
4147 And great wealth incurs great theft,
4148 But great contentment incurs no loss.
4151 He who knows when to stop
4152 Does not continue into danger,
4153 And may long endure.
4157 Great perfection seems imperfect,
4159 Great abundance seems empty,
4162 Great truth seems contradictory;
4163 Great cleverness seems stupid;
4164 Great eloquence seems awkward.
4166 Action overcomes contentment,
4167 But stillness overcomes desire;
4168 Therefore calm and quiet control the World.
4172 When the World is not in accord with Tao,
4173 Horses bear soldiers through the countryside;
4174 When the World is in accord with Tao,
4175 Horses bear horse-manure through the countryside.
4177 There is no greater curse than desire;
4178 There is no greater misery than discontent;
4179 There is no greater ailment than greed;
4180 He who is content to be content shall always be content.
4182 47. Knowledge and Experience
4184 Without taking a step outdoors
4185 You know the whole World.
4186 Without taking a look out the window
4187 You see the colour of the sky.
4189 The more you experience,
4191 The sage wanders without knowing,
4192 Looks without seeing,
4193 Accomplishes without acting.
4197 The follower of knowledge acquires as much as he can every day;
4198 The follower of Tao loses as much as he can every day.
4200 By attrition he reaches a state of inaction
4201 Wherein he does nothing, but leaves nothing undone.
4203 To conquer the world, do nothing;
4204 If you must do something,
4205 The world remains beyond conquest.
4207 49. The Worlds of Others
4209 The sage does not distinguish between Self and World;
4210 Therefore the needs of people in the World are as his own.
4212 He is good to those who are good;
4213 He is also good to those who are not good;
4214 For love is goodness.
4215 He trusts those who are trustworthy;
4216 He also trusts those who are not trustworthy;
4219 He is in harmony with the World;
4220 Therefore he nurtures the Worlds of others
4221 As a mother does her children.
4225 Death enters life as man enters woman.
4228 Thirty years of growth;
4229 Thirty years of decay;
4230 Thirty years inbetween;
4231 So death and life reproduce themselves.
4233 He who would prolong his life
4234 Will not meet tigers or rhinoceri in the wilds,
4235 Nor soldiers in battle
4236 So the rhinoceros sees no place in him for its horn,
4237 The tiger no place for its claw,
4238 The soldier no place for a weapon;
4239 So death finds no place to enter his life.
4246 Circumstance completes us.
4248 We worship Tao and honour love;
4249 For worship of Tao and honour of love
4250 Are performed just by being alive.
4253 Love nurtures, develops, cares for,
4254 Shelters, comforts and makes a home for us.
4256 Making without controlling,
4257 Giving without demanding,
4258 Guiding without interfering,
4259 Helping without profiting,
4264 The origins of the World are its mother;
4265 Know the mother, and you understand the child;
4266 Know the child, and you embrace the mother,
4267 Who will not perish when you die.
4269 Reserve your judgments and words
4270 And you maintain your influence;
4271 Draw conclusions and speak your mind
4272 And your cause is lost.
4274 As seeing detail is clarity,
4275 So maintaining tact is strength;
4276 Keep your eyes and mind open
4277 So that you may not regret your actions;
4282 With but a small understanding
4283 One may follow Tao like a main road,
4284 Fearing only to leave it;
4285 Following a main road is easy,
4286 But being sidetracked is also easy.
4288 For when palaces are kept up
4289 Fields are left to weeds
4290 And granaries empty.
4292 Wearing fine clothes,
4293 Bearing sharp swords,
4294 Glutting with food and drink,
4295 Hoarding wealth and possessions -
4296 These are the ways of theft
4297 And deviations from Tao.
4301 Love does not think of love
4302 For this reason is it strong;
4304 Yet leaves nothing undone.
4305 Desire is intent upon love
4306 For this reason is it weak;
4308 Yet gets nothing done.
4310 Nurture love in the Self, and love will be genuine;
4311 Nurture love in the family, and love will be abundant;
4312 Nurture love in the community, and love will multiply;
4313 Nurture love in the culture, and love will flourish;
4314 Nurture love in the World, and love will be ubiquitous.
4317 Judge a person by their love;
4318 Judge a family by its love;
4319 Judge a community by its love;
4320 Judge a culture by its love;
4321 Judge the World by its love.
4322 How can I know the love of the World?
4327 Who is filled with love is like a newborn.
4328 Wasps will not sting him;
4329 Tigers will not eat him;
4330 Hawks will not tear out his eyes.
4332 His bones are soft, yet his sinews are supple,
4333 So his grip is strong;
4334 He has no wife, yet his manhood is healthy,
4335 So his vigour is unspoiled;
4336 He sings all day yet his voice remains sweet
4337 So his harmony is perfect.
4339 To approach Nature is to know harmony;
4340 To achieve Nature is to be enlightened;
4341 But to surpass Nature invites calamity
4342 For emotion will burst the lungs
4343 And exhaustion will age the heart:
4344 The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
4348 He who knows does not speak;
4349 He who speaks does not know.
4351 Reserve your judgments and words;
4352 Dull your wit and simplify your purpose;
4353 Be humble as earth and a part of Nature.
4356 Friendship and enmity,
4358 Honour and disgrace,
4359 Will not affect you.
4360 The impartial Self is of most benefit to the World.
4364 A nation is best governed by innocence;
4365 A war is best waged by treachery;
4366 The World is best controlled by inaction;
4370 The more property and taxes there are,
4371 The more poverty prevails;
4372 The more guns and knives there are,
4373 The more chaos prevails;
4374 The more arts and sciences there are,
4375 The more deceit prevails;
4376 The more rules and regulations there are,
4377 The more theft prevails.
4379 Therefore the sage says:
4380 I take no action, and the people become civilized;
4381 I wage no war, and the people become just;
4382 I transact no business, and the people become wealthy;
4383 I have no desire, and the people become innocent.
4387 When government is lazy and blunt
4388 The people are kind and honest;
4389 When government is efficient and severe
4390 The people are discontented and deceitful.
4392 Misery may yield happiness;
4393 Happiness may conceal misery.
4394 Who can say which will be for the best?
4395 Nothing is straightforward.
4396 Honesty is ever corrupted;
4397 Kindness is ever seduced;
4398 Men have been like this for a long time.
4400 So the sage is firm but not cutting,
4401 Pointed but not piercing,
4402 Straight but not inflexible,
4403 Brilliant but not blinding.
4407 Manage a great nation
4408 As you would cook a delicate fish.
4410 When directing men to a purpose
4411 The sage is restrained;
4412 Restraint allows time to prepare and strengthen,
4413 To build loving relationships;
4414 With sufficient strength and love all resistance is overcome;
4415 When all resistance is overcome his purpose is achieved.
4417 Who can achieve his purpose is able to direct men
4418 And his influence upon them long endures.
4419 Deeply rooted and firmly established,
4420 His vision lives on even after death.
4424 Because the sage follows Tao his emotions do no hurt;
4425 It is not that they lose their power;
4426 But that they do not hurt others;
4427 Because they do not hurt others,
4428 He does not hurt others:
4429 Because his emotions do no hurt,
4430 His relations with people are loving.
4432 61. International Relations
4434 A nation acts as a hierarchy, a meeting place, and a female.
4435 A female seduces a male by being cool,
4436 Being cool is a means of submission.
4438 If a large country submits to a small country
4439 It will seduce the small country;
4440 If a small country submits to a large country
4441 It will seduce the large country;
4442 The large will submit in order to control
4443 And the small will submit in order to prosper.
4446 It is in the interests of a large country to give shelter,
4447 And in the interests of a small country to give service;
4448 If both would achieve their purposes,
4453 Tao is the source of all things,
4454 The treasure of the saint,
4455 And the refuge of the sinner.
4457 Fine words win honour
4458 And fine acts win respect,
4459 But if a man sins, do not abandon him;
4460 And if a man wins power, do not bribe him;
4461 Just be still and present accordance with Tao.
4463 Why do saints treasure Tao?
4464 Because it is easily found by seeking,
4465 And absolves every sin.
4466 It is the most valuable gift.
4468 63. Confront Difficulty
4471 Attend to do-nothing;
4472 Taste the flavorless,
4475 Return love for hate.
4477 Deal with difficulty while it is yet easy;
4478 Deal with the great while it is yet small;
4480 The difficult develops naturally from the easy
4481 And the great from the small;
4482 So the sage, by dealing with the small
4485 He who finds it easy to promise finds it hard to deliver;
4486 He who takes things lightly makes things hard;
4487 The sage confronts difficulty, and so has none.
4489 64. Care at Beginning and End
4491 What lies still is easy to grasp;
4492 What is far off is easy to plan for;
4493 What is cold is easy to shatter;
4494 What is small is easy to disperse.
4497 A tree broader than a man can embrace is born of a tiny shoot;
4498 A dam taller than a river can overflow is born of a clod of earth;
4499 A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet.
4501 Therefore deal with things before they happen;
4502 Create order before there is confusion.
4504 Yet he who acts, spoils;
4505 He who grasps, loses.
4506 People often fail on the verge of success.
4507 Take care at the end as at the beginning,
4508 So that you may avoid failure.
4510 The sage desires no desire,
4513 But gives the people what they can not find
4514 And helps all things accord with Nature
4515 Without interfering.
4517 65. Understanding History
4519 The mythic masters of Tao did not want to make people wise,
4520 But to keep them ignorant;
4521 For it is difficult to govern people who know too much.
4523 To govern a nation by imparting knowledge to its people
4524 Destroys the nation.
4525 To govern a nation by decreasing the knowledge of its people
4528 Understanding these two paths is understanding history;
4529 Understanding history gives clarity of vision
4530 By which one may see through deceit.
4532 66. Lead by Following
4534 How does the river carve out the valley?
4535 By flowing beneath it.
4536 Thereby the river is master of the valley.
4538 In order to master people
4539 One must speak as their servant;
4540 So when the sage is elevated to power
4541 People do not feel oppressed.
4543 In order to lead people
4544 One must follow them;
4545 So when the sage restrains people
4546 They do not feel hindered.
4548 Thus the popularity of the sage does not fail,
4549 He does not seem superior, so no one wishes to usurp him.
4553 It may seem that my teaching means nothing;
4554 It describes the infinite, so of course it means nothing;
4555 If it meant something it would long since have been refuted.
4557 Yet I have three treasures, which I follow and commend to you:
4559 By which one finds courage.
4560 The second is restraint.
4561 By which one finds strength.
4562 The third is not contending.
4563 By which one finds influence.
4565 Those who are fearless, but without love,
4566 Strong, but without restraint,
4567 Or influential, yet contentious,
4570 Only love conquers all and is defeated by none.
4571 It is Nature's finest tool and sharpest weapon.
4575 A good soldier does not use violence;
4576 A good fighter does not use anger;
4577 A good conqueror does not use attack;
4578 A good ruler does not use authority;
4579 So not contending is the best way to use men.
4583 There is a saying among soldiers:
4584 It is easier to lose a yard than take an inch.
4586 In this way one may deploy troops without marshalling them,
4587 Reveal weapons without exposing them,
4588 Assault the foe without charging them,
4589 And apply force without aggression.
4591 Conversely there is no disaster like underestimating your enemy;
4592 For false confidence will lose you your most valued assets.
4593 When two equally matched forces meet
4594 The general who conserves life will win.
4598 My words are easy to understand
4599 And my actions are easy to perform
4600 Yet no man can understand or perform them.
4602 My words have logic; my actions have meaning;
4603 Yet these cannot be known and I cannot be known.
4605 We are each unique; no man understands another.
4606 Though the sage wears coarse clothes, his heart is jade.
4610 Who knows what he knows is healthy;
4611 Who ignores what he ignores is sick;
4612 Who grows sick of sickness recovers;
4613 The sage is never sick, but always sick of sickness.
4617 When people do not fear, they are easily conquered.
4619 Praise their goods and children
4620 And they will not dislike yours.
4621 Know your superiority,
4622 But do not tell it to them;
4624 But do not let them know;
4625 Reject what is yours
4626 And accept what is theirs.
4630 Who is brave and bold may die;
4631 Who is brave and subtle may live.
4632 Which course best serves one's purpose?
4633 Fate favours some and destroys others.
4634 The sage does not know why.
4636 Fate does not contend, yet all things are conquered by it;
4637 It does not ask, yet all things answer to it;
4638 It does not call, yet all things come to it;
4639 It does not plan, yet all things are determined by it.
4641 Fate's hands are vast, its fingers spread wide,
4642 Yet none slip through its grasp.
4646 People do not fear death, so do not threaten them with death.
4648 If people feared death, and you executed all who did not love you
4649 There would be no people left but you and the executioner.
4650 You would then need to kill him.
4651 You would then need to chop off your own hand.
4655 If rulers take too much grain
4656 People rapidly starve;
4657 If rulers take too much freedom
4658 People easily rebel;
4659 If rulers take too much happiness.
4662 By not interfering the sage improves the people's lives.
4666 Man is born soft and tender,
4667 But dies hard and stiff.
4668 Plants and animals, in life, are supple and juicy;
4669 In death, brittle and dry.
4670 So hardness and stiffness are attributes of death,
4671 And softness and tenderness attributes of life.
4673 Just as a sapless tree splits and decays
4674 A strong but inflexible force will meet defeat;
4675 So the hard and mighty lie beneath our feet
4676 While the tender and weak toss in the breeze above.
4680 Is the movement of Nature not unlike drawing a bow?
4681 What is higher descends and what is lower ascends;
4682 What is longer shortens and what is shorter lengthens;
4683 Nature's way decreases those who have more than they need
4684 So to increase those who need more than they have.
4686 It is not so with Man.
4687 Man decreases those who need more than they have
4688 So to increase those who have more than they need.
4690 The sage works regardless of personal reward or recognition;
4691 To benefit the World is to benefit the Self.
4693 78. Accept Responsibility
4695 Nothing in the World is as yielding as water;
4696 Nor can anything better overcome the hardened.
4698 Just as the yielding overcomes the hardened,
4699 The weak may overcome the strong;
4703 "Who accepts responsibility for his people rules the country;
4704 Who accepts responsibility for the World rules the World"
4705 Yet his words are not understood.
4709 When conflict is reconciled, some hatred remains;
4710 How can this be put right?
4712 The sage accepts less than is due
4713 And does not blame or punish;
4714 Love seeks agreement
4715 Where justice seeks payment.
4717 The mythic masters said: "Nature is impartial;
4718 Therefore it serves those who serve all."
4722 Imagine that there is a small country with few people;
4723 Who have a hundred times more than they need;
4724 Who love life and do not wander far;
4725 Who own ships but do no foreign trade;
4726 Who own weapons but do not threaten war;
4727 Who are literate but keep no histories;
4728 Who cook well, dress beautifully, dwell safely
4729 And delight in their own culture,
4730 But live within cock crow of their neighbours.
4732 People in such a place would never leave.
4736 Truth is not rhetorical;
4737 Therefore rhetoric is not true;
4738 Lovers do not contend;
4739 Therefore competitors do not love;
4740 The enlightened keep no knowledge;
4741 Therefore the learned are not enlightened.
4743 The sage does not aim to increase himself;
4744 But the more he does for others the more he is satisfied;
4745 And the more he gives the more he gets.
4747 The best way is to benefit all and harm none;
4748 So the sage achieves his purpose without contention.
4750 Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they're open.
4751 -- Sir Thomas Robert Dewar, aka Lord Dewar
4775 /\/\ (. ).) `_'_', ( )
4778 / \ ~====' /_____/` D)
4780 .__|~-/^\-~|_/_ |^^^^^^^|| |
4783 _- ,`_'_' .~\ \|__ __|-____ / )
4784 < -(. ).) > \ ( .\ (. ) \(_/ )
4785 ~- _) \_- ooo @ (_) @ \(_//.
4786 / /_C (-.____) /((O)/ \ ._/\~_.
4787 / |_\ / / /\\\\`-----'' _|>o< |__
4788 | \ooooO ( \ \\ \\___/ \ `_'_', /
4789 \ \__-| \ `)\\-^\\ ^--. /_(.(.)- _\
4790 \ \ ) |-`--.`--=\-\ /-//_ ' ( c D\
4791 \_\_) |-___/ / \ V /.~ \/\\\ (@)___/ ~|
4792 / | / | |. /`\\_/\/ / /
4793 / | ( C`-'` / | \/ (/ /
4794 /_________- \ `C__-~ | / (/ /
4795 | | | \__________| \ (/
4802 #################### ##
4803 #################### ##
4824 <=============**==============>
4833 [Reuters 8/16/92] SHANGHAI--A 24-year-old bus passenger, Dong Huibo, died
4834 in the street, after tangling with one of the city's dreaded woman bus
4835 conductors. His nightmare began inside the bus when the ticketpuncher
4836 snarled an insult about the shape of his backside. She swore at him,
4837 slapped his face and broke his glasses, made a grab for his testicles, then
4838 stood back and aimed a vicious kick at his private parts. As he scrambled
4839 out of a window, the driver--also a woman--slammed her foot on the
4840 accelerator pedal and sent him flying. (From: Di Bi Cao)
4842 -----------------------------------------
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4865 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
4866 -----------------------------------------
4883 Ronald Wilson Reagan can be rearranged into Insane Anglo Warlord
4884 and George Herbert Walker Bush into Huge Berserk Rebel Warthog, and of
4885 course H. Ross Perot can be rearranged into Sport Horse and Short Poser.
4887 HSIN-HSIN-MING (AFFIRMING FAITH IN MIND)
4889 wong@rkna50.riken.go.jp (Wong Weng Fai) posted a version of this,
4890 and I thought I would send another, longer version. This is from
4891 (if my memory serves) Roshi Kapleau's "Zen--Dawn in the West",
4892 so I assume it is his translation.
4894 The Great Way is not difficult
4895 For those who do not pick and choose.
4897 When preferences are cast aside
4898 The Way stands clear and undisguised.
4900 But even slight distinctions made
4901 Set Heaven and Earth far apart.
4903 If you would clearly see the truth,
4904 Discard opinions pro and con.
4906 To founder in like and dislike
4907 Is nothing but the mind's disease.
4909 And not to see the Way's deep truth
4910 Disturbs the Mind's essential peace.
4912 The Way is perfect like vast space,
4913 Where there's no lack and no excess.
4915 Our choice to choose and to reject
4916 Prevents our seeing this simple truth.
4918 Both striving for the outer world
4919 As well as for the inner void
4920 Condemns us to entangled lives.
4922 Just calmly see that all is One
4923 And by themselves false views will go.
4925 Attempts to stop activity
4926 Only fill you with activity.
4928 Remaining in duality
4929 You'll never know of unity.
4931 And not to know this unity
4932 Lets conflict lead you far astray.
4934 When you assert that things are real,
4935 You miss their true reality.
4936 But to assert that things are void
4937 Also misses reality.
4939 The more you talk and think on this,
4940 The further from the truth you'll be.
4942 Cut off all useless thoughts and words
4943 And there's nowhere you cannot go.
4944 Returning to the root itself,
4945 You'll find the meaning of all things.
4947 If you pursue appearances,
4948 You overlook the primal source.
4950 Awakening is to go beyond
4951 Both emptiness as well as form.
4953 All changes in this empty world
4954 Seem real because of ignorance.
4956 Do not go searching for the truth,
4957 Just let those fond opinions go.
4959 Abide not in duality;
4960 Refrain from all pursuit of it.
4962 If there's a trace of right and wrong,
4963 True Mind is lost, confused, distraught.
4965 From One-Mind comes duality,
4966 But cling not even to this one.
4968 When this One-Mind rests undisturbed,
4969 Then nothing in the world offends.
4971 And when nothing can give offense,
4972 Then all obstructions cease to be.
4974 If all thought-objects disappear,
4975 The thinking subject drops away.
4977 For things are things because of mind,
4978 As mind is mind because of things.
4980 These two are merely relative,
4981 And both at source are emptiness.
4983 In emptiness these are not two,
4984 Yet in each are contained all forms.
4986 Once coarse and fine are seen no more,
4987 Then how can there be taking sides?
4989 The Great Way is without limit,
4990 Beyond the easy and the hard.
4992 But those who hold to narrow views
4993 Are fearful and irresolute;
4994 Their frantic haste just slows them down.
4996 If you're attached to anything,
4997 You surely will go far astray.
4999 Just let go now of clinging mind,
5000 And all things are just as they are.
5001 In essence nothing goes or stays.
5003 See into the true self of things,
5004 And you're in step with the Great Way,
5005 Thus walking freely and undisturbed.
5007 But live in bondage to your thoughts,
5008 And you will be confused, unclear.
5010 This heavy burden weighs you down-
5011 O why keep judging good and bad?
5013 If you would walk the highest way,
5014 Do not reject the sense domain.
5016 For as it is, whole and complete,
5017 This sense world is enlightenment.
5019 The wise do not strive after goals,
5020 But fools themselves in bondage put.
5022 The One Way knows no differences;
5023 The foolish cling to this and that.
5024 To seek Great Mind with thinking mind
5025 Is certainly a grave mistake.
5027 From small mind comes rest and unrest,
5028 But mind awakened transcends both.
5030 Delusion spawns dualities-
5031 These dreams are naught but flowers of air-
5032 Why work so hard at grasping them?
5034 Both gain and loss, and right and wrong-
5035 Once and for all get rid of them.
5037 When you are no longer asleep,
5038 All dreams will vanish by themselves.
5040 If mind does not discriminate,
5041 All things are as they are, as one.
5043 To go to this mysterious source
5044 Frees us from all entanglements.
5046 When all is seen with "equal mind",
5047 To our self-nature we return.
5049 This single mind goes right beyond
5050 All reasons and comparisons.
5052 Stop movement and there's no movement,
5053 Stop rest and no-rest comes instead.
5055 When rest and no-rest cease to be,
5056 Then even Oneness disappears.
5057 This ultimate Finality's
5058 Beyond all laws; can't be described.
5060 With single mind one with the Way,
5061 All ego-centered strivings cease.
5063 Doubts and confusion disappear,
5064 And so true faith pervades our life.
5066 There is no thing that clings to us,
5067 And nothing that is left behind.
5069 All's self-revealing, void and clear,
5070 Without exerting power of mind.
5072 Thought cannot reach this state of truth;
5073 Here feelings are of no avail.
5075 In this true world of emptiness,
5076 Both self and other are no more.
5078 To enter this true empty world,
5079 Immediately affirm "Not-Two".
5081 In this "Not-Two" all is the same,
5082 With nothing separate or outside.
5084 The wise in all times and places
5085 Awaken to this primal truth.
5087 The Way's beyond all space, all time;
5088 One instant is ten thousand years.
5090 Not only here, not only there,
5091 Truth's right before your very eyes.
5093 Distinctions such as large and small
5094 Have relevance for you no more.
5096 The largest is the smallest too;
5097 Here limitations have no place.
5099 What is is not, what is not is;
5100 If this is not yet clear to you,
5101 You're still far from the inner truth.
5103 One thing is all, all things are one.
5104 Know this and all's whole and complete.
5106 When faith and mind are not separate,
5107 And not separate are mind and faith,
5108 This is beyond all words, all thought.
5115 You don't understand because you are a technocrat, an engineer.
5116 You work with your hands.
5117 I however am a visionary. I work with my mouth.
5120 So we'll go to the top of the toppest blue space,
5121 The Official Katroo Birthday Sounding-Off Place!
5122 Come on! Open your mouth and sound off at the sky!
5123 Shout loud at the top of your voice,
5127 And I may not know why
5128 But I know that I like it.
5129 _Three cheers_! I AM I!"
5130 -- Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
5139 Human conduct is ever unreliable
5140 until man is anchored in the Divine,
5141 Everything in future will improve
5142 if you are making a spiritual effort now.
5143 -- Swami Sri Yukteswar
5145 A strange weed this be
5146 what's restoreth my vitality.
5149 Q: Is an opinion true or false?
5150 A: Depends on whether it's mine or yours....
5153 Would anyone ever admit that an opinion was wrong?
5154 Wouldn't most people change the opinion instead,
5155 having then a new, well-considered, and more correct opinion?
5158 Through the dark of future past,
5159 The magician longs to see.
5160 One chants out between two worlds,
5161 "Fire, walk with me!"
5163 It's really very simple... I found wearing women's clothes... relaxed me.
5166 the first differentiation between reality as conceived and reality as it IS
5167 consists of an analogy: conceptions of reality (all ideas entertained by a
5168 knower) are maps, while reality is the territory being mapped.
5169 whether or not two individuals can be said to live in the same territory
5170 is unclear, because their conceptions may be different enough that their maps
5171 of reality are very different. it is also unclear whether there can be said
5172 to be two individuals at all--if the self and other are one, then all
5173 distinctions between selves ultimately disappear in the final analysis.
5176 This message partially funded by the Apathy Partnership of Earth (APE).
5178 Styrofoam never dies for as long as you live.
5179 -- Deputy Andy Brennan, Twin Peaks
5188 A dog howling at the moon,
5189 not because he's a dog,
5190 but because he wants to.
5193 I want to share something with you, the three
5194 little sentences that will get you through life:
5196 #2. Ooh, good idea boss!
5197 #3. It was like that when I got here...
5198 -- Homer Simpson to Bart
5200 you wouldn't know the truth if it bit off your nose, stuck a gasoline
5201 nozzle into the gaping wound, filled you up with high octane, and
5204 In a world where children blow up children,
5205 everyone's a threat.
5206 -- psycho cop, on Star Trek: The Next Generation
5210 environments based in chaotic realms inevitably concern themselves less with
5211 conservation of mass or energy, ignore laws regarding increasing entropy,
5212 cease to be rational or defined. chaotic ones within orderly realms still
5213 recall this power and warp the space where they stand.
5219 | \\_/_/ /__|O||O|__ \
5220 / |_ | "I do solemnly swear by the sacred |/_ \_/\_/ _\ |
5221 | ||\_ ~| bedpan to fix the patient, and | | (____) | ||
5222 | ||| \/ ease his wretched suffering, even \/\___/\__/ //
5223 | |||_ until all hope is lost." (_/ ||
5229 / ||||__ (____(____)
5232 When they came for the Fourth Amendment I didn't say anything
5233 because I had nothing to hide.
5234 When they came for the Second Amendment I didn't say anything
5235 because I didn't own a gun.
5236 When they came for the Fifth and Sixth Amendments I didn't say anything
5237 because I had committed no crimes.
5238 When they came for the First Amendment I couldn't say anything.
5240 (taken from the Urine Nation News, spring/summer 1993, number 12, page 1)
5243 something may be great,
5244 but the bother of not doing it
5245 while continuing to think about it
5249 Then we sat on the sand for some time and observed,
5250 how the oceans that covered the world were perturbed,
5251 by the tides from the orbiting moon overhead,
5252 "How relaxing the sound of the waves is," you said.
5253 I began to expound upon tidal effects,
5254 when you asked me to stop, looking somewhat perplexed,
5255 so I did not explain why the sunset turns red,
5256 and we watched the occurrence in silence instead.
5260 Felis catus, Your visual, olfactory,
5261 is your taxonomic nomenclature, and auditory senses,
5262 an endothermic quadruped, contribute to your hunting skills,
5263 carnivorous by nature? and natural defenses.
5265 I find myself intrigued A tail is quite essential
5266 by your subvocal oscillations, for your acrobatic talents,
5267 a singular development you would not be so agile,
5268 of cat communications, if you lacked its counterbalance,
5269 that obviates your basic and when not being utilized,
5270 hedonistic predilection, to aid in locomotion,
5271 for a rhythmic stroking of your fur it often serves to illustrate,
5272 to demonstrate affection. the state of your emotion.
5274 Oh Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display,
5275 connote a fairly well developed cognitive array,
5276 and though you are not sentient, Spot,
5277 and do not comprehend, I nonetheless consider you
5278 a true and valued friend.
5282 There is no secret to excel in playing the shakuhachi.
5283 Blow not intensely, but from your heart.
5284 Although technique is secondary, it helps to express your true self.
5285 If we are natural, we make fine sound.
5286 If we have an open mind, our sound will be mellow.
5287 If we have right attitudes toward life,
5288 our music will be acceptable to everyone.
5289 Take care of your sound as you would care for yourself.
5292 You can't save money by spending it. Beware claims to the contrary.
5295 If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.
5296 This is true because the mind is the governing aspect of human life.
5297 If the river flows clearly and cleanly through the proper channel,
5298 all will be well along its banks.
5300 The Integral Way depends on decreasing, not increasing:
5301 To correct your mind, rely on not-doing.
5302 Decrease thinking and clinging to complications;
5303 keep your mind detached and whole.
5304 Eliminate mental muddiness and obscurity;
5305 keep your mind crystal clear.
5306 Avoid daydreaming and allow your pure original insight to emerge.
5307 Quiet your emotions and abide in serenity.
5308 Don't go crazy with the worship of idols, images, and ideas;
5309 this is like putting a new head on top of the head you already have.
5311 Remember: if you can cease all restless activity,
5312 your integral nature will appear.
5314 -- Hua Hu Ching -- 45
5316 Dualistic thinking is a sickness.
5317 Religion is a distortion.
5318 Materialism is cruel.
5319 Blind spirituality is unreal.
5321 Chanting is no more holy than listening to the
5322 murmur of a stream, counting prayer beads no more
5323 sacred than simply breathing, religious robes no
5324 more spiritual than work clothes.
5326 If you wish to attain oneness with the Tao, don't get
5327 caught up in spiritual superficialities.
5328 Instead, live a quiet and simple life, free of ideas and
5330 Find contentment in the practice of undiscriminating
5331 virtue, the only true power.
5332 Giving to others selflessly and anonymously, radiating
5333 light throughout the world and illuminating your
5334 own darkness, your virtue becomes a sanctuary for
5335 yourself and all beings.
5337 This is what is meant by embodying the Tao.
5339 -- Hua Hu Ching -- 47
5341 ________________ _______________
5346 | ___\ \| | / / \____________ \ \
5351 | | __ | | (o-) _ | |
5352 | __\ (_o) | / \ | |
5353 | | | Heh Heh Heh / ) ) | |
5354 \ || \ / Huh Huh Huh / ) / | |
5355 | |__ \ / \ |___ - | |
5356 | | (*___\ / \ *' | |
5357 | | _ | / \ |____ | |
5358 | | //_______| ####\ | |
5359 | / |_|_|_|___/\ ------ |_/
5361 | _----_______/ \_____ |
5363 |_____/ \__________|
5365 "Beavis and Butthead are catching up in the poles."
5366 "Yeah, our poles are rising."
5368 The chief cause of problems is solutions. -- Eric Severeid
5370 [CND, 12/15/93] A women trafficking gang, consisting of 69 members, was
5371 rounded up by the Inner Mongolia police, the Inner Mongolian Daily said.
5372 The gang, operating in several nearby provinces, enticed a total of 200
5373 unemployed women to make the journey to Inner Mongolia with the promise
5374 of good jobs and shelter. The women, ranging from 15 to 41, then were sold
5375 as wives or servants to local peasants who had difficulties in finding
5379 A genuine ASCII stereogram!
5380 Here's an ASCII single image random dot stereogram for your enjoyment. To
5381 get the 3d effect, you need to diverge (unfocus) your eyes such that two
5382 adjacent letters in the same row come together. To help you focus, try to
5383 make the two capital O's at the top look like three. Once you've done that,
5384 the rest of the image should jump out of the screen at you!
5386 n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n
5387 f f f f f f f f f f f f f f
5388 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
5389 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a
5390 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a
5391 r r r r r r r r r r r r r r
5392 r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r
5394 Try moving your head back from the screen and moving it about a bit
5395 once you have focused on the image to increase the stereo effect even
5399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5401 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5402 . . . . . . . . . . .
5418 . . . . . . . . . . .
5419 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5420 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5421 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5423 The following a 3-d Maze (3x4) consisting of the following objects:
5424 circle, square, asterisk, hour-glass, triangle, and a square with two lines
5425 in it. The rules are as follows: You can 'warp' from one part of the maze to
5426 another by matching similar objects. Each 'warp' counts as one move. You
5427 can also travel along the lines, if there is a line. This also counts as one
5428 move. (I got the idea of this from a GAMES magazine I read a LONG time ago)
5429 Try to go from "START" to "END" in the least amount of moves. I would give
5430 out a prize to somebody, if I could think of one(that doesn't cost anything,
5431 of course!). (Take this as a first maze...I didn't plan it out, and it's not
5432 very difficult.) I would suggest that people that have worked with
5433 stereograms EXTENSIVELY try this, as it is hard to move your eyes around and
5434 still keep focused on the 3-D image. E-mail me the number of moves it took
5435 you and the path you followed (e.g. 6 Sqauare -warp- Asterisk Circle...etc.),
5436 I'll post the list of people that reply to it within the next week and got
5437 the lowest number of moves. Good luck!!
5439 [qL|[NYcUCdH>,(&[qL|[NYcUCdH>,(&[qL|[NYcUCdH>,(&[qL|[NYcUCdH>,(&[qL|[NYcUCdH>,(
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5441 rwA#nbud>*Dj+X<TrwA#nbud>*Dj+X<TrwA#nbud>*Dj+X<TrwA#nbud>*Dj+X<TrwA#nbud>*Dj+X<
5442 $*-Xj+V&%Ui\START*-Xj+V&%UiSTART;*-Xj+V&%UiSTART;*-Xj+V&%UiSTART;*-Xj+V&%Uieg%(
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5444 WL(-W->WTPh:UQ:oWL(-W->WT:UQ:oWL(-eBW->WT:UQ:oW-YoeBW->WT:UQ:oW-YBW|H->WT:UQ:oW
5445 cTV:wpR6GN\ne![|cTV:wpR6Gn<e![|cT:YQwpR6Gn<e![T4YH\QwpR6Gn<e!4YH\QQpR6GHln<e!4Y
5446 ycYu]kP@LbRF<D?`ycYu]kP@LF4<D?`ycuc]kP@LF4<D?ybcu]W]kP@LF4<D?yb]KW]k@':LF4<D?yb
5447 H6hhYb"6^EwE*rEoH6hhYb"6^Ea*rEoH6h]Yb"6^Ea*ro<Hh"]bD$"6^Ea*ro<H]DbD$6zP^Ea*ro<H
5448 zp@.Gx,Tu(Q!.hKbzp@.Gx,Tu!t.hKbzp.8?Gx,Tu!tKbbzp.8?xcy,Tu!tKbp.8?Xxy,TuB&!tKbp.
5449 =V\idlNwT]T;S"1(=V\idlNwT;S"1(=V\ic|dlNwT;1(=V\ic|dlN<fwT;1(=V\iclN;h<fwT;1(=V\
5450 1<Q)K|.BH?n:K-gc1<Q)K|.BH?n:K-gc1<Q)K|.BH?n:K-gc1<Q)K|.BH?n:K-gc1Q)5K|.BH?n:K-g
5451 lR,gO$66yAP&W<?>lR,gO$66yAP&W<?>lR,gO$66yAP&W<?>lR,gO$66yAP&W<?>l,gMO$66yAP&W<?
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5454 b*cB2RFU5R+{3myvb*cB2RFU5R+{3myvb*cB2RFU5R+{3myvb*cB2RFU5R+{3myvbcBi2RFU5R+{3my
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5457 wn(odb-='HALW=^Wwn(odb-='LW:=^Ww(o?db-='LW=^W/(o?fb-=1T'LW=^Wop?fb-=1')OLW=^Wop
5458 S<>"\$f";MP\$4?hS<>"\$f";\$S4?hS>"!\$f";\$4?hh>"!q$f"F*;\$4?h"v!q$f"*;]j\$4?h"v
5459 =/twTn#S9ikXS%`y=/twTn#S9iS%[`y/t2nwTn#S9i[`y't2n/Tn#\\S9i[`y2Yn/Tn#\S?I9i[`y2Y
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5461 Sy<6*yAW|!l;tZ]nSy<6*yAW|!l;t]n'Sy<6*yAW|!l;t]nSy+<6*yAW|!l;t]nSy<6X*yAW|!l;t]n
5462 &)v;_!*qY*L)-IQd&)v;_!*qY*L)-Qd5&)v;_!*qY*L)-Qd&)Bv;_!*qY*L)-Qd&)v;6_!*qY*L)-Qd
5463 t?K!lfksx)kzAp2Wt?K!lfksx)kzA2W:t?K!lfksx)kzA2Wt?%K!lfksx)kzA2Wt?K!Llfksx)kzA2W
5464 UAsuytGXa{(cnug]UAsuytGXa{(cng](UAsuytGXa{(cng]UAzsuytGXa{(cng]UAsuXytGXa{(cng]
5465 |Is@[A-F0)KmcN>o|Is@[A-F0)Kmc>o#|Is@[A-F0)Kmc>o|Ins@[A-F0)Kmc>o|Is@>[A-F0)Kmc>o
5466 NHnuKxzh"2zQ=hq+NHnuKxzh"2zQ=hNmhHnuKxzh"2zQ=hNHn85uKxzh"2zQNHn85uKxzh".I2zQNHn
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5468 zE"A{TfCX?9H9e;:zE"A{TfCX?9H;8:z"mA{TfCX?9H;8z="mATRwfCX?9H;="m{TRwbCX?zt9H;="m
5469 OI5{{UQa5D.Vo/rVOI5{{UQa5D./@rOoI{D{UQa5D./@rotI{DU.ZQa5D./@tI{pU.ZNa5D85./@tI{
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5471 Yo{BgD`f\`$JRtu'Yo{BgD`f\JRtu'Yo{BgDis`f\JRtu'YBg3#Dis`f\JRtYBg3#Dis`f\ygJRtYBg
5472 80[vV7`fchW6A#'x80[vV7`fchW6A'x-80[vV7`fchW6A'x80r[vV7`fchW6A'x80r[vV7`fchW6A'x
5473 O"<a1OA^o=:]aa=(O"<a1OA^o=:]a=([O"<a1OA^o=:]a=(O"Z<a1OA^o=:]a=(O"Z<a1OA^o=:]a=(
5474 V+{S>As"N5\Ul_^TV+{S>As"N5\Ul^TkV+{S>As"N5\Ul^TV+;{S>As"N5\Ul^TV+;{S>As"N5\Ul^T
5475 /U!sJ3m%/qr?4m!I/U!sJ3m%/qr?4!IB/U!sJ3m%/qr?4!I/Uw!sJ3m%/qr?4!I/Uw!sJ3m%/qr?4!I
5476 yh6Sd(VC3g&>\H<.yh6Sd(VC3g&>\<.Vyh6Sd(VC3g&>\<.yhs6Sd(VC3g&>\<.yhs6Sd(VC3g&>\<.
5477 ;*<*[r!OIx.k(ZB^;*<*[r!OIk(ZB^;*<*[rkw!OIk(ZB^<*[i^rkw!OIk(Z<*[i^rkw!OI]Fk(Z<*[
5478 9xGH.E=u,tZXVx!<9xGH.E=u,tZx!<9xGH;W.E=u,tZx9x'GHW.TzE=u,tZx9xHW.TzE=.|u,tZx9xH
5479 \Hu"\@V#8"mLukmM\Hu"\@V#8"mLuM\Hs;u"\@V#8"mM\PHs;u\@DV#8"mM\PHs;\@DECV#8"mM\PHs
5480 +TnXOmPMQKTVwlSV+TnXOmPMQKTVwV+TJInXOmPMQKTV+@TJInOmmPMQKTV+@TJIOmmizPMQKTV+@TJ
5481 JaXq{$*|_pP|-`[wJaXq{$*|_pP`[wJaXqS*{$*|_pP`Ja,Xq*{K3$*|_pP`Jaq*{K3$*g.|_pP`Jaq
5482 A7_qF(|hvg5>t;!nA7_qF(|hv>t;!nA7_qF(f"|hv>t;!n_qFIf(f"|hv>t;_qFIf(f"|hvY*>t;_qF
5483 Clzp3ggIZF7:E.cqClzp3ggIZF7:E.cqClzp3ggIZF7:E.cqClzp3ggIZF7:E.cqClzp3ggIZF7:E.c
5484 UENDu6z[k<anY>&JUENDu6z[k<anY>&JUENDu6z[k<anY>&JUENDu6z[k<anY>&JEND>u6z[k<anY>&
5485 h-Q!-z98>A%65jWBh-Q!-z98>A%65jWBh-Q!-z98>A%65jWBh-Q!-z98>A%65jWBh-Q!-z98>A%65jW
5486 #7ch;MFM9k0{T2."#7ch;MFM9k0{T2."#7ch;MFM9k0{T2."#7ch;MFM9k0{T2."#7ch;MFM9k0{T2.
5487 IMfNj5t*M,K`xKz9IMfNj5t*M,K`xKz9IMfNj5t*M,K`xKz9IMfNj5t*M,K`xKz9IMfNj5t*M,K`xKz
5491 ## # # # # ## #### #
5492 ## # # # #### ######## # ##
5494 ### ## # ## # ### ### ## ##
5495 # #### ### # # # ## # # # # ###
5496 ## ############# # # # ## ###
5497 # # # # ## ### ## ###
5498 # # ## # ## ### # ###
5500 # #### # ## #### ###
5501 ##### # # ## # # # ##### #
5502 # # # # # # ## # ##### #
5506 # ## # # ## ##### ##
5507 ###### # # # # ### ###
5508 ## # # # # ###### ##
5509 ## # ##### # ##### ### ## ##
5510 # ## ## ## # ## ## # ### ####
5511 ### #### # # #### # # ########
5512 ##### # ## ### # ### #
5513 #### ## # ### #### ##
5518 # # # ##################
5520 ### # # ## #### ## ##
5523 ## # ## # ## ## #####
5524 # ### ## # ## #### ## # ###
5525 ## ##### # ######### # ####
5547 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5548 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"" ""$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5549 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5550 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" " " o "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5551 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ " o "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5552 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ o o "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5553 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" o " o"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5554 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" " $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5555 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" " o " " "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5556 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" o " "o o $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5557 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ o" " o o $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5558 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ "$$ " o " " $$ "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5559 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$ o o " o " $$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5560 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" o$$ o o o $$$ "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5561 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" o $$$ " o o " " $$$ " "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5562 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" o$$$$ " o $$$$ "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5563 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ " $$$$ " oo$$$$$$$oooo $$$$" " $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5564 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" " $$$$$o """ o o"""o$$$$" " ""$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5565 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ " ooooo$$$$$$$$oo o o oo$$$$$$$ooooo o o $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5566 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5567 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ o$$$"" " $ ""$$$$$$$$" ""$$$$$$$$"" " """"$$o" "$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5568 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$oo$" " $o $"$$$$oo " o$$$$" o$o " ""$oo"$$$$$$$$$$$$
5569 $$$$$$$$$$$$$ o" " o " $$" o "" o o " o o$o " o "" "$$$$$$$$$$$
5570 $$$$$$$$$$$$" $ " " $$ "$$$$$$$$ $$ o o o $ ""$$$$$$$$$$
5571 $$$$$$$$$$$" o o o o o$$ "$$$$$$ o $$ o o o $$$$$$$$$
5572 $$$$$$$$$$ o $ " $$oo "$$$$$$" oo$$ $ $$$$$$$$
5573 $$$$$$$$$ " o " "$ $$$$$$ "$" " " " o $$$$$$$
5574 $$$$$$$$ " " " " o "o$$$$$$o" o " o $$$$$$
5575 $$$$$$$" " o " o $$$$$$$$$o " o o " " o $$$$$
5576 $$$$$"o " o o o " "$$$$" ""$$$oo o " " $$$$
5577 $$$$"o o " $ o " oo$$$$"o o"$$$$oo o " o "$$
5578 $$$$ " $ o oo$o$$"$" o o """$$$oooo "" o " o $$
5579 $$$$$ " " o " o o o o o o o " " " o$$$
5580 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5581 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5587 ___\ \ \ /\___/___ \
5589 ____/ /_______/ \ / _\/_____
5591 __/ / \ \ / / / / _\__
5592 / / / \_______\/ / / / / /\
5593 /_/___/___________________/ /_______/ /___/ \
5594 \ \ \ ___________ \ \ \ \ \ /
5595 \_\ \ / /\ \ \ \ \___\/
5597 \__/ / \ \ \_______\/
5608 "$mmmmm m$" mmmmmmm$"
5610 mmmmmmm$$$$$$$$$"mmmm
5611 mmm$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ m$$$$m " m "
5612 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$"$$$
5613 mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm $$$$$$$$$$
5614 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$""" m
5615 "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$ " "
5616 """""""$$$$$$$$$$$m """"
5617 mmmmmmmm" m$ "$mmmmm
5618 $$"""""" "$ """"""$$
5626 _ _ _ _ _ _ _---| | _---| \ ` ' /
5627 ]-I-I-I-I-[ ---| | ---| |. |
5628 \ ` '_/ | / \ | | /^\|
5629 [*] __| ^ / ^ \ ^ | |*||
5630 |__ ,| / \ / `\ / \ | ===|
5631 ___| ___ ,|__ / /=_=_=_=\ \ |, _|
5632 I_I__I_I__I_I (====(_________)___|_|____|____
5633 \-\--|-|--/-/ | I [ ]__I I_I__|____I_I_|
5634 |[] '| | [] |`__ . [ \-\--|-|--/-/
5635 |. | |' |___|_____I___|___I___|---------|
5636 / \| [] .|_|-|_|-|-|_|-|_|-|_|-| [] [] |
5637 <===> | .|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-| | / \
5638 ] []|` [] ||.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.||- <===>
5639 ] []| ` | |/////////\\\\\\\\\\.||__. | |[] [
5640 <===> ' ||||| | | | ||||.|| [] <===>
5641 \T/ | |-- ||||| | O | O | ||||.|| . |' \T/
5642 | . _||||| | | | ||||.|| | | |
5643 ../|' v . | .|||||/____|____\|||| /|. . | . ./
5644 .|//\............/...........\........../../\\\
5652 ___---___---_________________________________
5653 =============================================
5655 |-------------------------------------------
5656 |-___-----___-----___-----___-----___-----__
5657 / _ \===/ _ \ / _ \===/ _ \ / _ \===/ _
5658 ( (.\ oOo /.) ) ( (.\ oOo /.) ) ( (.\ oOo /.
5659 \__/=====\__/ \__/=====\__/ \__/=====\_
5660 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5661 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5662 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5663 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5664 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5665 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5666 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5667 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5668 ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
5669 (oOoOo) (oOoOo) (oOoOo)
5670 J%%%%%L J%%%%%L J%%%%%L
5671 ZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZ
5672 ==========================================
5673 __|_________________________________________
5676 ____----------- _____
5677 \~~~~~~~~~~/~_--~~~------~~~~~(__) \
5680 / ___ ~~--[""] | __/__|__-------'_
5681 > /~` \ |-. `\~~.~~~~~ _ ~ - _
5682 ~| ||\% | | ~ ._ ~ _ ~ ._
5683 `_//|_% \ | ~ . ~-_ /\
5684 `--__ | _-____ /\ ~-_ \/.
5685 ~--_ / ,/ -~-_ \ \/ _______---~/
5686 ~~-/._< \ \`~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ##--~/
5687 \ ) |`------##---~~~~-~ ) )
5723 oooo$$$$$$$$$$$$oooo
5724 oo$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o
5725 oo$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o o$ $$ o$
5726 o $ oo o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o $$ $$ $$o$
5727 oo $ $ "$ o$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$o $$$o$$o$
5728 "$$$$$$o$ o$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$o $$$$$$$$
5729 $$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5730 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ """$$$
5731 "$$$""""$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ "$$$
5732 $$$ o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ "$$$o
5733 o$$" $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$o
5734 $$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" "$$$$$$ooooo$$$$o
5735 o$$$oooo$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
5736 $$$$$$$$"$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$""""""""
5737 """" $$$$ "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" o$$$
5738 "$$$o """$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"$$" $$$
5739 $$$o "$$""$$$$$$"""" o$$$
5741 "$$$$o o$$$$$$o"$$$$o o$$$$
5742 "$$$$$oo ""$$$$o$$$$$o o$$$$""
5743 ""$$$$$oooo "$$$o$$$$$$$$$"""
5744 ""$$$$$$$oo $$$$$$$$$$
5758 \._____.-~\ . ~\. ./
5762 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5766 ,agd888b,_ "Y8, ___`""Ybga,
5767 ,gdP""88888888baa,.""8b "888g,
5768 ,dP" ]888888888P' "Y `888Yb,
5769 ,dP" ,88888888P" db, "8P""Yb,
5770 ,8" ,888888888b, d8888a "8,
5771 ,8' d88888888888,88P"' a, `8,
5772 ,8' 88888888888888PP" "" `8,
5773 d' I88888888888P" `b
5779 `8, ,d8888888baaa ,8'
5780 `8, 888888888888' ,8'
5781 `8a "8888888888I a8'
5782 `Yba `Y8888888P' adP'
5784 `"Yba, d8888P" ,adP"' Normand Veilleux
5785 `"Y8baa, ,d888P,ad8P"' from
5786 ``""YYba8888P""'' Spaceship Earth
5789 =========================================================================
5790 ________________ _______________ _______________
5791 /_______________/\ /_______________\ /\______________\
5792 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \ ||||||||||||||||| / ////////////////
5793 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/ ||||||||||||||||| / ////////////////
5794 \\\\\\_______/\ ||||||_______\ / //////_____\
5795 \\\\\\\\\\\\\ \ |||||||||||||| / /////////////
5796 \\\\\\\\\\\\\/____ |||||||||||||| / /////////////
5797 \\\\\___________/\ ||||| / ////
5798 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \ ||||| / ////
5799 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/ ||||| \////
5801 =========================================================================
5803 88 d8'd8' 88 88 ad88888ba ,adba, ,d8
5804 88 d8'd8' 88 88 d8" 8 8 "8b 8I I8 ,d8"
5805 88 "" "" aa88aaa88aa Y8, 8 8 "fbdP' ,d8"
5806 88 ""88"""88"" `Y8a8a8a, ,d8"
5807 88 aa88aaa88aa `"8"8"8b, ,d8"
5808 "" ""88"""88"" 8 8 `8b ,d8" ,adba,
5809 aa 88 88 Y8a 8 8 a8P ,d8" 8I I8
5810 88 88 88 "Y88888P" 8" "fbdP'
5831 ** * ********* * ***
5832 ***** **********************
5833 ******** *************** ****
5834 ****** ***************** ** **
5835 ** ******************* *** ********
5836 ******************** *** *******
5837 ********************* *** ** ****
5838 ********* * *********************** *** ****
5839 ********** ************************ **** ** ***
5840 **** *********************** * ****
5841 ************** ****** * *** * **
5842 *********** ** **** * *** * ** ********** *
5843 ************* ***** ***** ** * ** ****** *
5844 * ************* **** ******* *** **
5845 ************** **************** *********** **
5846 ****** ******************************* **
5847 ********************************* **
5848 ******************************** ** **
5849 ******************************* ** *********
5850 **** *************************** *** *****
5851 ***** * *** ******************** **
5852 ***** * ***************** ** ******
5853 **** ********************* * *****
5854 ***** ****************** **
5855 **** **************** * *****
5856 * ***************** ** ******
5857 ** ************** ** **
5859 *** ************* **
5860 * *** *********************
5861 ****** ******* * *** ***
5863 ************ ********
5864 ********************** * **********
5865 ************************* ***********
5866 ************************** ***********
5867 ************************* ***********
5868 ************************ **********
5869 ********************* *********
5870 **************** ***
5880 \. \. "~" ./ /c-..,__
5881 ^r- .._ .- .-" `- . ~"--.
5885 ,.__.--._ _j \ ~ . ; |
5886 ( ~"-._~"^._\ ^. ^._ I . l
5887 "-._ ___ ~"-,_7 .Z-._ 7" Y ; \ _
5888 /" "~-(r r _/_--._~-/ / /,.--^-._ / Y
5889 "-._ '"~~~>-._~]>--^---./____,.^~ ^.^ !
5892 ~-._~~~---._,____..--- \
5899 / `-.____/ |||||||/`-.____________
5900 \-'_ \-' ||||||||| `-._
5901 -- `-. -/||||||||\ `` -`.
5902 |\ /||||||\ \_ | `\\
5903 | \ \_______...-//|||\|________...---'\ \ \\
5904 | \ \ || | \ ``-.__--. | \ | ``-.__--.
5905 | |\ \ / | |\ \ ``---'/ / | | ``---'
5906 _/ / _| ) __/_/ / _| ) __/ / _| |
5907 /,__/ /,__/ /,_/,__/_/,__/ /,__/ /,__/ tbk
5912 o o o o o o o o "o "$" "
5918 oo$$$oo " " $ $o $ " o
5919 o $$"$$$$$o oo$$$$$$$$oo o"oo"oo o
5920 o$$"$$o$$$$$$"$o$o$o$o$o$$o "o$ "o $ "o
5921 $$"$o$$o"$"$$$o$$o$o$o$o$$$o$$$o $ $ $" o
5922 $$"$o$o$"$"$"$o$o$o$o$o$o$$$o$o$"o "o"oo"
5923 " "$o$$o$o"$"$"$$"$o$o$o$o$o"$"$o"$"$o "o o"
5924 $o$o$o$"$"$$o$"$$$$o$o$o$"$$o$"$"$oo $
5925 "o$o"$"$$o$o$"$"$"$o$o"$$o$o$"$"$"$
5926 $"$$o$o$o$"$"$"$$$$$o$o$o"$"$"$o$
5927 o "$o$o$o$o$"$"$o$o"$o$$o$"$"$"$o$
5928 $o "o$o$o"$"$"$o$"$$o$o$"$"$"$$o"
5929 $$ $$$$$$$$$"$o$$o$o$o$$"$"$o"$$
5930 $" $$$$$$$o$"$$o$o$o$o$"$"$"$$o
5931 o o$$$$$$$o"$o$o$"$$o"$"$"$"o$"
5932 oo$$$$$$$o$"$o$o$"$o$"$"$"$"$
5933 $$$$$$$$$$o$"$o$o$"$o$"$"$$""
5934 $$o$$$$$o$o"$$o$o$"$o$"$$"
5935 o $$o$$$"o$o$"$o$o$"$o$"$o$
5936 $$$"$o"$$o$o$$"$$o$$o"
5939 o o o $"$$$"$$"$oo"$o$o$$$o
5940 o o $$$o$$"$$"$$$$$o$$o"$o$
5941 " o$$o$"$"$$$$o$"o$o$"$"$$
5942 " " $$""o$$$$"$o$"$$$$$$$$$$"" "
5943 o ooo$$"o$$$"$$"$$"$$$$$$$$""
5944 o o$o$"$$"" $" $o$o$o$
5946 "o "o" " " $ "$$$$"$$ o o$$$$"o o "o "o "o
5947 " " o " "o" """o""$$$$$$o o $$o$ " " "o "o o
5948 " " " " " " $$" $" " " o
5949 o""""$""""" oo$$ $$ o " "
5952 o """""""" "o "o o"""" " "
5954 " "$ooooooooooooooo o " "
5959 Aw mom, you act like I'm not even wearing a bungie cord! -- Calvin
5965 YES ============================= NO
5966 +-----------|| Does the Darn Thing work? ||-----------+
5967 | ============================= |
5969 +----------+ +---------+ +---------+
5970 | Don't | NO | Does | +-------+ YES | Did you |
5971 | mess | +---| anyone |<------| YOU |<---------| mess |
5972 | with it! | | | know? | | MORON | | with it |
5973 +----------+ | +---------+ +-------+ +---------+
5975 | +------+ +-----------+ |
5977 | | IT | +--------+ +-----------+
5978 | +------+ | YOU | YES | WILL THEY |
5979 | | +------->| POOR |<------------| CATCH YOU?|
5980 | | | |BASTARD!| +-----------+
5981 | | | |________| | NO
5984 | | | +---------------+ +-----------+
5985 | | | NO | CAN YOU BLAME | |DESTROY THE|
5986 | | +------| SOMEONE ELSE? | | EVIDENCE |
5987 | | +---------------+ +-----------+
5990 | | ============================ |
5991 | +---->|| N O ||<---------+
5992 +------------>|| P R O B L E M ||
5993 ============================
6001 ,ad8"" ,ad8"" 8"Y8a, "Y8a,
6002 ,ad8"" ,ad8"" 8 "Y8a, "Y8a,
6003 ,ad8"" ,ad8"" 8 "Y8a, "Y8a,
6004 ,gPPR8, ,ad8"" ,ad88a, "Y8a, "Y8a,
6005 dP' `Yb ,ad8"" ,ad8"" "Y8a, ,ad8"" ,ad8"8
6006 8) (8,ad8"" ,ad8"" Y888"" ,ad8"" 8
6007 Yb d8P" ,ad8"" ,ad8"" ,ad8"" 8
6008 "8ggg8" ,ad8"" ,ad8"" ,ad8"" ,8
6009 ,gPPR8, ,ad8"" ,ad8"" ,ad8""
6010 dP' `Yb ,ad8"" ,ad8"" ,ad8""
6011 8) (8,ad8"" ,ad8"" ,ad8""
6012 Yb d8P" ,ad8"" ,ad8""
6013 "8ggg8" ,ad8"" ,ad8""
6020 .... NO! ... ... MNO! ...
6021 ..... MNO!! ...................... MNNOO! ...
6022 ..... MMNO! ......................... MNNOO!! .
6023 .... MNOONNOO! MMMMMMMMMMPPPOII! MNNO!!!! .
6024 ... !O! NNO! MMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPOOOII!! NO! ....
6025 ...... ! MMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPOOOOIII! ! ...
6026 ........ MMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPOOOOOOII!! .....
6027 ........ MMMMMOOOOOOPPPPPPPPOOOOMII! ...
6028 ....... MMMMM.. OPPMMP .,OMI! ....
6029 ...... MMMM:: o.,OPMP,.o ::I!! ...
6030 .... NNM:::.,,OOPM!P,.::::!! ....
6031 .. MMNNNNNOOOOPMO!!IIPPO!!O! .....
6032 ... MMMMMNNNNOO:!!:!!IPPPPOO! ....
6033 .. MMMMMNNOOMMNNIIIPPPOO!! ......
6034 ...... MMMONNMMNNNIIIOO!..........
6035 ....... MN MOMMMNNNIIIIIO! OO ..........
6036 ......... MNO! IiiiiiiiiiiiI OOOO ...........
6037 ...... NNN.MNO! . O!!!!!!!!!O . OONO NO! ........
6038 .... MNNNNNO! ...OOOOOOOOOOO . MMNNON!........
6039 ...... MNNNNO! .. PPPPPPPPP .. MMNON!........
6040 ...... OO! ................. ON! .......
6041 ................................
6045 --/- ___ / \/ / / / \
6055 // / / // / /\ /-_-/\//-__-
6056 / / // / \__// / / / //
6057 // / / // / // / // /
6058 /// // / / / // / //
6061 /// / / / // // / // //
6063 /// / // / / // / / / /
6095 /.../###/______________\ \###\
6096 /........................\ \###\
6097 /..........................\ \###\
6098 ----------------------------- \###/
6100 \_________________________________/
6103 ___. .. . _ .. . ___. .__ . . _ . . __ __ _ __ _ . .___
6104 | | ||\||- ||\| | | ||_)|\| | ||\| | ||_)| ||_) | || | |
6105 ` `-`` ``- `` ` ``` ` `-`` \` ` `-`` ` ``` `-`` \`-`| `-``-` `
6133 ;;;;: ==;; :==== :+++=;; ::;=i===+: :=;;=+: ,,,,:==+;
6134 =tt;;: i+; ++++ :ii=: :::i++= ==;;+: :::=;+; ,
6135 :; iIt=: ;t+; ii=;::;+;=+; +;=; ;i+i, ==;=+; :,;;;i : ,
6136 :: :tIi: +i+ =+::=;;,;;;+; +;=; :=i==+;,:,;=;;+= ::;=;++ : ;
6137 ,i; iIt: t+= :+=,,,,::: ;,+;=;;: ;:,,;==;+=;+= ::;;=i; : ;ii
6138 RYi +Yt: ++i :i;,::==;; ;:i;=;;: ======+=i=++ :;=tYY: : :tt
6139 VXY= =Yi; :t=+ it==+It;; ;:+:=;:: :,;;=:=+==+ :;tYVY :: =Iii
6140 tVYt ;Yt, i+= +t+;=iI,; ;:;:;;:= :i :=;+ :;i+tt : :Iti
6141 iYY: :Yi, :i+: :t+;++i:; ;,;,;;;= :t +=+ ;i+ii :: =Y+
6142 =YY= ;Vi I++ :++=;==;;; +,=,,,,+ ;i;::;it, :i+t=;;: +I+
6143 IX+ =V; +i+=;;==;::,:::,,t,+,,,,;;iiii+iIiX=:=+ii;:;: iI+
6144 iXi =VItYIi=+======;;::;;ii;:,,,,,;iittiYV+XXttiit+, Yt
6145 IVYXYYIYi+;;;;;;;;;;;;;+it+:::::::=====+IttIItiitMBttti
6146 +tVVVttti+;::;;======+YBBVVVVXRVti+++==+IXIiYi+iRWWi+i=
6147 +=ttYVIi= ....,,,,+iIRWWWWWWWMBBRYI+....... +YMBYX==++
6148 ==+t: .;;===::,,:,,;=iIIItIIt=:,,:::===iii=;.,iXY+i;i
6149 t;+.IIY+++iii++;===:==++++I,:;;:,:=iiVXIBVRt+;,.IXY;t
6150 ii+, =itIItY==+tt+=+++;=ti;=;+M+i=;;=;=i+=it+tVti+==;.itI= +=ii
6151 i:===iIttIii+,:,, ,,:+++;t=t;V++;=;=;:,, ,,:;+IYii+==;.+Y+Ii===:i
6152 ti iii=i;;,, ;i: =i ,;.i=t=I=;Ri=, ,; ,it: ,:.,==;;;i+=YYttt,
6153 iit :Y++IIIIi+;;,,,,,,:;:i+;I=i;=II=;:;;;;;;;;;+++tIt+ii;iII; iYi=
6154 t= iV+tYYYVYVt===;;;===ii+=ti+=+=iii+==+;=+=IYVXRitYYItYXtVt= :+=
6155 Yi XX+iYYYVYR+i+++===;tIti=i+ttit;;=+====+;=IRVRRXtIIYM+YYI+ ++=I
6156 tt==Y+iYYYVYRI+++++=+IIti+++tt+=iYI+;;==+=+ttMMMRBXiiYi=+YYIt=;;
6157 t+iY:;iYYYYXRYi+++++Yt+iIt=+iItVXYYtIXBXYYVRWWWBXIi++=+=X+ ;It
6158 ti;I iYYYIYYVVRI++++i+ti++=:,;;++IX+YWWWMBWWWXYYi+++=;t:;IItY
6159 tt:,+;YYYYYYYYX+++====:::;=:;;;::++iYRWWBYt+tt+==++==:=;:=+
6160 tYYYYIYYt++++=;=YYI+;,,BYBBYIi++iii+=+I+++++;=I
6161 +YYYYYYt+++==iYYII;ittitVBBXBI+++==+i++=+=;=:i
6162 +YYYIYt+++iBt=:,...:;;=++itXXI++==i++==;;ii:
6163 IYYYI=;+=iitI;,;.,=iitIiiI;++=+++===;=:I;
6164 YYYt==tittIi;+:::=+tItIBIt+=+i++==;+=;+
6165 iYYIIIttt+=;=::::::=++ti+++=i==;+i=:=
6166 tIYYIIIVi++;;:::=+;+IYt+=;;IVY+:,;
6167 ;,ttIYIY++ii;=;==Y+iVYt===YIi;;Ii
6168 ;=:,:=iI====;;;;:=;;+ii=+i+iIttIi
6169 :==+++,;=;::::::::=;=+t++==it+iti
6184 / / / /\ \ Pat \ \ \
6185 / / / / \ \ Taylor / \ \
6186 / / / / /\ \ \ / /\ \ \
6187 / / / / / /\ \ \ / / /\ \_\
6188 / / / / /_/ \ \_\ / / / \/_/
6189 / / / / \ \ / / / / / / __ __
6190 / / / / /\ \ \/ / / / / / /\_\ /\ \
6191 / / / / / /\ \/ / / / / / / / / \ \ \
6192 / / /_/ / / \ / / / / / / / /____\_\ \
6193 / / /__\/ / / / / / / / / / /__________\
6194 \/_______/ / / / / / / \/_____________/
6216 L;;PMMMbaa_ "d88ad8'
6218 ,V;;;;;;;;;;"Man,8b.
6219 gd;;;;;;;;;;;;;"Mb;Mb.
6220 gd;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;"Mb,
6221 d8b;;;;;;;;b;;;;;;;;;;;"b,
6222 7P"8ba;;;;;B;;;;;;;;;;;;"Na
6223 8" "8b;;a";;;;;;;;;;;;;lB.
6224 B "8b,d;;paaaaaaqaL;;;"B
6225 ,B P" """' ""Y8bmdMb
6242 '8 .adP""9a .d" d lb
6251 ,oood8888888888booo,
6282 $ oo 8' `""booooooob 8' ooo 8
6283 $ o$"$o ,P o 8 8 d8"""" 8 `8
6284 $' d$' d8 od do d8 d8 8 `8 8
6285 $' d$' dP 8' d8 d8' 8 8 `8 `b
6286 $' od$ dP ,8' d8' d8 8b 8 `"b 8b
6287 $' od' d"' od od 88 `8 "8 `8 `8,
6288 $ od' 8 8' `8 8b 8 8 "o `8,
6289 $oo"" 8b 8 `8o 8bo "8 8b 8b 8b
6290 " 8b 8' 8o $$$ "8 8 `b `"oo
6291 Yb `b `8"$$$" 8b 8b 8b $$o
6292 `8 `b 8o "b `$o$$$$"
6296 happiness is a state of mind
6297 more than anything else,
6298 but so is everything else.
6301 Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.
6305 1) "Don't worry, I can handle it."
6306 2) "You and what army?"
6307 3) "If you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn't be a cop."
6309 For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
6312 I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent.
6313 -- Ashleigh Brilliant
6315 Pittsburgh Driver's Test
6317 The car directly in front of you has a flashing right tail light but
6318 a steady left tail light. This means:
6320 (a) one of the tail lights is broken; you should blow your horn to call
6321 the problem to the driver's attention.
6322 (b) the driver is signaling a right turn.
6323 (c) the driver is signaling a left turn.
6324 (d) the driver is from out of town.
6327 (The correct answer is (d). Tail lights are used in some foreign
6328 countries to signal turns.)
6332 1. Don't unplug it, it will just take a moment to fix.
6333 2. Let's take the shortcut, he can't see us from there.
6334 3. What happens if you touch these two wires tog--
6335 4. We won't need reservations.
6336 5. It's always sunny there this time of the year.
6337 6. Don't worry, it's not loaded.
6338 7. They'd never (be stupid enough to) make him a manager.
6340 Certainly there are things in life that money can't buy,
6341 but it's very funny--Did you ever try buying them without money?
6344 Lactomangulation, n.:
6345 Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk carton so badly
6346 that one has to resort to using the "illegal" side.
6347 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets"
6349 If the code and the comments disagree, then both are probably wrong.
6352 Experience is what causes a person to make new mistakes instead of old ones.
6354 Every creature has within him the wild, uncontrollable urge to punt.
6356 The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
6357 human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of
6358 ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that
6359 we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction,
6360 have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of
6361 dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and
6362 of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the
6363 revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a
6367 "Krusty non-toxic Cologne
6368 'The smell of the big top'
6369 Warning: Use in a well ventilated area.
6370 May stain furniture.
6371 Prolonged use may cause chemical burns."
6374 a girlfriend is a bottle of wine,
6375 a wife is a wine bottle.
6377 The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common.
6378 Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts
6379 to fit their views... which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to
6380 be one of the facts that needs altering.
6381 -- Doctor Who, "Face of Evil"
6383 In the beginning was The Plan
6384 And then came The Assumptions
6385 And the Assumptions were without form
6386 And The Plan was completely without substance
6387 And the darkness was upon the face of the workers.
6388 And they spoke amongst themselves, saying
6389 "It is a crock of sh*t, and it stinketh."
6390 And the workers went unto their Supervisors and sayeth,
6391 "It is a pail of dung and none may abide the odor thereof."
6392 And the Supervisors went unto their Managers and sayeth unto them,
6393 "It is a container of excrement and it is very stong
6394 Such that none may abide by it."
6395 And the Managers went unto the Directors and sayeth,
6396 "It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength."
6397 And the Directors spoke amongst themselves, saying one to another,
6398 "It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong."
6399 And the Directors went unto the Vice Presidents and sayeth unto them,
6400 "It promotes growth and is very powerful."
6401 And the Vice Presidents went unto the President and sayeth unto Him,
6402 "This new Plan will actively promote the growth and efficiency
6403 Of this Company, and these Areas in particular."
6404 And the President looked upon The Plan,
6405 And saw that it was good, and The Plan became Policy.
6406 This is how sh*t happens.
6408 be unafraid to think fully on a small matter. -- fred t. hamster
6410 The late Dudjom Rinpoche, head of the Nyingma sect of the Tibetan Buddhist
6411 tradition, wrote one book on the evils of tobacco. He detailed a number of
6412 problems, both physical and spiritual, which would derive from the use of
6413 tobacco. Interestingly, he claims the origin of the plant to be a demoness
6414 who vowed to take rebirth as a plant to afflict humankind.
6417 be unafraid to walk across the water. -- fred t. hamster
6425 | | | | ______ ~~~~ _____
6426 | |__/ | / ___--\\ ~~~ __/_____\__
6427 | ___/ / \--\\ \\ \ ___ <__ x x __\
6428 | | / /\\ \\ )) \ ( " )
6429 | | -------(---->>(@)--(@)-------\----------< >-----------
6430 | | // | | //__________ / \ ____) (___ \\
6431 | | // __|_| ( --------- ) //// ______ /////\ \\
6432 // | ( \ ______ / <<<< <>-----<<<<< / \\
6433 // ( ) / / \` \__ \\
6434 //-------------------------------------------------------------\\
6436 Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels
6437 start closing in, the only cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and
6438 then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas... with the
6439 music at top volume and at least a pint of ether.
6440 -- H. S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
6442 dude, i have your tickets
6443 for the grateful briquettes
6444 on saturday the 20th.
6446 so get out your wallets
6447 i need the rental lease
6448 or be hit with mallets
6449 for my friend has no peace
6450 and i have no ballots.
6451 without which you get no tickets
6452 for my friend has no spigots
6453 disgorging money in hiccups
6454 in the land of honey and pickups.
6457 Some people imagine that only the person who physically carries out the
6458 killing is creating a negative karmic effect, and that the person who just
6459 gave the orders is not--or, if he is, then only a little. But you
6460 should know that the same karmic result comes to everyone involved,
6461 including even anyone who just felt pleased about it--and therefore how
6462 much more so the person who actually ordered that the killing be carried
6463 out. Each person gets the whole karmic result of killing one animal. It
6464 is not as if one act of killing could be divided up among many people.
6466 From the Nying-ma _kunzang lama'i shelung_ (The Words of My Perfect Teacher)
6467 written by Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887), (Padmakara translation group,
6468 trans., New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994, 104.)
6470 did you hear about the professor that got some human lips grafted onto his
6471 anus? then when his students were kissing butt, they could get some response.
6472 and he can also now wear a hat on his ass and sit on his head, and no one
6473 knows the difference...
6476 Software undergoes alpha testing as a first step in getting user
6477 feedback. Alpha is Latin for "doesn't work."
6480 Software undergoes beta testing shortly before it's released. Beta is
6481 Latin for "still doesn't work."
6484 Instrument of torture. The first computer was invented by Roger
6485 "Duffy" Billingsly, a British scientist. In a plot to overthrow Adolf
6486 Hitler, Duffy disguised himself as a German ally and offered his
6487 invention as a gift to the surly dictator. The plot worked. On April
6488 8, 1945, Adolf became so enraged at the "Incompatible File Format"
6489 error message that he shot himself. The war ended soon after Hitler's
6490 death, and Duffy began working for IBM.
6493 Central propulsion unit. The CPU is the computer's engine. It
6494 consists of a hard drive, an interface card and a tiny spinning wheel
6495 that's powered by a running rodent--a gerbil if the machine is a 286,
6496 a ferret if it's a 386 and a ferret on speed if it's a 486.
6499 Black hole. Default directory is where all files that you need
6503 Terse, baffling remark used by programmers to place blame on users for
6504 the program's shortcomings.
6507 A document that has been saved with an unidentifiable name. It helps
6508 to think of a file as something stored in a file cabinet--except when
6509 you try to remove the file, the cabinet gives you an electric shock
6510 and tells you the file format is unknown.
6513 Collective term for any computer-related object that can be kicked or
6517 The feature that assists in generating more questions. When the help
6518 feature is used correctly, users are able to navigate through a series
6519 of Help screens and end up where they started from without learning
6523 Information is input from the keyboard as intelligible data and output
6524 to the printer as unrecognizable junk.
6527 A programmer's feeble attempt at repentance.
6530 Of computer components, the most generous in terms of variety, and the
6531 skimpiest in terms of quantity.
6534 A joke in poor taste. A printer consists of three main parts: the
6535 case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.
6538 Computer avengers. Once members of that group of high school nerds
6539 who wore tape on their glasses, played Dungeons and Dragons, and
6540 memorized Star Trek episodes; now millionaires who create
6541 "user-friendly" software to get revenge on whoever gave them noogies.
6544 Object that raises the monitor to eye level. Also used to compensate
6545 for that short table leg.
6547 Scheduled Release Date:
6548 A carefully calculated date determined by estimating the actual
6549 shipping date and subtracting six months from it.
6552 Of or pertaining to any feature, device or concept that makes perfect
6553 sense to a programmer.
6556 Collective term for those who stare vacantly at a monitor. Users are
6557 divided into three types: novice, intermediate and expert.
6558 - Novice Users--People who are afraid that simply pressing a key
6559 might break their computer.
6560 - Intermediate Users--People who don't know how to fix their computer
6561 after they've just pressed a key that broke it.
6562 - Expert Users--People who break other people's computers.
6565 H8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@S
6566 FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/
6567 DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$
6568 UKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ
6569 JKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH
6570 JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH
6571 &^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^J
6572 KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)(8&*:KL)
6573 +J23*&^jj\+J23*&^jj\+J23*&^jj\+J23*&^jj\+J23*&^jj\+J23*&^jj\+J23*&^jj\+J23*
6574 H8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@Si8!p(_;XLk/\c@S
6575 FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/
6576 DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$
6577 UKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ
6578 JKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH
6579 JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH
6580 FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/?*&l|FD/
6581 DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$%#DJK%$
6582 UKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ+IO3GUKJ
6583 JKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH//8JHJKH
6584 JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH&HJKL|JKH
6585 &^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^JKjgzh~&^J
6587 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;itIRXItIt=:;iVRIIII:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6588 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:+ItXRYtIIi;IIRXiII+=;;:::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6589 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;::;==+ittYRViII+iiRRtIIiiti++=;;::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6590 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;::;=+iitIIiitIXViII+tYRtIII=iIYIti++=;::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6591 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;=+iitIi+=;;=+ttYYtIiiiYIII+==;;=+tItii+=::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6592 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;=+itIt+:;=+itt++=ttitt+tiiII+iti++=;;+IIii+=::;;;;;;;;;;;;+V=;;
6593 ;;;;;;;;;;;;::=+itIt;;=+itt+;;=+iiii+i==tiII==;=iti++=:=IIii+;::;;;;;;;;;+YMRt;
6594 ;;;;;;;;;;;::=+itY;:=+itt=;+itIYIt+;;+Iiiii+IIt+=;=tt++=:+Yti+=::;;;;;;;:WXXWt;
6595 ;;;;;;;;;;,;+iiII;;=+iI=;+itYI+;;++tIItIYtiIiiYYti+;+Ii+=;=Yti+=::;;;;;;+RBRM;;
6596 ;;;;;;;;;::=+iIY;;+itI;=itYY+;+=tXtIIIIWWIIIIt:+YIt+;=Ii+=;=Yti+=,;;;;;;YMBWY=+
6597 ;;;;;;;;;,;+itY=;=+iI==itYI;=it=BMIIIiMB=;IIIt+=iVt+=;=t++=:iYii+;,;;;;=XXWWVMY
6598 ;;;;;;;;::=iiII:;+iIt;+iIV;;+titV.:IIiMt.;YYVRBBBBBY++:Iti+;:YIi+=,;;;iXXRWWBi;
6599 ;;;;;;;;,;+iYV+:=++t;;==tt,+YYIII;:ii+IVRBXRBRRRBBBX=+;+t++;:IIi+==+iIItYYVt;;;
6600 ;;;;;;;;::+IWWIVXRYi++ii=i;RXXXXtiXXXMMV=;+iRMWWWMYti+;tti=;=titIIIIIti=;;;;;;;
6601 ;;;;;;;;;,=XWWXMWXViItt+iYiYMWWWMY+MVBMW+;;MWWBViIYt+==tiiIIIIIIti+=;:;;;;;;;;;
6602 ;;;;;;;;;,;tRY+ittt+tIVBIIVt:=tIYVVYVBRV==XWRt;;iIiitIIIIIItti++=::;;;;;;;;;;;;
6603 ;;;;;;;;;;,+++iiiI+YRYi;+itYY+;=+ittiiIIYBBBiitIIIIIIIIii=:IIii+;,;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6604 ;;;;;;;;;;:;;,;i+VBMX+tI+;+itIYt==ittVRWWWWIIIIItItti+++;;IIii+;,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6605 ;;;;;;;;;;;;,,:tYYYYi=+itt+;=+iiIIIIYWWWWWWIIIII=itii+;:+Itii+:,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6606 ;;;;;;;;;;;;::,==iIIIi=;=+iiiIIIIIItWWRMWWWVIII+ii+=;;+IIii+=::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6607 ;;;;;;;;;;;::,,,:;+IIIIt+iIIIIItiiiMWWXWWWWMiII==;;+tItii+=::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6608 ;;;;;;;;;;,:,,,,,,:;iIIIIIIti+;;;+IWWWXWWWWWYIi+tIYtii+=;::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6609 ;;;;;;;;;;,,:::,,,::::=itiiiIII+itIWWWMWWWWWXI+tiii+=;:::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6610 ;;;;;;;;;;;:,,:,,:;;;;;:IYIIItiIItMWWWWWWWWWXI;=;;:::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
6616 ___-==++""" . /. . . \ . """++==-___
6617 __-+"" __\ .. . . | .. . | . . . /__ ""+-__
6618 /\__+-"" `-----=====\_ <O> _/=====-----' ""-+__/\
6629 WHY GOD NEVER RECEIVED TENURE AT ANY UNIVERSITY
6631 1. He had only one major publication.
6632 2. It had no references.
6633 3. It wasn't published in a refereed journal.
6634 4. Some even doubt he wrote it himself.
6635 5. It may be true that he created the world,
6636 but what has he done since then?
6637 6. His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.
6638 7. The scientific community has had a hard time
6639 replicating his results.
6640 8. He never applied to the Ethics Board
6641 for permission to use human subjects.
6642 9. When one experiment went awry he tried to cover it up
6643 by drowning the subjects.
6644 10. When subjects didn't behave as predicted,
6645 he deleted them from the sample.
6646 11. He rarely came to class, just told students
6648 12. Some say he had his son teach the class.
6649 13. He expelled his first two students for learning.
6650 14. Although there were only ten requirements,
6651 most students failed his tests.
6652 15. His office hours were infrequent and usually
6653 held on a mountaintop.
6655 When we walk upon Mother Earth, we always plant our feet carefully
6656 because we know the faces of our future generations are looking up
6657 at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them.
6658 -- Oren Lyons, Onondaga Nation
6661 the foot is forgotten...
6664 Talent, will, and genius are natural phenomena, like volcanoes,
6665 lakes, mountains, winds, stars, clouds.
6666 -- George Sand -- 1874
6668 Creeping Featurism is the desire to add every technologically possible
6669 feature to a product whether or not the market needs it or will pay
6671 -- Leu Platt, CEO Hewlett Packard
6673 everybody's equal, but nobody's the same. -- fred t. hamster
6675 Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene.
6678 The successful mother sets her children free
6679 and becomes more free herself in the process.
6680 -- Robert J. Havinghurst
6682 No amount of energy will take the place of thought.
6683 A strenuous life with its eyes shut is a kind of wild insanity.
6686 It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong.
6689 It's strange the way the imagination, having exhausted one field,
6690 turns for rest and reinvigoration to another.
6693 Men travel faster now, but I do not know if they go to better things.
6696 People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding.
6697 -- Dr. Wilhem Stekel
6699 Love is the greatest refreshment of life.
6702 An idea isn't responsible for the people who believe it.
6705 I want to find someone on the earth so intelligent
6706 that he welcomes opinions which he condemns.
6709 You can exert no influence if you are not susceptible to influence.
6712 The greater the difficulty
6713 the more glory in surmounting it.
6716 Society is always engaged in a vast conspiracy to preserve itself--at the
6717 expense of the new demands of each new generation.
6718 -- John Haynes Holmes
6720 The only thing that is really difficult is to prove what one believes.
6723 There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for
6724 all one's life--reciprocity.
6727 Each time we make a decision, it is determined by the good or evil forces,
6728 respectively, which are dominant.
6731 We taste and feel and see the truth.
6732 We do not reason ourselves into it.
6735 You inside and the wind outside, tangled on the window blind, tell me why you
6736 treated me so unkind. Down where the sun don't shine I'm lonely and I call
6737 your name, no place to go ain't that a shame....
6740 The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough
6741 to believe the best is yet to come.
6744 "Observing formations of pigs flying south for the winter is several orders
6745 of magnitude more likely than having two competing C[++] compilers deal
6746 with more than eight lines of source code the same way."
6747 -- Steve Rimmer -- windows columnist
6749 If asses were rainbows, we'd all have a pot of gold.
6758 Good judgment is a result of experience.
6759 Experience is a result of poor judgment.
6762 in programming, insanity is not a handicap.
6771 you don't have to get mad every time you have the right to. -- fred t. hamster
6773 It's actually quite straightforward, but first you must be familiar
6774 with the 9 Palaces and 24 Directions.
6777 Every fairly intelligent person realizes that
6778 the price of respectability is a muffled soul
6779 bent on the trivial and mediocre.
6782 People will admit to anything on the Internet. -- fred t. hamster
6784 If all the beasts were gone, men would die
6785 from great loneliness of spirit,
6786 for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man.
6787 All things are connected.
6788 Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth.
6789 -- Chief Seathl (Seattle) of Suwamish tribe,
6790 State of Washington, 1855
6792 keep doing good, but don't be a do-gooder. -- fred t. hamster
6794 All systems of thought confine their thinkers within the accepted boundaries.
6795 To free the mind from this conceptual jail, step back from and outside of the
6796 system; detachment enables both sides of the system (that which is within
6797 and that which is not within) to be perceived and dealt with as an object
6801 That which exists requires no reaffirmation by the mind; it simply is.
6802 It is that which does not exist that needs constant renewing contact by
6803 the mind; else it would fade from its only sphere of influence, the internal
6804 stage upon which it dances and captures the imagination.
6807 Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, no matter how stupid.
6808 -- Frank Zappa (paraphrase unfortunately... know the exact quote?)
6812 i am the beaver who reincarnated as a carpenter.
6813 i am the squirrel who came back as jimmy carter.
6814 if there's anything more fun than programming (where i actually use my brain
6815 mainly and not my body), then i don't want to know what it is.
6816 algorithms are my bread.
6817 objects are my butter.
6818 state machines are my toaster.
6819 library hierarchies are my table.
6820 my house is composed of invisible data and my nation rides along cables.
6821 i really need a girlfriend.
6824 every religion constitutes a view of reality and a view of the world.
6825 each one might suit a particular person differently.
6826 for any religion to claim that it is the one true religion is ridiculous
6827 because it asserts that its one way of viewing reality is the only correct
6828 one. surely this is a bad case of religious egotism or selfishness.
6831 talking about dharma is like making a home movie. when you watch it later,
6832 you see it, you hear it, and yet it isn't really there and the vital
6833 experience of being there is missing. but when you are there... you know
6834 it and feel it in a way your brain can't accurately record for later
6838 Deja Fu: The feeling that somehow, somewhere, you've been kicked in the
6839 head like this before.
6841 A day without sunshine is like night.
6843 There is a CD out entitled "The Worst of Jefferson Airplane". If you buy
6844 this, take it home, play it, and enjoy it, should you take it back and
6847 College is a fountain of knowledge... and the students are there to drink.
6849 A polar bear is a rectangular bear after a coordinate transform.
6851 Some people say that I must be a horrible person, but that's not true.
6852 I have the heart of a young boy--in a jar on my desk.
6853 -- Stephen King, 3/8/90
6855 He who dies with the most toys, is, nonetheless, still dead.
6857 Photons have mass? I didn't know they were catholic!
6859 If you had everything, where would you keep it?
6861 I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone
6862 has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.
6863 -- Supposedly an English Professor, Ohio University
6865 What was sliced bread the greatest thing since?
6867 When aiming for the common denominator, be prepared
6868 for the occasional division by zero.
6870 When you're swimmin' in the creek
6871 And an eel bites your cheek
6873 -- Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
6875 Q: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
6876 A: Two. One to hold the giraffe and the other to fill the bathtub with
6877 brightly colored machine tools.
6879 "... one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking
6880 zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs."
6883 Grabel's Law: 2 is not equal to 3--not even for very large values of 2.
6885 Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you can find a rock.
6887 There are two major products to come out of Berkeley: LSD and BSD.
6888 We don't believe this to be a coincidence.
6890 If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet,
6891 what happen if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?
6894 One night I walked home very late and fell asleep in somebody's satellite
6895 dish. My dreams were showing up on TV's all over the world.
6898 My dental hygienist is cute. Every time I visit, I eat a whole package of
6899 Oreo cookies while I'm in the waiting room. Sometimes she has to cancel
6900 the rest of the afternoon's appointments.
6903 Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've
6904 forgotten this before.
6907 Smoking cures weight problems... eventually.
6910 I have an inferiority complex. But it's not a very good one.
6913 I was in the supermarket the other day, and I met a lady in the aisle where
6914 they keep the generic brands. Her name was 'woman'.
6917 I had a friend who was a clown. When he died, all his friends went to the
6921 I'd like to sing you a song now about my old girlfriend. It's
6922 called, 'They'll Find Her When the Leaves Blow Away 'Cause I'm
6923 Not Raking 'Til Spring.'
6926 When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, 'Did you sleep good?'
6927 I said, 'No, I made a few mistakes.'
6930 I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.
6933 The other day, I was walking my dog around my building... on the ledge.
6936 Some people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths.
6939 I spilled spot remover on my dog. He's gone now.
6942 Referring to a glass of water: I mixed this myself. Two parts H, one
6943 part O. I don't trust anybody!
6946 I went to the cinema, and the prices were: Adults $5.00, children $2.50.
6947 So I said, 'Give me two boys and a girl.'
6950 I went to a restaurant that serves 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered
6951 French Toast during the Renaissance.
6954 There's a pizza place near where I live that sells only slices. In the back
6955 you can see a guy tossing a triangle in the air.
6958 I went to a general store. They wouldn't let me buy anything specifically.
6961 I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy
6962 was locking the front door. I said, 'Hey, the sign says you're open 24
6963 hours.' He said, 'Yes, but not in a row.'
6966 There was a power outage at a department store yesterday. Twenty people
6967 were trapped on the escalators.
6970 I bought my brother some gift-wrap for Christmas. I took it to the Gift Wrap
6971 Department and told them to wrap it, but in a different print so he would
6972 know when to stop unwrapping.
6975 I was born by Cesarean section... But not so you'd notice. It's just that
6976 when I leave a house, I go out through the window.
6979 When I was little, my grandfather used to make me stand in a closet for five
6980 minutes without moving. He said it was elevator practice.
6983 I didn't get a toy train like the other kids. I got a toy subway instead.
6984 You couldn't see anything, but every now and then you'd hear this rumbling
6988 Last week the candle factory burned down. Everyone just stood around and
6989 sang 'Happy Birthday'.
6992 A wino asked me for change... I gave him my shirt.
6995 I bought this thing for my car. You put it on your car, it sends out this
6996 little noise, so when you drive through the woods, deer won't run in front
6997 of your car. I installed it backwards by accident... Driving down the
6998 street with a herd of deer chasing me.
7001 The ice cream truck in my neighborhood plays 'Helter Skelter'.
7004 The sky already fell. Now what?
7007 My girlfriend and I went on a picnic. I don't know how she did it, but she
7008 got poison ivy on the brain. When it itched, the only way she could scratch
7009 it was to think about sandpaper.
7012 Trees that grow in smoggy cities are needed to make carbon paper.
7015 What's another word for Thesaurus?
7018 When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked if I had any firearms
7019 with me. I said, 'Well, what do you need?'
7022 Why doesn't the fattest man in the world become a hockey goalie?
7025 You know how it is when you decide to lie and say the check is in the mail,
7026 and then you remember it really is?
7029 I've been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No
7030 brush, no paint, no canvas, I just think about it.
7033 My watch is three hours fast, and I can't fix it. So I'm going to move to
7037 When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction.
7040 One time I went to a museum where all the work on display had been done by
7041 children. They had all the paintings up on refrigerators.
7044 When I was a little kid we had a sand box. It was a quicksand box. I was
7045 an only child... Eventually.
7048 One day I got on the bus, and when I stepped in, I saw the most gorgeous
7049 blond Chinese girl. I sat beside her. I said, 'Hi', And she said, 'Hi',
7050 and then I said, 'Nice day, isn't it?' And she said, 'I saw my analyst
7051 today and he says I have a problem. So I asked, 'What's the problem?'
7052 She replied, 'I can't tell you. I don't even know you.' I said, 'Well,
7053 sometimes it's good to tell your problems to a perfect stranger on a bus.'
7054 So she said, 'Well, my analyst said I'm a nymphomaniac and I only like
7055 Jewish cowboys... By the way, my name is Denise.' I said, 'Hello, Denise.
7056 My name is Bucky Goldstein.'
7059 Today I was arrested for scalping low numbers at the deli. I sold a #3 for
7063 Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just
7064 whipped out a quarter?
7067 I'm writing an unauthorized autobiography.
7070 What happens if you put a slinky on an escalator?
7073 If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?
7076 If you tell a joke in the forest, but nobody laughs, was it a joke?
7079 If you were going to shoot a mime, would you use a silencer?
7082 In Vegas, I got into a long argument with the man at the roulette wheel over
7083 what I considered to be an odd number.
7086 Is "tired old cliche" one?
7089 My aunt gave me a walkie-talkie for my birthday. She says if I'm good,
7090 she'll give me the other one next year.
7093 At an October re-trial in Leeds, England, jurors took about an
7094 hour to acquit police officer Andrew Whitfield, 30, of stealing a
7095 calculator worth about $4. The cost of the trial, plus the original
7096 mistrial, plus keeping Whitfield on paid suspension for 14 months
7097 as required by law, was about $158,000.
7098 -- News of the Weird -- Compiled by Chuck Shepard
7100 Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world,
7101 I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that but not
7102 with those flies and death and stuff.
7106 If you could live forever, would you and why?
7108 I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because
7109 if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we
7110 cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever.
7111 -- Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss Universe contest
7113 Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions
7114 in the brain as marijuana... The researchers also discovered other
7115 similarities between the two, but can't remember what they are.
7116 -- Matt Lauer on NBC's Today show, August 22
7118 I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.
7119 -- David Dinkins, New York City Mayor, answering accusations that he
7120 failed to pay his taxes.
7122 Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your
7124 -- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson
7125 for a federal anti-smoking campaign
7127 I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body.
7128 -- Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward
7130 Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates
7132 -- Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.
7134 Beginning in February 1976 your assistance benefits will be discontinued...
7136 it has been reported to our office that you expired on January 1, 1976.
7137 -- Letter from the Illinois Department of Public Aid
7139 The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history... This century's
7140 history... We all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century.
7141 -- Dan Quayle, then Indiana senator and Republican vice-presidential
7142 candidate during a news conference in which he was asked his opinion
7145 I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly
7147 -- Lawrence Summers, chief economist of the World Bank, explaining why
7148 we should export toxic wastes to Third World countries
7150 After finding no qualified candidates for the position of principal,
7151 the school board is extremely pleased to announce the appointment of
7152 David Steele to the post.
7153 -- Philip Streifer, Superintendent of Schools, Barrington, Rhode Island
7155 The doctors X-rayed my head and found nothing.
7156 -- Dizzy Dean explaining how he felt after being hit on the head
7157 by a ball in the 1934 World Series
7159 there are some who believe that intelligence can only be won at the cost of
7160 other's intelligence; that is, there is no way to be intelligent without being
7161 more intelligent than someone else. i hypothesize that talking to this kind
7162 of person is a very draining experience because all that they are interested
7163 in is proving how much smarter they are than you are.
7164 i believe that people who want to increase intelligence everywhere are easy
7165 to talk to; they want you to know what they know and vice-versa, not to prove
7166 that they are the most intelligent person in the room.
7169 You are 97% water; the other 3% keeps you from drowning.
7172 It got to the end of our show, so I was just wandering around. I had
7173 this maternity dress on and a white face and I was doing unattractive
7174 things, spitting on people, things like that.
7175 -- Iggy Pop, sept. 22, 1968, several minutes before he signed his first
7178 The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive
7179 valiantly; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and speed
7180 themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best, know the triumph of high
7181 achievement; and who, at the worst, if they fail, fail while daring
7182 greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid
7183 souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
7184 -- Theodore Roosevelt
7186 I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian
7187 because I hate plants.
7190 My young brother asked me what happens after we die. I told him we get
7191 buried under a bunch of dirt and worms eat our bodies. I guess I should
7192 have told him the truth--that most of us go to Hell and burn eternally,
7193 but I didn't want to upset him.
7194 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 10
7196 When I go to heaven, I want to see my grandpa again. But he better have
7197 lost the nose hair and the old-man smell.
7198 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 5
7200 I once heard the voice of God. It said "Vrrrrmmmm." Unless it was just
7202 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 11
7204 I don't know about you, but I enjoy watching paint dry. I imagine that
7205 the wet paint is a big freshwater lake that is the only source of water
7206 for some tiny cities by the lake. As the lake gets drier, the population
7207 gets more desperate, and sometimes there are water riots. Once there was
7208 a big fire and everyone died.
7209 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 13
7211 I like to go down to the dog pound and pretend that I've found my dog.
7212 Then I tell them to kill it anyway because I already gave away all of
7213 his stuff. Dog people sure don't have a sense of humor.
7214 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 14
7216 I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I
7217 don't have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash clothes
7218 on the last day of their life?
7219 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 15
7221 It sure would be nice if we got a day off for the president's birthday,
7222 like they do for the queen. Of course, then we would have a lot of people
7223 voting for a candidate born on July 3 or December 26, just for the long
7225 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 8
7227 As you make your way through this hectic world of ours, set aside a few
7228 minutes each day. At the end of the year, you'll have a couple of days
7230 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 7
7232 Democracy is a beautiful thing, except for that part about letting just
7234 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 10
7236 Home is where the house is.
7237 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 6
7239 Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That
7240 is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number.
7241 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 15
7243 It would be terrible if the Red Cross Bloodmobile got into an accident.
7244 No, wait. That would be good because if anyone needed it, the blood would be
7246 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 5
7248 Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the
7249 things I cannot, and a great big bag of money.
7250 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 13
7252 I bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween.
7253 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 13
7255 For centuries, people thought the moon was made of green cheese. Then
7256 the astronauts found that the moon is really a big hard rock. That's what
7257 happens to cheese when you leave it out.
7258 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 6
7260 Think of the biggest number you can. Now add five. Then, imagine if you
7261 had that many Twinkies. Wow, that's five more than the biggest number
7262 you could come up with!
7263 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 6
7265 The only stupid question is the one that is never asked, except maybe
7266 "Don't you think it is about time you audited my return?" or "Isn't it morally
7267 wrong to give me a warning when, in fact, I was speeding?"
7268 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 15
7270 Once, I wept for I had no shoes. Then I came upon a man who had no feet.
7271 So I took his shoes. I mean, it's not like he really needed them, right?
7272 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 15
7274 I often wonder how come John Tesh isn't as popular a singer as some
7275 people think he should be. Then, I remember it's because he sucks.
7276 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 15
7278 If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world
7279 peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the
7281 -- Deep Thoughts Jr., Age 15
7283 Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
7285 Lobotomies for republicans? Why be redundant?
7287 The last time we mixed politics and religion,
7288 people got burned at the stake.
7292 Minimum wage for politicians.
7295 i dancing nude green
7297 (a haiku-style anagram for "inova engineering and production")
7300 If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
7302 A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
7304 Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.
7306 Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
7308 A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
7310 He who hesitates is probably right.
7312 Never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.
7314 The colder the X-ray table, the more of your body is required on it.
7316 To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles.
7318 Two wrongs are only the beginning.
7320 You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.
7322 The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
7324 Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life.
7326 The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
7328 A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
7330 Change is inevitable... except from vending machines.
7332 Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
7334 Half the people you know are above average.
7336 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
7338 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
7340 If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
7342 Oh, yeah, what are you gonna do? Release the dogs? Or
7343 the bees? Or the dogs with bees in their mouth and when
7344 they bark, they shoot bees at you?
7347 Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not
7348 whether you win or lose... it's how drunk you get.
7351 Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably.
7352 The lesson is, never try.
7355 It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but
7356 somehow I managed to fit in eight hours of TV a day.
7359 Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What
7365 Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal!
7366 Homer: Heh heh heh... ooh... yeah.... right, Lisa. A wonderful...
7369 Marge: Do you want your son to be Chief Justice of the
7370 Supreme Court, or a sleazy male stripper?
7371 Homer: Can't he be both, like the late Earl Warren?
7372 Marge: Earl Warren was never a stripper!
7373 Homer: Oh, now who's being naive?
7375 Homer: But every time I learn something new, it pushes out
7376 something old! Remember that time I took a home
7377 wine-making course and forgot how to drive?
7378 Marge: That's because you were drunk!
7381 Oh, Lisa, you and your stories: Bart's a vampire, beer
7382 kills brain cells. Now let's go back to that...
7383 building...thingie... where our beds and TV... is.
7386 Operator! Give me the number for 911!
7389 Lenny: Hey, Homer? What do I tell the boss?
7390 Homer: Tell him I'm going to the back seat of my car with
7391 the woman I love, and I won't be back for ten minutes!
7393 Big brother representative: Now, Mr. Simpson, may I ask why
7395 Homer's brain: Don't say revenge. Don't say revenge.
7396 Homer: Ummm... revenge?
7397 Homer's brain: Okay, that's it. I'm outta here.
7398 (step step step step step...slam)
7400 Homer: Okay, brain. You don't like me, and I don't like
7401 you, but let's get through this thing and then I can
7402 continue killing you with beer.
7403 Homer's Brain: It's a deal!
7405 Homer: But Marge! I was a political prisoner!
7406 Marge: How were you a political prisoner?
7407 Homer: I kicked a giant mouse in the butt! Do I have to
7410 Homer: Bart, a woman is like a beer. They look good, they
7411 smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just
7412 to get one! (chugs beer)
7414 Old man: Take this doll, but beware; it carries a terrible curse.
7415 Homer: Ooo, that's bad.
7416 Old man: But it comes with a free serving of frozen yogurt!
7418 Old man: The frozen yogurt is also cursed.
7420 Old man: But it comes with your choice of toppings!
7422 Old man: The toppings contain potassium benzoate...
7424 Old man: That's bad.
7425 Homer: Can I go now?
7427 Getting out of jury duty is easy. The trick is to say
7428 you're prejudiced against all races.
7431 Homer's brain: Use reverse psychology.
7432 Homer: Oh, that sounds too complicated.
7433 Homer's brain: Okay, don't use reverse psychology.
7434 Homer: Okay, I will!
7436 Homer: When I first heard that Marge was joining the police academy, I thought
7437 it would be fun and zany, like that movie--Spaceballs. But instead it was
7438 dark and disturbing. Like that movie--Police Academy.
7440 Marge: Homer, did you call the audience "Chicken"?
7441 Homer: No! I swear on this bible!
7442 Marge: That's not a bible. That's a book of carpet samples.
7443 Homer: Mmmm... fuzzy.
7445 Lisa: Dad, we did something very bad!
7446 Homer: Did you wreck the car?
7448 Homer: Did you raise the dead?
7450 Homer: But the car's okay?
7451 Bart & Lisa: Uh-huh.
7452 Homer: All right then.
7454 Mmmmm... reprocessed pig fat... -- Homer Simpson
7456 (praying): Dear Lord, the gods have been good to me. As
7457 an offering, I present these milk and cookies. If you
7458 wish me to eat them instead, please give me no sign
7459 whatsoever... thy will be done (munch munch munch).
7462 Homer: (On George HW Bush) I didn't vote for him!
7463 Marge: You didn't vote for anybody.
7464 Homer: I voted for Prell to go back to the old glass bottle.
7465 Then I became deeply cynical.
7467 What's the point of going out? We're just going to
7468 wind up back here anyway.
7471 I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.
7474 All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me--so let's
7475 just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer.
7478 You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline;
7479 it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear
7480 weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
7483 Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to
7484 keep your mouth shut.
7485 -- Ernest Hemmingway
7487 Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has
7489 -- Winston Churchill
7491 He was a wise man who invented beer.
7494 Time is never wasted when you're wasted all the time.
7495 -- Catherine Zandonella
7497 A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her.
7500 "Sir, if I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee."
7501 -- Lady Nancy Astor speaking to Winston Churchill
7502 "Madam, if I were your husband, I would drink it."
7503 -- Churchill's reply
7505 If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.
7508 Work is the curse of the drinking class.
7511 When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
7514 Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
7515 -- Benjamin Franklin
7517 If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it
7518 makes beer shoot out your nose.
7519 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
7521 Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is
7522 beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but
7523 the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.
7526 The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.
7529 Why is American beer served cold? So you can tell it from urine.
7532 People who drink light "beer" don't like the taste of beer; they just
7534 -- Capital Brewery, Middleton, WI
7536 Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.
7539 Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and
7540 oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital
7544 I drink to make other people interesting.
7545 -- George Jean Nathan
7547 They who drink beer will think beer.
7548 -- Washington Irving
7550 An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with
7552 -- For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
7554 You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.
7557 I will not carve gods.
7558 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7560 I will not spank others.
7561 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7563 I will not aim for the head.
7564 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7566 I will not barf unless I'm sick.
7567 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7569 I will not expose the ignorance of the faculty.
7570 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7572 I saw nothing unusual in the teacher's lounge.
7573 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7575 I will not conduct my own fire drills.
7576 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7578 Funny noises are not funny.
7579 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7581 I will not snap bras.
7582 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7584 I will not fake seizures.
7585 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7587 This punishment is not boring and pointless.
7588 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7590 My name is not Dr. Death.
7591 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7593 I will not defame New Orleans.
7594 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7596 I will not prescribe medication.
7597 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7599 I will not bury the new kid.
7600 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7602 I will not teach others to fly.
7603 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7605 I will not bring sheep to class.
7606 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7608 A burp is not an answer.
7609 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7611 Teacher is not a leper.
7612 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7614 Coffee is not for kids.
7615 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7617 I will not eat things for money.
7618 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7620 I will not yell "She's Dead" at roll call.
7621 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7623 The principal's toupee is not a Frisbee.
7624 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7626 I will not call the principal "spud head".
7627 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7629 Goldfish don't bounce.
7630 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7632 Mud is not one of the 4 food groups.
7633 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7635 No one is interested in my underpants.
7636 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7638 I will not sell miracle cures.
7639 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7641 I will return the seeing-eye dog.
7642 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7644 I do not have diplomatic immunity.
7645 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7647 I will not charge admission to the bathroom.
7648 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7650 The cafeteria deep fryer is not a toy.
7651 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7653 All work and no play makes Bart a dull boy.
7654 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7656 I will not say "Springfield" just to get applause.
7657 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7659 I am not authorized to fire substitute teachers.
7660 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7662 My homework was not stolen by a one-armed man.
7663 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7665 I will not go near the kindergarten turtle.
7666 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7668 I am not deliciously saucy.
7669 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7671 Organ transplants are best left to professionals.
7672 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7674 The Pledge of Allegiance does not end with "Hail Satan".
7675 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7677 I will not celebrate meaningless milestones.
7678 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7680 There are plenty of businesses like show business.
7681 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7683 Five days is not too long to wait for a gun.
7684 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7686 I will not waste chalk.
7687 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7689 I will not skateboard in the halls.
7690 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7692 Underwear should be worn on the inside.
7693 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7695 I will never win an emmy.
7696 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7698 I will not torment the emotionally frail.
7699 -- Bart Simpson (at the blackboard)
7701 Bitter, unsuccessful middle aged loser wallowing in an unending sea of inert,
7702 drooping loneliness looking for 24 year old needy leech-like hanger-on to
7703 abuse with dull stories, tired sex and Herb Alpert albums.
7704 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7705 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7707 Me--trying to sleep on the bus station bench, pleading with you to give me a
7708 cigarette; you--choking on my odor, tripping over your purse trying to get
7709 away; at the last moment, our eyes meeting. Yours were blue.
7710 Can I have a dollar?
7711 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7712 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7714 Imp and angel. Disembodied head in jar, 24, seeks pixie goddess to fiddle with
7715 while Rome burns. You bring marshmallows. No. I make joke. You like laugh?
7716 I like comebacks and confessions. Send photo of someone else.
7717 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7718 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7720 I am spitting kitty. Ftt Fttttttt. I am angry bear. Grrrrr. I am large
7721 watermelon seed stuck in your nose. Zermmmmmmmmmm. I am small biting spider
7722 in your underwear. Yub yub yub. No mimes.
7723 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7724 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7726 Three toed mango peeler searching for wicked lesbian infielder. Like screaming
7727 and marking territory with urine? Let's make banana enchiladas together in my
7728 bathtub. You bring the salsa.
7729 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7730 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7732 Mongoloid spastic underwear model with extra limb (you guess where?) in search
7733 of bottlenosed dolphin and extra prickly cactus juice. Soup is good food.
7734 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7735 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7737 I like eating mayonnaise and peanut butter sandwiches in the rain, watching
7738 Barney Miller reruns, peeing on birds in the park and licking strangers on the
7739 subway; you eat beets raw, have climbed Kilimanjaro, and sweat freely and
7740 often. Must wear size five shoes.
7741 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7742 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7744 Timber! Falling downward is the lumber of my love. You grind your axe of
7745 passion into my endangered headlands. Don't make me into a bureau. I want
7746 to be lots and lots of toothpicks.
7747 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7748 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7750 Small lumpy squid monkey seeks healthy woman with no identifying scars, any
7751 age. Must have all limbs. Recommend appreciation of high-pitched, screeching
7752 noises. Must like being bored and lonely. Must not touch the squids, EVER.
7753 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7754 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7756 There is a little place in the jumbled sock drawer of my heart where you
7757 match up all the pairs, throw out the ones with holes in them, and buy me
7758 some of those neat dressy ones with the weird black and red geometrical
7760 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7761 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7763 Mmmm Pez! Rabid Wonder Woman fan looking for someone in satin tights,
7764 fighting for our rights and the old red, white 'n blue. You look like
7765 Linda Carter? Big plus. Know all words to theme song? Marry me.
7766 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7767 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7769 Sanctimonious mordacious raconteur seeking same for hijinks and hiballs.
7770 SJM 27 wants to look someone in the eye so don't be tall. Or, if you can't
7771 help it, enjoy laying down. Wanna swim upstream?
7772 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7773 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7775 Remember that summer you spent with your parents in Hawaii and how mad you
7776 were that they made you go? And how you were hopelessly bored until you saw
7777 the most gorgeous man you'd ever encountered strolling down the beach looking
7778 at you, skillfully removing your skimpy bikini with his piercing eyes? And
7779 how you spent the last month imagining him taking you in every possible way,
7780 masturbating feverishly day and night, wishing he would reappear, but he never
7781 did because you were 15 and he would have gone to jail? That was me, and
7783 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7784 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7786 Angry, simple-minded, balding, partially blind ex-circus flipper boy with a
7787 passion for covering lovers in sour cream and gravy seeks exotic, heavily
7788 tattooed piercing fanatic, preferably hairy, either sex, for whippings,
7789 bizarre sex and fashion consulting. No freaks.
7790 -- from "A Collection of Personal Ads From Alternative Newspapers,"
7791 by Skippy Williams and Zohre Crumpton, 1996, Simon and Schuster.
7793 A freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho
7794 Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned
7795 we have become to the alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear
7796 of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign
7797 a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical
7798 "dihydrogen monoxide." And for plenty of good reasons, since
7800 1. it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting;
7801 2. it is a major component in acid rain;
7802 3. it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state;
7803 4. accidental inhalation can kill you;
7804 5. it contributes to erosion;
7805 6. it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes;
7806 7. it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.
7808 He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical. Forty-three said
7809 yes, six were undecided, and only one knew that the chemical was water. The
7810 title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?".
7811 The conclusion is obvious.
7813 If you ever see me getting beaten by the police, put down the video camera
7815 -- Bobcat Goldthwait
7817 I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because
7818 it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive,
7819 but I have photographs of her.
7822 I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other
7823 one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they
7824 are always locking three.
7827 Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?
7830 Relationships are hard. It's like a full-time job, and we should treat it like
7831 one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you, they should give you
7832 two weeks' notice. There should be severance pay and before they leave you,
7833 they should have to find you a temp.
7836 I don't know what's wrong with my television set. I was getting C-Span and
7837 the Home Shopping Network on the same station. I actually bought a
7841 I had a linguistics professor who said that it's man's ability to use language
7842 that makes him the dominant species on the planet. That may may be. But I
7843 think there's one other thing that separates us from animals. We aren't
7844 afraid of vacuum cleaners.
7847 Did you ever walk in a room and forget why you walked in? I think that's how
7848 dogs spend their lives.
7851 Maybe there is no actual place called hell. Maybe hell is just having to
7852 listen to our grandparents breathe through their noses when they're eating
7856 The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering
7857 from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they
7858 are okay, then it's you.
7861 Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image
7862 there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe
7863 laundry isn't your biggest problem. Maybe you should get rid of the body
7864 before you do the wash.
7867 USA Today has come out with a new survey: Apparently three out of four people
7868 make up 75 percent of the population.
7871 A lady came up to me on the street and pointed at my suede jacket. 'You know
7872 a cow was murdered for that jacket?' she sneered. I replied in a psychotic
7873 tone, 'I didn't know there were any witnesses. Now I'll have to kill you too.'
7876 I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.
7879 The Swiss have an interesting army. Five hundred years without a war. Pretty
7880 impressive. Also pretty lucky for them. Ever see that little Swiss Army knife
7881 they have to fight with? Not much of a weapon there. Corkscrews. Bottle
7882 openers. "Come on, buddy, let's go. You get past me, the guy in back of me,
7883 he's got a spoon. Back off. I've got the toe clippers right here."
7886 Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my
7887 fishburger and I realize, Oh my God... I could be eating a slow learner.
7890 Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography.
7893 Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.
7894 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7896 Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts.
7897 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7899 I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom
7900 and democracy--but that could change.
7901 -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/22/89
7903 One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that
7904 one word is 'to be prepared'.
7905 -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 12/6/89
7907 May our nation continue to be the beakon of hope to the world.
7908 -- The Quayles' 1989 Christmas card
7910 Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.
7911 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7913 We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward.
7914 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7916 I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the
7918 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7920 The future will be better tomorrow.
7921 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7923 We're going to have the best-educated American people in the world.
7924 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7926 People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a
7927 tremendous impact on history.
7928 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7930 I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.
7931 -- Vice President Dan Quayle to Sam Donaldson, 8/17/89
7933 We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm
7934 commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe.
7935 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7937 I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican.
7938 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7940 I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix.
7941 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7943 A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.
7944 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7946 When I have been asked during these last weeks who caused the riots and
7947 the killing in L.A., my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame
7948 for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings?
7949 The killers are to blame.
7950 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7952 Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.
7953 -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/20/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
7955 Murphy Brown is doing better than I am. At least she knows she still has a job
7957 -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 8/18/92
7959 We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.
7960 -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/22/90
7962 For NASA, space is still a high priority.
7963 -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/5/90
7965 Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children.
7966 -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/18/90
7968 The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Dan Quayle
7969 may or may not make.
7970 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7972 We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the
7973 mistakes we may or may not have made.
7974 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7976 It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities
7977 in our air and water that are doing it.
7978 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7980 [It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system.
7981 -- Vice President Dan Quayle
7983 Public speaking is very easy.
7984 -- Dan Quayle to reporters in 10/88
7986 We have to believe in free will. We've got no choice.
7989 The president has kept all of the promises he intended to keep.
7990 -- Clinton aide George Stephanopolous speaking on "Larry King Live"
7992 The police are not here to create disorder.
7993 They're here to preserve disorder.
7994 -- Former Chicago mayor Daley
7995 during the infamous 1968 convention
7997 Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas.
7998 -- Former Australian cabinet minister Keppel Enderbery
8000 It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago.
8001 -- Former U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle
8003 The internet is a great way to get on the net.
8004 -- Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole
8006 It is bad luck to be superstitious.
8009 It's like an Alcatraz around my neck.
8010 -- Boston mayor Menino on the shortage of city parking spaces
8012 They're multipurpose. Not only do they put the clips on, but they take
8014 -- Pratt & Whitney spokesperson explaining why the company charged the
8015 Air Force nearly $1,000 for an ordinary pair of pliers
8017 We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees.
8018 -- Jason Kidd, upon his drafting to the Dallas Mavericks
8020 I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers.
8021 We are the president.
8022 -- Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents
8024 When more and more people are thrown out of work, unemployment results.
8025 -- Former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
8027 China is a big country, inhabited by many chinese.
8028 -- Former French President Charles de Gaulle
8030 That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and
8031 i'm just the one to do it.
8032 -- A congressional candidate in Texas
8034 Things are more like they are now than they ever were before.
8035 -- Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
8037 Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.
8038 -- General William Westmoreland, during the war in Viet Nam
8040 If you let that sort of thing go on, your bread and butter will be cut
8041 right out from under your feet.
8042 -- Former British foreign minister Ernest Bevin
8044 Almonds and peaches are members of the Rosaceae family (roses) and are
8045 both in the subfamily Amygdaloideae, which also includes plums, cherries
8048 The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.
8050 Charlie Brown's father was a barber.
8052 Nutmeg is toxic and can cause fatal overdoses just from eating too much.
8054 Of the six men who made up the Three Stooges, three of them were real
8055 brothers (Moe, Curly and Shemp).
8057 In Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie," mime Marcel Marceau is the only person who
8058 has a speaking role.
8060 Pulp Fiction cost $8 million to make--$5 million going to actor's salaries.
8062 A full seven percent of the entire Irish barley crop goes to the
8063 production of Guinness beer.
8065 Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los
8066 Angeles de Porciúncula" or "The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of Angels,
8067 of Porziuncola", although its official name is simply "El Pueblo de
8068 la Reina de Los Angeles".
8070 A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
8072 An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
8074 Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
8076 Deborah Winger did the voice of E.T.
8078 In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed
8079 on an analog watch is 10:10.
8081 Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.
8083 Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
8085 The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint--no two lions have the same
8086 pattern of whiskers.
8088 Bob Dylan's given name is Robert Allen Zimmerman.
8090 Research by the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth in
8091 2003 demonstrated that goldfish have a memory-span of at least three
8092 months and can distinguish between different shapes, colours and sounds.
8094 The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
8096 It was discovered on a space mission that a frog can throw up. The frog
8097 throws up it's stomach first, so the stomach is dangling out of it's
8098 mouth. Then the frog uses it's forearms to dig out all of the stomach's
8099 contents and then swallows the stomach back down again.
8101 Bingo is the name of the dog on the Cracker Jack box.
8103 ABBA got their name by taking the first letter from each of their first
8104 names (Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, Anni-frid.)
8106 The Beatles song "Dear Prudence" was written about Mia Farrow's sister,
8107 Prudence, when she wouldn't come out and play with Mia and the Beatles
8108 at a religious retreat in India.
8110 The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
8112 The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator,
8113 Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N and O-Z, hence "Oz."
8115 Horses and rabbits cannot normally vomit, but have been observed in
8116 extreme cases appearing to vomit. For example, horses with severe colic
8117 can produce fermented stomach contents, and rabbits have been observed
8118 expelling stomach contents due to over-eating or health issues.
8120 Virgina Woolf liked to write standing up.
8121 Mark Twain often wrote while lying down.
8123 Testimonial from Col. George Harvey, Mark Twain's publisher:
8124 I think that perhaps the funniest thing about Mark Twain now is not
8125 his writing, but his bed. He lies in bed a good deal; he says he has
8126 formed the habit. His bed is the largest one I ever saw, and on it is
8127 the weirdest collection of objects you ever saw, enough to furnish a
8128 Harlem flat--books, writing materials, clothes, any and everything that
8129 could foregather in his vicinity.
8130 He looks quite happy rising out of the mass, and over all prowls a
8131 huge black cat of a very unhappy disposition. She snaps and snarls and
8132 claws and bites, and Mark Twain takes his turn with the rest; when she
8133 gets tired of tearing up manuscript she scratches him and he bears it
8134 with a patience wonderful to behold.
8135 -- interview subtitled "Mark Twain's Bed," Washington Post,
8136 March 26, 1905, p. F12
8138 Testimonial from Katy Leary, Mark Twain's servant:
8139 Mr. Clemens borrowed a kitten one time, called Bambino, from Clara, who
8140 had him in the sanitarium, and had trained him to wash his own face in the
8141 bowl every morning--which shows that he was a very smart little cat. He
8142 used to have this kitten up in his room at the Fifth Avenue house and he
8143 taught it to put out a light, too. He had a tiny little lamp to light his
8144 cigars with at the head of the bed, and after he got all fixed and didn't
8145 want the light any more, he taught that cat to put his paw on the light
8146 and put it out. Bambino would jump on the bed, look at Mr. Clemens to see
8147 if he was through with the light, and when Mr. Clemens would bow twice to
8148 him, he'd jump over on to that table quick, and put his little paw right
8149 on the lamp! Mr. Clemens was always showing him off; he did that for a lot
8150 of people that come there to call.
8151 One night he got kind of gay, when he heard some cats calling from the
8152 back fence, so he found a window open and he stole out. We looked high
8153 and low but couldn't find him. Mr. Clemens felt so bad that he advertised
8154 in all the papers for him. He offered a reward for anybody that would
8155 bring the cat back. My goodness! the people that came bringing cats to
8156 that house! A perfect stream! They all wanted to see Mr. Clemens, of
8158 Two or three nights after, Katherine heard a cat meowing across the
8159 street in General Sickles' back yard, and there was Bambino--large as
8160 life! So she brought him right home. Mr. Clemens was delighted and then
8161 he advertised that his cat was found! But the people kept coming just
8162 the same with all kinds of cats for him--anything to get a glimpse of
8164 -- A Lifetime with Mark Twain, by Mary Lawton
8166 If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it; blame yourself; admit to
8167 yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because
8168 for the creator there is no poverty and no poor, indifferent place.
8169 -- Rainer Maria Rilke
8171 Compassion is the chief and perhaps the only law of human existence.
8172 -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
8174 If we concede that human life can be governed by reason, the possibility of
8178 What an abyss of uncertainty, whenever the mind feels overtaken by itself;
8179 when it, the seeker, is at the same time the dark region through which it
8180 must go seeking, and where all its equipment will avail nothing. Seek? More
8181 than that: create. It is face to face with something which does not yet exist,
8182 to which it alone can give reality and substance, which it alone can bring into
8186 As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
8187 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
8189 I believe that everything depends on attention. I only see you if I pay
8190 attention. I only exist, in my own eyes, if I pay attention to myself.
8193 The sex was so good that even the neighbors had a cigarette.
8195 If you smoke after sex, you're doing it too fast.
8197 I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
8199 If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.
8201 Good girls get fat, bad girls get eaten.
8203 The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.
8205 A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory.
8207 I need someone really bad... are you really bad?
8209 If, a two letter word for futility.
8211 Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
8213 To all you virgins, thanks for nothing.
8215 The more you complain, the longer God lets you live.
8217 My kid had sex with your honor student.
8219 Don't hit me. My lawyer's in jail.
8221 If something goes without saying, LET IT!
8223 If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.
8225 IRS: We've got what it takes to take what you've got.
8227 Hard work has a future payoff, laziness pays off now.
8229 Life's a buffet... so eat me!
8231 Montana--At least our cows are sane!
8233 Jesus died for my sins and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
8237 Guns don't kill people, postal workers do.
8241 God must love stupid people, he made so many.
8243 I said "no" to drugs, but they just wouldn't listen.
8245 The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
8247 There's too much youth, how about a fountain of smart.
8249 Forget about World Peace... Visualize Using Your Turn Signal!
8251 Warning: Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear.
8253 I know what you're thinking, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
8255 Don't drink and drive, you might hit a bump and spill your drink.
8257 Elvis is dead, and I'm not feeling too good myself.
8259 Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.
8261 Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
8263 Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes.
8265 Always be nice to your children because they are
8266 the ones who will choose your rest home.
8269 I like you, but I wouldn't want to see you working with subatomic particles.
8271 Sex on television can't hurt you unless you fall off.
8273 I'm not offended by all the dumb blond jokes because I know I'm not
8274 dumb... and I also know that I'm not blond.
8277 You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a
8278 smart woman with a dumb guy.
8281 I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home
8282 which answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog which growls
8283 every morning, a parrot which swears all afternoon and a cat that
8284 comes home late at night.
8287 I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house.
8290 I want to have children, but my friends scare me. One of my friends told
8291 me she was in labor for 36 hours. I don't even want to do anything that
8292 feels GOOD for 36 hours.
8295 I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on.
8298 I think--therefore I'm single.
8301 Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.
8304 Our struggle today is not to have a female Einstein get appointed as
8305 assistant professor. It is for a woman schlemiel to get as quickly
8306 promoted as a male schlemiel.
8309 I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on
8310 how to combine marriage and a career.
8313 Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they
8314 should live next door and just visit now and then.
8315 -- Katharine Hepburn
8317 God is my favorite fictional character.
8320 Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
8321 -- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
8323 I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
8324 -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
8326 I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the
8327 best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't
8329 -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957
8331 But what... is it good for?
8332 -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,
8333 commenting on the microchip
8335 This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a
8336 means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.
8337 -- Western Union internal memo, 1876
8339 The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for
8340 a message sent to nobody in particular?
8341 -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment
8342 in the radio in the 1920s
8344 The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than
8345 a 'C,' the idea must be feasible.
8346 -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's
8347 paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service
8348 (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
8350 Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?
8351 -- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927
8353 I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary
8355 -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone
8358 A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say
8359 America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.
8360 -- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies
8362 We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.
8363 -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
8365 If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The
8366 literature was full of examples that said you can't do this.
8367 -- Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M
8370 So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built
8371 with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll
8372 give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for
8373 you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they
8374 said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'
8375 -- Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P
8376 interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer
8378 Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and
8379 the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He
8380 seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.
8381 -- 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary
8384 You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your
8385 muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just have to
8386 accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight
8388 -- Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the "unsolvable" problem by
8391 Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're
8393 -- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill
8396 Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.
8397 -- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929
8399 Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.
8400 -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy,
8401 Ecole Superieure de Guerre
8403 Everything that can be invented has been invented.
8404 -- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899, arguing
8405 that the office should be closed
8407 Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.
8408 -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872
8410 The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion
8411 of the wise and humane surgeon.
8412 -- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary
8413 to Queen Victoria 1873
8415 640K ought to be enough for anybody.
8416 -- Attributed to Bill Gates, 1981, but he asserts that he did not say this.
8418 Three things are certain:
8419 Death, taxes, and lost data.
8420 Guess which has occurred.
8423 Your life's work has been destroyed.
8424 Squeeze trigger (yes/no)?
8427 I am the Blue Screen of Death.
8428 No one hears your screams.
8430 Seeing my great fault
8431 Through darkening blue windows
8434 The code was willing,
8435 It considered your request,
8436 But the chips were weak.
8439 Could be a fatal error.
8443 It might be very useful.
8446 Errors have occurred.
8447 We won't tell you where or why.
8450 Server's poor response
8451 Not quick enough for browser.
8452 Timed out, plum blossom.
8454 Chaos reigns within.
8455 Reflect, repent, and reboot.
8459 Only perfect spellers may
8462 This site has been moved.
8463 We'd tell you where, but then we'd
8467 scatt'ring petals to the wind:
8471 Close all that you have.
8472 You ask way too much.
8474 First snow, then silence.
8475 This thousand dollar screen dies
8478 With searching comes loss
8479 and the presence of absence:
8480 "My Novel" not found.
8482 The Tao that is seen
8483 Is not the true Tao, until
8484 You bring fresh toner.
8486 The Web site you seek
8487 cannot be located but
8488 endless others exist
8490 Stay the patient course
8491 Of little worth is your ire
8495 your expensive computer
8499 of carbon and silicon
8500 the software can't bridge
8503 Today it is not working
8504 Windows is like that
8507 Would be life without meaning
8510 You step in the stream,
8511 but the water has moved on.
8512 This page is not here.
8519 Hal, open the damn file, Hal
8520 open the, please Hal
8523 We wish to hold the whole sky,
8527 The document you're seeking
8528 Must now be retyped.
8530 The ten thousand things
8531 How long do any persist?
8532 Netscape, too, has gone.
8535 Or a rude error message,
8536 These words: "File not found."
8539 All shortcuts have disappeared.
8540 Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
8542 Indecision may or may not be my problem.
8545 If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you.
8546 This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
8549 If you want to know what God thinks about money, just look at the people He
8553 I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage.
8554 They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.
8557 I would love to speak a foreign language but I can't.
8558 So I grew hair under my arms instead.
8561 The second day of a diet is always easier than the first.
8562 By the second day you're off it.
8565 Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.
8568 If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's
8569 life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if
8570 there is a man on base.
8573 Somebody hits me, I'm going to hit him back. Even if it does look like he
8574 hasn't eaten in a while.
8575 -- Charles Barkley, after blatantly elbowing an Angolan basketball
8576 opponent in the Olympics.
8578 I think that's how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said,
8579 'Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough.
8583 The show business newspaper Daily Variety reported in December that John
8584 Kricfalusi, creator of TV's "The Ren & Stimpy Show," was threatening legal
8585 action against the producers of the Comedy Central show "South Park" for
8586 ripping off a cartoon character. According to Kricfalusi, his character
8587 "Nutty the Friendly Dump," an animated piece of excrement, must have been
8588 the basis for "South Park"'s "Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo," a holiday-
8589 dressed, singing, dancing piece of excrement.
8591 If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is
8592 no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?
8594 If a deaf person swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
8596 If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is
8597 it considered a hostage situation?
8599 Is there another word for synonym?
8601 Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice?"
8603 When sign makers go on strike, is anything written on their signs?
8605 Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"
8607 Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
8609 What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?
8611 If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?
8613 Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
8615 Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone
8618 If a stealth bomber crashes in a forest, will it make a sound?
8620 If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?
8622 Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
8624 Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
8626 If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to
8629 Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
8631 How do they get the deer to cross at that yellow road sign?
8633 Why do they sterilize the needles for lethal injections?
8635 Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
8637 Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?
8639 Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies.
8642 In dog years, I'm dead.
8645 Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in
8646 case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in
8651 I wonder what goes through his mind when he sees us peeing in his water bowl.
8654 Outside of a dog, a book is probably man's best friend,
8655 and inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
8658 To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
8661 A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times
8665 Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is
8666 how dogs spend their lives.
8669 Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who stays up all night
8670 wondering if there really is a Dog?
8673 I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give
8677 I loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts
8678 to bite people themselves.
8679 -- August Strindberg
8681 Ever consider what they [our pets] must think of us? I mean, here we come
8682 back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul--chicken, pork, half
8683 a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
8686 My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can.
8687 That's almost $7.00 in dog money.
8690 If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known
8691 will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
8694 You enter into a certain amount of madness when you marry a person with pets.
8697 Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are
8701 Women and cats will do as they please and men and dogs should relax and get
8703 -- Robert A. Heinlein
8705 In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have
8706 a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.
8707 -- Dereke Bruce, Taipei, Taiwan
8709 When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.
8712 Cat's Motto: No matter what you've done wrong, always try to
8713 make it look like the dog did it.
8716 Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy
8717 the wag of his tail... No one appreciates the very
8718 special genius of your conversation as the dog does.
8719 -- Christopher Morley
8721 A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
8724 Man is a dog's idea of what God should be.
8727 The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
8730 He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life,
8731 his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat
8732 of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
8735 Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog
8739 I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.
8742 If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
8745 Things that upset a terrier may pass virtually unnoticed by a Great Dane.
8748 I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt,
8749 and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts.
8752 There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
8755 One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men.
8756 No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
8759 (AP) Tokyo: Tokyo commuter Katsuo Katugoru caused havoc on a crowded tube
8760 train when his inflatable underpants unexpectedly went off. The rubber
8761 underwear was made by Katsuo himself, and designed to inflate to 30 times
8762 their original size in the event of a tidal wave.
8763 "I am terrified of water, and death by drowning is my greatest fear" said
8764 Katsuo, 48. "Unfortunately I set them off accidently while looking for a
8765 boiled sweet on a rush hour train. They were crushing everybody in the
8766 carriage until a passenger stabbed them with a pencil."
8768 Kindness cannot be taught by harshness--
8769 not by any amount of harshness.
8770 -- Raymond M. Smullyan / The Tao is Silent
8773 Full employment for lawyers
8777 Inflate your tires by all means, but then hide your bicycle pump where it
8779 -- attributed to a spokesman for the Nakhon Ratchasima hospital
8781 Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it
8782 holds the universe together....
8785 There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the
8786 Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced
8787 by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which
8788 states that this has already happened.
8791 Only two things are infinite, the universe and
8792 human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
8795 Astronomers say the universe is finite, which is a comforting thought for
8796 those people who can't remember where they leave things.
8799 In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that
8800 our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time.
8803 It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception,
8804 is composed of others.
8805 -- John Andrew Holmes
8807 Technology is a way of organizing the universe so
8808 that man doesn't have to experience it.
8811 The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.
8812 -- Kilgore Trout (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)
8814 I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough
8815 to find your way around Chinatown.
8818 In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people
8819 very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
8822 The crux... is that the vast majority of the
8823 mass of the universe seems to be missing.
8826 Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build
8827 bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce
8828 bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.
8831 There is a coherent plan in the universe,
8832 though I don't know what it's a plan for.
8835 We are an impossibility in an impossible universe. -- Ray Bradbury
8837 My theology, briefly, is that the universe was dictated but not signed.
8838 -- Christopher Morley
8840 I'm worried that the universe will soon need replacing.
8841 It's not holding a charge.
8844 The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe
8845 is that it has never tried to contact us.
8846 -- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)
8848 As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using
8849 individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and
8850 employees will receive their cards in two weeks.
8851 -- pointy haired boss contest. (This was the winning quote from
8852 Fred Dales at Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington)
8854 What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter.
8855 -- pointy haired boss contest. (Lykes Lines Shipping)
8857 E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used
8858 only for company business.
8859 -- pointy haired boss contest. (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)
8861 This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important
8863 -- pointy haired boss contest
8864 (Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)
8866 Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule. No one will believe
8867 you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now,
8868 go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them.
8869 -- pointy haired boss contest
8870 (R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing / 3M Corp.)
8872 My Boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed
8873 corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit
8874 it. The disk I gave her was write-protected.
8875 -- pointy haired boss contest. (CIO of Dell Computers)
8877 Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what 'I' say."
8878 -- pointy haired boss contest. (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)
8880 "How About Friday?" My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for
8881 Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died so that I would have to miss
8882 work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her
8883 burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me."
8884 -- pointy haired boss contest. (Shipping executive, FTD Florists)
8886 "We know that communication is a problem, but the company is
8887 not going to discuss it with the employees."
8888 -- pointy haired boss contest
8889 (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)
8891 We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform
8892 you that a memo will be issued today regarding the subject mentioned above."
8893 -- pointy haired boss contest. (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division)
8895 One day my Boss asked me to submit a status report to him concerning a project
8896 I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said "If
8897 I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!"
8898 -- pointy haired boss contest
8899 (New business manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards)
8901 Speaking the Same Language: As director of communications I was asked to
8902 prepare a memo reviewing our company's training programs and materials. In
8903 the body of the memo one of the sentences mentioned the "pedagogical approach"
8904 used by one of the training manuals. The day after I routed the memo to the
8905 executive committee, I was called into the HR director's office and told that
8906 the executive vice president wanted me out of the building by lunch. When I
8907 asked why, I was told that she wouldn't stand for "perverts" (pedophilia)?
8908 working in her company. Finally he showed me her copy of the memo, with her
8909 demand that I be fired--and the word "pedagogical" circled in red. The HR
8910 manager was fairly reasonable, and once he looked the word up in his
8911 dictionary, and made a copy of the definition to send back to her, he told me
8912 not to worry. He would take care of it. Two days later a memo to the entire
8913 staff came out--directing us that no words which could not be found in the
8914 local Sunday newspaper could be used in company memos. A month later, I
8915 resigned. In accordance with company policy, I created my resignation memo
8916 by pasting words together from the Sunday paper.
8917 -- pointy haired boss contest. (Taco Bell Corporation)
8919 This gem is the closing paragraph of a nationally-circulated memo from a large
8920 communications company: "(Company name) is endeavorily determined to promote
8921 constant attention on current procedures of transacting business focusing
8922 emphasis on innovative ways to better, if not supersede, the expectations of
8924 -- pointy haired boss contest. (Lucent Technologies)
8926 Marriage isn't a word, it's a sentence.
8927 -- unknown, seen on back of Charlottesville, VA cab
8929 Have you ever noticed... Anybody going slower than you is an idiot,
8930 and anyone going faster than you is a f*cking maniac?
8933 You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five
8934 miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where
8938 I'm not into working out. My philosophy: No pain, no pain.
8941 I have a great diet. You're allowed to eat anything you want, but you
8942 must eat it with naked fat people.
8945 I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, "I'd like some fries."
8946 The girl at the counter said, "Would you like some fries with that?"
8949 The reason most people play golf is to wear clothes they would not be
8950 caught dead in otherwise.
8953 I'm desperately trying to figure out why kamikaze pilots wore helmets.
8956 If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight.
8959 Don't spend two dollars to dry clean a shirt. Donate it to the
8960 Salvation Army instead. They'll clean it and put it on a hanger.
8961 Next morning buy it back for seventy-five cents.
8964 Suppose you were an idiot... And suppose you were a member of
8965 Congress... But I repeat myself.
8968 Our bombs are smarter than the average high school student. At least
8969 they can find Kuwait.
8972 My mom said she learned how to swim. Someone took her out in the lake
8973 and threw her off the boat. That's how she learned how to swim. I
8974 said, "Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim."
8977 I worry that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up
8981 What do people mean when they say the computer went down on me?
8984 Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when
8985 God talks to us we're schizophrenic?
8988 When you look at Prince Charles, don't you think that someone in the
8989 Royal family knew someone in the Royal family?
8992 Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to
8993 accept God's final word on where your lips end.
8996 [Modern economists are] "used to measuring the 'standard of living' by
8997 the amount of annual consumption, assuming all the time that a man who
8998 consumes more is 'better off' than a man who consumes less. A Buddhist
8999 economist would consider this approach excessively irrational: since
9000 consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to
9001 obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption...
9002 The less toil there is, the more time and strength is left for artistic
9003 creativity. Modern economics, on the other hand, considers consumption
9004 to be the sole end and purpose of all economic activity."
9005 -- E. F. Schumacher (1911-1977), from "Small Is Beautiful:
9006 A Study of Economics As If People Mattered", 1973.
9008 As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in this world
9009 is connected by a series of ties. If anyone thinks that the mesh of
9010 a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken. It is called
9011 a net because it is made up of a series of interconnected meshes, and
9012 each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to other meshes.
9013 -- Shakyamuni Buddha
9015 When debugging, suspect the more complicated code,
9016 but keep an eye on the simple code lest it get too cocky.
9019 I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
9022 As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I am in touch
9023 with my inner sociopath.
9025 I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring
9026 levels of suspicion and paranoia.
9028 I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones
9029 that are someone else's fault.
9031 I no longer need to punish, deceive, or compromise myself,
9032 unless I want to stay employed.
9034 In some cultures what I do would be considered normal.
9036 I honor my personality flaws for without them
9037 I would have no personality at all.
9039 Joan of Arc heard voices, too.
9041 I am grateful that I am not as judgmental as all those
9042 censorious, self-righteous people around me.
9044 I need not suffer in silence while I can still
9045 moan, whimper, and complain.
9047 As I learn the innermost secrets of people around me, they
9048 reward me in many ways to keep me quiet.
9050 When someone hurts me, I know that forgiveness is cheaper
9051 than a lawsuit, but not nearly as gratifying.
9053 The first step is to say nice things about myself.
9054 The second is to do nice things for myself, the third,
9055 to find someone to buy me nice things.
9057 As I learn to trust the universe,
9058 I no longer need to carry a gun.
9060 I am at one with my duality.
9062 Blessed are the flexible,
9063 for they can tie themselves into knots.
9065 Only a lack of imagination saves me from
9066 immobilizing myself with imaginary fears.
9068 I will strive to live each day as
9069 if it were my 50th birthday.
9071 I honor and express all facets of my being,
9072 regardless of state and local laws.
9074 Today I will gladly share my experience and advice, for there
9075 are no sweeter words than "I told you so."
9077 False hope is better than no hope at all.
9079 A good scapegoat is almost as good as a solution.
9081 Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day in my
9082 underwear in the Hollywood Cafe. Instead, I will move my
9083 computer into the bedroom.
9085 Who can I blame for my problems?
9086 Just give me a minute.
9089 Why should I waste my time reliving the past when
9090 I can spend it worrying about the future?
9092 The complete lack of evidence is the surest
9093 sign that the conspiracy is working.
9095 I am learning that criticism is not nearly as
9096 effective as sabotage.
9098 Becoming aware of my character defects leads me
9099 naturally to the next step of blaming my parents.
9101 To have a successful relationship I must learn to
9102 make it look like I'm giving as much as I'm getting.
9104 I am willing to make the mistakes if someone else
9105 is willing to learn from them.
9107 Before I criticize a man, I walk a mile in
9108 his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's
9109 a mile away and barefoot.
9111 Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.
9113 Canadian = unarmed American with health care.
9115 Mohandas K. Gandhi's list of "Seven Blunders Of The World That Lead
9118 Science without humanity
9119 Pleasure without conscience
9120 Worship without sacrifice
9121 Knowledge without character
9122 Politics without principle
9123 Commerce without morality
9125 `Tis the longest Purse Conquers the longest Sword.
9128 A Man that will lie still, should never hope to rise;
9129 he that will lie in a Ditch and pray, may depend upon it he
9130 shall lie in the Ditch and die.
9133 He that has Truth on his Side, is a fool, as well
9134 as a Coward, if he is afraid to own it because of
9135 the Currency or Multitude of other Men's Opinions.
9138 Writers' earnings are the reward of industry and the prize of learning.
9141 Absolute necessity forces many a poor distressed
9142 person to do things which his very soul abhors.
9145 The rising greatness of the British nation
9146 is not owing to war and conquests,
9147 to enlarging its dominion by the sword,
9148 or subjecting the people of other countries to our power;
9149 but it is owing to trade.
9150 An estate is a pond, trade is a spring,
9151 conquest is a Thing attended with Difficulty, Hazard,
9152 Expense, and a Possibility of Miscarriage.
9155 24 hours in a day. 24 beers in a case. coincidence?
9158 When Human Folk at Table Eat,
9159 A Kitten must not mew for meat,
9160 Or Jump to grab it from the Dish
9161 (Unless it happens to be fish).
9164 When I am at peace with myself, and in good spirits--for
9165 instance, on a journey, in a carriage, or after a good meal,
9166 or while taking a walk, or at night when I can't sleep--then
9167 thoughts flow into me most easily and at their best. Where
9168 they come from and how -- that I cannot say; nor can I do
9170 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
9172 It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has
9173 become easy to me. I assure you no one has given so much
9174 care to the study of composition as I. There is scarcely
9175 a famous master in music whose works I have not frequently
9176 and diligently studied.
9177 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
9179 If one has talent it pushes for utterance and torments
9180 one; it will out. And then one is out without questioning.
9181 And, look you, there is nothing in this thing of learning
9182 out of books. Here, here and here [the ear, the head, the
9183 heart] is your school. If everything is right there, then
9184 take your pen and down with it; afterwards ask the opinion
9185 of a man who knows his business.
9186 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
9188 It is no just function of government to prohibit what is not wrong.
9191 If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better
9192 than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not
9193 your counsel or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you.
9194 May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you
9195 were our countrymen.
9198 You may call, you may call,
9199 But the little black cats won't hear you,
9200 The little black cats are maddened,
9201 By the green light of the moon.
9202 -- Elizabeth Coatsworth
9204 on exception handling...
9205 the point is to create dependable systems. some languages are better than
9206 others for this. some languages provide no support for verification, although
9207 the semantics of most programming constructs are well established. exceptions
9208 predate much of the work done in formal verification of the last 30 years.
9209 many people have tried (with varying degrees of success) to fit exceptions into
9210 the grand scheme and make them verifiable. flaviu cristian has shown how
9211 exception handlers can be fitted with preconditions for their activation and
9212 postconditions for their completion.
9213 however, an attempt to postfit a system with hooks for verifiability will
9214 fail if the system is very large. and programming in this manner is simply a
9215 living hell. the programmer is not generally equipped to set up all of his
9216 handlers for this type of reasoning, even if he has a clear idea for when the
9217 handlers are to be invoked.
9218 what is needed is a general language structure that is capable of embodying
9219 the reasons and the services of the exception-like items in the system.
9222 why aren't programs published in better boxes?
9223 thicker cardboard, smaller profiles, thin like coffee table books,
9224 packaged with only essentials and fitting together well...
9225 you'd be proud to have a software library if the damn boxes weren't
9226 so flimsy and didn't take up so much room.
9228 Here's a thought... The government should only be allowed to test urine for
9229 drugs if they collect the pee in their own mouths.
9231 the drug war is a war on liberty that cannot possibly be won without the
9232 utter removal of all rights or at least the indefinite suspension thereof.
9233 urine testing is the best emblem of this horrible war; it makes the police
9234 look like a bunch of perverted urine sniffers. it is not cost effective
9235 for testing large numbers of people and it is insanely easy to fake if one
9236 wants to anyway. we need to stop the drug war and start the war on ignorance.
9237 this ignorance is an ignorance of the REAL scientifically determined results
9238 of using the drugs in question. studies show that marijuana, for example,
9239 DOES have therapeutic results and that it is almost completely HARMLESS.
9240 smoke inhalation is not harmless, but there are other ways to get stoned than
9241 by inhaling burning vapors. the root ignorance that MUST be warred upon is
9242 an ignorance of the fact that people should leave each other alone and not
9243 be such shrieking paranoid shrews about what their neighbors are doing.
9244 put down your goddamned binoculars, you nosy cretin, and get to the business
9245 of living your own life.
9247 drug prices are caused to soar by the organized crime elements
9248 that are behind the drug war (and behind the republican party).
9249 organized crime at the same time causes the war to look just as
9250 ridiculous as the carrie nation hatchet smashing of beer kegs so
9251 that people will buy more drugs and think that governmental
9252 authority is a crock. who benefitted from the intense CAMP
9253 activity in california? the mafia, because prices on marijuana
9254 soared. who got screwed by CAMP? the people, who made their
9255 honest living off of growing marijuana, which at the time was
9256 our nation's largest commodity. it's time to toss the republican
9257 crooks out of office on their asses. american patriots smoke pot:
9258 george washington, thomas jefferson, benjamin franklin, and thou,
9259 if you like. unamerican creeps are against marijuana and against
9260 the right of the america people to control their own destiny.
9261 i think it really is that simple.
9263 ode to a petty tyrant...
9264 what you don't seem to realize is that productivity is mood dependent.
9265 you seem to think that i need to be degraded repeatedly as some form of
9266 character builder, but what if someone came to this school as your student
9267 who had already been degraded enough in his life? what if every time you
9268 were cutting on them in some sly tricky sarcastic form you were in fact
9269 rubbing a sore spot and only inflaming their opinions as to your anus-nature?
9270 did you realize that one of your students comes back to the office
9271 and just swears and swears at the computer he's working at? this wasn't
9272 because the machine was bad, or his program was bad, or he was bad,
9273 but because he was mad at _you_.
9274 the solution, i think, is to respect people a whole lot more. we're
9275 not here for professors to deride us. this isn't some f*cking fraternity
9276 with you chumps as the chief hazing marshalls. we're here to learn and if
9277 our learning is colored with hues of condemnation and abuse, it diminishes
9278 you, it diminishes us, and it diminishes the whole search for truth and
9282 i don't believe the druidic and grecian universities had this
9283 same kind of "cut him up, slice and dice!" attitude that prevails
9284 at our fine american universities in this day and age. that
9285 attitude is surely a holdover from roman times, when the
9286 patriarchal society demanded discipline and obedience from all
9287 of its members, especially those with license to think. this
9288 approach is impractical these days (because it doesn't work
9289 very well), except at the higher levels in education, where
9290 it is still fervently practiced. root it out, toss it away;
9291 we don't need authoritarian learning, we need to follow the truth
9292 back to all its origins and forward to the myriad potential fruits.
9293 your rule book stopped being effective a long time ago.
9296 on artistic and technical integrity...
9297 in the beginning, i had a totally egotistical attitude that the rest of the
9298 world was screwed and i was right. this is actually somewhat correct, because
9299 one must have his own voice and thoughts, except for the fact that i was not
9300 _that_ correct and the world was not _that_ wrong. but at least what i chose
9301 to say and what i chose to be were right for me. over the past few years i
9302 have sought to learn the phd game, but i have been doing it by suppressing
9303 my own voice and allowing others to tell me what i should say. this is
9304 fundamentally f*cked, because now i have become dependent on them as my voice
9305 instead of relying on the tao to guide the research and for my own voice to
9306 speak what needs to be said. is it any wonder that i have devolved to this
9307 state of being unable to say anything on my own? after years of thinking for
9308 myself, i have allowed myself to become placed in a situation where i was
9309 dependent on someone else as my source of "the scoop". numerous problems
9310 result when others' biases are not what i want to express, yet they have
9311 potency to affect my presentation. the fact that when the bogus guru doesn't
9312 understand something, he usually tells you that you are the one who does not
9313 understand, is no help. he has no subtlety and yet seeks the original
9314 thoughts, leading him to warp other people's original thoughts into his own
9315 mental framework, often losing the original spark and leading the ideas astray
9316 into his own personal interests. i need to cut loose and start thinking on my
9317 own again. if the ideas in my research here have any merit at all, they have
9318 to be proven using my own metrics, not others' metrics. and this no longer
9319 seems possible in this stringently bulletheaded "hard science" department
9320 which instead only enforces conventional viewpoints and does not reach out
9321 into the unknown where the really interesting concepts live....
9324 niceness here is the ineffable.
9325 the only difference between you and the wolf is that you want to be nice,
9326 and fail. the wolf only wants to appear nice while remaining vile inside,
9327 and he succeeds. your demeanor to others is sometimes nice and sometimes
9328 not nice because of your failures in actually being the way you want to
9329 be. and the reason that you fail to be the way you want to be is that you
9330 lack the spiritual strength to keep it up. you can't synchronize your
9331 noble desires with your weak mind/body, and it is mainly because you reject
9332 spirituality itself that you fail in achieving spiritual strength.
9333 one cannot succeed in something one does not believe in except through
9334 dumb beginner's luck. and yet to fully believe in something is to be
9335 trapped in it, without the capacity to disbelieve and free oneself.
9336 you need a fluid belief that accepts what is true within the constraints
9337 of its validity. can this flow be strong enough to become who and what
9341 eek on the candidate from louis cypher... i notice with some lack of
9342 surprise that "ollie north" can be rearranged into the nice phrase
9343 "o, rot in hell". i think this needs to be made more public. perhaps
9344 we should publish an epigram regarding this particular correspondence
9345 between reality and republicanism.
9347 1. Commit to your business.
9348 2. Share your profits with all your associates.
9349 3. Motivate your partners.
9350 4. Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners.
9351 5. Appreciate everything your associates do for the business.
9352 6. Celebrate your success.
9353 7. Listen to everyone in your company.
9354 8. Exceed your customers' expectations.
9355 9. Control your expenses better than your competition.
9357 -- "Sam's Rules For Building A Business", from "Made In
9358 America: My Story", by Sam Walton.
9360 Find some humor in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously.
9361 Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show
9362 enthusiasm--always. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a
9363 silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you. Don't do a hula
9364 on Wall Street. It's been done. Think up your own stunt. All of
9365 this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really
9366 fools the competition. "Why should we take those cornballs at Wal-Mart
9370 If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the
9371 impersonators would be dead.
9374 In elementary school, in case of fire you have to line
9375 up quietly in a single file line from smallest to
9376 tallest. What is the logic? Do tall people burn slower?
9377 -- Warren Hutcherson
9379 Every time a baseball player grabs his crotch, it makes
9380 him spit. That's why you should never date a baseball player.
9383 Some women hold up dresses that are so ugly and they
9384 always say the same thing: 'This looks much better on.'
9394 The creeping cat, looked
9398 The cat always leaves a mark on his friend.
9401 A herd of buffalo can move only as fast as the slowest buffalo.
9402 when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back
9403 that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a
9404 whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps
9405 improving by the regular culling of the weakest members.
9406 In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as
9407 the slowest brain cells. Intake of alcohol, we all know, kills brain
9408 cells, but naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells
9409 first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker
9410 brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.
9411 That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.
9413 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech
9414 which you are used to seeing in print.
9415 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
9416 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
9417 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
9418 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon
9419 word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
9420 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything
9422 -- George Orwell, "Politics And The English Language."
9424 Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?
9425 -- Felix von Leitner (leitner@inf.fu-berlin.de)
9427 linux: the choice of a GNU generation.
9428 -- ksh@cis.ufl.edu put this on t-shirts in 1993
9430 There are two types of Linux developers--those who can
9431 spell, and those who can't. There is a constant pitched
9432 battle between the two.
9434 > Other than the fact Linux has a cool name, could someone explain
9435 > why I should use Linux over BSD?
9437 No. That's it. The cool name, that is. We worked very hard on
9438 creating a name that would appeal to the majority of people, and
9439 it certainly paid off: thousands of people are using linux just
9440 to be able to say "OS/2? Hah. I've got Linux. What a cool name".
9441 386BSD made the mistake of putting a lot of numbers and weird
9442 abbreviations into the name, and is scaring away a lot of people
9443 just because it sounds too technical.
9444 -- Linus Torvalds' follow-up to a question about Linux
9446 When you say "I wrote a program that crashed Windows", people
9447 just stare at you blankly and say, "Hey, I got those with the
9448 system, *for free*".
9451 We come to bury DOS, not to praise it.
9452 -- Paul Vojta, regarding Linux
9454 How should I know if it works? That's what beta testers
9455 are for. I only coded it.
9456 -- Attributed to Linus Torvalds
9458 I develop for Linux for a living, I used to develop for DOS.
9459 Going from DOS to Linux is like trading a glider for an F117.
9462 I'd crawl over an acre of 'Visual This++' and 'Integrated
9463 Development That' to get to gcc, Emacs, and gdb. Thank you.
9464 -- Vance Petree, Virginia Power
9466 If you want to travel around the world and be invited to
9467 speak at a lot of different places, just write a Unix
9471 All language designers are arrogant. Goes with the territory...
9474 Unix, MS-DOS, and Windows NT (also known as
9475 the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly).
9478 I would rather spend 10 hours reading someone else's source
9479 code than 10 minutes listening to Muzak waiting for technical
9480 support which isn't.
9481 -- Dr. Greg Wettstein, Roger Maris Cancer Center
9483 Your job is being a professor and researcher: That's one
9484 hell of a good excuse for some of the brain-damages of minix.
9485 -- Linus Torvalds to Andrew Tanenbaum
9487 We use Linux for all our mission-critical applications.
9488 Having the source code means that we are not held hostage
9489 by anyone's support department.
9490 -- Russell Nelson, President of Crynwr Software
9492 We are Pentium of Borg. Division is futile. You will be approximated.
9494 The chat program is in public domain. This is not the GNU
9495 public license. If it breaks then you get to keep both pieces.
9496 -- Copyright notice for the chat program
9498 DOS: n., A small annoying boot virus that causes random
9499 spontaneous system crashes, usually just before saving
9500 a massive project. Easily cured by UNIX. See also
9501 MS-DOS, IBM-DOS, DR-DOS.
9504 MSDOS didn't get as bad as it is overnight--it took over
9505 ten years of careful development.
9506 -- dmeggins@aix1.uottawa.ca
9508 On the Internet, no one knows you're using Windows NT.
9511 People disagree with me. I just ignore them.
9512 -- Linus Torvalds, regarding the use of C++ for the Linux kernel
9514 Linux: The OS people choose without $200,000,000 of persuasion.
9517 The memory management on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children.
9520 Eh, that's it, I guess. No 300 million dollar unveiling event for this
9521 kernel, I'm afraid, but you're still supposed to think of this as the
9522 "happening of the century" (at least until the next kernel comes along).
9523 Oh, and this is another kernel in that great and venerable "BugFree(tm)"
9524 series of kernels. So be not afraid of bugs, but go out in the streets
9525 and deliver this message of joy to the masses.
9526 -- Linus Torvalds, in the announcement for Linux kernel version 1.3.27
9528 > Linux is not user-friendly.
9530 It _is_ user-friendly. It is not ignorant-friendly
9533 I tried to get some documentation out of Digital on this, but
9534 as far as I can tell even _they_ don't have it ;-)
9537 Excusing bad programming is a shooting offence,
9538 no matter _what_ the circumstances.
9541 Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin
9542 really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me
9543 they have never seen a angry penguin charging at them in
9544 excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what
9545 they say if they had.
9546 -- Linus Torvalds, announcing Linux v2.0
9548 Ooohh... "FreeBSD is faster over loopback, when compared to Linux
9549 over the wire". Film at 11.
9552 C is quirky, flawed, and an enormous success.
9553 -- Dennis M. Ritchie
9555 If Bill Gates is the Devil then Linus Torvalds must be the Messiah.
9557 Let's put it this way:
9558 1. A 32-bit counter will expire in little over a year.
9559 2. A 64-bit counter will expire in little over 2^32 years,
9560 or roughly the time the sun (not the Sun) is expected to expire.
9561 3. The odds of your computer hardware surviving the
9562 aforementioned event without reboot are very slim.
9565 The only way tcsh "rocks" is when the rocks are attached
9566 to its feet in the deepest part of a very deep lake.
9569 In accord to UNIX philosophy, PERL gives you enough rope
9571 -- Larry Wall, Randal Schwartz: Programming Perl
9572 (aka the Camel Book).
9574 Anyone can build a fast processor.
9575 The trick is to build a fast system.
9578 Hoping the problem magically goes away by ignoring
9579 it is the "Microsoft approach to programming" and
9580 should never be allowed.
9583 One OS to rule them all,
9584 One OS to find them.
9585 One OS to call them all,
9586 And in salvation bind them.
9587 In the bright land of Linux,
9588 Where the hackers play.
9589 -- J. Scott Thayer, with apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien
9591 I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil.
9592 I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the
9593 devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.
9594 -- From N. Petreley's column, "Down to the Wire",
9595 Sept. 1996 issue of Inforworld.
9597 After all, how do you give Microsoft the benefit of the
9598 doubt when you know that if you throw it into a room with
9599 truth, you'd risk a matter/anti-matter explosion.
9600 -- From N. Petreley's column, "Down to the Wire",
9601 Sept. 1996 issue of Inforworld)
9603 The local betaware broker was sitting in the bar, keeping an eye
9604 for potential customers. It was easy to spot him, once you knew
9605 the signs. A slightly paranoid look, but still eager to meet
9606 new people. Not unlike a drug dealer or prostitute. This guy,
9607 however, was carrying a laptop.
9608 I sat in the chair beside him. "Any new stuff for
9609 Linux configuration?", I said, looking at the opposite wall
9611 The broker looked at me, startled, then quickly away. Then
9612 back at me. "What are you, a cop?" The traditional greeting of
9613 the underworld. It made me feel right at home.
9614 "Nope, I just want to install Deb..."
9615 "Shutup. I don't want to go to jail."
9616 I turned around, looked around, then turned back, and put my
9617 knife against his ribs. "Sing or die: where's software for
9618 managing a group of Debian boxes easily?"
9619 His face was pale, and he whispered through his teeth.
9620 "cfgtool. At Lasu's site. http://www.iki.fi/liw/programs/".
9621 I stood up, and walked quickly to the kitchen, and on
9622 out. As I was closing the kitchen door behind me, I heard the
9623 all too familiar sound of MessySoft Police Cars braking in the
9624 street. It would be a hectic night, but I was still one step
9626 -- Lars Wirzenius, advertising his cfgtool program
9628 Microsoft seems to have gotten a lot of mileage out of the
9629 C2 rating for NT with no network connection. I wonder if a B3
9630 rating for Linux with no power cord might be of value.
9631 -- riordan@math.umn.edu
9633 In the United States there is more space where nobody is
9634 than where anybody is. This is what makes America what it is.
9635 -- Gertrude Stein, explaining early 20th century America
9637 Ah, yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning
9638 "to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet".
9641 Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of
9642 it as the only time of the month that I can be myself.
9645 Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.
9648 I just broke up with someone and the last thing she said
9649 to me was, "You'll never find anyone like me again!"
9650 I'm thinking, "I should hope not! If I don't want you,
9651 why would I want someone like you?"
9654 If you want to say it with flowers, a single rose says: "I'm cheap!"
9657 According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable
9658 undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other
9659 women. They say that women are too judgemental, where, of course,
9660 men are just grateful.
9663 I am not the boss of my house. I don't know when I lost it.
9664 I don't know if I ever had it. But I have seen the boss's job
9665 and I do not want it.
9668 In the last couple of weeks I have seen the ads for the Wonder Bra.
9669 Is that really a problem in this country? Men not paying enough
9670 attention to women's breasts?
9673 My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care
9674 and vehicle maintenance.
9677 We have women in the military, but they don't put us in the front lines.
9678 They don't know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can.
9679 All the general has to do is walk over to the women and say, "You see
9680 the enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms."
9683 There's a new medical crisis. Doctors are reporting that many men
9684 are having allergic reactions to latex condoms. They say they cause
9685 severe swelling. So what's the problem?
9688 There's very little sexual advice in men's magazines,
9689 because men don't think there's a lot they don't know.
9690 Women do. Women want to learn. Men think, "I know what
9691 I'm doing, just show me somebody naked."
9694 Men are liars. We'll lie about lying if we have to.
9695 I'm an algebra liar. I figure two good lies make a positive.
9698 Men do not like to admit to even momentary imperfection.
9699 My husband forgot the code to turn off the alarm. When
9700 the police came, he wouldn't admit he'd forgotten the
9701 code... he turned himself in.
9704 If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten.
9707 Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman
9708 I don't like and give her a house.
9711 One of the chief duties of the mathematician in acting
9712 as an advisor to scientists is to discourage them from
9713 expecting too much from mathematics.
9716 I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.
9718 It is easy to guess why the rabble dislike cats.
9719 A cat is beautiful; it suggests ideas of luxury,
9720 cleanliness, voluptuous pleasures.
9721 -- Charles Baudelaire
9723 An artist must regulate his life.
9725 Here is a time-table of my daily acts. I rise at 7.18; am inspired from
9726 10.23 to 11.47. I lunch at 12.11 and leave the table at 12.14. A healthy
9727 ride on horse-back round my domain follows from 1.19 pm to 2.53 pm. Another
9728 bout of inspiration from 3.12 to 4.7 pm. From 5 to 6.47 pm various
9729 occupations (fencing, reflection, immobility, visits, contemplation,
9730 dexterity, natation, etc.)
9732 Dinner is served at 7.16 and finished at 7.20 pm. From 8.9 to 9.59 pm
9733 symphonic readings (out loud). I go to bed regularly at 10.37 pm. Once a
9734 week (on Tuesdays) I awake with a start at 3.14 am.
9736 My only nourishment consists of food that is white: eggs, sugar, shredded
9737 bones, the fat of dead animals, veal, salt, coco-nuts, chicken cooked in
9738 white water, moldy fruit, rice, turnips, sausages in camphor, pastry, cheese
9739 (white varieties), cotton salad, and certain kinds of fish (without their
9740 skin). I boil my wine and drink it cold mixed with the juice of the
9741 Fuschia. I have a good appetite but never talk when eating for fear of
9744 I breathe carefully (a little at a time) and dance very rarely. When
9745 walking I hold my ribs and look steadily behind me.
9747 My expression is very serious; when I laugh it is unintentional, and I
9748 always apologize very politely.
9750 I sleep with only one eye closed, very profoundly. My bed is round with a
9751 hole in it for my head to go through. Every hour a servant takes my
9752 temperature and gives me another.
9753 -- Erik Satie's description of "A Day in the Life of a Musician"
9755 Confront a child, a puppy and a kitten with sudden danger;
9756 the child will turn instinctively for assistance, the puppy
9757 will grovel in abject submission to the impending visitation,
9758 the kitten will brace its tiny body for a frantic resistance.
9759 -- H.H. Munro (Saki)
9761 It is fair to say that, in general, no problems have been exhausted;
9762 instead, men have been exhausted by the problems. Fresh talent approaching
9763 the analysis of a problem without prejudice will always see new
9764 possibilities -- some aspect not considered by those who believe that a
9765 subject is fully understood. Our knowledge is so fragmentary that
9766 unexpected findings appear in even the most fully explored topics...
9767 In summary, there are no small problems. Problems that appear small
9768 are large problems that are not understood. Instead of tiny details
9769 unworthy of the intellectual, we have men whose tiny intellects cannot rise
9770 to penetrate the infinitesimal. Nature is a harmonious mechanism where all
9771 parts, including those appearing to play a secondary role, cooperate in a
9772 functional whole. In contemplating this mechanism, shallow men arbitrarily
9773 divide its parts into essential and secondary, whereas the insightful
9774 thinker is content with classifying them as understood and poorly
9775 understood, ignoring for the moment their size and immediately useful
9776 properties. No one can predict their importance in the future."
9777 -- Santiago Ramon y Cajal, "Advice for a Young Investigator," 1897
9779 He who would do good to another must do it in Minute
9780 Particulars: General Good is the plea of the scoundrel,
9781 hypocrite and flatterer, for Art and Science cannot
9782 exist but in minutely organized particulars.
9785 The Atoms of Democritus
9786 And Newton's Particles of Light
9787 Are sands upon the Red Sea shore
9788 Where Israel's tents do shine so bright.
9791 To see a world in a grain of sand
9792 And a heaven in a wild flower, and:
9793 And did those feet in ancient time
9794 Walk upon England's mountains green? ...
9795 And was Jerusalem builded here
9796 Among these dark Satanic mills?
9799 The harlot's cry from street to street,
9800 Shall weave Old England's winding sheet.
9803 Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
9804 In the forests of the night,
9805 What immortal hand or eye
9806 Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
9808 Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
9811 The cat, an aristocrat in type and origin, whom we
9812 have slandered, merits at least our esteem.
9815 society's crumbling, but at least we're getting it televised.
9818 I think maybe it's my purpose in life.
9819 -- The "Guiness Book of World Records" TV show's winner for the category
9820 of longest combined finger nails for ten fingers.
9822 If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will
9823 leave opportunities for alternatives. We will not become enthusiastic for
9824 the fact, the knowledge, the absolute truth of the day, but remain always
9825 uncertain. The English have developed their government in this direction, it
9826 is called 'muddling through,' and although a rather silly, stupid sounding
9827 thing, it is the most scientific way of progressing. To decide upon the
9828 answer is not scientific. In order to make progress, one must leave the door
9829 to the unknown ajar.
9830 We are only at the beginning of the development of the human race; of
9831 the development of the human mind, of intelligent life; we have years and
9832 years in the future. It is our responsibility not to give an answer today as
9833 to what it is all about, to drive everybody down in that direction and say:
9834 'This is the solution to it all.' Because we will be chained to the limit
9835 of our present imagination, we will only be able to do those things that we
9836 think are the things to do. Whereas, if we leave some room for discussion,
9837 and proceed in a way analogous to the sciences, then this difficulty will
9838 not arise. I believe, therefore, that although it is not the case today,
9839 there may some day come a time, or I should hope, that the power of
9840 government should be limited. That governments ought not to be empowered to
9841 decide the validity of scientific theories. That is a ridiculous thing for
9842 them to try to do. That they are not to decide the various descriptions of
9843 history or of economic theory or of philosophy.
9844 Only in this way can the real possibilities of the future human race be
9845 ultimately developed.
9846 -- Richard Feynman, from "The Beat Of A Different Drum: The Life And
9847 Science of Richard Feynman," by Jagdish Mehra. Published by Oxford
9848 University Press 1996.
9850 hey, when you come to think of it, isn't it
9851 only the assholes in life who have zero tolerance
9852 about things? and now they're trying to promote
9853 that as a virtue. i just don't buy it.
9856 The spirit of the age cannot be compassed by the processes of human
9857 reason. It is an inclination, an emotional tendency that works upon weaker
9858 minds, through the unconscious, with an overwhelming force of suggestion
9859 that carries them along with it. To think otherwise than our contemporaries
9860 think is somehow illegitimate and disturbing; it is even indecent, morbid
9861 or blasphemous, and therefore socially dangerous for the individual. He is
9862 stupidly swimming against the social current. Just as formerly the
9863 assumption was unquestionable that everything that exists takes its rise
9864 from the creative will of a God who is spirit, so the nineteenth century
9865 discovered the equally unquestionable truth that everything arises from
9866 material causes. Today the psyche does not build itself a body, but on the
9867 contrary, matter, by chemical action, produces the psyche. This reversal of
9868 outlook would be ludicrous if it were not one of the outstanding features of
9869 the spirit of the age. It is the popular way of thinking, and therefore it
9870 is decent, reasonable, scientific and normal. Mind must be thought to be an
9871 epiphenomenon of matter. The same conclusion is reached even if we say not
9872 "mind" but "psyche," and in place of matter speak of brain, hormones,
9873 instincts or drives. To grant the substantiality of the soul or psyche is
9874 repugnant to the spirit of the age, for to do so would be heresy.
9875 -- Carl Jung, from his 1933 book, "Modern Man In Search Of A Soul"
9877 There are many ways to explain an event, and some are better than
9878 others. Even if neuroscientists someday decode the entire wiring
9879 diagram of the brain, human behavior makes the most sense when it
9880 is explained in terms of beliefs and desires, not in terms of volts
9881 and grams. Physics provides no insights into the machinations of a
9882 crafty lawyer, and even fails to enlighten us about many simpler
9883 acts of living things. As Richard Dawkins observed, 'If you throw
9884 a dead bird into the air it will describe a graceful parabola,
9885 exactly as physics books say it should, then come to rest on the
9886 ground and stay there. It behaves as a solid body of a particular
9887 mass and wind resistance ought to behave. But if you throw a live
9888 bird in the air it will not describe a parabola and come to rest on
9889 the ground. It will fly away, and may not touch land this side of
9890 the county boundary.' We understand birds in terms of their innards.
9891 To know why they move and grow, we cut them open and put bits under
9892 a microscope. We need yet another kind of explanation for artifacts
9893 like a chair and a crowbar: a statement of the function the object is
9894 intended to perform. It would be silly to understand why chairs have
9895 a stable horizontal surface by cutting them open and putting bits of
9896 them under a microscope. The explanation is that someone designed
9897 the chair to hold up a human behind.
9898 -- Steven Pinker, from his book, "How The Mind Works,"
9901 What wonder, then, that the world goes from bad to worse, and that
9902 its evils increase more and more, as boredom increases, and boredom is the
9903 root of all evil. The history of this can be traced from the very beginning
9904 of the world. The gods were bored, and so they created man. Adam was bored
9905 because he was alone, and so Eve was created. Thus boredom entered the
9906 world, and increased in proportion to the increase of population. Adam was
9907 bored alone; then Adam and Eve were bored together, then Adam and Eve and
9908 Cain and Abel were bored en famille; then the population of the world
9909 increased, and the peoples were bored en masse. To divert themselves they
9910 conceived the idea of constructing a tower high enough to reach the heavens.
9911 This idea is itself as boring as the tower was high, and constitutes a
9912 terrible proof of how boredom gained the upper hand.
9913 -- Soren Kierkegaard, from "Either/Or"
9915 Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of War, where every man
9916 is Enemy to every man; the same is consequent to the time, wherein men live
9917 without other security, than what their own strength, and their own
9918 invention shall furnish them withall. In such condition, there is no place
9919 for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no
9920 Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be
9921 imported by Sea; no commodious building; no Instruments of moving, and
9922 removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the
9923 Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is
9924 worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of
9925 man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
9928 A house without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted, and properly revered
9929 cat, may be a perfect house perhaps, but how can it prove its title?
9932 The group cannot function if it has to maintain a large amount of
9933 individual preconceptions and personal experiences. The design group must,
9934 as a whole, have the ability and the opportunity to leave things behind,
9935 that is, select what to remember.
9936 If designers are to come up with novel ideas, they may have to forget
9937 what was 'named and framed' as a problem or solution earlier in the process.
9938 A group of designers needs to work its way through ideas, visions, and
9939 operative images without being held up by heavy demands for documentation of
9940 the process. In a creative design process one thing leads to another,
9941 analogies and metaphors influence the design thinking in new ways, and a
9942 certain amount of chaos is always present...
9943 The characteristics of oral cultures can be applied to group design...
9944 Group members need to repeat themselves, to be redundant and nonlinear in
9945 their arguments, to forget, to make references and analogies in a situated
9947 -- Tone Bratteteig & Erik Stolterman, "Design in Groups--And All That
9948 Jazz," in: M. Kyng & L. Mathiassen, "Computers and Design in Context,"
9951 Where science has progressed by searching for commonalities and
9952 patterns, the arts have celebrated diversity and have resisted attempts to
9953 encapsulate their activities in rules and formulae. They are the ultimate
9954 manifestations of the unpredictabilities and asymmetries of Nature. After
9955 all, what more chaotically unpredictable outcomes are there than some of
9956 those that issue from the human mind? So intractable has been the problem
9957 of finding pattern in creative activity, that few would even seek it. If
9958 one looks not at science and art, but at scientists and artists, one finds a
9959 reflection of this divide. Two populations that overlap only a little,
9960 convergent thinkers and divergent thinkers, specialists and generalists--
9961 these labels reflect the differences of which we speak...
9962 While science has enlarged its past horizons beyond order and symmetry
9963 to embrace diversity and unpredictability, the humanities have yet to
9964 appreciate the full force of commonality and pattern as a unifying factor in
9965 the interpretation of human creativity. Just as science has begun to
9966 appreciate the ways in which its view of Nature must reconcile the ways in
9967 which Nature is both simple and complex, so the arts and humanities must
9968 appreciate the lessons to be drawn from the regularities of Nature. It is
9969 not enough to collect examples of diversity: the coexistence of diversity
9970 with universal behavior is what requires exploration and reconciliation.
9971 -- John D. Barrow, from "The Artful Universe," Clarendon Press:
9974 I first became interested in Darwin in college when I read about
9975 Darwin's experience with John Gould. When Darwin returned to England after
9976 he visited the Galapagos, he distributed his finch specimens to professional
9977 zoologists to be properly identified. One of the most distinguished experts
9978 was John Gould. What was the most revealing was not what happened to Darwin,
9979 but what had not happened to Gould.
9980 Darwin's notes show Gould taking him through all the birds he had
9981 named. Gould kept flip-flopping back and forth about the number of
9982 different species of finches: The information was there, but he didn't quite
9983 know what to make of it. He assumed that since God made one set of birds
9984 when he created the world, the specimens from different locations would be
9985 identical. It didn't occur to him to look for differences by location. Gould
9986 thought that the birds were so different that they might be distinct species.
9987 What was remarkable to me about the encounter is the completely
9988 different impact it had on the two men. Gould thought the way he had been
9989 taught to think, like an expert taxonomist, and didn't see, in the finches,
9990 the textbook example of evolution unfolding right before him. Darwin didn't
9991 even know they were finches. So the guy who had the intelligence, knowledge,
9992 and the expertise didn't see the differences, and the guy with far less
9993 knowledge and expertise came up with an idea that shaped the way we think
9995 Darwin came up with the idea because he was a productive thinker. He
9996 generated a multiplicity of perspectives and theories. Gould would compare
9997 new ideas and theories with his existing patterns of experience. He thought
9998 reproductively. If the ideas didn't fit with what he had been taught, he
9999 rejected them as worthless. On the other hand, Darwin was willing to
10000 disregard what past thinkers thought and was willing to entertain different
10001 perspectives and different theories to see where they would lead.
10002 Most of us are educated to think like John Gould. We were all born
10003 to be spontaneous, creative thinkers. Yet a great deal of our education may
10004 be regarded as the inculcation of mind-sets. We were taught how to handle
10005 problems and new phenomena with fixed mental attitudes (based on what past
10006 thinkers thought) that predetermine our responses to problems or situations.
10007 In short, we were taught 'what' to think instead of 'how' to think. We
10008 entered school as a question mark and graduated a period.
10009 -- Michael Michalko, in "Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative
10010 Genius," Ten Speed Press, 1998.
10012 The wisdom of the late industrial era was always to start with what
10013 the customer needed and backtrack to which products and services those needs
10014 called for. That fit when the customer already understood the need and the
10015 product, and innovation meant a different shaped bottle for liquid detergent.
10016 In BLUR, technical change is happening so fast, your product must educate the
10017 customer (beepers for kids on dates?) and the customer must educate you. You
10018 can't afford the time delay to put something new in front of the customer.
10019 Instead, start with what technology will make possible, co-develop it as
10020 fast as you can with the customer, and be flexible and adaptive enough to
10021 adjust it according to customer needs as you go. As in software, the first
10022 release is your take on things. The customer enters the feedback loop and
10023 starts to influence things with release 2.0 and beyond.
10024 -- Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, "Blur: The Speed Of Change In The
10025 Connected Economy," Addison-Wesley 1998.
10027 The traditional hidden curriculum of school demands that people of a
10028 certain age assemble in groups of about thirty under the authority of a
10029 professional teacher for from five hundred to a thousand times a year. It
10030 does not matter if the teacher is authoritarian so long as it is the
10031 teacher's authority that counts; it does not matter if all meetings occur
10032 in the same place so long as they are somehow understood as attendance. The
10033 hidden curriculum of school requires--whether by law or by fact--that a
10034 citizen accumulate a minimum quantum of school years in order to obtain his
10036 The translation of the need for learning into the demand for schooling
10037 and the conversion of the quality of growing up into the price tag of a
10038 professional treatment changes the meaning of 'knowledge' from a term that
10039 designates intimacy, intercourse, and life experience into one that
10040 designates professionally packaged products, marketable entitlements, and
10042 -- Ivan Illich, from "After Deschooling, What?"
10044 I consider children to be very expensive and complicated pets.
10047 History tells us that the most successful cures for poverty come from
10048 within. Foreign aid can help, but like windfall wealth, can also hurt. It
10049 can discourage effort and plant a crippling sense of incapacity. As the
10050 African saying has it, 'The hand that receives is always under the one that
10051 gives.' No, what counts is work, thrift, honesty, patience, and tenacity...
10052 To be sure, we are living in a dessert age. We want things to be
10053 sweet; too many of us work to live and live to be happy. Nothing wrong with
10054 that; it just does not promote high productivity. You want high productivity?
10055 Then you should live to work and get happiness as a by-product.
10056 Not easy. They who live to work are a small and fortunate elite. But
10057 it is an elite open to newcomers, self-selected, the kind of people who
10058 accentuate the positive. In this world, the optimists have it, not because
10059 they are always right, but because they are positive. Even when wrong, they
10060 are positive, and that is the way of achievement, correction, improvement,
10061 and success. Educated, eyes-open optimism pays; pessimism can only offer
10062 the empty consolation of being right.
10063 The one lesson that emerges is the need to keep trying. No miracles.
10064 No perfection. No millennium. No apocalypse. We must cultivate a
10065 skeptical faith, avoid dogma, listen and watch well, try to clarify and
10066 define ends, the better to choose means.
10067 -- David Landis, from "The Wealth And Poverty Of Nations: Why Some Are
10068 So Rich And Some So Poor," W. W. Norton & Co., 1998.
10070 During my travels around the country, visiting inner-city neighborhoods
10071 and talking to young people I've met there, I have been struck again and
10072 again by the stark differences between their childhoods and my own. When I
10073 was growing up in the Bronx, I wasn't rich -- at least not in a material
10074 sense, but I had the matchless blessing of being reared by two devoted
10075 parents--backed up by a platoon of doting aunts and uncles--who gave me
10076 the love, discipline and motivation I needed to succeed.
10077 Too many of today's kids are not getting the same kind of nurturing
10078 environment that I -- and most Americans -- once took for granted. As many
10079 as 15 million youngsters are 'at risk' in today's America. They are in
10080 danger of being lost for good unless the more fortunate among us step
10081 forward and lend a hand... It is this glorious cycle of giving, receiving
10082 and giving back that we want to pass along to the next generation of
10083 Americans. We want them to believe in America, and we want them to know
10084 that America believes in them.
10085 -- Colin Powell's autobiography, "My American Journey" (Ballantine, 1996)
10087 In the past fifteen years one big American company after another has
10088 done this [i.e., downsized itself]--among them IBM, Sears, and GM. Each
10089 first announced that laying off 10,000 or 20,000 or even 50,000 people would
10090 lead to an immediate turnaround. A year later there had, of course, been no
10091 turnaround, and the company laid off another 10,000 or 20,000 or 50,000--
10092 again without results. In many if not most cases, downsizing has turned out
10093 to be something that surgeons have warned against: 'amputation before
10094 diagnosis.' The result is always a casualty.
10095 But there have been a few organizations--some large companies (GE,
10096 for instance) and a few hospitals (Beth Israel in Boston, for instance)--
10097 that quietly, and without fanfare, did turn themselves around, by rethinking
10098 themselves. They did not start out by downsizing. If fact, they knew that
10099 to start by reducing expenditures is not the way to get control of costs.
10100 The starting point is to identify the activities that are productive, that
10101 should be strengthened, promoted, and expanded. Every agency, every policy,
10102 every program, every activity should be confronted with these questions:
10103 'What is your mission?' 'Is it still the right mission?' 'Is it still
10104 worth doing?' 'If we were not already doing this, would we go into it now?'
10105 This questioning has been done often enough in all kinds of organizations--
10106 businesses, hospitals, churches, an even local governments--that we know
10108 The overall answer is almost never 'This is fine as it stands; let's
10109 keep on.' But in some--indeed, a good many--areas, the answer to the
10110 last question is 'Yes, we should go into this again, but with some changes.
10111 We have learned a few things.'
10112 -- Peter F. Drucker, from "Managing in a Time of Great Change,"
10113 Truman-Talley Books/Dutton, 1995.
10115 Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
10116 General recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase 'It is
10117 the busiest man who has time to spare.' Thus, an elderly lady of leisure
10118 can spend the entire day in writing and dispatching a postcard to her niece
10119 at Bognor Reis. An hour will be spent in finding the postcard, half an
10120 hour in a search for spectacles, half an hour in a search for the address,
10121 an hour and a quarter in composition, and twenty minutes in deciding
10122 whether or not to take an umbrella when going to the mailbox in the next
10123 street. The total effort that would occupy a busy man [or woman] for three
10124 minutes all told may in this fashion leave another person [man or woman]
10125 prostate after a day of doubt, anxiety, and toil.
10126 Granted that work (and especially paperwork) is thus elastic in its
10127 demands on time, it is manifest that there need be little or no
10128 relationship between the work to be done and the size of the staff to which
10129 it may be assigned. A lack of real activity does not, of necessity, result
10130 in leisure. A lack of occupation is not necessarily revealed by a manifest
10131 idleness. The thing to be done swells in importance and complexity in a
10132 direct ration with the time to be spent. This fact is widely recognized,
10133 but less attention has been paid to its wider implications, more especially
10134 in the field of publication administration. Politicians and taxpayers have
10135 assume (with occasional phases of doubt) that a rising total in the number
10136 of civil servants must reflect a growing volume of work to be done.
10137 Cynics, in questioning this belief, have imagined that the multiplication
10138 of officials must have left some of them idle or all of them able to work
10139 for shorter hours. But this is a matter in which faith and doubt seem
10140 equally misplaced. The fact is that the number of officials and the
10141 quantity of the work are not related to each other at all. The rise in the
10142 toil of those employed is governed by Parkinson's Law and would be much the
10143 same whether the volume of the work were to increase, diminish, or even
10144 disappear. The importance of Parkinson's Law lies in the fact that it is a
10145 law of growth based upon an analysis of the factors by which that growth is
10147 The validity of this recently discovered law must rest mainly on
10148 statistical proofs, which will follow. Of more interest to the general
10149 reader is the explanation of the factors underlying the general tendency to
10150 which this law gives definition. Omitting technicalities (which are
10151 numerous) we may distinguish at the outset two motive forces. They can be
10152 represented for the present purpose by two almost axiomatic statements,
10153 thus: (1) 'An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals' and (2)
10154 'Officials make work for each other.'
10155 -- C. Northcote Parkinson, from "Parkinson's Law & Other Studies
10156 in Administration," (1957; Buccaneer Books ed., 1996).
10158 The smallest feline is a masterpiece.
10159 -- Leonardo Da Vinci
10161 Though it may be discomforting to admit, throughout history children
10162 have always played violent games. Early in this century, young boys played
10163 'war' with lines of tin soldiers, knocking them down one by one, or in one
10164 fell swoop, in a simulated battle. The next generation played cowboys and
10165 Indians or cops and robbers, where the youngsters themselves fell down and
10166 played dead. When parents stopped buying soldier figures and fake guns,
10167 children created their own weapons and continued to play out good guy/bad
10168 guy plots. Children are attracted to violence and critical studies of
10169 older media forms, including the fairy tale, suggest it is not always in
10170 children's best interests to remove from their cultural experience all
10171 material that parents deem is too provocative or violent.
10172 This is not a simple issue.
10173 Clearly much of the concern about violence in video games and other
10174 media is misplaced--the main sources of violent behavior lies elsewhere.
10175 These include parental violence toward children and violence between
10176 nations which portray the use of force in the real world by important
10177 institutions--parents and government--as an acceptable way to solve
10178 problems or vent anger.
10179 Nevertheless, the impact of video games, television, film or other
10180 media violence (such as the gory details of murders in the print media)
10181 probably has a negative impact on violent behavior in society, as does the
10182 proliferation of weapons.
10183 The impact of media violence on an individual child's behavior is
10184 probably very specific to the child and his or her social context. There
10185 is no evidence, for example, that the use of "Beat-'em-up" video games
10186 leads to violent behavior of well-adjusted youth coming from loving
10187 families. The impact is also probably specific to age. Just as it makes
10188 sense to restrict a 10-year-old's access to movies with extreme violent
10189 content, so it makes sense to restrict age-inappropriate video games. Age
10190 ratings on video game packages do appear to be helpful and appropriate.
10191 Most violent games today are cartoon-like. This will change as games
10192 become more realistic and, 3D, and eventually realistic of virtual reality,
10193 ensuring that this issue will not disappear.
10194 It is inappropriate for children of any age to spend significant
10195 parts of life using violent video games, or any video games for that
10196 matter. Conversely, for most children it makes little sense to deny access
10197 to age-appropriate games simply for fear that these will lead to antisocial
10198 behavior. Successful parenting is a question of balance.
10199 -- Don Tapscott, "Growing Up Digital"
10201 Literacy-based education, as all other literacy experiences, assumes
10202 that people are the same. It presumes that each human being can and must
10203 be literate. Just as the goal of industry was to turn out standardized
10204 products, education assumes the same task through the mold of literacy.
10205 Diplomas and certificates testify how like the mold the product is. To
10206 those who have problems with writing or reading, the labels legasthenic and
10207 dyslexic are applied. Dyscalculus is the name given to the inability to
10208 cope with numbers. The question of why we should expect uniform cognitive
10209 structures covering the literate use of language or numbers, but not the
10210 use of sounds, colors, shapes, and volume, is never raised. Tremendous
10211 effort is made to help individuals who simply cannot execute the
10212 sequentiality of writing or the meaning of successive numbers. Nothing
10213 similar is done to address cognitive characteristics of persons inclined to
10214 means different from literacy...
10215 Education needs to reconsider its expectation of a universal common
10216 denominator, based on the industrial model of standardization. Rather than
10217 taming and sanitizing the minds of students, education has not only to
10218 acknowledge differences in aptitudes and interests but also to stimulate
10219 them. Every known form of energy is the expression of difference and not
10220 the result of leveling.
10221 -- Mihai Nadin, "The Civilization of Illiteracy," (1997)
10223 Anthropologists have identified a number of characteristics that seem
10224 common to most non-technological societies past and present. These
10225 societies tend to value practical rather than abstract knowledge, their
10226 'primitive' rituals are part of the regular day-to-day realities of life,
10227 the groups tend not to support specialists other than the shaman, every
10228 member of the group can to some extent do every task, and all share the
10229 responsibility for all others. Principally, the 'primitive' takes a holist
10230 view of life that examines all social decisions for their effect on the
10231 community and the environment.
10232 These social values may fit well in the webbed communities of the
10233 mid-twenty-first century because they are more appropriate to small,
10234 relatively simple social structures that up to now had seemed to be
10235 disappearing... For such communities, the most valuable skills would be
10236 generalist rather than specialist. They would prize the ability to
10237 connect, to think imaginatively, to understand how data are related, to see
10238 patterns in machine-generated innovation, and to assess its social effect
10239 before releasing it on society...
10240 Today, billions of human talents could be on the verge of
10241 self-expression if we are willing to take new views and see where they
10243 -- James Burke & Robert Ornstein, "The Axemaker's Gift: A Double-Edged
10244 History of Human Culture," (Grosset/Putnam 1995).
10246 (History is) indeed little more than the register of
10247 the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.
10250 All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.
10253 The beauty of the second amendment is that it will
10254 not be needed until they try to take it.
10255 -- Thomas Jefferson
10257 No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
10258 -- Thomas Jefferson
10260 Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are
10261 the people's liberty's teeth.
10262 -- George Washington
10264 Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks
10265 and Romans, and must be that of every free state.
10266 -- Thomas Jefferson
10268 Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force.
10269 Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master.
10270 -- George Washington
10272 I have found a certain type calls himself a liberal... Now I always
10273 thought I was a liberal. I came up terribly surprised one time when I
10274 found out that I was a right-wing, conservative extremist...
10277 Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come
10278 from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history
10279 of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of
10280 governmental power, not the increase of it.
10283 I believe there are more instances of abridgment of freedom of the
10284 people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by
10285 violent and sudden usurpations...
10288 You vote for me and I'll give you family values... I promise you the
10289 most ethical administration in the history of our country.
10290 -- William Jefferson Clinton
10292 Many give lip service, but few delegate authority in important
10293 matters. And that means all they delegate is dog-work. A real
10294 leader does as much dog-work for his people as he can: he can do
10295 it, or see a way to do without it, ten times as fast. And he
10296 delegates as many important matters as he can because that creates
10297 a climate in which people grow.
10298 -- Robert Townsend, founder of Avis Rent-a-Car
10300 True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the
10301 enrichment of the leaders. In combat, officers eat last. Most
10302 people in big companies today are administered, not led. They are
10303 treated as personnel, not people.
10304 -- Robert Townsend, founder of Avis Rent-a-Car
10306 How do you spot a leader? They come in all ages, shapes, sizes,
10307 and conditions. Some are poor administrators, some are not overly
10308 bright. One clue: since most people per se are mediocre, the true
10309 leader can be recognized because, somehow or other, his people
10310 consistently turn in superior performances.
10311 -- Robert Townsend, founder of Avis Rent-a-Car
10313 Before you commit yourself to a new effort, it's worth asking
10314 yourself a couple of questions: "Are we really trying to do
10315 something worthwhile here? Or are we just building another
10316 monument to some diseased ego?"
10317 -- Robert Townsend, founder of Avis Rent-a-Car
10319 Beware the boss who walks on water and never makes a mistake.
10320 Save yourself a lot of grief and seek employment elsewhere.
10321 -- Robert Townsend, founder of Avis Rent-a-Car
10323 Every genius is a revolutionary who produces a good deal of commotion
10324 in the world. After he has abolished the old rules he writes his own, the
10325 new ones, which no one even half understands; and after he has stupefied
10326 and bewildered everybody, he leaves the world neither understood nor
10327 regretted. Not always does the next generation comprehend and appreciate
10328 him properly. Sometimes it may even take a whole century.
10329 -- Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
10331 To assume a cat's asleep
10332 Is a great mistake.
10333 He can close his eyes and keep
10334 Both his ears awake.
10337 A most nerve-wracking confirmation of this came some time ago during
10338 an interview with the producer and the writer of the TV mini-series 'Peter
10339 the Great.' Defending the historical inaccuracies in the drama--which
10340 included a fabricated meeting between Peter and Sir Isaac Newton--the
10341 producer said that no one would watch a dry, historically faithful
10342 biography. The writer added that it is better for audiences to learn
10343 something that is untrue, if it is entertaining, than not to learn anything
10344 at all. And just to put some icing on the cake, the actor who played Peter,
10345 Maximilian Schell, remarked that he does not believe in historical truth and
10346 therefore sees no reason to pursue it.
10347 I do not mean to say that the trivialization of American public
10348 discourse is all accomplished on television. Rather, television is the
10349 paradigm for all our attempts at public communication. It conditions our
10350 minds to apprehend the world through fragmented pictures and forces other
10351 media to orient themselves in that direction...
10352 As a medium for conducting public business, language has receded in
10353 importance; it has been moved to the periphery of culture and has been
10354 replaced at the center by the entertaining visual image... When a culture
10355 becomes overloaded with pictures; when logic and rhetoric lose their
10356 binding authority; when historical truth becomes irrelevant; when the
10357 spoken or written word is distrusted or makes demands on our attention that
10358 we are incapable of giving; when our politics, history, education,
10359 religion, public information, and commerce are expressed largely in visual
10360 imagery rather than words, then a culture is in serious jeopardy.
10361 -- Neil Postman, from "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public
10362 Discourse in the Age of Show Business," (Viking Press 1986).
10364 It is a perplexing and unpleasant truth that when men already have
10365 'something worth fighting for,' they do not feel like fighting. People who
10366 live full, worthwhile lives are not usually ready to die for their own
10367 interests nor for their country nor for a holy cause. Craving, not having,
10368 is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.
10369 'Things which are not' are indeed mightier than 'things that are.' In
10370 all ages men have fought most desperately for beautiful cities yet to be
10371 built and gardens yet to be planted...
10372 It is strange, indeed, that those who hug the present and hang on to
10373 it with all their might should be the least capable of defending it. And
10374 that, on the other hand, those who spurn the present and dust their hands of
10375 it should have all its gifts and treasures showered on them unasked.
10376 Dreams, vision and wild hopes are mighty weapons and realistic tools.
10377 The practical-mindedness of a true leader consists in recognizing the
10378 practical value of these tools. Yet this recognition usually stems from a
10379 contempt of the present which can be traced to a natural ineptitude in
10380 practical affairs. The successful businessman is often a failure as a
10381 communal leader because his mind is attuned to the 'things that are' and his
10382 heart set on that which can be accomplished in 'our time.' Failure in the
10383 management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in
10384 the management of public affairs. And it is perhaps fortunate that some
10385 proud natures when suffering defeat in the practical world do not feel
10386 crushed but are suddenly fired with the apparently absurd conviction that
10387 they are eminently competent to direct the fortunes of the community and the
10389 -- Eric Hoffer, "The True Believer", 1951
10391 Bought me a cat, the cat pleased me,
10392 I fed my cat under yonder tree,
10393 Cat goes fiddle-i-fee, fiddle-i-fee.
10394 -- Traditional Folk Song
10396 Love is one aspect of what I have called the productive orientation:
10397 the active and creative relatedness of man to his fellow man, to himself and
10398 to nature. In the realm of thought, this productive orientation is
10399 expressed in the proper grasp of the world by reason. In the realm of
10400 action, the productive orientation is expressed in productive work, the
10401 prototype of which is art and craftsmanship. In the realm of feeling, the
10402 productive orientation is expressed in love, which is the experience of
10403 union with another person, with all men, and with nature, under the
10404 condition of retaining one's sense of integrity and independence. In the
10405 experience of love the paradox happens that two people become one, and
10406 remain two at the same time. Love in this sense is never restricted to one
10407 person. If I can love only one person, and nobody else, if my love for one
10408 person makes me more alienated and distant from my fellow man, I may be
10409 attached to this person in any number of ways, yet I do not love. If I can
10410 say, 'I love you,' I say, 'I love you in you also myself.' Self-love, in
10411 this sense, is the opposite of selfishness. The latter is actually a greedy
10412 concern with oneself which springs from and compensates for the lack of
10413 genuine love for oneself. Love, paradoxically, makes me more independent
10414 because it makes me stronger and happier--yet it makes me one with the
10415 loved person to the extent that individuality seems to be extinguished for
10416 the moment. In loving I experience 'I am you,' you-the loved person,
10417 you-the stranger, you-everything alive. In the experience of love lies the
10418 only answer to being human, lies sanity.
10419 -- Erich Fromm, from "The Sane Society", 1955
10421 # NO WARRANTY: THIS WORK IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. THE AUTHOR
10422 # PROVIDES NO WARRANTY WHATSOEVER, EITHER EXPRESS OR
10423 # IMPLIED, REGARDING THE WORK, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH
10424 # RESPECT TO ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY
10425 # PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
10427 # Author contact: Peter Alexander Merel
10428 # Internet: pete@cssc-syd.tansu.oz.au
10429 # UUCP: {uunet,mcvax}!munnari!cssc-syd!pete
10430 # Snail: 1/18-20 Orion Road, Lane Cove NSW 2066 Australia
10431 # Phone: +61 2 911 3130
10433 # Copyright: Copyright (C) 1992 Peter Alexander Merel
10434 # Permission to copy all or part of this work is granted,
10435 # provided that the copies are not made or distributed
10436 # for resale (except nominal copying fee may be charged),
10437 # and provided that the NO WARRANTY, author-contact, and
10438 # copyright notice are retained verbatim & are displayed
10439 # conspicuously. If anyone needs other permissions that
10440 # aren't covered by the above, please contact the author.
10445 # Peter Merel's Interpolation based upon the translations of:
10446 # Lin Yutang, Ch'u Ta-Kao, Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English,
10447 # Richard Wilhelm, and Aleister Crowley.
10449 Seeing is of course indispensable to learning, particularly in
10450 science, which is of the eye. Visual aids therefore have a place in the
10451 laboratory. And most students, not being future scientists, will learn
10452 more from good films of important experiments than from their own fumbling
10453 attempts. But sometimes they must fumble too, and have a teacher who
10454 fumbles on occasion, and thinks all the time he is in class. One learns
10455 not by a photographic copying of things shown, but by an internal drama
10456 imitative of the action witnessed. When the instructor gropes for a word,
10457 corrects himself, interjects a comment or an analogy not directly called
10458 for, he gives a spectacle of man thinking which no slick film or televised
10460 -- Jacques Barzun, from "Science: The Glorious Entertainment", 1964
10462 Far from behaving (or should one say behavioring?) with the regular
10463 intelligibility of a clock, the bent of the living and of man in particular
10464 is to MISbehave, in all senses of the word--from developing allergies,
10465 which make poison out of delicacies, to committing crimes which, as in
10466 saints and statesman, can later seem the highest wisdom. It is even proved
10467 by research that man must have his ration of dreaming, that is, of
10468 irregular and inaccurate thinking. These facts of experience require that
10469 any science of the regularities of behavior be always qualified and
10470 admonished by another discipline, a learned lore of misbehavior.
10471 -- Jacques Barzun, from "Science: The Glorious Entertainment", 1964
10473 Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather
10474 a new wearer of clothes.
10475 -- Henry David Thoreau
10477 What men call social virtue, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue
10478 of pigs in a litter, which lie close together to keep each other warm.
10479 -- Henry David Thoreau
10481 The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
10482 What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.
10483 -- Henry David Thoreau
10485 Some circumstantial evidence is very strong,
10486 as when you find a trout in the milk.
10487 -- Henry David Thoreau
10489 I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front
10490 only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had
10491 to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did
10492 not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to
10493 practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep
10494 and suck out all of the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartanlike
10495 as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave
10496 close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and,
10497 if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of
10498 it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it
10499 by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.
10500 -- Henry David Thoreau, from "Walden; or Life in the Woods"
10502 The Mind has a different relish, as well as the Palate; and you will
10503 as fruitlessly endeavour to delight all Men with Riches or Glory, (which yet
10504 some Men place their Happiness in,) as you would to satisfie all Men's
10505 Hunger with Cheese or Lobsters; which though very agreeable and delicious
10506 fare to some, are to others extremely nauseous and offensive: And many
10507 People would with Reason prefer the griping of an hungry Belly, to those
10508 Dishes, which are a Feast to others. Hence it was, I think, that the
10509 Philosophers of old did in vain enquire, whether Summum bonum (the chief
10510 good) consisted in Riches, or bodily Delights, or Virtue, or Contemplation:
10511 And they might have as reasonably disputed, whether the best Relish were to
10512 be found in Apples, Plumbs, or Nuts; and have divided themselves into Sects
10513 upon it. For as pleasant Tastes depend not on the things themselves, but
10514 their agreeableness to this or that particulate Palate, wherein there is
10515 great variety: So the greatest Happiness consists, in the having those
10516 things which produce the greatest Pleasure, and the absence of those which
10517 cause any disturbance, any pain, which to different Men are very different
10518 things. If therefore Men in this Life only have hope; if in this Life they
10519 can only enjoy, 'tis not strange, nor unreasonable, they should seek their
10520 Happiness by avoiding all things that disease them here, and by preferring
10521 all that delight them; wherein it will be no wonder to find variety and
10522 difference. For if there be no Prospect beyond the Grave, the inference is
10523 certainly right, Let us eat and drink, let us enjoy what we delight in, for
10524 to morrow we shall die. This, I think, may serve to shew us the Reason,
10525 why, though all Men's desires tend to Happiness, yet they are not moved by
10526 the same Object. Men may chuse different things, and yet all chuse right,
10527 supposing them only like a Company of poor Insects, whereof some are Bees,
10528 delighted with Flowers, and their sweetness; others, Bettles, delighted with
10529 other kinds of Viands; which having enjoyed for a Season, they should cease
10530 to be, and exist no more for ever.
10531 -- John Locke, from "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding."
10533 Businesses will not buy Linux because there is no one to sue.
10536 Even if something new does not require a disruption of the old, there
10537 is no space. People, time and resources are fully stretched--in many
10538 cases there is actually a cutting-back in resources.
10539 The paradox is that as we advance into the future the need for change
10540 gets greater and greater (to cope with changes in population, pollution,
10541 etc., and to make full use of our new technologies) but the possibility of
10542 change gets less and less because everything is already committed.
10543 A wise general does not commit all his troops but keeps a strategic
10544 reserve which can be used as the need and opportunity arise. Society does
10545 not do this, because we believe that we have all the bases covered and that
10546 progress will come about through evolution, the clash of opinions and the
10547 occasional lone innovator.
10548 In addition to allocating funds to research, most successful
10549 corporations also allocate funds to new business divisions or venture
10550 groups. Like the strategic reserves of a general, these groups are outside
10551 the day-to-day combat and are looking for new opportunities.
10552 Democracy could not easily tolerate this principle of strategic
10553 reserve, for the unallocated resources would be the target of every
10554 department or issue that felt it was under-funded. Emergency funds do
10555 exist, but not space and resources for change.
10556 The same thing applies on the thinking level. A person who knows all
10557 the answers, has an opinion on everything, has a certainty backed up by
10558 rational argument, has very little possibility of further progress. Such a
10559 person is unlikely to walk away from a discussion with anything more than a
10560 reaffirmation of how right he or she has been all along.
10561 -- Edward deBono, from "I Am Right, You Are Wrong" (Penguin Books, 1990)
10563 The pleasantest time of day here is at sunset. Then accompanied by
10564 some fifteen girls and little children I walk through the village to the end
10565 of Siufaga, where we stand on an iron bound point and watch the waves splash
10566 us in the face, while the sun goes down, over the sea and at the same time
10567 behind the cocoanut covered hills. Most of the adult population is going
10568 into the sea to bathe, clad in lavalavas with buckets for water borne along
10569 on shoulder poles. All the heads of families are seated in the fatele
10570 (village guesthouse) making kava. At one point a group of women are filling
10571 a small canoe with a solution of native starch (arrowroot). And perhaps,
10572 just as we reach the store, the curfew-angelus will stop us, a wooden bell
10573 will clang mellowly through the village. The children must all scurry to
10574 cover, if we're near the store, it's the store steps, and sit tight until
10575 the bell sounds again. Prayer is over. Sometimes we are all back safely in
10576 room when the bell sounds, and then the Lord's Prayer must be said in
10577 English, while flowers are all taken out of their hair and the siva song
10578 stopped in the middle. But once the bell sounds again, solemnity, never of
10579 a very reliable depth, is sloughed off, the flowers replaced in the girls'
10580 hair, the siva song replaces the hymn, and they begin to dance, by no means
10581 in a puritan fashion. Their supper comes about eight and sometimes I have a
10582 breathing spell, but usually the supper hours don't jibe well enough for
10583 that. They dance for me a great deal, they love it and it is an excellent
10584 index to temperament, as the dance is so individualistic, and the audience
10585 think it is its business to keep up incessant comment.
10586 -- Margaret Mead, from "Coming of Age in Samoa"
10588 There aren't any embarassing questions--only embarassing answers.
10591 Recently one of us was leading a group of thirty Western
10592 businesspeople through Japan to learn about Japanese management techniques.
10593 We took the bullet train from Hiroshima to Osaka, and since the train
10594 stopped for only twenty seconds in Hiroshima, it would have been impossible
10595 to get all the executives and their luggage on the train at the same time.
10596 So we hired a trucking company and crew to transfer the luggage separately.
10597 The crew removed all luggage from each individual's room in Hiroshima and
10598 placed it in his pre-checked room in another chain's hotel in Osaka. Can
10599 you imagine doing that in the United States and ever seeing your luggage
10601 One of the executives, thinking his shoes were too worn, had discarded
10602 them in the wastepaper basket in his Hiroshima hotel room. Imagine his shock
10603 when he entered his room in Osaka and saw his old shoes carefully laid in
10604 the wastepaper basket there. Was the Japanese trucking company politely
10605 saying that these shoes still had life and should yet be thrown away, or was
10606 the company accommodating a crazy foreigner who liked to keep his shoes in
10607 the wastepaper basket? Either way, the company was organized for highly
10608 intelligent service at every level.
10609 -- Stan David and Jim Botkins, from "The Monster Under the Bed: How
10610 Business is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit",
10611 (Simon & Schuster, 1994).
10613 The term 'information' appears to cover too much that seems
10614 distinctive: knowledge, data, information in a narrow sense that some treat
10615 as synonymous with data, news, intelligence, and numerous other colloquial
10616 and specialized denotations and connotations. However, the distinctions
10617 implied by oppositions such as observations/theories, data/knowledge, raw
10618 intelligence/finished intelligence, accounting details/management are
10619 secondary, not fundamental, in characterizing information resources. They
10620 reflect only relative judgments. For instance, one person's knowledge is
10621 often another's raw data. What a vice president for marketing, production,
10622 or finance thinks he knows is just data to the chief executive officer's
10623 staff. What a scientist thinks he knows about the merits of a flu vaccine
10624 or the safety of a nuclear reactor is just data for presidential policy and
10625 politics. Data or knowledge are just types of information content--of
10626 greater or lesser value, of greater or lesser cost.
10627 -- Anthony Oettinger, from "The Information Resources Policy Handbook"
10629 Given the fact that there seems to be a fundamental willingness to
10630 accept the machine as almost human, the issue of what type of relationship
10631 is possible seems to center around what friendship-cues might be
10632 artificially generated. Appearance and voice quality could certainly be
10633 tailored so that the machine would look and sound attractive and friendly.
10634 The software could be written to suggest an interesting and unique
10635 personality, and the conversational style might appear as humorous and
10636 good-natured. The machine would not only impress us with its intelligence
10637 and knowledge of the world, but would also convey the impression that it
10638 was warm and understanding. Its ability to integrate our interests and
10639 attitudes into its own framework and its willingness to be influenced by
10640 our point of view would also enhance our respect for the machine. The fact
10641 that it appeared to take our opinions seriously might be regarded as a
10642 compliment, and it is clear that if we are prepared to accept compliments
10643 from a computer then we are implicitly accepting it as a social agent.
10644 Friendships are not made in a day, and the computer would be more
10645 acceptable as a friend if it simulated the gradual changes that occur when
10646 one person is getting to know another. At an appropriate time it might
10647 also express the endearment that stimulates attachment and intimacy. The
10648 whole process would be accomplished with subtlety to avoid giving an
10649 impression of overfamiliarity or ingratiation, which would be likely to
10650 produce irritation or animosity. After experiencing a wealth of powerful,
10651 well-timed indicators, the user would be likely to accept the computer as
10652 far more than a machine and might well come to regard it as a friend.
10653 -- Neil Frude, from "The Intimate Machine: Close Encounters with
10654 Computers and Robots," 1983.
10656 By this time the stars were moving out of the Hollywood Hotel and
10657 beginning to live in their own private houses with servants, most of whom
10658 were their peers in everything but sex appeal--which pinpoints the reason for
10659 the film capital's mass misbehavior. To place in the limelight a great
10660 number of people who ordinarily would be chambermaids and chauffeurs, give
10661 them unlimited power and instant wealth, is bound to produce a lively and
10665 The four years passed at college were, for his purposes, wasted.
10666 Harvard College was a good school, but at bottom what the boy
10667 disliked most was any school at all. He did not want to be one in a
10668 hundred--one percent of an education. He regarded himself as the
10669 only person for whom his education had value, and he wanted the whole
10670 of it. He got barely half of an average.
10671 Long afterwards, when the devious path of life led him back to
10672 teach in his turn what no student naturally cared or needed to know
10673 [medieval history], he diverted some dreary hours of faculty meetings
10674 by looking up his record in the class-lists, and found himself graded
10675 precisely in the middle. In the one branch he most needed --
10676 mathematics--barring the few first scholars, failure was so nearly
10677 universal that no attempt at grading could have had value, and
10678 whether he stood fortieth or ninetieth must have been an accident or
10679 the personal favor of the professor. Here his education failed
10680 lamentably. At best he could never have been a mathematician; at
10681 worst he would never have cared to be one; but he needed to read
10682 mathematics, like any other universal language, and he never reached
10684 -- Henry Adams, from "The Education of Henry Adams"
10686 The pedagogical method of observation has for its base the liberty of
10687 the child; and liberty is activity.
10688 Discipline must come through liberty. Here is a great principle which
10689 is difficult for followers of common-school methods to understand. How
10690 shall one obtain discipline in a class of free children? Certainly in our
10691 system, we have a concept of discipline very different from that commonly
10692 accepted. If discipline is founded upon liberty, consider an individual
10693 disciplined only when he has been rendered as artificially silent as a mute
10694 and as immovable as a paralytic. He is an individual annihilated, not
10696 We call an individual disciplined when he is master of himself, and
10697 can, therefore, regulate his own conduct when it shall be necessary to
10698 follow some rule of life. Such a concept of active discipline is not easy
10699 either to comprehend or to apply. But certainly it contains a great
10700 educational principle, very different from the old-time absolute and
10701 undiscussed coercion to immobility.
10702 -- Maria Montessori, inventor of the "Montessori Method"
10704 A company could conceivably have within it a monastery-style unit
10705 that writes software... a research team organized like an improvisational
10706 jazz combo... a compartmentalized spy-network, with need-to-know rules,
10707 operating within the law, to scout for merger or acquisition
10708 possibilities... and a sales force organized as a highly motivated 'tribe'
10709 complete with its own war songs and emotional membership rituals.
10710 ...(T)he units of a flex-firm may draw information, people, and money
10711 from one another and from outside organizations as needed. They may be next
10712 door to one another or continents apart. Their functions may partly
10713 overlap, like information in a hyper-media data base; for other purposes,
10714 the functions may be logically, geographically, or financially divided.
10715 Some may use many central services provided by headquarters; others may
10716 choose to use only a few.
10717 In turn this requires freer, faster flows of information. This will
10718 mean crisscrossing, up, down, and sideways conduits--neural pathways that
10719 bust through the boxes in the table of organization so that people can trade
10720 the ideas, data, formulae, hints, insights, facts, strategies, whispers,
10721 gesture, and smiles that turn out to be essential to efficiency.
10722 -- Alvin Toffler, from "Powershift"
10724 Here in the newspaper business, we have definitely caught Internet Fever.
10725 In the old days, we used to -- get this! -- actually CHARGE MONEY for our
10726 newspapers. Ha! What an old-fashioned, low-tech, non-digital concept!
10727 Nowadays all of the modern newspapers spend millions of dollars operating
10728 Web sites where we give away the entire newspaper for free. Sometimes we
10729 run advertisements in the regular newspaper urging our paying customers to
10730 go to our Web sites instead. 'Stop giving us money!' is the shrewd marketing
10731 thrust of these ads. Why do we do this? Because all the other newspapers
10732 are doing it! This is called 'market penetration.'
10735 A highly competitive person has a hard row to hoe. There is no
10736 satisfaction in winning a competition unless it is a stiff and fair one.
10737 Stiff is easy to define; it is stiff if one's own realistic assessment of
10738 one's abilities make the odds long--the longer the odds, the greater
10739 satisfaction on winning. Fair is harder to define, for if one wins a
10740 contest against long odds, there must be a reason. The odds weren't really
10741 long; they only appeared to be so. Isn't it unfair to appear to be an
10742 underdog when one really isn't? Let's start with some obvious distinctions:
10743 A professional gambler needs to win in order to earn his living. Fairness
10744 is not his concern. He tries to be unfair in various ways: Keeping cards up
10745 his sleeve is one way that the rest of us universally deplore; the morality
10746 of concealing his skill to attract dupes is hardly less questionable.
10747 Fairness means at least an honest deal (no hidden cards) and no intentional
10748 concealment of one's abilities.
10749 -- Herbert A. Simon, from "Models of My Life" (Basic Books, 1991)
10751 The United States is trying to promote democracy around the
10752 world and holds itself up as a model. However, it is obvious that
10753 our democracy has been reduced to charisma and money.
10754 Surely intelligent and conscientious citizens can make wise and
10755 informed decisions? I for one cannot... I do not know anyone who
10756 spends more hours than I do in search of information and wisdom, yet
10757 it avails me little. Many people with power spend much of their time
10758 flying around the world, being wined and dined, but that means they
10759 have little time to do their homework.
10760 Is the idea of democracy based on an informed electorate just a dream?
10762 -- Ronald Hilton, founder of WAIS (World Association of
10763 International Studies).
10765 When there is communication without need for communication,
10766 merely so that someone may earn the social and intellectual prestige
10767 of becoming a priest of communication, the quality and communicative
10768 value of the message drop like a plummet... In the arts, the desire
10769 to find new things to say and new ways of saying them is the source
10770 of all life and interest. Yet every day we meet with examples of
10771 painting where, for instance, the artist has bound himself from the
10772 new canons of the abstract, and has displayed no intention to use these
10773 canons to display an interesting and novel form of beauty, to pursue
10774 the uphill fight against the prevailing tendency toward the commonplace
10776 I speak here with feeling which is more intense as far as concerns
10777 the scientific artist than the conventional artist, because it is in
10778 science that I have first chosen to say something. What sometimes
10779 enrages me and always disappoints and grieves me is the preference of
10780 great schools of learning for the derivative as opposed to the original,
10781 for the conventional and thin which can be duplicated in many copies
10782 rather than the new and powerful, and for arid correctness and
10783 limitation of scope and method rather than for universal newness and
10784 beauty, wherever it may be seen.
10785 -- Norbert Wiener, from "The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics
10786 and Society" (1950)
10788 Please do not suppose that the only function of puzzles is to entertain.
10789 Puzzles are a way of teaching mathematics. Indeed, they are the best way to
10790 teach it. Fred Hoyle, the famous British astronomer who taught mathematics
10791 at Cambridge University for twenty years states in strong terms his belief
10792 that mathematics should never be 'taught' at all. Students must learn for
10793 themselves. How? By solving puzzles. The functions of the teacher should
10794 be, first, to select in a wise way the material on which the puzzles are
10795 based, second, to make sure the puzzles are well suited in difficulty to the
10796 sophistication of the student, third, to answer questions, and finally, if
10797 the teacher is capable of it, to give an occasional word of inspiration.
10800 A cat's idea of what is comfortable and what is not
10801 is incomprehensible to a human.
10804 In the sciences, hypothesis always precedes law, which is to say, there is
10805 always a lot of tall guessing before a new fact is established. The
10806 guessers are often quite as important as the fact-finders; in truth, it
10807 would not be difficult to argue that they are more important. New facts are
10808 seldom plucked from the clear sky; they have to be approached and smelled
10809 out by a process of trial and error, in which bold and shrewd guessing is an
10810 integral part. The Greeks were adept at such guessing, and the scientists
10811 of the world have been following the leads they opened for more than two
10813 -- H. L. Mencken, "A Mencken Chrestomathy," 1982
10815 I love a dog. He does nothing for political reasons.
10818 If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face,
10819 you should go home and examine your conscience.
10822 I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything,
10823 I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals.
10826 Those sighs of a dog! They go to the heart so much more
10827 deeply than the sighs of our own kind because they are utterly
10828 unintended, regardless of effect, emerging from one who, heaving
10829 them, knows not that they have escaped him!
10832 (Of dogs) I marvel that such small ribs as these can
10833 cage such vast desire to please.
10836 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark
10837 Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw near home;
10838 'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark
10839 Our coming, and look brighter when we come.
10842 Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed
10843 Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without
10844 Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices. This praise,
10845 which would be unmeaning Flattery, if inscribed over human ashes, is
10846 but a just Tribute to the Memory of BOATSWAIN, a Dog.
10847 -- Inscription on the monument raised for Lord Byron's dog, Boatswain
10849 Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.
10852 A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.
10855 Living with a dog is easy--like living with an idealist.
10858 The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool
10859 of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you,
10860 but he will make a fool of himself too.
10861 -- Samuel Butler (d. 1902), Note-Book
10863 The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to his level
10864 of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.
10867 I agree with Agassiz that dogs possess something very like a conscience.
10870 For the strength of the pack is the wolf,
10871 and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
10874 All of the animals except humans know that the
10875 principal business of life is to enjoy it.
10878 Cowardly dogs bark loudest. -- John Webster
10880 Dogs like to obey. It gives them security. -- James Herriot
10882 A dog's best friend is his illiteracy. -- Ogden Nash
10884 Take a dog for a companion and a stick in your hand. -- English Proverb
10886 A lean dog shames its master. -- Japanese Proverb
10888 The dog was created specially for children.
10889 He is a god of frolic.
10890 -- Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit
10892 Dogs have not the power of comparing. A dog will take a small piece
10893 of meat as readily as a large, when both are before him.
10896 All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers,
10897 is contained in the dog.
10900 The dog has an enviable mind; it remembers the nice things in life
10901 and quickly blots out the nasty.
10902 -- Barbara Woodhouse
10904 If dogs could talk, perhaps we would find it as hard to get along
10905 with them as we do with people.
10908 Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.
10911 You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.
10912 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
10914 A dog has the soul of a philosopher. -- Plato
10916 The more I see of men, the more I like dogs. -- Madame Anne Maria de Stael
10918 The reason a dog has so many friends is that
10919 he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
10922 We see how he is at once in a world of smells of which
10923 we know nothing, which so occupy and absorb his attention
10924 as to make him practically blind to everything about him
10925 and deaf to all sounds, even his master's voice impatiently
10929 A man may smile and bid you hail
10930 Yet wish you to the devil;
10931 But when a good dog wags his tail,
10932 You know he's on the level.
10933 -- Submitted to www.dog.com by TJ Brown
10935 Old dogs, like old shoes, are comfortable.
10936 They might be a bit out of shape and a little
10937 worn around the edges, but they fit well.
10940 In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to
10941 train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open
10942 oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.
10945 I'd be happy to have my biography be the stories of my dogs.
10946 To me, to live without dogs would mean accepting a form of blindness.
10949 Every dog should have a man of his own. There is nothing like a
10950 well-behaved person around the house to spread the blanket for him,
10951 or bring him his supper when he comes home man-tired at night.
10954 Not Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Astor
10955 together could have raised money enough
10956 to buy a quarter share in my little dog...
10957 -- Ernest Thompson Seton
10959 I'd rather have an inch of dog than miles of pedigree. -- Dana Burnet
10961 ...in a healthy dog-owner relationship, praise is virtually
10962 an automatic reaction, an attitude toward the dog, a way of
10963 living with the dog. The most common mistake is to consider
10964 praise as simply a reward.
10965 -- The Monks of New Skete
10967 Dogs need to sniff the ground; it's how they keep abreast of
10968 current events. The ground is a giant dog newspaper, containing
10969 all kinds of late-breaking dog news items, which, if they are
10970 especially urgent, are often continued in the next yard.
10973 A dog is not "almost human" and I know of no greater insult to the
10974 canine race than to describe it as such. The dog can do many things
10975 which man cannot do, never could do, and never will do.
10978 imagine yourself lying in the tall purple grass with the sharp blades
10979 rubbing up against your flesh like rusty razors while the dark red
10980 moon drops drips of blood into the oozing green lake down the hill.
10981 tattered fish things leap and whirl in the lake while the tired orange
10982 sun flickers on the verge of going out. the clacking and biting
10983 insects that infest the grass crawl in and out of your body as you lie
10984 there trying to relax while large unseen animals rummage in the forest
10985 causing trees to crash down as they pass. dust blows in thick
10986 whirlwinds making the sooty air impossible to breathe as you hack
10987 chunks of meat up from within, but symbiotic parasites rush to repair
10988 the damage while tickling your insides ferociously.
10992 It all comes from here, the stench and the peril. -- Frodo
10994 I do not like... the omission of a bill of rights providing
10995 clearly and without the aid of sophisms for freedom of religion,
10996 freedom of the press, protection against standing armies,
10997 restriction against monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force
10998 of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of
10999 fact triable by the laws of the land and not by the law of
11001 -- Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787
11003 A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against
11004 every government on earth, general or particular; and what no
11005 just government should refuse, or rest on inferences.
11006 -- Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787. Papers, 12:440
11008 It astonishes me to find... [that so many] of our countrymen...
11009 should be contented to live under a system which leaves to their
11010 governors the power of taking from them the trial by jury in
11011 civil cases, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom
11012 of commerce, the habeas corpus laws, and of yoking them with a
11013 standing army. This is a degeneracy in the principles of
11014 liberty... which I [would not have expected for at least] four
11016 -- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1788
11018 A bill of rights [will] guard liberty against the legislative as
11019 well as the executive branches of the government.
11020 -- Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789
11022 The declaration of rights is, like all other human blessings,
11023 alloyed with some inconveniences and not accomplishing fully its
11024 object. But the good in this instance vastly outweighs the evil.
11025 -- Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789
11027 By a declaration of rights, I mean one which shall stipulate
11028 freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of commerce
11029 against monopolies, trial by juries in all cases, no suspensions
11030 of the habeas corpus, no standing armies. These are fetters
11031 against doing evil which no honest government should decline.
11032 -- Thomas Jefferson to Alexander Donald, 1788
11035 You must scratch me there!
11036 Yes, above my tail! Behold,
11040 prickly herbal scent
11041 flips me inside out and back;
11047 Tail of black dog keeps good time.
11048 Pounce! good dog! good dog!
11050 The best exercise for a cat is another cat.
11051 -- Jo and Paul Loeb
11054 In deep sleep hear sound
11055 Cat vomit hairball somewhere.
11056 Will find in morning.
11059 Is not a certain dullness their most visible characteristic?
11060 What is the history of their speculative mind? -- a blank.
11061 What their literature? -- a copy. They have left not a single
11062 discovery in any abstract science; not a single perfect or
11063 well-formed work of high imagination. The Greeks, the perfection
11064 of narrow and accomplished genius, bequeathed to mankind the ideal
11065 forms of self-idolizing art -- the Romans imitated and admired;
11066 the Greeks explained the laws of nature -- the Romans wondered and
11067 despised; the Greeks invented a system of numerals second only to
11068 that now in use -- the Romans counted to the end of their days
11069 with the clumsy apparatus which we still call by their name; the
11070 Greeks made a capital and scientific calendar -- the Romans began
11071 their month when the Pontifex Maximus happened to spy out the new
11072 moon. Throughout Latin literature, this is the perpetual puzzle
11073 -- Why are we free and they slaves? we praetors and they barbers?
11074 Why do the stupid people always win, and the clever people always
11079 The rule for today.
11080 Touch my tail, I shred your hand.
11083 'Well, then,' the Cheshire Cat went on, 'you see a dog growls
11084 when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now, I
11085 growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry.
11086 Therefore I'm mad.'
11087 -- Cheshire Cat (from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,
11091 stalk the birds with care--
11092 twitch my tail and they may scare;
11093 human gets a share.
11098 my flatness is intended,
11099 i have rubber bones.
11104 close to my sensitive tail
11105 may be time to shriek.
11109 fish in pond bigger
11110 than me; goldfish in bowl just
11111 the right size--kerchomp.
11114 Yet gentle will the griffin be,
11115 Most decorous and fat,
11116 And walk up to the Milky Way
11117 And lap it like a cat.
11121 Blur of motion, then--
11122 Silence, me, a paper bag
11127 Returns with gifts of plump birds
11128 Your foot just squashed one.
11130 Every good teacher has his own special art; with some, it is a genius
11131 for a clarity that sometimes is more lucid than the complexities of the
11132 subject justify. Sometimes it is a talent for apothegm or leading
11133 suggestion, a word that evokes a vista or an idea that opens a world. I
11134 cannot now quite remember what Professor Beard's special technique was. He
11135 was clear, he was suggestive, he was witty. But none of these things could
11136 quite account for the hold he had on the smug and the rebels alike, on both
11137 the pre-lawyers and pre-poets. I suspect it was a certain combination of
11138 poetry, philosophy, and honesty in the man himself, a sense he communicated
11139 that politics mattered far beyond the realm commonly called political, and
11140 an insight he conveyed into the life that forms of government furthered or
11141 betrayed. One morning he came into class as usual, stood against the wall,
11142 and half-closing his eyes, said:
11143 "Gentlemen, today we are to discuss the budget system in State
11144 government. I am sure that must seem to you a dull subject. But if you will
11145 tell me, gentlemen, how much per capita a nation spends on its Army, on its
11146 Navy, on education, on public works, I shall be able to tell you, I think,
11147 as much about that nation as if you gave me the works of its poets and
11149 We listened with revised and revived attention to an exposition, full
11150 of figures and detail, of the State budget system. Charles A. Beard showed
11151 us what politics had to do with the life beyond it and which it made
11152 possible. And he taught us, too, the difference between the forms of
11153 government and the living substance of its operations... Nobody who has ever
11154 listened to Beard can disdain the study of politics in favor of the study of
11155 "higher things". He has been too well taught, as tragic world events have
11156 since shown, how government may nourish or destroy "higher things".
11157 -- Irwin Edman, speaking of the historian Charles A. Beard
11159 There is no substitute for a lifetime.
11162 The technologies which have had the most profound effects on human life
11163 are usually simple. A good example of a simple technology with profound
11164 historical consequences is hay. Nobody knows who invented hay, the idea of
11165 cutting grass in the autumn and storing it in large enough quantities to
11166 keep horses and cows alive through the winter. All we know is that the
11167 technology of hay was unknown to the Roman Empire but was known to every
11168 village of medieval Europe. Like many other crucially important
11169 technologies, hay emerged anonymously during the so-called Dark Ages.
11170 According to the Hay Theory of History, the invention of hay was the
11171 decisive event which moved the center of gravity of urban civilization from
11172 the Mediterranean basin to Northern and Western Europe. The Roman Empire did
11173 not need hay because in a Mediterranean climate the grass grows well enough
11174 in winter for animals to graze. North of the Alps, great cities dependent on
11175 horses and oxen for motive power could not exist without hay. So it was hay
11176 that allowed populations to grow and civilization to flourish among the
11177 forests of Northern Europe. Hay moved the greatness of Rome to Paris and
11178 London, and later to Berlin and Moscow and New York.
11179 -- Freeman Dyson, from his 1985 Gifford Lectures
11182 Small brave carnivores
11183 Kill pine cones and mosquitoes,
11184 Fear vacuum cleaner
11188 Oh, no! Help! I got outside!
11189 Let me back inside!
11191 If you're a geek at a circus
11192 and the only tool you have is a sledgehammer,
11193 then you'll use it everywhere.
11194 We're Microsoft and
11195 Windows is our sledgehammer.
11198 An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile--
11199 hoping it will eat him last.
11200 -- Winston Churchill
11202 Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation.
11205 When a friend speaks to me, whatever he says is interesting.
11208 Up to his shoulders
11209 In grasses coarse as silk,
11210 The white cat with the yellow eyes
11211 Sits with his paws together,
11212 Tall as a quart of milk.
11215 Life is a gamble, at terrible odds--if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.
11218 What is the most innocent place in any country?
11219 Is it not the insane asylum?
11220 These people drift through life truly innocent,
11221 unable to see into themselves at all.
11224 We live by our genius for hope;
11225 we survive by our talent for dispensing with it.
11228 People change and forget to tell each other.
11231 Professional work of any sort tends to narrow the mind, to limit the point
11232 of view, and to put a hallmark on a man of a most unmistakable kind. On the
11233 one hand are the intense, ardent natures, absorbed in their studies and
11234 quickly losing interest in everything but their profession, while other
11235 faculties and interest 'fust' unused. On the other hand are the bovine
11236 brethren, who think of nothing but the treadmill and the corn. From very
11237 different causes, the one from concentration, the other from apathy, both
11238 are apt to neglect those outside studies that widen the sympathies and help
11239 a man to get the best there is out of life... the medical man, perhaps more
11240 than any other man, needs that higher education of which Plato speaks,
11241 'that education in virtue from youth upwards, which enables a man to pursue
11242 the ideal perfection.' It is not for all, nor can all attain it, but there
11243 is comfort and help in the pursuit, even though the end is never reached.
11246 We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us,
11247 but for ours to amuse them.
11250 Scientific research is solving puzzles. The pleasure to
11251 be got from it is the pleasure of the crossword or jig-saw addict.
11252 First the blank diagram, or the scatter of meaningless pieces; then
11253 an occasional tentative clue or the few pieces of the same colour
11254 that seem to fit together; next a period of frustration, going over
11255 and over the list of clues, or trying piece after piece in the most
11256 unlikely conjunctions; then--ah the sweet joy of the word that
11257 completes a doubtful acrostic, or the section that springs to life
11258 as a tree, or a house or a pot of flowers; finally, the completion
11259 of the pattern, with clue after clue solved in rapid succession, or
11260 the last few pieces tumbling into place. By accepting the challenge,
11261 the tension, the concentration, the frustration, we heighten the
11262 pleasure of the moment or revelation. The more difficult the puzzle,
11263 the greater the tension--and so much greater the delights of solution.
11266 The most certain way to succeed is to always try one more time.
11270 hmmm... box is stinky.
11271 where are those boots that he has?
11272 they smell close enough.
11275 This one is from my dogs to my cats:
11277 I will sniff your butt
11278 I like your litter box gifts
11282 You can drop humans anywhere and they'll thrive.
11283 Only the rat does as well.
11288 in heart may become a wolf
11289 when the catnip blooms
11292 housecat haiku of realization:
11294 birds flicker past me,
11295 safely in their cage of glass.
11296 wait! who's in the cage?
11300 At this point I reveal myself in my true colours, as a stick-in-the-mud.
11301 I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest
11302 intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos,
11303 creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence,
11304 forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is
11305 preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more
11306 valuable than ideology. I believe that in spite of the recent triumphs
11307 of science, men haven't changed much in the last two thousand years; and
11308 in consequence we must still try to learn from history. History is
11309 ourselves. I also hold one or two beliefs that are more difficult to put
11310 shortly. For example, I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we
11311 avoid hurting other people's feelings by satisfying our own egos. And I
11312 think we should remember that we are part of a great whole, which for
11313 convenience we call nature. All living things are our brothers and
11314 sisters. Above all, I believe in the God-given genius of certain
11315 individuals, and I value a society that makes their existence possible.
11316 -- Kenneth Clark, from "Civilization"
11318 If you want to feel proud of yourself, you need to do things of which
11319 to feel proud. Feelings follow actions.
11322 To learn and from time to time to apply what
11323 one has learned--isn't that pleasure?
11324 -- Confucious, 500 B.C.
11326 top 6 rejected ingredients in ben & jerry's "phish food" flavor:
11328 6. capers and whitefish
11329 5. caramel-covered seaweed nuggets
11331 3. magic mushroom ripple
11334 and the number one rejected ingredient...
11340 top 6 reasons to own a house rabbit:
11342 6. learning to splice electrical wires
11343 5. free compost everywhere in the house
11344 4. having your ankles bitten and scratched during rutting season
11345 3. finding out what night feces are and that special feeling they give
11346 when between your toes
11347 2. having guests ask "what is that incredible stench?"
11349 and the number one reason to own a house rabbit...
11351 1. if all else fails, there's always hasenpfeffer.
11355 My childhood was a period of waiting for the moment when I could send
11356 everyone and everything connected with it to hell.
11359 Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to
11360 time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
11363 We will take almost any kind of criticism except the observation that
11364 we have no sense of humor. A man will admit to being a coward, a liar, a
11365 thief, an adulterer, a poor mechanic, or a bad swimmer, but tell him that
11366 he has a dreadful sense of humor and you might as well have slandered his
11367 mother. Even if he is civilized enough to pretend to make light of your
11368 statement, he will still secretly believe that he has, not only a good
11369 sense of humor, but one superior to most. This is all the more surprising
11370 when you consider that not one person in a million can give you any kind of
11371 intelligent answer as to what humor is or why he or she laughs.
11374 To write weekly, to write daily, to write shortly, to write
11375 for busy people catching trains in the morning or for tired
11376 people coming home in the evening, is a heartbreaking task
11377 for men who know good writing from bad.
11380 ugh. all thoughts scrambled. now eating them on toast. -- fred t. hamster
11382 I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
11385 Housework can kill you if done right.
11388 All human evil comes from a single cause--
11389 man's inability to sit still in a room.
11392 An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a
11393 cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
11396 School curricula reinforce the impression that logical subjects like math
11397 and science require starting with basics and progressively adding more
11398 sophisticated conclusions and applications. But the very nature of logical
11399 laws make it equally feasible to work backward from conclusions, or
11400 observations, to hypotheses. Deduction and induction are entirely
11402 In reality, scientists and mathematicians do not do their crafts in the
11403 linear, progressive way their subjects are usually taught. Practitioners
11404 commonly start with a flash of insight (the stereotypical light bulb lighting),
11405 a hunch, a dream, a guess, an elaborate hypothesis or postulate, and then work
11406 backward, forward, and around it to try to make it fit with established
11407 knowledge. Physicists or engineers commonly try using complex mathematical
11408 gadgets to solve the problems that interest them without knowing or caring how
11409 the math was logically derived. Experimenters tinker in laboratories and make
11410 surprising discoveries that theoreticians then labor to try to explain
11411 logically. Alternatively, theorists like Einstein come up with wild new
11412 theories like relativity that experiments may have to struggle for decades to
11413 find a way to test and prove. Scientific knowledge does not grow incrementally
11414 down a predictable track. Rather it grows volcanolike, sometimes oozing in
11415 patient rivulets, sometimes erupting in fiery ferment, and occasionally
11416 exploding, blowing away the rock of established truth.
11417 Pedantic, linear teaching rarely conveys the true drama and mystery of the
11418 human quest for knowledge. School plods where human imagination naturally
11420 -- Lewis J. Perelman, from "School's Out"
11422 the people who are the most in need of help are often the
11423 same ones who cannot receive it. for example, those who
11424 believe all human minds are isolated and who have built their
11425 lives on that principle can only rarely come to appreciate the
11426 connections between us. their loneliness and self-imposed
11427 isolation seems to be the normal state of affairs to these
11428 people; little do they realize that if they relaxed their
11429 armored ego barrier, then the thoughts and emotions of others
11430 would start to be perceptible. they desperately cling to the
11431 belief system that IS their problem in such a way that they
11432 cannot see the solution, nor can they even believe that the
11433 solution exists. should these people consciously strive to
11434 relax that barrier, it would dissolve quickly. many just
11435 cannot do that and never will. many can however, and can
11436 relax in the invisible web of human mentation that underlies
11437 all of our consciousnesses like a huge, comfortable and active
11441 All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part
11442 of every organism to live beyond its income.
11445 Attempts to mimic the mind of man are as yet in their infancy.
11446 The road, however, is open, and it conjures up thoughts which are
11447 exciting but also in some ways frightening. What if man eventually
11448 were to produce a mechanical creature, with or without organic
11449 parts, equal or superior to himself in all respects, including
11450 intelligence and creativity? Would it replace man, as the superior
11451 organisms of the earth have replaced or subordinated the less well-
11452 adapted in the long history of evolution?
11453 It is a queasy thought: that we represent, for the first time
11454 in the history of life on the earth, a species capable of bringing
11455 about its own possible replacement. Of course, we have it in our
11456 power to prevent such a regrettable denouement by refusing to build
11457 machines that are too intelligent. But it is tempting to build them
11458 nevertheless. What achievement could be grander than the creation
11459 of an object that surpasses the creator? How could we consummate
11460 the victory of intelligence over nature more gloriously than by
11461 passing on our heritage, in triumph, to a greater intelligence--of
11463 -- Isaac Asimov, in "Asimov's Guide to Science"
11465 Home is the place where,
11466 when you have to go there,
11467 they have to take you in.
11470 The closer that journalism has approached the standing of an
11471 authentic profession, oddly enough, the less attractive its
11472 individual practitioners appear to have become in the public
11473 mind. This irony is traceable in large measure to the
11474 distinguished work of the press in its persistent recording
11475 of the futility and manifold injustices of the Vietnam War and
11476 its disclosures in the Watergate scandal. Those protracted
11477 traumas scarred the national psyche, which in turn found
11478 solace by blaming the press for battening on the troubles it
11479 apparently delighted in reporting. Reporters came to be seen
11480 as arrogant in the conduct of their duties, habitually
11481 adversarial in posture, often insensitive, and unapologetic
11482 about substituting their own right to demand the truth for the
11483 public's right not to be stalked ruthlessly like so much grist
11484 for the milling of tomorrow's headlines. This impression has
11485 been deepened by the coarseness of television news, which is
11486 essentially a headline service trading on its emotional graphic
11487 appeal and dealing so superficially with events and so rarely
11488 with the complex issues behind them that its effect is to
11489 divert rather than to inform; TV remains primarily an
11490 entertainment medium that has not challenged the role of
11491 newspapers as the prime recorders of the community's serious
11492 business. But because we see television correspondents
11493 questioning the President or putting it to the police chief,
11494 they become personalities in their own right, far more imposing
11495 than a faceless byline over a printed story.
11496 -- Richard Kluger, from "The Paper: The Life and Death of the New
11497 York Herald Tribune"
11499 The fat cat on the mat may seem to dream
11500 Of nice mice that suffice for him, or cream.
11501 -- J. R. R. Tolkien
11503 Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very
11504 unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the
11505 best lawyer in the world can't get you off.
11508 A man will never become a philosopher by worrying forever
11509 about the writings of other men, without ever raising his own
11510 eyes to nature's works in the attempt to recognize there the
11511 truths already known and to investigate some of the infinite
11512 number that remain to be discovered.
11515 A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.
11518 One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight
11519 of the shore for a very long time.
11522 Today in America--the child of European imperialism--a new revolution
11523 is rising. It is the revolution of our time. It is the only revolution
11524 that involves radical, moral, and practical opposition to the spirit of
11525 nationalism. It is the only revolution that, to that opposition, joins
11526 culture, economic and technological power, and a total affirmation of
11527 liberty for all in the place of archaic prohibitions. It therefore
11528 offers the only escape for mankind today; the acceptance of technological
11529 civilization as a means and not as an end, and--since we cannot be saved
11530 either by the destruction of civilization or by its continuation--the
11531 development of the ability to reshape that civilization without
11533 -- Jean-Francois Revel
11535 There is a great man who makes every man feel small.
11536 But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great.
11537 -- G. K. Chesterton
11539 What usually happens in the educational process is that the faculties
11540 are dulled, overloaded, stuffed and paralyzed so that by the time most
11541 people are mature they have lost their innate capabilities.
11542 -- R. Buckminster Fuller
11544 Our memories are card indexes--consulted, and then put back in
11545 disorder, by authorities whom we do not control.
11548 More computing sins are committed in the name of efficiency
11549 (without necessarily achieving it) than for any other single
11550 reason--including blind stupidity.
11553 We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of
11554 the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.
11557 The best is the enemy of the good.
11560 The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts.
11563 A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking big money.
11564 -- Senator Everett M. Dirksen
11566 During the last three decades, neuroscientists throughout the world
11567 have probed the nervous system in fascinating detail and have learned a
11568 great deal about the laws of mental life and about how these laws emerge
11569 from the brain. The pace of progress has been exhilarating, but--at the
11570 same time--the findings make many people uncomfortable. It seems somehow
11571 disconcerting to be told that your life, all your hopes, triumphs and
11572 aspirations simply arise from the activity of neurons in your brain. But
11573 far from being humiliating, this idea is ennobling, I think.
11574 Science--cosmology, evolution and especially the brain sciences--is
11575 telling us that we have no privileged position in the universe and that our
11576 sense of having a private nonmaterial soul "watching the world" is really an
11577 illusion (as has long been emphasized by Eastern mystical traditions like
11578 Hinduism and Zen Buddhism). Once you realize that far from being a
11579 spectator, you are in fact part of the eternal ebb and flow of events in the
11580 cosmos, this realization is very liberating. Ultimately this idea also
11581 allows you to cultivate a certain humility--the essence of all authentic
11582 religious experience.
11583 -- V. S. Ramachandran, in "Phantoms in the Brain"
11585 A celebrity is one who is known to many persons
11586 he is glad he doesn't know.
11589 Money is a singular thing. It ranks with love as man's greatest
11590 source of joy, and with death as his greatest source of anxiety.
11591 -- John Kenneth Galbraith
11593 By his very success in inventing labor-saving devices, modern man
11594 has manufactured an abyss of boredom that only the privileged classes
11595 in earlier civilizations have ever fathomed.
11598 Scientists, who nearly always speak extemporaneously in public
11599 presentations, note that humanists almost always read papers
11600 at professional meetings, and rarely show slides--except for
11601 art historians, who always use two screens simultaneously--even
11602 for the most visual subjects. Why, 'we' ask, do 'they' not
11603 realize that written and spoken English are different languages,
11604 and that very few people can read well in public--a particular
11605 irony since humanists supposedly hold language as their primary
11606 tool of professional competence. But 'they,' on the other hand,
11607 rightly ridicule 'our' tendencies to darken a lecture room even
11608 before we reach the podium and to rely almost entirely upon a
11609 string of pictures thereafter. A stale joke proclaims that if
11610 Galileo had first presented the revolutionary results of Siderius
11611 Nuncius as a modern scientific talk, his opening line could only
11612 have been: 'first slide please.'
11613 -- R. R. Shearer and S. J. Gould, in "Science," 5 Nov 99
11615 Prowling his own quiet backyard or asleep by the fire,
11616 he is still only a whisker away from the wilds.
11619 Futurology is a fashion. The approach of the end of the current
11620 millennium has stimulated it. But it looks like a fashion in decline. It
11621 seems to have peaked when public interest in the future was enlivened by
11622 debate between scientific perfectibilians and apocalyptic visionaries. The
11623 optimists predicted a world made easy by progress, lives prolonged by
11624 medical wizardry, wealth made universal by the alchemy of economic growth,
11625 society rectified by the egalitarianism of technologically prolonged
11626 leisure. The pessimists foresaw nuclear immolation or population explosion
11627 or a purgative world revolution -- a cosmic struggle reminiscent of the
11628 millennium of Christian prophetic tradition -- which would either save or
11630 No one gets excited by such visions today. Scientific progress has
11631 been, at best, disappointing -- encumbering us with apparently insoluble
11632 social and moral problems, or else, at worst, alarming -- threatening us
11633 with the mastery of artificially intelligent machines or genetically
11634 engineered human mutants. Economic growth has become the bogey of the
11635 ecologically anxious. Meanwhile, world revolution and the nuclear holocaust
11636 have been postponed, and apocalyptic prophecy has resorted to forebodings --
11637 variously unconvincing or uncompelling -- about ecological cataclysms.
11638 Proliferation of nuclear weapons and the discovery that even peaceful
11639 nuclear installations can poison great parts of the world has, in some ways,
11640 made disaster impend more darkly; but lingering extinction and little local
11641 nuclear holocausts seem to lack, in public esteem the glamour of a sudden
11642 and comprehensive armageddon. The future has become depressing rather than
11643 dramatic, and futurology has lost allure.
11644 -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, in "Millennium: a History of the Last
11645 Thousand Years", 1995.
11647 We all love to instruct, though we can teach only what is not worth knowing.
11648 -- Jane Austen, in "Pride and Prejudice"
11652 dances with a beam of light,
11655 Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
11658 Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is
11659 supposed to be doing at that moment.
11663 He flies without wings,
11664 Fast as a shadow can go.
11665 Black slash on white snow.
11668 Once quick with rat life,
11669 Now just carnage: tail, head, fur.
11673 Willy stalks field mice,
11674 Wild Bill to small buffalo.
11675 Kills them just for show.
11678 Cats are like haiku:
11679 Subtle, delicate, perfect
11682 Once fat with meat.
11684 Rat food and bat food
11685 Supplement cat food.
11687 The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.
11690 I would rather be governed by the first two thousand people in the
11691 Boston telephone directory than by the first two thousand people on the
11692 faculty of Harvard University.
11693 -- William F. Buckley
11695 Civility will always have its critics. In 1997, when New York's
11696 chief judge proposed rules requiring lawyers on opposing sides to be civil
11697 to each other, the prominent divorce lawyer Raoul Felder wrote a caustic
11698 response in the New York Times. "If lawyers truly care about the causes
11699 they represent, they should, on occasion, get hot under the collar, raise
11700 their voices, become pugnacious," he wrote. Conflict, argued Felder, is
11701 what the legal profession is about. Civility, he concluded, "may not always
11702 be the right reaction in an adversarial courtroom."
11703 This argument reminds me of the commentary by Ed Rollins that it
11704 was his job to diminish the reputation of his client's opponent. Nastiness,
11705 in other words, is not merely the option but the responsibility of the
11706 political profession. The legal profession too: "I have never heard a
11707 client complain that his or her lawyer was rude," Felder tells us. In both
11708 cases, law and politics, rudeness is evidently justified on the ground that
11709 rudeness is what the client is paying for.
11710 As any student of civility would, I find this a fascinating notion:
11711 that there are professions for which incivility is a requirement. I suppose
11712 I disbelieve it; or, rather, if there are such professions, I am skeptical
11713 of their morality, because they fail to convey a message that we are, all of
11714 us, not lone drivers but fellow passengers. It may be that law and politics
11715 seem so dismally rude because their principal ethic is merely one of
11716 victory, an ethic materially enriching and emotionally satisfying, but
11717 morally unimportant. If lawyers are paid to be rude and political
11718 consultants to be nasty, and if their incivility is linked to the fact that
11719 they are also paid to win, we should scarcely be surprised that professional
11720 athletes find it comfortable to brawl with fans, spit on umpires, take bites
11721 out of ears, and, in one unfortunate case nicknamed "Assassin," specialize
11722 in injuring fellow football players. After all, the athletes want to win too.
11723 Some etiquette. Some democracy.
11724 -- Stephen L. Carter, in "Civility", 1998
11726 A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
11729 A cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him.
11730 -- William Lyon Phelps
11732 Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea.
11733 -- "Alain" [Emile Chartier]
11735 Newspapers have changed their character during my lifetime. They used
11736 to be the principal carriers of the world's news, but television holds that
11737 position now. Television, however, has serious limitations; it is a visual
11738 medium, and it is dominated by the principle that nothing is news unless you
11739 can take a picture of it. It is here that the newspapers still hold their
11740 own; so much of what goes on in the political world cannot be effectively
11741 photographed; statesmen, in their expensive but uninteresting clothes, make
11742 very poor TV and their prolonged deliberations are dull when we see them on
11743 the box. Politics must be interpreted, and newspapers have become their
11744 untiring interpreters... Intelligence, not perhaps on its highest level
11745 but far beyond the sheer emotionalism of TV, has found its refuge in the
11747 -- Robertson Davies, from "The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading,
11748 Writing, & The World of Books".
11750 To improve communications, work not on the utterer but on the recipient.
11753 Despite the incorporated homicide or suicide called war, despite the
11754 crimes of individuals, the natural conflicts of domestic parties and
11755 national ambitions, I believe, after fifty years of studying history,
11756 that man is physically, mentally, and morally better, on the average,
11757 than at any time in the past; that our poverty, so disgraceful amid our
11758 unprecedented wealth, is not so shameless as the slavery that supported
11759 an enfranchised minority in Periclean Athens or Augustan Rome; that our
11760 marital chaos and moral laxity are no worse than in the England of
11761 Charles II or the France of Louis XV; that more good books are being
11762 published than ever before and more widely read; and that art will soon
11763 rise to a new level of self-discipline and social significance.
11764 I mourn the ugly slums of our cities and the distress of those who
11765 cannot find work for their hands to do; but I see realized around me,
11766 in an unparalleled proportion of our people, such a spread of home
11767 ownership, family income, physical comforts, educational opportunities,
11768 political freedom, and scientific powers as would amaze and gladden our
11769 Founding Fathers if they could return to see what their progeny and
11770 their institutions have done... This time, this moment, is as good as
11771 any that ever was, and is incomparably more wonderful.
11774 I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.
11775 Imagination is more important than knowledge.
11776 Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
11779 You do not lead by hitting people over the head.
11780 That's assault, not leadership.
11781 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
11783 When elephants fight, only the grass gets hurt. -- Swahili Saying
11785 Men who know the same things are not long the best company for each other.
11786 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
11788 The gingham dog and the calico cat
11789 Side by side on the table sat;
11790 'Twas half-past eight and (what do you think!)
11791 Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!
11794 bob1: I was going to just sublime into the roll
11795 and see what I could get....
11796 fred: slime, you mean? you're not going to evaporate, right?
11797 bob1: Whatever, formally declare I shall be in control
11798 and see if anyone listens...
11799 fred: that's the doctrine of the supine?
11800 bob1: By sublime I meant so slowly that you don't notice.
11801 fred: the lime doctor sublimes merging into the supine
11802 mesmerized accomplished cow-orking accomplices slimefully.
11803 bob1: mmm I see. Anyway I must rejoin the family and stuff.
11804 Perhaps I shall be back later. I must get into work early
11805 tomorrow if I want all this to work.
11806 fred: by the time i spline my spleen in the stream
11807 i will have strummed the strumpet's stoking stork.
11808 bob1: Holy f*ck batman.
11810 There is nothing to be learned from history anymore.
11811 We're in science fiction now.
11814 One of the interesting features of communication is that, broadly
11815 speaking, to be perceived, information must reside in more than one context.
11816 We know what something is by contrast with what it is not. Silence makes
11817 musical notes perceivable; conversation is understood as a contrast of
11818 contexts, speaker and hearer; words, breaks and breaths. In turn, in order
11819 to be meaningful, these contexts of information must be relinked through
11820 some sort of judgment of equivalence or comparability. This occurs at all
11821 levels of scale, and we all do it routinely as part of everyday life.
11822 None of this is new in theories of information and communication: we
11823 have long had models of signals and targets, background, noise and filters,
11824 signals, and quality controls. We are moving this insight here to the level
11825 of social interaction. People often cannot see what they take for granted
11826 until they encounter someone who does not take it for granted.
11827 -- Geoffrey C. Bowker & Susan Leigh Star, from "Sorting Things Out:
11828 Classification and Its Consequences," (MIT Press).
11830 If there is technological advance without social advance, there is,
11831 almost automatically, an increase in human misery.
11832 -- Michael Harrington
11834 Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.
11837 When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.
11840 Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
11843 He was a very valiant man who first adventured on eating of oysters.
11846 A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional, and are
11847 the portals of discovery.
11850 But this 'long run' is a misleading guide to current affairs.
11851 In the long run we are all dead.
11852 -- John Maynard Keynes
11854 Education is a crutch with which the foolish attack the wise to prove
11855 that they are not idiots.
11858 Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human
11859 intelligence long enough to get money from it.
11862 I don't like money actually, but it quiets my nerves.
11866 Black heart on white fur
11867 Green eyes ... last sight for poor rat,
11868 Plaything of a God.
11871 Black face, cold blue eyes
11872 fish pond, golden fish surprise.
11873 Wet paws ... not water!
11875 spelling offers more
11876 room for controversy than
11877 the world's religions
11881 caffeination in its most
11886 sangha are the three jewels
11887 a buddhist cleaves to
11891 charging into the twenty-first
11895 fred barks, lily hides
11896 two dogs of the same breeding
11899 haikus force structure
11900 on an otherwise very
11905 three celtic names held by three
11909 The most fruitful and natural exercise of the mind, in my opinion, is
11910 conversation. I find the use of it more sweet than of any other action of
11911 life; and for that reason it is that, if I were now compelled to choose, I
11912 should sooner, I think, consent to lose my sight, than my hearing and
11913 speech... The study of books is a languishing and feeble motion that heats
11914 not, whereas conversation teaches and exercises at once. If I converse with
11915 an understanding man, and a rough disputant, he presses hard upon me and
11916 pricks me on both sides; his imaginations raise up mine to more than
11917 ordinary pitch; jealousy, glory, and contention, stimulate and raise me up
11918 to something above my self...
11919 -- Michel Montaigne
11923 of meats, kibbles and catnip
11924 will i deign to sniff.
11928 fine fur flies from me
11929 filling all of your clean rooms
11935 to quizzical expression:
11936 "fix outdoors for me!"
11941 bores more cats even than own
11946 Open the door, Man!
11947 I wish to go out ... what's this?
11948 Wet fur? I think not.
11951 Monsoon for felines.
11952 They ground when wet. No static.
11953 Rainy faced disgrace.
11955 Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes.
11958 Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
11961 We are not sure that words can always save lives, but we know that
11962 silence can certainly kill.
11963 -- James Orbinski of "Doctors Without Borders", winners of the 1999 Nobel
11966 The masses, by definition, neither should nor can direct their own
11967 personal existence, and still less rule society in general.
11968 -- Jose Ortega y Gasset
11970 It is precisely because man's vital time is limited, precisely because
11971 he is mortal, that he needs to triumph over distance and delay. For an
11972 immortal being, the motor-car would have no meaning.
11973 -- Jose Ortega y Gasset
11975 We live at a time when man believes himself fabulously capable of
11976 creation, but he does not know what to create. Lord of all things,
11977 he is not lord of himself... Hence the strange combination of a
11978 sense of power and a sense of insecurity.
11979 -- Jose Ortega y Gasset
11981 The mass-man is he whose life lacks any purpose, and simply goes drifting
11982 along. Consequently, though his possibilities and his powers be enormous,
11983 he constructs nothing. And it is this type of man who decides in our time...
11984 -- Jose Ortega y Gasset
11986 In the schools, which were such a source of pride to the last century, it
11987 has been impossible to do more than instruct the masses in the technique
11988 of modern life; it has been found impossible to educate them.
11989 -- Jose Ortega y Gasset
11991 Like cars over the years, computers are getting easier to use, and in
11992 some respects the changes are analogous to the placement of gauges by idiot
11993 lights. And, like drivers who favor gauges, some computer users belittle the
11994 trend toward easy-to-use systems. These users appear to thrive on
11995 complexity. They are often experts who enjoy getting the most out of their
11996 computers; they view computing as an end rather than a means.
11997 Unlike cars, easy-to-use computers aren't called idiot-proof, they're
11998 called user-friendly. As a marketing achievement, this terminology ranks
11999 with 'Palmetto bugs,' which is a term used in Florida-at the instigation of
12000 some genius in the real estate industry, I'm told-for large, flying
12002 -- John Shore, from "The Sachertorte Algorithm: And Other Antidotes
12003 to Computer Anxiety".
12005 Ads manipulate us into being dissatisfied... We are encouraged to feel
12006 anxious or sorry for ourselves. Advertising teaches us to live on the level
12007 of the pleasure principle. This leads to impulse-control problems and to
12008 feelings of entitlement. "I am the center of the universe and I want what I
12009 want now." This thinking creates citizens who are vulnerable to quick fixes.
12010 It leads to citizens filled with self-pity, which is the flip side of
12012 Advertising teaches that people shouldn't have to suffer, that pain
12013 is unnatural and can be cured. They say that effort is bad and convenience
12014 is good and that products solve complex human problems. Over and over people
12015 hear that their needs for love, security and variety can be met with
12016 products. They may reject the message of any particular ad, but over time
12017 many buy the big message -- buying products is important.
12018 -- Mary Pipher, in "The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families"
12020 I have no use for bodyguards, but I have a very special use for two
12021 highly trained certified public accountants.
12024 Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.
12027 Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.
12028 -- Jean-Paul Sartre
12030 Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful
12031 objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill
12032 gives us modern art.
12035 What is this talk of "release?" We do not make software "releases."
12036 Our software "escapes" leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality
12037 assurance people in its wake.
12038 -- MoncriefJM@gvl.esys.com, as seen on the on the PerlTK mailing list
12040 It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience. But a
12041 corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.
12042 -- Henry David Thoreau
12046 Cat on the carpet, melting...
12047 Here pussy. Here God!
12051 you don't eat all my buds, cat.
12052 i'll smoke you instead.
12054 The future is made of the same stuff as the present. -- Simone Weil
12056 he's such a tight ass that when he breaks wind all the dogs howl.
12059 See the kitten on the wall,
12060 Sporting with the leaves that fall,
12061 Withered leaves, one, two and three
12062 Falling from the elder tree,
12063 Through the calm and frosty air
12064 Of the morning bright and fair.
12065 -- William Wordsworth
12067 But the Kitten, how she starts,
12068 Crouches, stretches, paws and darts!
12069 -- William Wordsworth
12071 All those who succeed in America -- no matter what their circle of
12072 origin or their sphere of action -- are likely to become involved in the
12073 world of the celebrity... This world has not been built from below, as a
12074 slow and steady linking of local societies and metropolitan 400s. It has
12075 been created from above... With the incorporation of the economy, the
12076 ascendancy of the military establishment, and the centralization of the
12077 enlarged state, there have arisen the national elite, who, in occupying the
12078 command posts of the big hierarchies, have taken the spotlight of publicity
12079 and become subjects of the intensive build-up. At the same time, with the
12080 elaboration of the national means of mass communication, the professional
12081 celebrities of the entertainment world have come fully and continuously into
12082 the national view. As personalities of national glamour, they are at the
12083 focal point of all the means of entertainment and publicity. Both the
12084 metropolitan 400 and the institutional elite must now compete with and
12085 borrow prestige from these professionals in the world of the celebrity.
12086 But what are the celebrities? The celebrities are The Names that
12087 need no further identification. Those who know them so far exceed those of
12088 whom they know as to require no exact computation. Wherever the celebrities
12089 go, they are recognized, and moreover, recognized with some excitement and
12090 awe. Whatever they do has publicity value. More or less continuously, over a
12091 period of time, they are the material for the media of communication and
12092 entertainment. And, when that time ends -- as it must -- and the celebrity
12093 still lives -- as he may -- from time to time it may be asked, "Remember
12094 him?" That is what celebrity means.
12095 -- C. Wright Mills, from "The Power Elite," 1956
12097 I'm not really very good at what I do, but I'm very
12098 popular, because I return my pages.
12099 -- Unidentified computer support technician
12101 Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to
12102 recognize a mistake when you make it again.
12103 -- Franklin P. Jones
12105 Nobody roots for Goliath. -- Wilt Chamberlain
12109 By a bat. Rabid, frothing...
12112 I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
12113 and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold
12114 these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
12116 -- Martin Luther King Jr.
12118 We generally think of music as a product of art rather than commerce
12119 or technology. It depends, in fact, on all three. Together, these great
12120 dynamic systems match individual creativity and individual desire. They
12121 thus generate change, variety and an endless array of critics--all
12122 determined that music, like the rest of society, should conform to
12124 That would be a terrible deal. By tolerating music that pleases
12125 others but not ourselves, we preserve a system that has delivered a
12126 historical wonder... We can listen to perfectly performed music to suit
12127 any mood or taste at any time, music that moves us in ways particular to our
12128 individual senses and our individual souls.
12129 -- Virginia Postrel
12131 There are three rules for writing the novel.
12132 Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
12133 -- W. Somerset Maugham
12135 His lack of education is more than compensated for by his
12136 keenly developed moral bankruptcy.
12139 How is it possible to find meaning in a finite world,
12140 given my waist and shirt size?
12143 I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting
12144 the urge to conquer Poland.
12145 -- Woody Allen (Manhattan Murder Mystery)
12148 become unified as one
12152 urgh, mutual friends have we few
12153 of whom hooktown still has purview.
12154 lest we examine too far
12155 i wonder regarding your car--
12156 could it survive a furious country drive?
12157 for to hamster freehold must you arrive.
12158 many entertainments have we here...
12159 movies, a rabbit and beer.
12160 perhaps what you were chasing,
12161 twain's fuzz is constantly abasing.
12162 to extend no further this diatribe,
12163 why don't you drop over, or "arribe"?
12166 If no one ever took risks, Michelangelo would
12167 have painted on the Sistine floor.
12170 It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble,
12171 it's what we know that ain't so.
12174 I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure
12175 is trying to please everyone.
12178 Today, when man seems to have reached the beginning of a new,
12179 richer, happier human era, his existence and that of the generations to
12180 follow is more threatened than ever. How is this possible?
12181 Man had won his freedom from clerical and secular authorities, he
12182 stood alone with his reason and his conscience as his only judges, but he
12183 was afraid of the newly won freedom; he had achieved 'freedom from' --
12184 without yet having achieved 'freedom to' -- to be himself, to be productive,
12185 to be fully awake. Thus he tried to escape from freedom. His very
12186 achievement, the mastery over nature, opened up the avenue for his escape.
12187 In building the new industrial machine, men became so absorbed in
12188 the new task that it became the paramount goal of his life. His energies,
12189 which once were devoted to the search for God and salvation, were now
12190 directed toward the domination of nature and ever-increasing material
12191 comfort. He ceased to use production as a means for a better life, but
12192 hypostatized it instead to an end in itself, an end to which life was
12193 subordinated. In the process of an ever-increasing size of social
12194 agglomerations, man himself became a part of the machine, rather than its
12195 master. He experienced himself as a commodity, as an investment; his aim
12196 became to be a success, that is, to sell himself as profitably as possible
12197 on the market. His value as a person lies in his salability, not in his
12198 human qualities of love, reason or in his artistic capacities. Happiness
12199 becomes identical with consumption of newer and better commodities, the
12200 drinking in of music, screen plays, fun, sex, liquor and cigarettes. Not
12201 having a sense of self except the one which conformity with the majority can
12202 give, he is insecure, anxious, depending on approval. He is alienated from
12203 himself, worships the product of his own hands, the leaders of his own
12204 making, as if they were above him, rather than made by him. He is in a
12205 sense back where he was before the great human evolution began in the second
12207 -- Erich Fromm, "The Sane Society"
12209 If I could I would always work in silence and obscurity,
12210 and let my efforts be known by their results.
12213 The fox knows many things -- the hedgehog knows one big thing.
12216 I've learned not to put things in my mouth that are bad for me.
12217 -- Monica Lewinsky on CNN's Larry King Live discussing her
12218 miraculous Jenny Craig weight-loss.
12220 Both the assembling and the distribution of knowledge in the world
12221 at present are extremely ineffective, and thinkers of the forward-
12222 looking type whose ideas we are now considering, are beginning to
12223 realize that the most hopeful line for the development of our racial
12224 intelligence lies rather in the direction of creating a new world
12225 organ for the collection, indexing, summarizing and release of
12226 knowledge, than in any further tinkering with the highly conservative
12227 and resistant university system, local, national, and traditional in
12228 texture, which already exists.
12229 -- H. G. Wells (1937)
12231 a haiku for object bus overload...
12233 those data bursts have
12234 overturned my info cart--
12235 stranded on the net.
12239 Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex,
12240 and more violent. It takes a touch of genius--and a lot
12241 of courage--to move in the opposite direction.
12242 -- E. F. Schumacher
12244 It is amazing how much one can learn from somebody
12245 who is not generally thought of as successful.
12248 Half the world is composed of people who have
12249 something to say and can't, and the other have
12250 nothing to say and keep on saying it.
12253 Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature...
12254 Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing.
12257 His tongue is by turns a sponge, a brush, a comb.
12258 He cleans himself, he smoothes himself,
12259 he knows what is proper.
12262 To turn $100 into $110 is work.
12263 To turn $100 million into $110 million is inevitable.
12266 A problem well stated is a problem half solved.
12267 -- Charles F. Kettering
12269 The spirit of the West, the modern spirit, is a Greek discovery
12270 and the place of the Greeks is in the modern world.
12271 -- Edith Hamilton (1867-1963)
12273 fish flavored flappers
12274 squirm happily under tongue,
12275 cloak orgasmic clit.
12277 There are no whole truths: all truths are half-truths. It is trying
12278 to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.
12279 -- Alfred North Whitehead
12281 Somewhere on this globe, every ten seconds, there is a woman
12282 giving birth to a child. She must be found and stopped.
12285 The cat has complete emotional honesty --
12286 an attribute not often found in humans.
12287 -- Ernest Hemingway
12289 no morning coffee...
12290 gray matter is not present,
12291 dial tone in my head.
12295 Synonym for 'penis' used in alt.tasteless and popularized by the denizens
12296 thereof. They say: "We think maybe it's from Middle English but we're all
12297 too damned lazy to check the OED." [I'm not. It isn't. --ESR]
12298 This term is alleged to have been inherited through 1960s underground
12299 comics, and to have been recently sighted in the Beavis and Butthead
12300 cartoons. Speakers of the Hindi, Bengali and Gujarati languages have
12301 confirmed that `choad' is in fact an Indian vernacular word equivalent
12302 to `f*ck'; it is therefore likely to have entered English slang via the
12305 The race may not be to the swift nor the victory
12306 to the strong, but that's how you bet.
12309 Basic research is when I'm doing what I don't know I'm doing.
12310 -- Wernher von Braun
12312 For decades, people have warned that pervasive databanks and
12313 surveillance technology are leading inevitably to the death of privacy and
12314 democracy. But these days, many people who hear the word 'privacy' think
12315 about those kooks living off in the woods with their shotguns: these folks
12316 get their mail at post office boxes registered under assumed names, grow
12317 their own food, use cash to buy what they can't grow for themselves, and
12318 constantly worry about being attacked by the federal government-or by space
12319 aliens. If you are not one of these people, you may well ask, "Why should I
12320 worry about my privacy? I have nothing to hide."
12321 The problem with this word 'privacy' is that it falls short of
12322 conveying the really big picture. Privacy isn't just about hiding things.
12323 It's about self-possession, autonomy, and integrity. As we move into the
12324 computerized world of the twenty-first century, privacy will be one of our
12325 most important civil rights. But this right of privacy isn't the right of
12326 people to close their doors and pull down their window shades -- perhaps
12327 because they want to engage in some sort of illicit or illegal activity.
12328 It's the right of people to control what details about their lives stay
12329 inside their own houses and what leaks to the outside...
12330 Today, more than ever before, we are witnessing the daily erosion of
12331 personal privacy and freedom. We're victims of a war on privacy that's being
12332 waged by government eavesdroppers, business marketers, and nosy neighbors...
12333 We know our privacy is under attack. The problem is that we don't know how
12335 -- Simson Garfinkel, in "Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in
12338 A gentleman who had been very unhappy in marriage, married
12339 immediately after his wife died: Johnson said, it was the
12340 triumph of hope over experience.
12341 -- James Boswell's "Life of Johnson"
12343 One evening while dozing in my armchair, I was roused
12344 by the sound of the harpsichord. My cat had started
12345 his musical stroll... I had a sheet of paper to hand,
12346 and transcribed his composition.
12347 -- Domenico Scarlatti
12349 Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it
12350 everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying
12351 the wrong remedies.
12354 A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running.
12357 Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to
12358 any club that will accept me as a member.
12361 Let's find out what everyone is doing,
12362 and then stop everyone from doing it.
12365 I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any
12366 new situation by reorganizing, and a wonderful method
12367 it can be for creating the illusion of progress while
12368 producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
12369 -- Petronius Arbiter, quoted in Robert Townsend's
12370 "Up the Organization"
12372 With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in
12373 the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to
12374 finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care
12375 for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and
12376 his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and
12377 a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
12380 As we approach a new century and a changing international economic
12381 climate, we think that scientific and technological education should be our
12382 highest priority, and yet these fields, at least the way they are practiced
12383 today, only tangentially affect the heart and soul, where morality and
12384 values are rooted, while music goes right to the heart.
12385 Studying music, one learns about talent, thought, work, expression,
12386 beauty, technique, collaboration, aesthetic judgment, inspiration, taste,
12387 and a host of other elements that shape life in all its aspects. As we
12388 learn to control our fingers, lips, and breath in making music, subliminally
12389 music is shaping us, making us people of sensitivity and judgment.
12390 -- Thomas Moore, in "The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life"
12392 How frighteningly few are the persons whose death would
12393 spoil our appetite and make the world seem empty.
12396 A bad attitude is the worst thing that can happen to
12397 a group of people. It's infectious.
12398 -- Roger Allan Raby
12400 All that is gold does not glitter; not all who wander are lost.
12401 -- J. R. R. Tolkien
12403 What is originality? Undetected plagiarism.
12404 -- Dean William R. Inge (ed: what a psycho...)
12406 True genius doesn't fulfill expectations, it shatters them.
12409 Let me listen to me and not to them.
12412 If like truth, the lie had but one face, we would be on better terms.
12413 For we would accept as certain the opposite of what the liar would say.
12414 But the reverse of truth has a hundred thousand faces and an infinite field.
12417 The truth is multi-faceted; no one person can see all of it and no single
12418 viewpoint can capture all of it. This is why any attempt to record the
12419 nature of reality in one majestic work of science or religion or philosophy
12420 is doomed to fail; that grand catalog is a necessarily-flawed perspective
12421 upon the shimmering mind-blower that is the full totality of truth.
12422 Still, we must try to get our minds around it during our whole lives.
12425 I am a great believer, if you have a meeting, in knowing
12426 where you want to come out before you start the meeting.
12427 Excuse me if that doesn't sound very democratic.
12428 -- Nelson Rockefeller
12430 Lawyers have, as Jonathan Swift observed, "a peculiar cant and
12431 jargon of their own, that no other mortal can understand". They take care
12432 to ensure that all legal business, including the drafting of legislation, is
12433 conducted in this language "so that it will take thirty years to decide
12434 whether the field left me by my ancestors for six generations belongs to me
12435 or to a stranger three hundred miles off". This language, condemned by
12436 Jeremy Bentham as "literary garbage", "lawyers' cant", and "flash language",
12437 serves various purposes, none of them in the public interest. It unites
12438 lawyers, distinguishing them from laymen. It makes the law mysterious and
12439 incomprehensible to those laymen, thus ensuring a steady supply of work for
12440 lawyers who are needed to interpret the language they have invented. The
12441 language of the law fosters the illusion that legal problems are remediable
12442 only by the application of the medicine of the specialist. Only a lawyer,
12443 can resolve the complexities of the problem: "Better see a lawyer; don't
12444 trust Whatsisname" (as the memorable Law Society advertisement warned
12445 consumers). Legal language also enshrouds the law, hiding it from the
12446 public it exists to serve. The idiom of the lawyer leads to public ignorance
12447 of the content of the law (which paradoxically refuses to recognize that
12448 ignorance of the law should be a defence), to uninformed criticism and to
12449 unmerited praise. It provokes the indifference of too many laymen towards
12450 the law and the contempt of so many litigants for a legal system they do not
12452 -- David Pannick, barrister and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
12454 It usually takes me more than three weeks
12455 to prepare a good impromptu speech.
12458 Hollywood films, in general, either want to tell us a truth we
12459 already know or a falsehood we want to believe in.
12462 The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.
12465 Men of Athens, fellow citizens, this is not a trial of Socrates, but
12466 of ideas, and of Athens. You are not prosecuting me for any unlawful or
12467 impious act against our city or its altars. No evidence of any such sort
12468 has been brought against me. You are not prosecuting me for anything I did,
12469 but for what I have said and taught. You are threatening me with death
12470 because you do not like my views and my teaching. This is a prosecution of
12471 ideas and that is something new in our city's history. In this sense,
12472 Athens is in the dock, not Socrates. Each of you, as my judges, is a
12474 Let me be frank. I do not believe in your so-called freedom of
12475 speech, but you do. I believe the opinions of ordinary men are only beliefs
12476 without substance, pale shadows of reality, not to be taken seriously, and
12477 only likely to lead a city astray. I think it absurd to encourage the free
12478 utterance of unfounded or irrational opinions, or to base civic policy on a
12479 count of heads, like cabbages. Hence I do not believe in democracy. But
12480 you do. This is your test, not mine. How can you boast of your free speech
12481 if you suppress mine?
12482 The test of truly free speech is not whether what is said or taught
12483 conforms to any rule or ruler, few or many. Even under the worst dictator,
12484 it is not forbidden to agree with him. It is the freedom to disagree that
12485 is freedom of speech. This has been the Athenian rule until now, the pride
12486 of our city, the glory on which your orators dwell. Will you turn your back
12487 on it now? Ideas are not as fragile as men. They cannot be made to drink
12488 hemlock. My ideas--and my example--will survive me. But the good name of
12489 Athens will wear a stain forever, if you violate its traditions by
12490 convicting me. The shame will be yours, not mine.
12491 -- I. F. Stone, suggesting a defense for Socrates
12493 I do not seek. I find.
12496 The one thing that is certain is that anyone who uses the phrase
12497 "outside the box" is as deeply inside the box as a person can be.
12500 I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel
12501 when he can easily buy one for a few dollars.
12504 Many of my friends are under the impression that I write these humorous
12505 nothings in idle moments, when the wearied brain is unable to perform the
12506 serious labors of the economist. My own experience is exactly the other way.
12507 The writing of solid, instructive stuff, fortified by facts and figures, is
12508 easy enough. There is no trouble in writing a scientific treatise on the
12509 folklore of Central China, or a statistical inquiry into the declining
12510 population of Prince Edward Island. But to write something out of one's own
12511 mind, worth reading for its own sake, is an arduous contrivance only to be
12512 achieved in fortunate moments, few and far between. Personally, I would sooner
12513 have written Alice in Wonderland than the whole Encyclopedia Britannica.
12516 It's easier to find a travel companion than to get rid of one.
12519 God must love the rich or he wouldn't have divided
12520 so much among so few of them.
12523 I have been more concerned with the obscure than with the famous.
12524 They are more often themselves. They have had no need to create a
12525 figure to protect themselves from the world or to impress it. Their
12526 idiosyncrasies have had more chance to develop in the limited circle
12527 of their activity, and since they have never been in the public eye
12528 it has never occurred to them that they have anything to conceal.
12529 They display their oddities because it has never struck them that
12530 they are odd. And after all it is with the common run of men that
12531 we writers have to deal; kings, dictators, commercial magnates are
12532 from our point of view very unsatisfactory. To write about them is
12533 a venture that has often tempted writers, but the failure that has
12534 attended their efforts shows that such beings are too exceptional to
12535 form a proper ground for a work of art. They cannot be made real.
12536 The ordinary is the writer's richer field. Its unexpectedness, its
12537 singularity, its infinite variety afford unending material. The
12538 great man is too often all of a piece; it is the little man that is
12539 a bundle of contradictory elements. He is inexhaustible. You never
12540 come to the end of the surprises he has in store for you. For my
12541 part I would much sooner spend a month on a desert island with a
12542 veterinary surgeon than with a prime minister.
12543 -- W. Somerset Maugham, from "The Summing Up"
12545 Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts
12546 when you have forgotten your aim.
12547 -- George Santayana
12549 The importance of people as creators and carriers of knowledge is forcing
12550 organizations to realize that knowledge lies less in its databases than in
12551 its people. It's been said, for example, that if NASA wanted to go to the
12552 moon again, it would have to start from scratch, having lost not the data,
12553 but the human expertise that took it there last time. Similarly, Tom
12554 Davenport and Larry Prusake argue that when Ford wanted to build on the
12555 success of the Taurus, the company found that the essence of that success
12556 had been lost with the loss of the people that created it. Their knowledge
12557 was not stored in information technologies. It left when they left.
12558 -- John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, in "The Social Life of Information"
12560 Either we live by accident and die by accident,
12561 or we live by plan and die by plan.
12564 Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart.
12565 -- William Butler Yeats
12567 ...the act of producing a letter, even one which is never mailed,
12568 necessitates a form of creative concentration which can improve our
12569 lives. Copies of our own letters are useful for our records and
12570 memories. If their recipients think them worth saving, they can have
12571 value and effect far beyond that of the spoken word. In friendship,
12572 the letter is not only a message but a gift, a physical symbol of
12573 esteem and affection. In business or politics, the letter can not
12574 only express the concerns of the moment but remain as a document of
12575 such concerns, available for prolonged scrutiny by more than one
12576 reader. Moreover, while speakers and listeners in a debate are
12577 vulnerable to emotion and subject to fallacy, the well-written letter
12578 remains calm and crisp and is subject to nothing except superior reason.
12579 It can convince the open-minded, goad the weak-hearted, give our
12580 opponents an exact index of the level and intensity of our commitment,
12581 and be quoted by those who agree with us. But perhaps most importantly,
12582 our letters are the proof and body of our concern for life in its detail
12583 and our conviction that this concern should be shared with others.
12584 -- Robert Grudin, from "Time and the Art of Living"
12586 Mass transportation is doomed to failure in North America because a
12587 person's car is the only place where he can be alone and think.
12588 -- Marshall McLuhan
12590 You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch
12591 on to the affirmative, and don't mess with Mister In-Between.
12594 Once, as promised, bots start interacting with one another,
12595 understanding bot behavior may become impossible. Anyone who has
12596 had to call a help line with a problem about the way an operating
12597 system from one vendor and program from another are working together--
12598 or failing to work--knows how hard it is to get anyone to take
12599 responsibility for software interactions. Support staff rapidly
12600 renounce all knowledge of (and usually interest in) problems that
12601 arise from interactions because there are just too many possibilities.
12602 So it's easy to imagine sophisticated programmers, let alone ordinary
12603 users, being unable to unravel how even a small group of bots reached
12604 a particular state autonomously. The challenge will be unfathomable
12605 if, as one research group has it, we can "anticipate a scenario in
12606 which billions of intelligent agents will roam the virtual world,
12607 handling all levels of simple to complex negotiations and transactions.
12608 If human agents are confused with digital ones, if human action is
12609 taken as mere information processing, and if the social complexities of
12610 negotiation, delegation, and representation are reduced to "when x, do y,"
12611 bots will end up with autonomy without accountability. Their owners, by
12612 contrast, may have accountability without control.
12613 -- John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, in "The Social Life of Information"
12615 Life does not consist mainly--or even largely--of facts and
12616 happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that
12617 is forever blowing through one's head.
12620 Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side?
12621 And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?
12622 -- Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn
12624 Every other country scorns American materialism while striving in
12625 every big and little way to match it. Envy obviously has something to do
12626 with it, but there is a true basis for this debate, and it is whether
12627 America is in its ascendance or its decline.
12628 I myself think I recognize here several of the symptoms that Edward
12629 Gibbons maintained were signs of the decline of Rome, and which arose not
12630 from external enemies but from inside the country itself. A mounting love
12631 of show and luxury. A widening gap between the very rich and the very poor.
12632 An obsession with sex. Freakishness in the arts masquerading as
12633 originality, and enthusiasm pretending to creativeness...
12634 There is, too, the general desire to live off the state, whether it
12635 is a junkie on welfare or an airline subsidized by the government: in a
12636 word, the notion that Washington -- Big Daddy -- will provide. And, most
12637 disturbing of all, a developing moral numbness to vulgarity, violence, and
12638 the assault on the simplest human decencies.
12639 Yet the original institutions of this country still have great
12640 vitality: the Republic can be kept, but only if we care to keep it. Much of
12641 the turmoil in America springs from the energy of people who are trying to
12642 apply those institutions to forgotten minorities who have awakened after a
12644 As I see it, in this country -- a land of the most persistent
12645 idealism and the blandest cynicism -- the race is on between its decadence
12646 and its vitality. There are the woes, which we share with the world, that
12647 you can see from your window: overpopulation; the pollution of the
12648 atmosphere, the cities and the rivers; the destruction of nature. I find it
12649 impossible to believe that a nation that produced such dogged and ingenious
12650 humans as Jefferson and Eli Whitney, John Deere and Ford, Kettering and
12651 Oppenheimer and Edison and Franklin, is going to sit back and let the worst
12652 happen. There is now a possibility, at least, that nuclear energy can help
12653 us to cure incurable diseases, to preserve our food indefinitely, and
12654 through breeder reactors, which renew more power in the act of spending it,
12655 can actually clean the cities and, let us pray, the oceans. And that would
12656 take us over a historical watershed that none of us has ever conceived.
12659 There are some enterprises in which a careful
12660 disorderliness is the true method.
12663 The dollar bills the customer gets from the tellers in four banks
12664 are the same. What is different are the tellers.
12667 I grew up in the last days of the British Empire. My childhood fell
12668 in that era when the words 'imperialism' and 'the West' had not yet acquired
12669 the connotations they have today -- they had not yet become, that is, mere
12670 synonyms for 'racism,' 'oppression,' and 'exploitation'.
12671 Or, at any rate, they had not yet become so among the intellectual,
12672 professional, and governing classes of Egypt. In Cairo it was entirely
12673 ordinary, among those classes, to grow up speaking English or French or
12674 both, and quite ordinary to attend an English or French school. It was taken
12675 for granted among the people who raised us that there was unquestionably
12676 much to admire in and learn from the civilization of Europe and the great
12677 strides that Europe had made in human advancement. No matter that the
12678 European powers were politically oppressive and indeed blatantly unjust; nor
12679 did it seem to matter that the very generation which raised us were
12680 themselves locked in struggle with the British for Egypt's political
12681 independence. There seemed to be no contradiction for them between pursuing
12682 independence from the European powers and deeply admiring European
12683 institutions, particularly democracy, and Europe's tremendous scientific
12685 -- Leila Ahmed, from "A Border Passage: From Cairo to America--
12688 the only possible mental bases for racism must ultimately be ignorance
12689 or stupidity or both. it's only a little-minded weak person that has to
12690 feel superior to another person just because of their skin color or
12691 nationality. but i try not to in turn feel superior to racists; i find
12692 only sadness for them instead. by imagining them trapped inside such an
12693 awful and constraining mental prison, my compassion is evoked for these
12696 Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind.
12697 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
12699 One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat
12700 in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. His response was
12701 a question: "Where do you want to go?" "I don't know," Alice
12702 answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
12705 It's not true that life is one damn thing after another--
12706 it's one damn thing over and over.
12707 -- Edna St. Vincent Millay
12709 Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood. If your stomach
12710 disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts. Keep
12711 the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move. Go
12712 very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The
12713 social life ain't restful. Avoid running at all times. Don't
12714 look back. Something may be gaining on you.
12715 -- Leroy "Satchel" Paige, from his autobiography,
12716 "How To Stay Young."
12718 Facts are all accidents. They all might have been different.
12719 They all may become different. They all may collapse together.
12720 -- George Santayana
12727 Begins to live that day.
12730 Thinking about it the other day, I realized that some of my unhappiest moments
12731 have been in organizations. Somehow it seems to be quite respectable to do
12732 things in organizations that you would never do in private life. I have had
12733 people insult me to my face in front of colleagues. I have had my feelings
12734 rammed down my throat on the pretext that it would do me good and have been
12735 required to do things which I didn't agree with because the organization wished
12736 it... In my worst moments I have thought that organizations were places
12737 designed to be run by sadists and staffed by masochists....
12740 The best organizations to be in, it seems, are the busiest ones as long
12741 as they are busy for someone else. The worst are those that are obsessed
12742 with their own innards... The healthiest are those which exist for others,
12743 not for themselves. Show me a business or a school or a church that is
12744 preoccupied with its customers or clients, determined to do its best for them
12745 and not just to survive for the sake of surviving, and I'll bet you that they
12746 don't have time for too many committees, for forms, for politicking or for
12747 nitpicking about mistakes. Those are the organizations which are fun to be
12748 in, which give you room to be yourself, to express yourself, to grow.
12751 The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
12754 Life is the process of finding out, too late, everything
12755 that should have been obvious at the time.
12756 -- John D. MacDonald
12758 If work was a good thing the rich would have it all
12759 and not let you do it.
12762 Any law that takes hold of a man's daily life cannot prevail
12763 in a community, unless the vast majority of the community are
12764 actively in favor of it. The laws that are the most operative
12765 are the laws which protect life.
12766 -- Henry Ward Beecher
12768 The graveyard is full of indispensable men.
12769 -- Charles de Gaulle
12771 I read about an Eskimo hunter who asked the local missionary
12772 priest, "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?"
12773 "No," said the priest, "not if you did not know."
12774 "Then why," asked the Eskimo earnestly, "did you tell me?"
12777 The day came when Grandmother couldn't keep all her stuff in the two
12778 tiny rooms to which she was finally reduced. So she packed everything
12779 she didn't need into enormous shopping bags and took off for the bank
12780 in the center of the city where she kept her account, by then down to
12781 a few pennies. Her husband had started the bank and had been its
12782 chairman until he died, and she was still treated with the consideration
12783 due his widow. But when she appeared with her shopping bags and asked
12784 to have the contents put on her account, the manager balked. "We can't
12785 put things on an account," he said, "only money."
12786 "That's mean and ungrateful of you," said Grandmother, "you only do
12787 this to me because I am a stupid old woman."
12788 And she promptly closed her account and drew out the balance. Then
12789 she went down the street to the nearest branch of the same bank, reopened
12790 her account there, and never said a word about her shopping bags.
12791 "Grandmother," we'd say, "if you thought the bank was unfriendly why
12792 did you reopen your account at another branch?"
12793 "It's a good bank," she said; "after all, my late husband founded it."
12794 "Then why not demand that the manager at the new branch take your
12796 "I never banked there before. He didn't owe me anything."
12797 -- Peter Drucker, "Adventures of a Bystander"
12799 Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
12802 Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.
12805 Writing about music is like dancing about architecture--
12806 it's a really stupid thing to want to do.
12807 -- Elvis Costello, in an interview by Timothy White entitled
12808 "A Man out of Time Beats the Clock." Musician magazine
12809 No. 60 (October 1983), p. 52.
12811 The pressures for upscale consumption, and the work schedules
12812 that go along with it, created millions of exhausted, stressed-
12813 out people who started wondering if the cycle of work and spend
12814 was really worth it. And some concluded that it wasn't. So
12815 they started downshifting, reducing their hours of work and, in
12816 the process, earning and spending less money. Downshifters are
12817 opting out of excessive consumerism, choosing to have more
12818 leisure and balance in their schedules, a slower pace of life,
12819 more time with their kids, more meaningful work, and daily lives
12820 that line up squarely with their deepest values. These are not
12821 just fast-track yuppies leaving $200,000 jobs in Manhattan to
12822 settle in Montana, although there are plenty of those.
12823 Downshifters can be found at all income levels, from the
12824 comfortable suburbanites whose homes are paid for, to those who
12825 are counting every penny, resigned to the fact that they'll never
12826 own a home. Their jobs were leaving them drained, depressed, or
12827 wondering what life is all about. Now they may not have as much
12828 money, but they are spending every day answering that all-
12829 important question.
12832 The right to be let alone--the most comprehensive of rights and
12833 the right most valued by civilized men.
12834 -- Louis D. Brandeis
12836 The need to reach better mutual understanding through dialogue
12837 is strong in all sectors of society, but in none more than the
12838 business community. The growth of technology, the increase in
12839 the number of knowledge workers, and the blurring of boundaries
12840 of all kinds are transforming relationships at all levels of
12841 business. The traditional top-down style of leadership in a
12842 fortress-type company semi-isolated from others is increasingly
12843 out of vogue. It is being replaced by what I have come to
12844 think of as "relational leadership," where the defining task of
12845 leaders is developing webs of relationships with others rather
12846 than handing down visions, strategies, and plans as if they
12847 were commandments from the mountaintop.
12848 -- Daniel Yankelovich, "The Magic of Dialogue"
12850 Life is one long process of getting tired.
12853 Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can
12854 recalled and perhaps remedied.
12857 Fortunately, many teachers intuitively know that the best way to
12858 achieve their goals is to enlist students' interest on their side.
12859 They do this by being sensitive to students' goals and desires, and
12860 they are thus able to articulate the pedagogical goals as meaningful
12861 challenges. They empower students to take control of their learning;
12862 they provide clear feedback to the students' efforts without
12863 threatening their egos and without making them self-conscious. They
12864 help students concentrate and get immersed in the symbolic world of
12865 the subject matter. As a result, good teachers still turn out
12866 children who enjoy learning, and who will continue to face the world
12867 with curiosity and interest.
12868 It is to be hoped that with time the realization that children
12869 are not miniature computing machines will take root in educational
12870 circles, and more attention will be paid to motivational issues.
12871 Unless this comes to pass, the current problems we are having with
12872 education are not likely to go away.
12873 -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, from "Creativity: Flow and Psychology
12874 of Discovery and Invention"
12876 The more human beings proceed by plan the more effectively they may
12877 be hit by accident.
12878 -- Friedrich Duerrenmatt
12880 We never see what's under our feet;
12881 we're too busy trying to see
12882 what's in the stars.
12885 Paradoxes have played a dramatic role in intellectual history,
12886 often foreshadowing revolutionary developments in science,
12887 mathematics, and logic. Whenever, in any discipline, we discover
12888 a problem that cannot be solved within the conceptual framework
12889 that supposedly should apply, we experience shock. The shock may
12890 compel us to discard the old framework and adopt a new one. It
12891 is to this process of intellectual molting that we owe the birth
12892 of many of the major ideas in mathematics and science. Zeno's
12893 paradox of Achilles and the tortoise gave birth to the idea of
12894 convergent infinite series. 'Antinomies' (internal contradictions
12895 in mathematical logic) eventually blossomed into Godel's theorem.
12896 The paradoxical result of the Michelson-Morley experiment on the
12897 speed of light set the stage for the theory of relativity. The
12898 discovery of wave-particle duality of light forced a reexamination
12899 of deterministic causality, the very foundation of scientific
12900 philosophy, and led to quantum mechanics.
12903 Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the
12904 greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.
12905 -- Charles Caleb Colton
12907 More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads.
12908 One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness.
12909 The other, to total extinction.
12910 Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
12913 Some books are undeservedly forgotten;
12914 none are undeservedly remembered.
12917 Every age is fed on illusions, lest men should renounce
12918 life early and the human race come to an end.
12921 Why is autobiography the most popular form of nonfiction
12922 for modern readers? Why are so many people moved to write their
12923 life stories today? And what is it about the genre that makes
12924 it appeal to readers not just in the Western world, but also in
12925 non-Western cultures, like those of Japan and India or the many
12926 cultures of Africa?...
12927 What makes the reading of autobiography so appealing is the
12928 chance it offers to see how this man or that woman whose public
12929 self interests us has negotiated the problem of self-awareness
12930 and has broken the internalized code a culture supplies about
12931 how life should be experienced. Most of us, unless faced with
12932 emotional illness, don't give our inner life scripts a fraction
12933 of the attention we give to the plots of movies or TV specials
12934 about some person of prominence. Yet the need to examine our
12935 inherited scripts is just beneath the surface of consciousness,
12936 so that while we think we are reading a gripping story, what
12937 really grips us is the inner reflection on our own lives the
12938 autobiographer sets in motion.
12941 Philosophy is a game with objectives and no rules.
12942 Mathematics is a game with rules and no objectives.
12945 The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working
12946 the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop
12947 until you get into the office.
12950 We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any
12951 in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the
12952 difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don't know
12953 anything and can't read.
12956 If you start to think about your physical or moral condition,
12957 you usually find that you are sick.
12958 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
12960 A modest man is usually admired--if people ever hear of him.
12961 -- Edgar Watson Howe
12963 Modern housekeeping, despite its bad press, is among the most
12964 thoroughly pleasant, significant, and least alienated forms of work
12965 that many of us will encounter even if we are blessed with work
12966 outside the home that we like. Once, it was so physically onerous
12967 and arduous that it not infrequently contributed to a woman's total
12968 physical breakdown. Today, laundry, cleaning, and other household
12969 chores are by and large physically light or moderate work that doctors
12970 often recommend to people for their health, as evidence shows that
12971 housework is good for weight control and healthy hearts.
12972 Seen from the outside, housework can look like a Sisyphean task
12973 that gives you no sense of reward or completion. Yet housekeeping
12974 actually offers more opportunities for savoring achievement than
12975 almost any other work I can think of. Each of its regular routines
12976 brings satisfaction when it is completed. These routines echo the
12977 rhythm of life, and the housekeeping rhythm is the rhythm of the body.
12978 You get satisfaction not only from the sense of order, cleanliness,
12979 freshness, peace and plenty restored, but from the knowledge that you
12980 yourself and those you care about are going to enjoy these benefits.
12981 -- Cheryl Mendelson
12983 I'll tell you what it's like to be No. 1. I compare it to climbing
12984 Mount Everest. It's very difficult. Lives are lost along the way.
12985 You struggle and struggle and finally you get up there. And guess
12986 what there is once you get up there? Snow and ice.
12989 Never ask a person what to do, always tell him or her.
12990 If it's the wrong thing to do, or if there is a better way,
12991 they'll come back and tell you. But if you don't tell them
12992 what to do, they won't do anything but make a study.
12993 -- Eugenia Schwartzwald
12995 War, it seems to me, after a lifetime of reading about the subject,
12996 mingling with men of war, visiting the sites of war and observing its
12997 effects, may well be ceasing to commend itself to human beings as a
12998 desirable or productive, let alone rational, means of reconciling their
12999 discontents. This is not mere idealism. Mankind does have the capacity,
13000 over time, to correlate the costs and benefits of large and universal
13002 Throughout much of the time for which we have a record of human
13003 behaviour, mankind can clearly be seen to have judged that war's benefits
13004 outweighed its costs, or appeared to do so when a putative balance was
13005 struck. Now the computation works in the opposite direction. Costs
13006 clearly exceed benefits. Some of these costs are material. The
13007 superinflationary expense of weapon procurement distorts the budgets even
13008 of the richest states, while poor states deny themselves the chance of
13009 economic emancipation when they seek to make themselves militarily
13011 The human costs of actually going to war are even higher. Rich
13012 states, as between themselves, recognize that they are not to be borne.
13013 Poor states which fall into war with rich states are overwhelmed and
13014 humiliated. Poor states which fight each other, or are drawn into civil
13015 war, destroy their own well being, and even the structures which make
13016 recovery from the experience of war possible. War truly has become a
13017 scourge, as was disease throughout most of human history. The scourge
13018 of disease has, almost within living memory, been very largely defeated
13019 and, though it is true that disease had no friends as war has had friends,
13020 war now demands a friendship which can only be paid in false coin.
13021 A world political economy which makes no room for war demands, it
13022 must be recognized, a new culture of human relations. As most cultures of
13023 which we have knowledge were transfused by the warrior spirit, such a
13024 cultural transformation demands a break with the past for which there are
13025 no precedents. There is no precedent, however, for the menace with which
13026 future war now confronts the world.
13027 -- John Keegan, "A History of Warfare"
13029 Creditors are a superstitious sect,
13030 great observers of set days and times.
13031 -- Benjamin Franklin, "Poor Richard's Almanack"
13033 Despite the abundant evidence that compassion is a basic
13034 human trait, the view has long prevailed that human beings are
13035 either heartless or brutal toward most of their fellows. Every
13036 compendium of familiar quotations has an abundance of statements
13037 like "The greatest enemy to man is man" (Robert Burton) but
13038 almost none like "Precious is man to man" (Thomas Carlyle).
13039 Altruism research attests that kindness is as integral to human
13040 nature as cruelty, yet in the news and in the historical record
13041 cruel acts vastly outnumber kind ones.
13042 Why are we keenly aware of the despicable in us but largely
13043 insensible of the admirable? Not, I suggest, because the
13044 despicable is common and the admirable rare but the very reverse.
13045 Prosocial behavior of all sorts, including altruism, is so normal
13046 and expected that we scarcely notice it but are struck by its
13047 absence or opposite. We see nothing unusual in a passerby's
13048 helping a fallen elderly person to his feet but are surprised and
13049 disturbed if the passerby ignores him. We expect people to be
13050 kind and helpful to a stranger in distress; we are startled and
13051 troubled when they look away and hurry past. Cruelty is
13052 attention-getting, kindness unremarkable, and so we agree with
13053 Seneca that "man delights to ruin man" and with William James that
13054 "of all the beasts of prey... [man is] the only one that preys
13055 systematically on its own species".
13056 -- Morton Hunt, "The Compassionate Beast"
13058 Life is all memory, except for the one present moment
13059 that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going.
13060 -- Tennessee Williams
13062 There are serious reasons members of my generation are feeling a high
13063 level of anxiety and unhappiness these days, but it is interesting to look
13064 at how we "know" this: the polls. I used to like polls because I like vox
13065 pop, and polls seemed a good way to get a broad sampling. But now I think
13066 the vox has popped--the voice has cracked from too many command performances.
13067 Polls are contributing to a strange new volatility in public opinion...
13068 The dramatic rises and drops are fueled in part by mass media and their
13069 famous steady drumbeat of what's not working, from an increase in reported
13070 child abuse to a fall in savings. When this tendency is not prompted by
13071 ideology it is legitimate: good news isn't news. But the volatility is also
13072 driven by the polls themselves. People think they have to have an answer
13073 when they are questioned by pollsters, and they think the answer has to be
13074 "intelligent" and "not naive". This has the effect of hardening opinions
13075 that haven't even been formed yet. Poll questions do not invite subtlety or
13076 response. This dispels ambiguity, when a lot of thoughts and opinions are
13078 And we are polled too often. We are constantly having our temperature
13079 taken, like a hypochondriac who is looking for the reassurance no man can
13080 have, i.e., that he will not die... Nations that use polls as daily
13081 temperature readings inevitably give inauthentic readings, and wind up not
13082 reassured but demoralized.
13085 The chief object of education is
13086 not to learn things but to unlearn things.
13087 -- G. K. Chesterton
13089 When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course.
13092 He will kill mice and he will be kind to babies...
13093 but when the moon gets up and the night comes, he is
13094 the Cat that Walks by Himself.
13097 Everyone is a prisoner of his own prejudices.
13098 No one can eliminate prejudices--just recognize them.
13099 -- Edward R. Murrow
13101 I am the least difficult of men.
13102 All I want is boundless love.
13105 If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.
13106 -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth
13108 Let's face it, life is mainly wasted time.
13111 Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!
13114 Time spent with cats is never wasted.
13117 Most of us find ourselves at one time or another in a toy shop,
13118 looking for a gift for a child. Those of us who have not been in such
13119 stores since our youth can easily be bewildered, especially if we were
13120 born before the 1960s. Our favorite toys or games--fire engines,
13121 Tinkertoys, or baby dolls--have disappeared or are hidden in row after
13122 row of heroic fighters, fashion dolls, and exotic stuffed animals. The
13123 more practical of us enter the store with a list of items desired by
13124 the child--this season's action figure, the newest Barbie, or the
13125 latest video game. Veteran toy shoppers may enjoy the inevitable
13126 transformations as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles give way to Mighty
13127 Morphin Power Rangers and Locket Surprise Barbie to Tropic Splash
13128 Barbie. But equally we may be appalled to think about the dozens of
13129 Ninja Turtles that an older boy just had to have a year earlier but
13130 that were then shunned by a younger brother who just had to have Power
13131 Rangers. Why don't kids pass down their toys as we remember giving our
13132 building blocks and dollhouses to our younger brothers and sisters? It
13133 is easy to wonder whether each year's must-have toys are really for
13134 children's play or whether their ever-changing forms represent other
13136 There have been disturbing changes in the making of playthings in
13137 the last few decades. Since the late 1960s many old toy companies,
13138 venerated for manufacturing toys passed from one generation to the
13139 next, have disappeared...
13140 A tradition of manufacturing boys' construction and science sets
13141 promised parents that their children would be preparing to join the
13142 adult world of engineering, industry, and science... The old kitchen
13143 play sets, dollhouses, and baby dolls that were to teach girls the arts
13144 of housekeeping and childcare are also less in evidence today. Toys
13145 that seem to prepare children for adult life have become harder to
13147 The ever-expanding toy industry reflects a general American
13148 commitment to unrestrained markets and to constant change, a commitment
13149 at least a century old. Americans have long admired the new and have
13150 enriched those who produce it. For decades American parents have
13151 enjoyed sharing the world of consumption with their offspring. At
13152 first they did so knowing that they ultimately mediated between toys
13153 and their children. When the floodgates were opened and torrents of
13154 toys were presented directly to kids, parents found themselves merely
13155 providers of funds to buy toys.
13156 -- Gary Cross, "Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American
13159 Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must
13160 do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.
13163 If you assign people duties without granting
13164 them any rights, you must pay them well.
13165 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
13167 It is far easier to write ten passable effective sonnets,
13168 good enough to take in the not too inquiring critic,
13169 than one effective advertisement that will take in a few
13170 thousand of the uncritical buying public.
13173 tail end of the day
13174 work escapes my fat fingers
13175 like greasy wieners
13178 Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent.
13179 Its sale is proof of utility and utility is success.
13180 -- Thomas Alva Edison
13182 Our lives are suspended like our planet in gimbals of duality,
13183 half sunlight and half shadow. If we plead with nature, it is
13184 in vain; she is wonderfully indifferent to our fate, and it is
13185 her custom to try everything and to be ruthless with incompetence.
13186 Ninety-nine percent of all the species that have lived on Earth
13187 have died away, and no stars will wink out in tribute if we in
13188 our folly soon join them.
13191 It is characteristic of the present time always to be conscious
13192 of the medium. It is almost bound to end in madness, like a man
13193 who whenever he looked at the sun and the stars was conscious of
13194 the world going round.
13197 The vanity of man revolts from the serene indifference of the cat.
13200 There are two means of refuge from the
13201 miseries of life: music and cats.
13202 -- Albert Schweitzer
13204 Open source should be about giving away things voluntarily.
13205 When you force someone to give you something, it's no longer
13206 giving, it's stealing. Persons of leisurely moral growth
13207 often confuse giving with taking.
13210 Stripped of ethical rationalizations and philosophical
13211 pretensions, a crime is anything that a group in power
13212 chooses to prohibit.
13215 People are more violently opposed to fur than
13216 leather because it's safer to harass rich women
13217 than motorcycle gangs.
13220 A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't
13221 change the subject.
13222 -- Winston Churchill
13224 Do not criticize your government when out of the
13225 country. Never cease to do so when at home.
13226 -- Winston Churchill
13228 Some civil servants are neither servants nor civil.
13229 -- Winston Churchill
13231 Golf is a game whose sole aim is to hit a very small
13232 ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons
13233 singularly ill designed for that purpose.
13234 -- Winston Churchill
13236 If it is a blessing, it is certainly very well disguised.
13237 -- Winston Churchill
13239 In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.
13240 -- Winston Churchill
13242 Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free
13243 to say anything they like, but if anyone says anything
13244 back, that is an outrage.
13245 -- Winston Churchill
13247 I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is
13248 prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another
13250 -- Winston Churchill
13252 If you destroy a free market you create a black market.
13253 -- Winston Churchill
13255 If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy
13256 all respect for the law.
13257 -- Winston Churchill
13259 Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at
13261 -- Winston Churchill
13263 It is a socialist ideal that making profits is a vice.
13264 I consider the real vice is making losses.
13265 -- Winston Churchill
13267 If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.
13268 -- Benjamin Franklin
13270 The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
13271 -- Gerard Manley Hopkins
13273 The sounder your argument, the more satisfaction you get out of it.
13276 Expertise, it may be argued, sacrifices the insight of common sense
13277 to intensity of experience. It breeds an inability to accept new views from
13278 the very depth of its preoccupation with its won conclusions. It too often
13279 fails to see round its subject. It sees its results out of perspective by
13280 making them the centre of relevance to which all other results must be
13281 related. Too often, also, it lacks humility; and this breeds in its
13282 possessors a failure in proportion which makes them fail to see the obvious
13283 which is before their very noses. It has, also, a certain caste-spirit about
13284 it, so that experts tend to neglect all evidence which does not come from
13285 those who belong to their own ranks.
13286 Above all, perhaps, and this most urgently when human problems are
13287 concerned, the expert fails to see that every judgment he makes not purely
13288 factual in nature brings with it a scheme of values which has no special
13289 validity about it. He tends to confuse the importance of his facts with the
13290 importance of what he proposes to do about them.
13291 -- Harold J. Laski, "The Limitations of the Expert"
13293 If women are to do the same work as men,
13294 we must teach them the same things.
13297 Dogs may fawn on all and some
13299 You, a friend of loftier mind,
13300 Answer friends alone in kind;
13301 Just your foot upon my hand
13302 Softly bids it understand.
13303 -- Algernon Charles Swinburne
13305 The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.
13308 The machine does not isolate man from the great problems
13309 of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.
13310 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
13312 Today in USA Today, experts were quoted as saying that the breakup of
13313 Microsoft would result in shoddy products and missed deadlines...
13315 And Microsoft is worrying about being able to do business as usual.
13317 The justice department has released its recommendations on
13318 names for the two parts of Microsoft, post split:
13320 MICROS~1 and MICROS~2
13322 I think we should partition Microsoft into an OS company
13323 (called "C:") and an apps company ("D:"). Then we should
13324 blow away both partitions....
13327 Microsoft has argued in court that the US government's plan
13328 to break up the company is "defective in numerous respects,
13329 making the document vague and ambiguous."
13331 In which respect it's much like Microsoft's documentation.
13333 Immediately after the announcement by Judge Penfield of splitting
13334 the company in two, Microsoft sued Micro.Com Specialists, LLC, and
13335 Software Research, Inc. (owners of www.soft.com) for infringement
13336 of copyrights and cyber-squatting.
13338 your brain will enlarge as necessary. just don't get angry or
13339 confused or scared or sad, if possible... you'll be amazed at
13340 what that blob of cells is capable of.
13343 If you like laws and sausage, you should
13344 never watch either being made.
13345 -- Otto von Bismarck
13347 The most happy marriage I can picture or imagine to myself
13348 would be the union of a deaf man to a blind woman.
13349 -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
13351 A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only
13352 advise his clients to plant vines.
13353 -- Frank Lloyd Wright
13355 He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce I keep the house.
13356 -- Zsa Zsa Gabor, speaking of her ex-husband
13358 There is really no such thing as bad weather,
13359 only different kinds of good weather.
13362 She's not a babe. She's a sophisticated real-time computer system.
13363 -- Spokesman for Ananova, a virtual news anchor
13365 The man who laughs has not yet been told the terrible news.
13368 I am easily satisfied with the very best.
13369 -- Winston Churchill
13371 Uncertainty and expectations are the joys of life.
13372 Security is an insipid thing, and the overtaking and
13373 possessing of a wish, discovers the folly of the chase.
13374 -- William Congreve
13376 Sleep is simply not dispensable, regardless of the attempts in
13377 today's society to treat it as if it were simply unproductive 'downtime'.
13378 The desire to get more sleep is not a sign of laziness, nor does it
13379 represent a lack of ambition. The need for sleep is real...
13380 When we try to sleep less than the 8-hour minimum, things start to
13381 deteriorate. First of all, the effects of less than 8 hours of sleep a
13382 night seem to accumulate as a sleep debt. If you lose 2 hours today and 2
13383 hours tomorrow, on the third day your efficiency is as low as if you had
13384 lost 4 hours in one night. This is the way our sleep debt builds up.
13385 Eventually, if the sleep debt becomes large enough, we become slow, clumsy,
13386 stupid, and, possibly, dead. This is not an exaggeration. Remember, the
13387 national death rate by accidents jumps 6 percent as a result of simply
13388 losing 1 hour of sleep as we shift to daylight savings time in the spring...
13389 Perhaps someday society will act to do something about sleepiness.
13390 It may even come to pass that someday the person who drives or goes to work
13391 while sleepy will be viewed as being as reprehensible, dangerous, or even
13392 criminally negligent as the person who drives or goes to work while drunk.
13393 If so, perhaps the rest of us can all sleep a little bit more soundly.
13396 You haven't lived until you've lived with a cat.
13399 When you appeal to force, there's one thing you must never do--lose.
13400 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
13402 It is because the body is a machine that education is possible.
13403 Education is the formation of habits, a superinducing of an
13404 artificial organization upon the natural organization of the body.
13405 -- Thomas H. Huxley
13407 If someone asks you, "Where do you live?" you are likely to answer
13408 with the name of a neighborhood, or a nearby geographic landmark. But if you
13409 give the question a sharper focus and ask yourself "And do I really live
13410 there?" then the answer becomes more vexing. Most of us can't claim to
13411 really live in the neighborhoods where we sleep. Few of us have the time to
13412 take part in the life of the community, and in many cases there is no
13413 community life to take part in. To varying degrees many of us can say of
13414 our neighborhoods what Gertrude Stein said of Oakland: "There is no _there_
13416 Bodenstandigkeit is German philosopher Martin Heidegger's term for
13417 the sense of being rooted in a place. It is this connection to a place that
13418 grounds us in Being, Heidegger claimed, and even if you don't buy into the
13419 existential mumbo-jumbo, it's not hard to understand the underlying insight:
13420 People who have no rootedness to a place are tumbleweeds, blown about on the
13421 currents of the zeitgeist. You have to be somebody, from somewhere, to know
13425 You don't understand anything until you learn it more than one way.
13428 When you confer spiritual authority on another person, you
13429 must realize that you are allowing them to pick your pocket
13430 and sell you your own watch.
13433 What then is the education to be? Perhaps we could hardly find a
13434 better answer than that which the experience of the past has already
13435 discovered--which consists, I believe, in gymnastic for the body and
13436 music for the mind.
13439 The word 'genius' isn't applicable in football.
13440 A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.
13441 -- Joe Theisman, NFL quarterback
13443 Sometimes the only way you can feel good about yourself is by making
13444 someone else look bad. And I'm tired of making other people feel good
13448 I was determined to know beans.
13449 -- Henry David Thoreau
13451 Today, the notion of a star-spangled melting pot seems quaint,
13452 of another age. Increasingly, America is a fractured landscape,
13453 its people partitioned into dozens of cultural enclaves, its
13454 ideals reflected through differing prisms of experience. And
13455 this fracturing is likely to continue as the self-concept of
13456 America shifts from a majority white-minority black nation to
13457 a pluralistic society of many ethnic and racial groups. At the
13458 close of what's been called the American Century, during which
13459 the nation emerged as the dominant world power in commerce and
13460 politics, old myths are dying hard and new ones are just being
13461 forged. In this clustered world, the national identity is
13462 changing, and most of us don't even know it. Forget the melting
13463 pot. America today would be better characterized as a salad bar.
13464 -- Michael J. Weiss
13466 Personally, I'm always ready to learn,
13467 although I do not always like being taught.
13468 -- Winston Churchill
13470 The Constitution only gives people the right to
13471 pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
13474 Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when
13475 you fall down an open manhole and die.
13478 As a general rule, the most successful man in
13479 life is the man who has the best information.
13480 -- Benjamin Disraeli
13482 It is one of the blessings of old friends that
13483 you can afford to be stupid with them.
13484 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
13486 A child of five would understand this.
13487 Send someone to fetch a child of five.
13490 Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped.
13493 I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns
13494 on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
13497 I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.
13500 I've had a perfectly wonderful evening.
13501 But this wasn't it.
13504 Those are my principles, and if you don't like
13505 them... well, I have others.
13508 When I picked up your book I was so convulsed with laughter
13509 that I had to set it down, but one day I intend to read it.
13512 Some people claim that marriage interferes with romance.
13513 There's no doubt about it. Anytime you have a romance,
13514 your wife is bound to interfere.
13517 God has made the cat to give man the
13518 pleasure of caressing the tiger.
13521 We are not without accomplishment. We have
13522 managed to distribute poverty equally.
13523 -- Nguyen Co Thatch, Vietnamese Foreign
13525 Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be
13526 always cast. In the pool where you least expect
13527 it, will be a fish.
13530 If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is
13531 because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music
13532 which he hears, however measured or far away.
13533 -- Henry David Thoreau
13535 The difficulty is to try and teach the multitude that something can
13536 be true and untrue at the same time.
13537 -- Arthur Schopenhauer
13539 God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.
13542 People often applaud an imitation and then sneer at the real thing.
13545 A thought which does not result
13546 in an action is nothing much,
13547 and an action which does not proceed
13548 from a thought is nothing at all.
13549 -- Georges Bernanos
13553 Security holes are only software bugs when
13554 one of the software's requirements is security.
13558 do outlook, internet explorer and, indeed, windows
13559 itself have 'bugs'? because that would indicate
13560 that microsoft has a requirement of security...
13561 it seems more likely that any security problems are just
13562 a by-product of the microsoft swiss cheese development
13563 methodology(tm)... if it doesn't stink and have a lot
13564 of holes, then it's not from microsoft.
13567 The biggest fool in the world is he who merely does his work
13568 supremely well, without attending to appearance.
13571 Now and then there is a person born who is so unlucky that he runs
13572 into accidents which started out to happen to somebody else.
13575 Daydreaming does not enjoy tremendous prestige in our culture,
13576 which tends to regard it as unproductive thought. Writers
13577 perhaps appreciate its importance better than most, since a
13578 fair amount of what they call work consists of little more
13579 than daydreaming edited. Yet anyone who reads for pleasure
13580 should prize it too, for what is reading a good book but a
13581 daydream at second hand? Unlike any other form of thought,
13582 daydreaming is its own reward. For regardless of the result
13583 (if any), the very process of daydreaming is pleasurable.
13584 And, I would guess, is probably a psychological necessity.
13585 For isn't it in our daydreams that we acquire some sense of
13586 what we are about? Where we try on futures and practice our
13587 voices before committing ourselves to words or deeds?
13588 Daydreaming is where we go to cultivate the self, or, more
13589 likely, selves, out of the view and earshot of other people.
13590 Without its daydreams, the self is apt to shrink down to the
13591 size and shape of the estimation of others.
13594 Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe,
13595 a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride,
13596 and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently
13597 regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are
13598 entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and
13599 vagaries of the crowd.
13600 -- Dame Edith Sitwell
13602 There are times when I think that the ideal library is
13603 composed solely of reference books. They are like
13604 understanding friends--always ready to change the subject
13605 when you have had enough of this or that.
13608 Mothers, fathers, aren't supposed to change, any more than
13609 they are supposed to leave, or die. They must not do that.
13612 The greatest obstacle to discovery is not
13613 ignorance--it is the illusion of knowledge.
13614 -- Daniel J. Boorstin
13616 Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak and says nothing.
13617 Nobody listens--and then everybody disagrees.
13620 All music is folk music. I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.
13621 -- Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong
13623 Creative minds have always been known
13624 to survive any kind of bad training.
13627 Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.
13628 -- Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower
13630 I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry.
13631 That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste.
13632 -- David Bissonette
13634 I married the first man I ever kissed.
13635 When I tell my children that they just about throw up.
13638 The trouble with some women is they get all excited
13639 about nothing--and then they marry him.
13642 Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people
13643 who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm.
13644 But the harm does not interest them.
13647 When you're finished changing, you're finished.
13648 -- Benjamin Franklin
13650 It is time we start searching for the fountain of age, time that
13651 we stop denying our growing older and look at the actuality of our
13652 own experience, and that of other women and men who have gone
13653 beyond denial to a new place in their sixties, seventies, eighties.
13654 It is time to look at age on its own terms, and put names on its
13655 values and strengths as they are actually experienced, breaking
13656 through the definition of age solely as deterioration or decline
13657 from youth. Only then will we see that the problem is not age
13658 itself, to be denied or warded off as long as possible, that the
13659 problem is not those increasing numbers of people living beyond
13660 sixty-five, to be segregated from the useful, valuable, pleasurable
13661 activities of society so that the rest of us can keep our illusion
13662 of staying forever young. Nor is the basic political problem the
13663 burden on society of those forced into deterioration, second
13664 childhood, even senility. The problem is not how we can stay young
13665 forever, personally--or avoid facing society's problems politically
13666 by shifting them onto age. The problem is, first of all, how to
13667 break through the cocoon of our illusory youth and risk a new stage
13668 in life, where there are not prescribed role models to follow, no
13669 guidepost, no rigid rules or visible rewards, to step out into the
13670 true existential unknown of these new years of life now open to us,
13671 and to find our own terms for living it.
13674 When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third
13675 of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and
13676 two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.
13679 Blessed are they who have nothing to say
13680 and who cannot be persuaded to say it.
13681 -- James Russell Lowell
13683 Personal computers are less able to sense human presence
13684 than are modern toilets or outdoor floodlights that have simple
13685 motion sensors. Your inexpensive auto-focus camera has more
13686 intelligence about what is in front of it than any terminal or
13688 When you lift your hands from your computer keyboard, it
13689 does not know whether the pause is reflective, a nature break,
13690 or an interruption for lunch. It cannot tell the difference
13691 between talking to you alone or in front of six other people.
13692 It does not know if you are in your night-or party clothes or
13693 no clothes at all. For all it knows, you could have your back
13694 to it while it was showing you something important, or you
13695 could be out of earshot altogether while it was speaking to you.
13696 We think today solely from the perspective of what would
13697 make it easier for a person to use a computer. It may be time
13698 to ask what will make it easier for computers to deal with
13699 humans. For example, how can you possibly hold a conversation
13700 with people if you don't even know they are there? You can't
13701 see them, and you don't know how many there are. Are they
13702 smiling? Are they even paying attention? We talk longingly
13703 about human-computer interactions and conversational systems,
13704 and yet we are fully prepared to leave one participant in this
13705 dialogue totally in the dark. It is time to make computers see
13707 -- Nicholas Negroponte
13709 The energy produced by the breaking down of the
13710 atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who
13711 expects a source of power from the transformation
13712 of these atoms is talking moonshine.
13713 -- Ernest Rutherford
13715 Finance is the art of passing currency from
13716 hand to hand until it finally disappears.
13717 -- Robert W. Sarnoff
13719 The scientific community speaks about its work in a cool
13720 and disinterested manner. To present an exciting profile
13721 would be unprofessional. Any excess of emotion would suggest
13722 a lack of neutrality and therefore a tendency to read what
13723 they want in the facts rather than reporting what they see.
13724 Scientific objectivity must therefore appear to be boring.
13725 Scientists are well aware that their work is neither
13726 boring nor objective. If it were, very few discoveries would
13728 Social science, being falsely empirical, is triply
13729 obsessed by the obligation to present itself as the objective
13730 interpretation of observed reality. Since the more or less
13731 hard edges of scientific inquiry are not involved, social
13732 scientists are free to be more categorical about truth,
13733 reality and what they call facts. They therefore seek to be
13734 more boring than scientists.
13735 -- John Ralston Saul
13737 Despair is perfectly compatible with a good dinner, I promise you.
13738 -- William M. Thackeray
13740 A genius is someone who can do anything except make a living.
13743 If you like a man's laugh before you know anything of him,
13744 you may say with confidence that he is a good man.
13745 -- Fyodor Dostoevski
13747 Fortune befriends the bold.
13750 Success in almost any field depends more on energy
13751 and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains
13752 why we have so many stupid leaders.
13755 Socialism is Bolshevism with a shave.
13758 I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
13761 Give a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day.
13762 Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
13764 It is a myth, not a mandate, a fable not a logic,
13765 and symbol rather than a reason by which men are moved.
13768 Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you're on a dead horse, the best
13769 strategy is to dismount. Of course, there are other strategies. You
13770 can change riders. You can get a committee to study the dead horse.
13771 You can benchmark how other companies ride dead horses. You can
13772 declare that it's cheaper to feed a dead horse. You can harness
13773 several dead horses together. But after you've tried all these things,
13774 you're still going to have to dismount.
13777 You think it's a conspiracy by the networks to put bad shows on TV.
13778 But the shows are bad because that's what people want. It's not like
13779 Windows users don't have any power; I think they are happy with
13780 Windows, and that's an incredibly depressing thought.
13783 Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see
13784 and listen to what they don't want to hear.
13787 Never forget the power of silence, that massively disconcerting
13788 pause which goes on and on and may at last induce an opponent to
13789 babble and backtrack nervously.
13792 Florence Nightingale, on her kitten's reaction to an older cat:
13794 "The little one stands her ground, and when the old enemy comes near
13795 enough kisses his nose and makes the peace. That is the lesson of
13796 life: to kiss one's enemy's nose always standing one's ground."
13798 In the game known as Broken Telephone (or Chinese Whispers) a child
13799 whispers a phrase into the ear of a second child, who whispers it into
13800 the ear of a third child, and so one. Distortions accumulate, and when
13801 the last child announces the phrase, it is comically different from the
13802 original. The game works because each child does not merely degrade the
13803 phrase, which would culminate in a mumble, but reanalyzes it, making a
13804 best guess about the words the preceding child had in mind.
13805 All languages change through the centuries. We do not speak like
13806 Shakespeare (1564-1616), who did not speak like Chaucer (1343-1400), who
13807 did not speak like the author of Beowulf (around 750-800). As the
13808 changes take place, people feel the ground eroding under their feet and
13809 in every era have predicted the imminent demise of the language. Yet
13810 the twelve hundred years of changes since Beowulf have not left us
13811 grunting like Tarzan, and that is because language change is a game of
13813 A generation of speakers uses their lexicon and grammar to produce
13814 sentences. The younger generation listens to the sentences and tries to
13815 infer the lexicon and grammar, the remarkable feat we call language
13816 acquisition. The transmission of a lexicon and grammar in language
13817 acquisition is fairly high in fidelity -- you probably can communicate
13818 well with your parents and your children -- but it is never perfect.
13819 Words rise and fall in popularity, as the needs of daily life change, and
13820 also as the hip try to sound different from the dweebs and graybeards.
13821 Speakers swallow or warp some sounds to save effort, and enunciate or
13822 shift others to make themselves understood. Immigrants or conquerors
13823 with regional or foreign accents may swamp the locals and change the pool
13824 of speech available to children.
13825 Children, for their part, do not mimic sentences like parrots but try
13826 to make sense of them in terms of underlying words and rules. They may
13827 hear a mumbled consonant as no consonant at all, or a drawn-out or
13828 mispronounced vowel as a different vowel. They may fail to discern the
13829 rationale for a rule and simply memorize its outputs as a list. Or they
13830 may latch on to some habitual way of ordering words and hypothesize a new
13831 rule to make sense of it. The language of their generation will have
13832 changed, though it need not have deteriorated. Then the process is
13833 repeated with their children. Each change may be small, but as changes
13834 accumulate over centuries they reshape the language just as erosion and
13835 sedimentation imperceptibly sculpt the earth.
13838 Ideas won't keep: something must be done about them.
13839 -- Alfred North Whitehead
13841 Simple solutions seldom are. It takes a very unusual
13842 mind to undertake analysis of the obvious.
13843 -- Alfred North Whitehead
13845 Ninety-Ninety Rule n.
13846 "The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the
13847 development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the
13848 other 90% of the development time." Attributed to Tom Cargill of
13849 Bell Labs, and popularized by Jon Bentley's September 1985
13850 "Bumper-Sticker Computer Science" column in "Communications of
13852 It was there called the "Rule of Credibility", a name which
13853 seems not to have stuck. Other maxims in the same vein include
13854 the law attributed to the early British computer scientist Douglas
13855 Hartree: "The time from now until the completion of the project
13856 tends to become constant."
13858 Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
13861 No matter how bad things get
13862 you got to go on living,
13863 even if it kills you.
13866 A man's palate can, in time, become accustomed to anything.
13867 -- Napoleon Bonaparte
13869 Because they did not see merit where they should have seen it,
13870 people, to express their regret, will go and leave a lot of
13871 money to the very people who will be the first to throw stones
13872 at the next person who has anything to say and finds a difficulty
13873 in getting a hearing.
13876 I praise loudly, I blame softly.
13877 -- Catherine II of Russia
13879 Deny yourself! You must deny yourself!
13880 That is the song that never ends.
13883 There are few more doleful sounds than the
13884 laughter of a man without humour.
13887 Children are the first to lose their innocence,
13888 artists the second: idiots never.
13891 What is the good of being an island,
13892 if you are not a volcanic island?
13895 Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you
13896 have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.
13899 Most human beings have to spend their lives in utter vulnerability.
13900 All are murderable and torturable, and survive only through the restraint
13901 shown by more powerful neighbors. All are born unequal, in terms of
13902 capacity or strength. All are born to the inherent frailty of the human
13903 condition, naked and helpless, vulnerable all through life to the will of
13904 others, limited by ignorance, limited by physical weakness, limited by
13905 fear, limited by the phobias that fear engenders.
13906 For nearly three thousand years now, the political and social genius
13907 of what we can permissibly call 'Western man' has struggled with these
13908 brute facts of our unsatisfactory existence. Ever since the Hebrews
13909 discovered personal moral responsibility and the Greeks discovered the
13910 autonomy of the citizen, the effort has been made--with setbacks and
13911 defeats, with dark ages and interregnums and any number of irrelevant
13912 adventures on the side-to create a social order in which weak, fallible,
13913 obstinate, silly, magnificent man can maintain his dignity and exercise his
13914 free and responsible choice.
13917 Let us work without theorizing. It's the only way to
13918 make life endurable.
13921 At many human faults a cat
13922 Will never take offense:
13923 Two things though they cannot stand:
13924 The wretched Door, the horrid Fence.
13927 I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
13930 [Chess is] as elaborate a waste of human intelligence
13931 as you can find outside an advertising agency.
13932 -- Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) U.S. crime-fiction writer
13934 Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are
13935 doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time.
13936 -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1960) Irish playwright, critic
13938 Every moment in life is precious; that's why I play chess.
13939 -- Joseph Siroker, coffee house chess player and guru
13941 I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody
13942 to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.
13945 A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can
13946 prove that you don't need it.
13949 Giving money and power to government is like
13950 giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
13953 The very moral person usually has quite good manners because good
13954 manners are usually some sort of basic consideration.
13955 -- Louis Auchincloss
13957 It takes little talent to see clearly what lies under one's nose,
13958 a good deal of it to know in which direction to point that organ.
13961 On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], "Pray, Mr.
13962 Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers
13963 come out?" I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of
13964 ideas that could provoke such a question.
13967 Knowledge and human power are synonymous.
13970 The man who can drive himself further once the
13971 effort gets painful is the man who will win.
13974 You grow up on the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.
13977 I think one of the reasons I'm popular again is
13978 because I'm wearing a tie. You have to be different.
13981 When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
13984 With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half,
13985 and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.
13986 -- Otto Von Bismarck
13988 Humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain.
13991 I have discovered that we may be in some degree whatever character
13992 we choose. Besides, practice forms a man to anything.
13995 There are no small parts, only small actors.
13998 Charm is a way of getting the answer 'yes'
13999 without having asked any clear question.
14002 Instead of looking at life as a narrowing funnel, we can see it
14003 ever widening to choose the things we want to do, to take the
14004 wisdom we've learned and create something.
14007 Life at university, with its intellectual and inconclusive discussions
14008 at a postgraduate level is on the whole a bad training for the real world.
14009 Only men of very strong character surmount this handicap.
14012 The First Daily Sin is imitation. How can the network evening
14013 news programs be so similar? We're in a commercial, highly competitive
14014 struggle for viewers, and yet our solution for standing out in the
14015 marketplace is--do just what the competition is doing. CBS research shows
14016 that half the viewers of any given evening news broadcast--on CBS, NBC, or
14017 ABC--only watch that particular program one night a week. The implication
14018 is obvious: To these viewers, it doesn't make much of a difference which
14019 one they watch--or whether they watch at all.
14020 The Second Daily Sin is predictability. How often are you surprised
14021 by something you see on the news?
14022 The Third Daily Sin is artificiality. If you stop and really
14023 listen to how a typical television reporter tells a story, you'll hear how
14024 artificial it sounds. Even words--'pontiff' comes quickly to mind--that you
14025 never hear in real life. Nobody talks that way--except for us.
14026 The Fourth Daily Sin is laziness. The people I work with put in
14027 long hours and are very devoted to their jobs. They're certainly not lazy
14028 in the conventional sense. But I think we've all become lazy in our
14029 thinking, in our reluctance to dig out original stories and come up with
14030 new ways to tell them.
14031 The Fifth Daily Sin is oversimplification. Our audience is smarter
14032 and more thoughtful than a lot of us think. The people out there in America
14033 know that life is not as simple as what they see on the news: a world of
14034 heroes and villains, winners and losers, exploiters and victims. Yet that's
14035 what we show them, night after night.
14036 The Sixth Daily Sin is hype. Can you remember the last 'story
14037 you'll never forget?' How about the one before that? I can't. Over the
14038 years we've exaggerated so much that we've eroded our own ability to convey
14039 what's truly significant.
14040 The Seventh Daily Sin is cynicism. I think we're cynical about the
14041 audience and cynical about our ability to make a difference in peoples'
14042 lives. Journalists today are held in low esteem, but that doesn't have to
14043 be. Our viewers and listeners are also hungry for honest information, for
14044 help in coping with a bewildering world. We have an enormous opportunity to
14045 win our good name back--and insure our own survival in the bargain.
14046 -- Andrew Heyward, President of CBS News
14048 Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.
14049 -- Benjamin Disraeli
14051 Dr. Laura eats the Bible, live
14052 ------------------------------
14053 Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to
14054 people who call in to her radio show. Paramount Television Group is
14055 currently producing a "Dr. Laura" television show. She has become a
14056 convert to Judaism, and now she is Ba'al T'shuvah.
14057 Recently, she made some statements about homosexuals, based on
14058 biblical edicts. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura that
14059 was posted on the internet.
14064 Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law.
14065 I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that
14066 knowledge with as many people as I can.
14067 When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example,
14068 I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an
14069 abomination. End of debate.
14070 Now I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the
14071 specific laws and how to best follow them.
14072 a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates
14073 a pleasing odour for the Lord (Lev.1:9). The problem is my neighbours.
14074 They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
14075 b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in
14076 Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair
14078 c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in
14079 her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev.15:19-24). The problem is, how
14080 do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.
14081 d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and
14082 female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend
14083 of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can
14084 you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
14085 e) I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus
14086 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated
14087 to kill him myself?
14088 f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an
14089 Abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality.
14090 I don't agree. Can you settle this?
14091 g) Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I
14092 have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses.
14093 Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
14094 h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair
14095 around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.
14096 19:27. How should they die?
14097 i) I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes
14098 me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
14099 j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two
14100 different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments
14101 made of two different kinds of thread (cotton / polyester blend). He
14102 also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we
14103 go to the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them?
14104 (Lev. 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family
14105 affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
14106 I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident
14107 you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is
14108 eternal and unchanging.
14109 Your devoted disciple and adoring fan,
14112 Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect
14113 when taken in too large quantities.
14116 It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.
14119 It is theory that decides what can be observed.
14122 It would be too pat, perhaps, to say that modern people, men and
14123 women, expect the unexpected. But they certainly expect, or are inured
14124 to, constant change... Unquestionably, people sense constant movement,
14125 change, alteration, and 'progress'. Even clothes are supposed to change
14126 from year to year: there is this year's fashion, and last year's fashion,
14127 and the fashions of the year before.
14128 Then there is the idea of 'news,' that is, of something novel
14129 happening every day, something worth reporting. Millions of people wake up
14130 in the morning and watch the news on television; they may also listen to
14131 radio news throughout the day and later catch the evening television news.
14132 It would be unthinkable to read in the newspapers or to hear on television
14133 that 'nothing much happened today.' There is always news, always something
14134 going on, always change. Some days bring major headlines; other days are
14135 quieter. But there is never no news: the message we get every day is that
14136 things are never exactly the same.
14137 -- Lawrence M. Friedman, from "The Horizontal Society"
14139 Education makes us more stupid than the brutes. A thousand voices
14140 call to us on every hand, but our ears are stopped with wisdom.
14143 I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier
14144 to answer questions. I can't answer your question.
14145 -- Presidential candidate GW Bush, in response to a question about
14146 whether he wished he could take back any of his answers in the
14147 first debate. Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2000
14149 Notice the difference between what happens when a man
14150 says to himself, "I have failed three times," and what
14151 happens when he says, "I am a failure."
14154 If you always do what interests you,
14155 at least one person is pleased.
14156 -- Katharine Hepburn
14158 I cannot imagine a pleasant retired life of peace
14159 and meditation without a cat in the house.
14160 -- Paul Von Hindenberg
14162 Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of
14163 are our failures, discouragements, and doubts. We tend to forget the
14164 past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping.
14167 It is cheering to see that the rats are
14168 still around--the ship is not sinking.
14171 Always keep faith in the mind of clear light and be safe!
14174 Until now, in the Western world, leisure was the exclusive
14175 possession of a privileged class, which took upon itself the task of
14176 playing on behalf of the whole overworked society. For all the injustices
14177 which this entailed, it can be argued that this inequality in the
14178 distribution of leisure gave the minority that enjoyed it a certain
14179 responsibility for the quality of its amusements.
14180 Today our machines have turned leisure into an almost universal
14181 and obligatory state, one which many of us are finding enervating and even
14182 painful. To live free of the burden of grinding toil is the oldest of
14183 man's dreams. Yet no sooner has he rid himself of the accursed necessity
14184 of earning his living by the sweat of his brow, then he is confronted by a
14185 huge and alarming vacuum which -- if he is not to go mad -- must be quickly
14186 and entirely filled. With this new and abundant leisure come certain
14187 inescapable demands not to squander unimaginatively the resources that
14188 industrialization has opened for us. Many of us-consciously seldom, but
14189 unconsciously often-find this challenge so disturbing that we flee back to
14190 artificially strenuous work or even to war in order to escape the
14191 perplexities of choice presented to abundant leisure.
14192 This is a problem which you, as members of the Mass Audience, will
14193 be sharing with hundreds of millions of your fellow citizens the world over.
14196 If you want to write, keep cats.
14199 It is because the body is a machine that education is possible.
14200 Education is the formation of habits, a superinducing of an artificial
14201 organization upon the natural organization of the body.
14202 -- Thomas H. Huxley
14204 If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it.
14207 Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of
14208 a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price.
14211 The surest way to forfeit the esteem of a cat is to
14212 treat him as an inferior being.
14215 When you learn not to want things so badly, life comes to you.
14218 Don't tell me how hard you work.
14219 Tell me how much you get done.
14222 The misfortunes hardest to bear are these which never came.
14223 -- James Russell Lowell
14225 Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution.
14228 A bachelor is a selfish, undeserving guy who has
14229 cheated some woman out of a divorce.
14232 Serocki's Stricture: Marriage is always a bachelor's last option.
14234 The gods gave man fire and he invented fire engines.
14235 They gave him love and he invented marriage.
14237 When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane,
14238 most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear
14239 that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition
14240 continuously until death do them part.
14241 -- George Bernard Shaw
14243 Marriage is nature's way of keeping people from fighting with strangers.
14245 If you're upset and wonder what your wife does with
14246 all the grocery money, stand sideways and look at yourself.
14248 I don't worry about terrorism;
14249 I was married for two years.
14252 Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding,
14253 economical and a good cook. Unfortunately, the law allows
14256 Men are men before they are lawyers, or physicians, or merchants, or
14257 manufacturers; and if you make them capable and sensible men, they
14258 will make themselves capable and sensible lawyers or physicians.
14259 -- John Stuart Mill
14261 Most of America's millionaires are first-generation rich. How is
14262 it possible for people from modest backgrounds to become millionaires in
14263 one generation? Why is it that so many people with similar socioeconomic
14264 backgrounds never accumulate even modest amounts of wealth?
14265 Most people who become millionaires have confidence in their own
14266 abilities. They do not spend time worrying about whether or not their
14267 parents were wealthy. They do not believe that one must be born wealthy.
14268 Conversely, people of modest backgrounds who believe that only the wealthy
14269 produce millionaires are predetermined to remain non-affluent. Have you
14270 always thought that most millionaires are born with silver spoons in their
14271 mouths? If so, consider the following facts that our research uncovered
14272 about American millionaires:
14273 * Only 19 percent receive any income or wealth of any kind from a
14274 trust fund or an estate.
14275 * Fewer than 20 percent inherited 10 percent or more of their wealth.
14276 * More than half never received as much as $1 in inheritance.
14277 * Fewer than 25 percent ever received "an act of kindness" of $10,000
14278 or more from their parents, grandparents, or other relatives.
14279 * Ninety-one percent never received, as a gift, as much as $1 of the
14280 ownership of a family business.
14281 * Nearly half never received any college tuition from their parents
14282 or other relatives.
14283 * Fewer than 10 percent believe they will ever receive an inheritance
14285 America continues to hold great prospects for those who wish to
14286 accumulate wealth in one generation. In fact, America has always been a
14287 land of opportunity for those who believe in the fluid nature of our
14288 nation's social system and economy.
14289 -- from the book "The Millionaire Next Door"
14291 In Rome, Athens, and Sparta, honor alone was the reward for the
14292 greatest of services. A wreath of oak-leaves or laurel, a statue or public
14293 congratulations was an immense reward for winning a battle or capturing a town.
14294 In these cities, a man who had accomplished some great feat was
14295 sufficiently rewarded by the accomplishment itself. He could not meet any
14296 of his fellow-citizens without feeling the pleasure of having done
14297 something for them; he could calculate the extent of his services by the
14298 number of his countrymen. Everybody is capable of doing good to one man,
14299 but it is god-like to contribute to the happiness of an entire society."
14302 I'll let you in on a secret. George Bush is not going to
14303 be the next president of the United States. Get over it,
14304 folks. It's not going to happen.
14305 -- Michael Moore, 9/21/2000, quoted by Eun-Kyung Kim (AP)
14307 As I considered the premise put forth in the meeting room: that
14308 the shortest road to wisdom and peace with the world is the one that turns
14309 inward, away from direct sensory contact with other creatures. I will not
14310 assert that meditation, psychotherapy, and philosophical introspection are
14311 unproductive, but I simply can't accept that inward is the only or best way
14312 for everyone to turn. The more disciplined practitioners of contemplative
14313 traditions can turn inward and still get beyond the self, but many others
14314 simply become swamped by self-indulgence. There are far too many people
14315 living in our society who forget daily that other creatures--five kingdoms'
14316 worth of them--are cohabiting the planet with us.
14317 Over half a century ago, Robinson Jeffers suggested that it may be
14318 just as valid to turn outward: "The whole human race spends too much
14319 emotion on itself. The happiest and freest man is the scientist
14320 investigating nature or the artist admiring it, the person who is
14321 interested in things that are not human. Or if he is interested in human
14322 beings, let him regard them objectively as a small part of the great music."
14323 -- Gary Paul Nabhan
14325 SWM 33, black belt kama sutra, seeking wonder woman. bring me your
14326 inhibitions and i will shatter them, you sweet thing. no violence.
14327 no caustics. sin is the word of restriction, so come pet my crowley.
14328 aleister can cook; aunt jemima treatment for all.
14330 Chance favors only the prepared mind.
14333 I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
14334 I lift my eyes and all is born again.
14337 Books do furnish a room.
14340 For the benefit of the two or three other people in this society
14341 who don't know what 'Cats' is about, here's the answer: It's about a bunch
14342 of cats. The cats jump around in a postnuclear junkyard for some two and a
14343 half hours, bumping and grinding to that curiously Mesozoic pop music for
14344 which Andrew Lloyd Webber is famous--the kind of full-tilt truckin' that
14345 sounds like the theme from 'The Mod Squad.' There's an Elvis impersonator
14346 cat, and a cat that looks like Cyndi Lauper, and a cat that looks like
14347 Phyllis Diller. All the other cast members look like Jon Bon Jovi with two
14348 weeks of facial growth.
14349 Sure, 'Cats' is allegedly based upon the works of T. S. Eliot, but
14350 from what I could tell, the show had about as much to do with the author of
14351 'The Waste Land' as those old Steve Reeves movies had to do with Euripides.
14352 'Cats' is what 'Grease' would look like if all the cast members dressed up
14353 like KISS. To give you an idea of how bad 'Cats' is, think of a musical
14354 where you're actually glad to hear 'Memory' reprised a third time because
14355 all the other songs are so awful. Think of a musical where the songs are so
14356 bad that 'Memory' starts to sound like 'Ol' Man River' by comparison.
14357 That's how bad 'Cats' is.
14360 Originality consists in trying to be like everybody else--and failing.
14361 -- Raymond Radiguet
14363 green sandwich glowing bright, thou droppest mushrooms
14364 on my tights, i slackly drool and whine and moan, for i
14365 will soon give you a better, more acidic home.
14367 By all means marry. If you get a good wife you will become
14368 happy, and if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher.
14371 The life of the creative man is lead, directed, and controlled by
14372 boredom. Avoiding boredom is one of our most important purposes.
14375 The new generation of software must be designed from day one to be pirated.
14376 -- CinemaElectric CEO Jim Robinson
14378 thought is the only antidote to stupidity,
14379 but stupid people don't realize they need it.
14382 i don't have to speak
14383 in haiku at all times since
14387 What is more interesting in this world than our fellow human
14388 beings and other living creatures? Why do we know so few of what must be
14389 out there? What kind of philistines are we? Yet we can make a more
14390 practical point than this. We need to interact with other species whether
14391 we want to or not. They are our food and our environment: homes, scenery,
14392 soil, even the oxygen in the air is provided by courtesy of plants and
14393 photosynthesizing bacteria. We need actively to exploit our fellow
14394 creatures to survive. This is not an option: we have to exploit them unless
14395 we prefer to die. Therefore purely for selfish reasons (as well as for
14396 reasons that we may hope are less selfish) we also need to conserve them.
14397 Besides, even if we learnt to do without our fellow creatures--perhaps
14398 found some inexhaustible supply of food on some distant planet--they would
14399 not necessarily ignore us. We are flesh, too, for all our conceit, and many
14400 are more than happy to feed upon us. To contain, exploit, or conserve our
14401 fellow creatures we need to keep tabs on them.
14404 Nature's technology occurs on the surface of the same planet as
14405 that of human culture, so it endures the same physical and chemical
14406 limitations and must use the same materials. But nature copes and invents
14407 in a way fundamentally different from what we do. At the very least, the
14408 rate at which she alters herself is glacial by our cultural standard.
14409 The very shapes of the two technologies differ dramatically. Just
14410 look around you. Right angles are everywhere: the edges of this page, desk
14411 corners, street corners, floor corners, shelves, doors, boxes, bricks, and
14412 on and on. Then look at field, park, or forest. Where are the right angles?
14413 Absent? No, but rare, which raises questions. Why so few right angles in
14414 nature? Why do civilizations find them so serviceable?
14415 Natural and human technologies differ extensively and pervasively.
14416 We build dry and stiff structures; nature mostly makes hers wet and
14417 flexible. We build of metals; nature never does. Our hinges mainly slide;
14418 hers mostly bend. We do wonders with wheels and rotary motion; nature makes
14419 fully competent boats, aircraft, and terrestrial vehicles that lack them
14420 entirely. Our engines expand or spin; hers contract or slide. We fabricate
14421 large devices directly; nature's large things are cunning proliferations of
14423 -- Steven Vogel's, from "Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds
14424 of Nature and People"
14426 If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.
14429 I will be brief. Not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the
14430 world's shortest speech. He said I will be so brief I have already
14431 finished, and he sat down.
14432 -- Edward O. Wilson
14434 yahoo throws a shoe;
14435 trouble in digital zone
14436 e-log drops out chute
14439 Take care not to step on the foot of a learned idiot.
14440 His bite is incurable.
14443 A great sailor can sail even with a torn canvas. -- Seneca
14445 What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists?
14446 In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.
14449 Unlike the Industrial Revolution, the Biomimicry Revolution
14450 introduces an era based not on what we can extract from nature, but on what
14451 we can learn from her... 'doing it nature's way' has the potential to
14452 change the way we grow food, make materials, harness energy, heal
14453 ourselves, store information, and conduct business.
14454 In a biomimetic world, we would manufacture the way animals and
14455 plants do, using sun and simple compounds to produce totally biodegradable
14456 fibers, ceramics, plastics, and chemicals. Our farms, modeled on prairies,
14457 would be self-fertilizing and pest-resistant. To find new drugs or crops,
14458 we would consult animals and insects that have used plants for millions of
14459 years to keep themselves healthy and nourished. Even computing would take
14460 its cue from nature, with software that "evolves" solutions, and hardware
14461 that uses the lock-and-key paradigm to compute by touch.
14462 In each case, nature would provide the models: solar cells copied
14463 from leaves, steely fibers woven spider-style, shatterproof ceramics drawn
14464 from mother-of-pearl, cancer cures compliments of chimpanzees, perennial
14465 grains inspired by tallgrass, computers that signal like cells, and a
14466 closed-loop economy that takes its lessons from redwoods, coral reefs, and
14467 oak-hickory forests.
14468 The biomimics are discovering what works in the natural world, and
14469 more important, what lasts. After 3.8 billion years of research and
14470 development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to
14471 survival. The more our world looks and functions like this natural world,
14472 the more likely we are to be accepted on this home that is ours, but not
14474 -- Janine M. Benyus
14476 It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep,
14477 than a sheep at the head of an army of lions.
14481 my eye, i must cry out at
14482 your nail gouge like lye.
14485 What one knows is, in youth, of little moment;
14486 they know enough who know how to learn.
14489 One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.
14492 A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation
14493 with the bricks that others throw at him or her.
14496 Nobody who is not prepared to spoil cats will get
14497 from them the reward they are able to give.
14498 -- Compton MacKenzie
14500 The other night when I went into a restaurant in Santa Monica,
14501 there was one president--Clinton. When I ordered a pizza there
14502 was another one--Gore. When I paid the bill there was a third
14503 president--Bush, and when I walked out onto Ocean Boulevard there
14504 was no president because Bill is now the husband of a senator from
14506 Today I am witnessing the spectacle of a hyper-technological
14507 America which is sitting on the ruins of its electoral system
14508 waiting for absentee ballots in the mail.
14509 -- Bepe Severgnini, columnist for Milan's Corriere della Sera
14511 do you think it would hurt very much to swallow a whole egg, in shell?
14512 would it be better to boil it first so it's hard or to leave it runny?
14513 i'm wondering which way would be most likely to keep the shell from
14514 breaking before it exits the body...
14516 I will do everything in my power to restrict abortions.
14517 -- George W. Bush, Dallas Morning News, October 22, 1994
14519 I saw the report that children in Texas are going hungry. Where?
14520 You'd think the governor would have heard if there are pockets of
14522 -- George W. Bush, whose state ranks 2nd in total number of children
14523 living in poverty, to Austin American Statesman, 12/18/99
14525 "Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."
14526 -- Bush mocking what Karla Faye Tucker said on Larry King when asked,
14527 "What would you say to Governor Bush?" prior to her execution by
14528 lethal injection as reported by Talk magazine, September 1999
14530 An atmosphere of adolescence, a lack of gravitas--a carelessness, even a
14531 recklessness, perhaps born of things having gone a bit too easily so far.
14532 -- George Will, August 11, 1999, referring to Talk magazine's
14533 interview with Bush
14535 Sitting down and reading a 500-page book on
14536 public policy or philosophy or something.
14537 -- GW Bush was asked to name something he isn't
14538 good at by Talk magazine, September 1999 issue
14540 Bush should not advertise any allergy to serious things. A critical
14541 mass of lightness in a candidate causes the public mind to snap closed,
14542 with the judgement, "Not ready for prime time."
14543 -- George Will, August 11, 1999
14545 Bush is taking a political party on his ride. He and it will care if
14546 on Nov. 7, 2000, people think of Gore or Bradley as an unexciting but
14547 serious professor and of him as an amiable fraternity boy, but a boy.
14548 -- George Will, August 11, 1999
14550 What I'm against is quotas. I'm against hard quotas, quotas that
14551 basically delineate based upon whatever. However they delineate,
14552 quotas, I think, vulcanize society.
14553 -- George W. Bush (Austin American-Statesman 3/23/99)
14555 Son, I love your strategy: Don't let them get to know you.
14558 If George is elected President, it would destroy my faith
14559 in the office because he is such an ordinary guy.
14560 -- David Rosen, Midland geologist & former neighbor of GW Bush
14562 He's this week's pet rock.
14563 -- unknown, regarding GW Bush
14565 There ought to be limits to freedom. We're aware of the site,
14566 and this guy is just a garbage man.
14567 -- GW Bush, commenting on the website www.gwbush.com
14569 The Bush network is the only genuine network in the
14570 Republican Party. It is the Establishment.
14571 -- Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard
14573 "I will look at each piece of legislation when
14574 it makes it to my desk," and "I will review that
14575 when it makes it to my desk."
14576 -- GW Bush, refusing to comment on anything
14577 before it's absolutely unavoidable
14579 Reporters noticed four Latino men sitting at the Plaza, looking bored,
14580 wearing matching shirts from Buena Vista Farms. Buena Vista, it turns
14581 out, is a horse ranch run by Gerald Parsky, Bush's California chairman.
14582 The four men said they were brought to the event and were being paid
14583 their regular wages for attending.
14584 -- Salon Magazine reporting on a Bush fundraiser in California
14586 Asked how he would define "compassionate conservatism," Bush replied:
14587 "Making sure every child can read, making sure that we encourage
14588 faith-based organizations... when it comes to helping neighbors in
14589 need, making sure that our neighborhoods are safe, making sure that
14590 the state of Texas recognizes that people from all walks of life have
14591 got a shot at the Texas dream but, most importantly, making sure that
14592 government is not the answer to people's problems."
14593 This may be the only time a candidate promised not to solve any problems
14594 (with the possible exception of Utah Phillips, who ran on the "Sloth &
14595 Indolence" platform.)
14596 -- from georgebush2000.com
14598 I'd demand a recount.
14599 -- William F. Buckley, in the early '60s, in response to a
14600 reporter's question asking him what he would do if he
14601 were to win in his race for the office of Mayor of New York
14603 Half of the American people have never read a newspaper.
14604 Half never voted for President.
14605 One hopes it is the same half.
14608 Start every day off with a smile and get it over with. -- W. C. Fields
14610 Every man wishes to be wise,
14611 and they who cannot be wise are almost always cunning.
14614 Finally, in conclusion, let me say just this.
14617 When issues of public policy are discussed in the outward form
14618 of an argument, often the conclusions reached are predetermined by
14619 the assumptions and definitions inherent in a particular vision of
14620 social processes. Different visions, of course, have different
14621 assumptions, so it is not uncommon for people who follow different
14622 visions to find themselves in opposition to one another across a
14623 vast spectrum of unrelated issues, in such disparate fields as law,
14624 foreign policy, the environment, racial policy, military defense,
14625 education, and many others. To a remarkable extent, however,
14626 empirical evidence is neither sought beforehand nor consulted after
14627 a policy has been instituted. Facts may be marshaled for a position
14628 already taken, but that is very different from systematically
14629 testing opposing theories by evidence. Momentous questions are
14630 dealt with essentially as conflicts of vision.
14631 -- Thomas Sowell, from "The Vision of the Anointed"
14633 An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the
14634 blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.
14635 -- George Bernard Shaw, "Back to Methuselah," 1921
14637 If a person is obviously mentally disabled, such as having Down's
14638 syndrome or Alzheimer's, decent people respond with sympathy and
14639 understanding; and so why, if people merely have low IQs, are they
14640 treated with ridicule and contempt?
14643 Always go to other people's funerals,
14644 otherwise they won't come to yours.
14647 Animals are such agreeable friends--
14648 they ask no questions,
14649 they pass no criticisms.
14652 All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height.
14657 Willy flies without wings,
14658 Fast as a shadow can go.
14659 Black slash on white snow.
14661 Black face, cold blue eyes
14662 fish pond, golden fish surprise.
14663 Wet paws ... cold water!
14665 Black heart on white fur
14666 Green eyes ... last sight for poor mouse,
14667 Punctured by Willy.
14669 Willy stalks field mice.
14670 Wild Bill to small buffalo.
14671 Kills them just for show.
14673 Cat slays Two in Dawn
14674 Homicide. Gruesome Remains
14675 Left On Welcome Mat.
14680 Pete's eyes spit light;
14681 Blue diamond icicles,
14684 Sharp nose, fast heart, mouse
14685 Scrounges by the sewer. Pete
14686 Pounces, sharp claws out.
14688 Once quick with mouse life,
14689 Now just carnage: tail, fur, skull.
14693 Or goldfish or cardinal
14694 who loves our Petey.
14696 They hate Pete there,
14697 Crouched on the mossy rocks,
14698 Prospecting for gold.
14703 Louis wants to play.
14704 Its asthma, Lou! My asthma
14705 Tears us apart, m'boy.
14707 Louis -- scared by deer --
14708 spent all July and August
14711 We don't let Louis out.
14712 He is too dumb even for inside.
14713 Eyes blue oceans of space.
14715 Hot air fluffs Louis.
14716 Willy warms the newspapers.
14717 Pete? Purrs in her arms.
14720 dharma farm glistens
14721 like an earthy gem; yaks romp
14722 on verdant old hills.
14725 Noir comme le diable, [ Black as the devil,
14726 chaud comme l'enfer, [ hot as hell,
14727 pur comme un ange, [ pure as an angel,
14728 doux comme l'amour. [ sweet as love.
14729 -- Talleyrand, 18th century French diplomat, describing his concept
14730 of a good cup of coffee
14732 Coffee has two virtues. It is wet and it is warm. -- Dutch proverb
14734 Coffee is the common man's gold, and like gold, it brings
14735 to every person the feeling of luxury and nobility.
14736 -- Sheik Abd-al-Kadir, In Praise of Coffee, 1587
14738 Another head--and a black alpaca jacket and a
14739 serviette this time--to tell us coffee is ready.
14740 Not before it is time, too.
14741 -- D. H. Lawrence, from "Sea and Sardinia"
14743 Give a frontiersman coffee and tobacco,
14744 and he will endure any privation,
14745 suffer any hardship, but let him be without
14746 these two necessaries of the woods, and he
14747 becomes irresolute and murmuring.
14748 -- U.S. Army Lt. William Whiting, 1849
14750 Coffee is real good when you drink it it gives you time to think.
14751 It's a lot more than just a drink; it's something happening.
14752 Not as in hip, but like an event, a place to be, but not like a
14753 location, but like somewhere within yourself. It gives you time,
14754 but not actual hours or minutes, but a chance to be, like be
14755 yourself, and have a second cup.
14758 Last comes the beverage of the Orient shore,
14759 Mocha, far off, the fragrant berries bore.
14760 Taste the dark fluid with a dainty lip,
14761 Digestion waits on pleasure as you sip.
14764 A very good drink they call Chaube that is almost as black as ink
14765 and very good in illness, especially of the stomach. This they
14766 drink in the morning early in the open places before everybody,
14767 without any fear or regard, out of clay or China cups, as hot as
14768 they can, sipping it a little at a time.
14769 -- German physician and botanist Leonhard Rauwolf in 1582
14771 The little campfires, rapidly increasing to hundreds in number,
14772 would shoot up along the hills and plains, and as if by magic,
14773 acres of territory would be illuminous with them. Soon they
14774 would be surrounded by the soldiers, who made it an inevitable
14775 rule to cook their coffee first.
14776 -- John D. Bilings, a Union veteran, in his book, Hardtack and Coffee
14778 Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass
14779 all four essential food groups:
14780 alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat.
14783 Strong coffee, much strong coffee, is what awakens me.
14784 Coffee gives me warmth, waking, an unusual force and
14785 a pain that is not without very great pleasure.
14786 -- Napoleon Bonaparte
14788 I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless.
14789 -- Napoleon Bonaparte
14791 The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity
14792 as sugar or coffee. And I pay more for that ability than for
14793 any other under the sun.
14794 -- John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
14796 If you want to improve your understanding, drink coffee;
14797 it is the intelligent beverage.
14800 Wine is for aging, not coffee.
14801 -- Ken Hutchinson, Starsky and Hutch
14803 I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.
14806 After a few months' acquaintance with European "coffee" one's mind
14807 weakens, and his faith with it, and he begins to wonder if the rich
14808 beverage of home, with it's clotted layer of yellow cream on top of
14809 it, is not a mere dream after all, and a thing which never existed.
14810 -- Mark Twain, in "A Tramp Abroad"
14812 The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the
14813 cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot
14814 be expected to reproduce.
14815 -- Oliver Wendall Holmes, Sr.
14817 It's just like when you've got some coffee that's too black, which means
14818 it's too strong. What do you do? You integrate it with cream, you make
14819 it weak. But if you pour too much cream in it, you won't even know you
14820 ever had coffee. It used to be hot, it becomes cool. It used to be
14821 strong, it becomes weak. It used to wake you up, now it puts you to sleep.
14822 -- Malcolm X, 196, Message to the Grass Roots
14824 Make my coffee like I like my men: hot, black, and strong.
14825 -- Willona Wood, Good Times
14827 Never drink black coffee at lunch;
14828 it will keep you awake in the afternoon.
14829 -- Jilly Cooper, 1970, "How to Survive from Nine to Five"
14831 Resolve to free yourselves from the slavery
14832 of the tea and coffee and other slop-kettle.
14833 -- William Cobbett, 1829, "Advise to Young Men"
14835 Tobacco, coffee, alcohol, hashish, prussic acid,
14836 strichnine, are weak dilutions: the surest poison is time.
14837 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Society and Solitude: Old Age"
14839 Coffee, according to the women of Denmark, is to the body
14840 what the Word of the Lord is to the soul.
14841 -- Isak Dinesen, 1934
14843 Coffee: we can get it anywhere, and get as loaded
14844 as we like on it, until such teeth-chattering,
14845 eye-bulging, nonsense-gibbering time as we may be
14846 classified unable to operate heavy machinery.
14847 -- Joan Frank, 1991
14849 Many people are like instant coffee:
14850 the minute they get in hot water they dissolve.
14851 -- Anonymous, from Toronto Globe and Mail; July 10, 1993
14853 The discovery of coffee has enlarged the realm of illusion
14854 and given more promise to hope.
14857 The powers of a man's mind are directly proportional
14858 to the quantity of coffee he drank.
14859 -- Sir James MacKintosh, 18th century philosopher
14861 If it wasn't for coffee, I'd have no discernible personality at all.
14862 -- David Letterman Esquire Interview Fall '94
14864 Ah! How sweet coffee tastes!
14865 Lovelier than a thousand kisses,
14866 sweeter far than muscatel wine!
14867 -- From J. S. Bach's "Coffee Cantata," 1732
14869 You make good coffee... You're a slob,
14870 but you make good coffee.
14871 -- Cher, in "Moonstruck"
14873 See how special you are? I serve you coffee in the parlor.
14874 -- Anthony Quinn to Sophia Loren in "The Black Orchid"
14876 The first cup is for the guest,
14877 the second for enjoyment,
14878 the third for the sword.
14879 -- Arabic proverb about coffee
14881 The vacuum pot is truly the CD player of coffeemakers;
14882 all you taste is the coffee.
14883 -- Corby Kummer, food expert
14885 People are kind of like zombies in Hong Kong nowadays.
14886 You don't see that glow anymore. In terms of colour
14887 Hong Kong looks a bit grey. To counter that, I think
14888 we should give out free espresso samples to give people
14889 more caffeine; triple espresso with Irish cream syrup,
14890 iced! People just need to get a bit more wired.
14891 -- David Wu, Actor and Channel V VJ, quoted in Post Magazine 29 August 99
14893 a small fish is this
14894 with so many other big
14895 tasks still to complete
14897 For myself I am an optimist--it does not seem
14898 to be much use being anything else.
14899 -- Winston Churchill
14901 One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one
14902 is constantly making exciting discoveries.
14905 Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
14908 There are two means of refuge from the
14909 miseries of life: music and cats.
14910 -- Albert Schweitzer
14912 Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator,
14913 but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.
14916 A clever man commits no minor blunders.
14917 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
14919 my fingers have slipped;
14920 keyboard greasy from pizza
14924 One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that,
14925 in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers
14926 and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are
14927 not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.
14930 Fine things books, but perhaps the moment has come to stop taking them
14931 so seriously. Who was it that said people who are always reading never
14932 discover anything? I'm not sure if that is true, but I do know that
14933 reading and thinking are not necessarily the same thing. Sometimes
14934 reading supplies the most cunning of all means of avoiding thought. It
14935 would be good once in awhile to try thinking without the stimulus of
14936 books, to become not an out of-the-box -- never, please, that -- but at
14937 least an out-of-the-book thinker. Books may furnish a room, but there
14938 surely are other things quite as suitable for furnishing a mind. Time,
14939 I think, for me to attempt to find out what these might be.
14942 Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.
14943 -- John Kenneth Galbraith
14945 You can observe a lot by just watching. -- Yogi Berra
14947 No wonder Al Gore thinks he is president--this is a most confusing time.
14948 The leading rap singer is white, the world's best golfer is black, and
14949 Bill Clinton just got back from Vietnam.
14950 -- Paul Harvey, Early December 2000
14952 The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new
14953 discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but "That's funny...".
14956 Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?
14957 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
14959 Dr. Seuss takes a look at election recounts:
14960 I cannot count them in a box.
14961 I cannot count them with a fox.
14962 I cannot count them by computer.
14963 I will not with a Roto-Rooter.
14964 I cannot count them card-by-card.
14965 I will not 'cause it's way too hard.
14966 I cannot count them on my fingers.
14967 I will not while suspicion lingers.
14968 I'll leave the country in a jam--
14969 I won't count ballots, Sam-I-Am.
14971 For some years, we have been surprised and distressed by the
14972 intellectual trends in certain precincts of American academia.
14973 Vast sectors of the humanities and the social sciences seem to
14974 have adopted a philosophy that we shall call, for want of a better
14975 term, "postmodernism": an intellectual current characterized by
14976 the more-or-less explicit rejection of the rationalist tradition
14977 of the Enlightenment, by theoretical discourses disconnected from
14978 any empirical test, and by a cognitive and cultural relativism
14979 that regards science as nothing more than a 'narration,' a 'myth'
14980 or a social construction among many others.
14981 To respond to this phenomenon, one of us (Sokal) decided to try
14982 an unorthodox (and admittedly uncontrolled), experiment: submit to
14983 a fashionable American cultural-studies journal, "Social Text," a
14984 parody of the type of work that has proliferated in recent years,
14985 to see whether they would publish it. The article, entitled
14986 "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics
14987 of Quantum Gravity", is chock-full of absurdities and blatant
14988 non-sequiturs. In addition, it asserts an extreme form of cognitive
14989 relativism: after mocking the old-fashioned "dogma" that "there
14990 exists an external world, whose properties are independent of any
14991 individual human being and indeed of humanity as a whole", it
14992 proclaims categorically that "physical `reality', no less than
14993 social `reality', is at bottom a social and linguistic construct".
14994 By a series of stunning leaps of logic, it arrives at the conclusion
14995 that "the [Pi] of Euclid and the G of Newton, formerly thought to be
14996 constant and universal, are now perceived in their ineluctable
14997 historicity; and the putative observer becomes fatally de-centered,
14998 disconnected from any epistemic link to a space-time point that can
14999 no longer be defined by geometry alone". The rest is in the same vein.
15000 And yet, the article was accepted and published. Worse, it was
15001 published in a special issue of 'Social Text' devoted to rebutting the
15002 criticisms leveled against postmodernism and social constructivism by
15003 several distinguished scientists. For the editors of 'Social Text,'
15004 it was hard to imagine a more radical way of shooting themselves in
15006 -- Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont, "Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern
15007 Intellectuals' Abuse of Science."
15009 May you live all the days of your life.
15012 We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication
15013 below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its
15014 faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:
15015 'I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa
15016 Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me
15017 the truth, is there a Santa Claus?' -- Virginia O'Hanlon
15018 Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by
15019 the skepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except they see.
15020 They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little
15021 minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are
15022 little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in
15023 his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured
15024 by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
15025 Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
15026 He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and
15027 you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.
15028 Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would
15029 be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike
15030 faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We
15031 should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light
15032 with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
15033 Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies.
15034 You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on
15035 Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus
15036 coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no
15037 sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are
15038 those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies
15039 dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not
15040 there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and
15041 unseeable in the world.
15042 You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside,
15043 but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man,
15044 nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could
15045 tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain
15046 and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real?
15047 Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
15048 No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand
15049 years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will
15050 continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
15051 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!
15052 -- The editorial "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus," first printed
15053 in the New York Sun in 1897.
15055 Most Internet appliances that I've seen are simply dumbed-down
15056 PCs, and some analysts call any damn thing that can access the
15057 Internet--other than a PC--an Internet appliance, even if it's
15058 your cell phone or a wireless PDA. That leads to some huge
15059 market projections, which are pretty much meaningless as a
15060 single figure. I think the idea of Internet appliances as a
15061 unique market is a pipe dream, with a lot of people sucking
15063 -- Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, a market
15066 Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
15069 Ah but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?
15072 She played with her cat, and it was a wonder to watch the white hand
15073 and the white paw frolic in the shade of night.
15076 Just because something doesn't do what you planned
15077 it to do doesn't mean it's useless.
15078 -- Thomas Alva Edison
15080 Spare no expense to make everything as economical as possible.
15084 drools on oval office desk
15085 while country expires
15086 -- about the dubya years
15088 brave new president
15089 laughs as he pulls death switch for
15091 -- about the dubya years
15093 they call me a shrub
15094 but i shrug and ask daddy
15095 for black ops killing
15096 -- about the dubya years
15099 moron ever known on earth:
15100 gee dubya bee, dude.
15101 -- about the dubya years
15104 means "we do it my way" and
15106 -- about the dubya years
15108 smiling lies, dumb looks,
15109 idea-free, insults all,
15111 -- about the dubya years
15113 my feeling is that humans are both divine and full of sh*t.
15114 most people are drowning in their own mental diarrhea.
15116 solution? a sewer pipe for the mind, perhaps. or at least to
15117 realize that the contagion is part of us and has to be purified
15118 from within. there is no external enemy to kill or persecute;
15119 all evil deeds and words and thoughts are our own property.
15120 no one else can take them away for you; you must "dispose of
15121 properly". clean these damaged mental constituents using your
15122 will to heal your consciousness.
15124 If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will
15125 change a past or future event, then you are residing on another
15126 planet with a different reality system.
15129 Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns;
15130 he should be drawn and quoted.
15133 A day without rebooting is like a day without Microsoft. -- fred t. hamster
15135 I've met many thinkers and many cats,
15136 but the wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.
15139 People living and working in a business system cannot change it.
15140 Their perspectives are foreshortened, their information gathering and
15141 measurement systems reinforce the past, and their incentives encourage
15142 continuity. Archimedes proclaimed, 'Give me where to stand, and I will move
15143 the earth.' But where should those who might change a business system be
15145 The answer is that every organization needs two business systems.
15146 Borrowing a term from linguistics, we shall call them the 'surface system'
15147 and the 'deep system.' The surface system is comprised of the organized
15148 tasks of the business processes, with their attendant jobs, structures,
15149 systems, and values. But this surface system is in periodic need of major
15150 change. Accomplishing that change is the job of the deep system.
15151 The deep system creates no customer value; it makes no products and
15152 delivers no services. It doesn't process orders, develop new products, or
15153 create value for customers. Rather it monitors, governs, adjusts, and
15154 reforms the surface system that does create customer value. A company's
15155 deep system bears the responsibility for detecting external changes,
15156 determining what those changes mean, and intervening to modify or transform
15157 the surface system accordingly. The deep system, working beneath the
15158 surface, embodies the capacity to change.
15159 The deep system continually hurls challenges: Is this still the
15160 right way or the best way to do things? If not, what is? The deep system
15161 ensures that the appropriate internal change--moderate or radical--takes
15162 place, shaping and reshaping the organization to take account of, and
15163 whenever possible take advantage of, ongoing external change.
15166 There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to
15167 conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the
15168 introduction of a new order of things.
15169 -- Nicolas Machiavelli
15171 Only those who take leisurely what the people of the world are busy
15172 about can be busy about what the people of the world take leisurely.
15175 I am opposed to millionaires, but it would
15176 be dangerous to offer me the position.
15179 Never eat more than you can lift. -- the muppet Miss Piggy
15182 politics are poison, but
15183 it has to be said...
15185 dubya bush will lead
15186 to lower expectations
15190 Distance changes utterly when you take the world on foot. A mile
15191 becomes a long way, two miles literally considerable, ten miles
15192 whopping, fifty miles at the very limits of conception. The world,
15193 you realize, is enormous in a way that only you and a small community
15194 of fellow hikers know. Planetary scale is your little secret.
15195 Life takes on a neat simplicity, too. Time ceases to have any
15196 meaning. When it is dark, you go to bed, and when it is light again
15197 you get up, and everything in between is just in between. It's quite
15199 You have no engagements, commitments, obligations, or duties; no
15200 special ambitions and only the smallest, least complicated of wants;
15201 you exist in tranquil tedium, serenely beyond the reach of
15202 exasperation, 'far removed from the seats of strife,' as the early
15203 explorer and botanist William Bartram put it. All that is required
15204 of you is a willingness to trudge.
15205 There is no point in hurrying because you are not actually going
15206 anywhere. However far or long you plod, you are always in the same
15207 place: in the woods. It's where you were yesterday, where you will
15208 be tomorrow. The woods is one boundless singularity. Every bend in
15209 the path presents a prospect indistinguishable from every other, every
15210 glimpse into the trees the same tangled mass. For all you know, your
15211 route could describe a very large, pointless circle. In a way, it
15212 would hardly matter.
15213 -- Bill Bryson, "A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the
15214 Appalachian Trail."
15216 You can't cheat an honest man. -- W. C. Fields
15218 Most conversations are simply monologues
15219 delivered in the presence of a witness.
15222 There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down
15223 at a typewriter and open a vein.
15226 Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence
15227 should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary
15228 sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no
15229 unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
15230 -- William Strunk Jr.
15232 The small and elite group of scientists who create most of the
15233 flavor in most of the food now consumed in the United States are
15234 called 'flavorists.' They draw on a number of disciplines in their
15235 work: biology, psychology, physiology, and organic chemistry. A
15236 flavorist is a chemist with a trained nose and a poetic sensibility.
15237 Flavors are created by blending scores of different chemicals in
15238 tiny amounts--a process governed by scientific principles but
15239 demanding a fair amount of art. In an age when delicate aromas and
15240 microwave ovens do not easily co-exist, the job of the flavorist is
15241 to conjure illusions about processed food and, in the words of one
15242 flavor company's literature, to ensure 'consumer likeability.' The
15243 flavorists with whom I spoke were discreet, in keeping with the
15244 dictates of their trade. They were also charming, cosmopolitan, and
15245 ironic. They not only enjoyed fine wine but could identify the
15246 chemicals that give each grape its unique aroma. One flavorist
15247 compared his work to composing music. A well-made flavor compound
15248 will have a 'top note' that is often followed by a 'dry-down' and a
15249 'leveling-off,' with different chemicals responsible for each stage.
15250 The taste of a food can be radically altered by minute changes in the
15251 flavoring combination. 'A little odor goes a long way,' one
15253 In order to give a processed food a taste that consumers will
15254 find appealing, a flavorist must always consider the food's
15255 'mouthfeel'--the unique combination of textures and chemical
15256 interactions that affect how the flavor is perceived. Mouthfeel can
15257 be adjusted through the use of various fats, gums, starches,
15258 emulsifiers, and stabilizers. The aroma chemicals in a food can be
15259 precisely analyzed, but the elements that make up mouthfeel are much
15260 harder to measure. How does one quantify a pretzel's hardness, a
15261 french fry's crispness? Food technologists are now conducting basic
15262 research in rheology, the branch of physics that examines the flow and
15263 deformation of materials. A number of companies sell sophisticated
15264 devices that attempt to measure mouthfeel. The TA.XT2i Texture
15265 Analyzer, produced by the Texture Technologies Corporation, of
15266 Scarsdale, New York, performs calculations based on data derived from
15267 as many as 250 separate probes. It is essentially a mechanical mouth.
15268 It gauges the most-important rheological properties of a food--bounce,
15269 creep, breaking point, density, crunchiness, chewiness, gumminess,
15270 lumpiness, rubberiness, springiness, slipperiness, smoothness,
15271 softness, wetness, juiciness, spreadability, springback, and tackiness.
15272 -- Eric Schlosser, from "Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good",
15273 Atlantic Monthly, 2001.
15275 We haven't failed. We now know a thousand things that
15276 won't work, so we are much closer to finding what will.
15279 If you surveyed a hundred typical middle-aged Americans, I bet you'd find that
15280 only two of them could tell you their blood types, but every last one of them
15281 would know the them song from 'The Beverly Hillbillies'.
15284 The first thing to learn in intercourse with others is
15285 non-interference with their own particular ways of being
15286 happy, provided those ways do not assume to interfere by
15287 violence with ours.
15290 My dad was the town drunk. Usually that's not so bad, but New York City?
15293 Ninety percent of the politicians give the other
15294 ten percent a bad name.
15297 You can imagine my embarrassment when I killed the wrong guy.
15300 We must abandon the prevalent belief in the
15301 superior wisdom of the ignorant.
15304 If the primary effect of the media in the late twentieth century was
15305 to turn nearly everything that passed across their screens into
15306 entertainment, the secondary and ultimately more significant effect was
15307 to force nearly everything to turn itself into entertainment in order to
15308 attract media attention. Daniel Boorstin had coined the term 'pseudo-
15309 event' to describe events that had been concocted by public relations
15310 practitioners to get attention from the press. Movie premieres,
15311 publishing parties, press conferences, balloon crossings, sponsored
15312 sporting contests, award ceremonies, demonstrations and hunger strikes,
15313 to name just a few examples, all were synthetic, manufactured pseudo-
15314 events that wouldn't have existed if someone hadn't been seeking
15315 publicity and if the media hadn't been seeking something to fill their
15316 pages and airwaves, preferably something entertaining.
15317 But the idea of pseudo-events almost seemed quaint by the late
15318 twentieth century. Most people realized that the object of virtually
15319 everyone in public life of any sort was to attract the media and that
15320 everyone from the top movie stars to the parents of septuplets now had
15321 to have a press agent to promote them. What most people were also coming
15322 to realize, if only by virtue of how much the media had grown, was that
15323 pseudo-events had proliferated to such an extent that one could hardly
15324 call them events anymore because there were no longer any seams between
15325 them and the rest of life, no way of separating the pseudo from the
15326 so-called authentic. Almost everything in life had appropriated the
15327 techniques of public relations to gain access to the media, so that it
15328 wasn't the pseudo-event one was talking about anymore when one cited the
15329 cleverness of PR men and women: it was pseudo-life.
15330 Yet not even pseudo-life did full justice to the modern condition.
15331 That's because the media were not just passively recording the public
15332 performances and manipulations of others, even when life was nothing but
15333 manipulations. Having invited these performances in the first place,
15334 the media justified covering them because they were receiving media
15335 attention, which is every bit as convoluted as it sounds. The result
15336 was to make of modern society one giant Heisenberg effect, in which the
15337 media were not really reporting what people did; they were reporting
15338 what people did to get media attention. In other words, as life was
15339 increasingly being lived for the media, so the media were increasingly
15340 covering themselves and their impact on life.
15341 -- Neal Gabler, in "Life, the Movie"
15343 So little time, so little to do.
15346 Consistency requires you to be as ignorant
15347 today as you were a year ago.
15348 -- Bernard Berenson
15350 Who becomes a CPO? Stephanie Perrin, the chief privacy officer of
15351 Montreal-based Zero-Knowledge Systems, explains: "Obviously, we're
15352 not going to just pick somebody from the legal department," because
15353 privacy is more than a matter of just following the law. "You have
15354 to have a fundamental commitment to--dare I say it?--morality.
15355 Privacy is not just good business. We are framing the information
15356 age, and it is important to take that job seriously. We really do
15357 look at privacy as a human right, and not just a luxury item for
15358 spoiled North Americans. We're talking about the global information
15361 The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love.
15364 He's simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed.
15367 No easy problems ever come to the president of the United States.
15368 If they are easy to solve, someone else has solved them.
15369 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
15371 Your presence in the class is disruptive and affects the other students!
15372 -- A teacher's complaint to the teenage Albert Einstein
15374 When you're in a world of experts and so-called professionals, the
15375 common sense of the people is marginalized.
15376 I'll give you an example. We're talking about building a building
15377 not too far from where I live, in this warehouse district. It's an old,
15378 totally undistinguished warehouse in what has been designated a historic
15379 district. So we're working up the Environmental Impact Report, and you hire
15380 a consultant. The consultant is this young lady who says, 'The developer
15381 wants to tear this whole warehouse down and build an eight-story building,
15382 and that would have a negative impact on the historic warehouse district.'
15383 I say, 'Wait a minute. Why? It's an eight-story building. What's
15384 different? Why do you say it's negative? Why isn't it positive? It will
15385 bring more people -- there are not enough people down here.'
15386 'No,' she said, 'in my professional judgment...' And that is given
15387 weight by the courts. Her opinion could have more sway than the city
15388 council, the manager, the mayor, and all the people of Oakland put together.
15389 That's amazing. That's what I call 'expertise versus common sense.'
15390 What do they call those guys in Russia: the nomenklatura? The class of
15391 folks who run things. I think that's an important issue: reclaiming the
15392 power of ordinary people to control their lives. Every time we turn around,
15393 we've got some kind of a state or federal rule or regulation.
15394 'In my professional judgment...' That whole academic discipline was
15395 probably created less than 25 years ago, and that lore -- I call it lore;
15396 these are like stories you tell around the campfire -- is then raised to
15397 the level of legal significance with greater authority than the vote of the
15398 people and the elected representatives. The people have lost their
15399 democratic right to make a decision over the shape of their lives, and you
15400 can find that happening on a lot of issues more controversial than historic
15404 Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade.
15407 Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
15410 Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps
15411 the greatest of God's gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of
15412 arts and of sciences.
15415 You make men love their government and their country by giving them the
15416 kind of government and the kind of country that inspire respect and love;
15417 a country that is free and unafraid, that lets the discontented talk in
15418 order to learn the causes of their discontent and end those causes, that
15419 refuses to impel men to spy on their neighbors, that protects its citizens
15420 vigorously from harmful acts while it leaves the remedies for objectionable
15421 ideas to counterargument and time.
15422 -- Zechariah Chafee, Jr.
15424 Kites rise highest against the wind--not with it.
15425 -- Winston Churchill
15427 Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: every
15428 man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him.
15429 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
15431 A cucumber should be well-sliced, dressed with
15432 pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.
15435 Technology is often defined as the creation of tools to gain control
15436 over the environment. However, this definition is not entirely sufficient.
15437 Humans are not alone in their use or even creation of tools. Orangutans in
15438 Sumatra's Suaq Balimbing swamp make tools out of long sticks to break open
15439 termite nests. Crows fashion tools from sticks and leaves. The leaf-cutter
15440 ant mixes dry leaves with its saliva to create a paste. Crocodiles use tree
15441 roots to anchor dead prey.
15442 What is uniquely human is the application of knowledge--recorded
15443 knowledge--to the fashioning of tools. The knowledge base represents the
15444 genetic code for the evolving technology. And as technology has evolved,
15445 the means for recording this knowledge base has also evolved, from the oral
15446 traditions of antiquity to the written design logs of nineteenth-century
15447 craftsmen to the computer-assisted design databases of the 1990s.
15448 Technology also implies a transcendence of the materials used to
15449 comprise it. When the elements of an invention are assembled in just the
15450 right way, they produce an enchanting effect that goes beyond the mere
15451 parts. When Alexander Graham Bell accidentally wire-connected two moving
15452 drums and solenoids (metal cores wrapped in wire) in 1875, the result
15453 transcended the materials he was working with. For the first time, a human
15454 voice was transported, magically it seemed, to a remote location. Most
15455 assemblages are just that: random assemblies. But when materials--and in
15456 the case of modern technology, information--are assembled in just the
15457 right way, transcendence occurs. The assembled object becomes far greater
15458 than the sum of its parts.
15461 All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
15464 The foresight of the astronomer who predicts with complete precision
15465 the state of the solar system many years in advance is absolutely the
15466 same in kind as that of the savage who predicts the next sunrise.
15467 The only difference lies in the extent of their knowledge.
15470 Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens
15471 the conscience like individual responsibility.
15472 -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
15474 The bug, that perverse and elusive malfunctioning of hardware and
15475 later of software, was born in the nineteenth century. It was already
15476 accepted shop slang as early as 1878, when Thomas Edison described his
15477 style of invention in a letter to a European representative: 'The first
15478 step is an intuition and it comes with a burst, then difficulties arise--
15479 this thing gives out and then that--"Bugs"--as such little faults and
15480 difficulties are called--show themselves, and months of intense watching,
15481 study and labor are requisite before commercial success--or failure--is
15482 certainly reached.'
15483 Edison implies that this use of 'bug' had not begun in his laboratory
15484 but was already standard jargon. The expression seems to have originated
15485 as telegrapher's slang. Western Union and other telegraph companies, with
15486 their associated branch offices, formed America's first high-technology
15487 system. About the time of Edison's letter, Western Union had over twelve
15488 thousand stations, and it was their condition that probably helped inspire
15489 the metaphor. City offices were filthy, and clerks exchanged verse about
15490 the gymnastics of insects cavorting in the cloakrooms. When, in 1945, a
15491 moth in a relay crashed the Mark II electromechanical calculator that the
15492 Navy was running at Harvard--it can still be seen taped in the original
15493 logbook--the bug metaphor had already been around for at least seventy-
15495 -- Edward Tenner, from "Why Things Bite Back"
15497 Look back, and smile on perils past.
15498 -- Sir Walter Scott
15500 I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
15506 -- William Butler Yeats' auto-epitath
15508 The bug, that perverse and elusive malfunctioning of hardware and
15509 later of software, was born in the nineteenth century. It was already
15510 accepted shop slang as early as 1878, when Thomas Edison described his
15511 style of invention in a letter to a European representative: 'The first
15512 step is an intuition and it comes with a burst, then difficulties arise--
15513 this thing gives out and then that--"Bugs"--as such little faults and
15514 difficulties are called--show themselves, and months of intense watching,
15515 study and labor are requisite before commercial success--or failure--is
15516 certainly reached.'
15517 Edison implies that this use of 'bug' had not begun in his
15518 laboratory but was already standard jargon. The expression seems to have
15519 originated as telegrapher's slang. Western Union and other telegraph
15520 companies, with their associated branch offices, formed America's first
15521 high-technology system. About the time of Edison's letter, Western Union
15522 had over twelve thousand stations, and it was their condition that probably
15523 helped inspire the metaphor. City offices were filthy, and clerks exchanged
15524 verse about the gymnastics of insects cavorting in the cloakrooms. When, in
15525 1945, a moth in a relay crashed the Mark II electromechanical calculator
15526 that the Navy was running at Harvard--it can still be seen taped in the
15527 original logbook--the bug metaphor had already been around for at least
15528 seventy-five years.
15529 -- Edward Tenner, "Why Things Bite Back"
15531 But the true threats to stability and peace are these nations that are not
15532 very transparent, that hide behind the--that don't let people in to take a
15533 look and see what they're up to. They're very kind of authoritarian regimes.
15534 The true threat is whether or not one of these people decide, peak of anger,
15535 try to hold us hostage, ourselves; the Israelis, for example, to whom we'll
15536 defend, offer our defenses; the South Koreans.
15537 -- George W. Bush, Media roundtable, Washington, D.C., March 13, 2001
15539 The charity that is a trifle to us can be precious to others.
15542 It wasn't until late in life that I discovered
15543 how easy it is to say "I don't know".
15544 -- W. Somerset Maugham
15546 It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a
15547 pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young.
15550 He is the best physician who is the most ingenious inspirer of hope.
15551 -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
15553 Failure is not an option.
15556 The year 1950 was the last full cry of urban America, at least on
15557 the surface. It was the year many of the cities visited in this book
15558 reached their historic peaks in population. Everybody was working, in folk
15559 memory, and in fact. Armies clad in overalls poured out of plants at
15560 quitting time or watched as the next shift filed in. Houses cost a couple
15561 of thousand bucks, or in high-cost cities some fifteen thousand. The
15562 mortgage was often less than a hundred a month. The teeming ethnic ghettos
15563 of the early century had given way to a more comfortable life, with
15564 religion and ethnicity, race and class still used as organizing principles
15565 for the neighborhood. The rough edges of the immigrant 'greenhorns' were
15566 worn smooth, and a confident younger generation now entered a fuller,
15567 richer American life. Grandma and Grandpa had their accents and old ways
15568 intact, and still mumbled sayings in the language your parents used when
15569 they didn't want you to understand. You could still find Il Progresso,
15570 Freiheit, Norske Tidende, and Polish Daily Zgoda on the newsstands, but the
15571 neighborhoods themselves were no longer alien places. It was the ghetto,
15572 yes, but made benign by assimilation.
15573 It was this world that the first surge tide into the suburbs left
15574 behind. They were people for whom the city had done its work, making
15575 Americans out of families from Dublin to Donetsk. America had given the
15576 urban young educations, and expectations. For many, those expectations had
15577 been nurtured through world war and economic depression. Something better
15578 was needed for the baby boomers.
15579 Today we look back on it all in hurt and wonder. How did this
15580 happen? Where did that good life go? When an accidental detour or a missed
15581 expressway exit brings us into contact with the world we left behind, we
15582 can still place all the blame firmly and squarely elsewhere. The shuttered
15583 factories and collapsing row houses, the vacant storefronts and rutted
15584 streets are regarded with the same awe reserved for the scenes of natural
15585 disasters. We look out on a world that somehow, in the American collective
15586 memory, destroyed itself.
15587 -- Ray Suarez, PBS journalist
15589 The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our
15590 enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.
15591 -- G. K. Chesterton
15593 Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember.
15596 If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.
15597 -- Tallulah Bankhead
15599 Kids don't watch when they are stimulated and look away when
15600 they are bored. They watch when they understand and look away
15601 when they are confused.
15602 -- Malcolm Gladwell
15604 We especially need imagination in science. It is not all
15605 mathematics, nor all logic, it is somewhat beauty and poetry.
15608 The masons have a "temple of living stones".
15609 Well, I have a temple of stoned living.
15610 Except that the temple is my parents' basement.
15612 Pain is just another form of information.
15615 The traditional image of Asian countries--and the one I held before
15616 we moved there--was of overwhelmingly poor societies: city dwellers
15617 starving in the streets and farmers slaving to raise barely enough rice
15618 to feed a family, while a tiny clique of well-connected magnates lived
15619 behind barbed-wire fences in ornate mansions. Today, those scenes can
15620 still be found in parts of East Asia. But for the most part, the Asian
15621 countries are building a huge middle class, in which most people have
15622 about as much as everybody else.
15623 Japan has been the model; when Japan became a rich country, it did
15624 so in ways that spread the wealth broadly and evenly. In opinion polls
15625 today, more than 90 percent of the Japanese people describe themselves
15626 as 'middle class.' In the other 'high-performing Asian economies' the
15627 economic boom has also been broadly distributed...
15628 You can legitimately question whether equal distribution of a
15629 nation's wealth is a sign of social success. The American dream, in
15630 economic terms, at least, has generally been the dream of enormous
15631 success--not of making as much money as everybody else but rather of
15632 getting really rich. And that dream has been one of the key reasons
15633 for the dynamism and resiliency of the United States over the decades.
15634 On the other hand, the egalitarian distribution of wealth, and the
15635 resulting sense that everybody is getting a relatively fair shake, is
15636 surely one of the reasons that Asian countries have civil and stable
15638 -- T. R. Reid, "Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East
15639 Teaches Us About Living in the West"
15641 Who will underrate the influence of loose popular
15642 literature in debauching the popular mind?
15645 There are so many ways of earning a living and most of them are failures.
15648 Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist.
15651 Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.
15654 Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog.
15655 Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.
15658 This idea of breaking the world into pieces and then explaining
15659 the pieces in terms of smaller pieces is called reductionism. It
15660 would be perfectly justified to consider Murray Gell-Mann, the father
15661 of the quark, to be the century's arch-reductionist. But very early
15662 on, long before mushy notions of holism became trendy, Gell-Mann
15663 appreciated an important truth: While you can reduce downward, that
15664 doesn't automatically mean you can explain upward. People can be
15665 divided into cells, cells into molecules, molecules into atoms, atoms
15666 into electrons and nuclei, nuclei into subatomic particles, and those
15667 into still tinier things called quarks. But, true as that may be,
15668 there is nothing written in the laws of subatomic physics that can be
15669 used to explain higher-level phenomena like human behavior. There is
15670 no way that one can start with quarks and predict that cellular life
15671 would emerge and evolve over the eons to produce physicists. Reducing
15672 downward is vastly easier than explaining upward--a truth that bears
15674 -- George Johnson, "Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the
15675 Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics"
15677 Perhaps no mightier conflict of mind occurs ever again in a lifetime
15678 than that first decision to unseat one's own tooth.
15681 The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping the
15682 old ones that ramify, for those brought up as most of us have
15683 been, into every corner of our minds.
15684 -- John Maynard Keynes
15686 In the centuries preceding the introduction of the printing press,
15687 those who held power reinforced it by uses of language that mystified the
15688 powerless and kept them subservient. Even more so in today's world, power
15689 is inextricably tied to the use of language, and today's priesthood of
15690 professionals in many fields employs jargon-fueled mystification. That is a
15691 political use of language that deliberately excludes the 'powerless' lay
15692 audience from participation. The doctor whose technical terms confuse, no
15693 less than the politician whose equivocations obfuscate, the lawyer whose
15694 terms intimidate, and the accountant whose explanations obscure, is taking
15695 advantage of audiences through what are called 'gatekeeper' uses of
15696 language. They include euphemisms, jargon and other devices designed to
15697 prevent rather than augment the free flow of knowledge.
15698 Lawyers have been particularly egregious in this practice.
15699 Gatekeeper language also frequently masks what physicians do especially in
15700 circumstances that can be fraught with emotion. A relative of a cancer
15701 patient, seeking straight and hard informational answers to questions --
15702 how bad is the situation, how much time does she have left, is there any
15703 hope -- was informed by her doctor that his relative's cancer was
15704 'treatable' and her prognosis was 'guarded...'
15705 The philosopher Jrgen Habermas provides an insight into the
15706 political nature of gatekeeper uses of language through his identification
15707 of the 'scientization of the public sphere,' a process now occurring in
15708 many societies. In this trend, elites effectively disqualify members of the
15709 public from being able to participate in policy discussions by insisting
15710 that only specialists can really understand what is going on. When
15711 politicians come to believe that only they can understand what is going on
15712 in the high councils of government, and that their job is to translate it
15713 for us and to protect themselves in the process, the language they aim at
15714 the electorate takes on more and more aspects of purposeful deceit.
15715 -- Tom Shachtman, "The Inarticulate Society"
15717 If you think you are too small to make a difference,
15718 try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.
15721 It does not do to leave a dragon out of your calculations,
15722 if you live near him.
15723 -- J. R. R. Tolkien
15725 Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers
15726 is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.
15729 Friendships, like marriages, are dependent on avoiding the unforgivable.
15730 -- John S. MacDonald
15732 authority does not exist.
15733 we are all equally feeble when compared
15734 with the profundity of the universe.
15737 Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
15738 -- Heywood Hale Broun
15740 Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information
15741 about life to last him the rest of his days.
15742 -- Flannery O'Connor
15744 Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food:
15745 frequently there must be a beverage.
15748 We live with strangers. Those we love most, with whom we share
15749 a shelter, a table, a bed, remain mysterious. Wherever lives overlap
15750 and flow together, there are depths of unknowing. Parents and children,
15751 partners, siblings, and friends repeatedly surprise us, revealing the
15752 need to learn where we are most at home. We even surprise ourselves
15753 in our own becoming, moving through the cycles of our lives. There is
15754 strangeness hidden in the familiar.
15755 At the same time there is familiarity hidden in the strange. We can
15756 look with curiosity and respect at the faces of men and women we have
15757 never met. Learning to recognize these strangers with whom we share an
15758 increasingly crowded and interdependent world, we can imagine ourselves
15759 joined in a single family, perhaps by a marriage between adventurous
15761 Strangers marry strangers, whether they have been playmates for
15762 years or never meet before the wedding day. They continue to surprise
15763 each other through the evolutions of love and the growth of affection.
15764 Lovers, gay and straight, begin in strangeness and often, for the zest
15765 of it, find ways to increase their differences.
15766 Children arrive like aliens from outer space, their needs and
15767 feelings inaccessible, sharing no common language, yet for all their
15768 strangeness we greet them with love. Traditionally, the strangeness of
15769 infants has been understood as temporary, the strangeness of incomplete
15770 beings who are expected to become predictable and comprehensible. This
15771 expectation has eased the transition from generation to generation, the
15772 passing on of knowledge and responsibility, on which every human society
15773 depends. Yet the gap between parent and child, like the gap between
15774 partners, is not left behind with the passage of time. Today, in a
15775 world of rapid change, it is increasing, shifting into new rhythms still
15777 -- Mary Catherine Bateson, in "Full Circles, Overlapping Lives:
15778 Culture and Generation in Transition"
15780 Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.
15783 At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future,
15784 tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past.
15785 -- Maurice Maeterlink
15787 Before you run in double harness, look well to the other horse.
15790 There is nothing in the dark that isn't there when the lights are on.
15793 The overly sure belief that one knows the truth,
15794 but that this truth doesn't need to be tested or verified,
15795 is the root of all human errors.
15798 Any fool can make a rule and every fool will mind it.
15799 -- Henry David Thoreau
15801 How many cares one loses
15803 not to be something
15807 If someone says 'can't', that shows you what to do.
15810 Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.
15813 If a thing can not go on forever, it will come to an end.
15816 Nothing ever gets anywhere.
15817 The earth keeps turning round and round and gets nowhere.
15818 The moment is the only thing that counts.
15821 Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow;
15822 don't walk behind me, I may not lead;
15823 walk beside me, and just be my friend.
15826 Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought; our brightest
15827 blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.
15830 The following is a poem made up entirely of quotations from George
15831 W. Bush. The quotes have been arranged, for aesthetic reasons only,
15832 by Washington Post writer Richard Thompson.
15834 MAKE THE PIE HIGHER
15837 I think we all agree, the past is over.
15838 This is still a dangerous world.
15839 It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
15840 and potential mental losses.
15842 Rarely is the question asked
15843 Is our children learning?
15844 Will the highways of the internet
15846 How many hands have I shaked?
15848 They misunderestimate me.
15849 I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
15851 I know that the human being
15852 and the fish can coexist.
15854 Families is where our nation finds hope,
15855 where our wings take dream.
15857 Put food on your family!
15858 Knock down the tollbooth!
15861 Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!
15866 When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard", I am always
15867 tempted to ask: "Compared to what?"
15870 What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough
15871 to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over
15872 the rim of every cup.
15875 Hard is the herte that loveth nought in May.
15876 -- Geoffrey Chaucer
15878 Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.
15879 -- G. K. Chesterton
15881 {{ your mental acuity sharpens, your self image improves, your breath
15882 becomes minty fresh, the problems in your life all seem simpler and you
15883 feel you can deal with them each separately and conquer them one by one,
15884 your hair grows back in all the right places and stops growing in your
15885 ears and other inappropriate places, when i snap my fingers, you will
15886 feel wholly refreshed and renewed... }}
15892 If you owe the bank $100, that's your problem.
15893 If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem.
15896 The Hutterites (who came out of the same tradition as the Amish
15897 and the Mennonites) have a strict policy that every time a colony
15898 approaches 150, they split it in two and start a new one. "Keeping
15899 things under 150 just seems to be the best and most efficient way to
15900 manage a group of people," Bill Gross, one of the leaders of a
15901 Hutterite colony outside Spokane told me. "When things get larger
15902 than that, people become strangers to one another."
15903 The Hutterites, obviously, didn't get this idea from contemporary
15904 evolutionary psychology. They've been following the 150 rule for
15905 centuries... At 150, the Hutterites believe, something happens--
15906 something indefinable but very real--that somehow changes the nature
15907 of community overnight. "In smaller groups people are a lot closer.
15908 They're knit together, which is very important if you want to be
15909 effective and successful at community life," Gross said. "If you
15910 get too large, you don't have enough work in common. You don't have
15911 enough things in common, and then you start to become strangers and
15912 that close-knit fellowship starts to get lost."
15913 Gross spoke from experience. He had been in Hutterite colonies
15914 that had come near to that magic number and seen first-hand how
15915 things had changed. "What happens when you get that big is that the
15916 group starts, just on its own, to form a sort of clan." He made a
15917 gesture with his hands, as if to demonstrate division. "You get two
15918 or three groups within the larger group. That is something you
15919 really try to prevent, and when it happens it is a good time to
15921 -- Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point"
15923 If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open
15924 minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really
15925 desire the things they failed to obtain.
15928 Middle age is when you're sitting at home on Saturday night
15929 and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't for you.
15932 The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
15935 I think a power to do something is of value. Whether the result
15936 is a good thing or a bad thing depends on how it is used, but the
15937 power is a value. Once in Hawaii I was taken to see a Buddhist
15938 temple. In the temple a man said, "I am going to tell you something
15939 that you will never forget." And then he said, "To every man is
15940 given the key to the gates of heaven. The same key opens the gates
15942 And so it is with science. In a way it is a key to the gates of
15943 heaven, and the same key opens the gates of hell, and we do not have
15944 any instructions as to which is which gate. Shall we throw away the
15945 key and never have a way to enter the gates of heaven? Or shall we
15946 struggle with the problem of which is the best way to use the key?
15947 That is, of course, a very serious question, but I think that we
15948 cannot deny the value of the key to the gates of heaven.
15949 All the major problems of the relations between society and
15950 science lie in this same area. When the scientist is told that he
15951 must be more responsible for his effects on society, it is the
15952 applications of science that are referred to. If you work to develop
15953 nuclear energy you must realize also that it can be used harmfully.
15954 Therefore, you would expect that, in a discussion of this kind by a
15955 scientist, this would be the most important topic. But I will not
15956 talk about it further. I think that to say these are scientific
15957 problems is an exaggeration. They are far more humanitarian problems.
15958 The fact that how to work the power is clear, but how to control it is
15959 not, is something not so scientific and is not something that the
15960 scientist knows so much about.
15961 -- Richard P. Feynman, "The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen
15964 If once a man indulges himself in Murder, very soon he comes to think
15965 little of Robbing, and from Robbing he comes next to Drinking and
15966 Sabbath-breaking, and from that to Incivility and Procrastination.
15967 -- Thomas De Quincey
15969 These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper,
15970 but minds alive on the shelves.
15973 Let us not look back in anger,
15974 nor forward in fear,
15975 but around in awareness.
15978 Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with
15979 the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for
15980 the right purpose, and in the right way--that is not easy.
15983 A nation in which grown men say things like "I am not a happy camper"
15984 at momentous junctures is manifestly not the Shining City on the Hill
15985 that our forefathers dreamed about.
15988 Among the devices that we use to impose order upon a complicated
15989 (but by no means unstructured) world, classification--or the division
15990 of items into categories based on perceived similarities--must rank
15991 as the most general and most pervasive of all. And no strategy of
15992 classification cuts deeper--while providing such an even balance of
15993 benefits and difficulties--than our propensity for division by two,
15995 Some basic attributes of surrounding nature do exist as complem-
15996 entary pairings--two large lights in the sky representing day and
15997 night; two sexes that must couple their opposing parts to produce a
15998 continuity of generations--so we might argue that dichotomization
15999 amounts to little more than good observation of the external world.
16000 But far more often than not, dichotomization leads to misleading or
16001 even dangerous oversimplification. People and beliefs are not either
16002 good or evil (with the second category ripe for burning); and
16003 organisms are not either plant or animal, vertebrate or invertebrate,
16004 human or beast. We seem so driven to division by two, even in
16005 clearly inappropriate circumstances, that I must agree with several
16006 schools of thought (most notably Claude Levi-Strauss and the French
16007 structuralists) in viewing dichotomization more as an inherent
16008 mechanism of the brain's operation than as a valid perception of
16010 -- Stephen Jay Gould
16012 Crude classifications and false generalizations
16013 are the curse of the organized life.
16016 Whosoever shall not fall by the sword or by famine,
16017 shall fall by pestilence, so why bother shaving?
16020 Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human
16021 enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice
16022 than they are compelled to do by their situation.
16025 It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
16028 The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil
16029 is for good men to do nothing.
16032 If the aborigine drafted an IQ test, all of
16033 Western civilization would presumably flunk it.
16036 It takes a wise man to discover a wise man.
16037 -- Diogenes Laertes
16039 The human race has reached a critical time in its social evolution
16040 when it has no choice but to make peace with its biological origins and
16041 to learn how to live once again as a member and partner of the natural
16042 community rather than as its dominator and destroyer. In other words,
16043 we must rediscover how to live as our savage ancestors once lived--in
16044 nature, rather apart from it, much less above it. We must, that is,
16045 invent the civilized analogue of the hunter-gatherer way of life, the
16046 only sustainable mode of human existence the planet has ever known.
16047 Suggesting that we live in a much simpler and more natural way does not
16048 imply a return to the Stone Age or anything like it: we have many
16049 possibilities open to us that were not available to our forebears, for
16050 we have been enormously enriched and enlightened by the long experience
16051 of civilization (or at least so one hopes). Nevertheless, how such a
16052 profound transformation of civilization toward a more experienced and
16053 wiser savagery can be achieved is obviously an immensely difficult
16054 question, because it will clearly entail radical changes in every aspect
16055 of our way of life.
16056 Just how radical is suggested by one of the most poignant and
16057 pointed critiques of modern civilization ever uttered. Breaking into
16058 a filmed interview on the destruction of the Amazon rain forest, an
16059 anonymous Kayapo Indian woman shouted, "We don't want your dams. Your
16060 mothers did not hold you enough. You are all orphans." It is perhaps
16061 too simple to say that the good society is one in which your mother--
16062 and by extension your father, your community, and indeed your entire way
16063 of life--holds you enough, so that you grow up feeling that the world is
16064 a good place and that life is intrinsically satisfying just as it is and
16065 that there is thus no need to make it more satisfying by accumulating
16066 endless wealth and power at others' expense. But this at least points
16067 in the right direction: to become more experienced and wiser savages, to
16068 meet the real political challenge of the twenty-first century, we shall
16069 have to create cultures so rich and nurturing that we would have no need
16070 to pursue happiness; we could simply enjoy it.
16071 -- William Ophuls, in "Requiem for Modern Politics: The Tragedy of
16072 the Enlightenment and the Challenge of the New Millennium."
16074 The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.
16077 In Washington, it's dog eat dog.
16078 In academia, it's exactly the opposite.
16081 I have had many troubles in my life, but the worst of them never came.
16082 -- James A. Garfield
16084 There comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget
16085 something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance,
16086 therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.
16087 -- Arthur Conan Doyle
16089 The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
16092 I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired
16093 at nine o'clock every morning.
16096 It is no secret that organized crime in America takes in over forty
16097 billion dollars a year. This is quite a profitable sum, especially
16098 when one considers that the Mafia spends very little for office supplies.
16101 It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.
16102 -- W. Edwards Deming
16104 A man is called a good fellow for doing things which, if done
16105 by a woman, would land her in a lunatic asylum.
16108 Those who desire to give up Freedom
16109 in order to gain Security, will not have,
16110 nor do they deserve, either one.
16111 -- Thomas Jefferson
16113 There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery.
16114 You can't do any business from there.
16115 -- Colonel (Harlan) Sanders
16117 To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all.
16120 There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion.
16121 There are only intersecting monologues.
16124 You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.
16127 Memory's malfunctions can be divided into seven fundamental transgressions
16128 or 'sins.' Just like the ancient seven deadly sins, the memory sins occur
16129 frequently in everyday life and can have serious consequences for all of us.
16130 Transience, absent-mindedness, and blocking are sins of omission: we fail to
16131 bring to mind a desired fact, event, or idea. Transience refers to a weakening
16132 or loss of memory over time. It's probably not difficult for you to remember
16133 now what you have been doing for the past several hours. But if I ask you
16134 about the same activities six weeks, six months, or six years from now, chances
16135 are you'll remember less and less.
16136 Absent-mindedness involves a breakdown at the interface between attention
16137 and memory. Absent-minded memory errors--misplacing keys or eyeglasses, or
16138 forgetting a lunch appointment--typically occur because we are preoccupied with
16139 distracting issues or concerns, and don't focus attention on what we need to
16141 The third sin, blocking, entails a thwarted search for information that we
16142 may be desperately trying to retrieve. We've all failed to produce a name to
16143 accompany a familiar face. This frustrating experience happens even though we
16144 are attending carefully to the task at hand, and even though the desired name
16145 has not faded from our minds--as we become acutely aware when we unexpectedly
16146 retrieve the blocked name hours or days later.
16147 In contrast to these three sins of omission, the next four sins of
16148 misattribution, suggestibility, bias, and persistence are all sins of
16149 commission: some form of memory is present, but it is either incorrect or
16150 unwanted. The sin of misattribution involves assigning a memory to the wrong
16151 source: mistaking fantasy for reality, or incorrectly remembering that a friend
16152 told you a bit of trivia that you actually read about in a newspaper.
16153 Misattribution is far more common than most people realize, and has potentially
16154 profound implications in legal settings. The related sin of suggestibility
16155 refers to memories that are implanted as a result of leading questions,
16156 comments, or suggestions when a person is trying to call up a past experience.
16157 The sin of bias reflects the powerful influences of our current knowledge
16158 and beliefs on how we remember our pasts. We often edit or entirely rewrite
16159 our previous experiences--unknowingly and unconsciously--in light of what we
16160 now know or believe. The result can be a skewed rendering of a specific
16161 incident, or even of an extended period in our lives, which says more about how
16162 we feel now than about what happened then.
16163 The seventh sin -- persistence -- entails repeated recall of disturbing
16164 information or events that we would prefer to banish from our minds altogether:
16165 remembering what we cannot forget, even though we wish that we could. Recall
16166 the last time that you suddenly awoke at 3:00 a.m., unable to keep out of your
16167 mind a painful blunder on the job or a disappointing result on an important
16168 exam. In more extreme cases of serious depression or traumatic experience,
16169 persistence can be disabling and even life-threatening.
16170 -- Daniel Schacter, "The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets
16173 When I was a young man I observed that nine out of ten things I did were
16174 failures. I didn't want to be a failure, so I did ten times more work.
16175 -- George Bernard Shaw
16177 People demand freedom of speech as a compensation
16178 for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.
16179 -- Soeren Kierkegaard
16181 Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
16182 Live the life you have imagined.
16183 -- Henry David Thoreau
16185 Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness
16186 on the surface and their toughness in the middle.
16187 -- G. K. Chesterton
16189 Being willing to accept that the past--
16190 even the priceless, irreplaceable past--
16191 will be largely lost is a sign of mental health.
16194 We are what we repeatedly do.
16195 Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
16198 Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. -- Voltaire
16200 It requires wisdom to understand wisdom:
16201 the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.
16204 What difference does it make how much you have?
16205 What you do not have amounts to much more.
16208 We now all live in a society marked by increasing, not decreasing,
16209 interconnection and mutual reliance. Each of our lives is affected by
16210 more people than ever before. We generally need the cooperation of
16211 more people than ever to accomplish even those goals we set for
16212 ourselves. This insight needs no elaborate demonstration; one is
16213 reminded of it with every smoggy breath we take, and every time we step
16214 on an airplane and ponder how our life depends on the competent,
16215 attentive behavior of dozens of strangers, from the pilot to the air
16216 traffic controller to the ground mechanic who was supposed to inspect
16217 the extent of the metal fatigue on the wings. Technology increases the
16218 links that tie people together, voluntarily or not, and the complexity
16219 of our economic system and the organizations we work for multiplies
16221 To exercise control over what happens to you as an individual, you
16222 must be involved with others in a process that decides what happens to
16223 you and your fellow citizens collectively. We can no longer separate
16224 the quality of personal life from the quality of social life. To
16225 preserve private space, we must also preserve the commons.
16226 That is one reason why even in a society so seduced by and attached
16227 to autonomy, many people are now getting fed up with what can only be
16228 called acts of vandalism against the public space. Threatening,
16229 disrespectful, wanton, and manifestly selfish acts--from the warfare of
16230 crack dealers and gangs to the shameless greed of the S&L thieves and
16231 the destruction of our very environment by the industrial polluters--
16232 are poisonous to everyone, not just those directly harmed. Of course,
16233 we pay for such things as taxpayers and as consumers, but that is not
16234 the most important cost. All of us are morally impoverished by these
16235 assaults on the quality and integrity of our common life.
16236 -- Willard Gaylin and Bruce Jennings, "The Perversion of Autonomy:
16237 The Proper Uses of Coercion and Constraints in a Liberal Society"
16239 Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common
16240 belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.
16241 -- W. Somerset Maugham
16243 Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.
16246 The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved--
16247 loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
16250 If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
16253 Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.
16256 The wicked leader is one whom the people despise.
16257 The good leader is one whom the people revere.
16258 The great leader is one about whom the people say,
16259 "We did it ourselves."
16262 Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.
16265 Ideas pull the trigger, but instinct loads the gun.
16268 No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one
16269 concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
16270 -- Niccolo Machiavelli
16272 Every exit is an entry somewhere.
16275 Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us
16276 nothing but the shape of the spoon.
16279 We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers
16280 connect us with our fellow men.
16283 There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.
16284 -- Bertrand Russell
16286 If this is coffee, please bring me some tea,
16287 but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.
16290 All men who have turned out worth anything have had
16291 the chief hand in their own education.
16292 -- Sir Walter Scott
16294 Few things can help an individual more
16295 than to place responsibility on him,
16296 and to let him know that you trust him.
16297 -- Booker T. Washington
16299 The last time somebody said, "I find I can write much
16300 better with a word processor," I replied, "They used to
16301 say the same thing about drugs."
16304 The world of knowledge takes a crazy turn
16305 When teachers themselves are taught to learn.
16306 -- Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), German playwright, poet
16308 Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.
16311 Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time.
16312 Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become
16316 To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana.
16317 -- Shakyamuni Buddha
16319 the best part about killing software bugs is that
16320 there's no goo nor exoskeleton fragments left behind.
16322 Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares
16323 about doing it right, or doing it better.
16326 Great spirits have always encountered
16327 violent opposition from mediocre minds.
16330 There's a fine line between genius and
16331 insanity. I have erased this line.
16334 Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's
16335 original, you will have to ram it down their throats.
16338 Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves,
16339 or we know where we can find information upon it.
16342 Historically, consumer acceptance of new technologies has been
16343 slow and cumbersome, delaying anticipated profits by decades.
16344 Indeed, consumer acceptance of any innovation is typically slow,
16345 despite extraordinary benefits and convenience.
16346 When cake mixes were first created, they required consumers to
16347 only add water--a major behavioral shift. Consumers felt a cake
16348 made with such a mix could not possibly be as good as a homemade
16349 cake. So cake mix formulas were revised to require the addition of
16350 an egg and milk. The new mixes met with great success, because the
16351 behavior shift required of consumers was minor. Eventually some
16352 consumers became comfortable adding only water (some never will).
16355 An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even
16356 how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what
16357 you know and what you don't.
16360 A man is a worker. If he is not that he is nothing.
16363 All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely
16364 players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one
16365 man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
16366 -- Shakespeare, "As You Like It"
16368 Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.
16369 -- James Bryant Conant
16371 I say to the House as I said to ministers who have joined this
16372 government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.
16373 We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before
16374 us many, many months of struggle and suffering.
16375 You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea,
16376 and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given
16377 us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the
16378 dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.
16379 You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory.
16380 Victory at all costs--Victory in spite of all terrors--Victory, however
16381 long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
16382 Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no
16383 survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for
16384 the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward
16386 I take up my task in buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause
16387 will not be suffered to fail among men. I feel entitled at this
16388 juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, "Come then,
16389 let us go forward together with our united strength."
16390 -- Winston Churchill, first speech to Parliament, May 13, 1940
16392 Be it religion, love under all its forms, literature, or art,
16393 there is not a single spiritual force that does not become an
16394 object of commercial exploitation.
16397 History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.
16398 -- James Joyce from "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"
16400 Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon,
16401 but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!
16402 -- John Parker, leader of the "Minutemen", April 19, 1775
16404 These are the times that try men's souls.
16407 Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a day which will live in infamy--the
16408 United states of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by
16409 naval and air forces of the empire of Japan... The attack yesterday
16410 on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and
16411 military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives
16412 have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported
16413 torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu... Japan
16414 has therefore undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the
16415 Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves.
16416 The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and
16417 well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our
16419 As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all
16420 measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation
16421 remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long
16422 it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American
16423 people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.
16424 I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the
16425 people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the
16426 uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery
16427 shall never again endanger us. Hostilities exist. There is no
16428 blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests
16429 are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the
16430 unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable
16431 triumph. So help us God.
16432 -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
16434 Our strength grows out of our weakness.
16435 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
16437 The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
16438 I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
16439 I shall use my time.
16442 What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly;
16443 it is dearness only that gives everything its value.
16446 it's hard not to blame microsoft for the new worm. they point at
16447 their feeble little patch (which actually doesn't stop all the
16448 types of attack nimda uses), but why aren't their operating systems
16449 automatically getting the patch if it's critical? also, why are
16450 there so many huge gaping holes in the first place? they'll never
16451 stop plugging them... it's like a dyke made out of sponges.
16454 after i got my millionth annoying spam today, i decided that there must
16455 be something to it after all. perhaps i can write spam all day while
16456 wearing only underpants and make money by magic too. clearly no one has
16457 shut off the spammers' internet connections yet, so they survive somehow.
16458 subsistence-level living based on a life of evil, here i come!
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16485 Courage is grace under pressure. -- Ernest Hemingway
16487 To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years.
16488 To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.
16489 -- Winston Churchill
16491 I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that
16492 gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.
16495 The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are
16496 worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all
16497 attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy
16498 ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of
16499 treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence.
16500 It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation,
16501 enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by
16502 violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of
16503 false and designing men.
16504 Of the latter we are in most danger at present; let us therefore be aware
16505 of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to
16506 maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the
16508 Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made,
16509 which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever,
16510 calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance.
16511 Let us remember that 'if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty,
16512 we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.' It is a very serious
16513 consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn
16514 may be the miserable sharers in the event.
16515 -- Samuel Adams, tasty American Patriot
16517 The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is
16518 before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out
16522 I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself
16523 I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore,
16524 and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble
16525 or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of
16526 truth lay all undiscovered before me.
16529 As a rule, software systems do not work well until they have been
16530 used, and have failed repeatedly, in real applications.
16533 Everything happens to everybody sooner or later if there is time enough.
16534 -- George Bernard Shaw
16536 When fanatics are on top, there is no limit to oppression.
16539 Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
16540 Willing is not enough; we must do.
16541 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
16543 tkelele ekki eekkle cthulhu hurf hurf hurf *plat*
16544 -- H. P. Lovecraft's "cat" ejecting a hairball
16546 If we survive danger it steels our courage more than anything else.
16547 -- Reinhold Niebuhr
16549 Computer Science is no more about computers
16550 than astronomy is about telescopes.
16551 -- Edsger W. Dijkstra
16553 What we become depends on what we read after all of the
16554 professors have finished with us. The greatest university
16555 of all is a collection of books.
16558 The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in
16559 higher esteem those that think alike than those who think differently.
16560 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
16562 The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.
16566 crucial in these turbulent
16567 final days of earth...
16569 president shrub does
16570 wonders for sagging garment
16571 industry's profits.
16575 christian values? hate the bombs,
16576 but love the bombers?
16578 Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.
16581 Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, "Certainly,
16582 I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it.
16583 -- Theodore Roosevelt
16585 Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve
16586 greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
16587 -- William Shakespeare
16590 then he frittered it away
16594 Half this game is ninety percent mental.
16597 Action may not always bring happiness;
16598 but there is no happiness without action.
16599 -- Benjamin Disraeli
16601 The world is faced with a transcendent conflict between those who love life
16602 and those who love death both for themselves and their enemies.
16603 -- Charles Krauthammer
16605 doomed bovines eat sand
16606 scrape on cactus in AZ
16607 then chowed on and gone
16610 To find out what one is fitted to do,
16611 and to secure an opportunity to do it,
16612 is the key to happiness.
16615 I have never understood Brahms. I believe he was
16616 burning the midnight oil trying to be complicated.
16617 -- Albert Einstein, in a conversation with Peter G. Neumann
16619 Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.
16622 It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to
16623 entertain a thought without accepting it.
16626 The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing
16627 by somebody else's rules, while quietly playing by your own.
16631 a brick; microsoft sinking
16632 fast as cement shoes
16634 Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction.
16635 Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers is another.
16636 -- G. K. Chesterton
16638 We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
16639 -- Thomas Alva Edison
16641 Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet
16642 of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
16645 Any activity becomes creative when the doer
16646 cares about doing it right, or doing it better.
16649 Experience with technology teaches us that once a technology makes
16650 something possible, it gets applied, whether for good or bad.
16651 -- Donald A. Norman
16653 The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in
16654 other men the conviction and the will to carry on.
16657 Without education we are in a horrible and deadly
16658 danger of taking educated people seriously.
16659 -- G. K. Chesterton
16661 When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt.
16664 Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only
16665 the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy.
16668 Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness
16669 that some things are really important, others not; and that the two
16670 kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs.
16671 -- Christopher Morley
16673 Nobody ever died of laughter.
16676 Mein Herr looked so thoroughly bewildered that I thought it best
16677 to change the subject. "What a useful thing a pocket-map is!" I
16679 "That's another thing we've learned from your Nation," said Mein
16680 Herr, "map-making. But we've carried it much further than you. What
16681 do you consider the largest map that would be really useful?"
16682 "About six inches to the mile."
16683 "Only six inches!" exclaimed Mein Herr. "We very soon got to six
16684 yards to the mile. Then we tried a hundred yards to the mile. And
16685 then came the grandest idea of all! We actually made a map of the
16686 country, on the scale of a mile to the mile!"
16687 "Have you used it much?" I enquired.
16688 "It has never been spread out, yet," said Mein Herr: "the farmers
16689 objected; they said it would cover the whole country, and shut out
16690 the sunlight! So we now use the country itself, as its own map, and
16691 I assure you it does nearly as well."
16692 -- Lewis Carroll, "Sylvie and Bruno Concluded"
16694 The fly has an autonomous system that avoids being swatted. It has
16695 the ability to see and navigate and make decisions on millisecond time
16696 scales. We've never been able to make artificial vision systems that
16697 come within orders of magnitude of that, with all the computation we
16701 The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending,
16702 we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours;
16703 We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
16704 -- William Wordsworth
16706 You return and again take the proper course, guided by what?
16707 By the picture in mind of the place you are headed for.
16710 The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who
16711 are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
16714 Xtianity the Easy Way
16715 ---------------------
16717 jesus heal my head,
16718 so i won't drop dead;
16719 god better get me real happy,
16720 'cause he's my celestial pappy.
16722 yo god, i'll just lie around here at home,
16723 you fill my pockets with money while i moan.
16724 it'll make me real religious,
16725 if you ain't fictitious...
16727 being a zealot is a lot of hassle,
16728 and with my faith i must wrassle.
16729 'til jesus gets my brain repaired,
16730 to humans my butt remains bared.
16732 surmounting one's lot is for others,
16733 who have energy unsmothered,
16734 by wacky notions of invisible spirits,
16735 that reward and punish holy twits.
16737 heaven better live up to my imagination,
16738 and to its oft repeated reputation;
16739 the next life better not suck, holy dad,
16740 'cause this one on earth you f*cked pretty bad.
16743 When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so
16744 long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see
16745 the ones which open for us.
16746 -- Alexander Graham Bell
16748 The mind is its own place and
16749 in itself can make a heaven
16750 of hell, a hell of heaven.
16753 Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
16754 Willing is not enough; we must do.
16755 -- Johann von Goethe
16757 I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.
16758 -- Charlie Brown, in Charles Schultz's cartoon "Peanuts"
16760 It is hard to say exactly when the monumentalization of the trivial became
16761 a way of life in America. It may have been when the National Football League
16762 started according contests between large men in skintight pants the sort of
16763 solemn designations formerly reserved for armed global conflicts.
16764 -- Michael Kelly, in "The Atlantic Monthly"
16766 When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second.
16767 When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour.
16771 We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned,
16772 so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
16775 The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
16778 Unless one's predictions are confirmed more often than a random
16779 guesser's, we should be suspicious of their quality, however
16780 cogent they may have seemed when made.
16781 -- Richard A. Posner
16783 It is said an eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent a
16784 sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate
16785 in all times and situations. They presented him with the words,
16786 "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening
16787 in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!
16790 Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
16791 Small people always do that, but the really great make you
16792 feel that you, too, can become great.
16795 The belief that microsoft has done it all right this time with Windows-XP
16796 is just like... the suspension of disbelief that allows people to think
16797 it's perfectly normal to see kids flying around on brooms in the Harry
16798 Potter movie while they're in the darkened movie theater. It's time to
16799 turn on the lights in your mental theater...
16802 We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love--
16803 first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage.
16806 The majority of important television commercials take the form of
16807 religious parables organized around a coherent theology. Like all religious
16808 parables, they put forward a concept of sin, intimations of the way to
16809 redemption, and a vision of Heaven. They also suggest what are the roots of
16810 evil and what are the obligations of the holy.
16811 Consider, for example, the Parable of the Ring Around the Collar. This
16812 is to television scripture what the Parable of the Prodigal Son is to the
16813 Bible, which is to say it is an archetype containing most of the elements of
16814 form and content that recur in the genre.
16815 The narrative structure of the Parable of the Ring Around the Collar is,
16816 indeed, comfortably traditional. The story has a beginning, a middle, and an
16817 end. A married couple is depicted in some relaxed setting--a restaurant, say--
16818 in which they are enjoying each other's company and generally having a
16819 wonderful time. But then a waitress approaches their table, notices that the
16820 man has a dirty collar, stares at it boldly, sneers with cold contempt, and
16821 announces to all within hearing the nature of his transgression. The man is
16822 humiliated and glares at his wife with scorn, for she is the source of his
16823 shame. She, in turn, assumes an expression of self-loathing mixed with a
16824 touch of self-pity...
16825 The parable continues by showing the wife at home using a detergent
16826 that never fails to eliminate dirt around the collars of men's shirts...
16827 In television-commercial parables, the root cause of evil is
16828 "Technological Innocence", a failure to know the particulars of the
16829 beneficent accomplishments of industrial progress...
16830 Technological innocence refers not only to ignorance of detergents,
16831 drugs, sanitary napkins, cars, salves, and foodstuffs, but also to
16832 ignorance of technical machinery such as savings banks and transportation
16834 -- Neil Postman, "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age
16837 Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some
16838 blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.
16839 Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a
16840 spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
16841 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
16843 I don't know much about being a millionaire,
16844 but I'll bet I'd be darling at it.
16847 term: Microflaccidity
16848 definition: An addiction to Microsoft products accompanied by a decrease in IQ.
16850 Poetry is what gets lost in translation.
16853 Telling us to obey instinct is like telling us to obey "people". People
16854 say different things: so do instincts. Our instincts are at war.... Each
16855 instinct, if you listen to it, will claim to be gratified at the expense
16859 [Hollywood is] a place where they shoot too many films and not enough actors.
16862 Money sometimes makes fools of important persons,
16863 but also makes important persons of fools.
16866 I made my money by selling too soon.
16869 Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.
16870 -- Charles Augustin Sainte-Beauve
16872 False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often
16873 endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm,
16874 for everyone takes a salutory pleasure in proving their falseness.
16877 I never hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back.
16880 I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from
16881 listening carefully. Most people never listen.
16882 -- Ernest Hemingway
16884 Ten point list of lessons learned
16885 from the high-tech industry failures during 2001:
16887 1) Prediction tools must improve.
16888 2) It's hugely difficult to build chicken and egg simultaneously.
16889 3) Venture capital firms' demands that startups generate $50 million
16890 in revenue within three years were unrealistic.
16891 4) Companies used narrowcast to broadcast.
16893 6) We all, like sheep, will go astray (with enough pressure).
16894 7) Many startups were fundamentally uncreative and "un-Internet."
16895 8) Too early to market? Too bad.
16896 9) New stuff doesn't replace old.
16897 10) Nothing changes overnight.
16901 The beginnings and endings of all human undertakings are untidy.
16904 The ultimate result of shielding men from the
16905 effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
16908 Sports is the toy department of human life. -- Howard Cosell
16910 First keep the peace within yourself,
16911 then you can also bring peace to others.
16914 What one has not experienced, one will never understand in print.
16917 Newspapermen learn to call a murderer "an alleged murderer" and the
16918 King of England "the alleged King of England" to avoid libel suits.
16921 I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places.
16922 He told me to quit going to those places.
16925 Never mistake motion for action. -- Ernest Hemingway
16927 The first duty of a leader is to make himself
16928 be loved without courting love. To be loved
16929 without "playing up" to anyone--even to himself.
16932 All you need in this life is ignorance and
16933 confidence, and then success is sure.
16936 Creativity represents a miraculous coming together of the uninhibited
16937 energy of the child with its apparent opposite and enemy, the sense of
16938 order imposed on the disciplined adult intelligence.
16939 -- Norman Podhoretz
16941 If only I could master the skill of telefecalkinesis, the act of
16942 sh*tting on someone from any distance. Another useful skill is
16943 evilknievelportation, the ability to jump out of the way right
16944 before some horrible accident occurs. This is useful to avoid
16945 the telefecalkinetics.
16948 Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six,
16949 result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual
16950 expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.
16951 -- Charles Dickens, in "David Copperfield"
16953 Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest
16954 way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless.
16957 It's the wonder of the world, it's a rocket to the moon, it gets you high,
16958 it gets you low, but once you get that glow... Love, love, hooray for love,
16959 who was ever too blase for love? Make this the night for love. If we have
16960 to fight, let's fight for love. Some sigh and cry for love--Ah, but in
16961 Pa-ree they die for love. Some waste away for love. Just the same--hooray
16965 Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
16968 Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long.
16971 Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together.
16974 The young have aspirations that never come to pass,
16975 the old have reminiscences of what never happened.
16976 -- H.H. Monroe (Saki)
16978 An inventor is a person who makes an ingenious arrangement
16979 of wheels, levers and springs, and believes it civilization.
16982 There's nothing quite like doing nothing.
16985 For a successful technology, reality must take precedence
16986 over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.
16987 -- Richard Feynmann
16989 The mind commands the body and the body obeys.
16990 The mind commands itself and finds resistance.
16993 The English word "way" is perhaps the nearest translation that we can
16994 make to the Chinese word tao. It is usually pronounced "dow." The Tao
16995 means many things. Primarily, it means the way of nature, the process of
16996 the universe. But it also means a way of life, a way of living in
16997 accordance with that process. We have lost the idea that our occupations
16998 are vocations. Our idea of an occupation is that it is a way of making
16999 money. We make a very, very destructive division between work and play.
17000 We spend eight hours, or whatever it may be, at work in order to earn the
17001 money to enjoy ourselves in the other eight hours. And that is a perfectly
17002 ridiculous way of living. It is much better to be very poor indeed than to
17003 do something so stupid as boring ourselves and wasting ourselves for eight
17004 hours in order to be able to enjoy ourselves the other eight hours. The
17005 result of this fantastic division between work and play is that work
17006 becomes drudgery, and play becomes empty. When we say that our occupation
17007 should also be our vocation, we are speaking of a conception of life within
17008 which work and play should be identical.
17009 It is interesting that Hindus, when they speak of the creation of the
17010 universe, do not call it the work of God, they call it the play of God,
17011 the Vishnu-lila, lila meaning "play." And they look upon the whole
17012 manifestation of all the universes as a play, as a sport, as a kind of
17013 dance--lila perhaps being somewhat related to our word lilt. We in the
17014 West have tended to lose the idea of our work, our profession, as being a
17016 Now, mind you, these ways I am talking about in Asia are not followed
17017 by an enormous number of people, except in a kind of nominal, superficial
17018 way. And I am not trying to make any vast comparisons between Asian society
17019 and Western society or to say that the total Asian way of life is superior
17020 to ours. I do not think it is, but I do not think it is necessarily
17021 inferior, either; it is just different. But the fact remains that there is
17022 an aspect of Asian religion and philosophy that is very subdued in Western
17023 religion and philosophy, so that you might say that the Way, in the sense of
17024 the Chinese Tao, does not quite exist in the West, in any recognizable form.
17025 It does exist, yes. It exists unofficially, it exists occasionally, but it
17026 is never clearly recognized.
17027 -- Alan Watts, "The Way of Zen"
17029 It is not certain that everything is uncertain.
17032 We used to think that
17033 if we knew one, we knew two,
17034 because one and one are two.
17035 We are finding that we must
17036 learn a great deal more about "and".
17037 -- Sir Arthur Eddington
17039 The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics,
17040 not only advanced this subject, but, saturated with it, they fancied
17041 that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things.
17044 Civilization advances by extending the number of important
17045 operations which we can perform without thinking of them.
17046 -- Alfred North Whitehead
17048 Any solution to a problem changes the problem.
17051 I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure,
17052 could walk on a cloud without coming through.
17055 Pay no attention to what the critics say; there has
17056 never been set up a statue in honor of a critic.
17059 Do not ask things to happen as you wish, but wish them to
17060 happen as they do happen, and your life will go smoothly.
17063 One of the things most beguiling to cat lovers is the
17064 intractability of a cat... its refusal to surrender
17065 the least part of its spiritual independence.
17066 -- Marguerite Steen
17068 Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed.
17069 Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery
17070 and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they
17071 might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say
17072 to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams
17073 come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
17074 -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
17076 I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the
17077 morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
17080 The problem with some people is that when they aren't drunk, they're sober.
17081 -- William Butler Yeats
17083 Drinking provides a beautiful excuse to pursue the one activity that
17084 truly gives me pleasure, hooking up with fat, hairy girls.
17087 What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch?
17090 Life is a waste of time, time is a waste of life, so get
17091 wasted all of the time and have the time of your life.
17092 -- Michelle Mastrolacasa
17094 I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.
17097 Newscasters have gotten so repellant,
17098 talk shows so superficial,
17099 sitcoms so unfunny,
17101 movies so predictable,
17102 that the Food Network offers the best
17103 fare on TV in every sense of the word.
17106 My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four.
17107 Unless there are three other people.
17110 The people's good is the highest law. -- Cicero
17112 In all recorded history there has not been one economist who
17113 has had to worry about where the next meal would come from.
17116 The great thing in this world
17117 is not so much where we stand,
17118 as in what direction we are moving.
17119 -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
17121 Reality is the leading cause of stress
17122 amongst those in touch with it.
17125 If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.
17128 The nice thing about egotists is that
17129 they don't talk about other people.
17130 -- Lucille S. Harper
17132 Wisdom outweighs any wealth. -- Sophocles
17134 A problem is a chance for you to do your best. -- Duke Ellington
17136 It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.
17137 It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.
17140 The human mind is like an umbrella--it functions best when open.
17143 They always say that time changes things, but
17144 you actually have to change them yourself.
17147 If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the
17148 computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles
17149 per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.
17150 -- Robert X. Cringely
17152 The man who says he is willing to meet you
17153 halfway usually is a poor judge of distance.
17154 -- Laurence J. Peter
17156 To do two things at once is to do neither.
17159 We live in an age when pizza gets to your home before the police.
17162 Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level.
17165 Hell, there are no rules here, we're trying to accomplish something.
17168 The days of the digital watch are numbered. -- Tom Stoppard
17170 A little drowsing cat is an image of perfect beatitude.
17173 World peace must develop from inner peace.
17174 Peace is not just mere absence of violence.
17175 Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.
17176 -- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
17178 The human mind treats a new idea the same way
17179 the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it.
17182 A hat should be taken off when you greet a
17183 lady and left off for the rest of your life.
17184 Nothing looks more stupid than a hat.
17187 Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends.
17190 It is a very sad thing that nowadays
17191 there is so little useless information.
17194 I was born not knowing and have had only a
17195 little time to change that here and there.
17198 I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the
17199 best of them, and I know how bad I am.
17202 Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself.
17205 It's a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn't want to hear.
17208 Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't
17209 mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
17210 -- Edward R. Murrow
17212 What can you say about a society that says that
17213 God is dead and Elvis is alive?
17216 Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.
17217 -- G. K. Chesterton
17219 Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?
17220 -- Edgar Bergen, as "Charlie McCarthy"
17222 A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can
17223 do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.
17226 Whatever you do will be insignificant,
17227 but it is very important that you do it.
17230 Cats know how to obtain food without labor,
17231 shelter without confinement,
17232 and love without penalties.
17235 Most men are within a finger's breadth of being mad.
17236 -- Diogenes the Cynic
17238 When it is not necessary to make a decision,
17239 it is necessary not to make a decision.
17242 Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew
17243 and for several days we had nothing to live on but food and water.
17246 Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet? -- Lily Tomlin
17248 I took a speed reading course and read "War and
17249 Peace" in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.
17252 Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.
17253 -- Michel de Montaigne
17255 I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.
17258 In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. -- Andy Warhol
17260 Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
17263 The reason grandparents and grandchildren get
17264 along so well is that they have a common enemy.
17267 A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.
17270 The prayer of the scientist if he prayed, which is not likely:
17271 Lord, grant that my discovery may increase knowledge and help other men.
17272 Failing that, Lord, grant that it will not lead to man's destruction.
17273 Failing that, Lord, grant that my article in "Brain" be published before
17274 the destruction takes place.
17275 -- Walker Percy, in "Love in the Ruins"
17277 Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by
17278 confessing our parents' shortcomings.
17279 -- Laurence J. Peter
17281 Cooperate on Standards, Compete on Implementation
17282 -- Sun Corporations's Founding Principle
17284 If I could drop dead right now, I'd be the happiest man alive.
17287 Someday I want to be rich. Some people get so rich they lose
17288 all respect for humanity. That's how rich I want to be.
17291 Kids who have yet to master spelling or basic math are in no position to
17292 dogmatize about scientific questions like global warming or nuclear power.
17295 If you can't ride two horses at the same time you shouldn't be in the circus.
17298 Whenever a person walks in on the middle of a film or a conversation, or
17299 starts a new friendship, opens a book, takes a new job, or moves to a new
17300 city, his first need is to orient himself. We all must know, in a general
17301 way, what to expect so that we can plan and respond intelligently and feel
17302 comfortable. And although all animals work with their senses and brains to
17303 orient themselves, human being do something unique. We live less simply and
17304 directly in the world than do other animals. We make a version of a world,
17305 an interpretation of it, and then we live in that. The degree of comfort
17306 and success that we achieve in our lives depends on how well that
17307 interpretation suits our circumstances.
17308 Another way to state this idea is that genetically built into people is
17309 a special organizing mode of perception. The philosopher Susanne Langer
17310 calls this mode transformational: we are co-creators of our own perceptions.
17311 In the very act of physically perceiving, we interpret; we transform the raw
17312 data gathered by our senses into complex symbolic meanings. We literally
17313 cannot function and survive without seeing in our world evidence of order
17314 and purpose. We take nothing at face value; we systematize, explain, weave
17315 a large network of connected meanings.
17316 While nonhuman animals toil for their lives, play, or lie in the sun--do
17317 whatever is suitable for the moment--only people fret and practice and
17318 struggle to achieve distant or abstract goals. We are the only animals who
17319 live partly removed from our immediate physical circumstances. This
17320 extravagance is the source of our language, art, science, music, religions,
17321 philosophies: those things we value most. Aside from such direct physical
17322 causes of death as hunger, exposure, old age, or disease, the one
17323 circumstance we truly cannot survive is living in a raw, uninterpreted
17324 place--in chaos. Each of us either finds a meaning in some traditional
17325 religion or philosophy or patches together one of his own, or else he
17326 panics, loses the will to live, and, in one way or another perishes.
17327 -- Shirley Park Lowery, "Familiar Mysteries: The Truth in Myth"
17329 I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific
17330 problems is just as dumb as the next guy.
17333 The operating system for the *world* is too important a resource to be
17334 entrusted to just one proprietary company. No one company can handle
17335 the responsibility, nor can any one company be trusted to stay honest
17336 and fair when wielding such awesome power.
17339 Middle age is when you've met so many people that every
17340 new person you meet reminds you of someone else.
17343 Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself.
17346 I was walking down the street wearing glasses when the prescription ran out.
17349 Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not.
17350 In either case, the thought is staggering.
17351 -- R. Buckminster Fuller
17353 Birds fly over the rainbow, why then oh why can't I?
17356 The software business is the worst
17357 of all possible business models,
17358 except for all the others.
17361 Instant gratification takes too long.
17364 Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.
17365 -- John Kenneth Galbraith
17367 No one can have a higher opinion of him than I have,
17368 and I think he's a dirty little beast.
17371 Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but
17372 man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.
17373 -- Reinhold Niebuhr
17375 The great tragedy of Science--the slaying of a
17376 beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.
17377 -- Thomas H. Huxley
17379 Against logic there is no armor like ignorance. -- Laurence J. Peter
17381 In mathematics you don't understand things.
17382 You just get used to them.
17383 -- John von Neumann
17385 Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?
17388 As for me, except for an occasional heart attack,
17389 I feel as young as I ever did.
17392 Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.
17393 -- Benjamin Franklin
17395 When ideas fail, words come in very handy. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
17397 The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages,
17398 may be preserved by quotation.
17399 -- Benjamin Disraeli
17402 I am not familiar with the command RTFM.
17403 I tried giving it but got an warning that the command does not exist.
17406 -- A real user's response to advice
17408 A happy childhood has spoiled many a promising life.
17409 -- Robertson Davies
17411 The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two
17412 opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the
17413 ability to function.
17414 -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
17416 Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and
17417 less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there
17418 are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a
17419 solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces.
17420 There are no straight lines.
17421 -- R. Buckminster Fuller
17423 Our happiness doesn't depend on somebody else's action or on anything
17424 else. It doesn't depend on our success, but rather on the effort we're
17425 willing to put into everything we do. Even if people disappoint or fail
17426 us left and right, even if people turn against us, hurt us, lie about us,
17427 don't understand us, even if they think they know everything about us and
17428 judge us unfairly, they can't infringe upon our happiness. True happiness
17429 means that we have a deep-seated peace and tranquility that transcends all
17430 the difficulties of life, that cannot be disturbed by the chaos and
17431 warfare that might touch our lives.
17432 Digging in the trenches of a Nazi concentration camp Victor Frankl once
17433 said to a fellow inmate: "This is where you've got to find your happiness--
17434 right here in this trench, in this camp." It is a simple matter of fact:
17435 you can be just as happy in a concentration camp, horrific and terrible as
17436 it surely is, as you can in any other circumstance in life.
17437 For this is where we're supposed to find our happiness--where we are
17438 now, wherever that might happen to be, in all that we do, in whatever
17439 circumstances we find ourselves. Being happy involves the intense
17440 struggle of entering intimately into all that we do.
17441 -- "The Monks of New Skete, In the Spirit of Happiness"
17443 Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour,
17444 Rains from the sky a meteoric shower
17445 Of facts . . . they lie unquestioned, uncombined.
17446 Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill
17447 Is daily spun; but there exists no loom
17448 To weave it into fabric.
17449 -- Edna St. Vincent Millay, from "Upon This Age"
17451 An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.
17454 Everybody gets so much information all day long
17455 that they lose their common sense.
17458 Rationalists, wearing square hats,
17459 Think, in square rooms,
17460 Looking at the floor,
17461 Looking at the ceiling.
17462 They confine themselves
17463 To right-angled triangles.
17464 If they tried rhomboids,
17465 Cones, waving lines, ellipses--
17466 As, for example, the ellipse of the half-moon--
17467 Rationalists would wear sombreros.
17470 I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.
17471 -- G. K. Chesterton
17473 fat in dee head / fat in dee mind / thin on dee love / absent dee kind
17474 yon falwell got dee big head / falwell got dee tiny brain
17475 falwell don' like what you be liken' / falwell hate what he don' understan'
17476 which be everyteen' for dis one / falwell dee bigot boy.
17477 -- love poem to jerry f.
17479 The cat is, above all things, a dramatist.
17482 I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed
17483 us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
17486 The human mind treats a new idea the same way
17487 the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it.
17490 I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.
17491 -- Bertrand Russell
17493 The key to being a good manager is keeping the people
17494 who hate me away from those who are still undecided.
17497 Reality is nothing but a collective hunch. -- Lily Tomlin
17499 To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. -- Thomas Edison
17501 If I knew I was going to live this long,
17502 I'd have taken better care of myself.
17505 What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.
17506 -- Benjamin Disraeli
17508 The cat is the mirror of the human mind, personality and attitude,
17509 just as the dog mirrors his human's physical appearance.
17510 -- Winfred Carriere
17512 Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy?
17513 I don't know and I don't care.
17516 Historians are like deaf people who go on
17517 answering questions that no one has asked them.
17520 There are two moments worthwhile in writing, the one when you
17521 start and the other when you throw it in the waste-paper basket.
17524 The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems
17525 to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.
17528 I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you
17529 looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.
17532 common sense is just the things your parents tell you that
17533 actually make it into your brain when you're a kid.
17535 don't touch hot things,
17536 look both ways when crossing the street,
17539 these ones work; thus they survive.
17542 Men have become the tools of their tools. -- Henry David Thoreau
17544 Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the
17545 ego, and lessens the frictions of social contacts.
17546 -- Clare Booth Luce
17548 You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
17551 When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries
17552 disappear and life stands explained.
17555 Why was I born with such contemporaries? -- Oscar Wilde
17557 It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact. -- Edmund Burke
17559 What's on your mind, if you will allow the overstatement? -- Fred Allen
17561 The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof,
17562 a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an
17563 oracle, is inborn in us.
17566 The mad mind does not halt. If it halts, it is enlightenment.
17567 -- Chinese Zen Saying
17569 He who controls his mind and has cut off desire and anger realizes the Self.
17570 -- The Bhagavad Gita
17572 A fly, when it exists, has as much being as God. -- Soren Kierkegaard
17574 Our final experience, like our first, is conjectural.
17575 We move between two darknesses.
17578 If you have not lived through something, it is not true. -- Kabir
17580 I like a view but I like to sit with my back to it. -- Gertrude Stein
17583 So bright in the eyes of those
17584 clutching at the thought of death.
17587 The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you,
17588 the better you will hear what is sounding outside.
17589 And only she who listens can speak.
17590 -- Dag Hammarskjold
17592 If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self,
17593 then ignorance is better than such knowledge.
17596 When the eye wakes up to see again,
17597 it suddenly stops taking anything for granted.
17598 -- Frederick Franck
17600 Only when we know little things do we know
17601 anything; doubt grows with knowledge.
17602 -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
17609 He, O men, is the wisest, who, like Socrates,
17610 knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing.
17613 Words are just like a man carrying a lamp to look for
17614 his property, by which he can say: this is my property.
17615 -- The Lankavatara Sutra
17618 of a good man's life,
17619 His little, nameless,
17621 Of kindness and love.
17622 -- William Wordsworth
17624 I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm
17625 some sort of Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself
17626 in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.
17629 Life is like stepping onto a boat that is about to sail out to sea and sink.
17633 The cries of the cicadas
17634 Sink into the rocks.
17637 We live in a rainbow of chaos. -- Paul Cezanne
17639 love's like a purple dinosaur because it can't outrun a truck,
17640 life's like a bowl of nixons sometimes you f*ck.
17643 Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
17644 -- Napoleon Bonaparte
17646 Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the
17647 imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.
17650 We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not
17651 unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of
17652 thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what
17653 we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.
17656 The playful kitten, with its pretty little tigerish gambols, is infinitely
17657 more amusing than half the people one is obliged to live with in the world.
17658 -- Lady Sydney Morgan
17660 The mystery of life is not a problem to be
17661 solved but a reality to be experienced.
17662 -- Aart Van Der Leeuw
17664 Have no designs on becoming a Buddha. This has nothing
17665 whatever to do with sitting or lying down.
17668 When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves,
17669 it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
17670 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld
17672 We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big
17673 difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which,
17674 over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.
17675 -- Marian Wright Edelman
17677 Golf is a good walk spoiled.
17680 The day we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity. -- Seneca
17682 Life is stressful enough without customer service. -- Thomas Oliver
17684 To assume a cat's asleep is a grave mistake.
17685 He can close his eyes and keep both his ears awake.
17688 Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged
17689 in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.
17692 The tendency has always been strong to believe that whatever received
17693 a name must be an entity or being, having an independent existence of
17694 its own. And if no real entity answering to the name could be found,
17695 men did not for that reason suppose that none existed, but imagined
17696 that it was something peculiarly abstruse and mysterious.
17697 -- John Stuart Mill
17699 You aren't a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.
17702 The master, Hseuh-feng, asked a newly arrived monk where
17703 he had come from. The monk answered: "From the Monastery of
17705 The master said, "In the daytime we have sunlight; in the
17706 evening, lamplight. What is spiritual light?"
17707 The monk had no answer.
17708 The Master said, "Sunlight. Lamplight."
17711 There is no wealth but life. -- John Ruskin
17713 Approach it and there is no beginning; follow it
17714 and there is no end. You can't know it, but you
17715 can be it, at ease in your own life.
17718 And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where
17719 we started and know the place for the first time.
17722 There's an old saying in Tennessee--I know it's in Texas, probably in
17723 Tennessee--that says: Fool me once, shame on [pause] shame on you.
17724 [Pause] Fool me [long, uncomfortable, agonizing pause] you can't get
17726 -- Bush at East Literature Magnet School in Nashville yesterday.
17728 Concentration is my motto--first honesty,
17729 then industry, then concentration.
17732 Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. -- Charles de Gaulle
17734 If you would make a man happy, do not add to his possessions but
17735 subtract from the sum of his desires.
17738 Live life like your hair is on fire. -- Ashley Brilliant
17740 City people have a hard time handling the silences when they first
17741 come out to the country. After a certain period of solitude, I myself
17742 experiencing an aloneness that is sometimes disturbing, but the country
17743 eventually cleanses my spirit and purges my body of the sounds, fumes and
17744 toxins of urban life. I think cities feed psychological stress and tension
17745 in many ways, including an overload of electrical forces and energy. When
17746 you go to a country cabin without electricity, you will be surprised at how
17747 tensions fall away.
17748 Some practitioners advocate that urban dwellers removed from the
17749 country find a space in the yard or the garden and dig a hole deep enough
17750 to enfold the body. Lie down in the hole. Make sure your body can lie just
17751 below the surface of the ground. Stay in this hollow of earth. You will be
17752 surprised how rested you will feel simply because you have escaped for a
17753 moment the man-made influences. You have retreated for a moment to Mother
17754 Earth's very simple electrical systems. For the chemical and electrical
17755 balance of the body to be calibrated, you have to stay close to the earth
17756 itself, align yourself with its polarity so that your body can find harmony
17757 between the interior world and the exterior universe.
17758 Once we become detached from nature, we begin to think we can do
17759 without it. The lights of the Great White Way overpower the stars. It is
17760 very hard to see the brightest constellation when you live in or near a
17761 city. The dark solitude of the country reunites you with the universe of
17762 the stars. The woods and hills restore in you something primal in yourself.
17763 The sea's pulse sets your own heartbeat.
17764 -- James Earl Jones, "Voices and Silences"
17766 Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
17769 i think i found my other leak now. and this was a frelling dumb one.
17770 somehow the deletion of the memory was commented out. wtf?
17771 arrrrrrrhhhh... i don't know what i'm doing....
17772 i hate the C and everything coded in it.
17775 When men are pure, laws are useless;
17776 when men are corrupt, laws are broken.
17777 -- Benjamin Disraeli
17779 Only the mediocre are always at their best. -- Jean Giraudoux
17781 If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome;
17782 if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent;
17783 if you believe the military, nothing is safe.
17786 He is indebted to his memory for his jests
17787 and to his imagination for his facts.
17788 -- Richard Brinsley Sheridan
17790 If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of
17791 arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the
17792 physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of
17793 poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability.
17796 As a public company, and as a CEO, you have to worry about the stock price
17797 to some extent. But you figure out after a while that there are very few
17798 things you can do in the short term that can positively impact stock price.
17799 If you build a great company, the value of the company goes up. That's very
17800 important for employees to realize coming out of this age of day trading,
17801 mass hysteria and "we're all going to be bazillionaires." You've got to get
17802 people saying: "Why are we really here?" Well, we're here to build a great
17803 company. That takes time. You may have a great day today and the stock goes
17804 down, and you may have a horrible day tomorrow and the stock goes up. Short
17805 term, they don't have a lot to do with each other. But over a long period of
17806 time you build a great company, and it's going to be worth a lot. Customers
17807 will reward it. Shareholders will reward it. Employees will want to be a
17808 part of it and beat our door down to want to work here.
17809 -- Michael Dell, Founder of Dell Computers
17811 Cats have the gift of appearing at ease in any situation--high, low or
17812 anywhere in between.
17815 I am no more humble than my talents require. -- Oscar Levant
17817 Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.
17818 -- Albert Schweitzer
17820 It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there
17821 is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.
17824 The torch of doubt and chaos, this is what the sage steers by. -- Chuang-Tzu
17826 I would patch them, but I have not a half-sheet of paper.
17827 Ah, well--at least torn windows don't need to be pushed open.
17828 The blowing wind puts out my lamp.
17829 Rain falling from the eaves wets my inkstone.
17832 The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning.
17833 Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.
17836 I tell you: one must still have chaos in one,
17837 to give birth to a dancing star.
17838 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
17841 the frog is growing old now--
17842 among fallen leaves.
17845 Consciousness is a being,
17846 the nature of which
17847 is to be conscious of
17848 the nothingness of its being.
17849 -- Jean-Paul Sartre
17851 Since it is all too clear,
17852 It takes time to grasp it.
17853 When you understand that it's foolish
17854 To look for fire with fire,
17855 The meal is already cooked.
17858 May you live all the days of your life. -- Jonathan Swift
17860 How could there be any question of acquiring
17861 or possessing, when the one thing needful for
17862 a man is to /become/--to /be/ at last, and to die
17863 in the fullness of his being.
17864 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
17866 Death, the most dreaded of evils, is therefore of no concern to us;
17867 for while we exist death is not present,
17868 and when death is present we no longer exist.
17871 Singing and danching are the voice of dharma. -- Hakuin
17873 All great truths begin as blasphemies. -- George Bernard Shaw
17875 Hope is not a strategy. -- Thomas McInerney
17877 I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month,
17878 and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.
17879 -- Thomas Jefferson
17881 As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now
17882 to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly.
17885 Sometimes the veil between human and animal intelligence wears
17886 very thin--then one experiences the supreme thrill of keeping
17887 a cat, or perhaps allowing oneself to be owned by a cat.
17888 -- Catherine Manley
17890 I'm never going to be famous. My name will never be writ large on the
17891 roster of Those Who Do Things. I don't do any thing. Not one single
17892 thing. I used to bite my nails, but I don't even do that any more.
17895 One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the
17896 belief that one's work is terribly important.
17897 -- Bertrand Russell
17899 The universality of change, when completely understood, is the seeing
17900 into the heart of all things, and the Mind that thus understands is
17901 the Mind that truly seeks the way.
17904 The spirit down here in man and the spirit up there in the sun,
17905 in reality are only one spirit, and there is no other one.
17908 To free oneself is nothing--the really arduous task is to
17909 know what to do with one's freedom.
17912 I hate women because they always know where things are. -- James Thurber
17914 I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting. -- Mark Twain
17916 Be careful about reading health books.
17917 You may die of a misprint.
17920 Autumn, cloud blades on the horizon.
17921 The west wind blows from ten thousand miles.
17922 Dawn, in the clear morning air.
17923 Farmers busy after long rain.
17924 The desert trees shed their few green leaves.
17925 The mountain pears are tiny but ripe.
17926 A Tartar flute plays by the city gate.
17927 A single wild goose climbs into the void.
17930 When you get there, there isn't any there there. -- Gertrude Stein
17932 I want to sing like birds sing,
17933 not worrying who hears or what they think.
17936 The practice of zazen is not
17937 for gaining a mystical mind.
17938 Zazen is for allowing a clear mind--
17939 as clear as a bright autumn day.
17942 ... and he was almighty because he had wrenched
17943 from chaos the secret of its nothingness.
17944 -- Jean-Paul Sartre
17946 Practice thirty more years. -- Zen proverb
17948 Student: "Roshi, what are you doing here?"
17949 Suzuki-roshi: "Nothing special."
17952 After the leaves fall in the village at the foot of Ogura Peak,
17953 one can see through the tree branches the moon shining in the clear.
17956 Chaos often breeds life, where order breeds habit.
17959 You yourselves must make the exertion.
17960 The Buddhas are only teachers.
17961 -- Shakyamuni Buddha
17963 Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words,
17964 and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your
17965 light inward to illuminate your self. Body and mind of themselves will
17966 drop away, and your original face will be manifest.
17969 Next time you have a bad day, imagine this: You are a Siamese twin.
17970 Your brother that is attached to you at the shoulder is gay.
17971 You are not. But you only have one ass.
17973 From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition
17974 is something up with which I will not put.
17975 -- Winston Churchill
17977 The meaning of life is to see. -- Hui-Neng
17979 Fundamentally not one thing exists. -- Hui-Neng
17981 In the blue heavens, cold geese calling.
17982 On the empty hills, leaves flying.
17985 When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.
17986 -- George Bernard Shaw
17988 An intense love of solitude, distaste for involvement in worldly
17989 affairs, persistence in knowing the Self and awareness of the goal
17990 of knowing--all this is called true knowledge.
17991 -- The Bhagavad Gita
17993 Some people are born to lift heavy weights.
17994 Some are born to juggle with golden balls.
17997 Every man serves a useful purpose: A miser, for
17998 example, makes a wonderful ancestor.
17999 -- Lawrence J. Peter
18001 Smokey the Bear Sutra
18003 Once in the Jurassic about 150 million years ago,
18004 the Great Sun Buddha in this corner of the Infinite
18005 Void gave a Discourse to all the assembled elements
18006 and energies: to the standing beings, the walking beings,
18007 the flying beings, and the sitting beings -- even grasses,
18008 to the number of thirteen billion, each one born from a
18009 seed, assembled there: a Discourse concerning
18010 Enlightenment on the planet Earth.
18012 "In some future time, there will be a continent called
18013 America. It will have great centers of power called
18014 such as Pyramid Lake, Walden Pond, Mt. Rainier, Big Sur,
18015 Everglades, and so forth; and powerful nerves and channels
18016 such as Columbia River, Mississippi River, and Grand Canyon
18017 The human race in that era will get into troubles all over
18018 its head, and practically wreck everything in spite of
18019 its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature."
18021 "The twisting strata of the great mountains and the pulsings
18022 of volcanoes are my love burning deep in the earth.
18023 My obstinate compassion is schist and basalt and
18024 granite, to be mountains, to bring down the rain. In that
18025 future American Era I shall enter a new form; to cure
18026 the world of loveless knowledge that seeks with blind hunger:
18027 and mindless rage eating food that will not fill it."
18029 And he showed himself in his true form of
18033 a.. A handsome smokey-colored brown bear standing on his hind legs,
18034 showing that he is aroused and
18037 b.. Bearing in his right paw the Shovel that digs to the truth beneath
18038 appearances; cuts the roots of useless
18039 attach- ments, and flings damp sand on the fires of greed and war;
18041 c.. His left paw in the Mudra of Comradely Display -- indicating that all
18042 creatures have the full right to live to
18043 their limits and that deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions, and
18044 lizards all grow in the realm of the
18047 d.. Wearing the blue work overalls symbolic of slaves and laborers, the
18048 countless men oppressed by a
18049 civilization that claims to save but often destroys;
18051 e.. Wearing the broad-brimmed hat of the West, symbolic of the forces that
18052 guard the Wilderness, which is the
18053 Natural State of the Dharma and the True Path of man on earth: all true
18054 paths lead through mountains --
18056 f.. With a halo of smoke and flame behind, the forest fires of the
18057 kali-yuga, fires caused by the stupidity of
18058 those who think things can be gained and lost whereas in truth all is
18059 contained vast and free in the Blue Sky
18060 and Green Earth of One Mind;
18062 g.. Round-bellied to show his kind nature and that the great earth has
18063 food enough for everyone who loves her
18066 h.. Trampling underfoot wasteful freeways and needless suburbs; smashing
18067 the worms of capitalism and
18070 i.. Indicating the Task: his followers, becoming free of cars, houses,
18071 canned foods, universities, and shoes;
18072 master the Three Mysteries of their own Body, Speech, and Mind; and
18073 fearlessly chop down the rotten
18074 trees and prune out the sick limbs of this country America and then burn
18075 the leftover trash.
18077 Wrathful but Calm. Austere but Comic. Smokey the Bear will
18078 Illuminate those who would help him; but for those who would hinder or
18081 HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.
18083 Thus his great Mantra:
18085 Namah samanta vajranam chanda maharoshana
18086 Sphataya hum traks ham nam
18088 "I DEDICATE MYSELF TO THE UNIVERSAL DIAMOND
18089 BE THIS RAGING FURY DESTROYED"
18091 And he will protect those who love woods and rivers,
18092 Gods and animals, hobos and madmen, prisoners and sick
18093 people, musicians, playful women, and hopeful children:
18095 And if anyone is threatened by advertising, air pollution, television,
18096 or the police, they should chant SMOKEY THE BEAR'S WAR SPELL:
18103 And SMOKEY THE BEAR will surely appear to put the enemy out
18104 with his vajra-shovel.
18106 a.. Now those who recite this Sutra and then try to put it in practice
18107 willl accumulate merit as countless as the
18108 sands of Arizona and Nevada.
18110 b.. Will help save the planet Earth from total oil slick.
18112 c.. Will enter the age of harmony of man and nature.
18114 d.. Will win the tender love and caresses of men, women, and beasts.
18116 e.. Will always have ripe blackberries to eat and a sunny spot under a
18117 pine tree to sit at.
18119 f.. AND IN THE END WILL WIN HIGHEST PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT.
18121 thus have we heard.
18123 I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a
18124 nice letter saying that I approved of it.
18127 We are here to witness the creation and to abet it. -- Annie Dillard
18129 Today is the eighth of the month, tomorrow is the thirteenth. -- Zen proverb
18131 Often I am still listening when the song is over.
18132 -- Marquis de Saint-Lambert
18134 Worldly acquisitions of wealth and the need of clinging to them, as well as
18135 the pursuit of the Eight Worldly Aims, I regard with as much loathing and
18136 disgust as a man who is suffering from biliousness regardeth the sight of
18137 rich food. Nay, I regard them as if they were the murderers of my father;
18138 therefore it is that I am assuming this beggarly and penurious mode of life.
18146 Maturity is only a short break in adolescence. -- Jules Feiffer
18148 It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker
18149 that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.
18152 Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable
18153 that we have to alter it every six months.
18156 Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who
18157 can't talk for people who can't read.
18160 Bodhidharma sat facing the wall. The Second Patriarch, after standing
18161 outside in the snow for so long, cut off his arm. "My mind is not yet
18162 at peace. Please, Master, put my mind at peace."
18163 Bodhidharma said: "Bring me your mind and I will pacify it for you."
18164 The Second Patriarch replied: "Although I have searched for my mind,
18165 it is totally ungraspable."
18166 Bodhidharma said: "In that case I have pacified your mind for you."
18168 Explanation of the unspeakable cannot be finished. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
18170 We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness.
18173 Since it is the practice of enlightenment,
18174 that practice has no beginning and
18175 since it is enlightenment within the practice,
18176 that realization has no end.
18179 The quieter you become, the more you can hear. -- Baba Ram Dass
18181 As long as you seek for something, you will get
18182 the shadow of reality and not reality itself.
18185 Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least
18186 triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to
18187 recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
18188 -- Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld
18190 I love being married. It's so great to find that one
18191 special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
18194 I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
18197 A happy childhood has spoiled many a promising life. -- Robertson Davies
18199 At this point in history genius has become
18200 a commodity, an ambition, even a lifestyle.
18203 A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world. -- Jean le Carre
18205 Martyrdom is the only way in which a
18206 man can become famous without ability.
18207 -- George Bernard Shaw
18209 For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
18210 For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
18211 -- Christopher Smart
18213 It's not autumn's cold that keeps me awake,
18214 but what I feel before the grasses and trees in my courtyard.
18215 My banana tree has lost its leaves; my parasol tree is old;
18216 and night after night--the sound of wind, the sound of rain.
18219 I believe in an ultimate decency of things. -- Robert Louis Stevenson
18226 We have two eyes to see two sides of things, but there must be a third eye
18227 which will see everything at the same time and yet not see anything.
18228 That is to understand Zen.
18231 Yes it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth
18232 sometimes comes to the top.
18235 Having precise ideas often leads to a man doing nothing. -- Paul Valery
18237 The cat was a creature of absolute convictions,
18238 and his faith in his deductions never varied.
18239 -- Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
18241 Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay
18242 any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose
18243 any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
18246 With Henry Adams we see the moment when the pronouncements
18247 of philosophers ceased to be greeted with forehead slaps of
18248 recognition or shouts of "Heretic!" and began to be met
18249 with mumbles of "Oh, shut up."
18252 The nature of mind, when understood, no human words can
18253 compass or disclose. Enlightenment is naught to be obtained,
18254 and he that gains it does not say he knows.
18257 As long as you haven't experienced this: to die and so to grow,
18258 you are only a troubled guest on the dark earth.
18259 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
18261 Nirvana is right here, before our eyes. -- Hakuin
18263 It is the stars not known to science that I would know,
18264 the stars which the lonely traveler knows.
18265 -- Henry David Thoreau
18267 You've got to take the bitter with the sour. -- Sam Goldwyn
18269 And a man shall be free, and as pure as the day prior to
18270 his conception in his mother's womb, when he has nothing,
18271 wants nothing and knows nothing.
18274 Words, like eyeglasses, blur everything they do not make clear.
18277 Outside mind there is no Buddha,
18278 Outside Buddha there is no mind.
18281 They are ill discoverers that think there is no land,
18282 when they can see nothing but sea.
18283 -- Sir Francis Bacon
18285 My father hated radio and could not wait for television to be
18286 invented so he could hate that too.
18289 Opportunity is missed by most people because
18290 it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
18291 -- Thomas Alva Edison
18293 Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. -- Benjamin Franklin
18295 When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus,
18296 it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV
18297 has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.
18298 -- Edward R. Murrow
18300 In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.
18303 The art of medicine consists in amusing the
18304 patient while nature cures the disease.
18307 I am enlightened, and always have been, simultaneously
18308 with the beginning of the universe.
18309 -- The Buddha, first words after realizing the truth
18311 A billion stars go spinning through the night,
18312 blazing high above your head.
18313 But in you is the presence that will be,
18314 when the stars are dead.
18315 -- Rainer Maria Rilke
18317 The goal of Buddhism is to bring about right human life, not to have
18318 the teaching, or teacher, or sentient beings, or Buddhism, or Buddha.
18319 But if you think that without any training you can have that kind of
18320 life, that is a big mistake.
18323 So much of what we call management consists
18324 in making it difficult for people to work.
18327 People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.
18330 Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from
18331 acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
18332 -- W. Somerset Maugham
18334 Everything you know is wrong. -- Firesign Theatre
18336 One day Yuan-wu took the high seat, and said:
18337 A monk asked Yun-men: 'Where did all the buddhas come from?'
18338 Yun-men answered: 'The East Mountain walks over the water.'
18339 But if I were asked, I would not answer that way.
18340 I would say: 'A fragrant breeze comes of itself from the south,
18341 and in the palace a refreshing coolness stirs.'
18344 I would believe only in a god who could dance. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
18346 The moon floats above the pines, and the night veranda is cold as the
18347 ancient, clear sound comes from your finger tips. The old melody usually
18348 makes the listeners weep, but Zen music is beyond sentiment. Do not play
18349 again unless the Great Sound of Lao-tzu accompanies you.
18352 Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow. -- Oscar Wilde
18354 Logically considered, Zen may be full of contradictions and repetitions.
18355 But as it stands above all things, it goes serenely on its own way.
18358 Clouds come from time to time--and bring a chance
18359 to rest from looking at the moon.
18362 Listen. Make a way for yourself inside yourself.
18363 Stop looking in the other way of looking.
18366 Do not be an embodiment of fame; do not be a storehouse of schemes;
18367 do not be an undertaker of projects; do not be a proprietor of wisdom.
18368 Wander where there is no trail. Hold on to all that you have received
18369 from Heaven but do not think you have gotten anything. Be empty, that
18370 is all. The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror--going after nothing,
18371 welcoming nothing, responding but not storing.
18374 In the end, everything is a gag. -- Charlie Chaplin
18376 One can not be certain of living
18377 even into the evening.
18378 In the dim first light
18380 from a departing boat.
18383 The truth dazzles gradually, or else the world would be blind.
18386 All things in this world are impermanent.
18387 They have the nature to rise and pass away.
18388 To be in harmony with this truth brings true happiness.
18391 True words always seem paradoxical but no other form
18392 of teaching can take their place.
18395 Did you not know that at the edge of a deep valley there is an excellent
18396 pine tree growing up straight in spite of the many years of cold?
18399 Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him.
18402 In a snowfall that covers the winter grass
18403 a white heron uses his own whiteness to disappear.
18406 Settle the self on the self. -- Shunryu Suzuki
18408 Finished, finished...
18409 when it is completely finished
18410 there is nothing to finish.
18413 I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity. -- Tom Stoppard
18415 Which is the more beautiful, feline movement or feline stillness?
18416 -- Elizabeth Hamilton
18418 We cannot speak without incurring some risk, at least in theory;
18419 the only way of being absolutely safe is to say nothing.
18422 Numerous studies demonstrate that people can be motivated to creativity
18423 simply with the addition of an instruction to "be creative."
18424 -- Richard Saul Wurman
18426 Our obsessions with history and prophecy perhaps reflect an inability
18427 to comprehend the implications of geological time. The mind's traditional
18428 organization of duration into past, present, and future really has more
18429 relevance to the five-thousand-year-old earth of the seventeenth century
18430 than it does to the five-billion-year-old one of the twentieth. Past and
18431 future require certain limitations and symmetries to be meaningful--there
18432 must be a plot or at least a story. But time is really not much like a
18433 story. It is more like an ocean current that rises from imperfectly
18434 perceived depths and flows into unseen distances.
18435 This immensity might seem to diminish the present--the living moment--
18436 to utter insignificance, but actually the present looms much larger in
18437 geological time than in historical time. If time is a story, the present
18438 is merely a hiatus between the significant events that were and will be.
18439 If time is an ocean, however, the present is not less important than the
18440 other moments, which stretch away on all sides, any more than a single
18441 water molecule in an ocean is less important than the others. In a sense
18442 each living moment is the whole of time--an eternal present--because it
18443 can't be set apart from all the other moments.
18444 -- David Rains Wallace, from "Idle Weeds"
18446 Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
18447 -- Henry David Thoreau
18449 We are generally the better persuaded by the reasons we
18450 discover ourselves than by those given to us by others.
18453 You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
18456 Television has raised writing to a new low. -- Samuel Goldwyn
18458 I detest life-insurance agents; they always argue
18459 that I shall some day die, which is not so.
18462 People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.
18465 He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met.
18468 If the voter cannot grasp the details of the problems of the day because he
18469 has not the time, the interest or the knowledge, he will not have a better
18470 public opinion because he is asked to express his opinion more often.
18473 i have eliminated every fault,
18474 except for pride...
18475 doomed to walk the earth
18479 In spite of the cost of living, it's still popular. -- Laurence J. Peter
18481 Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall there was this one: "Matters of
18482 great concern should be treated lightly." Master Ittei commented, "Matters
18483 of small concern should be treated seriously." Among one's affairs there
18484 should not be more than two or three matters of what one could call great
18485 concern. If these are deliberated upon during ordinary times, they can be
18486 understood. Thinking about things previously and then handling them lightly
18487 when the time comes is what this is all about. To face an event and solve
18488 it lightly is difficult if you are not resolved beforehand, and there will
18489 always be uncertainty in hitting your mark. However, if the foundation is
18490 laid previously, you can think of the saying, "Matters of great concern
18491 should be treated lightly," as your basis for action.
18492 -- Hagakure, book of the samurai
18494 There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with
18495 a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road.
18496 But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still
18497 get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be
18498 perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding
18499 extends to everything.
18500 -- Hagakure, book of the samurai
18502 I deserve good things.
18503 I am entitled to my share of happiness.
18504 I refuse to beat myself up.
18505 I am attractive person.
18506 I am fun to be with.
18509 The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous,
18510 the sensible man hardly anything.
18513 In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car.
18514 -- Lawrence Summers
18516 I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the
18517 river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him.
18518 I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the
18519 starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and
18520 brotherhood can never become a reality.
18521 I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must
18522 spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear
18523 destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will
18524 have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is
18525 stronger than evil triumphant.
18526 I believe that even amid today's motor bursts and whining bullets,
18527 there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded
18528 justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can
18529 be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of
18531 I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three
18532 meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and
18533 dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what
18534 self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still
18535 believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be
18536 crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive
18537 goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.
18538 -- Martin Luther King, Jr
18540 Every increased possession loads us with new weariness. -- John Ruskin
18542 If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind,
18543 what is the significance of a clean desk?
18544 -- Lawrence J. Peter
18546 I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks.
18549 I am not young enough to know everything. -- Oscar Wilde
18551 I had never held a position for more than four years,
18552 and did not so much plan my new jobs as flee my old ones.
18555 It's a poor sort of memory that only works backward.
18556 -- The White Queen, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
18558 I have always felt that a politician is to be judged by
18559 the animosities he excites among his opponents.
18560 -- Winston Churchill
18562 All things are difficult before they are easy. -- Thomas Fuller
18564 There's no business like show business, but
18565 there are several businesses like accounting.
18568 All truth passes through three stages.
18569 First, it is ridiculed.
18570 Second, it is violently opposed.
18571 Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
18572 -- Arthur Schopenhauer
18574 Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence
18575 but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to
18576 shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.
18577 -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
18579 Talent is like the battery in a car. It'll get you started,
18580 but if the generator is bad, you don't go very far.
18583 No man ever listened himself out of a job. -- Calvin Coolidge
18585 I was unable to devote myself to the learning of this algebra and the continued
18586 concentration upon it, because of obstacles in the vagaries of time which
18587 hindered me; for we have been deprived of all the people of knowledge save for
18588 a group, small in number, with many troubles, whose concern in life is to
18589 snatch the opportunity, when time is asleep, to devote themselves meanwhile to
18590 the investigation and perfection of a science; for the majority of people who
18591 imitate philosophers confuse the true with the false, and they do nothing but
18592 deceive and pretend knowledge, and they do not use what they know of the
18593 sciences except for base and material purposes; and if they see a certain
18594 person seeking for the right and preferring the truth, doing his best to refute
18595 the false and untrue and leaving aside hypocrisy and deceit, they make a fool
18596 of him and mock him.
18597 -- Omar Khayyam, "Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra"
18599 It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish. -- Aeschylus
18601 Imagine what it would be like if TV actually were good.
18602 It would be the end of everything we know.
18605 Many engineering deadlocks have been broken by people who are not engineers
18606 at all. This is simply because perspective is more important than IQ.
18607 -- Nicholas Negroponte
18609 We are doomed to choose, and every choice may entail an irreparable loss.
18612 California is a fine place to live--if you happen to be an orange.
18615 Those whom the Gods would destroy, they first call promising.
18618 It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both
18619 incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted
18620 by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.
18623 All successful newspapers are ceaselessly querulous and bellicose. They
18624 never defend anyone or anything if they can help it; if the job is forced
18625 on them, they tackle it by denouncing someone or something else.
18628 The corollary of constant change is ignorance. This is not often
18629 talked about: we computer experts barely know what we're doing.
18632 The visionary lies to himself, the liar only to others.
18633 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
18635 Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo. -- H. G. Wells
18637 Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that,
18638 once it is competently programmed and working smoothly,
18639 it is completely honest.
18642 Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by
18643 confessing our parents' shortcomings.
18644 -- Laurence J. Peter
18646 No opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing
18647 when they are feeling sensible.
18650 All truths are easy to understand once they are
18651 discovered; the point is to discover them.
18654 We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential.
18655 Hence the fact that many inventions had their birth as toys.
18658 Considering how dangerous everything is,
18659 nothing is really very frightening.
18662 A bore is a man who deprives you of solitude
18663 without providing you with company.
18664 -- Gian Vincenzo Gravina
18666 What the world needs is more geniuses with humility.
18667 There are so few of us left.
18670 In the end, we will remember not the words of
18671 our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
18672 -- Martin Luther King
18674 Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the
18675 living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children,
18676 and by children to adults.
18679 You must first have a lot of patience to learn to have patience.
18680 -- Stanislaw W. Lec
18682 I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind!
18683 The answer is 12? I think I'm in the wrong building.
18684 -- Charles M. Schulz in "Peanuts"
18686 The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who
18687 hate me away from those who are still undecided.
18690 What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.
18693 People who've never fired a gun ("weapon", in Army-talk) explain "fire power"
18694 realities. Nobody--yet--would pretend to be an expert on brain surgery. But
18695 military tactics and modern warfare? What could be easier, right?
18696 -- Kenneth G. Robinson
18698 When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.
18699 -- William Wrigley Jr.
18701 Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an
18702 international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.
18703 -- George Bernard Shaw
18705 Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything.
18708 A well-laid business plan is no guarantee against the
18709 disappearance of the industry on which it is based.
18712 The way to protect human freedom is to make sure that your society is one
18713 in which the benefits of being a member of the society are so tempting and
18714 so great that people will take responsibility in order for it to happen.
18717 Technology seems to always start out promising specialization and
18718 personalization. In the end, it delivers more homogenization instead.
18721 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
18722 -- Thomas H. Huxley
18724 Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. -- Frank Zappa
18726 Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence
18727 as you can find outside an advertising agency.
18728 -- Raymond Chandler
18730 The only way to discover the limits of the possible
18731 is to go beyond them into the impossible.
18734 Life is full of misery, loneliness, and
18735 suffering--and it's all over much too soon.
18738 An economist is a man who states the obvious in terms of the incomprehensible.
18741 The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
18744 In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen;
18745 in small things they show themselves as they are.
18746 -- Nicholas Chamfort
18748 Pain is no evil, unless it conquers us. -- Charles Kingsley
18750 There's no reason to burn books if you don't read them. The education system
18751 in this country is just terrible, and we're not doing anything about it.
18754 Each of us inevitable; each of us limitless--
18755 each of us with his or her right upon the earth.
18758 In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the
18759 world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs.
18760 -- Sir William Osler
18762 It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept
18763 anything but the best, you very often get it.
18764 -- W. Somerset Maugham
18766 Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to,
18767 with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
18770 We have a natural opportunity to investigate the connections
18771 of a problem when looking back at its solution.
18774 Money teaches us to count, but science, inasmuch as it is
18775 not governed by money, might yet teach us to think.
18776 -- Christopher M. Kelty
18778 Painting, like flipping burgers or shearing sheep, is physical labor. It is
18779 enough nowadays to declare yourself an artist and then to declare some artifact
18780 in the vast world of found objects to be *your* work of art.
18783 The art of creation is older than the art of killing. -- Ed Koch
18785 In wisdom gathered over time I have found that
18786 every experience is a form of exploration.
18789 Anyone who in discussion relies upon authority
18790 uses not his understanding but his memory.
18791 -- Leonardo Da Vinci
18793 We've had a taste of Siemens before in the past. -- Bonafide PHB
18795 The awareness of the ambiguity of one's highest achievements (as well
18796 as one's deepest failures) is a definite symptom of maturity.
18799 A guilty conscience needs to confess.
18800 A work of art is a confession.
18803 When I examine myself and my methods of thought,
18804 I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy
18805 has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing
18806 positive knowledge.
18809 A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.
18810 -- Laurence J. Peter
18812 No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into
18813 account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
18816 We have profoundly forgotten everywhere that cash-payment is not
18817 the sole relation of human beings.
18820 No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone.
18821 His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his
18822 relation to the dead poets and artists.
18825 There's a moment coming. It's not here yet. It's still on the way.
18826 It's in the future. It hasn't arrived. Here it comes.
18827 Here it is... It's gone.
18830 Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art;
18831 it is the part the schools cannot recognize.
18834 It is easy to spot an informed man--
18835 his opinions are just like your own.
18836 -- Miguel de Unamuno
18838 If you see in any given situation only what everybody else
18839 can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of
18840 your culture that you are a victim of it.
18843 If you are going through hell, keep going. -- Winston Churchill
18845 The Founders of the American nation were one of the most creative
18846 groups in modern history. Some among them, especially in recent years,
18847 have been condemned for their failures and weaknesses--for their racism,
18848 sexism, compromises, and violations of principle. And indeed moral
18849 judgments are as necessary in assessing the lives of these people as of
18850 any others. But we are privileged to know and to benefit from the outcome
18851 of their efforts, which they could only hopefully imagine, and ignore their
18852 main concern: which was the possibility, indeed the probability, that their
18853 creative enterprise--not to recast the social order but to transform the
18854 political system--would fail: would collapse into chaos or autocracy.
18855 Again and again they were warned of the folly of defying the received
18856 traditions, the sheer unlikelihood that they, obscure people on the outer
18857 borderlands of European civilization, knew better than the established
18858 authorities that ruled them; that they could successfully create something
18859 freer, ultimately more enduring than what was then known in the centers of
18861 Since we inherit and build on their achievements, we now know what the
18862 established world of the eighteenth century flatly denied but which they
18863 broke through convention to propose -- that absolute power need not be
18864 indivisible but can be shared among states within a state and among
18865 branches of government, and that the sharing of power and the balancing of
18866 forces can create not anarchy but freedom.
18867 We know for certain what they could only experimentally and prayerfully
18868 propose--that formal, written constitutions, upheld by judicial bodies, can
18869 effectively constrain the tyrannies of both executive force and populist
18871 We know, because they had the imagination to perceive it, that there
18872 is a sense, mysterious as it may be, in which human rights can be seen to
18873 exist independent of privileges, gifts, and donations of the powerful, and
18874 that these rights can somehow be defined and protected by the force of law.
18875 We casually assume, because they were somehow able to imagine, that
18876 the exercise of power is no natural birthright but must be a gift of those
18877 who are subject to it."
18878 -- Bernard Bailyn, from "To Begin The World Anew: The Genius and
18879 Ambiguities of the American Founders
18881 Discretion in speech is more than eloquence. -- Francis Bacon
18883 I fell asleep reading a dull book, and I dreamed that
18884 I was reading on, so I awoke from sheer boredom.
18887 I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep
18888 contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could
18889 share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation.
18890 It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill
18891 of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping
18892 forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.
18893 -- Nathaniel Hawthorne
18895 Another cause of your sickness, and the most important:
18896 you have forgotten what you are.
18899 All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of
18900 their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible,
18901 exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.
18902 One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on
18903 by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.
18906 When a man mistakes his thoughts for persons and things, he is mad.
18907 -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
18909 Did you ever see dishonest calluses on a man's hands? Hardly.
18910 When a man's hands are callused and women's hands are worn,
18911 you may be sure honesty is there. That's more than you can
18912 say about many soft white hands.
18915 The march of invention has clothed mankind with powers of which
18916 a century ago the boldest imagination could not have dreamt.
18919 The American invents
18920 as the Greek chiseled,
18921 as the Venetian painted,
18922 as the modern Italian sings.
18925 If it's mechanical, has tits, or wheels, it will give you trouble.
18928 Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
18931 A small nose means a small penis. Small noses make for difficult breathing
18932 and small penises make for difficulty breeding.
18935 Executives are like joggers. If you stop a jogger, he goes on running
18936 on the spot. If you drag an executive away from his business, he goes
18937 on running on the spot, pawing the ground, talking business. He never
18938 stops hurtling onwards, making decisions and executing them.
18939 -- Jean Baudrillard
18941 Every man bears in himself the germs of every human quality;
18942 but sometimes one quality manifests itself, sometimes another,
18943 and the man often becomes unlike himself,
18944 while still remaining the same man.
18947 You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.
18950 If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going.
18951 -- Professor Irwin Corey
18953 When you wish to instruct be brief--so that people's minds can
18954 quickly grasp what you have to say, understand your point, and
18955 retain it accurately. Unnecessary words just spill over the
18956 side of a mind already crammed to the full.
18959 I just don't understand why anyone is unable to realize what a disaster
18960 a meeting is for a business. Never meet. If it can't be settled in a
18961 five minute conversation, it's probably insoluble no matter how many
18962 people talk about it for however long.
18965 Writing comes more easily if you have something to say. -- Sholem Asch
18968 led by the unknowing,
18969 are doing the impossible
18970 for the ungrateful.
18971 We have done so much for so long with so little
18972 We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
18973 -- Blue Collar Lament
18975 Endure, and save yourself for happier times. -- Virgil
18977 I don't think being funny is anyone's first choice. -- Woody Allen
18979 i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly
18980 spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
18981 which is natural which is infinite which is yes
18984 None but myself ever did me any harm. I was, I may say, the only enemy to
18985 myself: my own projects, that expedition to Moscow, and the accidents which
18986 happened there, were the causes of my fall. I must say, though, that those
18987 who failed to oppose me, who readily agreed with me, accepted all my views,
18988 and yielded easily to my opinions, were those who did me the most injury,
18989 and were my worst enemies, because, by surrendering to me so easily, they
18990 encouraged me to go too far... I was then too powerful for any man, except
18991 myself, to injure me.
18992 -- Napoleon Bonaparte
18994 If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better
18995 mousetrap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the
18996 world will make a beaten path to his door.
18997 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, attributed by Sarah B. Yule, Borrowings, 1889
18999 Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
19000 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19002 All conservatives are such from personal defects.
19003 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19005 The reliance on Property, including the reliance on governments which
19006 protect it, is the want of self-reliance.
19007 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19009 We are symbols, and inhabit symbols.
19010 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19012 The louder he talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.
19013 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19015 Fame is proof that people are gullible.
19016 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19018 What is the hardest task in the world? To think....
19019 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19021 The greatest discovery of any generation is that a
19022 human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.
19025 Were we perfectly acquainted with the object,
19026 we should never passionately desire it.
19027 -- Francois De La Rochefoucauld
19029 The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid, will not sit upon a hot
19030 stove lid again. But he won't sit upon a cold stove lid, either.
19033 There were two "Reigns of Terror", if we could but remember and consider it;
19034 the one wrought murder in hot passions, the other in heartless cold blood;
19035 the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one
19036 inflicted death upon a thousand persons, the other upon a hundred million;
19037 but our shudders are all for the horrors of the momentary Terror, so to
19038 speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe compared with
19039 lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty and heartbreak? A city
19040 cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief terror that we have
19041 all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France
19042 could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror--that
19043 unspeakable bitter and awful Terror which none of us has been taught to see
19044 in its vastness or pity as it deserves.
19047 You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.
19050 To be wholly overlooked, and to know it, are intolerable. -- John Adams
19052 In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
19053 In practice, there is.
19056 The charm, one might say the genius, of memory is that it is choosy,
19057 chancy and temperamental; it rejects the edifying cathedral and indelibly
19058 photographs the small boy outside, chewing a hunk of melon in the dust.
19061 Literature is the art of writing something that will be
19062 read twice; journalism what will be read once.
19065 It takes at least a couple of decades to realize that you were well taught.
19066 All true education is a delayed-action bomb assembled in the classroom for
19067 explosion at a later date. An educational fuse of 50 years long is by no
19069 -- Kenneth D. Gangel
19071 When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy,
19072 it ceases to be a subject of interest.
19075 Men are generally idle, and ready to satisfy themselves, and intimidate the
19076 industry of others, by calling that impossible which is only difficult.
19079 An author is a fool who, not content with boring those
19080 he lives with, insists on boring future generations.
19081 -- Charles de Montesquieu
19083 Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you
19084 don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's
19085 a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.
19088 If knowledge can create problems, it is not through
19089 ignorance that we can solve them.
19092 A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. -- Sir Francis Bacon
19094 The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.
19095 And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little
19096 we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our
19097 thoughts and deeds.
19100 People who are unhappy with the way things are tend to remain unhappy
19101 even after they have changed them. The nature of their unhappiness
19102 is such that change does not slake it.
19105 The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of
19106 production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication,
19107 draws all nations into civilization.
19110 I learned one really sad fact from my career as a columnist: nobody changes
19111 their mind about anything. Ever. Once we form the opinion, we become
19112 evidence processors and we just collect all the evidence that supports our
19113 opinion and reject all the evidence that disputes it.
19116 I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first
19117 dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light.
19120 The end of the road map is a cliff that both sides will fall off.
19121 -- Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, on the Mideast peace effort, 2003.
19123 Once we admit that there is room for newness--that there are vastly more
19124 conceivable possibilities than realized outcomes--we must confront the fact
19125 that there is no special logic behind the world we inhabit, no particular
19126 justification for why things are the way they are. Any number of arbitrary
19127 small perturbations along the way could have made the world as we know it
19128 turn out very differently.
19131 Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be
19132 sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.
19133 -- Robert Louis Stevenson
19135 All human beings should try to learn before they die
19136 what they are running from, and to, and why.
19139 The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the
19140 world; the humorist makes fun of himself.
19143 All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really
19144 happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all
19145 that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and
19146 the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse, and sorrow, the people and the places
19147 and how the weather was.
19148 -- Ernest Hemingway
19150 The true conquests, the only ones that leave no regret,
19151 are those that have been wrested from ignorance.
19152 -- Napoleon Bonaparte
19154 No love, no friendship can cross the path of our
19155 destiny without leaving some mark on it forever.
19156 -- Francois Mauriac
19158 Better beware of notions like genius and inspiration; they are a sort of magic
19159 wand and should be used sparingly by anybody who wants to see things clearly.
19160 -- Jose Ortega y Gasset
19162 A thick skin is a gift from God. -- Konrad Adenauer
19164 Far from idleness being the root of all evil,
19165 it is rather the only true good.
19166 -- Soren Kierkegaard
19168 It is the wretchedness of being rich that you have to live with rich people.
19169 -- Logan Pearsall Smith
19171 The secret of joy is the mastery of pain. -- Anais Nin
19173 Everything is practice. -- Pele
19175 However much we guard ourselves against it, we tend to shape ourselves in
19176 the image others have of us. It is not so much the example of others we
19177 imitate, as the reflection of ourselves in their eyes and the echo of
19178 ourselves in their words.
19181 It is astonishing what you can do when you have
19182 a lot of energy, ambition and plenty of ignorance.
19183 -- Alfred P. Sloan Jr.
19185 The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion.
19186 -- G. K. Chesterton
19188 If there is no God, who pops up the next Kleenex? -- Art Hoppe
19190 For all these new and evolutionary facts, meanings, purposes,
19191 new poetic messages, new forms and expressions, are inevitable.
19194 A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king,
19195 and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.
19198 Only he is an artist who can make a riddle out of a solution. -- Karl Kraus
19200 Love demands infinitely less than friendship. -- George Jean Nathan
19202 People only see what they are prepared to see. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
19204 We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one
19205 dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are
19206 relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past,
19207 present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in
19208 the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.
19211 I hate house work! You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months
19212 later you have to start all over again.
19215 The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only
19216 a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and
19217 deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the
19218 man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.
19221 If a man watches three football games in a row
19222 he should be declared legally dead.
19225 To see we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at. -- Claude Monet
19227 Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence,
19228 by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills, responsibilities, and
19229 rewards of grownups, and opportunities for action in all spheres of life.
19230 Adolescence should be a time of useful action, while book learning and
19231 scholarship should be a preoccupation of adults.
19234 Being defeated appears to be an inexhaustible
19235 wellspring of intellectual progress.
19236 -- Reinhart Koselleck
19238 Any genuine teaching will result, if successful, in someone's knowing
19239 how to bring about a better condition of things than existed earlier.
19242 George Orwell, on why someone might write a book...
19244 1. Sheer egoism. Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered
19245 after death, to get your own back on grownups who snubbed you in childhood,
19246 etc., etc. It is humbug to pretend that this is not a motive, and a strong
19247 one. Writers share this characteristic with scientists, artists, politicians,
19248 lawyers, soldiers, successful businessmen-in short, with the whole top crust
19249 of humanity. The great mass of human beings are not acutely selfish. After
19250 the age of about thirty they abandon individual ambition and live chiefly for
19251 others or are simply smothered under drudgery. But there is also the minority
19252 of gifted, willful people who are determined to live their own lives to the
19253 end, and writers belong to this class. Serious writers, I should say, are on
19254 the whole more vain and self-centered than journalists, though less interested
19256 2. Esthetic enthusiasm. Perception of beauty in the external world, or, on
19257 the other hand, in words and their right arrangement. Pleasure in the impact
19258 of one sound on another, in the firmness of good prose or the rhythm of a good
19259 story. Desire to share an experience which one feels is valuable and ought not
19260 to be missed. Above the level of a railway guide, no book is quite free from
19261 esthetic considerations.
19262 3. Historical impulse. Desire to see things as they are, to find out true
19263 facts and store them up for the use of posterity.
19264 4. Political purpose -- using the word "political" in the widest possible
19265 sense. Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other
19266 people's idea of the kind of society that they should strive after. Once
19267 again, no book is genuinely free from political bias. The opinion that art
19268 should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude.
19270 The only true exploration, the only real Fountain of Youth, will not be
19271 in visiting foreign lands, but in having other eyes, in looking at the
19272 universe through the eyes of others.
19275 They said it couldn't be done but sometimes it doesn't work out that way.
19278 To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. -- Cicero
19280 Nobody ever died of laughter. -- Max Beerbohm
19282 A thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for. -- W. C. Fields
19284 Women speak because they wish to speak, whereas a man speaks
19285 only when driven to speech by something outside himself--like,
19286 for instance, he can't find any clean socks.
19289 Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all-time thing. You don't win
19290 once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them
19291 right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
19294 It is by logic that we prove but by intuition that we discover.
19297 Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win,
19298 by fearing to attempt.
19299 -- William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure"
19301 Another unsettling element in modern art is that common symptom
19302 of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before.
19305 Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go according to any rules.
19306 They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin
19307 that won't heal because there's not enough material.
19308 -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
19310 One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with
19311 gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is
19312 so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for
19313 the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
19316 Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute. -- Josh Billings
19318 One can know a man from his laugh, and if you like a man's laugh before
19319 you know anything of him, you may confidently say that he is a good man.
19320 -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
19322 When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision,
19323 then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
19326 Fascism should more properly be called corporatism,
19327 since it is the merger of state and corporate power.
19328 -- Benito Mussolini
19330 Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. -- Ovid
19332 There is hardly anything in the world that some men cannot make a little
19333 bit worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price
19334 only are this man's lawful prey.
19337 The globe has been circumnavigated, but no man ever yet has; you may survey
19338 a kingdom and note the results in maps, but all the savants in the world
19339 could not produce a reliable map of the poorest human personality.
19342 Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death.
19345 Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
19348 One important key to success is self-confidence.
19349 An important key to self-confidence is preparation.
19352 If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will
19353 change a past or future event, then you are residing on another
19354 planet with a different reality system.
19357 As people grow up, they change brands. -- Al Ries
19359 If there is just one beam of sunshine coming into a room,
19360 you can be sure that the cat is lazing in its heat.
19361 -- Stuart and Linda MacFarlane
19363 If your parents never had children, chances are you won't, either.
19366 If the human race wishes to have prolonged and indefinite period
19367 of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful
19368 and helpful way toward one another.
19369 -- Winston Churchill
19371 All charming people have something to conceal, usually
19372 their total dependence on the appreciation of others.
19375 Part of the function of memory is to forget; the omni-retentive mind will break
19376 down and produce at best an idiot savant who can recite a telephone book, and
19377 at worst a person to whom every grudge and slight is as yesterday.
19378 -- Christopher Hitchens
19380 Try to be one of the people on whom nothing gets lost. -- Henry James
19382 If a man hasn't discovered something that
19383 he would die for, he isn't fit to live.
19384 -- Martin Luther King Jr.
19386 The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of
19387 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
19390 Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
19393 I am happy to engage in discussion with those who accept that technology and
19394 affluence are a net plus, but who worry about their troubling side effects.
19395 Spare me, however, the sensitive souls who deplore technological advance and
19396 economic growth over their cell phones on their way to the airport.
19399 There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish
19400 together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between.
19401 -- Sir Thomas Beecham
19403 The incompetent with nothing to do can still make a mess of it.
19404 -- Laurence J. Peter
19406 The universe is full of magical things patiently
19407 waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
19410 Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the
19411 usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and
19412 nobody thinks of complaining.
19415 My life needs editing. -- Mort Sahl
19417 Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better. -- Emile Coue
19419 Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My
19420 opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-
19421 seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.
19422 -- Flannery O'Connor
19424 There is nothing so wrong in this world that a sensible
19425 woman can't set it right in the course of an afternoon.
19428 There is no one, no matter how wise he is, who has not in his youth said
19429 things or done things that are so unpleasant to recall in later life that
19430 he would expunge them entirely from his memory if that were possible.
19433 Adults are obsolete children. -- Dr. Seuss
19435 Barbie would also be tired of Microsoft's licensing bullsh*t.
19436 -- Maury Cesterino, Chief Software Architect, Mattel, Inc.
19438 When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we
19439 fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
19440 Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!
19443 A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.
19444 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
19446 Allowing a schizophrenic in a cowboy costume to represent himself in a
19447 death penalty case gives new meaning to the term "frontier justice."
19448 -- Jim Marcus, executive director of the Texas Defender Service.
19450 Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves
19451 you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.
19454 Creativity is not merely the innocent spontaneity of our youth
19455 and childhood; it must also be married to the passion of the
19456 adult human being, which is a passion to live beyond one's death.
19459 Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
19460 -- Martin Luther King
19462 Life Shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. -- Anais Nin
19464 Freedom is the sure possession of those alone
19465 who have the courage to defend it.
19468 Psychoanalysis is that spiritual disease of
19469 which it considers itself to be the cure.
19472 Teaching is arduous work, entailing much grinding detail and
19473 boring repetition--a teacher, it has been said, never says
19474 anything once--interrupted only occasionally by moments of
19475 always surprising exultation. And I should like to add that
19476 I don't think I learned a thing from my students, except that,
19477 as one student evaluation informed me, I tend to jingle the
19478 change in my pocket.
19481 All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history,
19482 novels, art would be ineffectual.
19483 -- Honore de Balzac
19485 We do not sit in such-and-such a way because a carpenter has built
19486 a chair in such-and-such a way; rather, the carpenter makes the chair
19487 as he does because someone wants to sit that way.
19490 No brilliance is required in law, just common sense
19491 and relatively clean fingernails.
19494 Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body. -- Seneca
19496 True friends stab you in the front. -- Oscar Wilde
19498 Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice. -- Henry Ford
19500 Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life.
19501 The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for
19505 Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.
19508 Life need not be easy provided only that it is not empty. -- Lise Meitner
19510 Some of us cannot be optimists, but all of us can be bigamists.
19513 No more frisking as of old,
19514 Or chasing his shadow over the lawn,
19515 But a dignified old person, tickling
19516 His nose against twig or flower in the border,
19517 Until evening falls and bed-time's in order...
19518 My cat and I grow old together.
19521 Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when taken
19522 in too large quantities.
19525 The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and
19526 mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.
19527 -- Thomas A. Edison
19529 Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative
19530 pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little
19531 falls into lazy habits of thinking.
19534 Engineering can be seen as a family of paths crossing a solution space--in
19535 this case a space defined by all the possible arrangements and combinations
19536 of geometry, time, and material properties that might satisfy the particular
19537 specifications of a design. Filtering a good design out of these possibilities
19538 by simple, direct calculation is impossible both because of the enormous number
19539 of variables and because there are always elements in the specifications--like
19540 aesthetics or ergonomics or compatibility with the corporate image--that can't
19541 be reduced to a number or folded into a common denominator. What humans do in
19542 these cases is: think up a completely wrong (but sincerely felt) approach to
19543 the problem, jump in, fail, and then do an autopsy. Each failure contains
19544 encrypted somewhere on its body directions for the next jump: "strengthen this
19545 part," "tie this down next time," "buy a better battery." Good engineering is
19546 not a matter of creativity or centering or grounding or inspiration or lateral
19547 thinking, as useful as those might be, but of decoding the clever, even witty,
19548 messages solution space carves on the corpses of the ideas in which you
19549 believed with all your heart, and then building the road to the next message.
19550 -- Fred Hapgood, from "Up the Infinite Corridor: MIT and Technical
19553 The hardest part of gaining any new idea is
19554 sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche.
19557 Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, "We've always done
19558 it this way." I try to fight that. That's why I have a clock on my
19559 wall that runs counter-clockwise.
19562 What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.
19563 -- Theodore Roethke
19565 A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
19566 an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
19567 -- Winston Churchill
19569 I have always felt that everybody on earth goes about in disguise.
19572 At bottom, every man knows perfectly well that he is a unique being,
19573 only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a
19574 marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever
19575 be put together a second time.
19576 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
19578 Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the
19579 lack of contradiction a sign of truth.
19582 If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
19583 The more things you do, the more you can do.
19586 The car as we know it is on the way out. To a large extent, I deplore
19587 its passing, for as a basically old-fashioned machine, it enshrines a
19588 basically old-fashioned idea: freedom. In terms of pollution, noise and
19589 human life, the price of that freedom may be high, but perhaps the car,
19590 by the very muddle and confusion it causes, may be holding back the
19591 remorseless spread of the regimented, electronic society.
19594 I live in company with a body, a silent companion, exacting and eternal.
19595 -- Eugene Delacroix
19597 History never looks like history when you are living through it.
19600 In a cat's eyes round as golden bells,
19601 The mad Spring's flame glows.
19602 On a cat's gently closed lips,
19603 The soft Spring's drowsiness lies.
19604 On a cat's sharp whiskers,
19605 The green Spring's life dances.
19608 People always talk to me about my drinking; they never ask me about my thirst.
19611 Algebraic symbols are used when you do not know what you are talking about.
19612 -- Philippe Shnoebelen
19614 We don't stop playing because we grow old;
19615 we grow old because we stop playing.
19616 -- George Bernard Shaw
19618 Competitions are for horse, not artist. -- Bela Bartok
19620 I feel that if a person has problems communicating
19621 the very least he can do is to shut up.
19624 It is, of course, totally pointless to call a cat when it is intent
19625 on the chase. They are deaf to the interruptive nonsense of humans.
19626 They are on cat business, totally serious and involved.
19627 -- John D. MacDonald
19629 Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought.
19630 -- Sir William Osler
19632 The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
19633 -- Robertson Davies
19635 Where do the words come from? The same mysterious place, I suspect,
19636 where notes of music go. They precede ideas, and are inseparable
19637 from them. For myself, I bow my head, touch wood, and utter a small
19638 prayer that the flow of them never cease.
19641 The only thing that I'd rather own than Windows is English, because then I
19642 could charge you two hundred and forty-nine dollars for the right to speak it.
19643 -- Scott McNealy, quoted at BrainyQuotes
19645 Only a monopolist could study a business and ruin it by giving away products.
19646 -- Scott McNealy, quoted at ThinkExist.com
19648 Try moving off NT easily. You can move from Solaris to HP/UX to AIX or DEC
19649 easily relative to moving off of NT, which is like a Roach Motel. Once you
19650 check in, you never check out.
19651 -- Scott McNealy, quoted at World of Quotes
19653 With Microsoft the first hit is always free--remember that all your life.
19654 -- Scott McNealy, quoted at CNet
19656 I am convinced that if General Motors could eliminate [Microsoft] Office from
19657 their entire company, they could get the 1999 cars out next year at half price.
19658 -- Scott McNealy, quoted at Anti-Microsoft Association Web site
19660 We've got bayonets fixed, and we'll go into any cave no matter how dark and
19661 dank it is. And in the air war [against Microsoft to win new developers],
19662 we'll go after any developer and not just let them turn over to the dark side.
19663 -- Scott McNealy, quoted at News.com
19665 Microsoft is now talking about the digital nervous system.
19666 I guess I would be nervous if my system was built on their technology too.
19667 -- Scott McNealy, November 4, 1998, quoted at CNN.com
19669 Every time you turn on your new car, you're turning on 20 microprocessors.
19670 Every time you use an ATM, you're using a computer. Every time I use a
19671 settop box or game machine, I'm using a computer. The only computer you
19672 don't know how to work is your Microsoft computer, right?
19673 -- Scott McNealy, quoted at Anti-Microsoft Association Web site
19675 Slump? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hittin'. -- Yogi Berra
19677 "I've seen things like this before," he told the daily Il Messaggero.
19678 "Demons occupy a house and appear in electrical goods."
19679 -- Gabriele Amorth, one of the Catholic Church's exorcists, quoted
19680 in an article about Canneto di Caronia, a town where electronics
19683 Nature is an unlimited broadcasting station,
19684 through which God speaks to us every hour,
19685 if we only will tune in.
19686 -- George Washington Carver
19688 To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream;
19689 not only plan, but also believe.
19692 The first step to getting the things
19693 you want out of life is this:
19694 Decide what you want.
19697 A scientist will never show any kindness for
19698 a theory which he did not start himself.
19699 -- Mark Twain, in "A Tramp Abroad"
19702 Disappointments upon disappointments.
19704 This is a gay, merry world notwithstanding.
19707 What is now proved was once imagined. -- William Blake
19709 We haven't had any tea for a week.
19710 The bottom is out of the universe.
19713 If a man has no tea in him, he is incapable
19714 of understanding truth and beauty.
19715 -- Japanese Proverb
19721 Telephone, n.: An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the
19722 advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.
19723 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
19725 I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers
19726 his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.
19729 Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him
19730 with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words or in good order.
19733 Magnetism, as you recall from physics class, is a powerful force
19734 that causes certain items to be attracted to refrigerators.
19737 One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak.
19738 -- G. K. Chesterton
19740 Encountering sufferings will definitely contribute to the elevation
19741 of your spiritual practice, provided you are able to transform the
19742 calamity and misfortune into the path.
19743 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom",
19744 published by Snow Lion Publications
19746 In Buddhism, both learning and practice are extremely important, and they must
19747 go hand in hand. Without knowledge, just to rely on faith, faith, and more
19748 faith is good but not sufficient. So the intellectual part must definitely be
19749 present. At the same time, strictly intellectual development without faith and
19750 practice, is also of no use. It is necessary to combine knowledge born from
19751 study with sincere practice in our daily lives. These two must go together.
19752 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Answers: Discussions with Western
19753 Buddhists", published by Snow Lion Publications
19755 The nature of beings is ever enlightened,
19756 yet not realizing this, they wander endlessly in samsara.
19757 May intense compassion arise within me
19758 for sentient beings, whose suffering knows no bounds.
19760 In the moment of love, when the vibrant power of intense compassion
19761 is uncontained, the empty essence shines forth nakedly.
19762 May I never step off this supreme path of unity that never goes awry,
19763 and practice it at all times, day and night.
19764 -- "The Eighth Situpa on the Third Karmapa's Mahamudra Prayer", translated
19765 by Lama Sherab Dorje, published by Snow Lion Publications
19767 The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.
19768 -- Following the Equator
19770 Love is metaphysical gravity. -- R. Buckminster Fuller
19772 Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it.
19773 Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.
19774 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
19776 In accordance with the conditioning of desire, fear, disgust, and so forth--
19777 the conditioning of habitual tendencies that one has been accustomed to since
19778 beginningless time--mind itself appears as body, enjoyments, abode, and so
19779 forth. Yet, childish ordinary individuals do not comprehend that these
19780 [appearances] are the identity of their own minds. Conceiving of mind as being
19781 "here" and objects "over there," they hold the separation, the vast divide
19782 between the apprehended and apprehender, to be established in actuality. This
19783 is entirely imputation, or a deluded misapprehension of the way things are, as
19784 when not knowing that the dream elephant is personal experience, but instead
19785 apprehending it as an actual elephant in the external world.
19786 -- "Speech of Delight: Mipham's Commentary on Shantarakshita's Ornament
19787 of the Middle Way", translated by Thomas H. Doctor.
19789 Instead of prompting the appearance of delusions and/or hallucinations,
19790 many of the patients receiving Valium displayed a progressive development
19791 of dislikes and hates. The patients themselves deliberately used the term
19792 "hate". This hatefulness first involved non-significant figures in the
19793 patients' environment, progressed from there to the involvement of key
19794 figures such as aides, nurses and physicians, and went on to the involvement
19795 of important personal figures such as parents and spouses... This
19796 hatefulness was of a peculiar type. The patients were unhappy with it; they
19797 realized that it was unnatural and without basis, but were impotent to do
19798 anything about it. Many of them, exhibiting real distress, would inquire,
19799 "Why do I feel like this?"
19800 -- P.E. Feldman, Journal of Neuropsychiatry
19802 The greatest book is not the one whose messages engraves itself on the brain,
19803 but the one whose vital impact opens up other viewpoints, and from writer to
19804 reader spreads the fire that is fed by various essences, until it becomes a
19805 great conflagration.
19808 The world is a looking glass and gives back
19809 to every man the reflection of his own face.
19810 -- William M. Thackeray
19812 Travel is only glamorous in retrospect. -- Paul Theroux
19814 Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which
19815 difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
19816 -- John Quincy Adams
19818 Beware the fury of a patient man. -- John Dryden
19820 I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works
19821 to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets
19822 anyone suspect the labors it has cost me.
19825 You might find this discussion of attitudes threatening or insulting. No one
19826 wants to be told they're practicing incorrectly. We don't want to hear that
19827 we are uptight or repressed, that we are unskillful in dealing with our pain.
19828 We just want to continue doing what we are doing. But there's a Tibetan saying
19829 that the highest teaching is the one that reveals practice and any mistake you
19830 might be making, it will only result in what you most truly desire--progress in
19831 your spiritual development. Remember, I know of these mistakes because I've
19832 made them all myself. Practice involves a radical transformation of our being,
19833 and we have to learn to face and eventually to dissolve all the attitudes we
19834 have about everything, not only meditation. So check yourself out.
19835 -- Bruce Newman, in "A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism: Notes from a
19836 Practitioner's Journey"
19838 Nothing is better than the unintended humor of reality. -- Steve Allen
19840 At this point, a vote for Bush is a character flaw. -- Janeane Garofalo
19842 It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make
19843 their experiments on journalists and politicians.
19846 Heredity is what sets the parents of a teenager wondering about each other.
19847 -- Laurence J. Peter
19849 Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. -- Theodore Roosevelt
19851 I have taken all knowledge to be my province. -- Sir Francis Bacon
19853 Genius is childhood recaptured at will. -- Charles Baudelaire
19855 Generally speaking, whenever we perceive things, our perception is deluded, in
19856 that we project onto things a status of existence and a mode of being which is
19857 simply not there. We exaggerate things, and the way they then appear falsely
19858 to our minds gives rise to afflictive emotions. When we see our friends or
19859 enemies, for instance, we superimpose on them a quality of desirability or
19860 undesirability that is beyond the actual facts of the situation, and this
19861 superimposition or exaggeration sparks off fluctuating states of emotion in
19862 our mind. Towards our friends we feel strong attachment and desire, and
19863 towards our enemies powerful anger and hatred. So if we are serious about
19864 trying to purify our minds of these afflictive emotions, an understanding of
19865 emptiness becomes crucial.
19866 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
19867 Perfection", Snow Lion Publications
19869 If you examine the nature of your own mind, you will realize that the
19870 pollutants, such as afflictive emotions and thoughts rooted in a distorted
19871 way of relating to the world, are actually unstable. No matter how powerful
19872 an affliction, when you cultivate the antidote of true insight into the nature
19873 of reality, it will vanish because of the power of the antidote, which
19874 undermines its continuity. However, there is nothing that can undermine the
19875 basic mind itself; nothing that can actually interrupt the continuity of
19876 consciousness. The existence of the world of subjective experience and
19877 consciousness is a natural fact. There is consciousness. There is mind.
19878 There is no force that can bring about a cessation of your mental continuum.
19879 -- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, in "Illuminating the Path to
19880 Enlightenment", published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive
19882 When we habituate our minds to being fearless, to being brave and open towards
19883 our emotions, fearlessness will also arise naturally. In order for this to
19884 happen we must train in applying antidotes to our thought patterns that are
19885 caught up in fear. In this way, we transcend fear first through a conceptual
19886 process, which later becomes nonconceptual, a natural fearlessness. In order
19887 to become fearless in this way, we need determination and the willingness to
19888 face our emotions. With that strong determination and courage, fearlessness
19889 will arise effortlessly.
19890 -- from Trainings in Compassion: Manuals on the Meditation of
19891 Avalokiteshvara, trans. by Tyler Dewar under the guidance of The
19892 Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
19894 The strongest element of growth lies in the human choice. -- George Eliot
19896 But again, I warn you my son: If you want to continue to be a devoted yogi,
19897 generally you should never cling to dreams. If you do, you will eventually
19898 expose yourself to the influence of the four maras. If your dreams are
19899 positive, do not have any expectations. If we are filled with hopes and
19900 expectations, even positive things can turn negative. If your dreams are
19901 negative, don't take them too seriously. Learn to see negative dreams as
19902 illusion, not real. Then, although a dream seems negative, because we realize
19903 that it isn't real, it becomes a positive thing that prepares us for further
19904 development and realization in the spiritual path. This is the practice of
19906 -- "The Life of Gampopa", by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, Snow Lion Publications
19908 In our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing. Where
19909 it is not true, it will generally be found that the writer is some kind of
19910 rebel, expressing his private opinions and not a "party line." Orthodoxy,
19911 of whatever color, seems to demand a lifeless, imitative style. The political
19912 dialects to be found in pamphlets, leading articles, manifestos, White Papers
19913 and the speeches of under-secretaries do, of course, vary from party to party,
19914 but they are all alike in that one almost never finds in them a fresh, vivid,
19915 home-made turn of speech. When one watches some tired hack on the platform
19916 mechanically repeating the familiar phrases--bestial atrocities, iron heel,
19917 bloodstained tyranny, free peoples of the world, stand shoulder to shoulder--
19918 one often has a curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being
19919 but some kind of dummy: a feeling which suddenly becomes stronger at moments
19920 when the light catches the speaker's spectacles and turns them into blank
19921 discs which seem to have no eyes behind them. And this is not altogether
19922 fanciful. A speaker who uses that kind of phraseology has gone some distance
19923 towards turning himself into a machine. The appropriate noises are coming out
19924 of his larynx, but his brain is not involved, as it would be if he were
19925 choosing his words for himself. If the speech he is making is one that he
19926 is accustomed to make over and over again, he may be almost unconscious of
19927 what he is saying, as one is when one utters the responses in church. And
19928 this reduced state of consciousness, if not indispensable, is at any rate
19929 favorable to political conformity.
19930 -- George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language"
19932 An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful.
19933 A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life
19934 when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats.
19937 Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart. -- Seneca
19939 I am a devilish fellow, who has mastered many arts. -- August Strindberg
19941 Every real thought on every real subject
19942 knocks the wind out of somebody or other.
19943 -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
19945 Come, lovely cat, and rest upon my heart,
19946 And let my gaze dive in the cold
19947 Live pools of thine enchanted eyes that dart
19948 Metallic rays of green and gold.
19949 -- Charles Baudelaire
19951 A cat is a puzzle for which there is no solution. -- Hazel Nicholson
19953 As every cat owner knows,
19955 -- Ellen Perry Berkeley
19957 One of the most important practices is that of tolerance, patience. Tolerance
19958 can be learned only from an enemy; it cannot be learned from your guru. At
19959 these lectures, for instance, you cannot learn tolerance, except perhaps when
19960 you are bored! However, when you meet your enemy who is really going to hurt
19961 you, then, at that moment you can learn tolerance. Shantideva makes a
19962 beautiful argument; he says that one's enemy is actually a good spiritual
19963 guide because in dependence upon an enemy one can cultivate patience, and in
19964 dependence upon patience one accumulates great power of merit. Therefore, it
19965 is as if an enemy were purposefully getting angry in order to help you
19967 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
19968 Buddhist Path to Peace", Snow Lion Publications
19970 In the intermediate stages of practice, you must be like a farmer during the
19971 harvest. Once he has determined that it is time to reap his crop, he works
19972 at it continuously, no matter what anyone tells him. Just as a farmer works
19973 to make the most of the crop he has grown, we who now have opportunities and
19974 conditions which are so valuable to our practice, should use them
19975 immediately, understanding that there is no time to be wasted.
19976 -- "The Life of Gampopa", by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, Snow Lion Publications
19978 I'm growing old, I delight in the past. -- Henri Matisse
19980 Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation
19981 with us--that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
19984 Things equal out pretty well.
19985 Our dreams seldom come true,
19986 but then neither do our nightmares.
19989 Inner development comes step by step. You may think "Today my inner calmness,
19990 my mental peace is very small," but still, if you compare, if you look five,
19991 ten, or fifteen years back, and think, "What was my way of thinking then? How
19992 much inner peace did I have then and what is it today?", comparing it with what
19993 it was then, you can realize that there is some progress, there is some value.
19994 This is how you should compare--not with today's feeling and yesterday's
19995 feeling, or last week or last month, even not last year, but five years ago.
19996 Then you can realize what improvement has occurred internally. Progress comes
19997 by maintaining constant effort in daily practice.
19998 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight", Snow Lion Pub.
20000 Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this; when
20001 I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before
20002 me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort that I have made is
20003 what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor
20005 -- Alexander Hamilton
20007 Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the
20008 young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that
20009 it cares for its helpless members.
20012 It is important for us to have a stable and peaceful mind, for it is mostly
20013 through our mind that we experience suffering and problems. With diligence,
20014 we can establish our minds in peace by abandoning the afflictions that create
20015 obstacles. Meditation makes this possible because it establishes a steady
20016 mind. Among the many types of meditation, calm abiding (shamatha) and deep
20017 insight (vipashyana) are central to this process. In calm abiding, our mind
20018 is focused inwardly, which allows us to suppress the afflictions so that they
20019 do not actually manifest. There is a sense of distance between us and the
20020 afflictions. It is not possible, however, to eradicate them with calm abiding
20021 alone; deep insight is necessary to remove them at the root.
20022 -- "Music in the Sky: The Life, Art & Teachings of the 17th Karmapa
20023 Ogyen Trinley Dorje", by Michele Martin, Snow Lion Publications
20025 Learning from experience is a faculty almost never practiced.
20028 If you persevere in this practice of recognizing the state of natural
20029 light, it will progressively become easier to repeat the lucid recognition
20030 that you are dreaming. There will arise a steady awareness within the dream,
20031 and you will know that you are dreaming. When you look in a mirror, you see
20032 a reflection. Regardless of whether it is beautiful or ugly, you know that
20033 it is a reflection. This is similar to knowing that a dream is a dream, to
20034 being lucid. Whether the dream is tragic or ecstatic, you are aware that it
20036 Awareness within the Dream State becomes a way to develop oneself and to
20037 break one's heavy conditioning. With this awareness, one can manipulate the
20038 dream material. For example, one can dream whatever one wishes, or one can
20039 pick up a desired theme. One can continue dreaming from where one left off
20040 on a previous occasion.
20041 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, in "Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light"
20043 Responsibility educates. -- Wendell Phillips
20045 What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid
20046 of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that
20047 which he thinks he already knows.
20050 There are two kinds of food--food for mental hunger and food for physical
20051 hunger. Thus a combination of these two--material progress and spiritual
20052 development is the most practical thing. I think that many Americans,
20053 particularly young Americans, realize that material progress alone is not
20054 the full answer for human life. Right now all of the Eastern nations are
20055 trying to copy Western technology. We Easterners such as Tibetans, like
20056 myself, look to Western technology feeling that once we develop material
20057 progress, our people can reach some sort of permanent happiness. But when
20058 I come to Europe or North America, I see that underneath the beautiful
20059 surface there is still unhappiness, mental unrest, and restlessness. This
20060 shows that material progress alone is not the full answer for human beings.
20061 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness", Snow Lion
20063 Nobody sees a flower--really--it is so small it takes time--we haven't
20064 time--and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.
20065 -- Georgia O'Keeffe
20067 The eighth root downfall is to regard our physical bodies, or the skandhas or
20068 aggregates of our psycho-physical makeup, as impure and base. The reason why
20069 this is a root downfall is because Vajrayana sees everything as sacred. All
20070 appearances is a form of divinity, all sound is the sound of mantra, and all
20071 thought and awareness is the divine play of the transcending awareness, the
20072 Mahamudra experience. The potential for that sacredness exists within our
20073 present framework, so to speak, of the five skandhas. Acknowledging psycho-
20074 physical aggregates of an individual as the potential of the Buddhas of the
20075 five families, or the five elements, or the five feminine aspects, and so
20076 forth, is to recognize that, in tantra, the potential for the transformation
20077 exists within our present situation. To disparage that potential as something
20078 useless or impure or unwholesome is a root downfall, a basic contradiction,
20079 from the point of view of tantric practice.
20080 -- H.E. Kalu Rinpoche, in "Foundations of Tibetan Buddhism", Snow Lion Pub.
20082 Terrorists and totalitarians have always been two sides of one coin;
20083 a totalitarian out of office is a terrorist.
20086 Now that as humans we have met with spiritual teachings and have met a teacher,
20087 we should not be like a beggar doing nothing meaningful year after year, ending
20088 up empty-handed at death. I, an ordinary monk in the lineage of Buddha
20089 Shakyamuni, humbly urge you to make efforts in spiritual practice. Examine the
20090 nature of your mind and cultivate its development. Take into account your
20091 welfare in this and future existences, and develop competence in the methods
20092 that produce happiness here and hereafter. Our lives are impermanent and so
20093 are the holy teachings. We should cultivate our practice carefully.
20094 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Path to Enlightenment", Snow Lion
20097 Time makes more converts than reason. -- Tom Paine
20099 We operate under a jury system in this country, and as much as
20100 we complain about it, we have to admit that we know of no better
20101 system, except possibly flipping a coin.
20104 To be dead is to stop believing in
20105 The masterpieces we will begin tomorrow.
20106 -- Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet
20108 The obvious is always least understood. -- Klemens von Metternich
20110 We are decent 99 percent of the time, when we could easily be vile.
20113 The whole world loves a maverick, but the whole world wants
20114 the maverick to achieve something nobler than simple rebellion.
20117 Insofar as the destructive effects of anger and hateful thoughts are
20118 concerned, one cannot get protection from wealth; even if one is a
20119 millionaire, one is subject to these destructive effects of anger and
20120 hatred. Nor can education guarantee that one will be protected from
20121 these effects. Similarly, the law cannot guarantee protection. Even
20122 nuclear weapons, no matter how sophisticated the defense system may be,
20123 cannot give one protection or defend one from these effects.
20124 The only factor that can give refuge or protection from the destructive
20125 effects of anger and hatred is the practice of tolerance and patience.
20126 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
20127 Buddhist Perspective", Snow Lion Publications
20129 Theoretically it may be comfortable to have compassion for "all sentient
20130 beings," but through our practice we realize that "all sentient beings" is
20131 a collection of individuals. When we actually try to generate compassion
20132 for each and every individual, it becomes much more challenging. But if we
20133 cannot work with one individual, then how can we work with all sentient
20134 beings? Therefore it is important for us to reflect more practically, to
20135 work with compassion for individuals and then extend that compassion further.
20136 -- "Trainings in Compassion: Manuals on the Meditation of Avalokiteshvara",
20137 translated by Tyler Dewar under the guidance of The Dzogchen Ponlop
20138 Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
20140 The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating
20141 the problem in a way that will allow a solution.
20142 -- Bertrand Russell
20144 I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.
20147 The worst, the hardest, the most disagreeable thing that you may have
20148 to do may be the thing that counts most, because it is the hard discipline,
20149 and it alone, that makes possible the highest efficiency.
20152 I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
20153 I learn by going where I have to go.
20154 -- Theodore Roethke
20156 Don't let yesterday use up too much of today. -- Cherokee proverb
20158 Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world. -- T'ien Yiheng
20160 Women are like tea bags. They don't know how strong
20161 they are until they get into hot water.
20162 -- Eleanor Roosevelt
20164 There are two appropriate methods of mahamudra meditation to give rise to
20165 the primordial awareness of the dharmadhatu: looking while the mind is
20166 resting and looking while the mind is moving. The approach to the first
20167 method is the meditation of calm abiding. One lets one's mind rest until
20168 it abides calmly, and then with precision one looks at it. One looks for
20169 how it rests, for where it abides, and whoever or whatever it is that
20170 abides there. This is looking at the true nature of the mind while the
20172 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, from "Everyday Consciousness and
20173 Buddha-awakening", Snow Lion Publications
20175 It is better to debate a question without settling it
20176 than to settle a question without debating it.
20179 What is the purpose of the Dharma? Just like other spiritual traditions,
20180 Buddhadharma is an instrument for training the mind--something we use to try
20181 to work out the problems that we all experience; problems that originate
20182 mainly at the mental level. Negative emotional forces create mental unrest,
20183 such as unhappiness, fear, doubt, frustration and so forth; these negative
20184 mental states then cause us to engage in negative activities, which in turn
20185 bring us more problems and more suffering. Practicing Dharma is a way of
20186 working out these problems, be they long-term or immediate. In other words,
20187 Dharma protects us from unwanted suffering.
20188 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment", Snow Lion.
20190 Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the
20191 symbol of his liberty--his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when
20192 it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.
20195 Everything in the world has a hidden meaning... Men, animals, trees, stars,
20196 they are all hieroglyphics. When you see them you do not understand them.
20197 You think they are really men, animals, trees, stars. It is only years
20198 later that you understand.
20199 -- Nikos Kazantzakis, from "Zorba the Greek"
20201 One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things
20202 like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.
20205 A thing long expected takes the form of the unexpected when at last it comes.
20208 Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
20211 For a romantic relationship to survive, more than romantic love is needed.
20212 We need to love the other person as a human being and as a friend. The sexual
20213 attraction that feeds romantic love is an insufficient basis on which to
20214 establish a long-term relationship. Deeper care and affection, as well as
20215 responsibility and trust, must be cultivated.
20216 In addition, we do not fully understand ourselves and are a mystery to
20217 ourselves. Needless to say, other people are even more of a mystery to us.
20218 Therefore, we should never presuppose, with a bored attitude that craves
20219 excitement, that we know everything about our partner because we have been
20220 together so long. If we have the awareness of the other person being a
20221 mystery, we will continue to pay attention and be interested in him or her.
20222 Such interest is one key to a long-lasting relationship.
20223 -- Thubten Chodron, from "Buddhism for Beginners", Snow Lion Pub.
20225 Two cats can live as cheaply as one, and their owner has twice as much fun.
20228 Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the
20229 same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least
20230 twice as fast as that!
20233 Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its
20234 instrument. To perform this difficult office it is sometimes necessary
20235 for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life worth living
20236 for the ordinary human being.
20239 Vision without action is a daydream;
20240 action without vision is a nightmare.
20241 -- Japanese proverb
20243 To satisfy a cat, a new state of being needs to be
20244 created--halfway between in and out.
20245 -- Stuart and Linda MacFarlane
20247 The Perfection of Zeal
20248 1. Thus, one who has patience should cultivate zeal, because Awakening is
20249 established with zeal, and there is no merit without zeal, just as there is no
20250 movement without wind.
20251 2. What is zeal? It is enthusiasm for virtue. What is said to be its
20252 antithesis? It is spiritual sloth, clinging to the reprehensible, apathy, and
20254 3. Spiritual sloth arises from indolence, indulging in pleasures, sleep,
20255 and craving for lounging around due to one's apathy toward the miseries of the
20256 cycle of existence.
20257 4. Scented out by the hunters, the mental afflictions, you have entered the
20258 snare of rebirth. Why do you not recognize even now that you are in the mouth
20260 -- Shantideva, in "A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life", trans. from the
20261 Sanskrit and Tibetan by Vesna A. Wallace and B. Alan Wallace, published by
20262 Snow Lion Publications
20264 I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds.
20265 -- Theodore Roosevelt
20267 Sufferings arise from specific causes and conditions, which are collected by
20268 individual sentient beings. That being so, it is extremely important that
20269 individual sentient beings know what is to be practiced and what is to be
20270 given up--what brings suffering and what brings long-lasting happiness. We
20271 must show sentient beings the right path, which brings happiness and the wrong
20272 path, which brings suffering. Therefore, when we talk about benefiting other
20273 sentient beings, it is through showing them the path and helping them
20274 understand what is to be given up and what is to be practiced. This is how
20275 we can help other sentient beings.
20276 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "Stages of Meditation", Snow Lion Publications
20278 We make our lives miserable by being miserable, so why not do exactly the
20279 opposite, and make our lives happy, joyful, and harmonious, by being happy,
20280 joyful, and harmonious? We create our own lives and yet we think that
20281 something else is doing it. All we have to do is change our mental
20282 reactions towards the opposite direction. And the way to do that is to
20283 meditate, otherwise we won't have the strength of mind to do it. A mind
20284 that can meditate is a mind that is one-pointed. And a mind that is one-
20285 pointed, the Buddha said, is like an ax that has been sharpened. It has a
20286 sharp edge that can cut through everything. If we want to remove stress
20287 and strain, and have a different quality of life, we have every opportunity.
20288 We need to strengthen our mind to the point where it will not suffer from
20289 the things which exist in the world.
20290 -- from "Buddhism Through American Women's Eyes", edited by Karma Lekshe
20291 Tsomo, published by Snow Lion Publications
20293 I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study
20294 mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and
20295 philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation,
20296 commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study
20297 painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.
20300 There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more
20301 easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.
20302 -- Benjamin Franklin
20304 Thank God I have the seeing eye, that is to say, as I lie in bed I can walk
20305 step by step on the fells and rough land seeing every stone and flower and
20306 patch of bog and cotton pass where my old legs will never take me again.
20309 Umpire's heaven is a place where he works third base every game.
20310 Home is where the heartache is.
20313 There exist no phenomena other than what arises from the mind.
20314 Other than the meditation that occurs, where is the one who is meditating?
20315 There exist no phenomena other than what arises from the mind.
20316 Other than the behavior that occurs, where is the one who is behaving?
20317 There exist no phenomena other than what arises from the mind.
20318 Other than the samaya vow that occurs, where is the one who is guarding it?
20319 There exist no phenomena other than what arises from the mind.
20320 Other than the fruition that occurs, where is the one who is realizing it?
20321 You should look at your own mind, observing it again and again.
20322 -- from "Self-Liberation Through Seeing with Naked Awareness", translation
20323 and commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds, published by Snow Lion Pub.
20325 You must understand that I'm just as interested in someone I've
20326 known for ten minutes as in someone I've known for ten years.
20327 -- Alberto Giacometti
20329 Now in our day-to-day lives we know that the more stable, calm and contented
20330 our mind is, the more feelings and experiences of happiness we will derive
20331 from it. The more undisciplined, untrained, and negative our mind is, the
20332 more we suffer mentally, and physically as well. So we can see only too well
20333 that a disciplined and contented mind is the source of our happiness.
20334 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
20335 Perfection", published by Snow Lion Publications
20337 If we do not wish merely to know intellectually about the view of emptiness,
20338 but rather wish to experience it ourselves in our own continuum, we should
20339 build a firm foundation for this. Then, according to our mental ability we
20340 should hear and consider both the sutras and treatises which teach the profound
20341 view of emptiness as well as the good explanations of them by the experienced
20342 Tibetan scholars in their commentaries. Together with this, we should learn
20343 to make our own ways of generating experience of emptiness accord with the
20344 precepts of an experienced wise man.
20345 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "Buddhism of Tibet", published by Snow Lion Pub.
20347 A great deal of our suffering comes from having too many thoughts. And, at
20348 the same time, the way we think is not sane. We are only concerned by our
20349 immediate satisfaction and forget to measure its long-term advantages and
20350 disadvantages, either for ourselves or for others. But such an attitude
20351 always goes against us in the end. There is no doubt that by changing our
20352 way of seeing things we could reduce our current difficulties and avoid
20354 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
20356 If, motivated by the attainment of fame and gain for this life and hoping to
20357 look good in the eyes of others, one's behavior appears to be temporarily
20358 beautiful and one appears to be diligent in moral conduct, hearing, and
20359 contemplation, then one should think, "What is the use of appearing good in the
20360 eyes of others when my practice does not counteract the afflictions? When my
20361 practice does counteract the afflictions then even if it is not beautiful,
20362 what have I got to lose?
20363 -- Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub, from "Three Visions: Fundamental Teachings of
20364 the Sakya Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism", published by Snow Lion Pub.
20366 Don't waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you,
20367 well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best
20368 preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.
20369 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
20371 If you can't describe what you are doing as a process,
20372 you don't know what you're doing.
20373 -- W. Edwards Deming
20375 Our Dharma practice is the best offering to make to our teachers. If we have
20376 material possessions, talents, and time, we can offer those. However, we don't
20377 neglect our practice, for that is what our teacher cares about most. When we
20378 follow the Dharma instructions we've received and keep whatever precepts we've
20379 taken, that pleases our teacher more than anything else.
20380 -- Thubten Chodron, in "Taming the Mind", Snow Lion Pub.
20382 If organized religion is the opium of the masses, then
20383 disorganized religion is the marijuana of the lunatic fringe.
20384 -- Principia Discordia
20386 When you are proclaiming peace with your lips,
20387 be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.
20388 -- St. Francis of Assisi
20390 Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
20391 -- Albert Einstein, "The World as I See It", 1934.
20393 It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie
20394 which is being systematically repeated. If something is in me which can be
20395 called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the
20396 world so far as our science can reveal it.
20397 -- Albert Einstein, in "Albert Einstein : The Human Side", from a 1954
20398 letter to an atheist.
20400 This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military
20401 system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation
20402 to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been
20403 given his big brain by mistake; a spinal cord was all he needed.
20404 -- Albert Einstein, "The World as I See It", 1934.
20406 I'm not a teacher, but an awakener. -- Robert Frost
20408 It is very important to understand the context of the Buddhist emphasis on
20409 recognizing that we are all in a state of suffering, otherwise there is a
20410 danger we could misunderstand the Buddhist outlook, and think that it involves
20411 rather morbid thinking, a basic pessimism and almost an obsessiveness about the
20412 reality of suffering. The reason why Buddha laid so much emphasis on
20413 developing insight into the nature of suffering is because there is an
20414 alternative--there is a way out, it is actually possible to free oneself from
20415 it. This is why it is so crucial to realize the nature of suffering, because
20416 the stronger and deeper your insight into suffering is, the stronger your
20417 aspiration to gain freedom from it becomes. So the Buddhist emphasis on the
20418 nature of suffering should be seen within this wider perspective, where there
20419 is an appreciation of the possibility of complete freedom from suffering. If
20420 we had no concept of liberation, then to spend so much time reflecting on
20421 suffering would be utterly pointless.
20422 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Dalai Lama's Book of Awakening", Snow Lion Pub.
20424 A cat is a demure animal; it will not come into the living room
20425 wagging its tail and knocking over lamps and tables.
20426 -- H. Monger Burdock
20428 There is no need for a piece of sculpture in a home that has a cat.
20431 Lack of understanding of the true nature of happiness, it seems to me, is the
20432 principal reason why people inflict sufferings on others. They think either
20433 that the other's pain may somehow be a cause of happiness for themselves or
20434 that their own happiness is more important, regardless of what pain it may
20435 cause. But this is shortsighted, no one truly benefits from causing harm to
20436 another sentient being. Whatever immediate advantage is gained at the expense
20437 of someone else is short-lived. In the long run causing others misery and
20438 infringing their rights to peace and happiness result in anxiety, fear and
20439 suspicion within one-self. Such feelings undermine the peace of mind and
20440 contentment which are the marks of happiness.
20441 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness", Snow Lion
20443 When we're told that things are mere deceptive appearances, we shouldn't
20444 misinterpret it as license to act in any way we please. Of course, none of
20445 us would be so silly! Appearances are extremely powerful. You dream your
20446 house is on fire and you're surrounded by flames. You can't escape and feel
20447 terrified. You wake up soaked in sweat and screaming. What a relief! It was
20448 just a nightmare and none of it actually happened, but while it all seemed to
20449 be happening, you were in anguish.
20450 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, in "The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas",
20451 published by Snow Lion Publications
20453 A man is not old until his regrets take the place of dreams.
20456 I am independent! I can live alone and I love to work. -- Mary Cassatt
20458 If one ever wishes to retain one's fantasies about the good sense
20459 of the people in the realm of literary taste, one does best never
20460 to consult the bestseller lists.
20463 The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere. -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
20465 Speaking of others' faults can also be a way to distract ourselves from
20466 acknowledging our own painful emotions. For example, if we feel hurt or
20467 rejected because a dear one hasn't called us in a long time, rather than
20468 feel the suffering nature of our attachment, we criticize our loved one
20469 for being unreliable and inconsiderate.
20470 -- Thubten Chodron, in "Taming the Mind", Snow Lion Publications
20472 A consistent man believes in destiny, a capricious man in chance.
20473 -- Benjamin Disraeli
20475 The things that we love tell us what we are. -- St. Thomas Aquinas
20477 Everything on this planet functions according to the law of nature. Particles
20478 come together, and on the basis of their co-operation everything around us, our
20479 whole environment, can develop and be sustained. Our own body too has the same
20480 structure. Different cells come together and work together in co-operation,
20481 and as a result, human life is sustained. In a human community the same law
20482 and principle of co-operation applies. Even for an aeroplane to fly or for a
20483 single machine to work, it can only do so by depending on many other factors,
20484 and with their co-operation. Without them it is impossible. Just so, to
20485 sustain everyday life in human society we need co-operation.
20486 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "Dzogchen: Heart Essence of the Great Pefection"
20488 We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the byways and
20489 untrodden depths of the wilderness, and travel and explore
20490 and tell the world the glories of our journey.
20491 -- John Hope Franklin
20493 Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.
20496 Be happy. Talk happiness. Happiness calls out responsive gladness in
20497 others. There is enough sadness in the world without yours.
20500 There are two ways to slide easily through life:
20501 to believe everything or to doubt everything;
20502 both ways save us from thinking.
20503 -- Alfred Korzybski
20505 We shall not cease from exploration. And at the end of our exploring will be
20506 to arrive where we started and to know the place for the first time.
20509 I conceive that pleasures are to be avoided if greater pains
20510 be the consequence, and pains to be coveted that will terminate
20511 in greater pleasures.
20512 -- Michel de Montaigne
20514 A plot, if there is to be one, must be a secret. A secret that, if we only
20515 knew it, would dispel our frustration, lead us to salvation; or else the
20516 knowing of it in itself would be salvation. Does such a luminous secret
20517 exist? Yes, provided it is never known. Known, it will only disappoint us.
20520 The subjects that were dearest to the examiners were almost invariably those I
20521 fancied least... I should have liked to be asked to say what I knew. They
20522 always tried to ask what I did not know. When I would have willingly displayed
20523 my knowledge, they sought to expose my ignorance. This sort of treatment had
20524 only one result: I did not too well in examinations.
20525 -- Winston Churchill
20527 One of the great movements in my lifetime among educated people is the need to
20528 commit themselves to action. Most people are not satisfied with giving money;
20529 we also feel we need to work.
20532 One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind.
20535 The universe is made of stories, not of atoms. -- Muriel Rukeyser
20537 Chemists are a strange class of mortals, impelled by an almost maniacal impulse
20538 to seek their pleasures amongst smoke and vapour, soot and flames, poisons and
20539 poverty, yet amongst all these evils I seem to live so sweetly that I would
20540 rather die than change places with the King of Persia.
20541 -- Johann Joachim Becher
20543 Cherishing children is the mark of a civilized society. -- Joan Ganz Cooney
20545 Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end. -- Igor Stravinsky
20547 Purifying the unwholesome: In the past we have engaged in unwholesome physical,
20548 verbal, and mental actions. All these actions are of the past and cannot be
20549 touched; we cannot reach back and wipe them away. They have left detrimental
20550 imprints on our mind-stream that obstruct our spiritual practice and manifest
20551 as suffering when they come to full maturation, giving rise to misfortune and
20552 grief. However, these imprints can be affected, and even purified, by our
20553 present behavior. They are like seeds carried along in the current of our
20554 mind-stream. We cannot annihilate them without a trace, but we can burn them
20555 so that they have little or no potency to cause damaging results.
20556 -- B. Alan Wallace, in "The Seven-Point Mind Training", Snow Lion Pub.
20558 First it is important to recognize the human form as rare and precious. It is
20559 not enough just to obtain this precious human form which has great potential;
20560 rather, you should use that potential to its fullest extent by taking its
20561 essence. For example, if a person's ascent to high office is not followed by
20562 good work for the community and people, it is not very beneficial and
20563 worthwhile. If, on the basis of full use of the potential, one is able to
20564 accomplish great feats, that would truly be a great success. Therefore, it is
20565 important initially to recognize all the significance and great potential of
20566 this human existence.
20567 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "The Path to Bliss", Snow Lion Publications
20569 We haven't had any tea for a week.
20570 The bottom is out of the universe.
20573 Does one's integrity ever lie in what he is not able to do? I think that
20574 usually it does, for free will does not mean one will, but many wills
20575 conflicting in one man, Freedom cannot be conceived simply.
20576 -- Flannery O'Connor, in "Wise Blood", 1952
20578 We may seek a fortune for no greater reason than to secure the respect
20579 and attention of people who would otherwise look straight through us.
20582 Only in the most unusual cases is it useful to determine whether
20583 a book is good or bad; for it is just as rare for it to be one or
20584 the other. It is usually both.
20587 A lie gets halfway around the world before
20588 the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
20589 -- Winston Churchill
20591 Like yourself, everyone else from their own side equally does not want
20592 suffering and equally wants happiness. For example, among ten ill people,
20593 each of them just wants happiness; from their side they are all ill, and
20594 they all want to be freed from their illness. Hence there is no possible
20595 reason for making a biased exception, treating a certain one better and
20596 neglecting the others. It is impossible to select one out for better
20597 treatment. Moreover, from your own viewpoint, all sentient beings, in
20598 terms of their connection with you over the course of lifetimes, have in
20599 the past helped you and in the future will help again. Thus, you also
20600 cannot find any reason from your own side to treat some better and others
20602 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
20603 Buddhist Path to Peace", Snow Lion Publications
20605 In everything that can be called art there is a quality of redemption.
20606 -- Raymond Chandler
20608 Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament. -- George Santayana
20610 Mediocre men often have the most acquired knowledge. -- Claude Bernard
20612 When we practice, initially, as a basis we control ourselves, stopping the
20613 bad actions which hurt others as much as we can. This is defensive. After
20614 that, when we develop certain qualifications, then as an active goal we
20615 should help others. In the first stage, sometimes we need isolation while
20616 pursuing our own inner development; however, after you have some confidence,
20617 some strength, you must remain with, contact, and serve society in any
20618 field--health, education, politics, or whatever.
20619 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "Kindness, Clarity and Insight", Snow Lion Pub.
20621 Other paths that are aimed at "sudden awakening" lead one on an unmapped
20622 journey that may offer no clear indications of progress. In contrast, in this
20623 practice we have definite sign-posts along the way. Look at your mental
20624 distortions and see how they are doing. After practicing for a month, a year,
20625 six years, are the mental distortions somewhat diminished? Do wholesome
20626 qualities arise more readily, more frequently, more deeply? At the very root
20627 of the mental distortions, is the self-grasping attenuated? Is there less
20628 self-centeredness and greater humility? Is there more loving concern for the
20629 welfare of others? All of these are causes that lead either to well-being or
20631 -- B. Alan Wallace, in "The Seven-Point Mind Training", Snow Lion Pub.
20633 In the jungle of samsara arisings are ceaseless, there is never any let up in
20634 the interplay between past, present and future and in the turbulent interchange
20635 between inner thoughts and outer events. 'I', 'me' and 'mine' are tossed about
20636 like corks in the waves. There is no exit from this on the level of 'I'.
20637 There is no way to think yourself out of samsara. Even the thoughts that
20638 everything is empty, or is Padmasambhava, or pure from the very beginning do
20639 not help for no thought can unlock the door to awakening. The key is not
20640 shaped like a thing; it is not a thought, a feeling or a sensation. It's not
20641 something outer or inner. The key is your own nature, how you have been from
20642 the very beginning, simple, raw, naked, uncontrived, free of all constructs.
20643 -- Nuden Dorje, in "Being Right Here: A Dzogchen Treasure Text", Snow Lion
20645 Great ideas originate in the muscles. -- Thomas A. Edison
20647 If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. -- Mark Twain
20649 Mathematics is a game played according to certain
20650 simple rules with meaningless marks on paper.
20653 When you are poor enough, everything has some value. -- Barbara Ann Porte
20655 I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have
20656 been only a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and
20657 then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst
20658 the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
20661 In ancient times, a candidate for initiation into the Mysteries was led through
20662 a series of dark chambers, virtually a labyrinth, beset by terrifying sounds
20663 and ominous presences. And then in the adytum, the final chamber, there was a
20664 sudden illumination. The enthroned hierophant tells the candidate, "Behold the
20665 light, my child! It is your own being and nature." Just this epopteia, or
20666 sudden illumination, is the introduction to the Clear Light that is one's own
20667 original nature. The course of the initiation in the ancient Mystery Religions
20668 simulates the experience of death and rebirth and leads the candidate into what
20669 lies beyond, so that one no longer need fear death. This initiatory process
20670 may be compared to the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
20671 -- John Myrdhin Reynolds, in "The Golden Letters", Snow Lion Pub.
20673 If only I had the theorems! Then I should find the proofs easily enough.
20674 -- Bernhard Riemann
20676 Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent,
20677 literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.
20680 But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot
20681 hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here,
20682 have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
20685 A memory is more atmospheric than accurate, more an evolving fiction than a
20686 sacred text. And thank heavens. If rude, shameful, or brutal memories
20687 can't be expunged, they can at least be diluted. So is nothing permanent
20688 and fixed in life? By definition life is a fickle noun, an event in
20689 progress. Still, we cling to philosophical railings, religious icons,
20690 pillars of belief. We forget on purpose that Earth is rolling at 1,000
20691 miles an hour, and, at the same time, falling elliptically around our sun,
20692 while the sun is swinging through the Milky Way, and the Milky Way migrating
20693 along with countless other galaxies in a universe about 13.7 billion years
20694 old. An event is such a little piece of time and space, leaving only a
20695 mindglow behind like the tail of a shooting star. For lack of a better
20696 word, we call that scintillation memory.
20697 -- Diane Ackerman, in "An Alchemy Of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of
20700 Many people who approach the practice of Buddhism are willing to sacrifice one
20701 or two hours of their day in order to perform some ritual practice or engage in
20702 meditation. Time is relatively easy to give up, even though their life may be
20703 very busy. But, they are not willing to change anything of their personality--
20704 they are not willing to forgo anything of their negative character. With this
20705 type of approach to Buddhism, it hardly matters how much meditation we do, our
20706 practice remains merely a hobby or a sport. It does not touch our lives. In
20707 order actually to overcome our problems, we have to be willing to change--
20708 namely to change our personality. We need to renounce and rid ourselves of
20709 those negative aspects of it that are causing us so much trouble.
20710 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama & Alexander Berzin in "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
20713 Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into
20714 you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into
20715 you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
20718 Whoso does not see that genuine life is a battle
20719 and a march has poorly read his origin and his destiny.
20722 The more intelligent one is, the more men of originality
20723 one finds. Ordinary people find no difference between men.
20726 The last proceeding of reason, is to recognize that
20727 there is an infinity of things beyond it.
20730 Argument is the worst sort of conversation. -- Jonathan Swift
20732 No burden is so heavy for a man to bear as a succession of happy days.
20735 Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves.
20736 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
20738 I decline utterly to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire.
20739 -- Winston Churchill
20741 The self that is grasped by ignorance should be refuted, but we should not
20742 refute the conventionally existent self. If we refute the self that is merely
20743 conventionally existent, that is like a seeing a person and saying, "Oh, I
20744 didn't see the person." Or we might look at another person and say, "All I
20745 see is the basis of designation of the person or the visual form of the body."
20746 This is no way to speak. It would be impossible to maintain any valid or
20747 justifiable use of language in this way. We would be negating the existence
20748 of a merely designated self, but we would not negate the self that is refuted
20749 by means of the wisdom that investigates the nature of emptiness. Once again,
20750 the self to be negated is the self which is grasped by ignorance.
20751 -- Gen. Lamrimpa, in "Realizing Emptiness: Madhyamaka Insight Meditation",
20752 translated by B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications
20754 In general, the countries of the East have had less material progress and thus
20755 have great suffering from poverty. In the West, though poverty is not severe,
20756 there is the suffering of worry and not knowing satisfaction. In both East and
20757 West, many persons spend their lives in jealousy and competition; some think
20758 only of money, and when they meet with conditions unfavourable to their wish
20759 develop a dislike or enmity for these unfavourable circumstances from the very
20760 orb of their heart. Within and between countries people are disturbed, not
20761 trusting and believing each other, having to spend their lives in continual
20762 lies and deceit. Since the most we can live is a hundred years, what point is
20763 there in spending our lives in jealousy, deceit, and competition?
20764 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Deity Yoga", translated and edited by Jeffrey
20765 Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
20767 She was fascinated by baths. I suppose total immersion in water
20768 must have seemed to her a peculiar method of cleansing oneself.
20769 -- Elizabeth Peters
20771 The uncompromising self-examination of a Rembrandt self-portrait remains,
20772 almost four centuries on, far more 'shocking' than a museum installation
20776 Complaint is the largest tribute Heaven receives. -- Jonathan Swift
20778 Mere belief in a source of refuge is not firm; unless there is valid cognition,
20779 you are going only on the assertion that Buddhism is good. Refuge is not an
20780 act of partisanship but is based on analysing what scriptures are reasonable
20781 and what scriptures are not. In order for the mind to engage one-pointedly in
20782 practice, there must be reasoned conviction that only the Buddhist path is
20783 non-mistaken and capable of leading to the state of complete freedom from
20784 defects and possession of all auspicious attainments. One should engage in
20785 honest investigation, avoiding desire and hatred and seeking the teaching that
20786 sets forth the means for fulfilling the aims of trainees.
20787 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Tantra in Tibet", trans. & ed. by Jeffrey Hopkins
20789 A bad peace is even worse than war. -- Tacitus
20791 The way of fortune is like the milky way in the sky; which is a number of
20792 smaller stars, not seen asunder, but giving light together; so it is a number
20793 of little and scarce discerned virtues, or rather faculties and customs, that
20794 make men fortunate.
20797 Ability will never catch up with the demand for it. -- Confucius
20799 There is more to life than increasing its speed. -- Mahatma Gandhi
20801 If cats could talk, they wouldn't. -- Nan Porter
20803 I read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction.
20806 The teeth, hair and nails are not I, nor am I bone, blood, mucus, phlegm,
20808 Bodily oil is not I, nor is sweat, fat or the entrails either. The cavity
20809 of the entrails is not I, nor is excrement or urine.
20810 Flesh is not I, nor are the sinews, warmth nor air. The bodily cavities are
20811 not I, nor is any one of the six types of consciousness.
20812 If the self truly exists in the manner in which it appears, then it should be
20813 identifiable as one inspects the components of a person one by one. Following
20814 the above verses, no part of the body, including the four elements and space,
20815 nor the six types of consciousness can be identified as the self. This implies
20816 that the self that experiences joy and sorrow and that appears to the mind as
20817 if it existed independently does not exist at all. This is ascertained by
20818 engaging in such analysis.
20819 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Transcendent Wisdom", Snow Lion Publications
20821 Once, on behalf of his mother, Kyogom produced a thangka of the five buddha
20822 families. He asked the guru, Gampopa, to bless it quickly.
20823 Gampopa agreed, saying, "Burn this stick of incense and make a mandala
20825 He then transformed himself into the Buddha, and from his ushnisha there
20826 radiated a glorious light that dissolved into the thangka. The air resounded
20827 with the tinkling of bells and the drumbeat of the damaru, and the sky was
20828 filled with parasols, auspicious banners, and canopies. The sound of cymbals
20829 was heard, and a rain of flowers fell from the sky.
20830 When Kyogom saw this, the lama said, "This is the way to do a rapid
20832 -- Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, in "The Life of Gampopa", Snow Lion Pub.
20834 The absolute nature of the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill
20835 treatment means that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a
20836 state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any
20837 other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture.
20838 -- Theo van Boven, UN official charged with monitoring incidents of torture
20840 No executive, legislative, administrative, or judicial measure authorizing
20841 recourse to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
20842 can be considered as lawful under international law.
20843 -- Theo van Boven, UN official charged with monitoring incidents of torture
20845 In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a
20846 long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians
20847 will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an
20848 unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time--literally
20849 --substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the
20850 first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally
20852 -- Peter F. Drucker
20854 Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food. -- Hippocrates
20856 One of the lessons of the Web is that if people have access to information,
20857 they will consume it, whether they are hungry or not.
20860 If cats seem distant and aloof, it is because this is not their native
20861 planet--they are here just to visit and dominate.
20864 History is the only laboratory we have in which to test
20865 the consequences of thought.
20868 In journalism it is simpler to sound off than it is to find out.
20869 It is more elegant to pontificate than it is to sweat.
20872 If we have only cultivated undistracted meditative concentration and lack the
20873 supreme knowledge that realizes how things actually are, it is impossible to
20874 see ultimate reality. On the other hand, if we have the correct view of
20875 understanding identitylessness but no meditative concentration in which the
20876 mind rests one-pointedly, our mind will be distracted by other objects, not be
20877 under control, and thus not be workable. Consequently, it will be impossible
20878 for the light of wisdom to shine clearly and realize ultimate reality. Another
20879 analogy for the need to combine calm abiding and superior insight as an
20880 inseparable unity is a sharp scalpel in the steady hand of an experienced
20881 surgeon. If the scalpel is blunt or the surgeon's hand shaky, the operation
20882 cannot be performed properly. In the same way, when the mind rests in a state
20883 that involves both stillness and a crisp wakefulness or awareness, it is like
20884 a steady hand that deftly operates on our objects of investigation with the
20885 sharp blade of superior insight.
20886 -- Karl Brunnhoelzl, in "The Center of the Sunlit Sky: Madyhamaka in the
20887 Kagyu Tradition, Snow Lion Publications
20889 Golf is the only sport where the ball doesn't move until you hit it.
20892 ... when a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men
20893 of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact
20894 that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending
20895 any save the most elemental--men whose whole thinking is done in terms of
20896 emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand.
20897 So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost.
20899 ... all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and
20900 mediocre--the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is
20903 The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is
20904 perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of
20905 the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the
20906 plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the
20907 White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
20908 -- H. L. Mencken (July 26, 1920, in the Baltimore Sun):
20910 The mastery of the turn is the story of how aviation became practical as a
20911 means of transportation. It is the story of how the world became small.
20912 -- William Langewiesche
20914 Flight's greatest gift is to let us look around. I mean a simple form of
20915 looking around, and one that requires little instruction--just gazing down at
20916 the ordinary scenery sliding by below. The best views are views of familiar
20917 things, like cities and farms and bottlenecked freeways. So set aside the
20918 beauty of sunsets, the majesty of mountains, the imprint of winds on golden
20919 prairies. The world beneath our wings has become a human artifact, our most
20920 spontaneous and complex creation. Tourists may not like to contemplate the
20921 evidence, with its hints of greed and self-destruction, but the fact remains
20922 that the old sterilized landscapes--like designated outlooks and pretty parks
20923 and sculpted gardens--have become obsolete, and that it is largely the airplane
20924 that has made them so. The aerial view is something entirely new. We need to
20925 admit that it flattens the world and mutes it in a rush of air and engines, and
20926 that it suppresses beauty. But it also strips the facades from our
20927 constructions, and by raising us above the constraints of the treeline and the
20928 highway it imposes a brutal honesty on our perceptions. It lets us see
20929 ourselves in context, as creatures struggling through life on the face of a
20930 planet, not separate from nature, but its most expressive agents. It lets us
20931 see that our struggles form patterns on the land, that these patterns repeat to
20932 an extent which before we had not known, and that there is a sense to them.
20933 -- William Langewiesche, "Inside The Sky: Meditation on Flight"
20935 A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool
20936 who knows what he is talking about.
20937 -- Miguel de Unamuno
20939 Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real. -- Jules Verne
20941 We have the bias of considering some people to be enemies and others to be
20942 friends. If this really were true such that an enemy always remained an enemy
20943 and a friend always remained a friend, then there might be a reason to hate
20944 certain people and love others. But, again, this is not the case. There is
20945 no certainty in relationships.
20946 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
20947 Buddhist Path to Peace", Snow Lion Publications
20949 Intelligence is quickness in seeing things as they are. -- George Santayana
20951 It is said that the awareness of a buddha is completely even, like the ocean,
20952 taking in equally the joys and sorrows of all people, friends, loved ones,
20953 relatives, and those never met. This is the meaning of a statement made by so
20954 many of the world's great spiritual teachers, "Love your enemy." It doesn't
20955 mean love the person you hate. You can't do that. Love those who hate you.
20956 -- B. Alan Wallace, in "Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point
20957 Mind-Training", Snow Lion Publications
20959 Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal
20960 does this--no dog exchanges bones with another.
20963 Art is not about thinking something up.
20964 It is the opposite--getting something down.
20967 Although we regard the realization of the selflessness of persons as something
20968 particularly exalted and therefore difficult to achieve, in fact, if you look
20969 directly at your mind and see its nature, you will realize this selflessness.
20970 This is not a matter of trying to convince yourself that there is no self in
20971 the mind. It is simply a matter of looking. And when you look, you will see
20972 that there is no mind, and that therefore there is no self that could be
20973 imputed on the basis of the mind.
20974 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, in "Pointing out the Dharmakaya", Snow Lion
20976 Cold! If the thermometer had been an inch longer we'd have frozen to death.
20979 Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea. -- Henry Fielding
20981 Material progress is for the sake of achieving that happiness and relieving
20982 that suffering which depends upon the body. But it is indeed difficult to
20983 remove all suffering by these external means and thereby achieve complete
20984 satisfaction. Hence there comes to be a great difference between seeking
20985 happiness in dependence upon external things and seeking it in dependence
20986 upon one's own internal spiritual development. Furthermore, even if the
20987 basic suffering is the same, there is a great difference in the way we
20988 experience it and in the mental discomfort that it creates, depending upon
20989 our attitude towards it. Hence our mental attitude is very important in
20990 how we spend our lives.
20991 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Kindness, Clarity and Insight", Snow Lion Pub.
20993 Love is a condition in which the happiness of another
20994 person is essential to your own.
20997 Looking at a cat, like looking at clouds or stars or the ocean, makes
20998 it difficult to believe there is nothing miraculous in this world.
20999 -- Leonard Michaels
21001 Waking in the night
21006 Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of man you are.
21009 If you have love, deities and humans will love you and will naturally
21010 gravitate toward you. Moreover, the Conqueror defeated Mara's armies with the
21011 power of love, so love is the supreme protector, and so forth. Thus, although
21012 love is difficult to develop, you must strive to do so.
21013 The way to cultivate love is as follows. Just as you can develop compassion
21014 once you have repeatedly thought about how living beings are made miserable by
21015 suffering, develop love by thinking repeatedly about how living beings lack all
21016 happiness, both contaminated and uncontaminated. When you become familiar with
21017 this, you will naturally wish for beings to be happy. In addition, bring to
21018 mind various forms of happiness and then offer them to living beings.
21019 -- from "The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment",
21020 Volume 2, Snow Lion Publications
21022 There is no less invention in aptly applying a thought found
21023 in a book, than in being the first author of the thought.
21026 You'll never need a lawn ornament if you have a cat in the yard.
21027 -- Katherine Palmer Peterson
21029 Karma has four main characteristics. The first is its increasing effect:
21030 goodness heralds further goodness and evil heralds further evil. Secondly,
21031 karma is definite: in the long run, goodness always produces joy and negativity
21032 always produces suffering. Thirdly, one never experiences a joy or sorrow that
21033 does not have an according karmic cause. And lastly, the karmic seeds that are
21034 placed on the mind at the time of an action will never lose their potency even
21035 in a hundred million lifetimes, but will lie dormant within the mind until one
21036 day the conditions that activate them appear.
21037 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Path to Enlightenment", Snow Lion
21039 The ideal of calm exists in a sitting cat. -- Jules Reynard
21041 There are generally two kinds of buddhist meditation: stabilizing meditation
21042 and analytical meditation. The stabilizing type of meditation gets the brain
21043 very mellow. It is a soothing of the mind to a clear state of calm, like a
21044 still lake. Stabilization allows all thoughts to flow through the mind without
21045 attachment to any of them. But the analytical type of meditation uses the
21046 power of logic to examine what is bothering one. Through meditative analysis,
21047 problems are conquered by finding their root causes and by developing
21048 techniques for mitigating the effects of those causes on the mind. Analysis
21049 can focus on topics such as impermanence, suffering, the need for patience,
21051 These two phases of meditation are not practiced at different times of the
21052 day, but from instant to instant. At first, when one is a beginner, one must
21053 actively work to stabilize the mind and release all the distractions. But
21054 just when one starts to doze off because this process is so relaxing, one
21055 switches over to analytical meditation to keep the brain moving and to balance
21057 One has to pay careful attention to the state of one's mind to determine
21058 what is needed at a particular time. But this wakeful refocusing of the
21059 attention helps to develop mindfulness, which in turn helps develop
21060 understanding and concentration. Later on, the switch between analytical
21061 and stabilizing meditations will happen somewhat more automatically; if
21062 thoughts start swirling too fast, the meditative mind seeks stabilization. If
21063 things get too calm or placid, then analysis can bring the balance back to
21064 thinking and improving.
21065 Analysis is insufficient by itself, because it might be all about what's
21066 currently "wrong" or it might produce a billion approaches to improving the
21067 mind which cannot all be followed, but it would miss out on just enjoying our
21068 somewhat short existence. Complete realization of the enjoyability of
21069 sentience and sapience seems to come from stabilization, not analysis. And
21070 stabilization is not enough by itself either, because one sees the result
21071 of too much placidity in a person asleep in bed: they have a cow-like calm
21072 without any thoughts breaking the surface to cause future progress. The
21073 impetus behind the push towards enlightenment seems to come from analysis,
21074 because one cannot see why one would want to fully awake and aware unless
21075 one can logically compare that state with the current one. Thus analytical
21076 and stabilizing meditations are the dynamic duo of meditation, the laurel
21077 and the hardy, the R and the D, the anion and the cation, for without both
21078 the ultimate mental state is unattainable.
21081 The bad news: there is no key to the universe.
21082 The good news: it was never locked.
21083 -- Swami Beyondananda
21085 What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of
21086 frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly. That is the
21087 first law of nature.
21090 A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.
21091 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
21093 If I wished to punish a province, I would have it governed by philosophers.
21094 -- Frederick the Great
21096 I know that many people have difficulty thinking of spirits in the way I
21097 describe them. There are many spirits described in Tibetan texts related to
21098 specific places in Tibet. I'm not sure, if we live in New York or Tokyo, that
21099 it's very helpful to try to connect to those spirits. When we are in Western
21100 cities, rather than thinking of spirits living in mountain passes or caves, we
21101 might find it easier to think that spirits travel the streets, creating anger
21102 and agitation in the drivers. When we experience aggressive driving, it is a
21103 good idea to breathe evenly and relax. Otherwise, we may find ourselves
21104 connected to traffic demons!
21105 -- "Healing with Form, Energy and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan
21106 Shamanism, Tantra and Dzogchen", published by Snow Lion Publications
21108 I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools.
21109 Let's start with typewriters.
21110 -- Frank Lloyd Wright
21112 As long as algebra is taught in school, there will be prayer in school.
21115 In Tantra the term bodhicitta assumes a more specific connotation. The essence
21116 of enlightenment or "Buddha-nature," revealed in the sutras of the third
21117 turning of the wheel of Dharma, is equated to the subtle essence (thig le) of
21118 the human body, the coarse aspect of which is present in the seminal fluid and
21119 in the ovum. Thus in Tantra, bodhicitta is recognized as the seed of the
21120 manifestation of the infinite mandalas and deities who are all already
21121 contained in potentiality in the energy structure of the physical body itself,
21122 what is known as the "vajra body." However in spite of this underlying
21123 recognition as its base, tantric practice entails visualization and commitments
21124 of body voice, and mind to achieve the transformation of the energies of impure
21125 vision into the pure dimension of the mandala and of the deities.
21126 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and Adriano Clemente, in "The Supreme Source: The
21127 Fundamental Tantra of the Dzogchen Semde Kunjed Gyalpo", Snow Lion Pub.
21129 Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books
21130 I have in my library are books that other folks have lent me.
21133 It is impossible to keep a straight face in
21134 the presence of one or more kittens.
21135 -- Cynthia E. Varnardo
21137 I always explain that violence is not the human way. I believe that,
21138 fundamentally, human nature is positive, gentle; therefore, the non-violent way
21139 is the human way. Also, whatever result we achieve through non-violence has no
21140 negative side effect. Through violence, even though we may get some kind of
21141 satisfaction, negative side effects are also incurred. Then, most importantly,
21142 whether we like it or not, we have to live side by side with the Chinese; thus,
21143 in the long future, generation to generation, in order to live happily,
21144 peacefully, it is extremely important, while we are carrying on the struggle,
21145 to accord with the principle of non-violence.
21146 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates discuss
21147 Human Rights, Conflict and Reconciliation", Snow Lion Pub.
21151 I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind--
21152 that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have
21153 been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
21154 I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless
21155 to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent,
21156 can be anything but vicious.
21157 I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must
21158 necessarily make war upon liberty...
21159 I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence
21160 of witches, and deserves no more respect.
21161 I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech...
21162 I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what
21163 it is made of, and how it is run.
21164 I believe in the reality of progress.
21165 I--But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it
21166 is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be
21167 free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be
21171 The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small
21172 electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying
21173 even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is
21174 nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and
21175 the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds
21176 are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre--the man
21177 who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual
21179 The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is
21180 perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the
21181 people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the
21182 plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White
21183 House will be adorned by a downright moron.
21184 -- Henry Louis Mencken, "Bayard vs. Lionheart", Baltimore Evening Sun,
21187 The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of
21188 wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.
21191 There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.
21192 -- Sir Francis Bacon
21194 I say that the art of sculpture is eight times as great as any other art based
21195 on drawing, because a statue has eight views and they must all be equally good.
21196 -- Benvenuto Cellini
21198 When we talk about patience or tolerance, we should understand that there are
21199 many degrees, starting from a simple tolerance, such as being able to bear a
21200 certain amount of heat and cold, progressing toward the highest level of
21201 patience, which is the type of patience and tolerance found in the great
21202 practitioners, the Bodhisattvas on the high levels of the Buddhist path.
21203 Since patience or tolerance comes from a certain ability to remain firm and
21204 steadfast, to not be overwhelmed by the adverse situations or conditions that
21205 one faces, one should not see tolerance or patience as a sign of weakness, but
21206 rather as a sign of strength coming from a deep ability to remain steadfast and
21207 firm. We can generally define patience or tolerance in these terms. We find
21208 that even in being able to tolerate a certain degree of physical hardship, like
21209 a hot or cold climate, our attitude makes a big difference.
21210 If we have the realization that tolerating immediate hardship can have long-
21211 term beneficial consequences, we are more likely to be able to tolerate
21212 everyday hardships. Similarly, in the case of those on the Bodhisattva levels
21213 of the path practicing high levels of tolerance and patience, intelligence also
21214 plays a very important role as a complementary factor.
21215 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
21216 Buddhist Perspective", Snow Lion Publications
21218 One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the
21219 background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music.
21220 -- Stephen Sondheim
21222 All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
21225 Completely pure desirous attachment expresses itself through Buddha Amitabha.
21226 A person guided by desire, attachment, or grasping becomes diffused and loses
21227 power over phenomena. Through completely purified desirous attachment,
21228 however, one is able to gain control over, and to independently coordinate,
21229 everything. This is because the entourage, possessions, merit, and so forth
21230 are controlled by the power of this Buddha. In this way Amitabha grants us the
21231 empowering enlightened activity and the empowering extraordinary achievements.
21232 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, in "Everyday Consciousness and
21233 Buddha-awakening", Snow Lion Pub.
21235 No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read.
21236 -- David McCollough
21238 If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and
21239 only one sentence passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement
21240 would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the
21241 atomic hypothesis (or the atomic fact, if you wish to call it that) that all
21242 things are made of atoms--little particles that move around in perpetual
21243 motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but
21244 repelling upon being squeezed into one another.
21245 -- Richard P. Feynman
21247 The third aspect of the practice of generosity is giving the gift of the
21248 Dharma by making the teachings available. Through the Dharma, we can bring
21249 understanding into the lives of others and help them remove their patterns of
21250 ignorance. We do not have to be great scholars to practice generosity through
21251 the Dharma. We may know just one line of the Dharma, but if we know that one
21252 line clearly and correctly, we can genuinely express it to others and help
21253 them. If we know four lines of the teachings, through those four lines we can
21254 help to clear up someone's ignorance or lessen someone's problems and
21255 sufferings. What counts is not how much we know but how correctly we know it
21256 and how sincerely we use it to help others. We should not wear the mask of the
21257 Dharma, pretending we know a great deal and are doing great things, while
21258 hiding ugliness inside us.
21259 -- Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, in "Dharma Paths", Snow Lion Pub.
21261 One difference between the destructive, negative emotions on the one side and
21262 constructive, positive emotions on the other is that constructive, positive
21263 emotions have a strong grounding in valid experience and reasoning. In fact,
21264 the more we analyze these positive emotions, the more they are enhanced.
21265 Negative, afflictive emotions, by contrast, are usually quite superficial.
21266 They have no grounding in reason and often arise out of habit rather than
21267 reasoned thought processes.
21268 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment",
21269 Snow Lion Publications
21271 Whenever you travel on an airplane, the flight attendants demonstrate what to
21272 do in an emergency. They tell you to put the oxygen mask over your own nose
21273 before putting it over your child's nose. That's not because you should be
21274 selfish, but because if you pass out, you won't be able to help anyone at all.
21275 So you see, the essential point is that we must first subdue our own minds
21276 before we can effectively serve others.
21278 If you have failed to subdue your own mind, even if a thousand Buddhas surround
21279 you, they will be of no benefit. If you want to subdue your enemies, you must
21280 subdue your own mind. If you want to bring about world peace, subdue your
21281 mind. A subdued mind is the Lama. A subdued mind is the Dakini, the chosen
21282 deity, and the Buddha. A subdued mind is the pure land. You are already
21283 imbued with the Buddha-nature. This is your inherent nature. What actual
21284 benefit have you gotten from the essential nature of your mind?
21285 -- Karma Chagme, in "A Spacious Path to Freedom: Practical Instructions on
21286 the Union of Mahamudra and Atiyoga", Snow Lion Publications
21288 From: non-verbal sys-admin
21289 To: support technician
21290 Subject: harriet crash
21292 harriet crashed this afternoon
21293 it is back online now
21294 looks like a bad drive in the array
21295 i have an ibm ticket opened
21296 hope to have it serviced sometime tomorrow
21298 the current state or the repair
21299 should not affect core team work in build
21303 From: support technician
21304 To: non-verbal sys-admin
21305 Subject: Re: harriet crash
21308 complete sentences, grammar
21311 I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little,
21312 they become its visible soul.
21315 I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death; but an infinite
21316 ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness.
21319 Besides the first degree of eminence in science, a professor with us must be
21320 of sober and correct morals and habits, having the talent of communicating his
21321 knowledge with facility, and of an accommodating and peaceable temper. The
21322 latter is all important for the harmony of the institution.
21323 -- Thomas Jefferson
21325 Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities,
21326 of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.
21327 -- Queen Elizabeth II
21329 We do not see, or we forget, that the birds that are idly singing around us
21330 mostly live on insects or seeds, and are thus constantly destroying life.
21333 Obstacles to our practice may be external, internal or secret. The external
21334 ones consist of natural disasters, harm inflicted by human and nonhuman
21335 beings, sicknesses and so forth. Internal obstacles are our own disturbed
21336 states of mind and emotions and all the obstructions to liberation and full
21337 knowledge of all phenomena. Secret obstacles are seemingly good
21338 circumstances, which distract the practitioner and make him or her forget
21339 about practice. For instance, one might gain a good reputation as a sincere
21340 practitioner and thereby attract followers and wealth, which in the end make
21341 one neglect one's practice.
21342 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, in "Eight Verses for Training the Mind",
21345 From Linus Benedict Torvalds Oct 5 1991, 8:53 am
21346 Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
21347 From: torva...@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
21348 Date: 5 Oct 91 05:41:06 GMT
21349 Local: Fri, Oct 4 1991 10:41 pm
21350 Subject: Free minix-like kernel sources for 386-AT
21352 Do you pine for the nice days of minix-1.1, when men were men and wrote
21353 their own device drivers? Are you without a nice project and just dying
21354 to cut your teeth on a OS you can try to modify for your needs? Are you
21355 finding it frustrating when everything works on minix? No more all-
21356 nighters to get a nifty program working? Then this post might be just
21359 As I mentioned a month(?) ago, I'm working on a free version of a
21360 minix-lookalike for AT-386 computers. It has finally reached the stage
21361 where it's even usable (though may not be depending on what you want),
21362 and I am willing to put out the sources for wider distribution. It is
21363 just version 0.02 (+1 (very small) patch already), but I've successfully
21364 run bash/gcc/gnu-make/gnu-sed/compress etc under it.
21366 Sources for this pet project of mine can be found at nic.funet.fi
21367 (128.214.6.100) in the directory /pub/OS/Linux. The directory also
21368 contains some README-file and a couple of binaries to work under linux
21369 (bash, update and gcc, what more can you ask for :-). Full kernel
21370 source is provided, as no minix code has been used. Library sources are
21371 only partially free, so that cannot be distributed currently. The
21372 system is able to compile "as-is" and has been known to work. Heh.
21373 Sources to the binaries (bash and gcc) can be found at the same place in
21376 ALERT! WARNING! NOTE! These sources still need minix-386 to be compiled
21378 (and gcc-1.40, possibly 1.37.1, haven't tested), and you need minix to
21379 set it up if you want to run it, so it is not yet a standalone system
21380 for those of you without minix. I'm working on it. You also need to be
21381 something of a hacker to set it up (?), so for those hoping for an
21382 alternative to minix-386, please ignore me. It is currently meant for
21383 hackers interested in operating systems and 386's with access to minix.
21385 The system needs an AT-compatible harddisk (IDE is fine) and EGA/VGA. If
21386 you are still interested, please ftp the README/RELNOTES, and/or mail me
21387 for additional info.
21389 I can (well, almost) hear you asking yourselves "why?". Hurd will be
21390 out in a year (or two, or next month, who knows), and I've already got
21391 minix. This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjouyed doing
21392 it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for
21393 their own needs. It is still small enough to understand, use and
21394 modify, and I'm looking forward to any comments you might have.
21396 I'm also interested in hearing from anybody who has written any of the
21397 utilities/library functions for minix. If your efforts are freely
21398 distributable (under copyright or even public domain), I'd like to hear
21399 from you, so I can add them to the system. I'm using Earl Chews estdio
21400 right now (thanks for a nice and working system Earl), and similar works
21401 will be very wellcome. Your (C)'s will of course be left intact. Drop me
21402 a line if you are willing to let me use your code.
21406 PS. to PHIL NELSON! I'm unable to get through to you, and keep getting
21407 "forward error - strawberry unknown domain" or something.
21409 Question: How do things exist if they are empty of inherent existence?
21411 His Holiness: The doctrines of emptiness and selflessness do not imply the non-
21412 existence of things. Things do exist. When we say that all phenomena are void
21413 of self-existence, it does not mean that we are advocating non-existence, that
21414 we are repudiating that things exist. Then what is it we are negating? We are
21415 negating, or denying, that anything exists from its own side without depending
21416 on other things. Hence, it is because things depend for their existence upon
21417 other causes and conditions that they are said to lack independent self-
21419 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
21420 Snow Lion Publications
21422 You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will,
21423 But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.
21426 Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things,
21427 in which smiles, and kindnesses, and small obligations, given habitually,
21428 are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort.
21429 -- Sir Humphrey Davy
21431 It is only when I am doing my work that I feel truly alive.
21432 -- Federico Fellini
21434 When you engage in a project or an activity that helps other sentient beings,
21435 there is no question of a time limit. You must do it continuously. This is
21436 how you should train your mind. If you think you will achieve enlightenment or
21437 bodhichitta within a few days or months, and if you think that you will get
21438 enlightened after entering into a retreat for three years and three months, you
21439 are mistaken. When I hear the suggestion that you will attain Buddhahood if
21440 you go into retreat for three years and three months, sometimes I jokingly say
21441 that this is just like communist propaganda. I tell my Western friends that
21442 wanting to practice the most profound and the quickest path is a clear sign
21443 that you will achieve no result. How can you achieve the most profound and the
21444 vast in the shortest way? The story of the Buddha says that he achieved
21445 Buddhahood after three countless aeons. So harboring an expectation to achieve
21446 Buddhahood within a short time-like three years and three months-is a clear
21447 indication that you will make no real progress. We have to be practical.
21448 There is no use in fooling others with your incomplete knowledge.
21449 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Stages of Meditation", Snow Lion Publications
21451 Buddhist moral philosophy is strikingly pragmatic. Something is valuable
21452 insofar as it is relevant to people's lives and useful for achieving their
21453 happiness. If it will bring happiness for oneself and others, pursue it; if it
21454 will bring suffering, better to avoid it. There are no absolute dictates;
21455 ethical personal behavior is seen as simply the most practical way to cope with
21456 the difficulties of the human condition. Although guidelines and copious
21457 illustrations are given, nothing is absolute or definitive. The power and
21458 freedom to make decisions rests with the individual. There is no arbitrary or
21459 mysterious force controlling our lives; there is simply the law of cause and
21460 effect. Of course, decisions are dependent upon many factors. The choices we
21461 make are conditioned by circumstances, both outer and inner, but ultimately
21462 human beings have free will to decide. Individuals make decisions and
21463 experience the consequences of their decisions.
21464 -- from "Buddhism Through American Women's Eyes", edited by Karma Lekshe
21465 Tsomo, Snow Lion Pub.
21467 Chemistry stands at the pivot of science. On the one hand it deals with biology
21468 and provides explanations for the processes of life. On the other hand it
21469 mingles with physics and finds explanations for chemical phenomena in the
21470 fundamental processes and particles of the universe. Chemistry links the
21471 familiar with the fundamental.
21474 In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats. -- English Proverb
21476 A university is what a college becomes when the faculty
21477 loses interest in students.
21480 Ye can lead a man up to the university, but ye can't make him think.
21481 -- Finley Peter Dunne
21483 The new electronic interdependence recreates the
21484 world in the image of a global village.
21485 -- Marshall McLuhan
21487 One of the ways in which cats show happiness is by sleeping.
21490 For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life. -- William Blake
21492 Love is a kind of warfare. -- Ovid
21494 Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what
21495 is excellent in others belong to us as well.
21496 -- Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire, 1694
21498 From a Buddhist point of view, one might be able to distinguish different
21499 states of dreaming. Generally speaking, a dream is a dream, something you
21500 can't control. But for the highly advanced meditator, there could be
21501 possibilities for gaining certain insights through dreams.
21502 I know some Tibetans who lived in Tibet prior to the 1959 uprising. Before
21503 their escape from Tibet, they did not know about the natural trails and passes
21504 by which to get over the Himalayas into India. Some of these people I met had
21505 very clear dreams of these tracks and, years later, when they actually had to
21506 follow the actual trails, they found that they were already familiar with them
21507 because of the very clear dreams they had had previously.
21508 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations
21509 with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", ed. by Zara Houshmand,
21510 Robert B. Livingston and B. Alan Wallace, Snow Lion Publications
21512 I think, for the rest of my life, I shall refrain from looking up things.
21513 It is the most ravenous time-snatcher I know. You pull one book from the
21514 shelf, which carries a hint or a reference that sends you posthaste to
21515 another book, and that to successive others.
21516 -- Carolyn Wells (1862-1942), Mystery Writer
21518 It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life
21519 that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that
21520 goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
21523 Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity,
21524 we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second
21525 time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
21526 -- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
21528 One method for disciples to develop bodhichitta entails recognizing all
21529 beings as having been their mothers in some previous life and focusing on
21530 their mothers' kindness. Similarly, guru-meditation requires focusing on
21531 their mentors' kindness.
21532 Many Westerners, however, have difficulty focusing on the kindness of their
21533 mothers. Unable to find the goodness and kindness in their mothers, most
21534 cannot find any goodness in themselves either. Although they may be desperate
21535 for love and kindness, their mental blocks often prevent them from recognizing
21536 and appreciating the kindness of others, for instance their spiritual mentors.
21537 No matter how much kindness they receive, it is never enough.
21538 One of the reasons for being unable to acknowledge our mothers' kindness
21539 may be that they fail to live up to our models of ideal parents. Similarly,
21540 when our spiritual mentors have shortcomings and do not live up to our models
21541 of ideal teachers, we may also have difficulty recognizing their kindness.
21542 Like children yearning for ideal love, we feel cheated if our mentors fail
21543 to meet our expectations.
21544 -- Alexander Berzin, in "Relating to a Spiritual Teacher: Building a Healthy
21545 Relationship", Snow Lion Publications
21547 Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.
21550 I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis
21551 and I don't deserve that either.
21554 I have come to believe over and over again that what is most
21555 important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at
21556 the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.
21557 -- Audre Geraldine Lorde
21559 The word dharma in Sanskrit means "that which holds". All existents are
21560 dharmas, phenomena, in the sense that they hold or bear their own entity or
21561 character. Also, a religion is a dharma in the sense that it holds persons
21562 back or protects them from disasters. Here the term dharma refers to the
21563 latter definition. In rough terms, any elevated action of body, speech or
21564 mind is regarded as a dharma because through doing such an action one is
21565 protected or held back from all sorts of disasters. Practice of such
21566 actions is practice of dharma.
21567 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "Buddhism of Tibet", Snow Lion Publications
21569 What will survive of us is love. -- Philip Larkin
21571 Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
21574 Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
21577 Optimism can make you look stupid but cynicism always makes you look cynical.
21580 An architect proves his skill by turning the defects of a site into advantages.
21581 -- Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini
21583 Physicists and astronomers see their own implications in the world
21584 being round, but to me it means that only one-third of the world is
21585 asleep at any given time and the other two-thirds is up to something.
21588 What is my purpose in life, what is my responsibility? Whether I like it or
21589 not, I am on this planet, and it is far better to do something for humanity.
21590 So you see that compassion is the seed or basis. If we take care to foster
21591 compassion, we will see that it brings the other good human qualities. The
21592 topic of compassion is not at all religious business; it is very important to
21593 know that it is human business, that it is a question of human survival, that
21594 is not a question of human luxury. I might say that religion is a kind of
21595 luxury. If you have religion, that is good. But it is clear that even without
21596 religion we can manage. However, without these basic human qualities we cannot
21597 survive. It is a question of our own peace and mental stability.
21598 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An
21599 Anthology of Writings By and About the Dalai Lama", compiled and edited
21600 by Sidney Piburn, published by Snow Lion Publications
21602 Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.
21603 -- Benjamin Disraeli
21605 We often get angry when something we consider undesirable happens. But what
21606 use is this anger? If we can change the situation, then let's go ahead and do
21607 it. There's no need to be angry. It's very useful to think like this when
21608 confronted with social problems and injustice. They can be changed, so rather
21609 than be angry, it's wiser to work calmly to improve the society.
21610 On the other hand, if the situation can't be changed, anger is equally
21611 useless. Once our leg is broken, we can't unbreak it. All of the corruption
21612 in the world can't be solved in a year. Getting angry at something we can't
21613 alter makes us miserable. Worrying about or fearing something that hasn't
21614 happened immobilizes us. Shantideva said in A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way
21616 Why be unhappy about something If it can be remedied? And what is the
21617 use of being unhappy about something If it cannot be remedied?
21618 -- Thubten Chodron, in "Open Heart, Clear Mind", Snow Lion Publications
21620 From the Hacker's Lexicon:
21622 Heisenbug /hi:'zen-buhg/ from Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in
21623 quantum physics n. A bug that disappears or alters its behavior when one
21624 attempts to probe or isolate it. Antonym of Bohr bug; see also mandelbug,
21625 schroedinbug. In C, nine out of ten heisenbugs result from either
21626 fandango on core phenomena (esp. lossage related to corruption of the
21627 malloc arena) or errors that smash the stack.
21629 Schroedinbug MIT: from the Schroedinger's Cat thought-experiment in
21630 quantum physics n. A design or implementation bug in a program which
21631 doesn't manifest until someone reading source or using the program in an
21632 unusual way notices that it never should have worked, at which point the
21633 program promptly stops working for everybody until fixed. Though this
21634 sounds impossible, it happens; some programs have harbored latent
21635 schroedinbugs for years. Compare heisenbug, Bohr bug, mandelbug.
21637 Bohr bug /bohr buhg/ from quantum physics n. A repeatable bug; one that
21638 manifests reliably under a possibly unknown but well-defined set of
21639 conditions. Antonym of heisenbug; see also mandelbug, schroedinbug.
21641 Mandelbug /mon'del-buhg/ from the Mandelbrot set n. A bug whose
21642 underlying causes are so complex and obscure as to make its behavior
21643 appear chaotic or even non-deterministic. This term implies that the
21644 speaker thinks it is a Bohr bug, rather than a heisenbug. See also
21647 If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in
21648 music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.
21651 Nothing's impossible I have found,
21652 For when my chin is on the ground,
21653 I pick myself up, Dust myself off,
21654 Start all over again.
21657 You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats.
21658 -- Colonial American Proverb
21660 The essence of dharma practice is to bring about a discipline within the mind,
21661 a state of mind free of hatred, lust and harmful intentions. Hence the entire
21662 message of the buddhadharma could be summed up in two succinct statements:
21663 "Help others," and "If you cannot help them, at least do not harm others."
21664 It is a grave error to think that apart from such a disciplining of the
21665 physical and mental faculties there is something else called "the practice of
21666 dharma." Various, and in some cases divergent, methods to achieve such an
21667 inner discipline have been taught in the scriptures by the Buddha.
21668 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Bliss", Snow Lion Publications
21670 It is not the strongest of the species that survive,
21671 nor the most intelligent,
21672 but the one most responsive to change.
21675 As progress is made in dream practice, dreams become clearer and more detailed,
21676 and a larger part of each dream is remembered. This is a result of bringing
21677 greater awareness into the dream state. Beyond this increased awareness in
21678 ordinary dreams is a second kind of dream called the dream of clarity, which
21679 arises when the mind and the prana are balanced and the dreamer has developed
21680 the capacity to remain in non-personal presence. Unlike the samsaric dream, in
21681 which the mind is swept here and there by karmic prana, in the dream of clarity
21682 the dreamer is stable. Though images and information arise, they are based
21683 less on personal karmic traces and instead present knowledge available directly
21684 from consciousness below the level of the conventional self.
21685 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, in "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep",
21686 published by Snow Lion Publications
21688 In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn than to contemplate.
21691 Be careful when reading health books--you might die of a misprint.
21694 The practice of pure perception is effective when it is practiced a lot. In
21695 pure perception, look beyond the surface and imagine that other people are none
21696 other than expressions of buddha-mind. We can choose to focus on positive
21697 attributes. What we attend to becomes our reality and if we attend to the
21698 buddhas in situations, in things, in other people it is the buddhas we engage
21699 with and the reality of the buddhas that becomes our reality.
21700 -- B. Alan Wallace, in "Buddhism with an Attitude: Tibetan Seven-Point
21701 Mind-Training", Snow Lion Publications
21703 Correctness is clearly the prime quality. If a system does not do what it
21704 is supposed to do, then everything else about it matters little.
21707 The path to genuine co-operation is again through sincere compassion and love.
21708 Sometimes we misunderstand compassion as being nothing more than a feeling of
21709 pity. Compassion is much, much more. It embraces not only a feeling of
21710 closeness, but also a sense of responsibility. When you develop compassion, it
21711 will help you enormously to generate inner strength and self-confidence, and to
21712 reduce your feelings of fear and insecurity. So compassion and love, embodied
21713 in an attitude of altruism, are qualities that are of tremendous importance for
21714 the individual, as well as for society and the community at large.
21715 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
21716 Perfection", published by Snow Lion Publications
21718 The value of transmission is not only that of introducing the state of
21719 knowledge, but lies also in its function of bringing about the maturing of the
21720 transmission, right up until one reaches realization. For this reason the
21721 relationship that links master and disciple is a very close one. The master,
21722 in Dzogchen, is not just like a friend who helps and collaborates with the
21723 disciple; rather the master is himself or herself the path. This is because
21724 the practice of contemplation develops through the unification of the state of
21725 the disciple with that of the master. The master is extremely important, too,
21726 at the Sutra and the Tantra levels of teaching, in the former because he or she
21727 is the holder of Buddha's teachings, and in the latter because he or she is the
21728 source of all the manifestations of transformation.
21729 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, in "Dzogchen: The Self-perfected State",
21730 published by Snow Lion Publications
21732 Setting the Appropriate Motivation
21733 It is very important before receiving any Dharma teaching to set a proper
21734 motivation, or reaffirm and enhance that motivation if we already basically
21735 have it. This is important not only for those who are listening to a spiritual
21736 discourse, but also for the person delivering it. If a discourse or
21737 explanation is given with an attitude of pride, competitiveness or jealousy, it
21738 will not do as a Dharma teaching. A Buddhist teaching must be given with the
21739 sincere wish to benefit all beings by means of it.
21740 Likewise, the listeners to a Buddhist teaching must have a proper
21741 motivation, always thinking, "What new point can I learn from this that will
21742 help me be of more benefit to others?" If we sit here with the notion to learn
21743 something about mahamudra so that we can make a display of ourselves and
21744 proudly talk to others about mahamudra so that they will consider us an
21745 erudite, spiritual person, we have a completely wrong motivation.
21746 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra",
21747 published by Snow Lion Publications
21749 There is one simple Divinity found in all things, everything has Divinity
21750 latent within itself. For she enfolds and imparts herself even unto the
21751 smallest beings. Without her presence nothing would have being, because she
21752 is the essence of the existence of the first unto the last being.
21753 -- Giordano Bruno, "The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast", (1582)
21755 Even to have come forth is something, since I see that being able to conquer
21756 is placed in the hands of fate. However, there was in me, whatever I was able
21757 to do, that which no future century will deny to be mine, that which a victor
21758 could have for his own: Not to have feared to die, not to have yielded to any
21759 equal in firmness of nature, and to have preferred a courageous death to a
21761 -- Giordano Bruno, "De Monade"
21763 Thus is the excellence of God magnified and the greatness of his kingdom made
21764 manifest; He is glorified not in one, but in countless suns; not in a single
21765 earth, a single world, but in a thousand thousand, I say in an infinity of
21769 The real story of our times is seldom told in the horse-puckey-filled memoirs
21770 of dopey, self-serving presidents or generals, but in the outrageous, demented
21771 lives of guys like Lenny Bruce, Giordano Bruno, Scott Fitzgerald--and Paul
21772 Krassner. The burrs under society's saddle. The pains in the ass.
21775 The Tibetan word that is usually translated as "blessing" or "inspiration" can
21776 more literally be translated as "to transform into magnificence." We are
21777 asking the Buddhas to transform our minds into magnificence. How that happens
21778 isn't by the Buddha going in and pulling some switches inside our mind.
21779 Because our mind is conditioned and changing, the mental energy of the Buddha's
21780 realizations can affect our energy, so to speak. Conditioned phenomena affect
21781 each other, so the force of Tara's realizations can positively affect our mind.
21782 -- Thubten Chodron, in "How to Free Your Mind", Snow Lion Publications
21784 A botnet is comparable to compulsory military service for windows boxes.
21787 The greatest strength is gentleness. -- Iroquois proverb
21789 Whether or not we actually achieve the realisation of bodhicitta and to what
21790 level or depth we gain such a realisation depends upon the force of our
21791 experience of great compassion. This great compassion, which aspires to free
21792 all sentient beings from suffering, is not confined to the level of mere
21793 aspiration. It has a dimension of far greater power, which is the sense of
21794 commitment or responsibility to personally bring about this objective of
21795 fulfilling others' welfare. In order to cultivate this powerful great
21796 compassion, we need to train our mind separately in two other factors. One is
21797 to cultivate a sense of empathy with or closeness to all sentient beings, for
21798 whose sake we wish to work so that they become free from suffering. The other
21799 factor is to cultivate a deeper insight into the nature of the suffering from
21800 which we wish others to be relieved.
21801 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Lighting the Way", Snow Lion Publications
21803 Religion does not mean just precepts, a temple, monastery, or other external
21804 signs, for these as well as hearing and thinking are subsidiary factors in
21805 taming the mind. When the mind becomes the practices, one is a practitioner
21806 of religion, and when the mind does not become the practices one is not.
21807 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Deity Yoga", Snow Lion Pub.
21809 Hamlet's Cat's Soliloquy
21811 To go outside, and there perchance to stay
21812 Or to remain within: that is the question:
21813 Whether 'tis better for a cat to suffer
21814 The cuffs and buffets of inclement weather
21815 That Nature rains on those who roam abroad,
21816 Or take a nap upon a scrap of carpet,
21817 And so by dozing melt the solid hours
21818 That clog the clock's bright gears with sullen time
21819 And stall the dinner bell.
21820 To sit, to stare Outdoors, and by a stare to seem to state
21821 A wish to venture forth without delay,
21822 Then when the portal's opened up, to stand
21823 As if transfixed by doubt.
21824 To prowl; to sleep;
21825 To choose not knowing when we may once more
21826 Our readmittance gain: aye, there's the hairball;
21827 For if a paw were shaped to turn a knob,
21828 Or work a lock or slip a window-catch,
21829 And going out and coming in were made
21830 As simple as the breaking of a bowl,
21831 What cat would bear the household's petty plagues,
21832 The cook's well-practiced kicks, the butler's broom,
21833 The infant's careless pokes, the tickled ears,
21834 The trampled tail, and all the daily shocks
21835 That fur is heir to, when, of his own free will,
21836 He might his exodus or entrance make
21837 With a mere mitten?
21838 Who would spaniels fear,
21839 Or strays trespassing from a neighbor's yard,
21840 But that the dread of our unheeded cries
21841 And scratches at a barricaded door
21842 No claw can open up, dispels our nerve
21843 And makes us rather bear our humans' faults
21844 Than run away to unguessed miseries?
21845 Thus caution doth make house cats of us all;
21846 And thus the bristling hair of resolution
21847 Is softened up with the pale brush of thought,
21848 And since our choices hinge on weighty things,
21849 We pause upon the threshold of decision.
21852 It is not good to begin many different works, saying "This looks good; that
21853 looks good", touching this, touching that, and not succeeding in any of them.
21854 If you do not generate great desires but aim at what is fitting, you can
21855 actualise the corresponding potencies and become an expert in that. With
21856 success, the power or imprint of that practice is generated.
21857 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Tantra in Tibet", Snow Lion Pub.
21859 Through the skillful methods of tantra, meditators are able to cultivate
21860 pleasure in a way that actually aids in spiritual progress. Afflicted
21861 grasping and desires based on mistaken ideas are the problem, not happiness
21862 and pleasure. If the pursuit of happiness and pleasure can be separated
21863 from afflictive emotions, then it can be incorporated into the path and
21864 will even become a powerful aid to the attainment of enlightenment.
21865 -- John Powers, in "Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", Snow Lion Pub.
21868 What kind of refuge does Buddhism offer? How are Buddhists and non-Buddhists
21869 differentiated? From the viewpoint of refuge, a Buddhist is someone who
21870 accepts Buddha, his doctrine, and the spiritual community as the final refuge.
21871 From the viewpoint of philosophy, a Buddhist is someone who asserts the four
21872 views that guarantee a doctrine as being Buddhist. With respect to the three
21873 refuges, called the Three Jewels, it is said that the Buddha is the teacher of
21874 refuge but that the actual refuge is the Dharma, the doctrine. Buddha himself
21875 said, "I teach the path of liberation. Liberation itself depends upon you."
21876 From the same perspective, Buddha said, "You are your own master." The
21877 spiritual community are those who assist one in achieving refuge.
21878 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama at Harvard", Snow Lion
21881 Bodhisattvas are motivated by universal compassion, and they seek the ultimate
21882 goal of buddhahood in order to be of service to others. They embark on this
21883 path with the generation of the mind of enlightenment, which Geshe Rabten
21884 states is "the wish for Supreme Enlightenment for the sake of others. The sign
21885 of the true Bodhicitta is the constant readiness to undergo any sacrifice for
21886 the happines of all beings." Unlike ordinary beings, who think of their own
21887 advantage, bodhisattvas consider how best to benefit others.
21888 -- John Powers, in "Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", Snow Lion Publications
21890 Why are there fierce protectors? Peaceful deities such as Tara have a certain
21891 energy that calms and gladdens our mind. But sometimes our mind is so
21892 belligerent and stuck that we need the kind of energy that goes "Pow!" to wake
21893 us up or to pull us out of unproductive behavior. For this reason, the
21894 Buddhas' wisdom and compassion appear in the form of these wrathful deities to
21895 demonstrate clean-clear wisdom and compassion that act directly. This active
21896 wisdom doesn't vacillate and pamper us. This wisdom doesn't say, "Well,
21897 maybe," or, "Poor you. You deserve to be treated well, not like that horrible
21898 person treated you." Instead, it's forceful: "Cut it out! Stop those false
21899 expectations and preconceptions right now!" Sometimes we need that strong,
21900 wise energy to be in our face to wake us up to the fact that our afflictions
21901 and old patterns of thought and behavior are making us miserable.
21902 -- Thubten Chodron, in "How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator"
21904 I never joined the army because at ease was never that easy to me. Seemed
21905 rather uptight still. I don't relax by parting my legs slightly and putting
21906 my hands behind my back. That does not equal ease. At ease was not being
21907 in the military. I am at ease, bro, because I am not in the military.
21910 The human essence of good sense finds no room with anger. Anger, jealousy,
21911 impatience, and hatred are the real troublemakers; with them problems cannot
21912 be solved. Though one may have temporary success, ultimately one's hatred or
21913 anger will create further difficulties. With anger, all actions are swift.
21914 When we face problems with compassion, sincerely and with good motivation, it
21915 may take longer, but ultimately the solution is better, for there is far less
21916 chance of creating a new problem through the temporary "solution" of the
21918 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "Kindness, Clarity and Insight", Snow Lion Pub.
21920 Killing and eating meat are interrelated, so do we have to give up eating
21921 animal products? I myself once tried to give it up, but health problems arose
21922 and two years later my doctors advised me to again use meat in my diet. If
21923 there are people who can give up eating meat, we can only rejoice in their
21924 noble efforts. In any case, at least we should try to lessen our intake of
21925 meat and not eat it anywhere where it is in scarce supply and our consumption
21926 of it would cause added slaughter.
21927 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "The Path to Enlightenment", Snow Lion Publications
21929 The mind is beyond expression, thought and conceptualization, because it is
21930 empty. Yet, there is phenomena and appearance. The objects that you cling to
21931 in this waking reality are dreamlike, but if you do not inquire into the nature
21932 of this dream, you remain attracted as though there were really something here.
21933 Upon examination, you find that these objects have no true existence at all and
21934 are just like space. A practitioner who understands that phenomena lack
21935 inherent existence and resemble space should then examine himself or herself to
21936 discover whether he or she possesses an individual self. Then it will be
21937 discovered that there is no truly existing examiner either.
21938 -- Gyatrul Rinpoche, from "The Generation Stage in Buddhist Tantra",
21939 published by Snow Lion Publications
21941 Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.
21944 In discursive meditations it is imperative that one's growing disenchantment
21945 with mundane existence is complemented with growing confidence in the real
21946 possibility of true freedom and lasting joy that transcends the vicissitudes
21947 of conditioned existence. Without this faith and the yearning for such
21948 liberation, the meditations may easily result in profound depression, in which
21949 everything seems hollow, unreal, and futile. Thus instead of polarizing one's
21950 desires towards the single-pointed pursuit of nirvana, one is reduced to a
21951 debilitating kind of spiritual sloth.
21952 -- B. Alan Wallace, in "Balancing the Mind: A Tibetan Buddhist Approach
21953 to Refining Attention", Snow Lion Publications
21955 I believe that in human actions, the prime mover is motivation. On the spot,
21956 it is important to tackle the symptoms of problems, but in the long run, it is
21957 necessary to look at the motivation and whether there is possibility to change
21958 it. For the long run, this is crucial. As long as the negative motivation is
21959 not changed, then although there might be certain rules and methods to stop
21960 counterproductive actions, human beings have the ability through various ways
21961 to express their negative feeling. Thus, for the long run, we need to look at
21962 our motivation and try to change it. This means that we must try to cultivate
21963 the right kind of motivation and try to reduce the negative motivation.
21964 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss
21965 Human Rights, Conflict and Reconciliation", edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
21966 published by Snow Lion Publications
21968 When we talk of karma or action, it entails action committed by an agent, in
21969 this case, oneself, in the past. So what type of future will come about, to a
21970 large extent, lies within one's own hands and can be determined by the kind of
21971 initiatives that one takes now. Not only that, but karma should not be
21972 understood in terms of passive, static kind of force, but rather in terms of
21973 active process. This indicates that there is an important role for the
21974 individual agent to play in determining the course of the karmic process.
21975 Consider, for instance, a simple act like fulfilling our need for food. In
21976 order to achieve that simple goal one must take action on one's own behalf: one
21977 needs to look for food, to prepare it, to eat it. This shows that even a
21978 simple act, even a simple goal is achieved through action.
21979 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
21980 Buddhist Perspective", Snow Lion Publications
21982 Nothing is easier than to bring others down to our level, particularly in
21983 cultures where it is taken as a sign of keen intelligence to view every person
21984 and situation as a challenge to "name the ten things wrong with this picture."
21985 The presence of Guru Rinpoche in so many forms in our world makes us question
21986 life in a way pre-1959 persons rarely had to. Life isn't the same after
21987 meeting the Dalai Lama or Kyentse Rinpoche and others. We can't erase them
21988 from our minds, as inconvenient as these open doors to enlightenment might be.
21989 We had other plans; we didn't ask to see so vividly another totally different
21991 The question, "How can I integrate this into my daily life?" doesn't plumb
21992 the depth of the inquiry. I have translated for lamas in North America,
21993 Europe, and Asia, and have found this to be the typical North American
21994 question. I think the best answer is, "You can't; don't even try." But I
21995 have to wonder about the question itself. What do you do when an event or an
21996 encounter changes your life? If you won a 10,000,000 dollar jackpot, if a
21997 dear friend dies, or if you fall deeply in love, do you ask, "How can I
21998 integrate this into my daily life?" Some events change us, are earth-
21999 shattering, and are not meant to be integrated into what can sometimes feel
22000 like a rat race existence. Meeting Guru Rinpoche is one such event.
22001 -- Ngawang Zangpo, in "Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times", Snow Lion Pub.
22003 Now in terms of the actual practice, when one is immersed in the contemplation
22004 of the clear light, since all dualistic appearances vanish, it becomes
22005 impossible to distinguish the object from the consciousness perceiving it.
22006 They seem to become as if they were one, like water mixed with water. Of
22007 course, strictly speaking, there are two entities, subject and object, but
22008 within the experience of the clear light this duality is lost.
22009 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
22010 published by Snow Lion Publications
22012 Guardians of the teachings
22013 There are eight principal classes of Guardians each with many subdivisions.
22014 Some are highly realized beings, others not realized at all. Every place--
22015 every continent, country, city, mountain, river, lake or forest--has its
22016 particular dominant energy, or Guardian, as have every year, hour and even
22017 minute: these are not highly evolved energies. The various teachings all have
22018 energies which have special relationships with them: these are more realized
22019 Guardians. These energies are iconographically portrayed as they were
22020 perceived when they manifested to masters who had contact with them, and their
22021 awesome power is represented by their terrifyingly ferocious forms, their many
22022 arms and heads, and their ornaments of the charnel ground. As with all the
22023 figures in tantric iconography, it is not correct to interpret the figures of
22024 the guardians as merely symbolic, as some Western writers have been tempted to
22025 do. Though the iconographic forms have been shaped by the perceptions and
22026 culture of those who saw the original manifestation and by the development of
22027 tradition, actual beings are represented.
22028 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, "The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra
22029 and Dzogchen, Teachings of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu", compiled and edited by
22030 John Shane, published by Snow Lion Publications
22032 5. When others out of jealousy treat me unreasonably, with abuse, slander, and
22033 so on, I will learn to take all loss and offer the victory to them. When any
22034 type of deserved or undeserved slander, prompted by jealousy, and so forth,
22035 and unpleasant verbal abuse [comes to one], do not lose patience. Keep a
22036 peaceful mind. Further, when problems arise, do not say "It is his fault,
22037 not mine!" Accept the blame, as did Geshe Lang ri thang pa. [Reflect:]
22038 "Whoever created this mess, it includes me! I have [a hand in it] also."
22039 The reason for this is that we must endeavor toward generosity and the various
22040 modes of ethical behavior, for the sake of purifying our many misdeeds and
22041 completing the accumulations [of merit and wisdom].
22042 Therefore, when one shows kindness to slanderers, even if one does not
22043 deserve the abuse and slander, it is said to be necessary for purifying our
22044 misdeeds when problems arise. Taking all blame on ourselves prevents our evil
22045 karma from arising.
22046 Geshe Lang ri thang pa speaks of a person from the Valley of Phan who
22047 sometimes gave a little butter cake to the Lamas, and at other times slandered
22048 them for no reason. The Lamas regarded him with great kindness. This
22049 cleansed their misdeeds and helped their accumulation of the two collections.
22050 They claimed that his slanderous talk was great. Shantideva's
22051 bodhisattvacaryavatara says:
22052 Therefore, since patience can be generated
22053 In dependence upon a very hate filled mind
22054 And because it is the cause of patience,
22055 Make offerings to it as if it was the most excellent doctrine!
22056 More correct even than this statement is that ethics and patience lead to
22057 great merit, and to the end of misdeeds such as anger. Therefore it is said
22058 that the hardest practice is patience. [Learn] the patience that is keeping
22059 still no matter what happens.
22062 I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.
22063 -- Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
22065 All sentient beings are exactly the same in that every one desires happiness
22066 and seeks to avoid misery. We are not isolated entities disconnected from
22067 each other. The happiness and suffering of other beings affect us. This
22068 mutual relation is obvious. Sentient beings have been kind and have benefited
22069 us directly and indirectly throughout beginningless time. These beings are
22070 intrinsically the same as us in their pursuit of happiness and effort to avoid
22071 suffering. Thus, it is essentially logical for us to train in cultivating an
22072 impartial attitude wishing for the happiness of all beings.
22073 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", Snow Lion Pub.
22075 Our exaggerated sense of self and our compulsion to find happiness for this
22076 larger-than-life self we have fabricated cause us to ignore, neglect and harm
22077 others. Of course, it is our right to love and take care of ourselves, but
22078 not at the expense of others. While "As long as I'm alright" is our motto,
22079 we have no hesitation in acting with total disregard for others.
22080 We may find this description of self-concern altogether too crass to apply
22081 to us. "I'm not like that," we object, but though we may not consciously
22082 think in this way, when self-concern is operating, our behavior shows a cold
22083 indifference to others. Conflicts between partners, parents and children and
22084 with other family members, conflicts between students and teachers and on a
22085 larger scale within and between countries have their source in personal and
22086 collective self-concern.
22087 Buddhas and Bodhisattvas see clearly that our neglect of others, our self-
22088 preoccupation and our disregard for the connection between actions and their
22089 effects are responsible for all our miseries.
22090 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, in "The Three Principal Aspects of the Path: An
22091 Oral Teaching", translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by
22092 Snow Lion Publications
22094 Ordinarily, it is difficult to remember one's past life. Such recollections
22095 seem to be more vivid when the child is very young, such as two or three, and
22096 in some cases even younger. ...When the present body is fully formed, the
22097 ability to recall past life seems to diminish.
22098 The mental associations with this life become increasingly dominant. There
22099 is a close relationship during the first few years of one's life with the
22100 continuum of consciousness from the previous life. But as experiences of this
22101 life become more developed and elaborate, they dominate.
22102 It is also possible within this lifetime to enhance the power of the mind,
22103 enabling one to reaccess memories from previous lives. Such recollection
22104 tends to be more accessible during meditative experiences in the dream state.
22105 Once one has accessed memories of previous lives in the dream state, one
22106 gradually recalls them in the waking state.
22107 -- H.H Dalai Lama, in "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with
22108 The Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", Edited by Zara Houshmand,
22109 Robert B. Livingston and B. Alan Wallace, Snow Lion Publications
22111 Relaxation involves a kind of awareness which reverses the normal tendency
22112 that we have. Because, as we have seen, this ordinary sense of self that we
22113 have lacks inherent self existence, it has to keep constructing itself and
22114 that requires a particular kind of effort. The ego's root feeling is that if
22115 I do not hold myself together there will be a falling apart into something
22116 chaotic and difficult. So there is anxiety, an energetic anxiety which is
22117 located in the body, in the whole energetic system of the body and
22118 interpersonal turbulence reminds us again and again "If I don't keep it
22119 together, I will get in trouble." The belief in reincarnation indicates that
22120 for many lifetimes we have been caught up in this anxiety, this nervous
22121 contraction which is holding our ordinary grasping sense of self in place.
22122 -- from "Being Right Here: A Dzogchen Treasure Text of Nuden Dorje entitled
22123 'The Mirror of Clear Meaning,'" commentary by James Low, Snow Lion Pub.
22125 Buddhas are always striving for the welfare of beings migrating in cyclic
22126 existence. In every hour and minute they create limitless forms of welfare
22127 for beings throughout billions of emanations of their body, speech and mind.
22128 For instance, in this aeon--an aeon being a period of an extremely great
22129 number of years--they will appear in the aspect of one thousand supreme
22130 Emanation Bodies (Nirmanakaya) as Buddhas, and each will have his own new
22132 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Buddhism of Tibet", Snow Lion Publications
22135 The Buddhist teachings differentiate between flash insights (nyam, nyams),
22136 and stable realizations (togpa, rtogs-pa). A flash insight does not make a
22137 significant change in one's life, but may lead in that direction. A stable
22138 realization, on the other hand, whether it be partial or complete, actually
22139 produces a noticeable improvement that lasts. The distinction we are drawing
22140 here between Dharma instructors and spiritual mentors derives from this
22141 difference. Dharma instructors may have either insight or realization,
22142 whereas spiritual mentors need to have some level of stable realization.
22143 -- Alexander Berzin, in "Relating to a Spiritual Teacher: Building a
22144 Healthy Relationship, published by Snow Lion Publications
22146 Not even computers will replace committees, because committees buy computers.
22147 -- Edward Shepherd Mead
22149 If you can't do what you want, do what you can. -- Lois McMaster Bujold
22151 Human history is work history. The heroes of the people are work heroes.
22152 -- Meridel le Sueur
22154 It is not the man who has too little,
22155 but the man who craves more, that is poor.
22158 Drive-in banks were established so most of the
22159 cars today could see their real owners.
22160 -- E. Joseph Crossman
22162 I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch. -- Gilda Radner
22164 It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish.
22167 You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that
22168 make you want to live to be a hundred.
22171 No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.
22174 Do not look where you fell but where you slipped.
22176 There is nothing more demoralizing than a small but adequate income.
22179 Measure not the work until the day's out and the labor done.
22180 -- Elizabeth Barret Browning
22182 Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.
22183 -- Robert Louis Stevenson
22185 We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from
22186 artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.
22187 -- Alfred E. Newman, Mad Magazine
22189 The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
22192 You are what you are--and not what people think you are. -- O.W. Polen
22194 Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.
22197 From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.
22200 I touch the future. I teach. -- Christa McAuliffe
22202 Curiosity is one of the permanent and
22203 certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.
22206 People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. -- W. Somerset Maugham
22208 Money is like muck, not good except it be spread. -- Sir Francis Bacon
22210 The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting
22211 otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.
22214 We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.
22215 -- Wernher von Braun
22217 The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and
22218 write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
22221 Wealth is the possession of whatever gives us happiness,
22222 contentment or a sense of significance.
22225 To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. -- Oscar Wilde
22227 I bought some batteries, but they weren't included. -- Steven Wright
22229 The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
22232 People who work sitting down get paid
22233 more than people who work standing up.
22236 It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. -- Sir Edmund Hillary
22238 What we should ask of ourselves is growth, not perfection. -- Pat Boone
22240 Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand. -- Unknown
22242 The purpose of life is to fight maturity. -- Dick Wertheimer
22244 Your true value depends entirely on what you are compared with. -- Bob Wells
22246 A good mind possesses a kingdom. -- Lucius Anaaeus Seneca
22248 I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the
22249 position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has
22250 overcome while trying to succeed.
22251 -- Booker T. Washington
22253 An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart
22254 he would have been not to have taken it.
22255 -- Laurence J. Peter
22257 I have not lost my mind--it's backed up on disk somewhere. -- Unknown
22259 Wise men talk because they have something to say;
22260 fools, because they have to say something.
22263 Don't waste a thousand dollars' worth of emotion over a 5-cent triviality.
22266 Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them. -- Suzanne Necker
22268 Some people are born on third base and go
22269 through life thinking they have hit a triple.
22272 I can't understand why people are scared of new ideas.
22273 I'm frightened of the old ones.
22276 It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.
22279 A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on. -- Samuel Goldwyn
22281 When we practice, initially, as a basis we control ourselves, stopping the bad
22282 actions which hurt others as much as we can. This is defensive. After that,
22283 when we develop certain qualifications, then as an active goal we should help
22284 others. In the first stage, sometimes we need isolation while pursuing our
22285 own inner development; however, after you have some confidence, some strength,
22286 you must remain with, contact, and serve society in any field--health,
22287 education, politics, or whatever.
22289 There are people who call themselves religious-minded, trying to show this by
22290 dressing in a peculiar manner, maintaining a peculiar way of life, and
22291 isolating themselves from the rest of society. That is wrong. A scripture of
22292 mind-purification (mind-training) says, "Transform your inner viewpoint, but
22293 leave your external appearance as it is." This is important. Because the
22294 very purpose of practicing the Great Vehicle is service for others, you should
22295 not isolate yourselves from society. In order to serve, in order to help, you
22296 must remain in society.
22297 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness",
22298 Snow Lion Publications
22300 The indivisible nature of mind is said to possess a "mobile quality." This
22301 mobile quality is described as currents of energy which flow through the
22302 channels of various parts of the body, presiding over physical as well as
22303 mental functions, and pass through the nostrils as breathing. Such currents
22304 of energy, called "winds" (rlung, vayu), serve as the bridge between body and
22306 The winds are a blend of two types of energy, one associated with
22307 emotionality, called karmic or conditioned wind (las kyi rlung), and the other
22308 related to the original state of the individual, called pristine awareness
22309 wind (ye shes kyi rlung). Distinguished in terms of the three principles,
22310 darkness (tamas), mobility (rajas), and buoyancy (sattva), winds are of three
22311 types: wind of Rahu, solar wind, and lunar wind. Moreover, the winds are
22312 differentiated as the five root winds (rtsa ba'i rlung), the natures of the
22313 five elements, and five branch winds (yan lag gi rlung), produced through the
22314 five elemental transformations. The winds of the five elements, or five
22315 mandalas, flow back and forth through the right and left nostrils in the order
22316 of generation of the elements and of birth (first space, then wind, fire,
22317 water, earth) and in the order of dissolution of the elements and of death
22318 (first earth, then water, and so on), respectively. In one day, they are
22319 exhaled and inhaled 21,600 times, divided between the two nostrils, a time
22320 corresponding to eight periods or watches (thun). The outward movement of
22321 these energy currents as the breath diminishes the strength of the wind
22322 associated with pristine awareness. Therefore, when outward movement
22323 increases, there occur signs of death. If the winds are held inside,
22324 pristine awareness wind is strengthened. Hence, many extraordinary powers
22325 such as longevity are gained through breath control techniques for "holding
22326 the winds" in the central channel.
22327 -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, in "The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Six,
22328 Part Four: Systems of Buddhist Tantra, The Indestructible Way of
22331 When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
22334 ...you should have the deep conviction that cessation of the sufferings and
22335 the delusions is possible, and also that it is possible within your mind.
22336 True cessation is a state where you have destroyed the delusions at their root
22337 so that there remains no potential for their re-emergence. Such a cessation
22338 can be realized only through the true paths that penetrate into the nature of
22340 When you develop this conviction, you will also be able to develop faith in
22341 a being who has really mastered cessation, who is the Buddha--a person who has
22342 fully accomplished the realization of the dharma. If you contemplate along
22343 such lines, you will be able to develop a very deep faith and conviction in
22344 Buddha Shakyamuni and see him as an incomparable master.
22345 What distinguishes Buddhist practitioners from others is the factor of
22346 taking refuge. But merely seeking a refuge out of the fear of suffering is
22347 not unique to Buddhists; non-Buddhists could also have such a motivation. The
22348 unique practice of refuge that Buddhists should have is that of taking refuge
22349 in the Buddha out of a deep conviction in his exceptional qualities and
22350 realizations. If you think in such terms you will be able to understand Lama
22351 Tsongkhapa's profound praise of Buddha Shakyamuni: "Those who are far from his
22352 doctrine always reinforce the illusion of self-existence that they have within
22353 themselves, whereas those who follow his guidance will be able to free
22354 themselves from such confusions."
22355 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Path to Bliss", Snow Lion Publications
22357 ...they say that the initial realization of the nature of the mind is the
22358 first breakthrough. It's a very important point in all Buddhist schools. At
22359 that moment, you cease to be an ordinary person. You become in Buddhist
22360 parlance an arya, a noble one. It doesn't mean you are finished. It doesn't
22361 mean you are a high level bodhisattva. We can fall back from this. But
22362 still, this is a big breakthrough. We now understand what is true and what is
22363 not true. We don't have to take it all on faith any more. It is a direct
22364 non-dual experience. The point is that it is very easy. It's not difficult,
22365 and it's not something that can only be attained after years and years of
22367 Our main obstacle is the fact that we don't know how to relax our minds
22368 enough to be open to this experience. In the back of our minds we keep
22369 thinking this is something so difficult and so advanced. For this reason we
22370 don't recognize what is in front of our face. This is why a teacher can be
22371 extraordinarily helpful. A teacher living within that realization is able--
22372 if the mind of the disciple is completely open--to transmit his or her
22373 experience. The problem here is that we have too many hopes and fears; it
22374 creates a barrier. It is very hard to be open. You can't just will it.
22375 -- Ani Tenzin Palmo, in "Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on
22376 Practical Buddhism"
22378 The Level of Initial Capacity
22380 All the essential spiritual practices related primarily to the achievement of
22381 rebirth in the higher realms belong to what Atisha calls the 'small capacity'.
22384 Know that those who by whatever means
22385 Seek for themselves no more
22386 Than the pleasures of cyclic existence
22387 Are persons of the least capacity.
22388 [Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment]
22390 ...the principal means for attaining birth in the higher realms is the ethical
22391 discipline of refraining from the ten negative actions of body, speech and
22392 mind. These comprise three actions of the body--killing, stealing and sexual
22393 misconduct; four verbal actions--lying, divisive speech, harsh speech and
22394 frivolous speech; and three mental actions--covetousness, ill-will and
22395 harbouring wrong views. To live an ethically sound life, it helps to remind
22396 ourselves of what are known as the four reflections, namely the preciousness
22397 of human life; the inevitability of our death and the uncertainty of the time
22398 of death; the infallibility of the law of cause and effect and the workings of
22399 karma; and understanding the nature of suffering. Concerning the first
22400 reflection, some Tibetan masters have said that when we contemplate the
22401 preciousness of this human existence, we should literally cultivate the
22402 determination to make our human life something precious in itself, rather than
22403 allowing it to be wasted or to become a cause of future suffering.
22405 Contemplating these four reflections gives us the courage to engage earnestly
22406 in the practice of the Dharma in order to free ourselves from the possibility
22407 of rebirth in the lower realms. This involves a process of training our mind,
22408 not just at the mental level but also at the level of our emotions and
22409 actions. Living an ethical life is not a case of adhering to a set of
22410 regulations imposed on us from outside, such as the laws of a country. Rather
22411 it involves voluntarily embracing a discipline on the basis of a clear
22412 recognition of its value. In essence, living a true ethical life is living a
22413 life of self-discipline. When the Buddha said that 'we are our own master, we
22414 are our own enemy', he was telling us that our destiny lies in our own hands.
22416 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Lighting the Way", Snow Lion Publications
22418 In his autobiography Freedom in Exile, His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks of
22419 his attachment as a child to the monastery's Master of the Kitchen,
22420 commenting, "I sometimes think that the act of bringing food is one of the
22421 basic roots of all relationships." And the connection between giving food and
22422 understanding the interrelationship of all life is recognized also in stories
22423 about the belated discovery of an enlightened master who lived humbly as a
22424 monastery cook; or the stories of a great lama who gathers his disciples to
22425 test their progress, only to discover that the most highly realized of all is
22426 the cook, who has neither meditated nor studied, but who simply served the
22428 May you have long life,
22429 may the house be filled with grain,
22430 and may you have the luck
22431 to make use of this abundance.
22432 -- Tibetan drinking song
22434 -- Tsering Wangmo and Zara Houshmand, in "The Lhasa Moon Tibetan Cookbook"
22436 The Level of Middling Capacity
22438 In the following verse Atisha describes the characteristics of spiritual
22439 trainees of the middling capacity.
22442 Those who seek peace for themselves alone,
22443 Turning away from worldly pleasures
22444 And avoiding destructive actions
22445 Are said to be of middling capacity.
22446 -- Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment
22448 The phrase "destructive actions" refers to the afflictions that, together with
22449 karma, constitute the origin of suffering. This is why practitioners at the
22450 level of middling capacity concentrate on the spiritual practices that are
22451 primarily aimed at the elimination of the afflictions. Broadly speaking,
22452 these practices fall into two categories. One is training the mind to
22453 cultivate the genuine desire to gain freedom from cyclic existence, which is
22454 often referred to as the cultivation of renunciation. The other is
22455 cultivating the path to bring about the fulfillment of that wish for
22456 renunciation. In order to train one's mind in this way, one needs to reflect
22457 upon the defects of cyclic existence and to develop an understanding of the
22458 causation chain of karma and the afflictions. Through these reflections one
22459 cultivates the wish to gain freedom and then embarks upon the path to bring
22460 about that freedom.
22461 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Lighting the Way", Snow Lion Publications
22463 Number of Recitations
22464 The sixth section of the yoga of speech concerns measuring the accumulation
22465 of mantra recitations. How do you know when you have recited enough of a
22466 particular mantra? Generally speaking, you should count a mantra until you
22467 achieve some common spiritual power and ideally until you achieve the supreme
22468 spiritual attainment. Wouldn't that be the best way?
22469 After all, if you are really hungry, don't you eat until you are satisfied?
22470 Similarly, if you plan a trip to San Francisco, you want to travel until you
22471 arrive at your destination. You would not travel halfway and be satisfied
22472 with that, would you? In the same way, when you recite a mantra, you have a
22473 specific goal in mind: to gain the supreme spiritual attainment--buddhahood.
22474 Wouldn't it be wise to keep on reciting the mantra until you have achieved
22475 your goal, or at least until you achieve some perceptible improvement?
22476 -- Gyatrul Rinpoche, in "The Generation Stage in Buddhist Tantra", published
22477 by Snow Lion Publications
22479 The Level of Great Capacity
22481 Atisha continues his discussion on the three capacities by turning his
22482 attention to spiritual trainees at the highest level.
22485 Those who, through their personal suffering,
22486 Truly want to end completely
22487 All the suffering of others
22488 Are persons of supreme capacity.
22489 -- Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment
22491 Practitioners at this level use their deep understanding of the nature of
22492 suffering, derived from reflection on their personal experience, to recognise
22493 the fundamental equality of oneself and others insofar as the desire to
22494 overcome suffering is concerned. This then leads to the arising of a
22495 spontaneous wish to free all sentient beings from their suffering, a wish
22496 which becomes the powerful impetus for engaging in spiritual practices aimed
22497 at bringing about this altruistic objective.
22499 The most important practice in relation to this altruistic goal is the
22500 generation of bodhicitta, the altruistic aspiration to attain buddhahood for
22501 the benefit of all beings.
22502 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in Lighting the Way, Snow Lion Publications
22504 The Meaning of Empowerment
22505 As for empowerment in general, what does the term wang, or empowerment,
22506 signify? To begin with, our fundamental nature--what we term "the buddha
22507 nature", or tathagatagarbha, the very nature of our mind, is inherently
22508 present within us as a natural attribute. This mind of ours, the subject at
22509 hand, has been going on throughout beginningless time, and so has the more
22510 subtle nature of that mind. On the basis of the continuity of that subtle
22511 nature of our mind rests the capacity we have to attain enlightenment. This
22512 potential is what we call "the seed of buddhahood", "buddha nature", "the
22513 fundamental nature", or tathagatagarbha. We all have this buddha nature, each
22514 and every one of us. For example, this beautiful statue of Lord Buddha here,
22515 in the presence of which we are now sitting, is a representation that honours
22516 someone who attained buddhahood. He awakened into that state of enlightenment
22517 because his nature was the buddha nature. Ours is as well, and just as the
22518 Buddha attained enlightenment in the past, so in the future we can become
22520 In any case, there dwells within us all this potential which allows us to
22521 awaken into buddhahood and attain omniscience. The empowerment process draws
22522 that potential out, and allows it to express itself more fully. When an
22523 empowerment is conferred on you, it is the nature of your mind--the buddha
22524 nature--that provides a basis upon which the empowerment can ripen you.
22525 Through the empowerment, you are empowered into the essence of the buddhas of
22526 the five families. In particular, you are "ripened" within that particular
22527 family through which it is your personal predisposition to attain buddhahood.
22528 So, with these auspicious circumstances established in your mindstream,
22529 and when you reflect on what is taking place and maintain the various
22530 visualizations, the conditions are right for the essence of the empowerment to
22531 awaken within you, as a state of wisdom which is blissful yet empty--a very
22532 special state that is the inseparability of basic space and awareness. As you
22533 focus your devotion in this way, it allows this special quality of mind, this
22534 new capability, as it were, to awaken.
22535 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
22536 Perfection", published by Snow Lion Publications
22538 Value Our Good Circumstances
22539 We often focus on a few circumstances in our life that aren't going well
22540 instead of all those that are. Although we all have problems, when we over-
22541 emphasize their importance, we easily begin thinking that we are incapable and
22542 worthless. Such self-hatred immobilizes us and prevents us from developing
22543 our good qualities and sharing them with others.
22544 When we look at the broad picture, however, we can see many positive things
22545 in our life. We can rejoice that we are alive and appreciate whatever degree
22546 of good health we have. We also have food (often too much!), shelter,
22547 clothing, medicine, friends, relatives, and a myriad of good circumstances.
22548 Many of the people reading this book live in peaceful places, not in war-torn
22549 areas. Many have jobs they like, and family and friends they appreciate. We
22550 shouldn't take these for granted. Most importantly, from a spiritual
22551 viewpoint, we have access to an authentic path, qualified teachers to guide
22552 us, and kind companions who encourage us. We have genuine spiritual
22553 aspirations and the time to cultivate these. Thinking about these good
22554 conditions one by one, we will be filled with joy, and any sense of being
22555 incapable and hopeless will vanish.
22556 -- Thubten Chodron, in "Working with Anger", Snow Lion Publications
22558 15. This fresh state of present awareness, unspoiled
22560 This fresh state of present awareness (da lta'i shes pa)
22561 Unspoiled by dualistic thoughts,
22562 Effortlessly sustained in the natural state,
22563 Is Buddha Kuntu Zangpo's wisdom mind.
22565 Do not hope or fear for good or bad outcomes.
22566 Regardless of what formulation of thought occurs,
22567 they arise and are liberated simultaneously;
22568 Their essential nature is empty awareness.
22569 Reach that unmoving, unassailable state.
22571 I, Jnana, spoke these words immediately In response to
22572 Zangmo's supplication. May this be virtuous!
22573 -- from "Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice" translated and
22574 introduced by Ron Garry, published by Snow Lion
22576 Concern for others to be happy and compassion wishing them to be free from
22577 suffering are needed not only as the basis for a bodhichitta motivation for
22578 mahamudra* practice, but also for keeping that practice on course to its
22579 intended goal. When we have changed our focus in life from the contents of
22580 our experience to the process of experience, there is great danger of becoming
22581 fixated on mind itself. This is because the direct experience of mind itself
22582 is totally blissful--in a calm and serene sense--and entails extraordinary
22583 clarity and starkness. Concern for others is one of the strongest forces that
22584 brings us back down to earth after having been up in the clouds. Although all
22585 appearances exist as a function of mind, other beings do not exist merely in
22586 our head. Their suffering is real and it hurts them just as much as ours
22588 Furthermore, to be concerned about someone does not mean to be frantically
22589 worried about this person. If we are fixated on our child's problems at
22590 school, for example, we lose sight that whatever appearance of the problems
22591 our mind gives rise to is a function of mind. Believing the appearance to be
22592 the solid reality "out there," we again feel hopeless to do anything and thus
22593 become extremely anxious and tense. We worry to the point of becoming sick
22594 and we over-react toward our child, which does not help. If we focus instead
22595 on the process of mind that gives rise to our perception of the problem as if
22596 it existed as some horrible monster "out there," we do not eliminate our
22597 concern for our child, only our worry. This allows us to take whatever clear
22598 and calm action is necessary to alleviate the problem. Thus not only is
22599 compassion necessary for successful practice of mahamudra, but mahamudra
22600 realization is necessary for successful practice of compassion.
22601 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra",
22602 published by Snow Lion Publications
22603 * "Mahamudra" is a Sanskrit word meaning "great seal" and refers to the
22604 nature of all phenomena. Mahamudra also refers to sophisticated Buddhist
22605 systems of meditation and practice to realize this great sealing nature.
22607 Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.
22610 45. This fresh present knowing, unbound
22612 This fresh present knowing,
22613 Unbound by the intellect that clings to meditation,
22614 Is naked unobstructed non-meditation.
22616 And settle in the state of naturalness.
22617 This is the meaning of realization of meditation.
22619 When thoughts move, let them.
22620 Movement arises and is liberated without a trace.
22621 When there is no movement, don't search for it.
22622 This is empty luminosity, naked empty awareness.
22623 Tantric practice without suppression or
22624 cultivation of thoughts
22625 Brings the accomplishment of the destruction
22628 There is nothing more to add to this.
22629 Madman Dudjom said this:
22630 Let it remain like this in your heart.
22631 -- from "Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice", translated and
22632 introduced by Ron Garry, published by Snow Lion Publications
22634 ...karma refers not only to our actions but, more importantly, to the
22635 motivation or intention behind them. The acts themselves are not the primary
22636 cause of our suffering; rather, it arises from the world of our intentions or,
22637 in other words, from our thoughts and emotions. These afflictive states of
22638 mind underlie our negative karma and are therefore the source of our
22641 Obviously, these afflictions won't go away simply by saying prayers or
22642 wishing them away; they can only be eliminated by cultivating their
22643 corresponding remedies or antidotes. To understand how this process of
22644 applying the antidote works we can observe our physical world. For instance,
22645 we can contrast heat and cold: if we are suffering from the effects of too
22646 cold a temperature, then we increase the thermometer on our heater or air-
22647 conditioning unit and adjust it to our comfort. Thus, even in the physical
22648 world we can see instances where opposing forces counter each other.
22650 ...From our own personal experience we recognise that anger and hostility
22651 disturb our peace of mind and, more importantly, that they have the potential
22652 to harm others. Conversely, we recognise that positive emotions like
22653 compassion and loving kindness can engender in us a deep sense of peace and
22654 serenity, beneficial results that we can extend to others as well. This
22655 appreciation of their great value naturally leads to a desire to cultivate
22656 these positive emotions. It is through this gradual process that the
22657 antidotes work in decreasing and eventually eliminating their opposing forces
22658 in the mental realm, the realm of our thoughts and emotions.
22659 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Lighting the Way", published by Snow Lion
22661 Starting Dzogchen Practice
22662 When we start to practice, in order to grasp the normal mind, our first
22663 practice consists in engaging our mind. For example, if we have a problem of
22664 some kind, we may go to a movie to distract ourselves from our problem.
22665 Likewise when we start to practice, we try to calm down our problem-creating
22666 mind in order to be able to observe the nature of thought. The observation of
22667 the arising, abiding, and dissolving of thought in the empty state of the mind
22668 is an essential practice in Dzogchen in order to discover that moving thoughts
22669 are of the same nature as the thoughtless state of the mind. Since we are not
22670 accustomed to meditation, it seems very difficult, and every slight sound or
22671 movement, outside or inside the mind itself, becomes a major distraction
22672 interfering with our ability to continue to practice. In order to overcome
22673 this problem, we engage the mind in a practice so that it is not so easily
22674 distracted, by focusing attention so that the movement of the mind caused by
22675 thought or sense perception does not have the power to divert our
22676 concentration. This first stage, of grasping the mind, is concentration
22677 practice, described in detail in the Bonpo 'Ati' system.
22678 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, in "Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of
22679 Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet", Snow Lion Publications
22681 Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic
22682 religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and
22683 theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a
22684 religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and
22685 spiritual, as a meaningful unity
22686 -- Albert Einstein in "Albert Einstein: The Human Side", edited by Helen
22687 Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press, 1954
22689 Techniques for Improvement
22690 All of us have attained a human life; we are, in a sense, incomparable among
22691 the various types of sentient beings, as we are able to think about many
22692 topics with a subtler mind and are endowed with vaster capabilities. Dogs,
22693 birds, and so forth do communicate, but only humans can settle and ascertain
22694 deep topics on the basis of words; it is obvious that there are no other
22695 sentient beings capable of as many thoughts and techniques. Nowadays, humans
22696 are engaging in many activities that were not even objects of thought a
22697 century or two ago. The metaphors of the poets of the past, such as "the
22698 wonderful house of the moon", are becoming actualities.
22699 ...People have made great effort right up to this century, thinking to
22700 become free from suffering, but we cannot point to even one person in the
22701 world, no matter how rich he or she is, who has no worry--except for those
22702 who have the inner happiness of renouncing the material way of life. Without
22703 internal renunciation it is difficult to achieve happiness and comfort.
22704 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins from "Deity Yoga",
22705 published by Snow Lion Publications
22707 Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. -- Confucius
22709 Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake,
22710 zucchini bread and pumpkin pie.
22711 -- Jim Davis (Garfield)
22713 A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions
22714 than anything else in the world.
22715 -- Edmond de Concourt
22717 Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. -- Jimi Hendrix
22719 There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
22720 -- Hamlet (by William Shakespeare)
22722 People who have what they want are fond of telling people
22723 who haven't what they want that they really don't want it.
22726 There are only two ways of telling the complete
22727 truth--anonymously and posthumously.
22730 The easiest way for your children to learn
22731 about money is for you not to have any.
22732 -- Katharine Whitehorn
22734 If you look good and dress well, you don't need a purpose in life.
22737 Do not go where the path may lead, go instead
22738 where there is no path and leave a trail.
22739 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
22741 The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.
22744 I have a simple philosophy.
22747 Scratch where it itches.
22748 -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth
22750 Time is what prevents everything from happening at once.
22751 -- John Archibald Wheeler
22753 You know that children are growing up when they start
22754 asking questions that have answers.
22757 The average man, who does not know what to do with his life,
22758 wants another one which will last forever.
22761 Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is
22762 a broken winged bird that canot fly.
22765 Spare no expense to save money on this one. -- Samuel Goldwyn
22767 It is absurd to divide people into good and bad.
22768 People are either charming or tedious.
22771 If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute
22772 powerlessness make you pure?
22775 Parents were invented to make children happy
22776 by giving them something to ignore.
22779 Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.
22780 -- Jules de Gaultier
22782 I'm a kind of paranoiac in reverse.
22783 I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.
22786 If you find it in your heart to care for
22787 somebody else, you will have succeeded.
22790 Time is an illusion.
22791 Lunchtime doubly so.
22795 A person whom we know well enough to borrow from,
22796 but not well enough to lend to.
22797 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
22799 The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
22800 -- Eleanor Roosevelt
22802 Eighty percent of success is showing up. -- Woody Allen
22804 Pity the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. -- Don Marquis
22806 The only reason some people get lost in thought
22807 is because it's unfamiliar territory.
22810 A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has
22811 a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.
22814 Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. -- Steven Wright
22816 Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast. -- Oscar Wilde
22818 It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.
22819 -- William Shakespeare
22821 If you can find something everyone agrees on, it's wrong. -- Mo Udall
22823 I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money. -- Pablo Picasso
22825 The shortest distance between two points is under construction.
22828 Lack of money is no obstacle.
22829 Lack of an idea is an obstacle.
22832 Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.
22833 -- Marcus Valerias Martialis
22835 Great minds discuss ideas;
22836 average minds discuss events;
22837 small minds discuss people.
22838 -- Eleanor Roosevelt
22840 I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there. -- Herb Caen
22842 When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: "Whose?"
22845 Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. -- Mahatma Gandhi
22847 I'm living so far beyond my income that we may
22848 almost be said to be living apart.
22851 I try to avoid looking forward or backward,
22852 and try to keep looking upward.
22853 -- Charlotte Bronte
22855 My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me. -- Henry Ford
22857 Without democracy, religion becomes extreme.
22858 With religion, democracy becomes more spiritual.
22859 -- Mohammad Khatami, president of Iran
22861 For fast acting relief, try slowing down. -- Lily Tomlin
22863 A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.
22866 Poor people have more fun than rich people, they say; and
22867 I notice it's the rich people who keep saying it.
22870 Whatever you are, be a good one. -- Abraham Lincoln
22872 Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
22875 Never spend your money before you have it. -- Thomas Jefferson
22877 Confusion is always the most honest response. -- Marty Indik
22879 Doing nothing is very hard to do... you never know when you're finished.
22882 Free advice is worth the price. -- Robert Half
22884 A person who trusts no one can't be trusted. -- Jerome Blattner
22886 There is nobody so irritating as somebody with
22887 less intelligence and more sense than we have.
22890 He that plants trees loves others besides himself. -- Dr. Thomas Fuller
22892 To find something you can enjoy is far better
22893 than finding something you can possess.
22896 An intellectual is a man who takes more words than
22897 necessary to tell more than he knows.
22898 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
22900 Not everything that can be counted counts, and not
22901 everything that counts can be counted.
22904 Brain, n.: an apparatus with which we think we think.
22905 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1911
22907 There is always some madness in love.
22908 But there is always some reason in madness.
22909 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
22911 We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
22912 -- Martin Luther King Jr.
22914 Good resolutions are simply checks that men
22915 draw on a bank where they have no account.
22918 The murals in restaurants are on par with the food in mueseums.
22921 Money can't buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy.
22924 Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate. -- Thomas Jones
22926 It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis.
22927 -- Margaret Bonnano
22929 Yesterday is history.
22930 Tomorrow is a mystery.
22932 That's why it's called the present.
22935 Money is in abundance, where are you? -- Reverend Ike
22937 Santa Claus had the right idea. Visit everyone once a year.
22940 Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
22943 You cannot fix what you will not face. -- James Baldwin
22945 There are too many people, and too few human beings. -- Robert Zend
22947 Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.
22950 A good listener is usually thinking about something else. -- Kin Hubbard
22952 If it weren't for baseball, many kids wouldn't
22953 know what a millionaire looked like.
22956 Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
22957 -- George Bernard Shaw
22959 Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody lends him money. -- Arthur Miller
22961 Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off
22962 their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.
22965 If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.
22968 If computers get too organized, we can organize
22969 them into a committee--that will do them in.
22970 -- Bradley's Bromide
22972 It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.
22975 If we stand tall it is because we stand
22976 on the backs of those who came before us.
22979 The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize
22980 you're not in shape for it, it's too far to walk back.
22981 -- Franklin P. Jones
22983 I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
22986 By the time we've made it, we've had it. -- Malcolm Forbes
22988 It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up.
22989 -- W. Somerset Maugham
22991 It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
22992 -- Henry David Thoreau
22994 Accomplishing the impossible means only that
22995 the boss will add it to your regular duties.
22998 Government big enough to supply everything you need
22999 is big enough to take everything you have...
23000 The course of history shows that as a government grows,
23002 -- Thomas Jefferson
23004 Computers can figure out all kinds of problems, except
23005 the things in the world that just don't add up.
23008 Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening.
23011 The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
23012 -- Flora Whittemore
23014 When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
23015 -- Marquis de la Grange
23017 If more of us valued food and cheer and song
23018 above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
23021 While I was in Malaysia, I saw a T-shirt depicting a surfboard aloft huge
23022 waves. Sitting on the surfboard was a figure meditating cross-legged. The
23023 slogan read, "Riding the waves of life, be mindful, be happy." That's it.
23024 Awareness. Being present. Knowing thoughts as thoughts, emotions as
23025 emotions. It's just like riding a surfboard. You gradually develop the
23026 poise to cruise along on the roughest seas until, no longer immersed in
23027 the waves, you are riding on top of them. Of course you have to start
23028 with small waves until you get your balance. Then the higher the wave, the
23029 better! Likewise, when we begin to train in awareness, it is better if we
23030 have an atmosphere which is nonthreatening and peaceful. That's why people
23031 go on retreat. That's also a reason why people set aside regular sitting
23032 periods. But once we learn how to be balanced, we become like a surfer who
23033 finds that the bigger the wave, the greater the fun.
23034 -- Ani Tenzin Palmo, in "Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on
23035 Practical Buddhism", Snow Lion Publications
23037 The word "mantra" means "mind-protection". It protects the mind from ordinary
23038 appearances and conceptions. "Mind" here refers to all six consciousnesses--
23039 eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mental consciousnesses--which are to be
23040 freed, or protected, from the ordinary world. There are two factors in mantra
23041 training, pride in oneself as a deity and vivid appearance of that deity.
23042 Divine pride protects one from the pride of being ordinary, and divine vivid
23043 appearance protects one from ordinary appearances. Whatever appears to the
23044 senses is viewed as the sport of a deity; for instance, whatever forms are
23045 seen are viewed as the emanations of a deity and whatever sounds are heard are
23046 viewed as the mantras of a deity. One is thereby protected from ordinary
23047 appearances, and through this transformation of attitude, the pride of being a
23048 deity emerges. Such protection of mind together with its attendant pledges
23049 and vows is called the practice of mantra.
23050 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins in "Tantra in Tibet",
23051 published by Snow Lion Publications
23053 There is nothing new under the sun, but there are
23054 lots of old things we don't know.
23057 Win hearts, and you have all men's hands and purses. -- William Cecil Burleigh
23059 Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world.
23060 Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
23063 He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder. -- M. C. Escher
23065 Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn,
23066 whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
23069 Training in compassion has the capacity to be both profound and vast--both
23070 absolute and relative. Compassion has the quality of being approachable and
23071 at the same time ungraspable. It manifests both the quality of shunyata,
23072 emptiness, or egolessness, as well as the qualities of kindness and joyfulness.
23073 Therefore, from the Mahayana point of view, compassion is the most important
23074 practice we could ever engage in. It can lead us to the full realization of
23075 enlightenment without any need for other practices.
23076 -- from "Trainings in Compassion: Manuals on the Meditation of
23077 Avalokiteshvara", translated by Tyler Dewar under the guidance of The
23078 Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
23080 Question: If the root of all suffering is attachment, are the desire to have a
23081 family and the desire for liberation from suffering contradictory?
23083 Answer: I think that a distinction should be made between desires that are due
23084 to ignorance and desires that are reasoned. In Tibetan, a difference can be
23085 made between "wish" and "desire"; for instance a Bodhisattva is reborn through
23086 his or her own wishes, not out of desire. Similarly, it is suitable to aspire
23087 toward liberation. Also, persons, such as Foe Destroyers, who have completely
23088 overcome all of the afflictive emotions, have thoughts such as, "Such and such
23089 is good; I need it." Merely such thoughts are not afflictive consciousnesses.
23090 Similarly, if we consider the desire for a family, there are persons practicing
23091 the Bodhisattva path who have families; also, in the scriptures of discipline,
23092 Buddha himself set forth vows for lay persons and vows for monks. Hence, there
23093 is no general prohibition of the wish to have a family.
23094 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
23095 Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
23096 Snow Lion Publications
23098 In general, most non-Buddhist religions meditate on the deity as being outside
23099 the physical body. In these cases the deity takes the form of a refuge, or of
23100 a protector or messenger. Thus do they meditate, and of course this is fine.
23101 In the Buddhist tradition, however, the deity is not meditated on as being
23102 outside of the physical body. One meditates on the deity as being one's own
23103 essence expressing itself through oneself arising as the deity. One therefore
23104 thinks, "I am the deity," and with this conviction one meditates. Why is it
23105 justifiable to meditate in this manner? ...our own mind is in essence exactly
23106 the same as the mind of a Buddha. In the philosophical treatises this is
23107 sometimes referred to as "sugatagarbha" or "buddha-nature".
23108 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, in "Everyday Consciousness and Buddha-
23109 Awakening", translated and edited by Susanne Schefczyk, published by
23110 Snow Lion Publications
23112 If things did in fact exist the way they appear--if things did exist so
23113 concretely--then when one looked into and investigated them, this inherent
23114 existence should become even clearer, more obvious. However, when you seek
23115 for the object designated, you cannot find it under analysis.
23116 ...[That] which gives rise to the appearance of I is mind and body, but when
23117 you divide this into mind and body and look for the I, you cannot find it.
23118 Also the whole, body, is designated in dependence upon the collection of parts
23119 of the body; if you divide this into its parts and look for the body, you
23120 cannot find it either. Even the most subtle particles in the body have sides
23121 and hence parts. Were there something partless, it might be independent, but
23122 there is nothing that is partless. Rather, everything exists in dependence on
23123 its parts... There is no whole which is separate from its parts.
23124 ...No matter what the phenomenon is, internal or external, whether it be
23125 one's own body or any other type of phenomenon, when we search to discover
23126 what this phenomenon is that is designated, we cannot find anything that is it.
23127 ...However, these things appear to us as if they do exist objectively and in
23128 their own right, and thus there is a difference between the way things appear
23129 to our minds and the way they actually exist... Since phenomena appear to us
23130 in a way that is different from what we discover when analysing, this proves
23131 that their concrete appearance is due to a fault of our minds.
23132 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, translated and
23133 edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, from "Kindness,
23134 Clarity, and Insight" published by Snow Lion Publications
23136 The Buddhist notion of diligence is to delight in positive deeds. Its
23137 opposite, called "le lo" in Tibetan, has three aspects. Le lo is usually
23138 translated as "laziness," though only its first aspect refers to laziness as
23139 we usually understand it. The first aspect is not doing something because of
23140 indolence, even though we know that it is good and ought to be done. The
23141 second aspect is faintheartedness. This comes about when we underestimate our
23142 qualities and abilities, thinking, "I'm so incompetent and weak. It would be
23143 good to do that, but I could never accomplish it." Not having the confidence
23144 of thinking, "I can do it," we end up doing nothing. The third aspect refers
23145 to being very busy and seeming diligent, but wasting time and energy on
23146 meaningless activities that will not accomplish anything in the long run.
23147 When we do many things for no real purpose, we fail to focus on what is truly
23148 worthwhile and our path has no clear direction. When we refrain from these
23149 three aspects of laziness, we are diligent.
23150 -- Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, in "Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness: The Three
23151 Vehicles of Buddhism", edited and translated by Rosemarie Fuchs,
23152 published by Snow Lion Publications
23154 All events and incidents in life are so intimately linked with the fate of
23155 others that a single person on his or her own cannot even begin to act. Many
23156 ordinary human activities, both positive and negative, cannot even be
23157 conceived of apart from the existence of other people. Even the committing of
23158 harmful actions depends on the existence of others. Because of others, we
23159 have the opportunity to earn money if that is what we desire in life.
23160 Similarly, in reliance upon the existence of others it becomes possible for
23161 the media to create fame or disrepute for someone. On your own you cannot
23162 create any fame or disrepute no matter how loud you might shout. The closest
23163 you can get is to create an echo of your own voice.
23164 Thus interdependence is a fundamental law of nature. Not only higher forms
23165 of life but also many of the smallest insects are social beings who, without
23166 any religion, law, or education, survive by mutual cooperation based on an
23167 innate recognition of their interconnectedness. The most subtle level of
23168 material phenomena is also governed by interdependence. All phenomena, from
23169 the planet we inhabit to the oceans, clouds, forests, and flowers that
23170 surround us, arise in dependence upon subtle patterns of energy. Without
23171 their proper interaction, they dissolve and decay.
23172 -- Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in "The Compassionate Life"
23174 Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels
23175 ...a buddha is someone who has attained full enlightenment through the
23176 cultivation of compassion and the wisdom of no-self, the absence of self-
23177 existence. From our discussion we also saw how the Dharma jewel is to be
23178 understood as the path by which we can gradually accomplish the same result as
23179 the fully awakened Buddha. Likewise, the Sangha jewel is the community of
23180 sincere practitioners who have directly realised emptiness, the ultimate
23182 For those of us who consider ourselves to be practising Buddhists, it is
23183 crucial to have this kind of deeper understanding of the Three Jewels when we
23184 go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
23185 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Lighting the Way", published by Snow Lion
23187 Being Mindful of Impermanence
23189 Loved ones who have long kept company will part.
23190 Wealth created with difficulty will be left behind.
23191 Consciousness, the guest, will leave the guest house of the body.
23192 Let go of this life--
23193 This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
23195 Although we have this human life with freedom and richness, which is so
23196 valuable and difficult to get, it cannot last forever. This is because it is
23197 not permanent and is subject to decay moment by moment. This life will
23198 eventually become non-existent because our body and mind will separate.
23199 Although death meditation involves reflecting on the moment by moment changing
23200 nature of our life, it principally entails recognizing that one day it will
23201 come to a complete stop and our mind will leave our body behind. Therefore,
23202 we must take the essence from this life each day and try to fulfill a great
23203 Dharma purpose because we will not have this opportunity for long.
23204 -- from "Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage: An Explanation of
23205 'The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas' ", by Geshe Jampa Tegchok,
23206 edited by Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
23208 What do we mean when we speak of a truly compassionate kindness? Compassion
23209 is essentially concern for others' welfare--their happiness and their
23210 suffering. Others wish to avoid misery as much as we do. So a compassionate
23211 person feels concerned when others are miserable and develops a positive
23212 intention to free them from it. As ordinary beings, our feeling of closeness
23213 to our friends and relatives is little more than an expression of clinging
23214 desire. It needs to be tempered, not enhanced. It is important not to
23215 confuse attachment and compassion.... A compassionate thought is motivated by
23216 a wish to help release beings from their misery.
23217 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Stages of Meditation", translated by Venerable
23218 Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell,
23219 published by Snow Lion Publications
23221 Tantric yogis succeed in their cultivation of wisdom more quickly than do
23222 practitioners of the Perfection Vehicle because the tantric yogi, employing
23223 deity yoga, can achieve a mind that is a union of calm abiding and special
23224 insight--a mind of alert one-pointedness that realizes emptiness--in far
23225 less time than the period of countless great aeons required for those who
23226 practice sutra paths alone. Tantric yogis use deity yoga to enhance
23227 meditation on emptiness; their use of deity yoga brings them more quickly to
23228 an initial direct cognition of emptiness by enhancing their ability to combine
23229 meditative stability with analysis.... Also, in Highest Yoga Tantra,
23230 powerful, subtle consciousnesses that realize emptiness are manifested,
23231 whereby the obstructions to liberation and omniscience are quickly overcome.
23232 -- Daniel Cozort, in "Highest Yoga Tantra", Snow Lion Publications
23234 Howard C. Cutler, MD:
23235 Is happiness a reasonable goal for most of us? Is it really possible?
23238 Yes. I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind.
23239 When I say "training the mind," in this context I'm not referring to "mind"
23240 merely as one's cognitive ability or intellect. Rather, I'm using the term
23241 in the sense of the Tibetan word Sem, which has a much broader meaning,
23242 closer to "psyche" or "spirit"; it includes intellect and feeling, heart
23243 and mind. By bringing about a certain inner discipline, we can undergo a
23244 transformation of our attitude, our entire outlook and approach to living.
23245 When we speak of this inner discipline, it can of course involve many things,
23246 many methods. But generally speaking, one begins by identifying those factors
23247 which lead to happiness and those factors which lead to suffering. Having
23248 done this, one then sets about gradually eliminating those factors which lead
23249 to suffering and cultivating those which lead to happiness. That is the way.
23250 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, MD, in "The Art of Happiness:
23251 A Handbook for Living", published by Snow Lion Publications
23253 It can be difficult to accept others and to accept ourselves. "I should be
23254 better. I should be something different. I should have more." All of this
23255 is conception; it's all mental fabrication. It's just the mind churning up
23256 "shoulds," "ought tos," and "supposed tos." All this is conceptual rubbish,
23257 and yet we believe it. Part of the solution is to recognize that these
23258 thoughts are conceptual rubbish and not reality; this gives us the mental
23259 space not to believe them. When we stop believing them, it becomes much
23260 easier to accept what we are at any given moment, knowing we will change in
23261 the next moment. We'll be able to accept what others are in one moment,
23262 knowing that they will be different in the next moment. This is good stuff
23263 for everyday practice; it's very practical.
23264 -- Thubten Chodron, in "How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator",
23265 published by Snow Lion Publications
23267 The nature of samsaric evolution is not such that death is followed by
23268 nothingness, nor that humans are always reborn as humans and insects as
23269 insects. On the contrary, we all carry within us the karmic potencies of all
23270 realms of cyclic existence. Many beings transmigrate from higher to lower
23271 realms, others from lower to higher. The selection of a place of rebirth is
23272 not directly in our own hands but is conditioned by our karma and delusions.
23273 They who possess spiritual understanding can control their destiny at the time
23274 of death, but for ordinary beings the process is very much an automatic chain
23275 reaction of karmic seeds and habitual psychic response patterns....
23276 Our repeated experience of frustration, dissatisfaction and misery does not
23277 have external conditions as its root cause. The problem is mainly our lack of
23278 spiritual development. As a result of this handicap, the mind is controlled
23279 principally by afflicted emotions and illusions. Attachment, aversion and
23280 ignorance rather than a free spirit, love and wisdom are the guiding forces.
23281 Recognizing this simple truth is the beginning of the spiritual path.
23282 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, edited and translated by Glenn H. Mullin, in
23283 "The Path to Enlightenment", published by Snow Lion Publications
23285 If persons who have attained calm abiding keep their minds in calm abiding,
23286 not only does the force of their meditative stabilization remain but their
23287 other good qualities increase and do not degenerate. Similarly, persons who
23288 have achieved special insight have clear perception not only with respect to
23289 the object of observation on which they have been meditating but also with
23290 respect to any other object to which they turn their minds. Persons who
23291 cultivate calm abiding but not special insight will gain the factor of
23292 stability but not that of an intense clarity; they will not be able to
23293 manifest any antidote to the afflictive emotions. One must achieve an
23294 intensity of clarity in order for anything to serve as an antidote to
23295 ignorance, and to achieve that clarity one must cultivate special insight.
23296 -- Geshe Gedun Lodro, in "Calm Abiding and Special Insight: Achieving
23297 Spiritual Transformation through Meditation", translated and edited
23298 by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Anne C. Klein and Leah Zahler,
23299 published by Snow Lion Publications
23301 If you haven't found something strange during the day,
23302 it hasn't been much of a day.
23305 Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.
23308 It is hypocrisy to say that all religions are the same. Different religions
23309 have different views and fundamental differences. But it does not matter, as
23310 all religions are meant to help in bringing about a better world with better
23311 and happier human beings. On this level, I think that through different
23312 philosophical explanations and approaches, all religions have the same goal
23313 and the same potential. Take the concept[s] of the creator and self-creation
23314 for instance. There are big differences between the two, but I feel they have
23315 the same purpose. To some people, the concept of the creator is very powerful
23316 in inspiring the development of self-discipline, becoming a good person with a
23317 sense of love, forgiveness and devotion to the ultimate truth--the Creator or
23319 The other concept is self-creation: if one wants to be good, then it is one's
23320 own responsibility to be so. Without one's own efforts one cannot expect
23321 something good to come about. One's future is entirely dependent on oneself:
23322 it is self-created. This concept is very powerful in encouraging an
23323 individual to be a good and honest person. So you see, the two are different
23324 approaches but have the same goal.
23325 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Live in a Better Way: Reflections on Truth, Love
23326 and Happiness", compiled and edited by Renuka Singh, published by Snow
23329 The wise perceive that all things--persons and phenomena--arise in reliance
23330 upon their own causes and conditions, and that based on this process we impute
23331 mental labels upon things. The phenomena themselves have no true or inherent
23332 existence from their own side. They have no self-nature whatsoever.
23333 Were persons or phenomena to have a self-presence, there would be no need
23334 for them to rely upon causes and conditions. Therefore one can be certain
23335 that even the smallest speck of matter has no true, inherent existence from
23337 Although all things lack even the smallest speck of true existence,
23338 nonetheless conventionally the laws of causes and conditions operate through
23339 them, and conventionally all the phenomena in samsara and nirvana seem to
23340 exist, arising in the same manner as do illusions, dreams and a reflected
23342 -- Glenn H. Mullin, in "The Six Yogas of Naropa: Tsongkhapa's commentary
23343 entitled 'A Book of Three Inspirations: A Treatise on the Stages of
23344 Training in the Profound Path of Naro's Six Dharmas' commonly referred
23345 to as 'The Three Inspirations' ", published by Snow Lion Publications
23347 | George of the Bungle |
23349 And finally, new rule: America must recall the president. That's what this
23350 country needs. A good old-fashioned, California-style, recall election!
23351 Complete with Gary Coleman, porno actresses and action film stars. And just
23352 like Schwarzenegger's predecessor here in California, George Bush is now so
23353 unpopular he must defend his job against... Russell Crowe. Because at this
23354 point I want a leader who will throw a phone at somebody. In fact, let's have
23355 only phone throwers--Naomi Campbell can be the vice-president!
23357 Now I kid, but seriously Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you
23358 anymore. There's no more money to spend--you used up all of that. You can't
23359 start another war because you also used up the army. And now, darn the luck,
23360 the rest of your term has become the Bush family nightmare: helping poor
23361 people. Yeah, listen to your Mom. The cupboard's bare, the credit card's
23362 maxed out, and no one's speaking to you: mission accomplished. Now it's time
23363 to do what you've always done best: lose interest and walk away. Like you did
23364 with your military service. And the oil company. And the baseball team.
23365 It's time. Time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy
23368 Now I know what you're saying; you're saying that there's so many other
23369 things that you as President could involve yourself in... Please don't. I
23370 know, I know. There's a lot left to do. There's a war with Venezuela... and
23371 eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over to the
23372 church... and Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the vote.
23374 But, Sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you govern
23375 like Billy Joel drives. You've performed so poorly I'm surprised you haven't
23376 given yourself a medal. You're a catastrophe that walks like a man. Herbert
23377 Hoover was a shitty president, but even he never conceded an entire metropolis
23378 to rising water and snakes. On your watch, we've lost almost all of our
23379 allies, the surplus, four airliners, two trade centers, a piece of the
23380 Pentagon, and the City of New Orleans. Maybe you're just not lucky!
23382 I'm not saying you don't love this country. I'm just wondering how much
23383 worse it could be if you were on the other side. So, yes, God does speak to
23384 you... and what he is saying is: "Take a hint."
23386 -- Bill Maher on Real Time, October 2005
23388 We have the ability and the responsibility to choose to direct our actions
23389 on a virtuous path.
23390 When we weigh a particular act, to determine whether it is moral or
23391 spiritual, our criterion should be the quality of our motivation. When someone
23392 deliberately makes a resolution not to steal, if he or she is simply motivated
23393 by the fear of getting caught and being punished by the law, it is doubtful
23394 whether engaging in that resolution is a moral act, since moral considerations
23395 have not dictated his or her choice.
23396 In another instance, the resolution not to steal may be motivated by fear of
23397 public opinion: "What would my friends and neighbors think? All would scorn
23398 me. I would become an outcast." Though the act of making a resolution may be
23399 positive, whether it is a moral act is again doubtful.
23400 Now, the same resolution may be taken with the thought "If I steal, I am
23401 acting against the divine law of God." Someone else may think, "Stealing is
23402 nonvirtuous; it causes others to suffer." When such considerations motivate
23403 one, the resolution is moral or ethical; it is also spiritual. In the
23404 practice of Buddha's doctrine, if your underlying consideration in avoiding a
23405 nonvirtuous act is that it would thwart your attainment of a state
23406 transcending sorrow, such restraint is a moral act.
23407 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday
23408 Life", edited by Nicholas Vreeland
23410 A conventional enemy may harm us, but patience and a refusal to retaliate
23411 can bring us benefit both in this life and in the future. However, tolerance
23412 towards [our own] hostile disturbing emotions and attempts at peaceful
23413 coexistence with them will never bring us any reward. They will do us nothing
23414 but harm if we don't take steps to drive them out. No conventional enemy can
23415 do us such harm. The most an ordinary enemy can do is to defeat us for a
23416 short space of time or destroy us in this life, but the disturbing emotions
23417 will insure our misery for many lifetimes to come.
23419 All other foes that I appease and wait upon
23420 Will show me favors, give me every aid,
23421 But should I serve my dark defiled emotions,
23422 They will only harm me, draw me down to grief.
23423 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, in "Eight Verses for Training the Mind: An Oral
23424 Teaching", translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion
23427 There is a story about a princess who had a small eye problem that she felt
23428 was really bad. Being the king's daughter, she was rather spoiled and kept
23429 crying all the time. When the doctors wanted to apply medicine, she would
23430 invariably refuse any medical treatment and kept touching the sore spot on her
23431 eye. In this way it became worse and worse, until finally the king proclaimed
23432 a large reward for whoever could cure his daughter. After some time, a man
23433 arrived who claimed to be a famous physician, but actually was not even a
23435 He declared that he could definitely cure the princess and was admitted to
23436 her chamber. After he had examined her, he exclaimed, "Oh, I'm so sorry!"
23437 "What is it?" the princess inquired. The doctor said, "There is nothing much
23438 wrong with your eye, but there is something else that is really serious." The
23439 princess was alarmed and asked, "What on earth is so serious?" He hesitated
23440 and said, "It is really bad. I shouldn't tell you about it." No matter how
23441 much she insisted, he refused to tell her, saying that he could not speak
23442 without the king's permission.
23443 When the king arrived, the doctor was still reluctant to reveal his findings.
23444 Finally the king commanded, "Tell us what is wrong. Whatever it is, you have
23445 to tell us!" At last the doctor said, "Well, the eye will get better within a
23446 few days--that is no problem. The big problem is that the princess will grow
23447 a tail, which will become at least nine fathoms long. It may start growing
23448 very soon. If she can detect the first moment it appears, I might be able to
23449 prevent it from growing." At this news everyone was deeply concerned. And the
23450 princess, what did she do? She stayed in bed, day and night, directing all
23451 her attention to detecting when the tail might appear. Thus, after a few
23452 days, her eye got well.
23453 This shows how we usually react. We focus on our little problem and it
23454 becomes the center around which everything else revolves. So far, we have
23455 done this repeatedly, life after life. We think, "My wishes, my interests, my
23456 likes and dislikes come first!" As long as we function on this basis, we will
23457 remain unchanged. Driven by impulses of desire and rejection, we will travel
23458 the roads of samsara without finding a way out. As long as attachment and
23459 aversion are our sources of living and drive us onward, we cannot rest.
23460 -- Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, in "Daring Steps toward Fearlessness: The Three
23461 Vehicles of Buddhism", edited and translated by Rosemarie Fuchs, published
23462 by Snow Lion Publications
23464 buddha mind listens
23465 sound waves crashing over head
23468 time god shits in hand
23469 catapults distraction dung
23470 unstained mind abides
23472 Dr. Cutler: "... one of the reasons I brought up the topic of challenge at
23473 work," I said to the Dalai Lama, "is because it relates to a concept that
23474 seems to come up frequently these days in psychological literature, the
23475 concept of flow.* This concept is increasingly mentioned in articles on human
23476 happiness, and this state can commonly occur at work... while engaged in
23477 activity, there's a feeling of effortlessness, a sense of total control over
23478 what one is doing.... Although flow can occur in any activity, some
23479 investigators have found that Americans experience more flow at work than they
23480 do in their leisure time."
23482 The Dalai Lama: "You really like this flow, Howard!" the Dalai Lama exclaimed
23483 with an amused chuckle. "... no matter how nice that state may be, I don't
23484 think it is the most important source of satisfaction, fulfillment, or
23485 happiness.... For one thing, you can't be in that state at all times.... So
23486 through this flow, even if you get some temporary kind of happiness, it will
23487 not be an ongoing thing. I think this flow state is not reliable or
23488 sustainable, and I think it's much more important to develop other sources of
23489 satisfaction through one's work that are brought about by training one's mind,
23490 shaping one's outlook and attitude, integrating basic human values in the
23491 workplace. For example, dealing with one's destructive emotions while at
23492 work, reducing anger, jealousy, greed, and so on, and practicing relating to
23493 others with kindness, compassion, tolerance, these are much more important and
23494 stable sources of satisfaction than simply trying to create flow as much as
23497 Dr. Cutler: "...To the Dalai Lama, true happiness is associated with a sense
23498 of meaning, and arises on the basis of deliberately cultivating certain
23499 attitudes and outlooks. True happiness may take longer to generate, and
23500 requires some effort, but it is this lasting happiness that can sustain us
23501 even under the most trying conditions of everyday life."
23503 * flow is defined here as [people] being so completely absorbed in their work
23504 that they lose track of time.
23506 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., in "The Art of
23509 Dzogchen could be defined as a way to relax completely. This can be clearly
23510 understood from the terms used to denote the state of contemplation, such as
23511 "leave it just as it is" (cog bzhag), "cutting loose one's tension" (khregs
23512 chod), "beyond effort" (rtsol bral), and so on. Some scholars have classified
23513 Dzogchen as a "direct path," comparing it to teachings such as Zen, where this
23514 expression is often used. In Dzogchen texts, however, the phrases "direct
23515 path" and "nongradual path" (cig car) are never used, because the concept of a
23516 "direct path" implies necessarily that there must be, on the one hand, a place
23517 from which one departs, and on the other, a place where one arrives. But in
23518 Dzogchen there is a single principle of the state of knowledge, and if one
23519 possesses this state one discovers that right from the beginning one is
23520 already there where one wants to arrive. For this reason the state is said to
23521 be "self-perfected" (lhun grub).
23522 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, in "Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State", edited by
23523 Adriano Clemente, translated from the Italian by John Shane, published by
23524 Snow Lion Publications
23526 Since the situation in which we live is much changed but the attitude of
23527 people who are in that situation is at variance with the times, this is one of
23528 the causes of unnecessary pain, unnecessary problems. Therefore, education is
23529 needed to communicate that the concept of violence is counterproductive, that
23530 it is not a realistic way to solve problems, and that compromise is the only
23531 realistic way to solve problems. Right from the beginning, we have to make
23532 this reality clear to a child's mind--the new generation. In this way, the
23533 whole attitude towards oneself, towards the world, towards others, can become
23534 more healthy. I usually call this "inner disarmament." Without inner
23535 disarmament, it is very difficult to achieve genuine, lasting world peace.
23536 ...Through inner disarmament we can develop a healthy mental attitude, which
23537 also is very beneficial for physical health. With peace of mind, a calm mind,
23538 your body elements become more balanced. Constant worry, constant fear,
23539 agitation of mind, are very bad for health. Therefore, peace of mind not only
23540 brings tranquility in our mind but also has good effects on our body.
23541 With inner disarmament, now we need external disarmament. As I mentioned
23542 earlier, according to today's reality, there no longer is room for war, for
23543 destruction. From a compassionate viewpoint, destruction, killing others, and
23544 discriminating even against one's enemy are counterproductive. Today's enemy,
23545 if you treat them well, may become a good friend even the next day.
23546 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama in "The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss
23547 Human Rights, Conflict and Reconciliation", edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
23548 published by Snow Lion Publications
23550 What we do for ourselves dies with us.
23551 What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
23554 Q: Where does hatred come from?
23556 A: That is a question which requires long hours of discussion. From the
23557 Buddhist viewpoint, the simple answer is that it is beginningless. As a
23558 further explanation, Buddhists believe that there are many different levels of
23559 consciousness. The most subtle consciousness is what we consider the basis of
23560 the previous life, this life and future lives. This subtle consciousness is
23561 a transient phenomenon which comes about as a consequence of causes and
23562 conditions. Buddhists have concluded that consciousness itself cannot be
23563 produced by matter. Therefore, the only alternative is to accept the
23564 continuation of consciousness. So that is the basis of the theory of rebirth.
23566 Where there is consciousness, ignorance and hatred also arise naturally.
23567 These negative emotions, as well as the positive emotions, occur right from
23568 beginningless time. All these are a part of our mind. However, these
23569 negative emotions actually are based on ignorance, which has no valid
23570 foundation. None of the negative emotions, no matter how powerful, have a
23571 solid foundation. On the other hand, the positive emotions, such as
23572 compassion or wisdom, have a solid basis: there is a kind of grounding and
23573 rootedness in reason and understanding, which is not the case with afflictive
23574 emotions like anger and hatred.
23576 The basic nature of the subtle consciousness itself is something neutral. So
23577 it is possible to purify or eliminate all of these negative emotions. That
23578 basic nature we call Buddha-nature. Hatred and negative emotions are
23579 beginningless; they have no beginning, but there is an end. Consciousness
23580 itself has no beginning and no end; of this we are certain.
23582 -- H.H. 14th Dalai Lama, in "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
23583 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published by
23584 Snow Lion Publications
23586 When the sun is freed from clouds, the sun becomes clear and bright.
23587 Similarly, when obstructions to omniscience are abandoned, wisdom becomes
23589 How does wisdom that is like the sun in a sky free from clouds dawn? It
23590 is described as yogic direct perception. Between ordinary beings--those born
23591 in dependence upon their individual karma--and yogins, here we are considering
23592 yogins. Their wisdom is not speculation from an inferential point of view, as
23593 is the case with ordinary beings. Neither is it pensive and lacking in
23594 clarity. Rather, it sees directly, for which reason it is called yogic direct
23595 perception. When we ordinary beings think about a thing, there is something
23596 in the way, obstruction, due to which we do not see clearly and directly.
23597 When those obstructions--the afflictive obstructions and the obstructions to
23598 omniscience--have been dispelled, then knowledge arises as yogic direct
23600 When yogic direct perception arises, how does it see? It sees phenomena
23601 in a conventional context and it also sees reality in an ultimate context. In
23602 the conventional context, wisdom sees the shapes, colors, and defining
23603 characteristics of whatever things exist in worldly realms, individually and
23604 without mixing them, just as they are. This wisdom knows the varieties of
23605 phenomena. Similarly, in the context of reality, wisdom sees the meaning of
23606 emptiness directly; this wisdom knows the mode of all phenomena. In
23607 dependence upon release from the afflictive obstruction and the obstruction to
23608 omniscience, the wisdoms knowing the modes and the varieties actually arise.
23609 Someone in whom those two wisdoms are present is a buddha.
23611 -- Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, in "Essential Practice: Lectures on
23612 Kamalashila's 'Stages of Meditation in the Middle Way School' ",
23613 translated by Jules B. Levinson, published by Snow Lion Publications
23615 Sometimes people mistakenly look on vows and pledges as if these were a
23616 type of punishment, but this is not at all the case. For example, just as
23617 we follow certain methods of eating and drinking to improve our health and
23618 certainly not to punish ourselves, so the rules the Shakymuni Buddha
23619 formulated are for controlling counter-productive ill-deeds and ultimately for
23620 overcoming afflictive emotions, because these are self-ruinous. Thus, to
23621 relieve oneself from suffering, one controls the motivations and deeds
23622 producing suffering for one's own sake. Realizing from his own experience
23623 that suffering stems from one's own afflictive emotions as well as actions
23624 contaminated with them, he sets forth styles of behavior to reduce the problem
23625 for our own profit, certainly not to give us a hard time. Hence, these rules
23626 are for the sake of controlling sources of harm.
23627 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba, and Jeffrey Hopkins, in "Yoga Tantra:
23628 Paths to Magical Feats, published by Snow Lion Publications
23630 Giving with an open heart brings us joy and directly benefits others. Goods
23631 are then shared more equitably within our society and among nations, soothing
23632 the ill-feeling of social inequity and promoting world peace. Sharing is a
23633 source of our continued existence as a species. As His Holiness the Dalai
23634 Lama says, it is not survival of the fittest, but survival of those who
23635 cooperate the most, that makes a species prosper. None of us exists
23636 independently; we have to depend on others simply to stay alive. Thus,
23637 helping others and sharing wealth benefits both self and others. Generosity
23638 makes us happy now, enables our species to continue to prosper, and creates
23639 positive karma that brings us prosperity in the future. In addition, it is an
23640 essential trait of an enlightened being. Who ever heard of a stingy Buddha?
23641 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, in "How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator",
23642 published by Snow Lion Publications
23644 I have made the point in the past that it is not necessary to consider
23645 someone one's guru from the very outset simply because one has heard the
23646 explanation of the Buddha's teachings from that person. At first, it is much
23647 better if one does not have that kind of attitude toward them, simply
23648 regarding them as a Dharma-friend. One gets teachings, and time goes by.
23649 Then, when one feels that one knows that person quite well, and can take them
23650 as one's guru without any danger of transgressing the commitments that
23651 accompany such a relationship, when one has that kind of confidence, then one
23652 can go ahead and take him or her as one's guru. The Lord Buddha himself made
23653 it quite clear in both the Vinaya sutras and in the Mahayana scriptures, and
23654 even in the Tantrayana, in a very detailed fashion, what the qualities of a
23655 teacher should be. This is why I often criticize the Tibetan attitude of
23656 seeing whatever the guru does as good, of respecting everything that the guru
23657 does right from the start without the initial period of examination. Of
23658 course, if the guru is really qualified, then to have such an attitude is
23660 Take the cases of Naropa and Marpa, for example. Sometimes it appears as
23661 though some of the things Tilopa asked of Naropa, or Naropa of Marpa, were
23662 unreasonable. Deep down, however, these requests had great meaning. Because
23663 of their great faith in their gurus, Naropa and Marpa did as instructed.
23664 Despite the fact that they appeared to be unreasonable, because the teachers
23665 were qualified, their actions had some meaning. In such situations, it is
23666 necessary that from the disciple's side all of the actions of the teacher be
23667 respected. But this cannot be compared to the case of ordinary people.
23668 Broadly speaking, I feel that the Buddha gave us complete freedom of choice to
23669 thoroughly examine the person who is to be our guru. This is very important.
23670 Unless one is definite, one should not take them as a guru. This preliminary
23671 examination is a kind of precautionary measure.
23672 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists", edited
23673 by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
23675 13. Transforming suffering into the path
23676 Even if someone tries to cut off your head
23677 When you haven't done the slightest thing wrong,
23678 Out of compassion take all his misdeeds
23680 This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
23681 -- from "The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas"
23682 by Gyelsay Togme Sangpo
23683 Although we have done nothing to deserve it, someone may attack us, beat
23684 us, or perpetrate other forms of violence on us. Certainly it is tempting to
23685 get angry in such a situation, but our anger will do no good. In fact, this
23686 person is creating the cause for his own unfortunate rebirth by attacking us,
23687 and the karma he creates is even heavier if we hold any of the three sets of
23688 vows: pratimoksha, Bodhisattva, or tantric. Thus, we cultivate compassion,
23689 and wish to take the person's karma and resultant suffering on ourselves. For
23690 example, if a crazy person attacks a person who is sane, the latter will not
23691 only not fight back but try to help, by giving him medicine and wanting him to
23692 get well. The sane person sees that the crazy person does not know what he is
23693 doing. He is out of control.
23694 Similarly, when someone harms us, we should recognize that he too is out
23695 of control and is being led by his three poisonous attitudes. Similarly, we
23696 can remember that we are experiencing the ripening result of harmful actions
23697 we did in past lives, so why blame the other person? In addition, that person
23698 is causing our negative karma to be exhausted now, rather than later when the
23699 result could be much more difficult to bear. In this way, we will not be
23700 angry or retaliate, but will pray for and try to help the other. In "The
23701 Eight Verses of Thought Transformation," it says, "Whenever I meet a person of
23702 bad nature who is overwhelmed by negative energy and intense suffering, I will
23703 hold such a rare one dear, as if I had found a precious treasure." People like
23704 this suffer greatly because they think only of themselves, not of others, and
23705 thus they are worthy of compassion, the wish that they be free from suffering
23707 Being patient when harmed by others does not mean that we take no action
23708 to prevent harm from occurring. Rather, patience frees our mind from the fog
23709 of anger and gives us the clarity and kindness to respond to a situation in a
23710 helpful way. Free of anger, we look for ways to resolve conflict other than
23712 -- Geshe Jampa Tegchok, in "Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage:
23713 An Explanation of 'The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas' ", edited
23714 by Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
23716 Some people run a race to see who is the fastest.
23717 I run a race to see who has the most guts.
23718 -- Steve Prefontaine
23720 Shantideva expresses tremendous courage, which transcends all boundaries
23721 of space and time, in a verse of his "Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life"
23722 (Bodhicaryavatara). He writes:
23723 As long as space endures,
23724 As long as sentient beings remain,
23725 Until then, may I too remain
23726 And dispel the miseries of the world.
23727 When the altruistic intention is supported by insight into emptiness, and
23728 particularly by the direct realization of emptiness, one is said to have
23729 attained the two dimensions of bodhichitta which are known as conventional and
23730 ultimate bodhichitta. With both these practices of compassion and wisdom, the
23731 practitioner has within his or her hands the complete method for attaining the
23732 highest spiritual goal. Such a person is truly great and worthy of
23734 If one is able to cultivate these spiritual qualities within oneself then,
23735 as Chandrakirti writes very poetically in his Entry to the Middle Way
23736 (Madhyamakavatara), with one wing of altruistic intention and another wing of
23737 insight into emptiness, one can traverse the whole of space and soar beyond
23738 the state of existence to the shores of fully enlightened buddhahood.
23739 ...make an effort to contemplate, study and meditate, but without any
23740 shortsighted expectations. You should have the same attitude as Shantideva --
23741 that as long as space exists you will remain to dispel suffering in the world.
23742 When you have that kind of determination and courage to develop your capacity,
23743 then a hundred years, an aeon, a million years are nothing to you.
23744 Furthermore, you will not consider that the different human problems we have
23745 here and there are in any way insurmountable. Such an attitude and vision
23746 bring some kind of real inner strength.
23747 -- H.H. the XIV Dalai Lama, in "Transforming the Mind: Teachings on
23748 Generating Compassion", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, edited by
23749 Dominique Side and Geshe Thupten Jinpa.
23751 The Tantric Way of Purifying One's Views
23752 The second important attitude is the Tantric way of purifying one's views,
23753 which means to transform one's ordinary and dualistic views and conceptions
23754 into a higher spiritual vision.
23755 For instance, you transform the place where teachings are received from an
23756 ordinary classroom into a complete and perfected mandala of the deities. You
23757 view the teacher as a pure form of Shen Lha Okar, the Buddha of Compassion, by
23758 mentally transforming him from an ordinary person into an enlightened one who
23759 has manifested in a human body to guide all sentient beings. You transform
23760 your companions and classmates from ordinary beings into deities and
23761 goddesses, and believe that they all have love, compassion, and care for all
23763 The purpose of transforming your views into pure visions toward these
23764 objects is to realize the extraordinary nature of this experience. This gives
23765 you a special reason to receive blessings and powers from the teacher (lama),
23766 the enlightened ones (Sangye), the deities (yidam), and the female
23767 manifestations of the enlightened ones (khadro), in order to develop your
23768 wisdom and stability. This is the essence of the practice of purifying one's
23769 view according to the Tantric ways.
23770 -- Latri Khenpo and Geshe Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche, in "Opening the Door to
23771 Bon", published by Snow Lion Publications
23773 MENSA: My Ego Never Stops Aching
23775 ...more people are driven insane through religious hysteria
23776 than by drinking alcohol.
23779 Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will
23780 satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good.
23783 Desire is the source of endless problems. The more desires we have, the more
23784 we have to plan and work hard to realize them. Some time ago a businessman
23785 told me that the more he developed his company, the more he felt like making
23786 it even bigger. And the more he tried to make it bigger, the more he found he
23787 had to lie and fight mercilessly against his competitors. He had come to
23788 realize that wanting more and more made no sense, and that he only had to
23789 reduce the size of his business for competition to become less fierce so he
23790 would be able to carry out his work honestly. I found his testimony very
23792 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the Heart",
23793 edited by Matthieu Ricard, translated by Christian Bruyat and Dominique
23796 I--What Is a Treasure?
23797 According to the Nyingma School, the Treasures are most often comprised of
23798 spiritual instructions concealed by enlightened beings for the purpose of
23799 discovery at a later predestined time when their message will invigorate the
23800 Buddhist teaching and deepen spiritual understanding. Central to this process
23801 is the figure of the Treasure revealer (gter ston)--the person who acts as a
23802 medium for the re-emergence of this inspired material into the human world.
23803 Accordingly, beginning in the eleventh century and continuing into the
23804 present, the Nyingma School identifies a large number of Treasure revealers
23805 and grants authoritative status to their discoveries.
23806 The idea that religious truth lies concealed within the world of phenomena
23807 awaiting discovery by spiritually gifted people is by no means a concept
23808 exclusive to the Nyingma School or Tibetan Buddhism as a whole. Throughout
23809 Buddhist literature there are numerous descriptions of teachings being
23810 inherently present in the phenomenal world ready to be perceived by
23811 individuals possessing inspired levels of consciousness and, accordingly,
23812 spiritual revelations have surfaced on numerous occasions throughout the
23813 course of Buddhist history.
23814 -- Andreas Doctor, in "Tibetan Treasure Literature: Revelation, Tradition,
23815 and Accomplishment in Visionary Buddhism", Snow Lion Publications
23817 Patricia Churchland: But do you think that there is something, I am not sure
23818 what to call it--a kind of awareness that can exist independently of the
23819 brain? For example, something that survives death?
23821 Dalai Lama: Generally speaking, awareness, in the sense of our familiar, day-
23822 to-day mental processes, does not exist apart from or independent of the
23823 brain, according to the Buddhist view. But Buddhism holds that the cause of
23824 this awareness is to be found in a preceding continuum of awareness, and that
23825 is why one speaks of a stream of awareness from one life to another. Whence
23826 does this awareness arise initially? It must arise fundamentally not from a
23827 physical base but from a preceding continuum of awareness.
23829 The continuum of awareness that conjoins with the fetus does not depend upon
23830 the brain. There are some documented cases of advanced practitioners whose
23831 bodies, after death, escape what happens to everyone else and do not decompose
23832 for some time--for two or three weeks or even longer. The awareness that
23833 finally leaves their body is a primordial awareness that is not dependent upon
23834 the body. There have been many accounts in the past of advanced practitioners
23835 remaining in meditation in this subtle state of consciousness when they died,
23836 and decomposition of their body was postponed although the body remained at
23838 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations
23839 with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara
23840 Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston and B. Alan Wallace, Snow Lion
23843 The real source of my suffering is self-centeredness: my car, my possession,
23844 my well-being. Without the self-centeredness, the suffering would not arise.
23845 What would happen instead? It is important to imagine this fully and to focus
23846 on examples of your own. Think of some misfortune that makes you want to lash
23847 out, that gives rise to anger or misery. Then imagine how you might respond
23848 without suffering. Recognize that we need not experience the misery, let
23849 alone the anger, resentment, and hostility. The choice is ours.
23851 Let's continue with the previous example. You see that there is a dent in the
23852 car. What needs to be done? Get the other driver's license number, notify
23853 the police, contact the insurance agency, deal with all the details. Simply
23854 do it and accept it. Accept it gladly as a way to strengthen your mind
23855 further, to develop patience and the armor of forbearance. There is no way to
23856 become a Buddha and remain a vulnerable wimp. Patience does not suddenly
23857 appear as a bonus after full enlightenment. Part of the whole process of
23858 awakening is to develop greater forbearance and equanimity in adversity.
23859 Santideva, in the sixth chapter of his Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life,
23860 eloquently points out that there is no way to develop patience without
23861 encountering adversity, and patience is indispensable for our own growth on
23862 the path to awakening.
23863 -- B. Alan Wallace, in "The Seven-Point Mind Training", edited by Zara
23864 Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
23866 In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous. -- Aristotle
23868 Now the kilt was only for day-to-day wear. In battle, we donned a full-length
23869 ball gown covered in sequins. The idea was to blind your opponent with luxury.
23870 -- Groundskeeper Willie
23872 Dayata (Om) Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Swaha.
23874 A mantra is that which protects the mind. Through this mantra, which is the
23875 perfection of wisdom itself, we can overcome the demon of ignorance that
23876 possesses us and find unsurpassable happiness. It protects the minds of those
23877 who practice it from all fears and describes how to make the transition from
23878 worldly existence to the supreme state beyond sorrow. It is a mantra of great
23879 knowledge because it saves us from the poison of ignorance and its imprints.
23880 It is an unsurpassable mantra because it frees us from suffering and its
23881 causes as no other path of insight can. The incomparable is the state beyond
23882 suffering. Since it helps us to attain that state, it is comparable to the
23883 incomparable. It totally pacifies suffering because it rids us of all the
23884 troubles of the world and their causes. The world here refers to ordinary
23885 beings like us. Our troubles are many but foremost are birth, aging,
23886 sickness, and death. This mantra does not deceive us and it is true because
23887 wisdom sees things as they actually are without any error or deception. It is
23888 therefore transcendent.
23889 -- from "The Heart Sutra: An Oral Teaching by Geshe Sonam Rinchen",
23890 translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
23892 I am interested not in converting other people to Buddhism but in how we
23893 Buddhists can contribute to human society, according to our own ideas. I
23894 believe that other religious faiths also think in a similar way, seeking to
23895 contribute to the common aim....
23897 Just as Buddha showed an example of contentment, tolerance, and serving others
23898 without selfish motivation, so did Jesus Christ. Almost all of the great
23899 teachers lived a saintly life--not luxuriously like kings or emperors but as
23900 simple human beings. Their inner strength was tremendous, limitless, but the
23901 external appearance was of contentment with a simple way of life.
23903 ...the motivation of all religious practice is similar--love, sincerity,
23904 honesty. The way of life of practically all religious persons is contentment.
23905 The teachings of tolerance, love, and compassion are the same. A basic goal
23906 is the benefit of humankind--each type of system seeking in its own unique
23907 ways to improve human beings. If we put too much emphasis on our own
23908 philosophy, religion, or theory, are too attached to it, and try to impose it
23909 on other people, it makes trouble. Basically all the great teachers, such as
23910 Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, or Mohammed, founded their new teachings with a
23911 motivation of helping their fellow humans. They did not mean to gain anything
23912 for themselves nor to create more trouble or unrest in the world.
23914 Most important is that we respect each other and learn from each other those
23915 things that will enrich our own practice. Ever if all the systems are
23916 separate, since they each have the same goal, the study of each other is
23918 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness", compiled
23919 and edited by Sidney Piburn, published by Snow Lion Publications
23921 Our teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha, is one among the thousand Buddhas of this
23922 aeon. These Buddhas were not Buddhas from the beginning, but were once
23923 sentient beings like ourselves. How they came to be Buddhas is this.
23924 Of body and mind, mind is predominant, for body and speech are under the
23925 influence of the mind. Afflictions such as desire do not contaminate the
23926 nature of the mind, for the nature of the mind is pure, uncontaminated by any
23927 taint. Afflictions are peripheral factors of a mind, and through gradually
23928 transforming all types of defects, such as these afflictions, the adventitious
23929 taints can be completely removed. This state of complete purification is
23930 Buddhahood; therefore, Buddhists do not assert that there is any Buddha who
23931 has been enlightened from the beginning.
23932 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Buddhism of Tibet: The Dalai Lama",
23933 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion
23936 ...everbody thinks that compassion is important, and everyone has
23937 compassion. True enough, but the Buddha gave uncommon quintessential
23938 instructions when he taught the methods for cultivating compassion, and the
23939 differences are extraordinarily important.
23940 Generally, everyone feels compassion, but the compassion is flawed. In
23941 what way? We measure it out. For instance, some feel compassion for human
23942 beings but not for animals and other types of sentient beings. Others feel
23943 compassion for animals and some other types of sentient beings but not for
23944 humans. Others, who feel compassion for human beings, feel compassion for the
23945 human beings of their own country but not for the human beings of other
23946 countries. Then, some feel compassion for their friends but not for anyone
23947 else. Thus, it seems that we draw a line somewhere. We feel compassion for
23948 those on one side of the line but not for those on the other side of the line.
23949 We feel compassion for one group but not for another. That is where our
23950 compassion is flawed. What did the Buddha say about that? It is not
23951 necessary to draw that line. Nor is it suitable. Everyone wants compassion,
23952 and we can extend our compassion to everyone.
23953 -- Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, in "Lectures on Kamalashila's 'Stages of
23954 Meditation in the Middle Way School' ", translated by Jules B. Levinson,
23955 published by Snow Lion Publications
23957 4. Seven-Limbed Practice
23959 The seven parts of the practice are encompassed by two practices--the
23960 purification of negativities and the enhancing of the store of merit. When
23961 you engage in the practice, it is very important to understand that each and
23962 every one of the seven limbs has its individual purpose and significance, and
23963 only with such knowledge can you engage properly in the practice. The seven
23964 limbs are: prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, requesting to turn
23965 the wheel of the dharma, entreating not to enter into nirvana, and dedication
23967 ...For the practice of confession, which is the third of the seven limbs,
23968 it is very important to have the factor of regret; without this factor there
23969 is no possibility of purifying the negativities.... The great yogi Milarepa
23970 said: "When I examined whether or not confession could purify the
23971 negativities, I found that it is regret that cleanses them." In order to
23972 generate regret, it is important to see the destructive nature of negative
23973 actions and also to understand the law of causality.
23974 Based on a disciplined mind, we experience happiness; based on an
23975 undisciplined, untamed mind, we undergo suffering. We should think that if we
23976 are not able to make any progress from our present state of mind, which always
23977 indulges in negative thoughts, there is not much hope for us. So, if we are
23978 able to think in such terms, we will be able to really see the destructive
23979 nature of negative actions, and also that the store of negative actions that
23980 we have is inexhaustible, like a rich person's bank balance. Without the
23981 recognition of the destructive nature of the negative forces, we will never be
23982 able to develop the deep factor of regret from the depth of our hearts.
23983 If we do not engage in a proper practice of dharma, it seems that we may
23984 expend all our store of merit in mundane pleasures. It is very important to
23985 have this faculty of regret in our practice of purification and confession.
23986 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), in "The Path to Bliss: A Practical
23987 Guide to Stages of Meditation", translated by Geshe Thubten Jinpa,
23988 edited by Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
23990 9. Glorious Lama (excerpt)
23992 ...Those with faith have a refuge.
23993 Those with compassion have an altruistic attitude.
23994 Those with incisive knowledge have realization.
23995 Those with respect and devotion have blessings.
23997 Those with shame avoid carelessness.
23998 Those who avoid carelessness have a guarded mind.
23999 Those who have a guarded mind have vows and samaya.
24000 Those who have vows and samaya have spiritual attainments.
24002 Calm and self-control are signs of listening to the Dharma;
24003 Few passions, signs of meditation;
24004 Harmony with everyone is the sign of a practitioner;
24005 Your mind at ease, the sign of accomplishment.
24007 The root of phenomena is your own mind.
24008 If you tame your mind, you are a practitioner.
24009 If you are a practitioner, your mind is tamed.
24010 When your mind is tamed, that is liberation.
24011 -- Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, in "Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart
24012 Advice", translated by Ron Garry, published by Snow Lion Publications
24014 The Special Features of Dzogchen
24016 In the early translation school of the Nyingma, a system of nine yanas is
24017 taught. Three of these--the paths of the Sravaka, pratyekabuddha, and
24018 bodhisattva--constitute the sutra tradition, while the tantric tradition
24019 consists of six levels--the three outer tantras and the three inner tantras.
24020 The tradition of Dzogchen, or Atiyoga, is considered to be the pinnacle of
24021 these nine yanas. The other, lower, yanas are said to be philosophical
24022 systems that depend on ordinary consciousness, and so the path is based on
24023 that ordinary consciousness. Here the distinction being made is between
24024 ordinary mind--sem--and pure awareness--rigpa. The ninth yana, the most
24025 majestic, is beyond ordinary consciousness, for its path is based on rigpa,
24026 not on the ordinary mind.
24027 Throughout beginningless time, there has always been present, within us
24028 all, a pure awareness--that in-dwelling rigpa which in Atiyoga is evoked in
24029 all its nakedness, and which constitutes the practice.
24030 ...The ground for all the phenomena of samsara and nirvana is the
24031 fundamental innate mind of clear light, and these phenomena are its radiance
24032 or display. While we are following the path, in order for all the impure
24033 aspects of our experience to be purified on the basis of that rigpa--or, you
24034 can say, that fundamental innate mind of clear light--there is no other means
24035 apart from that fundamental and innate state itself, which is therefore the
24036 very essence of the path. Finally, when the fruition is made fully evident,
24037 it is just this fundamental innate mind of clear light itself, free from
24038 obscuration, that constitutes the attainment of fruition.
24039 ...Any given state of consciousness is permeated by the clear light of
24040 rigpa's pure awareness. However solid ice may be, it never loses its true
24041 nature, which is water. In the same way, even very obvious concepts... arise
24042 within the expanse of rigpa and that is where they dissolve. On this point,
24043 Dodrupchen Jikme Tenpe Nyima says that all objects of knowledge are permeated
24044 by clear light, just as a sesame seed is permeated by its oil. Therefore,
24045 even while the coarser states of the six consciousnesses are functioning,
24046 their subtle aspect--that of clear light--can be directly introduced by means
24047 of those states themselves, through blessings and through pith instructions.
24048 Here lies the extraordinary and profound implication of the Dzogchen
24049 teachings. When you are basing your path on the fundamental innate mind of
24050 clear light, you will employ skilful means to block the coarse and subtle
24051 states of energy and mind, as a result of which the state of clear light
24052 becomes evident, and on this you base your path. But in Dzogchen, even while
24053 the six consciousnesses are fully functioning, by means of those very states
24054 you can be directly introduced to their subtle aspect of clear light in your
24055 immediate experience, and you then meditate by focusing one-pointedly on that
24056 aspect. As you meditate in this way, resting in this non-conceptual state,
24057 gradually your experience of clear light becomes increasingly profound, while
24058 coarser thoughts and concepts dwindle away.
24059 The most difficult task is to differentiate between ordinary mind and
24060 rigpa. It is easy enough to talk about it. You can say, for example, that
24061 rigpa has never been confused, while ordinary mind has fallen under the
24062 influence of concepts and is mired in confusion. But to be introduced to the
24063 direct experience of the essence of rigpa is far from being easy. And so
24064 Dodrupchen says that although your arrogance might be such that you assume you
24065 are meditating on the ultimate meaning of rigpa, there is a danger that "you
24066 could end up meditating on the clear, empty qualities of your ordinary mind,
24067 which even non-Buddhist practitioners are capable of doing." He is warning us
24069 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
24070 Perfection", translated by Geshe Thubten Jinpa and Richard Barron
24071 (Chokyi Nyima), edited by Patrick Gaffney, pub. by Snow Lion Publications
24073 Patience is like a beautiful ornament. When you become a person with
24074 great patience, it brings a certain element of charm to your life. You are
24075 loved by others, and you give no problems to your friends. You bring an
24076 element of joy, happiness, and calmness to other people's lives--your friends,
24077 your family, and the community. You do not have to ask to be accepted;
24078 everyone longs for your presence. Everyone looks up to you and respects you,
24079 not because you have worked for that or expected it, not because you were
24080 competing for their favor, but simply because of the nature of patience. You
24081 are respected and trusted, and you acquire dignity with the practice of
24082 patience. When you are honored, it is with sincerity, and it is something you
24084 ...Just hearing about patience does not mean you are experiencing it now
24085 or will easily develop it. To lay the ground for training the mind, you must
24086 first tame the mind. To tame the mind, it is extremely important to do the
24087 basic shamata [tranquility meditation, calm abiding] practice, which develops
24088 calmness and tranquility. Then you can add the practice of patience,
24089 understanding the benefits of patience and reminding yourself to take
24090 advantage of the available antidotes.
24091 -- Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, in "Dharma Paths", translated by Ngodup
24092 Burkhar and Chojor Radha, edited by Laura M. Roth, published by Snow Lion
24095 No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of
24096 policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.
24099 We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
24100 -- Winston Churchill
24102 If the government would make up its mind to require for every child a good
24103 education, it might save itself the trouble of providing one. It might leave
24104 to parents to obtain the education where and how they pleased, and content
24105 itself with helping to pay the school fees of the poorer classes of children,
24106 and defraying the entire school expenses of those who have no one else to pay
24110 First, God created idiots.
24111 That was just for practice.
24112 Then He created school boards.
24115 Whence it comes to pass, that for not having chosen the right course,
24116 we often take very great pains, and consume a good part of our time in
24117 training up children to things, for which, by their natural constitution,
24118 they are totally unfit.
24121 There are two types of education...
24122 One should teach us how to make a living,
24123 And the other how to live.
24126 We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or
24127 fifteen years, and come out at last with a belly full of words and
24128 do not know a thing.
24129 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
24131 The Sanskrit word for compassion, karuna, has the implication of "that
24132 which blocks or prevents bliss." In general, when we develop compassion, we
24133 develop very strongly the attitude that cannot bear the suffering of other
24134 beings. We wish for it to end and for them to become free. Although we do
24135 not actually experience others' suffering at that time, the strength of the
24136 attitude that cannot bear their suffering causes our mind also to become
24137 unhappy. This is the general sense in which compassion blocks bliss....
24138 Only the power of a union of method and wisdom--namely the union of
24139 compassion, as a greatly blissful awareness, and the discriminating awareness
24140 of voidness--allows us to attain the total release of supreme nirvana, namely
24142 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra", with
24143 Alexander Berzin, published by Snow Lion Publications
24145 There is a tradition of reciting prayers of request to the spiritual
24146 teachers of the lineage at the beginning of each study session, starting with
24147 the Buddha Shakyamuni and ending with our own personal teachers. What do we
24148 request? As we chant each verse, we take to mind the inspiring qualities of
24149 the great masters mentioned in it and ask them to bless us to develop
24150 compassion, wisdom and power similar to their own. Blessings are experienced
24151 in the form of a transformation which affects our body, speech and mind. Our
24152 mind becomes more serviceable and flexible, our way of speaking and acting
24153 more constructive. We become more open to the message of how to bring about
24154 inner transformation that has been handed down through this long line of
24155 spiritual teachers.
24156 Our teachers pass on the instructions they have received from their own
24157 teachers, the knowledge they have culled from their reading and everything
24158 they have understood and experienced as a result of their personal practice,
24159 without holding anything back. They are motivated by compassion and their
24160 deep wish to help us. To communicate it to us they choose whatever means are
24161 most effective--sometimes stern, sometimes gentle. This process must take
24162 place in an atmosphere of mutual trust, something very rare in relationships
24163 today. In the past the relationship between students and teachers was even
24164 closer and more trusting than that between siblings--and in Tibet brothers and
24165 sisters generally enjoyed a close and loving bond. Today this is a dying
24166 tradition, yet a good relationship between student and teacher is vital even
24167 for the communication of secular knowledge, let alone where spiritual wisdom
24169 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, in "Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment: An
24170 Oral Teaching", translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow
24173 We have happiness of mind and freedom from anxiety to just the degree that
24174 our minds are tamed.... Once we want happiness and do not want suffering, we
24175 should engage in the means to achieve happiness and eliminate suffering.
24176 Practice is based on reasoning, not force; it is up to oneself.
24177 The time for engaging in these techniques is now. Some feel, "I did not
24178 succeed in this lifetime; I will ask a lama for help in my future life." To
24179 think that we will practise in the future is only a hope. It is foolish to
24180 feel that the next life will be as suitable as this. No matter how bad our
24181 condition is now, since we have a human brain, we can think; since we have a
24182 mouth, we can recite mantra. No matter how old one may be, there is time for
24183 practice. However, when we die and are reborn, we are unable even to recite
24184 om mani padme hum. Thus, it is important to make all effort possible at this
24185 time when we have obtained the precious physical life-support of a human.
24186 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins, in "Deity Yoga: In Action and
24187 Performance Tantra by Tsong-ka-pa", published by Snow Lion Publications
24189 How would we feel if one of our children was overpowered by a serious disease
24190 and did some terrible things without knowing what he or she was doing? We
24191 should try to view someone dear who suddenly hurts us in the same light. If
24192 we can see that person is out of control and sick with negative emotions, we
24193 will not feel so much hatred and disgust. There may be resentment, and we may
24194 not be able to love that person more than before, but almost automatically
24195 there will be a certain sympathy that will lessen or end our hatred and allow
24197 -- Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, in "Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness: The Three
24198 Vehicles of Buddhism", edited and translated by Rosemarie Fuchs, published
24199 by Snow Lion Publications
24201 Compassion is a theme the Dalai Lama returns to over and over again. I
24202 also know he has meditated on compassion every morning without fail for the
24203 past half century. In an interview, I asked the Dalai Lama to give me his
24204 take on compassion. Lhakdor [his translator], as usual, was by his side.
24205 "Compassion is something like a sense of caring, a sense of concern for
24206 others' difficulties and pain," the Dalai Lama said. "Not only family and
24207 friends, but all other people. Enemies also. Now, if we really analyze our
24208 feelings, one thing becomes clear. If we think only of ourselves, forget
24209 about other people, then our minds occupy a very small area. Inside that
24210 small area, even a tiny problem appears very big. But the moment you develop
24211 a sense of concern for others, you realize that, just like ourselves, they
24212 also want happiness; they also want satisfaction. When you have this sense of
24213 concern, your mind automatically widens. At this point, your own problems,
24214 even big problems, will not be so significant. The result? Big increase in
24215 peace of mind. So, if you think only of yourself, only your own happiness,
24216 the result is actually less happiness. You get more anxiety, more fear."
24217 "I was thirty-two years old when I developed a strong experience of
24218 compassion," he told me.... "Often when I reflect on the meaning and benefits
24219 of altruistic mind, tears came." Lhakdor translated: "...When he meditated on
24220 compassion, he would sometimes be filled with joy and appreciation. And there
24221 is a strong sense of concern for others accompanied by a feeling of
24222 sadness.... And when His Holiness reflected on certain profound explanations
24223 on emptiness, this would also trigger a strong emotion."
24224 "I think that strong conviction or strong emotions actually give more
24225 inner strength," the Dalai Lama explained. "So when I face some problems or
24226 criticism, for example, criticism from the Chinese, of course, little
24227 irritation sometimes..." "But then he'll have this feeling of compassion for
24228 them," Lhakdor translated. "He'll regret they're not making positive
24229 connection with him. But his sentiment is, although there is this negativity,
24230 may it also give positive fruit."
24231 "Now, the understanding of emptiness helps a lot toward developing
24232 compassion. There's no doubt it reinforces compassion," the Dalai Lama said.
24233 Lhakdor elaborated: "Emptiness allows us to have an understanding about
24234 ultimate reality. It helps us to appreciate the wisdom of interdependence--a
24235 fundamental law of nature. We gain an appreciation that we are all basically
24236 related. It is because of this interrelatedness that we are able to empathize
24237 with the suffering of others. With empathy, compassion flows naturally. We
24238 develop genuine sympathy for others' suffering and the will to help remove
24239 their pain. Emptiness thus strengthens positive emotions like compassion."
24240 Emptiness and compassion. Wisdom and method. These are the twin pillars
24241 of the Dalai Lama's practice--everything we need to know about spiritual
24242 practice. Both qualities are needed; they strengthen each other. Once we
24243 realize we are all interconnected, it is difficut not to feel some of
24244 compassion for the problems of our fellow human beings. And once we come by
24245 a feeling of compassion, we start to get a glimpse of the timeless truth of
24246 interdependence, of emptiness.
24247 The Dalai Lama looked thoughtful. After some time, he turned to me, "I
24248 think one thing I'm quite sure," he said. "I can tell you, the twin practice
24249 of emptiness and compassion is... effective." Then he lapsed into Tibetan
24250 again. Lhakdor translated. "His Holiness can say with conviction: if you
24251 meditate on emptiness and compassion, so long as you make the effort, then His
24252 Holiness is sure that, day in and day out, you will get tangible benefit.
24253 Your whole attitude will change." "....These things about compassion are
24254 something living--according to my own experience," the Dalai Lama went on. "I
24255 tell some of my experiences to other people, share some of my feelings, then
24256 other people understand: there is something real, something living."
24257 -- from "The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Conversations and Journeys by"
24258 His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Victor Chan, published by Snow Lion
24261 ...it is difficult to recognize an authentic teacher, because these
24262 qualities are internal. We can not depend upon external factors, but external
24263 factors are what we see. It is very difficult to see the inner qualities of
24264 another person. A businessman might be friendlier to us than our best friend,
24265 while his unseen motivation is merely to make a sale. Likewise, if a
24266 "teacher" acts in a very kind and loving manner towards us it does not
24267 necessarily mean that he is compassionate and selfless, because we cannot see
24268 his motivation. We also cannot determine a teacher's qualifications based
24269 upon her fame, or whether she has thousands of students. So the seeker is
24270 left with this paradox.
24271 There is no simple solution, but there are things we can do. First, it is
24272 important that we familiarize ourselves with the characteristics* discussed by
24273 Kongtrul Rinpoche. Second, we must maintain awareness of our own motivation
24274 during the process of finding a teacher. Am I seeking a teacher in order to
24275 attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, or am I seeking
24276 to fulfill my need to acquire the prestige associated with a famous teacher,
24277 or am I merely attracted to a lama's beautiful retreat land or the social
24278 scene of a hip sangha, and so on.
24279 These motivations need to be acknowledged if we are to recognize an
24280 authentic wisdom teacher, because the teacher you find is related to your
24281 karma, and your karma is intimately connected to your motivation.
24282 Fortunately, there are methods that help us purify our motivation and create
24283 the proper conditions for finding a wisdom teacher, such as bringing our
24284 awareness to our motivations as much as possible, doing daily meditation
24285 practice, and praying to the Triple Gem [Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha] that we
24286 will meet and recognize an authentic wisdom teacher.
24287 -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, in "The Teacher-Student Relationship: A
24288 Translation of 'The Explanation of the Master and Student Relationship,
24289 How to Follow the Master, and How to Teach and Listen to the Dharma' ",
24290 translated and introduced by Ron Garry, published by Snow Lion Pub.
24292 * "Whatever lama is followed must definitely have these qualities: He holds a
24293 pure lineage since he has not contradicted the commitments and prohibitions of
24294 the three vows.... He should be very learned... clear about the sutras,
24295 tantras, and shastras. His mind-stream should be so saturated with compassion
24296 that he loves all the limitless sentient beings as his only child. He should
24297 be expert in the outer tripitakas and on the inner level he should be expert
24298 in the ritual of the four classes of tantras of the secret mantra. He should
24299 have manifested the outstanding noble qualities of abandomnent and realization
24300 in his mind-stream by having relied upon practicing the meaning of this. He
24301 gathers fortunate disciples by the four ways of attracting: generosity,
24302 pleasant speech, his conduct should benefit others, and he should act in
24303 accord with the dharma."
24306 ...when we talk about the notion of self in Buddhism, it is important to bear
24307 in mind that there are different degrees or types. There are some types of
24308 sense of self which are not only to be cultivated but also to be reinforced
24309 and enhanced. For instance, in order to have a strong determination to seek
24310 Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, one needs a very strong
24311 sense of confidence, which is based upon a sense of commitment and courage.
24312 This requires a strong sense of self. Unless one has that identity or sense
24313 of self, one will not be able to develop the confidence and courage to
24314 strongly seek this aim. In addition, the doctrine of Buddha-nature gives us a
24315 lot of encouragement and confidence because we realize that there is this
24316 potential within us which will allow us to attain the perfection that we are
24317 seeking. However, there are different types of sense of self which are rooted
24318 in a belief in a permanent, solid, indivisible entity called "self" or "I."
24319 There is the belief that there is something very concrete or objective about
24320 this entity. This is a false notion of self which must be overcome.
24321 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience
24322 from a Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa,
24323 published by Snow Lion Publications
24325 ...by respecting and serving your teachers you exhaust karma whose effects you
24326 would otherwise experience in the miserable realms. Your action of serving
24327 the teacher expends these miserable effects and replaces them with only slight
24328 harm to your body and mind in this lifetime, either in actuality or in dreams.
24329 In addition, the benefits of respecting and serving your teachers are
24330 tremendous, such as a collection of virtue which surpasses even the roots of
24331 virtue that you derive from making offerings to limitless buddhas, and so
24332 forth. As the Sutra of Ksitigarbha says:
24333 "Those whom the teachers care for will purify the karma that would
24334 otherwise cause them to wander through the miserable realms for ten million
24335 limitless eons. They purify this karma with harm to their bodies and minds in
24336 this lifetime. This harm includes sickness such as an infectious disease with
24337 fever and calamities such as famine. They may purify their karma by merely
24338 undergoing something as little as a dream or a scolding. They produce more
24339 roots of virtue in one morning than those who give gifts to, worship, or
24340 observe precepts from limitless tens of millions of buddhas. Those who
24341 respect and serve their gurus are endowed with unimaginable good qualities."
24342 -- Tsong-kha-pa, in "The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to
24343 Enlightenment: Lam Rim Chen Mo", translated by the Lamrim Chenmo
24344 Translation Committee under editorial guidance of Joshua Cutler and Guy
24345 Newland, foreword by Robert A.F. Thurman, Snow Lion Publications
24347 ...if we remain clinging to this life even for one day, we are misusing
24348 our time. In this way, we can waste months and years on end. Because we
24349 don't know when our lives will finish, we should remain mindful and well
24350 prepared. Then, even if we die tonight, we will do so without regret. If we
24351 die tonight, the purpose of being well prepared is borne out; if we don't die
24352 tonight, there is no harm in being well prepared, because it will still
24354 But when we leave the world of humans, we do so without a protector or
24355 supporter and the total responsibility falls on us. We only have our own
24356 intelligence to rely on at that time, so we must expend our own effort in
24357 order to protect ourselves. As the Buddha said, "I have shown you the path to
24358 liberation; know that liberation depends on you." We must put strenuous effort
24359 into gaining freedom from the lower migrations, liberation from samsara,
24360 freedom from conventional existence and solitary salvation.
24361 The body is compared to a guest house; it is a place to stay for just a
24362 short time and not permanently. At present, the guest of consciousness is
24363 staying in the guest house of the body, like renting a place to stay. When
24364 the day comes for consciousness to leave, the guest house of the body must be
24365 left behind. Not being attached to friends, the body, wealth and possessions
24366 is the practice of the Bodhisattvas.
24367 -- His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, in "The Heart of Compassion: A Practical
24368 Approach to a Meaningful Life"
24370 ...the Transcendent Conqueror presented the two truths with respect to all
24371 inner and outer things, like sprouts and everything else. Genuine truth is
24372 described as being simply the authentic object of the noble ones' original
24373 wisdom that sees what is authentic and true; there is no identity actually
24374 established there for conceptual mind to find. Relative truth is the false
24375 object seen from the perspective of the conceptual mind whose eye of wisdom is
24376 completely covered by the cataract of ignorance, as is the case with ordinary
24377 beings. It is therefore posited as being this conceptual mind. The object
24378 perceived does not exist in the way that this mind perceives it to be.
24379 Thus, the Teacher explained that every thing found holds two natures
24380 within: a genuine nature and a relative one. From among these two, the object
24381 of the noble ones' authentic vision is the precise nature of reality, genuine
24382 truth, and the object of false seeing is relative truth.
24383 -- Chandrakirti, in "The Moon of Wisdom: Chapter Six of Chandrakirti's
24384 'Entering the Middle Way' with Commentary from the Eighth Karmapa Mikyo
24385 Dorje's 'Chariot of the Dagpo Kagyu Siddhas', translated by Ari Goldfield,
24386 Jules Levinson, Jim Scott and Birgit Scott under guidance of Khenpo
24387 Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
24389 ...we find Agastya, born to a family of Brahmans so illustrious as to be
24390 called "an ornament of the earth," living as an ascetic on the island of Kara
24391 in the Indian Ocean.... "On what accomplishment have you set your hopes?"
24392 Indra asked Agastya the Bodhisattva. "What is the object of your wishes that
24393 has led you to leave your sorrowful friends and relatives, desert a household
24394 and possessions that had been your happiness, and enter this way of life that
24395 destroys all pleasures?"
24396 The Bodhisattva replied according to the Dharma, in a way that immediately
24397 laid Indra's anxiety to rest. "Repeated births tend to great sorrow," he
24398 said. "So do the calamities of old age, sickness and death. All are just a
24399 disturbance to the mind. My vow is to save all sentient beings from these
24401 Relieved, Indra immediately offered, in return for such candid truth, the
24402 fulfillment of any desire Agastya might name. "May the fire of covetousness
24403 that burns insatiably even after obtaining a beloved wife, children, power and
24404 riches never enter my heart," Agastya said. "Excellent, excellent," applauded
24405 Indra and urged Agastya to request the fulfillment of still another desire.
24406 "May the fire of hatred burn far from me," Agastya said. Pleased by this
24407 game, in which Agastya so ingeniously taught the Dharma while appearing to
24408 request the fulfillment of his desires, Indra urged him to go on. But this
24409 time he was startled to hear Agastya's words. "May I never hear, see, speak
24410 to, nor endure the annoyance and pain of staying with a fool," Agastya said.
24411 "What do you mean?" Indra asked. "Those in distress deserve sympathy; the
24412 root of distress is foolishness. How can you claim to be compassionate when
24413 you abhor the very presence of those most due sympathy?"
24414 Then Agastya reasoned in this way, to prove to Indra that one should
24415 associate not with the foolish but with men of wisdom. "A fool cannot be
24416 cured even by medical treatment," he said. "Habituated to wrong conduct
24417 because of a deficiency in moral education, he urges his neighbors to follow
24418 his impetuous way, inflamed by self-conceit and the affectation of wisdom.
24419 When reprimanded, he becomes angry. There is no help for him." "How true,"
24420 Indra said. "Let me hear more jewellike, well spoken sentences."
24421 "May I see, hear, live with and converse with a wise man," Agastya said,
24422 "for these reasons: because the wise man, walking the path of virtue, draws
24423 others along with him, and is never roused to impatience by harsh words spoken
24424 for his own good." Again Indra was delighted.
24425 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries by His Holiness the
24426 Dalai Lama XIV on the Jatakamala Garland of Birth Stories", translated by
24429 (2) What one has to abandon: how to get rid of arrogance by means of an
24431 "I'm not beyond my karma, the deeds I've done;
24432 I'll still fall ill, age, die, and leave my friends."
24433 Think like this again and yet again
24434 And with this remedy avoid all arrogance.
24435 "I will be sick, I will grow old, I will die, I will be separated from those
24436 I love, my relations and so forth. In such manner, the fully ripened effect
24437 of my actions will come to me and to no one else, and I am therefore not above
24438 depending on what I did in former lives." To think like this again and again
24439 is the antidote to such things as arrogance: make every effort not to become
24440 arrogant by meditating on this antidote.
24441 -- "Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: with Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche
24442 by Nagarjuna", translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, published
24443 by Snow Lion Publications
24445 For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.
24446 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
24448 Inwardly, we defend against death by the very structure of our ego. Our ego
24449 claims to have the ability to provide us with happiness based on its belief in
24450 its own permanent existence. On the one hand, to believe in ego results in
24451 denying death. On the other, to accept death is to question the very nature
24452 of ego as a permanent, on-going structure and to confront very strong defense
24453 mechanisms. As a result, we have strong resistance to contemplating death.
24454 This resistance is also the same resistance that comes up when we meditate.
24455 Please recognize it for what it is and move on.
24456 -- Bruce Newman, in "A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism: Notes from a
24457 Practitioner's Journey", published by Snow Lion Publications
24459 Question: Could you please say something on the three kinds of suffering?
24461 His Holiness: One kind of suffering is like a headache or like yesterday's
24462 flu: discomfort in the nose, watery eyes, and so forth. In short, it includes
24463 all of those kinds of gross physical and mental sufferings that in ordinary
24464 parlance we usually call "suffering." This is the first category.
24466 Then the second category is as follows. When we feel hungry and begin to take
24467 food, at first we feel very happy. We take one mouthful, then two, three,
24468 four, five... eventually, though it is the same person, the same food, and
24469 the same time period, we begin to find the food objectionable and reject it.
24470 This is what is meant by the "suffering of change." Practically every worldly
24471 happiness and pleasure is in this second category. Compared to other forms of
24472 suffering, at the beginning these more subtle forms of suffering seem
24473 pleasurable; they seem to afford us some happiness, but this is not true or
24474 lasting happiness, for the more we become acquainted with them, the more
24475 involved we become with them, the more suffering and trouble they bring us.
24476 That is the second category.
24478 Now as for the third category, I think it is fair to say that it is one's own
24479 body. Roughly speaking, this is what it is. It is the body which is the
24480 fruit of afflictions, a body originally created by afflictions. Because the
24481 body is created by such causes, it is of the very nature of suffering. It
24482 comes to act as the basis of suffering. This, then, is the third category.
24483 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
24484 edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications.
24486 One point I should make here is that some people, especially those who see
24487 themselves as very realistic and practical, are sometimes too realistic and
24488 obsessed with practicality. They may think, "The idea of wishing for the
24489 happiness of all beings, of wanting what is best for every single one, is
24490 unrealistic and too idealistic. Such an unrealistic idea cannot contribute in
24491 any way to transforming the mind or to attaining some kind of mental
24492 discipline, because it is completely unachievable."
24493 ...They feel there is simply no point in thinking about all beings since
24494 there is an infinite number of them. They may conceivably be able to feel
24495 some kind of connection with some fellow human beings on this planet, but they
24496 feel that the infinite number of beings throughout the universe has nothing to
24497 do with their own experience as individuals.
24498 ...What is important here, however, is to grasp the impact of cultivating
24499 such altruistic sentiments. The point is to try to develop the scope of our
24500 empathy in such a way that we can extend it to any form of life with the
24501 capacity to feel pain and experience happiness. It is a matter of recognizing
24502 living organisms as sentient, and therefore subject to pain and capable of
24504 ...Such a universal sentiment of compassion is very powerful, and there is
24505 no need to be able to identify, in specific terms, with every single living
24506 being in order for it to be effective.
24507 ...Given patience and time, it is within our power to develop this kind of
24508 universal compassion.
24509 -- Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in "The Compassionate Life",
24510 edited by David Kittelstrom, sponsored by Richard Gere and the Gere
24514 Different body postures open or compress particular energetic channels and
24515 influence the flow of subtle energy. We use this understanding to aid
24516 specific processes in the practice. The Tibetan tradition considers the
24517 negative emotions to be more closely associated with the primary channel on
24518 the right side of the body in men and on the left in women. When a man sleeps
24519 on his right side, the channel that carries mostly negative prana is forced a
24520 little closed and the left channel opens. Also the lung, the physical organ,
24521 on that side is a bit compressed so the opposite lung is a little more
24522 responsible for the breath. You are probably already familiar with effects
24523 from lying on your side: when you lie on your right side you find it easier to
24524 breathe through your left nostril. For men, we consider this position
24525 beneficial to the movement of the positive wisdom prana through the left
24526 channel. Women benefit from the reverse, opening the wisdom channel that is
24527 on their right side by sleeping on their left. This affects dreams in a
24528 positive fashion and makes the dream practice easier. Opening the flow of the
24529 wisdom prana is a provisional expedient, as ultimately we want the balanced
24530 prana to move into the central channel.
24531 Furthermore, by paying attention to posture, awareness is kept more stable
24532 during sleep. Where I come from, most people sleep on a three-foot by six-
24533 foot Tibetan carpet. If one moves too much, one falls out of bed. But that
24534 does not usually happen, because when one sleeps on something small, the
24535 position of the body is held in the sleeping mind throughout the night....
24536 Here, in the big beds of the West, the sleeper can rotate like the hands of a
24537 clock and not fall, but holding the position anyway will help maintain
24539 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, in "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep",
24540 edited by Mark Dahlby, published by Snow Lion Publications
24542 The term emptiness does not carry here any connotation of void or of absolute
24543 nothingness. It should be understood as the naturally open and serene state
24544 of the mind. Thus, to affirm the emptiness of phenomena does not in any way
24545 mean that they do not exist in the way that the horn of a hare or skyflowers
24546 do not exist. Instead, emptiness refers to the insight that, at the ultimate
24547 level, both interior phenomena--sensations, perceptions and the "I"--and
24548 exterior phenomena--all the appearances of the phenomenal world--have no real
24549 existence, although they do appear in different forms. The Heart Sutra
24550 summarizes this as follows:
24551 Form is emptiness, emptiness is form,
24552 Emptiness is not other than form,
24553 Form is not other than emptiness.
24554 -- Jerome Edou in "Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod", published
24555 by Snow Lion Publications
24557 Nonviolence does not mean that we remain indifferent to a problem. On the
24558 contrary, it is important to be fully engaged. However, we must behave in a
24559 way that does not benefit us alone. We must not harm the interests of others.
24560 Nonviolence therefore is not merely the absence of violence. It involves a
24561 sense of compassion and caring. It is almost a manifestation of compassion.
24562 I strongly believe that we must promote such a concept of nonviolence at the
24563 level of the family as well as at the national and international levels. Each
24564 individual has the ability to contribute to such compassionate nonviolence.
24565 How should we go about this? We can start with ourselves. We must try to
24566 develop greater perspective, looking at situations from all angles. Usually
24567 when we face problems, we look at them from our own point of view. We even
24568 sometimes deliberately ignore other aspects of a situation. This often leads
24569 to negative consequences. However, it is very important for us to have a
24570 broader perspective.
24571 We must come to realize that others are also part of our society. We can
24572 think of our society as a body, with arms and legs as parts of it. Of course,
24573 the arm is different from the leg; however, if something happens to the foot,
24574 the hand should reach down to help. Similarly, when something is wrong within
24575 our society, we must help.
24576 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday
24577 Life", edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Khyongla Rato and
24580 According to Highest Yoga Tantra, some persons attain Buddhahood in one
24581 lifetime, and because these persons are not born with a body adorned with the
24582 major and minor marks they must achieve such a body through the practice of
24584 Meditation on oneself as undifferentiable from a deity is the special
24585 cause... for attaining Buddhahood. If one meditated only on emptiness and
24586 did not cultivate any method--either that of the Perfection or that of the
24587 Mantra Vehicle--one would fall to the fruit of a Hinayana Foe Destroyer. In
24588 order to attain the definite goodness of the highest achievement, Buddhahood,
24589 deity yoga is needed. Also, ...one must view one's body clearly as a divine
24590 body and train in the pride of being a deity. Without deity yoga the Mantra
24591 path is impossible; deity yoga is the essence of Mantra.
24592 -- H.H. Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, in "Tantra in Tibet",
24593 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Snow Lion Publications
24595 Often we see other sentient beings as hassles: "This mosquito is
24596 disturbing me. Those politicians are corrupt. Why can't my colleagues do
24597 their work correctly?" and so on. But when we see sentient beings as being
24598 more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel, our perspective completely
24599 changes. For example, when we look at a fly buzzing around, we train
24600 ourselves to think, "My enlightenment depends on that fly." This isn't
24601 fanciful thinking because, in fact, our enlightenment does depend on that fly.
24602 If that fly isn't included in our bodhicitta, then we don't have bodhicitta,
24603 and we won't receive the wonderful results of generating bodhicitta--the
24604 tremendous purification and creation of positive potential.
24605 Imagine training your mind so that when you look at every single living
24606 being, you think, "My enlightenment depends on that being. The drunk who just
24607 got on the bus--my enlightenment depends on him. The soldier in Iraq--my
24608 enlightenment depends on him. My brothers and sisters, the teller at the
24609 bank, the janitor at my workplace, the president of the United States, the
24610 suicide bombers in the Middle East, the slug in my garden, my eighth-grade
24611 boyfriend, the babysitter when I was a kid--my enlightenment depends on each
24612 of them." All sentient beings are actually that precious to us.
24613 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, in "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The
24614 Yoga Method of Chenrezig", published by Snow Lion Publications
24616 We think of ourselves as being the child of specific parents, as belonging
24617 to a certain gender and race, as a citizen of a specific nation, and as a
24618 member of a caste, class and community within that country, etc. Our
24619 identification with these transient reference points, be they racial,
24620 linguistic, cultural, conceptual, or gender-specific, can become lifelong love
24621 affairs, hate affairs, or guilt affairs. What Guru Rinpoche's birth
24622 symbolizes for me is the fact that, from the first moment, he recognized the
24623 unborn and undying nature of his mind, primordially pure awareness. He
24624 identified with that, rather than with his body, wherever it may have come
24625 from, be it a womb, a lotus, a stork, or a cabbage patch. Whatever physical,
24626 linguistic, or conceptual worlds he adopted, he wore as ephemeral ornaments on
24627 the infinite expanse of timeless awareness.
24628 ...Guru Rinpoche was not an individual who followed a spiritual path until
24629 illumination. He was an enlightened being who appeared in different guises
24630 entirely as a manifestation to help others, including the guise of an
24631 individual who followed the spiritual path.
24632 -- Ngawang Zangpo, in "Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times", published by
24633 Snow Lion Publications
24635 ...if a person is experiencing some kind of mental dysfunction, it is
24636 frequently understood that the mind itself has become too withdrawn in upon
24637 itself, and that there is a corresponding physiological process involving the
24638 energies themselves, which are closely associated with consciousness, also
24639 entering into a dysfunctional state.
24640 So, in the Buddhist view, it can happen, for example, that one's mind will
24641 become depressed because of some environmental event. As a result of the mind
24642 becoming depressed, there is a chemical, maybe an electrochemical,
24643 transformation in the brain that has now occurred. The mental dysfunction
24644 will then be aggravated. When that happens, there is a further chemical
24645 response, which then avalanches upon itself.
24646 ...on occasion, without any special external event taking place, there can
24647 simply be a dysfunction or disruption in the balance of the elements within
24648 the body. In that event, the internal circumstances are the dominant,
24650 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations
24651 with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism," edited by Zara
24652 Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston and B. Alan Wallace, published by
24653 Snow Lion Publications
24655 We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own.
24658 You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
24660 Enlightenment is not only... devoid of various types of contaminations,
24661 pollutions, suffering, and afflictive emotions... but is also free from
24662 various dualistic appearances. When you achieve such a state, you are
24663 unfettered from all elaborations in the form of subject-object duality and
24664 appearances of conventionality.
24665 You are free not because the subject-object duality or conventional
24666 appearances are objects of elimination in the sense that they are negative
24667 emotions. Rather, you are free because these elaborations cease to exist when
24668 you reach the state of enlightenment. In such a state, the mind of
24669 enlightenment or omniscience is such that it is totally merged with emptiness.
24670 To such a mind, no elaborations exist.
24671 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Many Ways to Nirvana: Reflections and
24672 Advice on Right Living", edited by Renuka Singh
24675 When we meditate, things from the past come up, and we have to work with
24676 them. We may remember times when we treated others horribly--hurting their
24677 feelings, deceiving them, repaying their kindness with spite, manipulating
24678 them, cheating them. While regret for these actions is appropriate and
24679 necessary to purify these karmas, we often fall into guilt and shame instead.
24680 Guilt and shame are obstacles to overcome on the path, because they keep us
24681 trapped in our self-centered melodrama entitled "How Bad I Am." Regret, on the
24682 other hand, realizes that we erred, leads us to purify, and motivates us to
24683 refrain from acting like that in the future.
24684 How do we counteract guilt and shame? One way is to recognize that the
24685 person who did that action no longer exists. You are different now. Is the
24686 person who did that action five years ago the same person you are now? If she
24687 were exactly the same person, you would still be doing the same action. The
24688 present "you" exists in a continuum from that person, but is not exactly the
24689 same as her. Look back at the person you were with compassion. You can
24690 understand the suffering and confusion she was experiencing that made her act
24692 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga
24693 Method of Chenrezig", foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by
24694 Snow Lion Publications
24696 Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted,
24697 the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the
24698 voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil
24702 If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever
24703 that search may lead us. The free mind is no barking dog to be tethered
24704 on a ten-foot chain.
24705 -- Adlai E. Stevenson
24707 Our relationship with our practice must be based on reason and common sense.
24708 The principal subject to be learned is the nature of the two levels of reality
24709 [conventional and ultimate], the stages of which can be approached through a
24710 combination of hearing, contemplation and meditation. It is very important
24711 always to remember contemplation, which is the analysis and investigation of
24712 the teachings through the use of reason. The two truths are speaking about
24713 reality, not some intellectual fabrication. To investigate the teaching
24714 critically is fully encouraged in the same way that medical students are
24715 encouraged to apply their theories to real life and thus to witness their
24716 validity.... Time may flow on, but the essential nature of the deeper
24717 problems and mysteries that human beings encounter in the course of their
24718 lives remains the same. Contemplation of the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni
24719 is merely contemplation of certain facets of reality, and it will cause to
24720 unfold within us a deeper understanding of ourselves, our minds, and the
24721 nature of our sense of being. As the teachings are merely pointing out key
24722 facts of life, facts that, if realized, cause one to evolve in wholesome
24723 directions, a critical investigation of them will only inspire trainees with
24724 confidence. Reason well from the beginning and then there will never be any
24725 need to look back with confusion and doubt.
24726 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, in "The Path to Enlightenment", published by
24727 Snow Lion Publications
24729 b. Keeping bounteousness in mind
24731 Possessions are ephemeral and essenceless
24732 Know this and give them generously to monks,
24733 To brahmins, to the poor, and to your friends:
24734 Beyond there is no greater friend than gift.
24736 Having realized that possessions such as food are inconstant and fluctuate,
24737 that in changing and transforming they are devoid of essence, in order to make
24738 them meaningful try to use them properly, giving to those with good qualities
24739 (monks and brahmins), to those who suffer (the poor, the sick, and so forth),
24740 to those who help you (friends) and to those you venerate (spiritual teachers
24741 and parents). Even beyond the world there is no friend more sublime, more
24742 beneficial, than giving, because it gives rise directly and indirectly to
24743 ripened effects that are inexhaustible.
24745 -- Nagarjuna, "Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: with Commentary by Kangyur
24746 Rinpoche", translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, published by
24747 Snow Lion Publications
24749 A goloptious full-up pot, too,
24750 And I don't know where it's got to,
24751 No, I don't know where it's gone--
24753 -- A.A. Milne, "In Which Piglet Meets a Heffalump"
24755 With a determination to accomplish
24756 The highest welfare for all sentient beings
24757 Who surpass even a wish-granting jewel
24758 I will learn to hold them supremely dear.
24760 Never mind neglecting other sentient beings, you should take them as a
24761 treasure through which temporary and final aims can be achieved and should
24762 cherish them one-pointedly. Others should be considered more dear, more
24763 important than yourself. Initially, it is in dependence upon sentient
24764 beings--others--that you generate the altruistic aspiration to highest
24765 enlightenment. In the middle, it is in relation to sentient beings that you
24766 increase this good mind higher and higher and practice the deeds of the path
24767 in order to achieve enlightenment. Finally, in the end, it is for the sake of
24768 sentient beings that you achieve Buddhahood. Since sentient beings are the
24769 aim and basis of all of this marvelous development, they are more important
24770 than even a wish-granting jewel, and should always be treated with respect,
24771 kindness, and love.
24773 You might think, "My mind is so full of the afflictive emotions. How
24774 could I possibly do this?" However, the mind does what it is used to. What
24775 we are not used to, we find difficult, but with familiarity, previously
24776 difficult things become easy. Thus Shantideva's Engaging in the Bodhisattva
24779 "There is nothing which, with time, you cannot get used to."
24781 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, "Kindness,
24782 Clarity, and Insight," edited and translated by Jeffrey Hopkins,
24783 co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion Publications
24785 Eventually, through the power of stabilizing meditation in which the
24786 mind is set one-pointedly on its object of observation, an initial mental
24787 pliancy--a serviceability of mind--is generated. As a sign that mental
24788 pliancy is about to be generated, a tingly sensation is felt at the top of the
24789 head. This pleasant feeling is compared to that of a warm hand placed on top
24790 of the head after it has been shaved. When mental pliancy has been generated,
24791 a favorable wind, or energy, circulates in the body, engendering physical
24792 pliancy. Through this wind, or air, pervading the entire body, the
24793 unserviceability of the body such that it cannot be directed to virtuous
24794 activities in accordance with your wishes is removed. The generation of
24795 physical pliancy, in turn, engenders a bliss of physical pliancy, a sense of
24796 comfort throughout the body due to the power of meditative stabilization.
24797 The bliss of physical pliancy induces a bliss of mental pliancy, making
24798 the mind blissful. At first, this joyous mental bliss is a little too
24799 buoyant, but then gradually it becomes more steady; at this point, one attains
24800 an unfluctuating pliancy. This marks attainment of a fully qualified
24801 meditative stabilization of calm abiding.
24802 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, in "Yoga
24803 Tantra: Paths to Magical Feats", published by Snow Lion Publications
24805 The more we generate an attitude of contentment in our lives, the happier
24806 we will be and the more open we will be to engage in genuine Dharma practice.
24807 Letting go of the eight worldly concerns brings mental peace right now.
24808 The defining characteristic of a thought or action being Dharma is whether
24809 or not we're attached to the happiness of this life. The eight worldly
24810 concerns are completely involved with attachment to the happiness of this
24811 life. How can we practice genuine Dharma when our self-centered mind is
24812 fixated on getting our own way and making everyone and everything around us
24813 suit our preferences and needs?
24814 That doesn't mean the happiness of this life is bad or wrong. The Buddha
24815 did not say that we should suffer in this life so that we'll get our reward in
24816 heaven. The objects we're attached to and have aversion for aren't the
24817 problem; there's nothing wrong with experiencing pleasure and happiness.
24818 Those aren't the issue. Rather, attachment to pleasant feelings and to the
24819 people, objects, and situations that cause them, and aversion to unpleasant
24820 ones--it is these emotions that create trouble. They make us unhappy and
24821 propel us to harm others in order to get what we want. The troublemakers of
24822 attachment and hostility are what we want to abandon, not people and things.
24823 There is nothing wrong with being happy. But when we're attached to it, we
24824 actually create more unhappiness for ourselves.
24825 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator",
24826 published by Snow Lion Publications
24828 When engaging in hearing, it is important to mix the mind, to familiarize the
24829 mind, with what is being heard. The study of religion is not like learning
24830 about history. It must be mixed with your mental continuum; your mind should
24831 be suffused with it. A sutra says that the practices are like a mirror; your
24832 actions of body, speech, and mind are like a face to be seen in the mirror;
24833 and through the practices you should recognize faults and gradually get rid of
24834 them. As it is said in the oral transmission, "If there is enough space
24835 between yourself and the practices for someone else to walk through, then you
24836 are not implementing them properly."
24837 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, in "Kindness,
24838 Clarity, and Insight", edited and translated by Jeffrey Hopkins,
24839 co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion Publications
24841 Question: What is the relationship of the mind and afflictive emotions?
24843 DL: The very entity of the mind, its nature of mere luminosity and knowing, is
24844 not polluted by defilements; they do not abide in the entity of the mind.
24845 Even when we generate afflictive emotions, the very entity or nature of the
24846 mind is still mere luminosity and knowing, and because of this we are able to
24847 remove the afflictive emotions. If you agitate the water in a pond, it
24848 becomes cloudy with mud; yet the very nature of the water itself is not dirty.
24849 When you allow it to become still again, the mud will settle, leaving the
24850 water pure. How are defilements removed? They are not removed by outside
24851 action, nor by leaving them as they are; they are removed by the power of
24852 antidotes, meditative antidotes.
24853 -- The Dalai Lama, "A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings By and
24854 About the Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by Sidney Piburn, published
24855 by Snow Lion Publications
24857 Every single sentient being wishes to be happy and free of suffering. By
24858 no means does Buddhism say this is wrong; rather, this is where we start from.
24859 The very root of this yearning for happiness, this yearning to be free of
24860 suffering, is the fundamental expression of the buddha-nature. If for the
24861 time being we turn our gaze away from the myriad ways that we can stray from
24862 the agenda--trying to find happiness by buying a more luxurious car, or a
24863 bigger house, or getting a better job--and just come back to the primary
24864 desire of wishing to be happy, we find at the very source of our yearning for
24865 happiness the buddha-nature wanting to realize itself. It's like a seed that
24866 wants to spring into the sunlight. Sometimes it gets terribly contorted, when
24867 we want to injure somebody else for the sake of our own happiness, but the
24868 fundamental yearning is something to be embraced.
24869 -- B. Alan Wallace, in "The Four Immeasurables: Cultivating a Boundless
24870 Heart", edited by Zara Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
24872 No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it
24873 by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.
24874 -- George S. Patton
24876 When you meditate with concentration, there are three particular
24877 experiences that arise: bliss, clarity, and nonthought. Sometimes you feel
24878 great joy, sometimes your mind is very clear, and sometimes there is complete
24879 equanimity. To experience these you do not need to meditate for a long time,
24880 although for a beginner these experiences will not last long because of the
24881 limited ability of a beginner's meditation.
24882 The experience of meditative bliss is greater than ordinary worldly
24883 happiness. Sometimes when you are meditating, a feeling of blissfulness
24884 suddenly arises from the subtle state of your mind and pervades your entire
24885 body. This bliss is healthy and brings out your inner qualities. Some people
24886 use drugs to induce blissfulness and visions, but drugs are external supports
24887 that cannot bring lasting happiness. The bliss experienced in meditation can
24888 last for many days, according to your ability to meditate. When you
24889 experience this kind of bliss, on the outside you might look very poor, but
24890 inside you remain very joyful.
24891 The second main experience in meditation is clarity. Sometimes while
24892 meditating you can suddenly feel that your mind is very clear and bright.
24893 Even if you are meditating in the dark, you do not feel heavy or tired.
24894 Sometimes your body feels very light and your mind is very clear, and many
24895 kinds of reflections appear. Clarity brings great wisdom and the ability to
24896 read other people's minds, as well as to see your own past and future lives.
24897 The third main experience is nonthought, or a state of equanimity without
24898 distractions. Beginners can also experience this. Nonthought is more settled
24899 than the experiences of bliss and clarity. If you have thoughts, they
24900 suddenly dissolve and you can remain continuously in meditation. As your
24901 ability to meditate develops, your mind becomes more and more settled, so that
24902 you can meditate for one hour or one week or one month without being
24903 distracted by thoughts. You simply remain in the natural state for as long as
24905 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, in "Opening to Our
24906 Primordial Nature", edited by Ann Helm and Michael White, published by
24907 Snow Lion Publications
24909 ...when you probe deeply you will find that no matter how high an
24910 existence a realm may be, even though it may be the highest state of
24911 existence, as long as it is in this cycle of existence the beings there are in
24912 the nature of sufferings, because they have the sufferings of pervasive
24913 conditioning and are therefore under the influence or command of contaminated
24914 actions and delusions. As long as one is not able to be free from such an
24915 influence, there is no place for permanent peace or happiness.
24916 Generally, the experiences that you normally regard as pleasurable and
24917 happy, such as having the physical comfort of good facilities and so forth, if
24918 they are examined at a deeper level, will be revealed to be changeable and
24919 therefore in the nature of suffering. They provide you with temporary
24920 satisfaction; because of that temporary satisfaction you regard them as
24921 experiences of happiness. But if you keep on pursuing them, they will again
24922 lead to the experience of suffering. Most of these pleasurable experiences
24923 are not really happiness in the true sense of the word, but only appear as
24924 pleasure and happiness in comparison to the obvious sufferings that you have.
24925 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, in "Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide
24926 to Stages of Meditation", translated by Geshe Thubten Jinpa, edited by
24927 Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
24929 Once the conventional nature of the mind has been identified, then,
24930 through analysing its nature, finally we will gradually be able to identify
24931 the ultimate nature of the mind. If that is done, there is great progress
24932 unlike anything else.
24933 At the beginning we should meditate for half an hour. When we rise from
24934 the session and various good and bad objects appear, benefit and harm are
24935 manifestly experienced. Therefore, we should develop as much as we can the
24936 realisation that these phenomena do not exist objectively and are mere
24937 dependent-arisings of appearances, like illusions [in that they only seem to
24938 be inherently existent]. We should meditate in this way in four formal
24939 sessions: at sunrise, in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
24940 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
24941 Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
24943 Bodhichitta is the one practice we cannot do without. Even if we have been
24944 given the precious oral instructions on realizing the nature of mind, they
24945 will not be the sufficient cause for realization if we have not learned to
24946 generate Bodhichitta. The great Dzogchen yogi Patrul Rinpoche said,
24947 If we have only one thing, the precious Bodhichitta is enough.
24948 If we have nothing else, we must have the method of the precious
24950 We should learn to develop Bodhichitta in a twofold way: through our
24951 aspirations and through our actions. Aspiration Bodhichitta is our initial
24952 wish that all sentient beings be liberated from the vast ocean of samsara's
24953 suffering. Action Bodhichitta requires that we first generate aspiration
24954 Bodhichitta, and practice the Six Paramitas as the method to establish the two
24955 benefits of 1) attaining Buddhahood oneself to 2) be of ultimate benefit to
24956 others. The way to practice aspiration and action Bodhichitta was taught by
24957 the omniscient Patrul Rinpoche, who said,
24958 The instructions for aspiration [Bodhichitta] are to practice the
24959 Four Immeasurables;
24960 The instructions for action [Bodhichitta] are to practice the Paramitas.
24961 -- Anyen Rinpoche, "The Union of Dzogchen and Bodhichitta", translated by
24962 Allison Graboski, published by Snow Lion Publications
24964 What are the techniques for heightening or lowering the mind? To heighten
24965 the mind, you think about something that enlivens it, but not an object that
24966 would generate desire. For instance, you could reflect on the value of
24967 developing the meditative stabilization of calm abiding or on the value of
24968 having attained a life as a human or on the value of having human
24969 intelligence. Through such reflection, your mind will gain courage, thereby
24970 causing its mode of apprehension to become heightened.
24971 If, despite such a technique, laxity is not cleared away, it is better to
24972 end the session and go to a place that is bright or that is high with a vast
24973 view where you can see a great distance. Or, expose yourself to fresh air, or
24974 throw cold water on your face. Then, return to the session.
24975 When the mind becomes too heightened and thus scattered, what will lower
24976 its mode of apprehension? As a technique to withdraw the mind inside, you
24977 should reflect on a topic that sobers the mind, such as the suffering of
24978 cyclic existence, or think "In the past I have been ruined by distraction, and
24979 again now I will be ruined by distraction. If I do not take care now, it will
24980 not be good." This will lower the mode of apprehension of the mind.
24981 Since this is the case, a person who is cultivating calm abiding needs to
24982 be in a state where such reflections will move the mind immediately.
24983 Therefore, prior to working at achieving calm abiding, it is necessary to have
24984 become convinced about many topics--such as those involved in the four
24985 establishments in mindfulness--through a considerable amount of analysis. In
24986 an actual session of cultivating calm abiding one is performing stabilizing
24987 meditation, not analytical meditation, but if one has engaged in considerable
24988 analysis of these topics previously, the force of the previous reflection
24989 remains with the mind and can be recalled. Thus, when you switch to such
24990 topics in order either to elevate or lower the mind, the mind will be
24991 immediately affected. In this way, if ascertainment has been generated
24992 previously, then reflecting on the value of meditative stabilization or the
24993 value of a human lifetime will immediately heighten the mind, and reflection
24994 on sobering topics such as the nature of the body or the ugliness of objects
24995 of desire will immediately lower its mode of apprehension.
24996 ...recognize when laxity and excitement arise and know the techniques for
24998 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
24999 Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
25000 published by Snow Lion Publications
25002 How is it that mistaken mind overwhelms the unmistaken mind, unmistaken
25003 reality? To give an example, during the day when the sun is shining one does
25004 not see any stars and thus one would think that there are no stars at all,
25005 that they just plain do not exist. Just so, afflictive emotions shine so
25006 brightly and are so powerful that it is as if unmistaken reality, unmistaken
25007 mind, does not exist at all. When you seek out this unmistaken mind from
25008 within, you come to understand that there is an unmistaken mind--a reality of
25009 the mind--that does not die, that does not scurry after pleasure and pain.
25010 This mind that does not follow after pleasure and pain has a mode of being
25011 that is emptiness--but not an emptiness in the sense of an empty house or an
25012 empty vessel; rather, it is endowed with the inconceivable self-effulgence of
25013 unmistaken reality, of pristine wisdom.
25014 When you search for this that is beyond mistaken mind, mistaken mind just
25015 stops; gradually like dawn there comes to be a time when pristine wisdom
25016 manifests a little. With the beginning of dawn there is not just darkness but
25017 some light, and so it is when the self-effulgence, the self-color, the self-
25018 nature of the pristine wisdom shows itself a little; one generates a suspicion
25019 that there is wisdom beyond mistaken mind. As Aryadeva says, "When you
25020 generate doubt thinking that there might be such a reality, cyclic existence
25021 is torn to tatters." How does cyclic existence come to be torn to tatters, or
25022 wrecked, made into a mess by doubt? For instance, if a table is wrecked,
25023 broken up, it cannot perform the function of a table; just so, when the self-
25024 effulgence of unmistaken pristine wisdom begins to dawn with this state of
25025 doubt, cyclic existence is wrecked and torn to tatters.
25026 -- Mi-pam-gya-tso, in "Fundamental Mind: The Nyingma View of the Great
25027 Completeness", practical commentary by Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay,
25028 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion
25031 The Jewel in the Crown Sutra states, "Donning the armor of loving-
25032 kindness, while abiding in the state of great compassion, practice
25033 meditative stabilization that actualizes the emptiness possessing
25034 the best of all qualities. What is the emptiness possessing the
25035 best of all qualities? It is that which is not divorced from
25036 generosity, ethics, patience, effort, meditative stabilization,
25037 wisdom, or skillful means." Bodhisattvas must rely on virtuous
25038 practices like generosity as means to thoroughly ripen all sentient
25039 beings and in order to perfect the place, body, and manifold retinue.
25040 -- from "Stages of Meditation" by Kamalashila
25042 ...Note that practice of generosity and the other perfections is essential.
25043 This is because the fully enlightened state of Buddhahood is produced by the
25044 realization of favorable causes and conditions. There is no causeless
25045 production and nothing is produced by contrary causes. A Bodhisattva has many
25046 wonderful advantages to help enhance the welfare of sentient beings; every
25047 virtue performed by such a noble being is very powerful and effective.
25048 Therefore, Bodhisattvas earnestly engage in the practice of the method aspects
25049 of the path, including the six perfections, in order to swiftly actualize the
25050 state of Buddhahood.
25051 -- The Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", translated by Venerable Geshe
25052 Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell,
25053 published by Snow Lion Publications
25055 Of the three kayas, the Dharmakaya is linked to our mind, Sambhogakaya to
25056 our speech, or communicative principle, and the Nirmanakaya to our ordinary
25058 The process of the three blendings in brief is as follows.
25059 We experience the clear light of the waking state naturally during cIimax,
25060 and it can also be induced with yogic methods. Moreover, we naturally
25061 experience it at the moment of going to sleep, and at the moment of death.
25062 The principle here is that this clear light mind as experienced in each of the
25063 three occasions (waking, sleep and death) is the highest experience of our
25064 consciousness, and in it we dwell in a mental state of blissful, formless non-
25065 duality similar to that of the Dharmakaya wisdom of a buddha. Thus when we
25066 experience the clear light mind in any of these three occasions we should
25067 blend it with the Dharmakaya.
25068 The first movement from this clear light mind is likened to the
25069 Sambhogakaya experience. In the waking state this occurs in our meditation
25070 when we fall out of the clear light that is induced with yogic techniques and
25071 the conceptual mind is aroused. In sleep it occurs after the clear light of
25072 the moment of entering sleep passes and we begin to dream. At death it occurs
25073 when the clear light flash at the moment of death passes and we leave our body
25074 and enter the bardo realm.
25075 A buddha's Sambhogakaya is only visible to an arya, or saint, and not to
25076 an ordinary being; in the same way our thoughts, dreams, and bardo visions are
25077 not visible to ordinary beings but nonetheless are experiences of form. These
25078 subtle form experiences are to be linked to the natural realization of the
25079 illusory, blissful, and perfect nature of being; they are to be seen as an
25080 illusory theater made manifest for the benefit of the world. In other words,
25081 they are to be blended with the Sambhogakaya. This is the second set of three
25083 The third blending is that of blending rebirth with the Nirmanakaya.
25084 Rebirth from the bardo of the waking state occurs every time that we arise
25085 from a meditation session and once more go about our ordinary life; rebirth
25086 from the bardo of the sleep / dream state occurs when we wake up and once more
25087 enter the work-a-day world; and rebirth from the bardo of becoming, or death
25088 bardo, occurs when we complete the unwinding process of the afterlife state
25089 and once again are ready to enter into a new body.
25090 The basic principle underlying these three blendings is that what occurs
25091 to us at the time of death also occurs to us in miniature form at the time of
25092 going to sleep and can be induced in the waking state by means of the inner
25094 -- "Readings on the Six Yogas of Naropa," translated, edited and introduced
25095 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
25097 If you want to tell people the truth,
25099 otherwise they'll kill you.
25102 In the beginning there was nothing.
25103 God said, "Let there be light!"
25104 And there was light.
25105 There was still nothing,
25106 but you could see it a whole lot better.
25109 Now, as [in the past], the concept of a transcendent god as creator has a
25110 powerful and inspiring impact on the lives of those who believe in it. The
25111 sense that their entire destiny lies in the hands of an all-powerful,
25112 omniscient and compassionate being leads them to try to understand the
25113 workings and key message of this transcendent being. Then, when they come to
25114 realise that this transcendent being embodies love and infinite compassion,
25115 they try to cultivate love and compassion towards their fellow beings as the
25116 qualities through which to express love for their creator. They also gain
25117 confidence and inspiration through a sense of intimacy or connectedness to
25118 this loving, transcendent being.
25119 Although, metaphysically speaking, Buddhists reject any notion of a
25120 transcendent creator or god, some individual Buddhists do relate to certain
25121 higher beings, such as the goddess Tara, as an independent and real being with
25122 power over their destiny. For these practitioners Tara is their sole refuge,
25123 their greatest object of veneration and their trusted guardian and protector.
25124 What this suggests is that the inclination to seek refuge in an external
25125 source is something deeply natural for us as human beings.
25126 But it is also clear that for other people the metaphysical concept of a
25127 transcendent being is unacceptable. Questions form in their minds, such as:
25128 who created the creator--in other words--where does the transcendent being
25129 come from? And how can we posit a true beginning? People with this type of
25130 mental disposition look elsewhere for explanations.
25131 -- The Dalai Lama, in "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
25132 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
25134 Due to misunderstanding each other's needs and concerns, miscommunication
25135 occurs on the international level as well [as the personal level]. In all
25136 these situations--personal and international--freeing ourselves from our
25137 narrow understanding of a situation by seeing it from the other's viewpoint is
25138 an effective remedy for anger. We can ask ourselves, "If I had grown up in
25139 that person's family, society, time in history, and cultural conditions, what
25140 would my needs and concerns be in this situation?"
25141 When we look at the situation from the other person's viewpoint, sometimes
25142 we see that she perceives it differently than we thought she did. Other
25143 times, we realize that we have little idea of how a situation appears to
25144 another person or what her needs and concerns are. Therefore, we need to ask
25145 her; and when she responds, we need to listen, without interrupting. It is
25146 all too easy, when someone explains her view to us, to correct her or tell her
25147 that she should not feel the way she does. This only inflames the other
25148 person, and convinces her, with good reason, that we don't understand.
25149 Rather, we need to listen from our heart to what she says. After she has
25150 fully expressed herself, we can share our perspectives, and generally, a
25151 productive discussion will ensue.
25152 -- Thubten Chodron, in "Working with Anger", published by Snow Lion
25155 ...it is extremely important to look inward and try to promote the right
25156 kind of attitude, which is based on awareness of reality. A sense of caring
25157 for others is crucial. And it is actually the best way of caring for oneself.
25158 ...the moment you think of others, this automatically opens our inner door--
25159 you can communicate with other people easily, without any difficulties. The
25160 moment you think just of yourself and disregard others, then because of your
25161 own attitude, you also get the feeling that other people also have a similar
25162 attitude toward you. That brings suspicion, fear. Result? You yourself lose
25163 inner calmness. Therefore, I usually say that although a certain kind of
25164 selfishness is basically right--self and the happiness of that self are our
25165 original right, and we have every right to overcome suffering--but selfishness
25166 that leads to no hesitation to harm another, to exploit another, that kind of
25167 selfishness is blind. Therefore, I sometimes jokingly describe it this way:
25168 if we are going to be selfish, we should be wisely selfish rather than
25170 I feel that the moment you adopt a sense of caring for others, that brings
25171 inner strength. Inner strength brings us inner tranquility, more self-
25172 confidence. Through these attitudes, even though your surroundings may not be
25173 friendly or may not be positive, still you can sustain peace of mind.
25174 -- "The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss Human Rights,
25175 Conflict and Reconciliation", by the Dalai Lama and other Nobel
25176 Laureates, edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion
25178 If we do not uncover [our] problems--and I saw this in myself--we risk
25179 placing a veneer of spirituality over deeply buried emotional wounds from
25180 childhood that do not simply go away.
25181 ...When this happens there is greater potential for our spirituality to
25182 become simply another expression of our personal pathology. We can falsify
25183 the qualities valued in the path without realizing it. Renunciation can
25184 become another level of denial and avoidance; compassion can become a sickly
25185 sentimentality that has no substance to it. Our desire to help others can
25186 come from "compulsive caring," or a compulsion to sacrifice ourselves because
25187 we feel worthless. The Buddhist idea of emptiness can likewise be falsified
25188 by the desire to disappear psychologically and merge or lose ego boundaries.
25189 Lack of identity, formless vagueness, and absence of boundaries do not
25190 exemplify the Buddhist idea of emptiness. My own version of this
25191 misconception was to try to live an ideal of the pure and pious only to find
25192 it was a form of repression I could not ultimately sustain.
25193 At the heart of Buddhist practice is the search for a solution to our
25194 fundamental wounds. Healing the emotional damage we often carry within is
25195 truly the object of this practice. If we wish to resolve these problems, we
25196 need to be open and honest about their reality within us. Only when we do
25197 will any spiritual practice address what we need. The aim of Buddhist
25198 practice is not a spiritual transcendence that dissociates from our suffering.
25199 Nor is it the search for salvation in some form of external divine being that
25200 we hope will save us in our distress. As one of my teachers, Lama Thubten
25201 Yeshe, once said, "Buddhism is very practical; you just have to recognize that
25202 your mind is the cause of suffering. If you change your mind, you can find
25203 liberation." This message is very simple but by no means easy to follow. In
25204 order to do so, however, we must begin to recognize where we are
25205 psychologically wounded.
25206 -- Rob Preece, in "The Wisdom of Imperfection: The Challenge of
25207 Individuation in Buddhist Life", published by Snow Lion Publications
25210 In the Dzogchen teachings, a teacher explains methods that you can apply
25211 for discovering that state. When you say that you are practicing or following
25212 Dzogchen teachings, it doesn't mean that you are reciting some prayers or
25213 mantras, or doing some visualization. It means that, following a teacher and
25214 using methods, you discover that state. When you have discovered that state,
25215 then you still need many kinds of methods for realizing it. Discovering the
25216 state of your real nature and realizing it are completely different things.
25217 Many people have the idea that when they have had some experience or
25218 discovery, they are enlightened; however, this discovery does not mean they
25219 are enlightened. The state of enlightenment means you have direct knowledge
25220 of what the state of rigpa is, and you are not just learning through
25221 intellectual study. When you follow a teaching in an intellectual way, you
25222 have many ideas at first--thinking, judging, and making analysis. You can
25223 follow or reject these ideas; but when you have many problems, you discover
25224 that perhaps this is not real knowledge. It is like following something
25225 blindly because you haven't had any direct experience. Direct introduction
25226 and discovering our real nature mean we have direct experience through our
25227 senses, and that through these experiences we discover our real nature.
25228 For example, if I show you an object, you can look at it and know its form
25229 and color. Now if I ask you to forget about it, you can't. If I ask you to
25230 change your idea about that object, you can't. Why? Because seeing that
25231 object is your direct experience. Discovering your real nature is similar to
25233 When you are studying in an intellectual way, you are following another
25234 person's idea. For example, you can believe your teacher today, but maybe
25235 what your teacher says will not be true for you tomorrow. You can always
25236 change your ideas. You have this problem because you have not discovered your
25237 state. This is the weak point of intellectual study.
25238 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, "Dzogchen Teachings", edited by Jim Valby and
25239 Adriano Clemente, published by Snow Lion Publications
25241 Howard Cutler: "Have there been situations in your life that you've
25243 Dalai Lama: "Oh, yes. Now for instance there was one older monk who lived
25244 as a hermit. He used to come to see me to receive teachings, although I think
25245 he was actually more accomplished than I and came to me as a sort of
25246 formality. Anyway, he came to me one day and asked me about doing a certain
25247 high-level esoteric practice. I remarked in a casual way that this would be a
25248 difficult practice and perhaps would be better undertaken by someone who was
25249 younger, that traditionally it was a practice that should be started in one's
25250 midteens. I later found out that the monk had killed himself in order to be
25251 reborn in a younger body to more effectively undertake the practice..."
25252 Surprised by this story, I remarked, "Oh, that's terrible! That must have
25253 been hard on you when you heard..." The Dalai Lama nodded sadly. "How did
25254 you deal with that feeling of regret? How did you eventually get rid of it?"
25255 The Dalai Lama silently considered for quite a while before replying, "I
25256 didn't get rid of it. It's still there. But even though that feeling of
25257 regret is still there, it isn't associated with a feeling of heaviness or a
25258 quality of pulling me back. It would not be helpful to anyone if I let that
25259 feeling of regret weigh me down, be simply a source of discouragement and
25260 depression with no purpose, or interfere with going on with my life to the
25261 best of my ability."
25262 At that moment, in a very visceral way, I was struck once again by the
25263 very real possibility of a human being's fully facing life's tragedies and
25264 responding emotionally, even with deep regret, but without indulging in
25265 excessive guilt or self-contempt. The possibility of a human being's wholly
25266 accepting herself or himself, complete with limitations, foibles, and lapses
25267 of judgment. The possibility of recognizing a bad situation for what it is
25268 and responding emotionally, but without overresponding. The Dalai Lama
25269 sincerely felt regret over the incident he described but carried his regret
25270 with dignity and grace. And while carrying this regret, he has not allowed it
25271 to weigh him down, choosing instead to move ahead and focus on helping others
25272 to the best of his ability.
25273 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., in "The Art of
25274 Happiness: A Handbook for Living"
25276 Train yourself in three hard disciplines.
25277 These are the difficult practices of mindfulness, of expulsion and of
25278 'interrupting the flow.'
25279 As for the first of these, the difficult practice of mindfulness, it is
25280 necessary to recognize afflictive emotions as soon as they arise and it is
25281 hard, at first, to remain sufficiently aware to be able to do this. However,
25282 when negative emotions arise, we should identify them as anger, desire or
25283 stupidity. Even when emotions have been recognized, it is not easy to drive
25284 them out with the antidote. If, for instance, an uncontrollably strong
25285 emotion comes over us, so that we feel helplessly in its power, we should
25286 nevertheless confront it and question it. Where are its weapons? Where are
25287 its muscles? Where is its great army and its political strength? We will see
25288 that emotions are just insubstantial thoughts, by nature empty: they come from
25289 nowhere, they go nowhere, they remain nowhere. When we are able to repel our
25290 defiled emotions, there comes the difficult practice of 'interrupting the
25291 flow.' This means that, on the basis of the antidote described, defiled
25292 emotions are eliminated just like a bird flying through the air: no trace is
25293 left behind. These are practices in which we should really strive.
25294 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, in "Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the
25295 Seven-Point Mind Training", translated by The Padmakara Translation
25296 Group, published by Snow Lion Publications
25298 Howard Cutler: "...am I right in assuming that you would consider solitary
25299 meditation to be a productive activity? Would you consider to be productive
25300 our example of a monk who is a hermit, who has little contact with anybody
25301 else and spends his or her life just in meditation, trying to achieve
25303 Dalai Lama: "Not necessarily. From my viewpoint, there can be both
25304 productive meditation and unproductive meditation."
25305 HC: "What's the difference?"
25306 DL: "[Some] practitioners and other kinds of meditators practice different
25307 techniques, some with closed eyes, sometimes open eyes, but the very nature of
25308 that meditation is to become thoughtless, in a state free of thoughts. But in
25309 a way, this is a kind of retreat, like they are running away from trouble.
25310 When they actually face trouble, carry on their daily life and face some real
25311 life problems, nothing has changed. Their attitudes and reactions remain the
25312 same. So that kind of meditation is just avoiding the problem, like going on
25313 a picnic, or taking a painkiller. It's not actually solving the problem.
25314 Some people may spend many years doing these practices, but their actual
25315 progress is zero. That's not productive meditation. Genuine progress occurs
25316 when the individual not only sees some results in achieving higher levels of
25317 meditative states but also when their meditation has at least some influence
25318 on how they interact with others, some impact from that meditation in their
25319 daily life--more patience, less irritation, more compassion. That's
25320 productive meditation. Something that can bring benefit to others in some
25322 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art of
25325 As human beings, we are all the same. So there is no need to build some
25326 kind of artificial barrier between us. At least my own experience is that if
25327 you have this kind of attitude, there is no barrier. Whatever I feel, I can
25328 express; I can call you "my old friend". There is nothing to hide, and no
25329 need to say things in a way that is not straightforward. So this gives me a
25330 kind of space in my mind, with the result that I do not have to be suspicious
25331 of others all the time. And this really gives me inner satisfaction, and
25333 So I call this feeling a "genuine realization of the oneness of the whole
25334 of humanity". We are all members of one human family. I think that this
25335 understanding is very important, especially now that the world is becoming
25336 smaller and smaller. In ancient times, even in a small village, people were
25337 able to exist more or less independently. There was not so much need for
25338 others' co-operation. These days, the economic structure has completely
25339 changed.... We are heavily dependent on one another, and also as a result of
25340 mass communication, the barriers of the past are greatly reduced. Today,
25341 because of the complexity of interdependence, every crisis on this planet is
25342 essentially related with every other, like a chain reaction. Consequently it
25343 is worthwhile taking every crisis as a global one. Here barriers such as
25344 "this nation" or "that nation", "this continent", or "that continent" are
25345 simply obstacles. Therefore today, for the future of the human race, it is
25346 more important than ever before that we develop a genuine sense of brotherhood
25347 and sisterhood. I usually call this a sense of "universal responsibility".
25348 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the
25349 Great Perfection", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron
25350 (Chokyi Nyima), edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion
25353 ...several great Kagyu and Sakya masters... have expressed the stages [of
25354 sutra and tantra paths] in terms of the tradition known as "parting ourselves
25355 from the four forms of clinging."
25356 First we part from clinging to this life. Instead of total involvement
25357 with affairs of this life, we involve ourselves with future lives. We
25358 accomplish this by thinking about our precious human life with all its
25359 freedoms and endowments for spiritual growth, how we lose it because of death
25360 and impermanence, and then the karmic laws of behavioral cause and effect that
25361 shape our future lives. Next we part from clinging to future lives and
25362 involve ourselves, instead, in the quest for liberation. By thinking about
25363 all the suffering of uncontrollably recurring rebirth, or samsara, we generate
25364 sincere renunciation of it--the strong determination to be free and attain the
25365 total liberation that is nirvana.
25366 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, in "The Gelug/Kagyu
25367 Tradition of Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
25370 When we say that we have knowledge, or that we have discovered our real
25371 nature and we are in this nature, that means that we are "being the mirror."
25372 You see, "being the mirror" or "looking in the mirror" are two completely
25373 different things. If we "are the mirror," then we have no concept of
25375 If a reflection manifests in the mirror, why is it manifesting? There are
25376 two reasons. One is because the mirror has the capacity to manifest infinite
25377 reflections. This is the mirror's quality. If there is an object in front of
25378 the mirror, whose capacity it is to reflect, naturally a reflection will
25379 appear in the mirror. Furthermore, the mirror has no idea of checking or
25380 accepting the object it is reflecting. The mirror doesn't need any program
25381 for that. This is what is called its qualification, or infinite potentiality.
25382 In the same way, when we have infinite potentiality, but we are ignorant
25383 of our real nature, then we always conceive that "I am here" and "the object
25384 is there," "I am looking and seeing an object," and so on. We do not discover
25385 that we are like a mirror, and if we never discover this, then of course there
25386 is no way that we can function like the mirror. When you discover that you
25387 are like the mirror, then there is a possibility that you will be the mirror.
25388 When you are the mirror, then you have no problems with reflections--they
25389 can be big, small, nice, ugly, any kind. For you, the reflections are only a
25390 manifestation of your quality, which is like that of a mirror. When you have
25391 no problems with reflections, then you understand self-liberation. You are
25392 not changing or transforming something. You are only being in your real
25394 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, from "Dzogchen Teachings", edited by Jim Valby
25395 and Adriano Clemente, published by Snow Lion Publications
25397 It is important to recognize the difference between an enlightened
25398 experience and the state of enlightenment. To penetrate the veil is to see
25399 the nature of reality for the first time. This enlightened experience in the
25400 Zen tradition might be called a satori. This is a powerful shift of insight
25401 that shakes our reality. No longer can we live with the delusion we may have
25402 once held. Our solidly held concepts about reality begin to crumble. Samsara
25403 shakes, as Lama Yeshe once put it. This experience may not be comfortable.
25404 To come so close to this existential threshold challenges our secure sense of
25405 identity and can be frightening. Indeed, as a Tibetan lama once said, this
25406 fear is a sign that we are close to the edge. We are beginning to recognize
25407 the lack of substance of our ego-identity. Our "wisdom eye" has opened to a
25408 new truth--an ultimate truth, as opposed to relative truth.
25409 When we penetrate the veil, however, the work is not yet done. We may
25410 have had an enlightened experience, but there is further to travel. As Gen
25411 Jhampa Wangdu once said while I was in retreat, it is not difficult to
25412 experience emptiness; the problem is holding it. For this insight to have its
25413 full effect, the mind needs to be able to sustain awareness for prolonged
25414 periods of time. Tibetan teachers will sometimes say we may hit the nail, but
25415 only with a quality of focused attention can we repeatedly do so. With the
25416 development of tranquil abiding, the veil can be cleared completely in the way
25417 the red ring of fire created by the incense burn[ing] slowly expands and
25418 consumes the entire film of tissue paper. The mind is gradually cleansed of
25419 the emotional turmoil and confusion that is generated by the misconceptions we
25420 have about reality.
25421 -- Rob Preece, in "The Wisdom of Imperfection: The Challenge of
25422 Individuation in Buddhist Life", published by Snow Lion Publications
25424 ...if we see others in trouble, although we cannot immediately take their
25425 suffering upon ourselves, we should make the wish to be able to relieve them
25426 from their misfortunes. Prayers like this will bear fruit eventually. Again,
25427 if others have very strong afflictive emotions, we should think, "May all
25428 their emotions be concentrated in me." With fervent conviction, we should
25429 persist in thinking like this until we have some sign or feeling that we have
25430 been able to take upon ourselves the suffering and emotions of others. This
25431 might take the form of an increase in our own emotions or of the actual
25432 experience of the suffering and pain of others.
25433 This is how to bring hardships onto the path in order to free ourselves
25434 from hopes and fears--hopes, for instance, that we will not get ill, or fears
25435 that we might do so. They will thus be pacified in the equal taste of
25436 happiness and suffering. Eventually, through the power of Bodhichitta, we
25437 will reach the point where we are free even from the hope of accomplishing
25438 Bodhichitta and the fear of not doing so. Therefore we should have love for
25439 our enemies and try as much as possible to avoid getting angry with them, or
25440 harbouring any negative thoughts towards them. We should also try as much as
25441 possible to overcome our biased attachment to family and relatives. If you
25442 bind a crooked tree to a large wooden stake, it will eventually grow straight.
25443 Up to now, our minds have always been crooked, thinking how we might trick and
25444 mislead people, but this [Bodhichitta] practice, as Geshe Langri Tangpa said,
25445 will make our minds straight and true.
25446 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the
25447 Seven Point Mind Training", translated by the Padmakara Translation
25448 Group, published by Snow Lion Publications
25450 Q: ...what is the nature of the mindstream that reincarnates from lifetime to
25453 A: ...If one understands the term "soul" as a continuum of individuality from
25454 moment to moment, from lifetime to lifetime, then one can say that Buddhism
25455 also accepts a concept of soul; there is a kind of continuum of consciousness.
25456 From that point of view, the debate on whether or not there is a soul becomes
25457 strictly semantic. However, in the Buddhist doctrine of selflessness, or "no
25458 soul" theory, the understanding is that there is no eternal, unchanging,
25459 abiding, permanent self called "soul." That is what is being denied in
25462 Buddhism does not deny the continuum of consciousness. Because of this, we
25463 find some Tibetan scholars, such as the Sakya master Rendawa, who accept that
25464 there is such a thing as self or soul, the "kangsak ki dak" (Tib. gang zag gi
25465 bdag). However, the same word, the "kangsak ki dak," the self, or person, or
25466 personal self, or identity, is at the same time denied by many other scholars.
25468 We find diverse opinions, even among Buddhist scholars, as to what exactly the
25469 nature of self is, what exactly that thing or entity is that continues from
25470 one moment to the next moment, from one lifetime to the next lifetime. Some
25471 try to locate it within the aggregates, the composite of body and mind. Some
25472 explain it in terms of a designation based on the body and mind composite, and
25473 so on.... One of the divisions of [the "Mind-Only"] school maintains there is
25474 a special continuum of consciousness called alayavijnana which is the
25475 fundamental consciousness.
25476 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist
25477 Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published by Snow Lion
25480 In the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path Je Tsongkhapa says that
25481 when we are training ourselves in any of the perfections, for instance in
25482 generosity, we should make sure that we practice all the other five
25483 perfections--in this case ethical discipline, patience, enthusiastic effort,
25484 concentration, and wisdom--and the six excellent factors. When we perform a
25485 generous action, ethical discipline will be included if we take care to
25486 refrain from doing anything unethical at the same time. In certain
25487 situations, for instance, we may be tempted to speak harshly or
25488 condescendingly as we give.
25489 Generosity gives rise to abundance, and by insuring that our practice is
25490 complete, we create the right environment to use these resources
25491 constructively. Sometimes when we give, people respond ungratefully. If we
25492 can resist getting upset, we are practicing patience. Giving not out of a
25493 sense of obligation or reluctantly nor with a wish to outdo others but with
25494 joy is the practice of enthusiastic effort. Directing our full attention to
25495 an act of generosity is concentration. Discerning and understanding what is
25496 appropriate to give and what is not, and remembering that the giver, the act
25497 of generosity, and the recipient are all interdependent and empty of inherent
25498 existence are the practice of wisdom. Including these different factors in
25499 our actions will bring many excellent results such as a good body and mind,
25500 the resources we need, a pleasant appearance, supportive companions, the
25501 ability to complete what we undertake, and the focus not to be distracted by
25502 the disturbing emotions and so forth. This is how to insure that we will
25503 enjoy many conducive conditions in a future human life. On the other hand,
25504 our miserliness or impatience now could make us face many difficult
25505 circumstances in the future.
25506 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, "How Karma Works: The Twelve Links of Dependent
25507 Arising", translated by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
25509 Shakyamuni Buddha, even when he was a trainee on the path, was solely
25510 concerned in both thought and action with others' welfare. Whenever he found
25511 an opportunity to work for others, no matter what difficulties he faced, he
25512 was never discouraged. He never hated obstacles and hardships encountered on
25513 the way. Instead, the difficult situations facilitated his being more
25514 courageous and determined to accomplish others' welfare. Just because he was
25515 so determined to work for others in the past, even as a trainee on the path,
25516 it is needless to say how much more it is so with him now as a completely
25517 enlightened person.
25518 As the saying goes, "A past life story of a teacher is an enlightening
25519 practice for posterity."
25520 -- "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries of His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV on
25521 the Jatakamala Garland of Birth Stories," translated by Tenzin Dorjee,
25522 edited by Dexter Roberts
25524 When you get tired, it is appropriate to repeat mantra. However, for a
25525 beginner the main part of the meditation revolves around the six deities*,
25526 which should be cultivated carefully and leisurely. This is because clear
25527 appearance of oneself as a deity must be achieved for the sake of amassing the
25528 two collections of merit and wisdom, achieving firm meditative stabilisation,
25529 and transforming all physical and verbal actions into powerful aids for
25530 others' welfare. Hence, before repeating mantra, the yoga of non-dual
25531 profundity (realisation of emptiness) and manifestation (appearance as a
25532 deity) should be sustained, developing clarity in observing the divine form
25533 and in ascertaining its lack of inherent existence. When, having done this
25534 one-pointedly, you become tired, then for the sake of resting begin repeating
25535 mantra. ...Tsong-ka-pa also says that in the approximation phase meditation
25536 is chief, mantra repetition is secondary.
25537 * ultimate, sound, letter, form, seal, and sign
25538 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Deity Yoga In
25539 Action and Performance Tantra", published by Snow Lion Publications
25541 There isn't a single one of us who has never felt hostile and angry, so we
25542 know about the effects of anger. Does it make us feel better or worse? It
25543 stirs us up, makes us miserable and destroys our tranquillity. It is quite
25544 easy to recognize anger as a foe and to see how it harms us because its
25545 destructiveness is apparent. But we find it much harder and are also
25546 reluctant to acknowledge the harm done by attachment because it is a foe
25547 masquerading as a friend. When desire or attachment first arises, it feels
25548 quite pleasurable but eventually it lands us in trouble. It wants to possess
25549 what it has fabricated and we reach out for something which, in fact, does not
25550 exist. Failure to get what we want frustrates us and anger quickly follows.
25551 The third of the poisons, confusion or ignorance, simply stimulates desire and
25552 anger and lies at the root of all the disturbing emotions.
25553 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, "Eight Verses for Training the Mind", translated
25554 and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
25556 The Sevenfold Cause-and-Effect Method
25557 If we have been reborn time after time, it is evident that we have needed
25558 many mothers to give birth to us. ...the first cause bringing about
25559 bodhicitta is the recognition that all beings have been our mother.
25560 The love and kindness shown us by our mother in this life would be
25561 difficult to repay. She endured many sleepless nights to care for us when we
25562 were helpless infants. She fed us and would have willingly sacrificed
25563 everything, including her own life, to spare ours. As we contemplate her
25564 example of devoted love, we should consider that each and every being
25565 throughout existence has treated us this way. Each dog, cat, fish, fly, and
25566 human being has at some point in the beginningless past been our mother and
25567 shown us overwhelming love and kindness. Such a thought should bring about
25568 our appreciation. This is the second cause of bodhicitta.
25569 As we envision the present condition of all these beings, we begin to
25570 develop the desire to help them change their lot. This is the third cause,
25571 and out of it comes the fourth, a feeling of love cherishing all beings. This
25572 is an attraction toward all beings, similar to what a child feels upon seeing
25573 his or her mother. This leads us to compassion, which is the fifth cause of
25574 bodhicitta. Compassion is a wish to separate these suffering beings, our
25575 mothers of the past, from their miserable situation. At this point we also
25576 experience loving-kindness, a wish that all beings find happiness. As we
25577 progress through these stages of responsibility, we go from wishing that all
25578 sentient beings find happiness and freedom from suffering to personally
25579 assuming responsibility for helping them enter this state beyond misery. This
25580 is the final cause. As we scrutinize how best to help others, we are drawn to
25581 achieving the fully enlightened and omniscient state of Buddhahood.
25582 -- The Dalai Lama, "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life",
25583 edited by Nicholas Vreeland
25585 Among the seven branches [qualities of Buddhahood]--complete enjoyment,
25586 union, great bliss, non-inherent existence, compassion, uninterrupted
25587 continuity, and non-cessation--three are found only in tantra--complete
25588 enjoyment, union, and great bliss--and the other four are common to both
25589 sutra and tantra, although non-inherent existence can also be put in the group
25590 specific to tantra when it is considered as the object ascertained by a bliss
25591 consciousness.... In Yoga Tantras the bliss arising from holding hands or
25592 embracing is used in the path; in Performance Tantras, from laughing; and in
25593 Action Tantras, from looking. The four tantras are similar in that they all
25594 use desire for the attributes of the desire realm on the path.
25595 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in Tibet",
25596 published by Snow Lion Publications
25598 How then does the mistaken idea, that things exist from their own side,
25599 operate? Whatever appears to the mind appears as if it existed truly from its
25600 own side. ...Now if the object existed as it appears to you, then, when you
25601 searched for it, you could actually find a real [object]. So, we must ask
25602 ourselves whether or not this object, when searched for, is to be found or
25603 not. If the object is not found when it is searched for, we must conclude
25604 that it does not exist from its own side, that when the label is applied to
25605 its basis, it is not so labeled because the basis somehow bears within it
25606 something which is the object. At this point, one must conclude that the
25607 object does not exist as it appears to, but then, one may wonder whether it
25609 Things, however, are not utterly non-existent. They do exist nominally.
25610 So things do exist, but they do not exist from the side of the basis of the
25611 label. And hence, though they do exist, because they do not exist within the
25612 object itself, they must exist only as they are labeled by the subject (the
25613 conceptual mind, for example). There is no other way for the object to exist
25614 apart from the way it is posited by conceptual thought. This is then what we
25615 mean when we say that all phenomena are merely labeled by conceptual thought.
25616 However, things do not appear to us as if they were mere conceptually labeled
25617 entities. Instead, they appear as if they existed from their own side.
25618 Therefore, it is a mistake to think that things exist as they appear.
25619 -- The Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists", edited
25620 by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
25622 Meditation is hard work, but it is also the most rewarding thing we can do
25623 with our time. As we begin to see the mechanisms we previously took for
25624 granted and start to understand them, the knots inside our minds begin to
25625 loosen. We feel a tremendous sense of freedom, space and release inside us.
25626 As we begin to understand our warped thinking patterns and our neuroses, we
25627 see them directly. We begin to develop compassion for ourselves, for our pain
25628 and confusion. Now that we start to look with clarity, we can see the pain
25629 and confusion in the eyes of other people, and we naturally develop compassion
25630 for them. It doesn't matter how outwardly successful people may appear, we
25631 can see their pain when we look into their eyes. It is very rare to come
25632 across people whose eyes are truly sparkling with joy.
25633 -- Tenzin Palmo, "Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical
25634 Buddhism", published by Snow Lion Publications
25636 ...recognizing that we have certain obligations, and recognizing at the
25637 same time that spiritual practice is the core of a meaningful life, what do we
25638 do? There really is an answer. It is not easy, but it is tremendously
25639 fruitful, and it keeps on opening and opening further: transform those actions
25640 that are already obligations by applying Dharma to them.
25641 Take eating, for instance. We have to do it two or three times a day, but
25642 we don't have to wolf down the food. There is no one who cannot sit and pause
25643 first for thirty seconds. Even fast-food is worth the thirty seconds it takes
25644 to recognize the immense number of beings who have provided us with this food.
25645 Pausing like this ties us into the community of life, at least on planet
25646 earth, as we recognize that we are indebted to others. We have received, and
25647 as we take the food, let us do it with the aspiration, "May this be returned.
25648 May I use my abilities to the fullest to serve those who have served me." And
25649 that includes everyone, directly or indirectly. The service may occur on a
25650 very mundane level, but insofar as we mature spiritually, our responsibility
25651 increases according to our abilities. Not because someone tells us, "Now you
25652 have to do this," but simply as we gain insight into the nature and sources of
25653 suffering and of contentment, then we have something all the more valuable to
25655 -- B. Alan Wallace, "The Seven-Point Mind Training", edited by Zara
25656 Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
25658 The Paramita of Meditative Concentration
25659 It is said in the Teachings that without taking up the Paramita of
25660 Meditative Concentration, it would be impossible to realize the nature of
25661 mind. We should think of meditative concentration as the practice that brings
25662 stability to our minds, and creates the good conditions to practice unfocused
25663 meditation--in other words, resting in the uncontrived natural state.
25664 If we make a quick examination of our own mind, we can see the reason this
25665 kind of stability is so crucial. Although physics has observed light to be
25666 the fastest traveling phenomenon known to man, actually the speed at which our
25667 minds travel is even faster. We can circle the globe in a matter of seconds,
25668 and our minds generate doubts, emotions, and conceptual thoughts at a speed
25669 that defies that of all other phenomena. Because we lack basic mental
25670 stability, conceptual thoughts arise endlessly. So, if our goal is to realize
25671 the nature of mind, we first have to learn to still our minds, and free
25672 ourselves from distraction. The method for quieting the mind is called
25673 "meditative concentration." Once we have gained some initial mind stability,
25674 it is even more important that we continue our training so that this stability
25675 will increase. Without such stability, it is impossible for us to
25676 successfully learn to abide in the uncontrived view.
25677 -- Anyen Rinpoche, "The Union of Dzogchen and Bodhichitta", translated
25678 by Allison Graboski, published by Snow Lion Publications
25680 5. Your present naked awareness
25684 Your present, naked awareness--
25685 Unspoiled by thoughts of past, present, or future,
25686 Not fettered by mind grasping to so-called "meditation"
25687 Nor falling into a pervasive blankness of so-called "non-meditation"--
25688 The natural state nakedly sustained,
25689 Is the practice of Great Perfection.
25691 Regardless of what thoughts arise during that practice,
25692 To reject negative ones or foster positive ones is unnecessary.
25693 Mere recognition liberates them in their own ground.
25694 Take this liberation upon arising as the path's key point.
25696 Destroy whatever meditative experiences arise, and relax.
25697 A tantric practitioner without fixation is deeply content.
25698 You've reached your goal of contentment right now.
25699 What is the use of numerous enumerations of Buddha's teachings
25700 When you discover Buddha Kuntu Zangpo within yourself?
25701 Keep the meaning of these words close to your heart.
25702 -- Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, "Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart
25703 Advice", translated by Ron Garry, a Tsadra Foundation Series book
25704 published by Snow Lion Publications
25706 The Buddhist view is that in the external world there are some elements
25707 that are material, and some that are nonmaterial. And the fundamental
25708 substance, the stuff from which the material universe arises, is known as
25709 space particles. A portion of space is quantized, to use a modern term; it is
25710 particulate, not continuous. Before the formation of the physical universe as
25711 we know it, there was only space, but it was quantized. And it was from the
25712 quanta, or particles, in space that the other elements arose. This accounts
25713 for the physical universe.
25714 But what brought about that process? How did it happen? It is believed
25715 that there existed other conditions, or other influences, which were
25716 nonmaterial, and these were of the nature of awareness. The actions of
25717 sentient beings in the preceding universe somehow modify, or influence, the
25718 formation of the natural universe.
25719 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations
25720 with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara
25721 Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by
25722 Snow Lion Publications
25724 ...meditation on emptiness begins with gaining a sense of the inherent
25725 existence of which phenomena are empty, for without understanding what is
25726 negated, you cannot understand its absence, emptiness.
25727 ...Through carefully watching how you conceive your self, or "I," to be
25728 inherently established, you will determine that the "I" appears to be self-
25729 instituting without depending on the collection of the mental and physical
25730 aggregates, which are its basis of designation, or without depending on any of
25731 them individually, even though the "I" appears with those aggregates. Proper
25732 identification of this appearance is the first essential toward realizing
25733 selflessness--ascertaining the object of negation.
25734 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba, and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra:
25735 Paths to Magical Feats", published by Snow Lion Publications
25737 At the moment the world's spiritual traditions have greatly degenerated.
25738 It is very important in such times that the practitioners themselves make
25739 especially strong efforts to gain realization. To permit the lineages of
25740 transmission to disappear is to allow the world to plunge into darkness. The
25741 great Vasubandhu wrote, "Buddha, who is like the eye of the world, is no
25742 longer to be seen. His great successors, who realized the most profound
25743 teachings, also have passed away. Who equals them?" It might be asked, who
25744 is there today to equal the master Vasubandhu? Who practices as well as did
25745 Milarepa? Such people are rare. We should remember that everything but
25746 Dharma is useless at death, and instead of wasting our lives on meaningless
25747 activities, we should blend our mindstreams with the teachings and with
25748 practice. Doing so benefits us as individuals and benefits the world by
25749 strengthening its spiritual basis.
25750 Each of us has to be able to feel the pride that we ourselves can reach
25751 perfection, we ourselves can attain enlightenment. When even one person
25752 indulges in spiritual practice, it gives encouragement to the guardian spirits
25753 of the land, and to the celestial deities who have sworn to uphold goodness.
25754 These forces then have the ability to release waves of beneficial effects upon
25755 humanity. Thus our practice has many direct and indirect benefits. ...If we
25756 practice the teachings and live the ways of Dharma, all the natural forces of
25757 goodness will be behind us.
25758 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
25759 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
25761 Karmic potentials give rise to a broad array of impulses that affect our
25762 lives. Collective karmic potentials from previous actions of a huge number of
25763 beings--including ourselves--give rise, for example, to the impulse for a
25764 universe to evolve with specific environments and life forms into which we and
25765 these beings subsequently take rebirth. These collective potentials also give
25766 rise to the impulses that drive the physical and biological laws that govern
25767 that universe--ranging from the weather patterns of its planets to the life-
25768 cycle habits of each species on them. They also account for the impulses
25769 behind the instinctive daily behavior characteristic of each life form.
25770 -- Alexander Berzin, "Taking the Kalachakra Initiation", published by Snow
25773 Once the body, channels, and wind are balanced, the next step is to keep
25774 your mind in the natural state through meditation. By simply maintaining the
25775 mind as it is, without adding or subtracting anything, one will reach the
25776 inner nature, which is unchanging and indestructible.
25777 The instructions for this type of meditation are very simple. One begins
25778 by sitting with good posture on a cushion, because it is important to stay
25779 straight. Then, one simply maintains the natural clarity of the mind, without
25780 analyzing one's experiences or being disturbed by thoughts. In the dzogchen
25781 style of meditation, there is actually nothing to do except relax in the
25782 mind's nature of clarity and emptiness. Inner awareness is different than
25783 external awareness; it is called clear-light emptiness. It is helpful to use
25784 the sky as an analogy for the true nature of the mind--when you let your mind
25785 mingle with the open space of the sky, you do not need any particular focus.
25786 Simply maintain the mind naturally, without discrimination or judgments, and
25787 experience its nature as being spacious as the sky.
25788 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche,
25789 "Opening the Door to Our Primordial Nature", Snow Lion Publications
25791 Three things in human life are important.
25792 The first is to be kind.
25793 The second is to be kind.
25794 And the third is to be kind.
25797 Question: A person, particularly in the West, must have the foundation of
25798 humility, honesty and an ethical way of life. Once one has this foundation,
25799 what else does Your Holiness suggest that one cultivate in one's life, if
25800 there is the foundation of virtue, ethics and humility?
25801 DL: The next thing to be cultivated is mental stabilization. Ethics is a
25802 method to control oneself--it is a defensive action. Our actual enemy, you
25803 see, is within ourselves. The afflicted emotions (pride, anger, jealousy) are
25804 our real enemies. These are the real trouble makers, and they are to be found
25805 within ourselves. The actual practice of religion consists of fighting
25806 against these inner enemies.
25807 As in any war, first we must have a defensive action, and in our spiritual
25808 fight against the negative emotions, ethics is our defense. Knowing that at
25809 first one is not fully prepared for offensive action, we first resort to
25810 defensive action and that means ethics. But once one has prepared one's
25811 defenses, and has become somewhat accustomed to ethics, then one must launch
25812 one's offensive. Here our main weapon is wisdom. This weapon of wisdom is
25813 like a bullet, or maybe even a rocket, and the rocket launcher is mental
25814 stabilization or calm abiding. In brief, once you have a basis in morality or
25815 ethics, the next step is to train in mental stabilization and eventually in
25817 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology
25818 of Writings", compiled and edited by Sidney Piburn, Forword by Sen.
25819 Claiborne Pell, published by Snow Lion Publications
25821 4. The power of abandonment. In this practice what is being abandoned is
25822 self-grasping. We are reminded again that since beginningless time beyond all
25823 imagination, self-grasping has lain at the very core of all mental distortions
25824 and afflictions. It has brought us to unfavorable rebirths and is responsible
25825 for all the undesirable circumstances that we encounter. It is self-
25826 centeredness that obstructs realization and prevents us from deriving the full
25827 benefit from our spiritual practice. Recognize when self-grasping manifests
25828 in daily life. It is important to notice it especially at times of passion,
25829 when we are aroused or irritated, and try not to succumb to it for even a
25831 To be free of self-centeredness continuously for a whole year may be
25832 difficult, but [rejecting it for] a moment is easy. ...the more of these
25833 moments we can saturate with the cherishing of others, the more we are molding
25834 ourselves into the bodhisattvas that we will become.
25835 -- B. Alan Wallace, "The Seven-Point Mind Training", edited by Zara
25836 Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
25838 As a friend, my request and wish is that... you try to promote a sense of
25839 brotherhood and sisterhood. We must promote compassion and love; this is our
25840 real duty. Government has too much business to have time for these things.
25841 As private persons we have more time to think along these lines--how to make a
25842 contribution to human society by promoting the development of compassion and a
25843 real sense of community.
25844 ...If someone who easily gets angry tries to control his or her anger, in
25845 time it can be controlled. The same is true for a selfish person; first that
25846 person must realize the faults of a selfish motivation and the benefit in
25847 being less selfish. Having realized this, one trains in it, trying to control
25848 the bad side and develop the good. As time goes by, such practice can be
25849 effective. This is the only alternative.
25850 Without love, human society is in a very difficult state; without love,
25851 in the future we will face tremendous problems. Love is the center of human
25853 -- His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, "Kindness, Clarity & Insight", published by
25854 Snow Lion Publications
25856 Love and Attachment
25858 People often wonder how to reconcile the Buddha's teachings on non-attachment
25859 with those on love. How can we love others without being attached to them?
25860 Non-attachment is a balanced state of mind in which we cease overestimating
25861 others' qualities. By having a more accurate view of others, our unrealistic
25862 expectations fall away, as does our clinging. This leaves us open to loving
25863 others for who they are, instead of for what they do for us. Our hearts can
25864 open to care for everyone impartially, wishing everyone to be happy simply
25865 because he or she is a living being. The feeling of warmth that was
25866 previously reserved for a select few can now be expanded to a great number
25868 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Taming the Mind", published by Snow Lion
25871 According to some scientists, emotion is not necessarily negative. Emotion
25872 is a very strong feeling. While some emotions are destructive, others are
25873 constructive. In a meeting with scientists, we concluded that there are
25874 emotions even in the Buddha's mind. There is a strong sense of caring and
25875 compassion and also the realization of emptiness. In the beginning, there is
25876 just a vague feeling of emptiness. At that level, there is no emotion, but
25877 once you become more familiar with it, then that feeling increases. At a
25878 certain level, the realization of emptiness also becomes a kind of emotion.
25879 Therefore, in the practice of developing wisdom and loving-kindness
25880 / compassion, you strengthen these inner qualities and then reach a state
25881 where you have an upsurge of feeling called emotion. We can clearly see
25882 this link between intellect and emotions. Thus, the brain and heart can go
25883 side by side. I think this is the Buddhist approach.
25884 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Many Ways to Nirvana: Reflections and
25885 Advice on Right Living", edited by Renuka Singh
25887 Both mindfulness and discriminative alertness are needed in responding to
25888 sensory input of the three types--attractive, unattractive and neutral.
25889 Once again, in this tradition mindfulness does not mean simply to witness.
25890 It is a more discriminative kind of thing. You are asking yourself, "What
25891 is my response?" and then actively responding by applying the antidotes to
25892 attachment and hostility. The word mindfulness is a little bit different in
25893 different contexts. Here, Mindfulness refers to the mental faculty of being
25894 able to maintain continuity of awareness of an object. Vigilance is concerned
25895 with the quality of mind, watching to see, for example, if the mind is veering
25896 off to other objects.
25897 -- Gen Lamrimpa (Ven. Jampal Tenzin, "Calming the Mind: Tibetan Buddhist
25898 Teachings on Cultivating Meditative Quiescence", translated by B. Alan
25899 Wallace, edited by Hart Sprager, published by Snow Lion Publications
25901 When we say that the ignorant mind is perverse or wrong, we are talking
25902 about the way it misconceives reality. Now the pertinent questions are: What
25903 is reality? How is this mind mistaken about reality? And in what way does
25904 the mind wrongly apprehend reality? Reality or emptiness of true existence is
25905 something that can be established logically. There are sound, or perfect,
25906 reasons to prove the emptiness of inherent existence, and we can gain
25907 conviction in these reasons. On the other hand, there is no logical way to
25908 prove true existence. True existence is what appears to an ordinary,
25909 untrained consciousness. But when it comes under logical scrutiny, true
25910 existence cannot be found. Even in our everyday life we often find
25911 contradictions between the way certain things appear and their actual mode of
25912 existence; that is, the way things actually exist is different from the way
25913 they appear to exist.
25914 ...Our perception of impermanent things like mountain ranges and houses
25915 does not conform to their actual mode of existence. Some of these things have
25916 existed for many centuries, even thousands of years. And our minds perceive
25917 them in just that way--as lasting and permanent, impervious to momentary
25918 change. Yet when we examine these objects on an atomic level, they
25919 disintegrate every moment; they undergo momentary change. Science also
25920 describes a similar pattern of change. These objects appear solid, stable,
25921 and lasting, but in their true nature, they constantly change, not keeping
25922 still even for a moment.
25923 -- The Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", translated by Geshe Lobsang
25924 Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell, published by
25925 Snow Lion Publications
25927 If there is someone who always harms us, and we discover that this person
25928 lives in our own house, we think, "This is too much!" Once we figure out
25929 that he is causing all our hardships, we kick him out; we do not see it as a
25930 laughing matter at all. Here, it is worse: we have been wandering in the six
25931 realms of cyclic existence since beginningless time, undergoing great pain and
25932 confusion. What is the main cause of all this? Self-centeredness and its
25933 basis, self-grasping ignorance. These two are right inside us, in our own
25934 mindstream. How can we continue to tolerate that? It is just too much! We
25935 definitely must evict these sources of harm. When we know the antidotes to
25936 them, we will use them, just as we would go to any length to evict a
25937 troublemaker from our home. With strong determination, we will find out what
25938 harms self-centeredness and self-grasping and then go ahead and destroy them.
25939 -- Geshe Jampa Tegchok, "Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage: An
25940 Explanation of the Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas", edited by
25941 Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
25943 No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of
25944 policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.
25947 There are many types of meditative stabilisation, but let us explain calm
25948 abiding (samatha) here. The nature of calm abiding is the one-pointed abiding
25949 on any object without distraction of a mind conjoined with a bliss of physical
25950 and mental pliancy. If it is supplemented with taking refuge, it is a
25951 Buddhist practice; and if it is supplemented with an aspiration to highest
25952 enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, it is a Mahayana practice.
25953 Its merits are that, if one has achieved calm abiding, one's mind and body are
25954 pervaded by joy and bliss; one can--through the power of its mental and
25955 physical pliancy--set the mind on any virtuous object one chooses; and many
25956 special qualities such as clairvoyance and emanations are attained.
25957 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
25958 Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
25961 Apart from the perfection of wisdom,
25962 All virtuous practices such as
25963 The perfection of giving are described
25964 As skillful means by the Victorious Ones.
25966 The first five perfections--giving, ethical discipline, patience, enthusiastic
25967 effort and concentration--as well as meditation on impermanence, on the
25968 connection between actions and their effects and the cultivation of
25969 compassion, love and the altruistic intention are all skillful means. In fact
25970 all positive practices which do not constitute the cultivation of wisdom fall
25971 into the category of skillful means.
25974 Whoever, under the influence of familiarity
25975 With skillful means, cultivates wisdom
25976 Will quickly attain enlightenment--
25977 Not just by meditating on selflessness.
25979 When stability in practices which develop skillful means has been gained, the
25980 Bodhisattva meditates on the selflessness of persons and other phenomena and
25981 thereby overcomes clinging to their true existence. This leads swiftly to
25982 enlightenment. If we confine our efforts only to understanding reality, our
25983 understanding lacks the power to destroy all the obstructions that prevent
25984 omniscience and we may remain locked in a state of solitary peace.
25985 Cultivation of skillful means prevents this and adds such power to our
25986 understanding of reality that, like a blazing fire, it consumes all
25989 -- "Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment", commentary by Geshe Sonam
25990 Rinchen, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion
25993 As I grow to understand life less and less,
25994 I learn to love it more and more.
25997 The environment where you are doing the meditation should be properly cleaned.
25998 While cleaning, you should cultivate the motivation that since you are engaged
25999 in the task of accumulating great stores of merit by inviting the hosts of
26000 buddhas and bodhisattvas to this environment, it is important to have a clean
26001 place. You should see that all the external dirt and dust around you is
26002 basically a manifestation of the faults and stains within your own mind. You
26003 should see that the most important aim is to purge these stains and faults
26004 from within your mind. Therefore, as you cleanse the environment, think that
26005 you are also purifying your mind. Develop the very strong thought that by
26006 cleaning this place you are inviting the host of buddhas and bodhisattvas who
26007 are the most supreme merit field, and that you will subsequently engage in a
26008 path that will enable you to purge your mind of the stains of delusions.
26009 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, "Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide to
26010 Stages of Meditation", translated by Geshe Thubten Jinpa, edited by
26011 Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
26013 The entire environment we perceive around us arises, in part, in
26014 dependence upon our sense faculties. The environment we experience does not
26015 truly exist "out there." Sight is dependent upon visual faculties, hearing
26016 is dependent upon auditory faculties, and tactile sensations depend on nerve
26017 endings. Psychologically, all that we experience is dependent upon ourselves.
26018 We do not experience anything purely objectively. The arising and perceiving
26019 of experience is co-emergent between ourselves and the world around us. Yet,
26020 the deep belief persists that the world really exists "out there" now and eons
26021 before we were born.
26022 The Buddhist hypothesis extends beyond the psychological. The Buddhist
26023 hypothesis is this: that which is perceived arises in dependence upon the
26024 perception of it. Things are empty of independent, inherent existence. What
26025 appears to exist "out there" is empty of objective existence from its own
26026 side. This does not mean that nothing exists apart from our perceptions.
26027 Rather, it means that by probing the nature of existence of anything we
26028 experience perceptually or conceptually, we find that nothing exists by its
26029 own independent nature. Another way of phrasing this is that appearance
26030 extends all the way down to the root and there is nothing beyond the
26031 appearances. Appearances extend down to quarks; nothing is there purely
26032 objectively and nothing is there purely subjectively. This is the Buddhist
26034 -- B. Alan Wallace, "Buddhism with an Attitude: The Seven-Point Mind-
26035 Training" , edited by Lynn Quirolo, published by Snow Lion Publications
26037 I consider it very important for religion to have an influence on
26038 politicians. Politicians need religion much more than pious people who have
26039 withdrawn from the world need it. There is a constant increase in the
26040 scandals in politics and business that can be traced back to the lack of self-
26041 discipline on the part of the responsible parties. In India, the minister-
26042 president of West Bengal once said to me with what he considered a humble
26043 attitude that he was a politician and not a religious person. I responded to
26044 him: politicians need religion more than anyone else.
26045 When hermits in solitude are bad persons, the result is that they harm
26046 themselves alone and no one else. But when such influential people as
26047 politicians are full of bad intentions, they can bring misfortune to many.
26048 This is why religion, as continuous work on our inner maturity, is important
26049 for political rulers.
26050 A politician must have moral principles. I am convinced of this. Seen in
26051 this light, politics and religion belong together. In the United States,
26052 church and state may be separate, but when the president takes office, he
26053 makes a vow in the name of God with his hand on the Bible. This means that
26054 God should be the witness that the president will conscientiously fulfill his
26056 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Felizitas Von Schonborn, "Path of Wisdom,
26057 Path of Peace: A Personal Conversation", Foreword by Wei Jingsheng
26059 ...many people, critical of Dzogchen, question why we need to practice at all
26060 if, as according to Dzogchen, the primordial state is already the enlightened
26061 state. If our true nature is already Buddhahood, what is the need to
26062 cultivate enlightenment? We cannot side-step these criticisms since,
26063 according to Dzogchen, Buddhahood is indeed our natural state; we do not
26064 create it, but simply discover it through our meditation. But if we simply
26065 agree with our critics, this would mean there is no need to practice. These
26066 are important things to think about. We must answer that although the natural
26067 state of the mind is primordially pure, there are two ways of being pure.
26068 Defilements, or obscurations, are not in the nature of the mind (sems nyid)
26069 but in the moving mind (sems), so they can be purified. It is as in the
26070 Tibetan story of the old beggar woman who slept on a pillow of gold every
26071 night: she was rich, but since she did not appreciate the value of gold, she
26072 thought she was poor. In the same way, the primordial purity of our mind is
26073 of no use to us if we are not aware of it and do not integrate it with our
26074 moving mind. If we realize our innate purity but only integrate with it from
26075 time to time, we are not totally realized. Being in total integration all the
26076 time is final realization. But many people prefer thinking and speaking about
26077 integration to actualizing it.
26078 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of
26079 Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet", Foreword by H.H. the
26080 Dalai Lama, edited by Andrew Lukianowicz, published by Snow Lion
26083 External disarmament is very, very important. Already, there is some
26084 movement. My dream is that one day the whole world will be demilitarized, but
26085 we cannot achieve this overnight. Also, we cannot achieve it without a
26086 proper, systematic plan; however, it is important to make the target clear.
26087 Even though it may take one hundred years, or fifty years, that doesn't
26088 matter. Establish a clear idea or clear target; then try to achieve it step
26089 by step. As a first step, we have already started with the elimination of
26090 antipersonnel mines and biological weapons. Also, we are already reducing
26091 nuclear weapons; eventually, there should be a total ban on nuclear weapons.
26092 This is now foreseeable; the idea of its possibility is approaching. These
26093 are great, hopeful signs.
26094 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates
26095 Discuss Human Rights, Conflict and Reconciliation", edited by Jeffrey
26096 Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
26098 Bare awareness is not easy to develop and maintain because of the mind's
26099 disposition to be constantly preoccupied by thoughts. We easily lose
26100 attention because our mind is so busy. When we do, our emotional life can
26101 creep up on us and take us over. Without mindfulness, the capacity to
26102 maintain attention, disidentification is very difficult, and bare awareness
26103 even more so. Through meditation it is possible to cultivate a quiet,
26104 unintrusive awareness that greatly strengthens our capacity to remain with our
26105 feelings. We simply allow their presence without judging them, or needing to
26106 make them different.
26107 The early stage of meditation focuses attention and cultivates
26108 mindfulness. Mindfulness is our capacity to watch and remain conscious as
26109 emotions, feelings, and thoughts arise. We may begin in meditation by
26110 observing the breath and gradually quietening the mind from the constant
26111 discursive chatter that interrupts our attention. In time a quality of bare
26112 awareness is established free from the conceptual confusion that discriminates
26113 and evaluates what arises and parcels it up in conceptual boxes of good or
26114 bad. Furthermore, this quiet awareness does not become pulled into the
26115 contents of mental activity and drown in their confusion.
26116 -- Rob Preece, "The Psychology of Buddhist Tantra", Foreword by Stephen
26117 Batchelor, published by Snow Lion Publications
26119 In the realm of matter, one and the same object can serve as a cause of
26120 happiness for some living beings, and a cause of suffering for others.
26121 Certain plants, for example, function as medicine for some creatures, but for
26122 other species they can be poisonous. From the point of view of the object
26123 itself there is no difference, but because of the physical constitution and
26124 the material state of the particular living being, that single self-same
26125 object can affect them in different ways. Then, in the sphere of our own
26126 experiences, the same holds true. A certain individual may appear to some as
26127 very friendly, kind and gentle, and so gives them feelings of happiness and
26128 pleasure. Yet to others that same person can appear harmful and wicked, and
26129 so cause them discomfort and unhappiness.
26130 What this kind of example points to is that, although external matter
26131 may act as a cause for our experience of pain and pleasure, the principal
26132 cause that determines whether we experience happiness or suffering lies
26133 within. This is the reason why, when Buddha identified the origin of
26134 suffering, he pointed within and not outside, because he knew that the
26135 principal causes of our suffering are our own negative emotions and the
26136 actions they drive us to do.
26137 -- H.H. The Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
26138 Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron,
26139 Foreword by Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published
26140 by Snow Lion Publications
26142 When you have many excuses not to do your work, ask yourself what guarantee
26143 you have of another chance to do what needs to be done. Time lost is lost for
26144 good. No matter how much you promise to improve, no matter what good
26145 intentions you have for making it up, the time is gone for good. Feeling
26146 sorry about the situation will not bring it back. You can never buy back that
26147 precious piece of time. You may think, "Well, that piece of time has passed,
26148 but I still have a long stretch of time left." No, you do not! What guarantee
26149 is there that you will have another piece of time like this one? Wake up and
26150 stop the excuses; they never made sense before and do not make sense now.
26151 Laziness and procrastination have never worked in a sound and helpful way. It
26152 is only sound and helpful to get things moving.
26153 -- Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, "Dharma Paths", translated by Ngodup Burkhar
26154 and Chojor Radha, edited by Laura M. Roth, published by Snow Lion
26157 Any sense of conceit or self-importance gets in the way of cultivating the
26158 genuine altruistic intention, and the most effective remedy against this is
26159 the cultivation of humility.
26160 I can tell you a more recent story to illustrate this point. The great
26161 nineteenth-century Tibetan Dzokchen meditator Dza Patrul Rinpoche always
26162 maintained a demeanour of true humility. At one time, when he was giving a
26163 series of teachings to a large crowd of students, he experienced a forceful
26164 yearning for solitude. So one day he quietly left his residence and
26165 disappeared, dressed like an ordinary pilgrim and carrying a walking staff and
26166 very little else. When he reached a nomadic camp he sought shelter for a few
26167 days with one of the families. While he was staying with them, his hostess
26168 asked him to read some texts and, since he looked just like an ordinary
26169 pilgrim, in return for his food and lodging she asked him to help with the
26170 household chores, which included the disposal of the contents of her chamber
26172 One day, while he was away from the camp attending to this task, some of
26173 his well-dressed monk students came looking for him. When his hostess heard
26174 their description of him, she suddenly realised this was the same person she
26175 had asked to throw away the contents of her chamber pot. (It is said she was
26176 so embarrassed that she just ran away!) Such was the humility of this great
26177 teacher, who had many thousands of students.
26178 ...great practitioners of the altruistic intention also possess a
26179 tremendous courage grounded in real inner strength.... This combination of a
26180 total lack of conceit yet possessing great depth of courage is what is
26181 required in a true practitioner of bodhicitta, the altruistic mind of
26183 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
26184 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
26186 Rejoicing in the actions of others is the major antidote to jealousy. When
26187 we admire the virtuous deeds of ourselves and of others, a great increase of
26188 merit is created. Jealousy is very harmful, and must be destroyed by
26189 rejoicing. If we rejoice in the virtue of someone whose understanding is less
26190 than our own, we gain greater merit than that person. If we rejoice in the
26191 merit of someone with understanding equal to ours, we gain equal merit. If we
26192 rejoice in the realization or virtue of someone more highly realized than we
26193 are, we accumulate some fraction of the merit that they do. We must rejoice
26194 in virtue because we have taken bodhisattva vows. If other beings practice
26195 well it helps us; therefore we should rejoice in their positive actions. This
26196 is the easiest way to accumulate merit with little hardship. With consistent
26197 effort the practice of rejoicing becomes very powerful and is greatly praised
26199 -- Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, "Chod on the Ganden Tradition: the Oral
26200 Instructions of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche", edited by David Molk, published
26201 by Snow Lion Publications
26203 If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint,"
26204 then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.
26205 -- Vincent Van Gogh
26207 ...there are various factors that contribute to attaining that level of
26208 joy and happiness which we conventionally also recognize as sources of
26209 happiness, such as good physical health, ...the wealth that we accumulate,
26210 ...and a circle of friends we trust and with whom we can relate emotionally.
26211 Now all of these are, in reality, sources of happiness, but in order for
26212 one to be able to fully utilize them with the goal of enjoying a happy and
26213 fulfilled life, one's state of mind is crucial. If one harbors hateful
26214 thoughts within, or strong or intense anger somewhere deep down, then it ruins
26215 one's health, so it destroys one of the factors. Even if one has wonderful
26216 possessions, when one is in an intense moment of anger or hatred, one feels
26217 like throwing them--breaking them or throwing them away. So there is no
26218 guarantee that wealth alone can give one the joy or fulfillment that one
26219 seeks. Similarly, when one is in an intense state of anger or hatred, even
26220 a very close friend appears somehow "frosty," cold and distant, or quite
26222 What this indicates is that our state of mind is crucial in determining
26223 whether or not we gain joy and happiness. So leaving aside the perspective of
26224 Dharma practice, even in worldly terms, in terms of our enjoying a happy day-
26225 to-day existence, the greater the level of calmness of our mind, the greater
26226 our peace of mind, and the greater our ability to enjoy a happy and joyful
26228 -- The Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist
26229 Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published by Snow
26232 Question: Is there a buildup of awareness that happens by the practice of
26233 recognizing or looking for your own basic nature so that, over time, it
26234 dispels the fear of these emotions?
26236 Rinpoche: Yes, awareness is developed through the discipline of meditation.
26237 Beginning with shamatha meditation, we develop lots of awareness and
26238 mindfulness on the path. Then, in Mahamudra and Dzogchen, we emphasize a
26239 different aspect of mindfulness and awareness. Mindfulness and awareness
26240 come from the discipline of meditation, which continues in our everyday
26241 life. Therefore, formal sitting practice is very important for us. For
26242 that reason, many teachers tell us to sit at least 10-15 minutes every day.
26243 That helps us to generate this continuity of awareness in our everyday life.
26244 There is no easy solution for manifesting awareness or mindfulness in our
26245 everyday life without some discipline in practice. The only problem is
26246 that when a student hears a teacher say that they must sit every day,
26247 that's the time students usually begin to change their guru!
26249 -- Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, "Penetrating Wisdom: The Aspiration of
26250 Samantabhadra", published by Snow Lion Publications
26252 We ordinary individuals share the characteristic of having our attempts to
26253 gain happiness thwarted by our own destructive self-centeredness. It is
26254 unsuitable to keep holding onto the self-centered attitude while ignoring
26255 others. If two friends find themselves floundering in a muddy swamp they
26256 should not ridicule each other, but combine their energies to get out. Both
26257 ourselves and others are in the same position of wanting happiness and not
26258 wanting suffering, but we are entangled in a web of ignorance that prevents us
26259 from achieving those goals. Far from regarding it as an "every man for
26260 himself" situation, we should meditate upon the equality of self and others
26261 and the need to be helpful to other beings.
26262 -- Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, "Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of
26263 Enlightenment", translated by Ven. Sherab Gyatso, published by Snow Lion
26266 Dalai Lama: "In the traditional [Tibetan] society, most people automatically
26267 did the types of work their families did--nomads, farmers, merchants, and so
26268 on. But some people still engaged in work that was not in keeping with the
26269 principle of nonharm, because there are butchers, metal smiths who make
26270 swords, and so on. But these kinds of work were also generally hereditary."
26272 Howard Cutler: "Speaking of work and the implementation of the concept of
26273 nonharm, ...you mentioned that there was a rule in Tibet that any new
26274 invention had to guarantee that it was beneficial or at least not harmful for
26275 at least seven generations."
26277 DL: "...there do seem to be certain practices and policies that successive
26278 Tibetan governments adopted in Tibet that reflect putting into practice
26279 certain Buddhist ideals, such as the Buddhist principle of respecting the
26280 natural world, particularly the animal world. For example, all the
26281 communities living near the Yamdrok Lake used to rely heavily on fishing in
26282 the past. Recently I heard about a policy that was adopted during the Fifth
26283 Dalai Lama's time where they were discouraged from fishing, and in order to
26284 compensate them, some other communities would band together and provide them
26285 an equivalent value in grain, so that they would be compensated against their
26286 loss. Similarly, in the area near Mount Kailash, around Lake Manasarovar
26287 during a particular season, a lot of waterfowl migrate there. They lay their
26288 eggs on the shores and apparently there was a government policy that during
26289 the egg-laying season, they would appoint people to watch over the eggs to
26290 make sure they were safe. Of course, there might be individuals who in
26291 addition to taking the salary probably ate some of the eggs as well. These
26292 things happen. But overall there is this kind of attitude of nonharm. "So,
26293 even though in Tibet, people didn't always follow the principle of nonharm in
26294 their work ...this principle was still deeply ingrained in the people. "In
26295 general, I think this could be applied in the West. Although not everybody
26296 has options about the work that they do, at least I think it is good to give
26297 serious thought to the kind of work one does, and the impact it has on others.
26298 I think it is best to choose work that does not cause harm to others, that
26299 does not exploit or deceive others, either directly or indirectly. I think
26300 that's the best way."
26301 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art
26302 of Happiness at Work"
26304 If we are feeling very nervous all the time, the first step toward doing
26305 something to remedy the situation is to take ourselves and the quality of our
26306 life seriously. Suppose we are walking down the street and we step on a bug
26307 and partially crush but have not actually killed it. If we continue walking
26308 and ignore the bug's experience of its leg being crushed or severed, we do so
26309 because we do not take the insect and its life seriously. We have no respect
26310 for it. If we treat ourselves no better than we do a bug and ignore our
26311 innermost pains and anguish, that is most unfortunate.
26312 Taking ourselves seriously means actually looking at how we are
26313 experiencing our life and, if there is something unsatisfactory about it,
26314 admitting it to ourselves. Our tension and stress do not go away by denying
26315 them or avoiding taking an honest look. And admitting that something is amiss
26316 is not the same as complaining about it and feeling sorry for ourselves. Nor
26317 does it imply that something is fundamentally wrong with us and we are guilty
26318 of being a bad person because we are nervous. Being objective, not
26319 melodramatic, and remaining non-judgmental are essential for any healing,
26321 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu
26322 Tradition of Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
26324 Wouldn't life be boring without attachment?
26326 No. In fact it's attachment that makes us restless and prevents us from
26327 enjoying things. For example, suppose we're attached to chocolate cake. Even
26328 while we're eating it, we're not tasting it and enjoying it completely. We're
26329 usually either criticizing ourselves for eating something fattening, comparing
26330 the taste of this chocolate cake to other cakes we've eaten in the past, or
26331 planning how to get another piece. In any case, we're not really experiencing
26332 the chocolate cake in the present.
26333 On the other hand, without attachment, we can think clearly about whether
26334 we want to eat the cake, and if we decide to, we can eat it peacefully,
26335 tasting and enjoying every bite without craving for more or being dissatisfied
26336 because it isn't as good as we expected. As we diminish our attachment, life
26337 becomes more interesting because we're able to open up to what's happening in
26339 -- Thubten Chodron, "Buddhism for Beginners", published by Snow Lion
26342 My Grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses.
26343 Drinks right out of the bottle.
26346 We are bits of stellar matter that got cold by accident,
26347 bits of a star gone wrong.
26348 -- Sir Arthur Eddington
26350 Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned. -- Milton Friedman
26352 I have the worst memory ever so no matter who comes up to me--
26353 they're just, like, "I can't believe you don't remember me!"
26354 I'm like, "Oh Dad I'm sorry!"
26357 Question: When a practitioner of the Great Vehicle vows not to enter into
26358 nirvana until all beings are liberated, how is it possible to fulfill this
26361 Answer: Three modes of generating an altruistic intention to become
26362 enlightened are described--like a king, like a boatman, and like a shepherd.
26363 In the first, that like a king, one first seeks to attain a high state after
26364 which help can be given to others. In the second, like a boatman, one seeks
26365 to cross the river of suffering together with others. In the third, like a
26366 shepherd, one seeks to relieve the flock of suffering beings from pain first,
26367 oneself following afterward. These are indications of the style of the
26368 altruistic motivation for becoming enlightened; in actual fact, there is no
26369 way that a Bodhisattva either would want to or could delay achieving full
26370 enlightenment. As much as the motivation to help others increases, so much
26371 closer does one approach Buddhahood.
26372 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard",
26373 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion
26376 A bodhisattva is someone who says from the depth of his or her heart, "I
26377 want to be liberated and find ways to overcome all the problems of the world.
26378 I want to help all my fellow beings to do likewise. I long to attain the
26379 highest state of everlasting peace and happiness, in which all suffering has
26380 ceased, and I want to do so for myself and for all sentient beings."
26381 According to the Buddha's teaching, anyone who makes this firm and heartfelt
26382 commitment is a bodhisattva. We become bodhisattvas from the moment we have
26383 this vast and open heart, called bodhichitta, the mind bent on bringing
26384 lasting happiness to all sentient beings.
26385 Buddhist literature defines three types of bodhisattvas: the kinglike
26386 bodhisattva, the captainlike bodhisattva, and the shepherdlike bodhisattva. A
26387 kinglike bodhisattva is like a good king who first wants everything luxurious
26388 for himself, like a big palace, a large entourage, a beautiful queen, and so
26389 on. But once his happiness has been achieved, he also wants to help and
26390 support his subjects as much as possible. Accordingly, a kinglike bodhisattva
26391 has the motivation, "First, I want to free myself from samsara and attain
26392 perfect enlightenment. As soon as I have reached buddhahood, I will help all
26393 other sentient beings to become buddhas as well."
26394 A captainlike bodhisattva would say, "I would like to become a buddha, and
26395 I will take all other sentient beings along with me so that we reach
26396 enlightenment together." This is just as the captain of a ship crosses the
26397 sea, he takes his passengers with him, and they reach the far shore
26399 A shepherdlike bodhisattva is inspired by thinking, "I want to help all
26400 sentient beings to reach enlightenment and see the truth. Only when this is
26401 achieved and samsara is emptied will I become a buddha myself." In actual
26402 fact it may not happen this way, but anyone who has this motivation is called
26403 a "shepherdlike bodhisattva." In the old days, sheep were not kept in fenced
26404 pastures, and the shepherds had to bring them down from the mountains to
26405 protect them from wolves. They would follow behind the sheep, guiding them
26406 into their pen and lock them in. A shepherd would take care of his sheep
26407 first, and only then would he go home and eat.
26408 The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara developed this shepherdlike motivation and
26409 is therefore considered to be the most courageous and compassionate of beings.
26410 He vowed, "I will not attain complete enlightenment until I have led all
26411 sentient beings to liberation without leaving a single one behind."
26412 -- Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, "Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness: The Three
26413 Vehicles of Buddhism", edited and translated by Rosemarie Fuchs,
26414 published by Snow Lion Publications
26416 The practice of compassion begins at home. We have our parents, our
26417 children, and our brothers and sisters, who perhaps irritate us the most, and
26418 we begin our practice of loving-kindness and compassion with them. Then
26419 gradually we extend our compassion out into our greater community, our
26420 country, neighbouring countries, the world, and finally to all sentient beings
26421 equally without exception.
26422 Extending compassion in this way makes it evident that it is not very easy
26423 to instantly have compassion for "all sentient beings." Theoretically it may
26424 be comfortable to have compassion for "all sentient beings," but through our
26425 practice we realize that "all sentient beings" is a collection of individuals.
26426 When we actually try to generate compassion for each and every individual, it
26427 becomes much more challenging. But if we cannot work with one individual,
26428 then how can we work with all sentient beings? Therefore it is important for
26429 us to reflect more practically, to work with compassion for individuals and
26430 then extend that compassion further.
26431 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "Trainings in Compassion", translated by the
26432 Padmakara Translation Group, published by Snow Lion Publications
26434 It wouldn't be bad if you didn't have statues, but it has become indispensable
26435 to have Buddhist texts which deal with the structured path to train our mind.
26436 If you have Buddhist texts, read them for yourselves and to friends who visit.
26437 That way you can help others to understand Buddhist ideas. For instance, it
26438 is interesting to read Milarepa's life story and songs. We find in them many
26439 enlightening lessons. Buddha's image alone will not purify us of karmic
26440 obscuration.... It is very important to study the scriptures. They are not
26441 to be just stacked up on the altar. They must be cultivated in our mind.
26442 ...[we] take great interest in having the symbolic representations of Buddha's
26443 body, speech and mind. I feel it is more important to acquire and read
26444 scriptures, the symbolic representations of his speech. You can pay homage to
26445 them, you can make offerings to them; above all, you should study them.
26446 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries by H.H. the Dalai
26447 Lama XIV on the Jatakamala", translated by Tenzin Dorjee, edited by
26448 Dexter Roberts, Snow Lion Publications
26450 From the Buddhist point of view, being in a depressed state, in a state of
26451 discouragement, is seen as a kind of extreme that can clearly be an obstacle
26452 to taking the steps necessary to accomplish one's goals. A state of self-
26453 hatred is even far more extreme than simply being discouraged, and this can be
26454 very, very dangerous. For those engaged in Buddhist practice, the antidote to
26455 self-hatred would be to reflect upon the fact that all beings, including
26456 oneself, have Buddha Nature--the seed or potential for perfection, full
26457 Enlightenment--no matter how weak or poor or deprived one's present situation
26458 may be. So those people involved in Buddhist practice who suffer from self-
26459 hatred or self-loathing should avoid contemplating the suffering nature of
26460 existence or the underlying unsatisfactory nature of existence, and instead
26461 they should concentrate more on the positive aspects of one's existence, such
26462 as appreciating the tremendous potential that lies within oneself as a human
26463 being. And by reflecting upon these opportunities and potentials, they will
26464 be able to increase their sense of worth and confidence in themselves.
26465 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art of
26466 Happiness: A Handbook for Living"
26468 An instruction that matches examples and their meanings to show how the
26469 absolute nature permeates everything. (*SG)
26471 These various examples give a general idea of the absolute nature. (*DK)
26473 ...there are four examples and their meanings. Take the example of a
26474 Sugata's body: whichever way one looks at it, it is beautiful. (*Z)
26476 Similarly, everything a realized being does, since it is permeated with the
26477 realization of the unborn nature, is bliss, for he does not have ordinary
26478 attachment and aversion. (*Z & SG)
26480 Whether one looks at a Sugata's face or any other part of his body, one never
26481 feels one has looked enough. It is an example of ultimate beauty. Similarly,
26482 those for whom everything is backed by the realization of the unborn nature no
26483 longer have ordinary attachment and aversion, and such persons can therefore
26484 act like enlightened beings: whatever they do is bliss. Since they have fully
26485 realized the absolute nature, there is no question of telling them, "This is
26486 the right thing to do; that is something you should not do." They have no
26487 concepts or limits, so they can act as they wish. Everything they do will be
26488 nothing but bliss. (DK)
26491 Z: Zurchungpa's root text
26492 DK: Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's commentary
26493 SG: Shechen Gyaltsap's notes
26495 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "Zurchungpa's Testament: A Commentary on
26496 Zurchung Sherab Trakpa's Eighty Chapters of Personal Advice", translated
26497 by the Padmakara Translation Group, published by Snow Lion Publications
26499 Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
26500 nothing is going to get better. It's not.
26501 -- The Lorax, Doctor Seuss
26503 We do what we must, and call it by the best names. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
26505 These days an income is something you can't live without--or within.
26508 Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize
26509 until you have tried to make it precise.
26510 -- Bertrand Russell
26512 The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.
26513 -- Flannery O'Connor
26515 The initial period of deity yoga is called prior approximation because one is
26516 accustoming to a deity through becoming closer and closer to its state,
26517 whereupon the deity grants the feat, either directly or in the sense of
26518 bestowing a capacity to the mind. Actually effecting the achievement of feats
26519 is done by way of carrying out prescribed burnt offerings or repetition of
26520 mantra, etc., after the approximation has been completed. These feats are
26521 then used for the welfare of others in the third stage, which involves
26522 activities of (1) pacification such as overcoming plague or relieving others
26523 of demons, (2) increase of lifespan, intelligence, wealth, and so forth, (3)
26524 control of resources, persons harmful to others' welfare, etc., and (4)
26525 ferocity, such as expelling or confusing harmful beings.
26526 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Deity Yoga
26527 in Action and Performance Tantra", published by Snow Lion Publications
26529 The bodhisattva, as the personification of individuation, discovers a unique
26530 capacity to awaken his or her potential to work for the welfare of others in
26531 whichever way most suits his or her individual disposition. When I consider
26532 my own teachers, one thing I particularly value is their capacity to be
26533 authentically themselves. They each have their unique personality and quality
26534 that is a genuine expression of their individuality. There is no
26535 contradiction between our Western need to be individuals and the Buddhist
26536 path. Buddhism does not demand that we become clones of some ideal. Rather,
26537 it asks us to respond to who we are and awaken our full potential, expressing
26538 it within our particular individual capacity. My Tibetan teachers have
26539 supremely individualistic personalities, something I love and value deeply.
26540 They respond to me as an individual with my own personality, which they would
26541 never ask me to relinquish. The fact that they were each on their own unique
26542 journey within the Buddhist path was, for me, a sublime example of the
26543 bodhisattva as an individuated person who has truly responded to the inner
26545 -- Rob Preece, "The Wisdom of Imperfection: The Challenge of Individuation
26546 in Buddhist Life", published by Snow Lion Publications
26548 The view is to believe in and understand the buddha nature, the essence of all
26549 the buddhas. If one knows the buddha nature, then that is to know the
26550 unchanging essence which is free from any limitation, the original primordial
26551 nature of the mind as it is. This is not like a light bulb that suddenly
26552 comes on or something that is newly acquired. It is the nature as it has
26553 always been and always will be: primordially perfect. To recognize the buddha
26554 nature is the view. To fail to recognize the buddha nature is to deviate into
26555 confusion. If you recognize your buddha nature, this is the same as having an
26556 audience with all the buddhas. You will meet face to face with all your root
26558 -- Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche, "Meditation, Transformation, and Dream Yoga",
26559 translated by B. Alan Wallace and Sangye Khandro, published by Snow Lion
26562 ...when we ask, what is the substantial cause of the material universe way
26563 back in the early history of the universe, we trace it back to the space
26564 particles which transform into the elements of this manifest universe. And
26565 then we can ask whether those space particles have an ultimate beginning. The
26566 answer is no. They are beginningless. Where other philosophical systems
26567 maintain that the original cause was God, Buddha suggested the alternative
26568 that there aren't any ultimate causes. The world is beginningless. Then the
26569 question would be: Why is it beginningless? And the answer is, it is just
26570 nature. There is no reason. Matter is just matter.
26571 Now we have a problem: What accounts for the evolution of the universe as
26572 we know it? What accounts for the loose particles in space forming into the
26573 universe that is apparent to us? Why did it go through orderly processes of
26574 change? Buddhists would say there is a condition which makes it possible, and
26575 we speak of that condition as the awareness of sentient beings.
26576 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with
26577 the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara Houshmand,
26578 Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion
26581 Q: Certain associates can say things to me that spark an aggressive reaction.
26582 Why is it so easy to spark this feeling of negativity if there is not an
26583 accumulation of energy behind it?
26585 A: This is because of your pattern of clinging to the idea that you should
26586 have all the good things, and nothing that bothers you should ever happen, as
26587 I explained earlier. This is wishful thinking, because the nature of the
26588 world is not like that at all. The ego game you have planned is itself the
26589 explanation for how easily your anger is sparked. Because you have planned
26590 such a delicate, impossible game, and there are many things that can happen,
26591 anything that jeopardizes the plan of your ego upsets you. It is not an
26592 accumulation of energy but the pattern of clinging that is at fault.
26594 -- Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, "Dharma Paths", translated by Ngodup
26595 Burkhar and Chojor Radha, edited by Laura M. Roth, published by Snow
26598 Suppose... you try to convert someone from another religion to the
26599 Buddhist religion, and you argue with them trying to convince them of the
26600 inferiority of their position. And suppose you do not succeed, suppose they
26601 do not become Buddhist. On the one hand, you have failed in your task, and on
26602 the other hand, you may have weakened the trust they have in their own
26603 religion, so that they may come to doubt their own faith. What have you
26604 accomplished by all this? It is of no use. When we come into contact with
26605 the followers of different religions, we should not argue. Instead, we should
26606 advise them to follow their own beliefs as sincerely and as truthfully as
26607 possible. For if they do so, they will no doubt reap certain benefits. Of
26608 this there is no doubt. Even in the immediate future, they will be able to
26609 achieve more happiness and more satisfaction.
26610 ...When I meet the followers of different religions, I always praise them,
26611 for it is enough, it is sufficient, that they are following the moral
26612 teachings that are emphasized in every religion. It is enough, as I mentioned
26613 earlier, that they are trying to become better human beings. This in itself
26614 is very good and worthy of praise.
26615 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
26616 edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
26618 Only a Buddha has extinguished all faults and gained all attainments.
26619 Therefore, one should mentally go for refuge to a Buddha, praise him with
26620 speech, and respect him physically. One should enter the teaching of such a
26622 A Buddha's abandonment of defects is of three types: good, complete, and
26623 irreversible. Good abandonment involves overcoming obstructions through their
26624 antidotes, not just through withdrawing from those activities. Complete
26625 abandonment is not trifling, forsaking only some afflictions or just the
26626 manifest afflictions, but forsaking all obstructions. Irreversible
26627 abandonment overcomes the seeds of afflictions and other obstructions in such
26628 a way that defects will never arise again, even when conditions favourable to
26630 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in Tibet",
26631 published by Snow Lion Publications
26633 In commenting on the first instruction spoken by Manjushri, we considered the
26634 question of attachment to this lifetime and the faults that come from this
26635 attachment. However, the question of attachment goes deeper. It is not just
26636 a matter of giving up attachment to this life's rewards but of losing our
26637 taste and affinity for the whole of worldly existence. This is why it is
26638 necessary to contemplate and meditate upon the faults of conditioned
26639 existence. Otherwise, we may imagine that samsara possesses any manner of
26640 attractive qualities. Pondering the shortcomings of samsara should bring
26641 forth in us a tangible sense of disgust, as we are confronted with our own
26642 misguided pursuit of worldly ends.
26643 -- Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, "Parting from the Four Attachments: Jetsun
26644 Drakpa Gyaltsen's Song of Experience on Mind Training and the View",
26645 commentary translated by Thubten Choedak, Root Text and Lineage Prayer
26646 translated by H.H. Sakya Trizin and Jay Goldberg, compiled and edited
26647 by John Deweese, published by Snow Lion Publications
26649 Another problem we face today is the gap between rich and poor. In this
26650 great country of America, your forefathers established the concepts of
26651 democracy, freedom, liberty, equality, and equal opportunity for every
26652 citizen. These are provided for by your wonderful Constitution. However, the
26653 number of billionaires in this country is increasing while the poor remain
26654 poor, in some cases getting even poorer. This is very unfortunate. On the
26655 global level as well, we see rich nations and poor ones. This is also very
26656 unfortunate. It is not just morally wrong, but practically it is a source of
26657 unrest and trouble that will eventually find its way to our door.
26658 ...one of my elder brothers, who is no longer alive, would tell me of his
26659 experiences living in America. He lived a humble life and told me of the
26660 troubles, the fears, the killings, theft, and rape that people endured. These
26661 are, I think, the result of economic inequality in society. It is only
26662 natural that difficulties arise if we must fight day by day in order to
26663 survive while another human being, equal to us, is effortlessly living a
26664 luxurious life. This is an unhealthy situation; as a result, even the
26665 wealthy--the billionaires and millionaires--remain in constant anxiety. I
26666 therefore think that this huge gap between rich and poor is very unfortunate.
26667 ...So, for those of you who are poor, those who come from difficult
26668 situations, I strongly urge you to work hard, with self-confidence, to make
26669 use of your opportunities. The richer people should be more caring toward the
26670 poorer ones, and the poor should make every effort, with self-confidence.
26671 -- The Dalai Lama, "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life",
26672 edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Khyongla Rato and Richard Gere
26675 Tibetans say that once upon a time all the yaks that live in Tibet were
26676 living in India as water buffalo. It was very, very hot in India so some of
26677 them decided if they were to keep walking to the north they would get to a
26678 place that would be nice and cool. So they climbed up in the mountains, and
26679 as they were climbing their hair started to grow. Because of this the water
26680 buffalo in India often turn their head and look out expectantly and they are
26681 waiting for their brothers who have wandered off. In a similar way at one
26682 time all the buffalo of samsara and nirvana were living together and one day
26683 some of them wandered off and came into samsara. They keep looking around to
26684 see who else is there and where the other half is, because the basic quality
26685 of our ordinary sense of self is that it is very lonely. Something is missing
26686 in our lives and we don't quite know what it is, but we keep looking and
26687 looking to find this missing part. We can look for it in terms of
26688 possessions, we can look for it in terms of the form of our body, trying to
26689 change it through dieting or hair style or whatever. You can look in terms of
26690 friends. Anything. And this keeps us very, very busy. Sometimes the
26691 busyness can be very exhausting, but when we stop then we feel lonely. So we
26692 get busy again. Dharma is very helpful here if you want distraction because
26693 there are many kinds of ways to be busy in the dharma. You can focus on
26694 having lots of dharma possessions. You can focus on learning the text by
26695 heart, on the mantras and mudras, on serving the tsog, on doing meditations.
26696 There is always something to be busy with.
26697 In Tibet many, many people practiced dharma but not so many seem to get
26698 enlightened. There are many kinds of dharma and if we practice in a way that
26699 doesn't focus on the essential point but on secondary and tertiary levels it
26700 is easy to get lost. It is really important, given that we have limited time,
26701 to focus on what is essential. Many people when they get a plate of food will
26702 eat the things they don't like so much first and leave the special thing to
26703 the end. But when when we apply this to life we can make a big mistake. The
26704 time for deep practice is now. You can learn all about Padmasambhava and what
26705 his clothes mean and what his hair style means but if you don't know the
26706 nature of your own mind then knowledge about Padmasambhava is just some more
26708 -- "Being Right Here: A Dzogchen Treasure Text of Nuden Dorje entitled
26709 'The Mirror of Clear Meaning' ", with commentary by James Low, published
26710 by Snow Lion Publications
26712 Linguistics is arguably the most hotly contested property in the academic
26713 realm. It is soaked with the blood of poets, theologians, philosophers,
26714 philologists, psychologists, biologists, anthropologists, and neurologists,
26715 along with whatever blood can be got out of grammarians.
26718 What is undistracted calm abiding? It is meditative absorption free of the
26719 six types of distraction. What are these six?
26721 (1) Inherent distraction refers to the eye consciousness and the other
26722 four collections of consciousness. Because they are naturally directed
26723 outward, they [cause one to] emerge from meditative absorption.
26724 (2) External distraction refers to a mental consciousness that reaches out
26725 towards or engages objects.
26726 (3) Internal distraction concerns dullness and agitation, as well as
26727 savoring one's meditative absorption.
26728 (4) The distraction of marks occurs when, trusting in meditative
26729 absorption, one apprehends marks of it and becomes attached.
26730 (5) Distraction brought about by negative tendencies is when directing the
26731 mind involves the apprehending of an ego. This is said to refer to the mental
26732 act of pridefully believing oneself to be superior to others, or [simply any
26733 mental act] that involves apprehending an "I".
26734 (6) The distraction of directing the mind occurs when one is caught up in
26735 the mindset of, and directs the mind in the style of, the Lesser Vehicle.
26737 The undistracted calm abiding that is determined by the elimination of
26738 those six is the unique calm abiding of the Great Vehicle. This is a state of
26739 one-pointed inner rest, a flawless calm abiding. In it, there is no
26740 apprehension of marks, as is the case when inner absorption alone is believed
26741 to bring liberation. Neither does it involve the ego apprehension that occurs
26742 in the concentrations of non-Buddhists. Further, one does not direct the mind
26743 as one would when cultivating the supports for the inferior paths [to
26744 liberation]. This is how the wise should understand the calm abiding of the
26746 -- "Middle Beyond Extremes: Maitreya's 'Madhyantavibhaga' with commentaries
26747 by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham", translated by the Dharmachakra
26748 Translation Committee, published by Snow Lion Publications
26750 Calm abiding is predominantly stabilizing meditation, in which the mind is
26751 kept on a single object, rather than analytical meditation, in which a topic
26752 such as impermanence or emptiness is analyzed with reasoning. The purpose of
26753 developing calm abiding is that, since a mind that is scattered to external
26754 objects is relatively powerless, the mind needs to be concentrated in order to
26755 become powerful. If you do not have concentration in which the mind is
26756 unfluctuatingly stable and clear, the faculty of wisdom cannot know its
26757 object, just as it is, in all its subtleties. Therefore, it is necessary to
26758 have a highly focused mind.
26759 ...In order to set the mind steadily on an object of observation, it is
26760 necessary initially to use an object of observation suited to counteracting
26761 your own predominant afflictive emotion, since its force remains with your
26762 mind now and can easily interrupt any attempt to concentrate the mind.
26763 Therefore, Buddha described many types of objects for purifying behavior:
26764 + For someone whose predominant afflictive emotion is desire, ugliness is
26765 a helpful object of meditation. Here, "ugliness" does not necessarily refer
26766 to distorted forms; the very nature of our body--composed of blood, flesh,
26767 bone, and so forth--might seem superficially to be very beautiful with a good
26768 color, solid and yet soft to touch, but when it is investigated, you see that
26769 its essence is quite different--substances like bone, blood, urine, feces,
26771 + For someone who has predominantly engaged in hatred, the object of
26772 meditation is love.
26773 + For someone who was predominantly sunk in obscuration, the meditation is
26774 on the twelve links of the dependent-arising of cyclic existence because
26775 contemplating its complexity promotes intelligence.
26776 + For someone whose predominant afflictive emotion is pride, the
26777 meditation could be on the divisions of the constituents because, when
26778 meditating on the many divisions, you get to the point where you realize that
26779 there are many things you do not know, thereby lessening an inflated sense of
26781 + Those dominated by conceptuality can observe the exhalation and
26782 inhalation of the breath because, by tying the mind to the breath,
26783 discursiveness diminishes.
26784 A particularly helpful object for all personality types is a Buddha body,
26785 since concentration on a Buddha's body causes your mind to mix with virtuous
26786 qualities. No matter what the object is, this is not a case of meditating
26787 within, looking at an external object with your eyes, but of causing an image
26788 of it to appear to the mental consciousness.
26789 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra: Paths
26790 to Magical Feats", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published
26791 by Snow Lion Publications
26793 ...an understanding of the doctrine of emptiness is fundamental to tantric
26794 practice. Every sadhana begins with, is structured around, and ends with
26795 meditation upon emptiness. To practice Vajrayana without the wisdom of
26796 emptiness can be very dangerous. For example, a main tantric technique is the
26797 cultivation of a subtle divine pride, a confidence that one is an enlightened
26798 tantric deity, the Lord of the Mandala. One's mind is the Wisdom Body of a
26799 Buddha, one's speech is the Beatific Body, one's form is the Perfect Emanation
26800 Body, and the world and its inhabitants are seen as a mandala inhabited by the
26801 various forms of tantric deities. Thus we have to utterly change our sense of
26802 "I." To do so involves the subject of emptiness. To practice the yoga of
26803 divine pride without an understanding of emptiness will not only be useless,
26804 but could lead to identity problems and other undesirable psychological
26805 effects. Therefore it is said that although the Vajrayana is a quick path
26806 when correctly practiced on the proper spiritual basis, it is dangerous for
26807 the spiritually immature. This type of danger area is one of the reasons why
26808 the Vajrayana must be practiced under the supervision of a qualified vajra
26810 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
26811 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
26813 Self-discipline brings us into relationship with one of the six
26814 perfections of the bodhisattva, that of enthusiastic perseverance, which
26815 implies the willingness to engage in a process with effort and enthusiasm over
26816 a prolonged period. No material or spiritual qualities are gained without
26817 some degree of effort. Perseverance enables the practitioner to carry on and
26818 trust in the process, even when it feels hopeless. It makes it possible to
26819 face difficulties and obstacles in the path with confidence and courage,
26820 rather than giving up because it feels too hard. Self-discipline helps us
26821 remain in the vessel and not run away.
26822 My Tibetan retreat guide described the maintenance of self-discipline over
26823 time like keeping a pot heating on a stove. If we continually remove it from
26824 the heat the pot never boils. Similarly he felt that when someone enters into
26825 the discipline of retreat, it should be maintained as rigorously as possible.
26826 In doing so the alchemical vessel will be maintained, and the "cooking" can
26827 take place. Transformation only occurs when the vessel is maintained in this
26829 -- Rob Preece, "The Psychology of Buddhist Tantra", foreword by Stephen
26830 Batchelor, published by Snow Lion Publications
26832 Installation programs are where programming
26833 and the IT department meet... and fight.
26836 Compassion without attachment is possible. Therefore, we need to clarify the
26837 distinctions between compassion and attachment. True compassion is not just
26838 an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Because of
26839 this firm foundation, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not
26840 change even if they behave negatively. Genuine compassion is based not on our
26841 own projections and expectations, but rather on the needs of the other:
26842 irrespective of whether another person is a close friend or an enemy, as long
26843 as that person wishes for peace and happiness and wishes to overcome
26844 suffering, then on that basis we develop genuine concern for their problem.
26845 This is genuine compassion. For a Buddhist practitioner, the goal is to
26846 develop this genuine compassion, this genuine wish for the well-being of
26847 another, in fact for every living being throughout the universe.
26848 -- Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "The Compassionate Life"
26850 Buddha traveled and taught widely for some forty-five years after his
26851 enlightenment, and his audiences were diverse. Even though India at the time
26852 was a highly literate society, nothing of what he said was written down during
26853 his lifetime. Instead, various individuals were entrusted with memorizing the
26854 gist of each discourse. The work of transcribing his words took place only
26855 with the passage of generations.
26856 Tibetans believe that this reluctance on the part of the Buddha and his
26857 immediate followers to commit the enlightenment teachings to paper, and
26858 instead to preserve them as oral traditions, was a purposeful strategy gauged
26859 to maintain the maximum fluidity and living power of the enlightenment
26860 experience. It only became necessary to write things down when the darkness
26861 of the changing times threatened the very survival of the legacy. An oral
26862 tradition becomes lost to history should its holders pass away without first
26863 passing on their lineages.
26864 This intended fluidity, and the according safeguard against the
26865 establishment of an "enlightenment dogma" is perhaps best demonstrated by a
26866 verse that the Buddha himself said shortly before his death:
26867 Do not accept any of my words on faith,
26868 Believing them just because I said them.
26869 Be like an analyst buying gold, who cuts, burns,
26870 And critically examines his product for authenticity.
26871 Only accept what passes the test
26872 By proving useful and beneficial in your life.
26873 This simple statement empowered future generations of Buddhist teachers to
26874 accept and reject at will anything said by Buddha himself as well by his early
26875 disciples. If something that was said by them did not pass the test of
26876 personal analysis, one could simply discard it as being limited in application
26877 to particular times, people, or situations, and therefore as only contextually
26879 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Dalai Lamas on Tantra", translated, edited and
26880 introduced by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
26882 Many places have been totally changed through the use of police force and
26883 the power of guns--the Soviet Union, China, Burma, the Philippines, many
26884 communist countries, countries in Africa and South America. But eventually,
26885 you see, the power of guns and the power of the will of ordinary human beings
26886 will change places. I am always telling people that our century is very
26887 important historically for the planet. There is a big competition between
26888 world peace and world war, between the force of mind and the force of
26889 materialism, between democracy and totalitarianism. And now within this
26890 century, the force of peace is gaining the upper hand. Still, of course, the
26891 material force is very strong, but there is a kind of dissatisfaction about
26892 materialism and a realization or feeling that something is missing.
26893 ...entering the twenty-first century, I think the basic concerns are human
26894 values and the value of truth. These things have more value, more weight now.
26895 -- "The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings By and
26896 About the Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by Sidney Piburn, Foreword by
26897 Sen. Claiborne Pell, published by Snow Lion Publications
26899 An inexpressible, self-arisen expanse
26900 Without the names "samsara" and "nirvana."
26902 Here, "self-arisen" means the primordial state. It is not something we
26903 can fully express with words or concepts. It's beyond words or concepts. The
26904 nature of all is not biased; it is not restricted to one or another. The
26905 nature of all exists in one identical state. That ground, that nature, does
26906 not have any name such as samsara or nirvana. That is the foundation, that is
26907 the ground. It is beyond samsara and nirvana. Not knowing the ground means
26908 wandering in samsara. If you recognize this ground, if you truly experience
26909 this ground, buddhahood is attained. That is the fruition. That is the
26910 result of our practice and our path.
26911 ...The ground, that fundamental state of simplicity, is the origin of all
26912 elaborations. This pure basic state is like a simple artist's canvas. We
26913 paint different images on this canvas. We can paint the image of a buddha,
26914 and it becomes very pure, beautiful, and inspiring to look at. We can also
26915 paint a devil on the same canvas, which can create our fundamental suffering,
26916 our basic pain. However, the basis of both is the same simple state of canvas
26917 that is completely pure and totally free from the images we project on it. It
26918 is totally free, whether that image is a buddha or a devil. That is the
26920 -- The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, "Penetrating Wisdom: The Aspiration of
26921 Samantabhadra", published by Snow Lion Publications
26923 Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.
26924 -- Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh
26926 Setting a Specific Intention for Our Practice
26927 We should think about how we can make the best use of our practice so that
26928 we get the most out of it in the short time we have in this life. We do not
26929 have the leisure of wasting our time here by delaying the benefits of our
26930 practice. We have to use these situations as effectively as we can.
26931 Before you begin any practice, first think very carefully about your
26932 motivation. When we are engaged in the threefold process of study,
26933 contemplation and meditation, we should be very specific, very clear about why
26934 we are doing it. We should remind ourselves, "I am doing this to transcend my
26935 negative emotions and my ego-clinging." This is a general example of a
26936 specific intention. However, to be more precise, we need to consider the
26937 unique make-up of our own individual kleshas [intense states of suffering, and
26938 ignorance]. Once we have identified our strongest emotion, then we can focus
26939 on the practices that will alleviate it. We begin with whichever emotion is
26940 strongest for us and then we move on to the next strongest, followed by the
26942 It is important for us to prioritize our practice in this way. We have
26943 to keep our intention very clear in all three phases--in our study, in our
26944 contemplation and in our meditation. During shamatha or other practices, when
26945 thoughts come up, we recall that our purpose is to overcome our disturbing
26946 emotions and kleshas. We have to have a sense of willpower or determination
26947 in our minds. In order for the remedy to work, we must tell ourselves, "Yes,
26948 I am going to transcend this anger. I am going to work with it." Otherwise,
26949 if we do not have a clear idea, if we simply sit there with an indefinite or
26950 vague intention, then the effect also will be vague. We may have sat for one
26951 hour and although that time will not have been wasted, because it was not
26952 directed in an intentional way, the experience will not be so sharp, to the
26953 point or effective.
26954 -- Dzogchen Ponlop, "Mind Beyond Death", published by Snow Lion
26957 ...particularly in Buddhism while we practice we must use the brain as
26958 well as the heart. On the ethical side, we must practice the quality of a
26959 good and warm heart; also, since Buddhism is very much involved in reasoning
26960 and logic--the wisdom side--intelligence is important. Thus, a combination of
26961 mind and heart is needed. Without knowledge, without fully utilized
26962 intelligence, you cannot reach the depths of the Buddhist doctrine; it is
26963 difficult to achieve concrete or fully qualified wisdom. There may be
26964 exceptions, but this is the general rule.
26965 It is necessary to have a combination of hearing, thinking, and
26966 meditating. The Kadampa teacher Dromton ('brom ston pa, 1004-1064) said,
26967 "When I engage in hearing, I also make effort at thinking and meditating.
26968 When I engage in thinking, I also search out more hearing and engage in
26969 meditation. And when I meditate, I don't give up hearing and don't give up
26970 thinking." He said, "I am a balanced Kadampa," meaning that he maintained a
26971 balance of hearing, thinking, and meditating.
26972 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, "Kindness, Clarity,
26973 and Insight", edited and translated by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by
26974 Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion Publications
26976 If through listening to this explanation of the Seven Point Mind Training we
26977 come to recognise how important Bodhichitta is, this will be an infallible
26978 cause of our enlightenment. Of all the eighty four thousand different
26979 sections of the doctrine, the precious Bodhichitta is the very essence. By
26980 hearing the words of such a teaching, it is impossible even for demons, whose
26981 nature it is to kill and to do harm, not to have positive thoughts! Kham, a
26982 region in East Tibet, was haunted in the past by many ghosts and evil spirits,
26983 and this was one of the reasons why Patrul Rinpoche used to explain the
26984 Bodhicharyavatara continually to his disciples. Before long, there were no
26985 more ghosts--or at least, no one came to any more harm. Such is the hidden
26986 power of Bodhichitta!
26987 --Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the Seven
26988 Point Mind Training", translated by the Padmakara Translation Group,
26989 published by Snow Lion Publications
26991 Sometimes we face certain situations where, although we have done
26992 something good for others, we may not be able to reap the consequences within
26993 this lifetime. When we are talking about the law of causality, we are not
26994 limiting its operation to the confines of this life alone, but rather are
26995 taking into account both this lifetime and the future. Occasionally people
26996 who do not have a proper knowledge of karmic law say that such and such a
26997 person is very kind and religious and so forth, but he always has problems,
26998 whereas so and so is very deceptive and negative, frequently indulging in
26999 negative actions, but always seems very successful. Such people may think
27000 that there is no karmic law at all. There are others who go to the other
27001 extreme and become superstitious, thinking that when someone experiences
27002 illness, it is all due to harmful spirits.... It is also possible for very
27003 negative people to experience their positive karma ripening immaturely due to
27004 the very strong force of negative actions, and thus to exhaust the potentials
27005 of their virtuous actions. They experience a relative success in this life,
27006 while others who are very serious practitioners, as a result of the force of
27007 their practices, bring upon this lifetime the consequences of karmic actions
27008 which might have otherwise thrown them into rebirth in lower realms of
27009 existence in the future. As a result, they experience more problems and
27010 illnesses in this life.
27011 Just resolving not to indulge in a negative action is not enough. It
27012 should be accompanied by the understanding that it is for your own benefit and
27013 sake that you must live with awareness of the law of karma: if you have
27014 accumulated the causes, you will have to face the consequences; if you desire
27015 a particular effect, you can work to produce its causes; and if you do not
27016 desire a certain consequence, you can avoid engaging in actions that will
27017 bring it about. You should reflect upon the law of causality as follows: that
27018 there is a definite relation between causes and effects; that actions not
27019 committed will never produce an effect; and that once committed, actions will
27020 never lose their potentiality simply through the passage of time. So, if you
27021 wish to enjoy desirable fruits, you should work for the accumulation of the
27022 appropriate causes, and if you want to avoid undesirable consequences, you
27023 should not accumulate their causes.... [Karma] is a natural law like any
27025 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, "Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide to
27026 Stages of Meditation", translated by Geshe Thubten Jinpa, edited by
27027 Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
27029 Generally speaking, there are two forms of meditation on emptiness. One
27030 is the space-like meditation on emptiness, which is characterised by the total
27031 absence or negation of inherent existence. The other is called the illusion-
27032 like meditation on emptiness. The space-like meditation must come first,
27033 because without the realisation of the total absence of inherent existence,
27034 the illusion-like perception or understanding will not occur.
27035 For the illusion-like understanding of all phenomena to occur, there needs
27036 to be a composite of both the perception or appearance and the negation, so
27037 that when we perceive the world and engage with it we can view all things and
27038 events as resembling illusions. We will recognise that although things appear
27039 to us, they are devoid of objective, independent, intrinsic existence. This
27040 is how the illusion-like understanding arises. The author of the "Eight
27041 Verses for Training the Mind" indicates the experiential result when he
27042 writes: "May I, recognising all things as illusion, devoid of clinging, be
27043 released from bondage."
27044 When we speak of cultivating the illusion-like understanding of the nature
27045 of reality, we need to bear in mind the different interpretations of the term
27046 'illusion-like'.... For example, the Buddhist realist schools explain the
27047 nature of reality to be illusion-like in the sense that, although we tend to
27048 perceive things as having permanence, in reality they are changing moment by
27049 moment and it is this that gives them an illusion-like character.
27050 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
27051 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
27053 Actually, we are all part of the community of humanity. If humanity is
27054 happy, has a successful life, a happy future, automatically, I will benefit.
27055 If humanity suffers, I too will suffer. Humanity is like one body, and we are
27056 part of that body. Once you realize this, once you cultivate this kind of
27057 attitude, you can bring about a change in your way of thinking. A sense of
27058 caring, commitment, discipline, oneness with humanity--these are very relevant
27059 in today's world. I call this secular ethics, and this is the first level to
27060 counter negative emotions.
27061 The second level in this connection is taught by all major religious
27062 traditions, whether Christian or Muslim or Jewish or Hindu. They all carry
27063 the message of love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, and
27064 discipline. These are countermeasures for negative emotions. When anger is
27065 about to surface, when hatred is about to flare up, think of tolerance. It is
27066 important to stop any mental dissatisfaction when we feel it because it leads
27067 to anger and hatred.
27068 Patience is the countermeasure for mental dissatisfaction. Greed and its
27069 self-centeredness bring unhappiness, and also destruction of the environment,
27070 exploitation of others, and increases the gap between the rich and the poor.
27071 The countermeasure is contentment. So practicing contentment is useful in our
27073 ...All religious traditions talk about methods of compassion and
27074 forgiveness. If we accept religion, we should take the religious methods
27075 seriously and sincerely and use them in our daily lives. Then, a meaningful
27077 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Many Ways to Nirvana: Reflections and
27078 Advice on Right Living", edited by Renuka Singh
27080 Actually, if we look around, people whom we don't like and people who harm
27081 us are in the minority. Let's say we're at work, at a social gathering, or at
27082 a Dharma center with thirty people. How many of them do we really dislike?
27083 We may have problems with a few people here and there, but we manage to stay
27084 in a room together, don't we? It's not like we despise them and they hate us.
27085 The number of people we can't stand in this world is actually very small.
27086 These people are rare. To practice patience we need the people that we don't
27087 like. We can't practice patience with our friends or with people who are kind
27088 to us. Finding people that we don't like or who threaten us is not so easy.
27089 So, when we finally find them, they are a precious treasure! They are rare to
27090 find. When we meet them, we can think, "Fantastic, I get to practice patience
27092 They say that high-level bodhisattvas pray to meet disgusting,
27093 uncooperative people because they want to practice patience. Of course, when
27094 you really want to meet obnoxious people, they don't show up! Why don't they
27095 turn up for high-level bodhisattvas? Because high-level bodhisattvas don't
27096 have any anger. We could be sitting in a room with many people whom we
27097 consider unbearable, but high-level bodhisattvas don't see them that way at
27098 all. To them, these people appear lovable. Bodhisattvas have such a hard
27099 time finding detestable people, whereas we come across them so easily! So,
27100 when we find people whom we don't like, feel threatened by, or find
27101 despicable, we should recognize that there aren't so many of them around.
27102 Therefore, we should cherish them and take the opportunity to practice
27103 patience with them.
27104 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga
27105 Method of Chenrezig", foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by
27106 Snow Lion Publications
27108 Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
27111 ...to have greater self-awareness or understanding means to have a better
27112 grasp of reality. Now, the opposite of reality is to project onto yourself
27113 qualities that are not there, ascribe to yourself characteristics in contrast
27114 to what is actually the case. For example, when you have a distorted view of
27115 yourself, such as through excessive pride or arrogance, because of these
27116 states of mind, you have an exaggerated sense of your qualities and personal
27117 abilities. Your view of your own abilities goes far beyond your actual
27118 abilities. On the other hand, when you have low self-esteem, then you
27119 underestimate your actual qualities and abilities. You belittle yourself, you
27120 put yourself down. This leads to a complete loss of faith in yourself. So
27121 excess--both in terms of exaggeration and devaluation--are equally
27122 destructive. lt is by addressing these obstacles and by constantly examining
27123 your personal character, qualities, and abilities, that you can learn to have
27124 greater self-understanding. This is the way to become more self-aware.
27125 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art of
27128 Phowa is a practice which should be done repeatedly, all through our lives so
27129 that we can do it naturally and purposefully at the time of death. I have
27130 heard a story about a Tibetan who was dying and his family called the lama to
27131 be with him. The lama sat beside him and told him to think only of his root
27132 guru and forget everything else. He said, "I can't recall my guru, I can only
27133 think of a sizzling sausage being warmed in the ashes of a fire." The lama was
27134 very skillful: "That is excellent!" he said. "Dewachen, the paradise of the
27135 Amitaba Buddha, is full of sausages; they grow on every tree. You only have
27136 to open your mouth and you will have all the sausages you want. The color of
27137 Amitaba is like the embers of a fire, so think of him and you will go to his
27138 realm." It is said that the man went straight to the pure land of Dewachen.
27139 -- Ringu Tulku, "Mind Training", edited by B.M. Shaughnessy, published
27140 by Snow Lion Publications
27142 "Yogis should at all times avoid fish, meat, and so forth,
27143 should eat with moderation, and avoid foods that are not
27144 conducive to health." --Kamalashila
27146 Meditators need to be physically healthy. Therefore, proper diet is
27147 essential. On the other hand, their minds should be clear and strong and this
27148 will also contribute to physical health. For these reasons, it is recommended
27149 that they give up eating fish, meat, garlic, onions, etc. Appropriate food
27150 should be eaten in moderation, for indigestion can cause havoc with
27151 meditation. What's more, those who overeat can hardly stay awake.
27152 ...If a vegetarian diet does not result in protein deficiency, it is a
27153 wholesome way of living. Even if you cannot be a strict vegetarian, at least
27154 moderating the amount of meat you eat is beneficial. Within the southern
27155 schools of Buddhism eating meat is not strictly prohibited, but the meat of
27156 certain animals, such as those that are not cloven-hoofed or those that have
27157 been slaughtered specifically for your consumption, is forbidden. This means
27158 that meat bought casually in the market is acceptable.... However, certain
27159 scriptures... strictly prohibit eating meat at all times, whereas other
27160 scriptures... seem to permit it.
27161 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", root text by Kamalashila,
27162 translated by Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and
27163 Jeremy Russell, published by Snow Lion Publications
27165 It would be wrong to say, as some do, that if we don't recite prayers while
27166 being aware of their meaning and merely repeat the words mindlessly, it has no
27167 benefit whatsoever--like prayer flags flapping in the wind. However, there
27168 are indeed differences in the level of benefits and blessings derived from
27169 prayers according to the way we recite them. Therefore, keeping this in mind,
27170 at the beginning of the practice, generate bodhicitta. During the main
27171 practice, some will use an object of concentration and some will practice
27172 without an object of concentration; each person should do what is best
27173 according to their level. At the end, one should dedicate the merit in a way
27174 that is pure from the three conceptual spheres to the best of one's ability.
27175 The most important and essential thing in making [prayer] meaningful is to
27176 depend on those three stages of practice--generation of bodhicitta, the main
27177 practice and dedication of merit. All must do the complete three stages of
27179 -- Chatral Rinpoche, "Compassionate Action", edited, introduced, and
27180 annotated by Zach Larson, published by Snow Lion Publications
27182 "When the thought of the internal
27183 And the external as 'I' and 'mine'
27184 Has perished, grasping ceases
27185 And through that cessation birth ceases.
27187 When actions and afflictions cease, there is liberation;
27188 They arise from false conceptions, these arise
27189 From the elaborations [of false views on inherent
27190 Existence]; elaborations cease in emptiness."
27193 Inherent existence has never been validly known to exist; therefore, it is
27194 impossible for there to be any phenomenon that exists through its own power.
27195 Since it is experienced that mere dependent-arisings, which are in fact empty
27196 of inherent existence, do cause all forms of help and harm, these are
27197 established as existent. Thus, mere dependent-arisings do exist. Therefore,
27198 all phenomena exist in the manner of appearing as varieties of dependent-
27199 arisings. They appear this way without passing beyond the sphere or condition
27200 of having just this nature of being utterly non-inherently existent.
27201 Therefore, all phenomena have two entities: one entity that is its superficial
27202 mode of appearance and one entity that is its deep mode of being. These two
27203 are called respectively conventional truths and ultimate truths.
27204 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
27205 Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
27207 The cloistered environment stands in stark contrast to the uncontrolled
27208 environment of everyday active life in the modern world. When I was a
27209 graduate student living in a family housing unit at Stanford University, I
27210 meditated early in the morning. At about 7:00 outside our window, a group of
27211 little girls would begin shrieking and driving their plastic tractors and
27212 tricycles across the bricks. I was meditating and these girls were disturbing
27213 my peace. I got to feeling pretty sorry for myself so I phoned my lama,
27214 Gyatrul Rinpoche, and asked for advice. He gave me a one-liner, "Just view
27215 it." This was not just Rinpoche's way of telling me to quit whining, but a
27216 reminder of the more encompassing teaching to embrace obstacles in practice.
27217 And carry on. We can't always control our environment, but we can embrace it,
27218 the good, the bad, and the loud, and integrate it into Dharma practice.
27219 -- B. Alan Wallace, "Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point
27220 Mind-Training", edited by Lynn Quirolo, published by Snow Lion Pub.
27222 He who throws mud only loses ground. -- Fat Albert (Bill Cosby)
27224 Grow old along with me!
27225 The best is yet to be.
27228 It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out;
27229 it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
27232 If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic,
27233 we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One
27234 might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the
27235 mathematics of probability.
27238 I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died. --Richard Diran
27240 Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history
27241 that man can never learn anything from history.
27242 -- George Bernard Shaw
27244 America believes in education: the average professor earns more
27245 money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
27248 We are more ready to try the untried
27249 when what we do is inconsequential.
27250 Hence the fact that many inventions
27251 had their birth as toys.
27254 Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion,
27255 for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
27256 -- Bertrand Russell
27258 Man is most nearly himself when he achieves
27259 the seriousness of a child at play.
27262 If we have been reborn time after time, it is evident that we have needed
27263 many mothers to give birth to us.... the first cause bringing about
27264 bodhicitta is the recognition that all beings have been our mother.
27265 The love and kindness shown us by our mother in this life would be
27266 difficult to repay. She endured many sleepless nights to care for us when we
27267 were helpless infants. She fed us and would have willingly sacrificed
27268 everything, including her own life, to spare ours. As we contemplate her
27269 example of devoted love, we should consider that each and every being
27270 throughout existence has treated us this way. Each dog, cat, fish, fly, and
27271 human being has at some point in the beginningless past been our mother and
27272 shown us overwhelming love and kindness. Such a thought should bring about
27274 ...if all other sentient beings who have been kind to us since
27275 beginningless time are suffering, how can we devote ourselves to pursuing
27276 merely our own happiness? To seek our own happiness in spite of the suffering
27277 others are experiencing is tragically unfortunate. Therefore, it is clear
27278 that we must try to free all sentient beings from suffering.
27279 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday
27280 Life", edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Khyongla Rato and
27283 3.2.4 The way in which experiences dawn through practicing [Mahamudra]
27285 In beginners, this is similar to water [gushing down] a gorge.
27286 In between, it is the gentle flow of the river Ganga.
27287 Finally, all waters meet like a mother and her child. -- Tilopa
27289 The meditative equipoise of beginners entails intense movement of
27290 thoughts, similar to water gushing down a narrow gorge. The reason for this
27291 is as follows. Though there is some slight resting in equipoise, thoughts
27292 proliferate. Right at that point, through the remedy of alertness and by
27293 considering that you like resting in meditative concentration and dislike not
27294 resting in it, you rest in meditative equipoise again. Through such an
27295 approach, your mind becomes somewhat uplifted.
27296 The meditative equipoise of those who have attained a little bit more
27297 stability than that and are of middling faculties is similar to the gentle
27298 flow of the river Ganga. The reason is as follows. Even if some thoughts
27299 come up, a little here and there, their own face is immediately recognized, so
27300 that the movement of thoughts does not run wild. Without various notions that
27301 chase after these [subtle thoughts] or any physical and mental effort, all
27302 thoughts that come up will dawn slowly. There is also no need to make great
27303 effort in [applying] their remedies. Rather, these happen naturally or of
27305 Finally, in the meditative equipoise of those with highest faculties,
27306 neither thoughts to be relinquished arise nor is there any need to newly
27307 create some remedial wisdom, because there is nothing to be relinquished.
27308 Since existence and peace have become one taste, mother and child luminosity
27309 blend, or, expanse and wisdom have become indifferentiable. Once the
27310 tributary waters and the ocean have become one taste, like a mother and her
27311 child meeting, they cannot be disturbed.
27312 -- The Fifth Shamarpa Goncho Yenla, "Straight from the Heart: Buddhist Pith
27313 Instructions", translated and introduced by Karl Brunnholzl, published
27314 by Snow Lion Publications
27316 The theory of interdependence allows us to develop a wider perspective.
27317 With wider mind, there is less attachment to destructive emotions like anger,
27318 therefore more forgiveness. In today's world, every nation is heavily
27319 interdependent, interconnected. Under these circumstances, destroying your
27320 enemy--your neighbor--means destroying yourself in the long run. You need
27321 your neighbor. More prosperity in your neighbor, you'll get the benefit.
27322 Now, we're not talking about the complete removal of feelings like anger,
27323 attachment, or pride. Just reduction. Interdependence is important because
27324 it is not a mere concept; it can actually help reduce the suffering caused by
27325 these destructive emotions.
27326 We can say the theory of interdependence is an understanding of reality.
27327 We understand that our future depends on global well-being. Having this
27328 viewpoint reduces narrow-mindedness. With narrow mind, one is more likely to
27329 develop attachment, hatred. I think this is the best thing about the theory
27330 of interdependence--it is an explanation of the law of nature. It affects
27331 profoundly, for example, the environment.
27332 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Victor Chan, "The Wisdom of Forgiveness:
27333 Intimate Conversations and Journeys"
27335 The Suffering of Change
27336 Feelings of suffering change into those of happiness. Feelings of
27337 happiness change into suffering. Both arise in dependence upon internal and
27338 external causes which change. For example, we see food as pleasurable, but if
27339 we eat too much, then it causes suffering. When we are young, we see our
27340 bodies as a source of pleasure. As we become older, the same body becomes a
27341 source of suffering.
27342 Just as a wave is always changing, so the nature of suffering is always to
27343 change. It may be experienced as pleasure or as suffering, but it arises from
27344 the same source. Pleasure arises from suffering. Seeing pleasure as
27345 happiness constitutes suffering.
27346 ...Pain and pleasure are of the same nature. Although they look different
27347 at different times, they both arise from the same sea of delusion and karmic
27348 action. Pleasure or pain, one or the other, arises and then falls back into
27349 the ocean. Thus we can conclude that pleasure and pain within the ocean of
27350 samsara are basically suffering, and dissolve into suffering.
27351 This becomes evident in the wide variety of sudden changes of experience
27352 depicted in films. Love and hatred, happiness and family strife, peace and
27353 war, follow each other in rapid succession. The continuous change, although
27354 exaggerated in films, is characteristic of life in general.
27355 -- Ven. Gen Lobsang Gyatso, "The Four Noble Truths", translated by Ven.
27356 Sherab Gyatso, published by Snow Lion Publications
27358 We feel money and power can bring happiness and solve problems, but they
27359 are not definite causes of those desired states. If that were so, it would
27360 follow that those who have wealth would necessarily have happiness, and those
27361 who do not have wealth would always experience suffering. Money and power
27362 facilitate, but it is clear that they are not the primary causes of, happiness
27363 and solving our problems. It is justified for us to make material and
27364 financial development for building our nation and providing shelter, etc. for
27365 ourselves; we need to do that. But we also need to seek inner development.
27366 As we can see, there are many people who have wealth and power who remain
27367 unhappy, due to which their health declines, and they are always taking
27368 medicines. On the other hand, we find people who live like beggars but who
27369 always remain peaceful and happy.
27370 Therefore, in our daily life a certain way of thinking makes us happy, and
27371 a certain way of thinking makes us unhappy. In other words, there are certain
27372 states of mind which bring us problems, and they can be removed; we need to
27373 make an effort in that direction. Likewise, there are certain states of mind
27374 that bring us peace and happiness, and we need to cultivate and enhance them.
27375 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama XIV, "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries", the
27376 Jatakamala translated by Tenzin Dorjee edited by Dexter Roberts
27378 Focusing the Mind on the Deity
27380 Those with superior mental capacity should refine their ability by
27381 practicing the development stage without any sense of clinging or fixation.
27382 In this approach, the appearance of the deity and its ornaments are visualized
27383 in such a way that they are totally complete, vivid, and distinct from the
27384 very beginning. This is the form of great wisdom, the union of development
27385 and completion. Beyond being an identifiable entity with a precise nature, it
27386 appears clearly yet is devoid of any essence. In other words, clarity and
27387 emptiness are indivisible. Like the reflection of the moon in a lake, its
27388 very nature is to appear in a distinct manner, down to the pupils of the eyes,
27389 while in reality it is empty.
27390 Those with moderate mental capacity should begin their meditation with a
27391 sudden recollection of the deity's complete appearance. The next step is to
27392 meditate on the clear appearance of the head, and, once this is stable, to
27393 then meditate progressively on the right arm, left arm, torso, right and left
27394 legs, and finally on the complete form of the deity and its seat. Training in
27395 the development stage of illusory clear appearance keeps one from straying
27396 into the view of nihilism. When one grows weary of this, the practitioner
27397 should recollect purity and refine his or her ability in the essence of this
27398 process, the vajra-like absorption. This key point keeps one from straying
27399 into the belief in permanence.
27400 For beginners with less mental capacity, it may be difficult to visualize
27401 in either of these ways. When not yet familiar with this process, one's
27402 ability should be refined using a permanent form. Take a consecrated and
27403 well-formed representation of the yidam deity, such as a painting or clay
27404 statue made by a skilled artisan, and place it before you. Without
27405 intentionally meditating, look directly at it from top to bottom without
27406 blinking. This is referred to as the auxiliary practice of setting
27407 mindfulness into motion. At first, the agitated movement of conditioned
27408 thought patterns will be experienced. This is the experience of movement,
27409 which is said to be "like water cascading off a cliff."
27410 -- Jigme Lingpa, Patrul Rinpoche, and Getse Mahapandita, "Deity, Mantra,
27411 and Wisdom: Development Stage Meditation in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra",
27412 translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee, fore. by Trulshik
27413 Rinpoche, fore. by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion
27416 The reason why we find so much discussion of epistemology, or how to
27417 define something as a valid cognition, in Buddhist writings is because all our
27418 problems, suffering and confusion derive from a misconceived way of perceiving
27419 things. This explains why it is so important for a practitioner to determine
27420 whether a cognitive event is a misconception or true knowledge. For it is
27421 only by generating insight which sees through delusion that we can become
27423 Even in our own experience we can see how our state of mind passes through
27424 different stages, eventually leading to a state of true knowledge. For
27425 instance, our initial attitude or standpoint on any given topic might be a
27426 very hardened misconception, thinking and grasping at a totally mistaken
27427 notion. But when that strong grasping at the wrong notion is countered with
27428 reasoning, it can then turn into a kind of lingering doubt, an uncertainty
27429 where we wonder: "Maybe it is the case, but then again maybe it is not". That
27430 would represent a second stage. When further exposed to reason or evidence,
27431 this doubt of ours can turn into an assumption, tending towards the right
27432 decision. However, it is still just a presumption, just a belief. When that
27433 belief is yet further exposed to reason and reflection, eventually we could
27434 arrive at what is called 'inference generated through a reasoning process'.
27435 Yet that inference remains conceptual, and it is not a direct knowledge of the
27436 object. Finally, when we have developed this inference and constantly
27437 familiarized ourselves with it, it could turn into an intuitive and direct
27438 realization--a direct experience of the event. So we can see through our own
27439 experience how our mind, as a result of being exposed to reason and
27440 reflection, goes through different stages, eventually leading to a direct
27441 experience of a phenomenon or event.
27442 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
27443 Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron, foreword by
27444 Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion
27447 Not recognizing their own face, but letting them run wild, one thought leads
27448 to many kinds of [other] thoughts. If you fall into letting this continue,
27449 you wander around in confusion. Through directly looking at the face of
27450 whatever thought that comes up at the very start [of a potential train of
27451 thought], without being able to stand its own ground, just like a rainbow
27452 fading away in space, this thought vanishes into emptiness. Since you arrive
27453 at such within the previous experience of stillness, if you become familiar
27454 with it, the stream of confusion is severed through thoughts coming to rest on
27455 their own and vanishing on their own. Hence, if you know how to sustain this,
27456 even if you regard movement as a flaw and [try to] stop it, you need neither
27457 stop it nor [apply] any other remedy for the movement of thoughts. Rather, by
27458 sustaining the state of realizing their own essence, you realize the essential
27459 point that all the various appearances of happiness and suffering emerge from
27460 the mind and dissolve back into the mind. Through this, you realize the
27461 essential point that all of cyclic existence and nirvana is produced by the
27462 mind, the mind resting naturally settled without being affected by thoughts
27463 about the three times.
27464 -- "Straight From the Heart: Buddhist Pith Instructions", translated and
27465 introduced by Karl Brunnholzl, published by Snow Lion Publications
27467 It's a dangerous business going out your front door. -- JRR Tolkien
27469 The only way to entertain some folks is to listen to them. -- Kin Hubbard
27471 Never face facts; if you do,
27472 you'll never get up in the morning.
27476 I hate it as much as I hate peanuts.
27477 But I can't stop eating peanuts.
27480 One cannot always be a hero, but one can always be a human. -- Goethe
27482 The opposite of talking isn't listening.
27483 The opposite of talking is waiting.
27486 Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal
27487 with the intent of throwing it at someone else;
27488 you are the one who gets burned.
27489 -- Shakyamuni Buddha
27491 Question: Western religions use the term "God", and Buddhism does not. Could
27492 emptiness or nirvana be considered God? If the afflictive obstruction that is
27493 the conception of inherent existence is eliminated, does one realize that
27496 Dalai Lama: If God is interpreted as an ultimate reality or truth, then
27497 selflessness may be considered as God and even as a creator in the sense that
27498 within the nature of emptiness things appear and disappear. In this sense,
27499 emptiness is the basis of everything; because of emptiness, things can change,
27500 and things can appear and disappear. Thus, voidness--emptiness,
27501 selflessness--is this kind of basis.
27503 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
27504 Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
27505 published by Snow Lion Publications
27509 Because such love and compassion have not arisen in their mindstreams,
27510 people don't understand that all sentient beings are their kind mothers. They
27511 hold on to them as friends or foes, and the power of bad karmic action causes
27512 them to experience the immeasurable suffering of cyclic existence. "Wouldn't
27513 it be a joy if I could carry the suffering of those mothers, and if all beings
27514 could have all of my happiness and virtue? In order to establish these
27515 mothers in happiness, what a joy it would be if, until cyclic existence is
27516 empty, their suffering and the cause and effect of suffering, their sins and
27517 the cause and effect of sins, would all ripen in me and these mothers would
27518 become abundantly happy. I give my body, enjoyments, power, prestige, and
27519 roots of virtue in all times for the sake of these mothers. I won't pursue my
27520 own peace and happiness for even a moment. I will work for the welfare of
27521 beings without regard for life or limb. These mothers must have the entire
27522 range of happiness and the causes of happiness." With that thought, meditate
27524 "Furthermore, I will not shrink away from the specific harm done to
27525 sentient beings, or any kind of sickness, suffering, misfortune, enemies, and
27526 obstructions that happen to me for their sakes. What a joy if all the
27527 suffering of beings ripened in me, so that I would have that kind of
27528 suffering. And even a greater joy when those suffering beings are free of
27529 suffering and dwell in exceptional happiness."
27530 Generate an extraordinary attitude with that thinking. It is important
27531 that such joy does not stray into any kind of bias. And if you know it all to
27532 be like a dream or an illusion, free of fixation to true existence, it is
27533 called immeasurable joy.
27534 -- "Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Dharma)",
27535 translated and edited by Sarah Harding, a Tsadra Foundation Series
27536 book published by Snow Lion Publications
27538 Curiosity is the very basis of education
27539 and if you tell me curiosity killed the cat
27540 I say only that the cat died nobly.
27541 -- Arnold Edinborough
27543 Knowledge will forever govern ignorance
27544 and a people who mean to be their own governors
27545 must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives...
27548 Question: What should you say to a loved one who is talking about a third
27549 person with hatred or anger? On the one hand, you want to show compassion for
27550 the feelings being experienced by the loved one. On the other hand, you don't
27551 want to reinforce or lend approval to that hatred. What might one say?
27553 Dalai Lama: Here I would like to tell a story. Once there was a Kadampa
27554 master called Gampowa who had many responsibilities. One day he complained to
27555 the Kadampa master Dromtonpa that he had hardly any time for his meditation or
27556 for his Dharma practice. So Dromtonpa responded by agreeing with him, "Yes,
27557 that's right. I don't have any time either." Then once an immediate affinity
27558 was established, Dromtonpa skillfully said, "But, you know what I am doing is
27559 for the service of the Dharma. Therefore, I feel satisfied." Similarly, if
27560 you find one of your beloved ones speaking against someone out of anger or
27561 hatred, maybe your initial reaction should be one of agreement and sympathy.
27562 Then once you have gained the person's confidence, you can say, "But...."
27563 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
27564 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published
27565 by Snow Lion Publications
27567 ...if you have not purified ordinary appearances into emptiness, how could
27568 you possibly meditate on the mandala circle? The fact that all phenomena are
27569 emptiness, that samsara and nirvana are inseparable, is the very reason we are
27570 able to actualize this by meditating on the mandala circle. In other words,
27571 emptiness is the basis for the development stage. As it is said, "For the one
27572 to whom emptiness is possible, anything is possible." If all phenomena were
27573 not empty and ordinary appearances were truly present, development stage
27574 meditation would be impossible, as the following quotation points out: "Even
27575 though one might empower wheat to be rice, rice won't actually appear."
27576 However, even if all phenomena are realized to be empty in this way, without
27577 the momentum of great compassion you will not be able to manifest the
27578 rupakayas to benefit others. This is similar to the listeners and solitary
27579 buddhas, who enter into a state of cessation and do not benefit others with
27580 rupakaya emanations.
27581 Once one understands this point, it will be like the following saying:
27582 "All these phenomena are like an illusion and birth is like taking a stroll
27583 in a park...." Said differently, one will no longer dwell in existence, while
27584 through compassion, one will not get caught up in a state of peace either.
27585 This is the great, universal path of the offspring of the victorious ones.
27586 For all these reasons, making sure the three absorptions are not isolated from
27587 one another is a vitally important point.
27588 -- Jigme Lingpa, Patrul Rinpoche, and Getse Mahapandita, "Deity, Mantra,
27589 and Wisdom: Development Stage Meditation in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra",
27590 translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee, fore. by Trulshik
27591 Rinpoche, fore. by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Pub.
27593 We can experience things without confusion and without being tense. Even
27594 the most disturbed, nervous person has moments of clarity and calmness--even
27595 if only when he or she is peacefully asleep and dreaming pleasant or innocuous
27596 dreams. This demonstrates that confusion and tension are not integral parts
27597 of the nature of mind. Thus confusion can be removed. Not only can it be
27598 removed, but since confusion cannot be validated and can be totally replaced
27599 by understanding, which can be verified, confusion can be eliminated forever.
27600 Thus it is possible for a total absence of confusion to exist. Furthermore,
27601 since confusion limits mind from using its full potentials, once confusion is
27602 gone, a utilization of all potentials can also exist. Therefore, since we all
27603 have a mind, and all minds have the same nature of being able to experience
27604 whatever exists, we can all realize and experience the definitive Three
27606 Thus, if we aim to remove our confusion and realize our potentials as
27607 indicated by the Buddhas, their achievement, their teachings, what they have
27608 built up along the path and those who are progressing along it, we are
27609 traveling through life with a safe, reliable and positive direction. Taking
27610 refuge, then, means to put this realistic, safe direction in our life.
27611 Without it, our practice of mahamudra either has no direction and leads
27612 nowhere, or an unsound direction leading to more confusion and trouble. In
27613 addition, the further we travel in this safe direction through the mahamudra
27614 techniques--in other words, the more we realize the nature of mind and its
27615 relation to reality--the more confident we become in the soundness of this
27616 direction and our ability to reach its goal. The stronger our confidence, the
27617 further we progress along the path.
27618 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
27619 Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
27621 The Rolling Stones have a song that goes,
27622 "Wild horses couldn't drag me away.
27623 Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day."
27624 That is the level that we have to reach, where wild horses cannot drag us
27625 away from the present moment of awareness. Once we have reached that level of
27626 training, then even in the bardos of death we will be able to guide our mind
27627 steadily past all difficulties toward awakening, toward freedom from samsara.
27628 There is another well-known image; it compares our wild minds to a mad
27629 elephant in a china shop. When untamed, this elephant can very easily destroy
27630 many things in the shop, and even the shop itself. With one move, the
27631 elephant can destroy a wall; and with another move, another wall. In only
27632 four moves, this elephant can destroy the whole structure. In the same way,
27633 if our minds are not tamed, they can easily destroy our whole collection of
27634 virtue--all the merit and wisdom we have accumulated through the
27635 accomplishment of countless positive deeds.
27636 Vipashyana meditation is the process of taming and training our minds.
27637 How do we do it? We catch our minds with shamatha and we train them with
27638 vipashyana. Then we ride our minds with mindfulness while remaining aware of
27639 the greater environment. Following these methods, we will reach our goal
27640 quite quickly--especially when we remember the thought of impermanence, which
27642 -- Dzogchen Ponlop, "Mind Beyond Death", published by Snow Lion Publications
27644 With or without religion, you would have good people doing
27645 good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good
27646 people to do evil things, that takes religion.
27649 Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
27652 I was born not knowing and have had only a little
27653 time to change that here and there.
27656 As for me, except for an occasional heart attack,
27657 I feel as young as I ever did.
27660 It is possible to understand the Buddhist teachings as a method of
27661 psychological healing, comparable to psychotherapy, that teaches us how we can
27662 master destructive forces like anger, envy, and greed. Human beings seem to
27663 be a bundle of different qualities and psychological processes. We should
27664 attentively examine our qualities and be alertly aware of our experiences in
27665 order to recognize what we truly feel and think. At the same time, the
27666 personality of human beings is not seen as a unified whole. According to
27667 these teachings, the heart of consciousness is composed of various elements,
27668 the five types of attachment, or skandhas: body, sensations, perceptions,
27669 instinctual forces, and consciousness.
27670 These inner forces impart the false concept of an ego-consciousness. The
27671 basic problem of emotional disorders therefore lies in a false concept of
27672 identity. This I-blindness should therefore be abolished through self-
27673 study.... The goal is not self-realization but selflessness.
27674 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Felizitas Von Schonborn, "Path of
27675 Wisdom, Path of Peace", foreword by Wei Jingsheng
27677 Life would be unbearable if everything stayed the same because human beings
27678 find situations that are fixed and predictable very hard to tolerate. Even in
27679 small matters, we become uneasy if we feel there is no end in sight. I know
27680 of couples who live harmoniously together for ten years then marry and are
27681 divorced within a year. As soon as they feel bound to each other for the rest
27682 of their lives, they begin to fight. Impermanence removes our reasons for
27683 quarrelling with each other. Arguments only break out if we imagine that our
27684 relationships are endless. When we appreciate that our time with our
27685 families, partners, and friends may be shorter than we think, we get on better
27686 with each other. Awareness of impermanence gives us extraordinary inner
27687 strength and resilience.
27688 -- Ringu Tulku, "Mind Training", edited by B.M. Shaughnessy, published by
27689 Snow Lion Publications
27691 Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.
27694 The ability to look at events from different perspectives can be very
27695 helpful. Then, practicing this, one can use certain experiences, certain
27696 tragedies, to develop a calmness of mind. One must realize that every
27697 phenomenon, every event, has different aspects. Everything is of a relative
27698 nature. For example, in my own case, I lost my country. From that viewpoint,
27699 it is very tragic--and there are even worse things. There's a lot of
27700 destruction happening in our country. That's a very negative thing. But if I
27701 look at the same event from another angle, I realize that as a refugee, I have
27702 another perspective. As a refugee there is no need for formalities, ceremony,
27703 protocol. If everything were status quo, if things were okay, then on a lot
27704 of occasions you merely go through the motions; you pretend. But when you are
27705 passing through desperate situations, there's no time to pretend. So from
27706 that angle, this tragic experience has been very useful to me. Also, being a
27707 refugee creates a lot of new opportunities for meeting with many people.
27708 People from different religious traditions, from different walks of life,
27709 those whom I may not have met had I remained in my country. So in that sense
27710 it's been very, very useful.
27711 It seems that often when problems arise, our outlook becomes narrow. All
27712 of our attention may be focused on worrying about the problem, and we may have
27713 a sense that we're the only one that is going through such difficulties. This
27714 can lead to a kind of self-absorption that can make the problem seem very
27715 intense. When this happens, I think that seeing things from a wider
27716 perspective can definitely help--realizing, for instance, that there are many
27717 other people who have gone through similar experiences, and even worse
27718 experiences. This practice of shifting perspective can even be helpful in
27719 certain illnesses or when in pain. At the time the pain arises it is of
27720 course often very difficult, at that moment, to do formal meditation practices
27721 to calm the mind. But if you can make comparisons, view your situation from a
27722 different perspective, somehow something happens. If you only look at that
27723 one event, then it appears bigger and bigger. If you focus too closely, too
27724 intensely, on a problem when it occurs, it appears uncontrollable. But if you
27725 compare that event with some other greater event, look at the same problem
27726 from a distance, then it appears smaller and less overwhelming.
27727 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art of
27728 Happiness: A Handbook for Living"
27730 Three Forms of Compassion
27732 Chandrakirti explained three types of compassion: compassion aimed at
27733 suffering, aimed at phenomena, and unaimed. With the first, we look at
27734 animate beings in light of their suffering and develop the wish for them to be
27735 free from both that suffering and its causes. One source of their suffering
27736 is their unawareness that they even have any problems, let alone their not
27737 knowing the causes of their problems. For example, our friend becomes upset
27738 at the slightest thing that goes wrong and sees this as normal. He or she
27739 does not understand that hypersensitivity is to blame and that something can
27740 be done to remedy this. When we see this sad situation, our compassion for
27741 our friend becomes even stronger.
27742 Compassion aimed at phenomena looks at beings in light of their moment-to-
27743 moment changes. With it, we wish others to be free of suffering and its
27744 causes based on the understanding that these both are impermanent. We also
27745 see that others are unaware of this fact and so, when depressed, for example,
27746 they make their sufferings worse by imagining that they will last forever.
27747 Realizing this further enhances compassion for them.
27748 Unaimed compassion looks at beings in terms of their voidness. It has the
27749 same wish as the other two forms, but is based on not identifying others
27750 concretely with their suffering. Seeing that others do not have this insight
27751 and that consequently they identify themselves with their problems intensifies
27752 our compassion for them even more.
27753 -- Alexander Berzin, "Developing Balanced Sensitivity: Practical Buddhist
27754 Exercises for Daily Life", published by Snow Lion Publications
27756 Don't be confused; the point of Scrum and XP and other agile methodologies is
27757 the same point behind any management technique of the past 100 years--squeeze
27758 every drop of work out of your workers until they are empty husks and can be
27759 thrown away. If you're a programmer and you think Scrum is going to "empower"
27760 you, you could not be more mistaken. Management will hide behind the
27761 principles of Scrum when it suits them and then still do whatever they want
27762 otherwise. When it's pointed out to them that they're violating the agile
27763 principles, they will simply claim that this is how the system is tailored
27764 for our company's "needs" and that we shouldn't blindly follow it. But if you
27765 need to break with an agile practice, oh no, the process is *God* and we must
27766 follow it to the exact letter.
27769 I always believe that each individual human being has some kind of
27770 responsibility for humanity as a whole....
27771 Through my own profession, I try my best to contribute as much as I can.
27772 This proceeds without my being concerned whether another person agrees with
27773 my philosophy or not. Some people may be very much against my belief, my
27774 philosophy, but I feel all right. So long as I see that a human being suffers
27775 or has needs, I shall contribute as much as I can to contribute to their
27777 -- Dalai Lama XIV, "Consciousness at the Crossroads", edited by Zara
27778 Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by
27779 Snow Lion Publications
27781 A Song on Impermanence
27783 With this spouse and these near and dear ones you desire to live together,
27784 Inseparable for all times, but there is no doubt that you will be separated.
27786 From this excellent home you would like to be inseparable forever
27787 And take root in it, but you will surely depart.
27789 From this happiness, well-being, and wealth you want to be inseparable forever
27790 So you can relish them, but it is certain you will lose them.
27792 From this supreme human body with its freedoms and riches you wish to be
27794 And own it until the end of times, but there is no way that you won't die.
27796 From this really great teacher you yearn to be inseparable
27797 And listen to the dharma for all eternity, but there is no question that you
27800 From these good friends you wish to be inseparable forever
27801 So you can hang out together, but it's a sure thing that you will be parted.
27803 Therefore, from today on, don your armor of vigor--
27804 The time has come to travel to the land of inseparable great bliss.
27805 You friends who have developed weariness from the depths of your hearts,
27806 I, a dharma-beggar, request you to do so.
27808 -- The Omniscient Longchen Rabjam, "Straight from the Heart: Buddhist Pith
27809 Instructions", translated and introduced by Karl Brunnholzl, published
27810 by Snow Lion Publications
27812 The wisdom that realizes emptiness, that has gained insight into the
27813 nature of reality, is of varying kinds, depending upon the level of subtlety
27814 of the consciousness perceiving the emptiness. In general, there are rough
27815 levels of consciousness, more subtle levels, and then the innermost subtle
27816 level of consciousness. It is the uncommon characteristic of Tantric practice
27817 that through it one can evoke this most subtle consciousness at will and put
27818 it to use in a most effective way. For example, when emptiness is realized by
27819 this subtlest level of mind, it is more powerful, having a much greater effect
27820 on the personality.
27821 In order to activate or make use of the more subtle levels of
27822 consciousness, it is necessary to block the rougher levels--the rougher or
27823 grosser levels must cease. It is through specifically Tantric practices, such
27824 as the meditations on the chakras and the channels, that one can control and
27825 temporarily abandon the rougher levels of consciousness. When these become
27826 suppressed, the subtler levels of consciousness become active. And it is
27827 through the use of the subtlest level of consciousness that the most powerful
27828 spiritual realizations can come about. Hence, it is through the Tantric
27829 practice involving the most subtle consciousness that the goal of
27830 enlightenment can most quickly be realized.
27831 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
27832 edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
27834 By building up good habits of the mind in meditation, our behavior in daily
27835 life gradually changes. Our anger decreases, we are better able to make
27836 decisions, and we become less dissatisfied and restless. These results of
27837 meditation can be experienced now. But we should always try to have a broader
27838 and more encompassing motivation to meditate than just our own present
27839 happiness. If we generate the motivation to meditate in order to make
27840 preparation for future lives, to attain liberation from the cycle of
27841 constantly recurring problems, or to reach the state of full enlightenment for
27842 the benefit of all beings, then naturally our minds will also be peaceful now.
27843 In addition, we'll be able to attain those high and noble goals.
27844 -- Thubten Chodron, "Buddhism for Beginners", published by Snow Lion
27847 ...all four tantra sets make use of deity yoga, the special tantric means
27848 for amassing the collections of merit and wisdom quickly. Highest Yoga Tantra
27849 has, in addition, techniques for generating subtler minds that realise
27850 emptiness and for using the winds or currents of energy that are the mounts of
27851 these subtler minds as the substantial cause of an actual divine body.
27852 Through this enhancement of the wisdom consciousness the obstructions to
27853 omniscience are quickly removed and Buddhahood is attained.
27854 In the three lower tantras--Action, Performance, and Yoga--deity yoga is
27855 used to bring about the speedy achievement of many common feats and to come
27856 directly under the care of Buddhas and high Bodhisattvas, receiving their
27857 blessings, and so forth. This is done through a threefold process known as
27858 prior approximation, effecting the achievement of feats, and using the feats
27859 in the performance of activities for the welfare of others.
27860 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Deity Yoga in
27861 Action and Performance Tantra", published by Snow Lion Publications
27863 If you are able to think about the meaning of cyclic existence in general and
27864 human life in particular, then it is possible to discipline the mind through
27865 religious practice which is the process of becoming peaceful and anxiety-free.
27866 Otherwise, if too much emphasis is put on the sufferings of the hells and the
27867 imminence of death, there is a chance of falling into paralysing fear. There
27868 is a story in Tibet about an abbot of a monastery who went to give a
27869 discourse. A fellow asked the abbot's servant where the abbot had gone, and
27870 the servant said, "He has gone to frighten old men and women." If you fulfil
27871 the value of a human lifetime through engaging in religious practice, then
27872 there is no point in worrying about death.
27873 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in Tibet",
27874 published by Snow Lion Publications
27876 ...if a fire which consumes
27877 One house moves to another,
27878 It is right to throw out anything
27879 Like straw which could ignite.
27881 Likewise anything to which the mind
27882 Is attached ignites the fire of anger.
27883 Fearing our merit will be consumed,
27884 It should be discarded at once.
27886 If a house is on fire and the fire is spreading, we need to clear away straw,
27887 wood or anything else which is highly flammable and could cause a conflagration
27888 that would consume our entire home and property. Similarly, one way to prevent
27889 desire and attachment is to avoid contact with the objects that stimulate it.
27890 If anything comes between us and what we desire or if the thing to which we're
27891 attached is harmed or threatened, we instantly feel angry. This destroys the
27892 positive energy we've created.
27893 Another way is not to avoid the objects but to contemplate their unappealing
27894 aspects, because desire results from focusing only on their attractive side.
27895 The third way is to contemplate their lack of true existence, since desire and
27896 clinging are based on seeing them as very real and objectively existent.
27897 Whichever technique we employ, the aim is to prevent desire and attachment,
27898 since they bring many other problems.
27899 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, "The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas",
27900 translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
27902 Usually when we breathe, we breathe in and, as soon as we have finished
27903 breathing in, we immediately start breathing out. And as soon as we have
27904 finished breathing out, we start breathing in again. There is never any space
27905 or gap in between the in-breath and the out-breath. Now, many different ways
27906 of focusing the mind on the breathing have been taught.... There are
27907 basically six methods taught in the abhidharma. But here we have something
27908 different from any of those. This is called gentle threefold breathing. It
27909 is called gentle because there is no particular attempt to manipulate the
27910 breathing, except that instead of breathing in and then immediately breathing
27911 out, after breathing in, you wait before you breathe out...here the duration
27912 of the inhalation, of the retention, and of the exhalation should all be
27913 equal, three equal periods within each complete breath.
27914 In doing this, some people combine the phases of the breath with the
27915 mental repetition of the three mantra syllables: OM AH HUM (HUNG)--OM
27916 coordinated with the in-breath, AH with the retention of the breath, and HUM
27917 (HUNG) with the out-breath. But what is most important here is simply to
27918 recollect, as they occur, the inhalation, retention, and exhalation, so that,
27919 while you are inhaling, you are aware that you are doing so; while you are
27920 retaining the breath, you are aware that you are doing so; and while you are
27921 exhaling, you are aware that you are doing so. In the beginning, it is
27922 recommended that beginners start with doing, for example, twenty-one of these
27923 breaths as a series, and it is important to practice with enough mindfulness
27924 so that, while you breathe in, and so forth, you maintain an awareness of what
27925 part of the breathing process you are in.
27926 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "The Ninth Karmapa's Ocean of Definitive
27927 Meaning", edited, introduced and annotated by Lama Tashi Namgyal,
27928 published by Snow Lion Publications
27930 Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal
27931 drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze.
27932 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
27934 ...though the emptiness of an impure phenomenon and the emptiness of a
27935 pure phenomenon are the same, there is a difference. What is the difference?
27936 The continuum of an impure substratum will later cease, not existing in
27937 Buddhahood, whereas a pure substratum's continuum of similar type will exist
27938 right through Buddhahood. Since the deity as whom you are imaginatively
27939 meditating yourself is a divine figure that exists in the state of Buddhahood
27940 when all defilements have been abandoned, this substratum is, for your
27942 Hence, it is important when doing deity yoga to put great effort into:
27943 * working at realizing emptiness as much as you can,
27944 * then imagining that the wisdom realizing emptiness appears itself
27945 as a compassionately directed divine body with a face, arms, and
27947 * and then taking this divine figure as the substratum and
27948 continuously meditating on its emptiness.
27949 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra: Paths
27950 to Magical Feats", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by
27951 Snow Lion Publications
27953 ...when you explain or hear the teachings, if your mind and the teachings
27954 remain separate, then whatever is explained will be inconsequential. Hence,
27955 listen in such a way that you determine how these teachings apply to your
27956 mind. For example, when you want to find out whether or not there is some
27957 smudge, dirt, or whatever, on your face, you look in a mirror and then remove
27958 whatever is there. Similarly, when you listen to the teachings, your faults
27959 such as misconduct and attachment appear in the mirror of the teachings. At
27960 that time, you regret that your mind has become like this, and you then work
27961 to clear away those faults and establish good qualities. Hence, you must
27962 train in the teachings.
27963 --Tsong-kha-pa, "The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to
27964 Enlightenment: The Lamrim Chenmo", translated by the Lamrim Chenmo
27965 Translation Committee, Joshua Cutler, Editor in Chief, published
27966 by Snow Lion Publications
27968 if god exists, then god doesn't need me to believe in god. it will not
27969 harm god if i do not believe, because god's existence is not dependent on
27970 my belief. god could contact me directly if god existed and actually cared
27971 what i believed, thus i see no reason to believe in god until then. since
27972 i don't need to believe in god, this frees me from wasting any mental
27973 effort *believing* when that belief will not create god if god doesn't
27974 exist, and when my disbelief will not destroy god if god does exist.
27975 i can't change the state of god's existence one way or the other--i have
27976 realized this limitation in my capabilities.
27977 instead, god needs to believe in me. it's my existence that presumably
27978 requires god's participation in some way, if god does exist. but regardless
27979 of any effort to placate a deity, i feel that i need to be the kind of person
27980 who is worth believing in, by god or by anyone else. my seeking perfection
27981 should not come from fear of an ignored and needy deity. i must build the
27982 best moral and ethical system that i can come up with for myself in this life.
27983 it is my own self-control and my behavior towards others that is the final
27984 word on whether i am worth believing in.
27987 Sometimes doing nothing is doing something.
27988 -- Sir Thomas Robert Dewar
27990 Enjoy now, another now is coming.
27991 -- Sir Thomas Robert Dewar
27993 Less pain, more gain.
27994 -- Sir Thomas Robert Dewar
27996 The pause is a part of the walk.
27997 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
27999 Go ahead, look around.
28000 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
28002 You better wait for the unexpected.
28003 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
28005 Making a mistake is also an achievement.
28008 Leave for tomorrow what you can't do today.
28011 The further you are from a problem, the smaller it gets.
28014 If you think you know it all, you are missing something.
28017 Proper rules are not written.
28018 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
28020 Sometimes a step forward needs a step back.
28023 If you get to the top on your own, who'll take the picture?
28024 -- Sir Thomas Robert Dewar, aka Lord Dewar
28026 When a man says his word is as his bond--get his bond.
28027 -- Sir Thomas Robert Dewar, aka Lord Dewar
28029 Never invest in a going concern until you know which way it is going.
28032 The quality of the article should be its greatest achievement.
28033 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
28035 If you do not advertise, you fossilize.
28036 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
28038 Yesterday's success belongs to yesterday.
28041 In charity there is no excess.
28044 The greatest mistake you can make is to be
28045 continually fearing you will make one.
28048 Life is a one-way street and you're not coming back.
28049 -- Sir Thomas Robert Dewar
28051 Fish stimulates the brain, but fishing stimulates the imagination.
28054 Respectability is the state of never being caught
28055 doing anything which gives you pleasure.
28058 Of two evils, choose the more interesting.
28061 There is no traffic congestion on the straight and narrow path.
28064 We have a great regard for old age when it is bottled.
28067 A philosopher is a man who can look at an empty glass with a smile.
28068 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
28070 A teetotaller is one who suffers from thirst instead of enjoying it.
28071 -- Sir Thomas Dewar
28073 Experience is what you get when you're looking for something else.
28076 Ability without enthusiasm is like a rifle without a bullet.
28079 You can send a boy to college but you can't make him think.
28082 If we are here to help others, I often wonder what the others are here for.
28085 Don't question your wife's judgment; look who she married.
28088 I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we may succeed in
28089 building a better world through human understanding and love, and that in
28090 doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.
28091 -- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech,
28092 Oslo, December 1989, "The Pocket Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by
28095 Benefiting living beings is my main practice, and I would like to give a brief
28096 introduction to the three qualities that are its basis: pure love, compassion,
28097 and bodhichitta, the awakened mind. Pure love is the desire that all living
28098 beings have happiness and its causes. Compassion is the desire that living
28099 beings be free of suffering and its causes, such as unwholesome actions.
28100 Bodhichitta is the desire that all living beings be free of suffering and that
28101 we will be able to place them on the unsurpassed level of awakening, or
28103 -- "Music in the Sky: The Life, Art, and Teachings of the 17th Gyalwa
28104 Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje", by Michele Martin, published by Snow
28107 How can we eliminate the deepest source of all unsatisfactory experience?
28108 Only by cultivating certain qualities within our mindstream. Unless we
28109 possess high spiritual qualifications, there is no doubt that the events life
28110 throws upon us will give rise to frustration, emotional turmoil, and other
28111 distorted states of consciousness. These imperfect states of mind in turn
28112 give rise to imperfect activities, and the seeds of suffering are ever planted
28113 in a steady flow. On the other hand, when the mind can dwell in the wisdom
28114 that knows the ultimate mode of being, one is able to destroy the deepest root
28115 of distortion, negative karma and sorrow.
28116 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", translated and
28117 edited by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
28119 It is important to realize that there is nobody else who can wake us up and
28120 save us from samsara. There is no such thing in Buddhism. That may be
28121 Buddhism's biggest drawback, and at the same time its greatest advantage.
28122 This view shows us that there is nobody else in control of our lives, our
28123 experiences, our freedom or our bondage. Who is responsible? Who is in
28124 control? It is us. We are in control. We can bind ourselves further in
28125 samsara or we can free ourselves from it right now. It is all up to us. We
28126 are the ones who have to keep looking at our thoughts, looking for the nature
28127 of our mind. There is no guru, deity, buddha or bodhisattva out there to look
28128 for it for us. Although they would happily do this, it would not help us; it
28129 would only help them. We have to do it for ourselves. That is the key point.
28130 -- Dzogchen Ponlop, "Mind Beyond Death", published by Snow Lion Publications
28132 ...mistakenly apprehending inherent existence in all phenomena
28133 serves as the root of all other delusions...
28135 The opponent force powerful enough to eliminate the delusions should be a
28136 wisdom which combines calm abiding and special insight. In order to cultivate
28137 an advanced meditative stabilization that is free of both subtle mental
28138 sinking and mental excitement, first of all there should be a basis: the
28139 practice of morality, an abstaining from negative actions. Therefore, the
28140 path leading to liberation is comprised of the three higher trainings: the
28141 training of morality as the foundation, the training of meditative
28142 stabilization as the complementing factor, and the actual path which is the
28143 training of wisdom. By enhancing the practice of wisdom and by developing it
28144 to its fullest extent, you will be able to eliminate totally the delusions,
28145 particularly ignorance which misapprehends the mode of being of phenomena.
28146 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Bliss", translated by Geshe Thupten
28147 Jinpa, edited by Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
28149 There is considerable ongoing debate regarding the traditional view of the
28150 guru-disciple relationship, which asserts that seeing the guru as Buddha,
28151 impeccable and without failings, is vital to ripen the disciple's potential to
28152 attain the fruits of the path. This is reinforced by the admonition that to
28153 see faults in one's own guru will result in karmic downfalls and future
28154 suffering for the disciple. Any faults in the teacher should be seen as the
28155 disciple's aberrations projected outside. The tantric teachings insist this
28156 pure view should be held at all times to protect the disciple from accruing
28158 However, underlying this is also the need to preserve the integrity,
28159 authority, and status of the teacher. This leads to a great deal of confusion
28160 when students begin to see evident flaws in teachers, and it would be folly to
28161 explain them away as the students' impure perception. Consequently it has
28162 become necessary to cultivate a less dogmatic, more pragmatic view. A teacher
28163 may not be a perfect carrier of the projection, but this does not contradict
28164 the tantric view that essentially the guru, an inner phenomenon projected
28165 outside, is Buddha.
28166 If we literalize this principle of the teacher as the embodiment of
28167 perfection, we are in danger of blinding ourselves to the reality that most
28168 teachers are human, and therefore not perfect. An individual can have deep
28169 insights into the nature of reality and still have human failings, a shadow
28170 that has not been fully eradicated. According to the teachings on the Ten
28171 Grounds or Stages of the Bodhisattva, until the final ground is reached, there
28172 are still subtle obscurations to full enlightenment that can manifest in
28173 flawed behavior. Believing without question that the outer guru is Buddha
28174 also traps the teacher in an unrealistic, unconscious position. The Dalai
28175 Lama has commented that too much deference harms the teacher, because we never
28176 challenge him or her.
28177 When disciples become devoted to teachers, considerable power and
28178 authority is entrusted to them. While a teacher's role is to support and
28179 empower disciples to discover their own potential, sometimes this does not
28180 happen. Some teachers become caught in the powerful position they have been
28181 endowed with and are unaware of their own desire for power and authority.
28182 They may begin to enjoy their power too much and take advantage of it for
28183 their own needs. This keeps their disciples disempowered, and ultimately does
28184 not allow growth and individual responsibility to emerge. Teachers may be
28185 unconsciously afraid to empower their disciples and allow them to gain a sense
28186 of their own authority and autonomy. They may try to hold on to their
28187 disciples, when to genuinely empower them could lead to their leaving to
28188 engage in their own journey.
28189 --Rob Preece, "The Psychology of Buddhist Tantra", foreword by Stephen
28190 Batchelor, published by Snow Lion Publications
28192 Attachment increases desire, without producing any satisfaction. There
28193 are two types of desire, unreasonable and reasonable. The first is an
28194 affliction founded on ignorance, but the second is not. To live, you need
28195 resources; therefore, desire for sufficient material things is appropriate.
28196 Such feelings as, "This is good; I want this. This is useful," are not
28197 afflictions. It is also desirable to achieve altruism, wisdom, and
28198 liberation. This kind of desire is suitable; indeed, all human development
28199 comes out of desire, and these aspirations do not have to be an affliction.
28200 ...when you have attachment to material things, it is best to desist from
28201 those very activities that promote more attachment. Satisfaction is helpful
28202 when it comes to material things, but not with respect to spiritual practice.
28203 Objects to which we become attached are something to be discarded, whereas
28204 spiritual progress is something to be adopted--it can be developed
28205 limitlessly, even in old age.
28206 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "How to Expand Love", translated and edited by
28209 Some people find it helpful to set a determination of a reasonable period
28210 of time during which they will sit in meditation without moving. If you do
28211 this, do not make it into a contest in which you grit your teeth in pain just
28212 to say that you sat without moving for a certain length of time. That isn't
28213 conducive for focusing with wisdom on the object of meditation. On the other
28214 hand, avoid moving whenever you feel the slightest bit of restlessness or
28215 discomfort. Doing that isn't conducive for developing concentration either.
28216 Rather, note when there is the urge to move but don't move. Observe the
28217 sensation: Is it really pain or is it simply restless energy in the body?
28218 Learn to differentiate between these two. Learn, also, to differentiate
28219 between pain and discomfort. Watch and study both of those when they arise in
28220 your field of experience.
28221 In general, when attachment, anger, jealousy, or other distracting
28222 emotions arise, observe them without getting involved in their stories.
28223 Experience the feeling, rather than repeat the story to yourself again and
28224 again. Be aware of what it feels like in your body when you are angry,
28225 jealous, arrogant, or clingy. Be aware of the feeling tone in your mind when
28226 one of these emotions is present. Observe how the feeling changes, never
28227 remaining the same.
28228 ...It is important to avoid criticizing yourself when your mind is
28229 distracted or dull. Do not fall into discouraging thoughts or self-hatred
28230 because these are unproductive and are to be abandoned on the path. Remember
28231 that internal transformation takes time and rejoice in your opportunity to
28232 learn and practice the Dharma. "Slowly, slowly," as Lama Thubten Yeshe used
28233 to say. Learn to be satisfied with what you are able to do now while you
28234 aspire to improve in the future.
28235 -- Ven. Thubten Chodron, "Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path",
28236 foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion Publications
28238 A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these
28239 minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden.
28240 But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm
28241 that plays havoc with the garden.
28242 -- Shakyamuni Buddha
28244 You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by it.
28245 -- Shakyamuni Buddha
28247 Buddhists take a vow of morality in the context of first taking refuge--in
28248 Buddha, in the states of realization, and in the spiritual community. Refuge
28249 is the foundation for the practice of morality. Buddha teaches us how to find
28250 refuge from suffering and limitation, but the chief refuge, or source of
28251 protection, is found in the states of realization achieved through practicing
28252 morality, concentrated meditation, and wisdom. ...A lama from the Drukpa
28253 Kagyu tradition and I were very close. We met frequently and always used to
28254 joke, teasing each other back and forth. On one occasion I asked him about
28255 his spiritual experience. He told me that when he was young, he was staying
28256 with his lama who had him perform the preliminary practice of making a hundred
28257 thousand prostrations to the Buddha, the doctrine, and the spiritual
28258 community. Early in the morning and late in the evening he had to make
28259 prostrations on a low platform the length of his body. His lama was
28260 meditating in the dark in the next room; so to trick him into thinking he was
28261 making prostrations he would tap with his knuckles on the prostration
28262 platform. Years later, after his lama passed away, he was taking a meditation
28263 retreat in a cave, during which he recalled his lama's great kindness over
28264 years of training him, and he wept and wept. He almost fainted, but then
28265 experienced the clear light, which he continuously practiced. Subsequently,
28266 after successful meditations he occasionally would remember past lives in
28267 vivid reflections before him.
28268 --His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful
28269 Life", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
28270 http://www.snowlionpub.com/search.php?isbn=HOPRPA
28272 A practitioner needs faith, or trust.... Guru Rinpoche said that we
28273 should meditate in the same way that a sparrow enters a nest. A sparrow
28274 spends some time investigating whether or not it is safe to enter. Once his
28275 examination is over, he then enters unhesitatingly. That's a wonderful
28276 metaphor for practice. First clear up all your doubts about your technique,
28277 then throw yourself into the technique with no separation or self-
28278 consciousness. Of course, it's easy to say, but that is the direction toward
28279 which we should be moving.
28280 Another necessary quality is determination. It's easy to gear oneself up
28281 for counting mantras or prostrations. For some, physical discipline is also
28282 easy. But the determination of the meditator is different. We must be
28283 determined to strive to purify our obscurations until they're completely
28284 gone--in other words, until our buddha-nature unobstructedly shines through.
28285 When we sit, we decide to do our best not to be swayed by our negativity. We
28286 should cultivate this attitude at the beginning of our session. Otherwise, no
28287 matter how much we practice, we will daydream a lot and our meditation will
28288 always be wishy-washy. I know this from experience--I may do my session of
28289 meditation, but it is tepid. Why? I don't have that inner strength to remain
28290 unmoved by the arising of the various mental contents.
28291 -- Bruce Newman, "A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism", published by
28292 Snow Lion Publications
28294 This is the way of peace:
28295 "Overcome evil with good,
28296 falsehood with truth, and
28300 The seeing of Truth cannot be dualistic (a "thing" seen). It cannot be seen
28301 by a see-er, or via a see-er. There can only be a seeing which itself is
28302 Truth. "All Else is Bondage; Non-Volitional Living"
28305 An economist is a surgeon with an excellent scalpel and a rough-edged lancet,
28306 who operates beautifully on the dead and tortures the living.
28307 -- Nicholas Chamfort
28309 A joke's a very serious thing.
28310 -- Charles Churchill
28312 You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.
28315 The five subtler aggregates* will eventually be transformed into the
28316 Buddhas of the five lineages. They are now as if accompanied by mental
28317 defilements. When the defilements are removed, these factors do not become
28318 any coarser or subtler; their nature remains, but [when they] become separated
28319 from the faults of mental pollution, they become the Buddhas of the five
28320 lineages. So if you ask whether the Buddhas of the five lineages are present
28321 now in our continuums, these factors are currently bound by faults, and since
28322 there cannot be a Buddha who has a fault, they are not Buddhas. One is not
28323 yet fully enlightened, but that which is going to become a Buddha is present;
28324 therefore, these factors presently existent in our continuums are Buddha seeds
28325 and are called the Buddha nature, or the essence of the One Gone Thus
28327 * The five consituents that are included within a person's continuum--earth,
28328 water, fire, wind, and space--that will be purified into the five Buddha
28329 lineages [the exalted manifestations of these constituents].
28330 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, "Kindness,
28331 Clarity, and Insight", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
28332 co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion Publications
28334 ...an inherently existent "I" appears to us, but instead of assenting to
28335 that appearance and holding it to be true, we analyze how the "I" actually
28337 At those times in our life when there's a very solid feeling of "I," it's
28338 helpful to examine how that "I" appears. I remember the first time I stayed
28339 out all night in college and my mother didn't know. I came home the next day
28340 with this feeling that "I" really existed: "I did this and my mother doesn't
28341 know!" The feeling of "I" was just enormous, incredibly solid, because I did
28342 something I wasn't supposed to do.
28343 Examine how that "I" appears, that big "I," especially when you have a
28344 strong emotion. Get familiar with that sense of "I." When somebody criticizes
28345 us or accuses us of doing something that we didn't do, this feeling comes up
28346 very quickly. Usually, we're focused not on the feeling of "I," but on
28347 attacking the other person or escaping from him. But if we can step back,
28348 it's an incredible opportunity to study the feeling of "I." The person who
28349 irritates us the most can be our best Dharma asset, because he gives us an
28350 opportunity to look at this sense of "I."
28351 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga
28352 Method of Chenrezig", foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by
28353 Snow Lion Publications
28355 One time when I was giving an exposition on Nagarjuna's "Fundamentals of the
28356 Middle Way," which deals explicitly with the topic of emptiness, one student
28357 who did not have a prior background of learning in great treatises made a
28358 comment to another colleague. He said: 'Today's teaching was a little
28359 strange. His Holiness began with the presentation of the Buddha's path and
28360 built up the edifice one layer at a time. Then, all of a sudden, he started
28361 talking about emptiness and the absence of inherent existence, so that this
28362 whole edifice he had spent much time building was completely dismantled.'
28363 He couldn't really see the point. There is that danger. However, if we
28364 understand the importance of the need to generate wisdom into emptiness as a
28365 means of bringing about the cessation of the afflictions, particularly
28366 fundamental ignorance, then we recognise the value of deepening our
28367 realisation of emptiness. Also, as Dharmakirti points out, emotions such as
28368 loving kindness and compassion cannot directly challenge fundamental
28369 ignorance. It is only by cultivating insight into no-self that we can
28370 directly overcome our fundamental ignorance.
28371 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
28372 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
28374 Having committed yourself to certain practices, be steadfast and never
28375 transgress the promises you have made. Let go of everything that could tempt
28376 you to do so and devote yourself entirely and single-mindedly to the
28377 accomplishment of your aims. For six years the Buddha did not waver from his
28378 practice of the meditative stabilization known as "Pervading Space." This
28379 meditation focuses on the fundamental nature of phenomena, which is present
28380 wherever there is space. Everywhere throughout space there are suffering
28381 living beings on whom this meditation also focuses with the compassionate wish
28382 to relieve their suffering and the loving wish to give them happiness. Thus
28383 it combines essential wisdom and skillful means.
28384 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, "The Three Principal Aspects of the Path: An Oral
28385 Teaching", translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion
28388 If you're not scared or angry at the thought of a human brain being controlled
28389 remotely, then it could be this prototype of mine is finally starting to work.
28390 -- John Alejandro King
28392 Only fools are positive. -- Moe Howard
28394 Just once, I wish we would encounter an alien menace
28395 that wasn't immune to bullets.
28398 We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by
28399 selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a
28400 shadow that never leaves them.
28403 If you find a good companion, who is following the same spiritual
28404 path, travel together, overcoming obstacles as they arise.
28407 Man is harder than rock and more fragile than an egg.
28408 -- Yugoslav Proverb
28410 That in man which cannot be domesticated is not his evil but his goodness.
28411 -- Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin
28413 Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.
28416 A human being: an ingenious assembly of portable plumbing.
28417 -- Christopher Morley, Human Being
28419 The universe may have a purpose, but nothing we know suggests that, if so,
28420 this purpose has any similarity to ours.
28421 -- Bertrand Russell
28423 Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a
28424 world made for man--who has no gills.
28427 Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose.
28430 Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it.
28431 -- John Steinbeck, Sweet Thursday
28433 In nature a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly. But with
28434 humans it is the other way around: a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive
28438 Man is an intelligence in servitude to his organs.
28441 We are perverse creatures and never satisfied.
28444 Modern man is the missing link between apes and human beings.
28447 Human consciousness arose but a minute before midnight on the geological
28448 clock. Yet we mayflies try to bend an ancient world to our purposes, ignorant
28449 perhaps of the messages buried in its long history. Let us hope that we are
28450 still in the early morning of our April day.
28451 -- Stephen Jay Gould, "Our Allotted Lifetimes," The Panda's Thumb, 1980
28453 Such is the human race, often it seems a pity
28454 that Noah... didn't miss the boat.
28457 There are too many people, and too few human beings.
28460 It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be
28461 nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a
28463 -- David Ormsby Gore
28465 Only on paper has humanity yet achieved glory, beauty, truth, knowledge,
28466 virtue, and abiding love.
28467 -- George Bernard Shaw
28469 The disastrous history of our species indicates the futility of all attempts
28470 at a diagnosis which do not take into account the possibility that homo
28471 sapiens is a victim of one of evolution's countless mistakes.
28472 -- Arthur Koestler, Janus: A Summing Up
28474 Men! The only animal in the world to fear.
28477 The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race.
28480 Man embraces in his makeup all the natural orders;
28481 he's a squid, a mollusk, a sucker and a buzzard;
28482 sometimes he's a cerebrate.
28483 -- Martin H. Fischer
28485 Men are cruel, but Man is kind.
28486 -- Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds, 1916
28488 Humanity is on the march, earth itself is left behind.
28489 -- David Ehrenfeld, The Arrogance of Humanism, 1978
28491 Human nature, if healthy, demands excitement; and if it does not obtain its
28492 thrilling excitement in the right way, it will seek it in the wrong. God
28493 never makes bloodless stoics; He makes no passionless saints.
28496 Cabbage: a familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as
28497 large and wise as a man's head.
28498 -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
28500 Monkeys are superior to men in this:
28501 When a monkey looks into a mirror, he sees a monkey.
28502 -- Malcolm de Chazal
28504 It is human nature to stand in the middle of a thing.
28505 -- Mariane Moore, "A Grave," Collected Poems, 1951
28507 The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that
28508 procession but carrying a banner.
28509 -- Mark Twain, "Reflections on Being the Delight of God."
28511 Adam ate the apple, and our teeth still ache.
28512 -- Hungarian Proverb
28514 Why was man created on the last day? So that he can be told, when pride
28515 possesses him: God created the gnat before thee.
28518 Man--a creature made at the end of the week's work when God was tired.
28521 I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated His ability.
28524 O poor mortals, how ye make this earth bitter for each other.
28525 -- Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution, vol. I, book II, chapter 1
28527 God pulled an all-nighter on the sixth day.
28530 Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings.
28533 The progress of evolution from President Washington to
28534 President Grant [is] alone enough to upset Darwin.
28535 -- Henry Adams, Education, 1907
28537 Man--a being in search of meaning. -- Plato
28539 Ultimately, aren't we all just talking monkeys with an attitude problem?
28540 -- "Uncle" Ben, as seen on quotes-r-us.org
28542 The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.
28543 -- Gustave Flaubert
28545 Nothing feebler does earth nurture than man,
28546 Of all things breathing and moving.
28549 Everyone is as God made him, and often a good deal worse.
28550 -- Miguel de Cervantes
28552 Man is a strange animal, he doesn't like to read the handwriting
28553 on the wall until his back is up against it.
28556 It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.
28559 God doesn't measure His bounty, but oh how we do!
28560 -- Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
28562 The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary;
28563 men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
28564 -- Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, 1911
28566 The human race is governed by its imagination.
28569 Man uses his intelligence less in the care of his own species than he does in
28570 his care of anything else he owns or governs.
28571 -- Abraham Meyerson
28573 Human beings cling to their delicious tyrannies and to their exquisite
28574 nonsense, till death stares them in the face.
28577 Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him
28578 when he shows no mercy to what is under him?
28579 -- Pierre Troubetzkoy
28581 The small percentage of dogs that bite people is monumental proof that the dog
28582 is the most benign, forgiving creature on earth.
28583 -- W.R. Koehler, The Koehler Method of Dog Training
28585 Man was created a little lower than the angels,
28586 and has been getting lower ever since.
28589 We have no choice but to be guilty.
28590 God is unthinkable if we are innocent.
28591 -- Archibald MacLeish, JB, 1958
28593 Human beings invent just as many ways to sabotage their lives
28594 as to improve them.
28595 -- Mark Goulston, Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating
28598 As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a
28599 man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly.
28602 What is man's greatest bane? His brother man alone.
28603 -- Bias of Priene, Maxims
28605 Acedia is not in every dictionary; just in every heart.
28606 -- Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
28608 The study of crime begins with the knowledge of oneself.
28609 -- Henry Miller, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, 1945
28611 Is man a savage at heart, skinned o'er with fragile Manners? Or is savagery
28612 but a faint taint in the natural man's gentility, which erupts now and again
28613 like pimples on an angel's arse?
28614 -- John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor, 1960
28616 God has given a great deal to man, but man would like something from man.
28617 -- Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin
28619 I was surprised just now at seeing a cobweb around a knocker;
28620 for it was not on the door of heaven.
28621 -- Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth,
28622 by Two Brothers, 1827
28624 I sometimes think of what future historians will say of us.
28625 A single sentence will suffice for modern man:
28626 He fornicated and read the papers.
28629 Man, when he is merely what he seems to be, is almost nothing.
28630 -- Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin
28632 Give a man secure possession of a bleak rock, and he will turn it
28633 into a garden; give him nine years' lease of a garden, and he will
28634 convert it into a desert.
28635 -- Arthur Young, Travels in France, 1792
28637 Our behavior is human with a sliver of animal,
28638 our souls animal with a sliver of human.
28641 Occident: The part of the world lying west (or east) of the Orient.
28642 It is largely inhabited by Christians, a powerful subtribe of the
28643 Hypocrites, whose principal industries are murder and cheating, which
28644 they are pleased to call "war" and "commerce." These, also, are the
28645 principal industries of the Orient.
28646 -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
28648 Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal
28649 that is struck with the difference between what things are and what
28651 -- William Hazlitt, The English Comic Writers, 1819
28653 Nature is neutral. Man has wrested from nature the power to make the world a
28654 desert or to make the deserts bloom. There is no evil in the atom; only in
28658 A simple and irrefutable argument to knock creationism on its ass: (1) Humans
28659 are a mistake--subproof: opposable thumbs and enlarged brain capacity are the
28660 combined number one factor in the increasingly speedy destruction of planet
28661 Earth. (2) God doesn't make mistakes. (3) Therefore, God couldn't have
28663 -- Cassus Garrulitas
28665 Man talks about everything, and he talks about everything as though the
28666 understanding of everything were all inside him.
28667 -- Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin
28669 My dog is usually pleased with what I do, because she is not infected
28670 with the concept of what I "should" be doing.
28673 Man will do many things to get himself loved;
28674 he will do all things to get himself envied.
28675 -- Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897
28677 We are all parasites; we humans, the greatest.
28678 -- Martin H. Fischer
28680 Suppose some mathematical creature from the moon were to reckon up the human
28681 body; he would at once see that the essential thing about it was that it was
28682 duplicate. A man is two men, he on the right exactly resembling him on the
28683 left. Having noted that there was an arm on the right and one on the left, a
28684 leg on the right and one on the left, he might go further and still find on
28685 each side the same number of fingers, the same number of toes, twin eyes, twin
28686 ears, twin nostrils, and even twin lobes of the brain. At last he would take
28687 it as a law; and then, where he found a heart on one side, would deduce that
28688 there was another heart on the other. And just then, where he most felt he
28689 was right, he would be wrong.
28690 -- Gilbert Keith Chesterton, "The Paradoxes of Christianity," Orthodoxy
28692 It is the nature of mortals to kick a fallen man.
28693 -- Aeschylus, Agamemnon
28695 God is less careful than General Motors, for He floods the world
28696 with factory rejects.
28697 -- Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
28699 Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external
28700 circumstances and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them.
28701 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
28703 So there he is at last. Man on the moon. The poor magnificent bungler! He
28704 can't even get to the office without undergoing the agonies of the damned, but
28705 give him a little metal, a few chemicals, some wire and twenty or thirty
28706 billion dollars and vroom! there he is, up on a rock a quarter of a million
28707 miles up in the sky.
28708 -- Russell Baker, New York Times, 21 July 1969
28710 Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is
28711 a problem which he has to solve.
28712 -- Erich Fromm, Man for Himself, 1947
28714 When freedom from want and freedom from fear are achieved,
28715 man's remains will be in rigor mortis.
28716 -- Martin H. Fischer
28718 Man is nature's sole mistake.
28721 The average man's judgment is so poor, he runs a risk every time he uses it.
28724 Man--a reasoning rather than a reasonable animal.
28725 -- Alexander Hamilton
28727 We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all
28728 his noble qualities, still bears in his bodily frame the indelible
28729 stamp of his lowly origin.
28730 -- Charles Darwin, Descent of Man, 1871
28732 We're animals. We're born like every other mammal and we live our
28733 whole lives around disguised animal thoughts.
28734 -- Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
28736 Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not
28737 depend on us. We are not the only experiment.
28738 -- R. Buckminister Fuller
28740 Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts.
28741 -- David Herbert Lawrence, White Peacock, 1911
28743 The question is this: Is man an ape or an angel?
28744 I am on the side of the angels.
28745 -- Benjamin Disraeli
28747 I viewed my fellow man not as a fallen angel, but as a risen ape.
28748 -- Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape
28750 Man desired concord; but nature knows better what is good for his species; she
28751 desires discord. Man wants to live easy and content; but nature compels him
28752 to leave ease... and throw himself into roils and labors.
28753 -- Immanuel Kant, Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan
28756 The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as the philanthropist.
28757 -- T.H. Huxley, "Evolution and Ethics," 1893
28759 Many people believe that they are attracted by God, or by Nature,
28760 when they are only repelled by man.
28761 -- William Ralph Inge
28763 People are like birds: on the wing, all beautiful;
28764 up close, all beady little eyes.
28765 -- Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
28767 Evolution is individual--devolution is collective.
28768 -- Martin H. Fischer
28770 I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-
28771 contain'd. I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and
28772 whine about their condition.... Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented
28773 with the mania of owning things, not one kneels to another, nor to his kind
28774 that lived thousands of years ago, not one is respectable or unhappy over the
28776 -- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
28778 As long as people believe in absurdities
28779 they will continue to commit atrocities.
28782 I demand of you, and of the whole world, that you show me
28783 a generic character... by which to distinguish between Man and Ape.
28784 I myself most assuredly know of none.
28785 -- Carl Linnaeus, 1788
28787 In creating the human brain, evolution has wildly overshot the mark.
28790 Evolution: that last step was a doozy!
28793 We have a world for each one, but we do not have a world for all.
28794 -- Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin
28796 Evolution: one small step for man, one giant leap backward for mankind.
28797 -- The Quote Garden
28799 I do not value any view of the universe into which man and the institutions of
28800 man enter very largely and absorb much of the attention. Man is but the place
28801 where I stand, and the prospect hence is infinite.
28802 -- Henry David Thoreau, journal, 2 April 1852
28804 Nature does not deceive us; it is we who deceive ourselves.
28805 -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762
28807 It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
28808 -- Niccolo Machiavelli
28810 Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees
28811 that it is old enough to know better.
28814 Question: How can one work with deep fears most effectively?
28816 DL: There are quite a number of methods. The first is to think about actions
28817 and their effects. Usually when something bad happens, we say, "Oh, very
28818 unlucky," and when something good happens, we say, "Oh, very lucky." Actually,
28819 these two words, lucky and unlucky, are insufficient. There must be some
28820 reason. Because of a reason, a certain time became lucky or unlucky, but
28821 usually we do not go beyond lucky or unlucky. The reason, according to the
28822 Buddhist explanation, is our past karma, our actions.
28824 One way to work with deep fears is to think that the fear comes as a result of
28825 your own actions in the past. Further, if you have fear of some pain or
28826 suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it.
28827 If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything,
28828 then there is also no need to worry.
28830 Another technique is to investigate who is becoming afraid. Examine the
28831 nature of your self. Where is this I? Who is I? What is the nature of I?
28832 Is there an I besides my physical body and my consciousness? This may help.
28834 Also, someone who is engaging in the Bodhisattva practices seeks to take
28835 others' suffering onto himself or herself. When you have fear, you can think,
28836 "Others have fear similar to this; may I take to myself all of their fears."
28837 Even though you are opening yourself to greater suffering, taking greater
28838 suffering to yourself, your fear lessens.
28839 -- "The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings By and
28840 About the Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by Sidney Piburn, Foreword
28841 by Sen. Claiborne Pell, published by Snow Lion Publications
28845 When a subject is analyzed, the object to be negated is determined to be
28846 either an appearance or something imagined. It is not logical, [however,] to
28847 negate momentary appearances, because reasonings cannot negate them. To take
28848 an example: for people with eye diseases, the appearances of floaters [bits of
28849 optical debris], double moons, and the like do not stop as long as their
28850 eyesight is impaired. Similarly, as long as beings are not free from
28851 unafflicted ignorance, illusionlike appearances [manifesting] to the six modes
28852 of consciousness do not stop.
28853 It is not necessary to negate [appearances], because our mistakes do not
28854 come from appearances: they arise from fixating on those [appearances]. This
28855 is the case because if we do not fixate on appearances, we are not bound--we
28856 are like a magician who, having conjured up a young woman, has no attachment
28857 towards her. [On the other hand, if,] like naive beings attached to an
28858 illusory young woman, we fixate intensely [on appearances], our karma and
28859 mental afflictions will increase.
28860 To intentionally negate appearances would be wrong because, if they were
28861 negated, emptiness would come to mean the [absolute] nonexistence of things.
28862 Another reason this would be a mistake is that yogins and yoginis meditating
28863 on emptiness would fall into the extreme of nihilism since they would be
28864 applying their minds to a negation that [equals] the [absolute] nonexistence
28866 Thus, [Madhyamikas] set out to negate only what is imagined, because that
28867 is what can be negated. Like a rope mistaken for a snake, what is imagined
28868 does not conform to facts: it is simply the mind's fixations.
28869 -- Kongtrul Lodro Taye, "The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Six, Part Three:
28870 Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy", translated by Elizabeth M. Callahan,
28871 published by Snow Lion Publications
28873 Even though Mac Users may be only 10% of the market,
28874 always remember that we are the top 10%.
28877 While I don't claim to be a great programmer, I try to imitate one. An
28878 important trait of the great ones is constructive laziness. They know that
28879 you get an A not for effort but for results.
28882 We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the
28883 complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is
28887 C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when
28888 you do, it blows away your whole leg.
28889 -- Bjarne Stroustrup
28891 The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether
28892 submarines can swim.
28895 Consistently separating words by spaces became a general custom about the
28896 tenth century A.D., and lasted until about 1957, when FORTRAN abandoned the
28898 -- Sun FORTRAN Reference Manual
28900 UNIX was never designed to keep people from doing stupid things, because that
28901 policy would also keep them from doing clever things.
28904 Anyone who slaps a "this page is best viewed with Browser X" label on a Web
28905 page appears to be yearning for the bad old days, before the Web, when you had
28906 very little chance of reading a document written on another computer, another
28907 word processor, or another network.
28910 If you were plowing a field, which would you rather use?
28911 Two strong oxen or 1024 chickens?
28914 The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of his
28915 own skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full humility; and
28916 among other things he avoids clever tricks like the plague.
28919 A programming language is a tool that has profound influence
28920 on our thinking habits.
28923 The Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything is
28925 -- Deep Thought, 2nd greatest Computer in the Universe of Time and Space
28927 If Windows is the solution, can we please have the problem back?
28930 This is a fascinating property: Writing texts in programming languages can not
28931 only be as creative as poetry, the creations more than in poetry, belong to
28932 the real world as soon as run through the machine.
28935 Any problem in computer science can be solved with another layer of
28936 indirection. But that usually will create another problem.
28939 Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. -- Edsger Dijkstra
28941 It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have
28942 had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally
28943 mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.
28946 Good artists copy. Great artists steal. -- Pablo Picasso
28948 I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order I may learn how to do it.
28951 Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.
28954 Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
28957 A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.
28960 The debt is like a crazy aunt we keep down in the basement. All the neighbors
28961 know she's down there, but nobody wants to talk about her.
28964 Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.
28967 Where true religion has prevented one crime, false religions have afforded a
28968 pretext for a thousand.
28969 -- Charles Caleb Colton
28971 Whatever limits us, we call Fate. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
28973 The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher regard
28974 those who think alike than those who think differently.
28975 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
28977 Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.
28978 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
28980 Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think
28982 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
28984 It often takes more courage to change ones opinion than to keep it.
28987 Let's be grateful for those who give us happiness; they are the charming
28988 gardeners who make our soul bloom.
28991 It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.
28994 There are only two forces that unite men--fear and interest.
28995 -- Napoleon Bonaparte
28997 If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their
28998 own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have
28999 a paradise in a few years.
29002 The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.
29005 If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward,
29006 then we are a sorry lot indeed.
29009 Your character must be above suspicion and
29010 you must be truthful and self controlled.
29013 Either you live or you are consequential. -- Erich Kaestner
29015 Pedaled curd gets wide--not strong. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
29017 Do not follow where the path may lead.
29018 Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
29019 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
29021 She wore too much rouge last night and not quite enough clothes. Thats always
29022 a sign of despair in a woman.
29025 Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
29028 First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you
29032 Wherever it has been established that it is shameful to be involved with
29033 sexual relationships with men, that is due to evil on the part of the rulers,
29034 and to cowardice on the part of the governed.
29037 We want to be poets of our life--first of all in the smallest
29038 most everyday matters.
29039 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
29041 Without music, life would be an error. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
29043 Joseph LaGrange believed that a mathematician has not thoroughly understood
29044 his own work till he has made it so clear that he can go out and explain it
29045 effectively to the first man he meets on the street.
29048 There is no such thing as an inevitable war. If war comes it will be from
29049 failure of human wisdom.
29050 -- Andres Bonar Law
29052 Perfect nonviolence is the highest bravery. -- Mahatma Gandhi
29054 There never was a good war or a bad peace. -- Benjamin Franklin
29056 There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing
29057 good in war. Except its ending.
29060 I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only
29061 temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
29064 An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. -- Mahatma Gandhi
29066 Trust no one in whom the desire to punish is strong. -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
29068 If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if
29069 from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition.
29070 -- Charles Caleb Colton
29072 The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.
29075 Ability is nothing without opportunity. -- Napoleon Bonaparte
29077 Never work just for money or for power.
29078 They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night.
29079 -- Marian Wright Edelman
29081 Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their
29082 pleasure takes joy, even as though it were his own.
29083 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
29085 Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power,
29087 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
29089 Censorship cannot eliminate evil, it can only kill freedom. -- unknown
29091 Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.
29092 -- John G. Riefenbaker
29094 People demand freedom of speech to make up for
29095 the freedom of thought which they avoid.
29096 -- Soren Aabye Kierkegaard
29098 Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the
29099 fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.
29102 If you are a phenomenologist, you can talk about this cocktail and make
29103 philosophy out of it.
29106 I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance.
29107 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
29109 I would not know what the spirit of a philosopher might wish more
29110 to be than a good dancer.
29111 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
29113 Faith means not wanting to know what is true. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
29115 True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen.
29116 -- Francois, Duc de la Rochefoucauld
29118 This war, like the next war, is a war to end war. -- David Lloyd George
29120 How good bad music and bad reasons sound when one marches against an enemy!
29121 -- Friedrich Nietzsche
29123 When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.
29124 -- Rodney Dangerfield
29126 When your mind is trained in self-discipline, even if you are surrounded
29127 by hostile forces, your peace of mind will hardly be disturbed. On the other
29128 hand, if your mind is undisciplined, your mental peace and calm can easily be
29129 disrupted by your own negative thoughts and emotions. The real enemy is
29130 within, not outside. Usually we define our enemy as a person, an external
29131 agent, whom we believe is causing harm to us or to someone we hold dear. But
29132 such an enemy is dependent on many conditions and is impermanent. One moment,
29133 the person may act as an enemy; at yet another moment, he or she may become
29134 your best friend. This is a truth that we often experience in our own lives.
29135 But negative thoughts and emotions, the inner enemy, will always remain the
29136 enemy. They are your enemy today, they have been your enemy in the past, and
29137 they will remain your enemy in the future as long as they reside within your
29139 This inner enemy is extremely dangerous. The destructive potential of an
29140 external enemy is limited when compared to that of its inner counterpart....
29141 In a time when every country is a potential target for the nuclear weapons of
29142 others, human beings still continue to develop defense systems of greater and
29143 greater sophistication. I do not know if it will ever be possible to create a
29144 defense system capable of guaranteeing worldwide protection against all
29145 external forces of destruction. However, one thing is certain: as long as
29146 those destructive internal enemies of anger and hatred are left to themselves
29147 unchallenged, the threat of physical annihilation will always loom over us.
29148 In fact, the destructive power of an external enemy ultimately derives from
29149 the power of these internal forces. The inner enemy is the trigger that
29150 unleashes the destructive power of the external enemy.
29151 Shantideva tells us that as long as these inner enemies remain secure
29152 within, there is great danger. Shantideva goes on to say that even if
29153 everyone in the world were to stand up against you as your enemies and harm
29154 you, as long as your own mind was disciplined and calm, they would not be able
29155 to disturb your peace. Yet a single instance of delusion arising in your mind
29156 has the power to disturb that peace and inner stability.
29157 -- Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "The Compassionate Life"
29159 (Each day before breakfast the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, Thubten
29160 Chodron, gives a morning motivation for residents and guests. We were moved
29161 by these inspiring words, and hope you will be, too.)
29165 Let's recall our motivation in the morning and think that today, the most
29166 important thing I have to do is to guard my body, speech and mind so that I
29167 don't harm anybody through what I do with my body, through what I say, or even
29168 through what I think. That's the most important thing, more important than
29169 anything else today.
29170 The second most important thing is, as much as possible, to be of benefit
29171 to others. Thoroughly cultivate that as your motivation simply for being
29172 alive today. Our purpose for being alive isn't just to keep this body alive,
29173 to eat and sleep, and have pleasure. We have a higher purpose, a higher
29174 meaning: to really work for the benefit of living beings. If the purpose of
29175 our life is simply to keep the body alive and have pleasure, then at the end
29176 of life, we have nothing to show for it. The body dies and all the pleasures,
29177 like last night's dream, have gone. But if we work for a higher motivation, a
29178 higher purpose, to really do what's beneficial for all living beings, then
29179 there's happiness and benefit now.
29180 At the end of the life, the benefit that we've given to others continues,
29181 as do all the imprints of the attitude of kindness, the attitude of care
29182 towards others. All the imprints of having generated that positive mind go on
29183 with us into the next life. So even at the time of death, that kind heart
29184 brings incredible benefit and carries through into the next life.
29185 And then let's also generate a third motivation--a really long-term
29186 motivation--to become fully enlightened. In other words, to have the wisdom,
29187 compassion, and skill so that in the long term, we'll be able to be of the
29188 greatest benefit to all living beings, even being able to lead them on the
29189 path to enlightenment. That's our really long-term purpose.
29190 As we change and develop a kind heart, that influences every single living
29191 being we encounter in a positive way. Then, through the influence on them, it
29192 spreads out to all the people they know. So, just spending one day with a
29193 positive, long-term motivation may seem like a small thing, but when we think
29194 of the ripple effect it has now, and the benefit it has in future lives and
29195 for progressing along the path to liberation and enlightenment, we see that
29196 even one day spent with this motivation of kindness, directly and indirectly
29197 benefiting sentient beings, has tremendous outcomes--many, many good results.
29198 -- Thubten Chodron, who is the author of many books, including her latest
29199 work, "Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path", published by
29200 Snow Lion Publications
29202 ...We can't blame one individual for what happens in our world. I think
29203 we should blame our entire society. Society produces our leaders and
29204 politicians, and if we try to develop a more compassionate and affectionate
29205 society, we will have human beings with a more peaceful nature. Leaders,
29206 politicians, and businesspeople coming from such a society would offer hope
29207 for a better world. Our long-term responsibility--everyone's responsibility,
29208 whether they are believers or nonbelievers--is to find ways to promote a
29209 peaceful and compassionate society.
29210 I think one way is quite simple. Each individual must try to ensure peace
29211 and compassion in his [or her] family. Put together ten peaceful,
29212 compassionate homes, or one hundred, and that's a community. The children in
29213 such a society would receive affection in their family and in their schools
29214 from the educators concerned. We might have one or two setbacks, but
29215 generally I think we could develop a sensible society. Sensible here means a
29216 sense of community, a sense of responsibility, and a sense of commitment.
29217 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Many Ways to Nirvana: Reflections
29218 and Advice on Right Living", edited by Renuka Singh, published by
29219 Snow Lion Publications
29221 We can see that there are many ways in which we actively contribute to our
29222 own experience of mental unrest and suffering. Although, in general, mental
29223 and emotional afflictions themselves can come naturally, often it is our own
29224 reinforcement of those negative emotions that makes them so much worse. For
29225 instance when we have anger or hatred towards a person, there is less
29226 likelihood of its developing to a very intense degree if we leave it
29227 unattended. However, if we think about the projected injustices done to us,
29228 the ways in which we have been unfairly treated, and we keep on thinking about
29229 them over and over, then that feeds the hatred. It makes the hatred very
29230 powerful and intense. Of course, the same can apply to when we have an
29231 attachment towards a particular person; we can feed that by thinking about how
29232 beautiful he or she is, and as we keep thinking about the projected qualities
29233 that we see in the person, the attachment becomes more and more intense. But
29234 this shows how through constant familiarity and thinking, we ourselves can
29235 make our emotions more intense and powerful.
29236 We also often add to our pain and suffering by being overly sensitive,
29237 overreacting to minor things, and sometimes taking things too personally. We
29238 tend to take small things too seriously and blow them up out of proportion,
29239 while at the same time we often remain indifferent to the really important
29240 things, those things which have profound effects on our lives and long-term
29241 consequences and implications.
29242 So I think that to a large extent, whether you suffer depends on how you
29243 respond to a given situation.
29244 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art of
29245 Happiness: A Handbook for Living"
29247 Realizations come only if we practice joyfully, with confidence and
29248 courage. Realization doesn't grow within a timid or weak state of mind--it
29249 blossoms in the mind free of doubt and hesitation. Realization is fearless.
29250 When we see the true nature of reality, there's nothing hidden, nothing left
29251 to fear. At last we're seeing reality as it is, full of joy and peace.
29252 Our habitual patterns can only be removed by understanding the great
29253 emptiness aspect of true nature, that which is named the Mother of all the
29254 buddhas. Emptiness is freedom; emptiness is great opportunity. It is
29255 pervasive and all phenomena arise from it. As the great master Jigme Lingpa
29256 said, "The entire universe is the mandala of the dakini." The Mother's mandala
29257 is all phenomena, the display of the wisdom dakini.
29258 Without this ultimate great emptiness, the Mother of the buddhas, the
29259 universe would be without movement, development, or change. Because of this
29260 great emptiness state of the Mother, we see phenomena continually arising.
29261 Each display arises, transforms, and radiates, fulfilling its purpose and then
29262 dissolving back into its original state. This dramatic dance of energy is the
29263 activity, ability, or mandala of the wisdom dakini. Thus, the combination of
29264 the great emptiness or openness state, together with the activities of love
29265 and compassion, is both the ultimate Mother and the ultimate wisdom dakini.
29266 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche,
29267 "Tara's Enlightened Activity: An Oral Commentary on 'The Twenty-one
29268 Praises to Tara' ", published by Snow Lion Publications
29270 Just as your innermost wish is to be free from suffering and to abide in
29271 happiness, so too is it the aspiration of all other beings. But, they, like
29272 you, encounter sufferings and problems in their lives, and often their
29273 difficulties are much worse than your own. Examine your capacity to help
29274 them. At this time your ability to help them is quite limited, but if you
29275 reduce your own ignorance, anger, attachment, and other faults, and increase
29276 your good qualities such as generosity, patience, loving-kindness, compassion,
29277 and wisdom, you will be of greater benefit. If you become fully enlightened,
29278 you will be of the greatest possible benefit to all beings. Thus generate the
29279 altruistic intention to become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient
29280 beings most effectively.
29281 -- Thubten Chodron, "Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path",
29282 foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion Publications
29284 ...at Bodh Gaya, [Shakyamuni] displayed the ways of becoming fully
29285 enlightened. Then in stages he turned the three renowned wheels of doctrine.
29286 In the first period, at Varanasi, Buddha turned the wheel of doctrine that
29287 is based on the four noble truths; he did this mainly in consideration of
29288 those having the lineage of Hearers (Sravaka). In the middle period, at
29289 Grdhrakuta, he set forth the middle wheel of doctrine, which is based on the
29290 mode of non-inherent existence of all phenomena; he did this mainly in
29291 consideration of trainees of sharp faculties who bear the Mahayana lineage.
29292 In the final period, at Vaisali, he set forth the final wheel [which is based
29293 on discriminating between those phenomena that do and those that do not truly
29294 exist]; he did this mainly in consideration of trainees of middling and lower
29295 faculties who bear the Mahayana lineage. The teacher Buddha also appeared in
29296 the body of Vajradhara, setting forth tantric doctrines.
29297 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
29298 Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
29300 There are different levels of faith. First, clear faith refers to the joy and
29301 clarity and change in our perceptions that we experience when we hear about
29302 the qualities of the Three Jewels and the lives of the Buddha and the great
29303 teachers. Longing faith is experienced when we think about the latter and are
29304 filled with a great desire to know more about their qualities and to acquire
29305 these ourselves. Confident faith comes through practicing the Dharma, when we
29306 acquire complete confidence in the truth of the teachings and the
29307 enlightenment of the Buddha. Finally, when faith has become so much a part of
29308 ourselves that even if our lives were at risk we could never give it up, it
29309 has become irreversible faith.
29310 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "The Excellent Path to Enlightenment",
29311 translated by The Padmakara Translation Group, published by Snow
29314 ...when seeking work, or if you already have a job, it is important to
29315 keep in mind that a human being isn't meant to be some kind of machine
29316 designed only for production. No. Human life isn't just for work, like [a
29317 socialistic] vision where everyone's purpose is just to work for the state,
29318 and there is no individual freedom, where the state even arranges the person's
29319 vacations and everything is planned out for the individual. That is not a
29320 full human life. Individuality is very important for a full human life, and
29321 then accordingly some leisure time, a bit of holiday, and time spent with
29322 family or friends. That is the means to a complete form of life.... If your
29323 life becomes only a medium of production, then many of the good human values
29324 and characteristics will be lost--then you will not, you cannot, become a
29326 So if you're looking for work and have a choice of a job, choose a job
29327 that allows the opportunity for some creativity, and for spending time with
29328 your family. Even if it means less pay, personally I think it is better to
29329 choose work that is less demanding, that gives you greater freedom, more time
29330 to be with your family, or to do other activities, read, engage in cultural
29331 activities, or just play. I think that's best.
29332 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The
29333 Art of Happiness at Work"
29335 Our painful experiences have brought the five poisons* right into our
29336 world. Our heavy sense of being a separate person has led to an anxiety about
29337 our safety in the world. This leads us to aversion and attachment, as we long
29338 to predict and control our relation with the environment. From this all the
29339 other fixed and defensive positions arise. And so the world that we encounter
29340 is covered over and suffused with many subtle moods of hopes and fears,
29341 doubts, jealousies, pride. So even here on a dharma retreat, as we look
29342 around the room, we have a complex sense of whose faces we can look at, and
29343 who we might have to look away from. This is not at all a neutral place. The
29344 force of projections, interpretations and impulsive reactions keeps us busy in
29345 trying to stay ahead of the game....
29346 However in dzogchen we are trying to get to the essential point where
29347 nirvana and samsara separate. This is like a great weed killer: If you spray
29348 it once all the weeds, all the confusion, all the pain and suffering will
29349 vanish. You don't need to pluck out each weed by itself. Believing that you
29350 are a bad person is very unhelpful for the practice of dzogchen. Also
29351 believing that you are a good person is not very helpful in the practice of
29352 dzogchen. You are not a person! Resting in the unborn state we are a pure
29353 awareness free of the least defilement. When you give up your ego identity,
29354 your samsara citizenship, you tear up your identity card and all the problems
29355 and sins and police records linked to that identity vanish immediately.
29356 * Five poisons (dug nga)--the five poisonous mental afflictions are
29357 desire, aggression, ignorance, pride, and jealousy. (Penetrating Wisdom)
29358 -- "Being Right Here: A Dzogchen Treasure Text of Nuden Dorje Entitled 'The
29359 Mirror of Clear Meaning' ", with commentary by James Low, published by
29360 Snow Lion Publications
29362 And just as men depend upon
29363 A boat for traversing the sea,
29364 So does the mental body need
29365 The matter-body for occurrence.
29366 And as the boat depends upon
29367 The men for traversing the sea,
29368 So does the matter-body need
29369 The mental body for occurrence.
29370 Depending each upon the other
29371 The boat and men go on the sea.
29372 And so do mind and matter both
29373 Depend the one upon the other.
29374 -- Visuddhimagga (XVIII, 36)
29376 There is a Buddhist practice in which one imagines giving joy and the
29377 source of all joy to other people, thereby removing all their suffering.
29378 Though of course we cannot change their situation, I do feel that in some
29379 cases, through a genuine sense of caring and compassion, through our sharing
29380 in their plight, our attitude can help alleviate their suffering, if only
29381 mentally. However, the main point of this practice is to increase our inner
29382 strength and courage.
29383 I have chosen a few lines that I feel would be acceptable to people of all
29384 faiths, and even to those with no spiritual belief. When reading these lines,
29385 if you are a religious practitioner, you can reflect upon the divine form that
29386 you worship. Then, while reciting these verses, make the commitment to
29387 enhance your spiritual values. If you are not religious, you can reflect upon
29388 the fact that, fundamentally, all beings are equal to you in their wish for
29389 happiness and their desire to overcome suffering. Recognizing this, you make
29390 a pledge to develop a good heart. It is most important that we have a warm
29391 heart. As long as we are part of human society, it is very important to be a
29392 kind, warm-hearted person.
29393 May the poor find wealth,
29394 Those weak with sorrow find joy.
29395 May the forlorn find new hope,
29396 Constant happiness and prosperity.
29398 May the frightened cease to be afraid,
29399 And those bound be free.
29400 May the weak find power,
29401 And may their hearts join in friendship.
29402 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday
29403 Life", edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Khyongla Rato
29406 Although there are as many categories of emptiness* as there are types of
29407 phenomena, when you realize the emptiness of one specific phenomenon, you also
29408 realize the emptiness of all phenomena. The ultimate nature, or emptiness, of
29409 all phenomena is of equal taste and of the same undifferentiable nature. Even
29410 though the nature of emptiness of all phenomena is the same, and all the
29411 different aspects of phenomena, such as whether they are good or bad, or the
29412 way they change, arise from the sphere of emptiness, you should understand
29413 that emptiness cannot be found apart from the subject or the object.
29414 Emptiness refers to an object's being free of intrinsic existence. Things
29415 depend on causes and conditions. This very dependence on causes and
29416 conditions signifies that phenomena lack independent, or intrinsic, existence.
29417 It also demonstrates how all the diverse aspects of things that we experience
29418 arise because they are by nature empty. When we talk about emptiness, we are
29419 not dealing with those different aspects, we are dealing with phenomena's
29421 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", trans. by Ven. Geshe
29422 Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell,
29423 published by Snow Lion Publications
29425 The Treasure Discoverers
29426 Most of the influential terma [hidden treasures or teachings] were
29427 purportedly secreted by Padmasambhava or his immediate disciples, and specific
29428 instructions were also laid down for each terma at the time of its
29429 concealment. The theory behind this system is that certain teachings would be
29430 especially effective at particular points in the future, and so they were
29431 hidden in a "time release" system which assured that at the appropriate time a
29432 terton would locate the teaching and disseminate it. When Padmasambhava hid
29433 these treasures, he prophesied the circumstances for the discovery of each
29434 terma and the terton who would find it. He predicted that there would be
29435 three "grand" tertons, eight "great" ones, twenty-one "powerful" ones, one
29436 hundred eight "intermediate," and one thousand "subsidiary" tertons. Most of
29437 these were to be recognized as emanations of Padmasambhava or his chief
29439 ...Many hidden treasures still remain undiscovered, awaiting the proper
29440 time for their dissemination. They continue to reinvigorate the Nyingma
29441 tradition, and a number have been incorporated into other lineages. The
29442 institution of terma serves as a link with the past of the tradition, a link
29443 that periodically revitalizes the present and points the way to the future.
29444 The system reflects the Mahayana ideal of skill in means, the ability to adapt
29445 teachings to changing circumstances.
29446 -- John Powers, "Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", published by Snow Lion
29449 Practicing compassion will bring about the recognition of emptiness* as
29450 the true nature of the mind. When you practice virtuous actions of love and
29451 compassion on the relative level, you spontaneously realize the profound
29452 nature of emptiness, which is the absolute level. In turn, if you focus your
29453 meditation practice on emptiness, then your loving-kindness and compassion
29454 will spontaneously grow.
29455 These two natures, the absolute and the relative, are not opposites; they
29456 always arise together. They have the same nature; they are inseparable like a
29457 fire and its heat or the sun and its light. Compassion and emptiness are not
29458 like two sides of a coin. Emptiness and compassion are not two separate
29459 elements joined together; they are always coexistent.
29460 In Buddhism, emptiness does not mean the absence of apparent existence.
29461 Emptiness is not like a black hole or darkness, or like an empty house or an
29462 empty bottle. Emptiness is fullness and openness and flexibility. Because of
29463 emptiness it is possible for phenomena to function, for beings to see and
29464 hear, and for things to move and change. It is called emptiness because when
29465 we examine things we cannot find anything that substantially and solidly
29466 exists. There is nothing that has a truly existent nature. Everything we
29467 perceive appears through ever-changing causes and conditions, without an
29468 independent, solid basis. Although from a relative perspective things appear,
29469 they arise from emptiness and they dissolve into emptiness. All appearances
29470 are like water bubbles or the reflection of the moon in water.
29471 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche,
29472 "Opening to our Primordial Nature", published by Snow Lion Publications
29474 [Preceding story: Before reaching enlightenment, the Buddha was born as Prince
29475 Visvantara, who, despite facing many challenges and adversity, brought all of
29476 his heart and courage to bear against a single enemy--human suffering.]
29478 In giving we not only find wealth while in cyclic existence but we achieve the
29479 zenith of prosperity in supreme enlightenment. Therefore we all have to
29480 practice giving. A Bodhisattva's giving is not just overcoming miserliness
29481 and being generous to others; a pure wish to give is cultivated, and through
29482 developing more and more intimacy with it, such giving is enhanced infinitely.
29483 Therefore it is essential to have the firm mind of enlightenment rooted in
29484 great love and compassion and, from the depths of one's heart, to either give
29485 one's body, wealth and virtues literally to sentient beings as infinite as
29486 space, or to dedicate one's body, wealth and virtues for them while striving
29487 in all possible ways to enhance the wish to give infinitely. As mentioned in
29488 Engaging in Bodhisattva Activities and in The Precious Garland, we should
29489 literally give material help to the poor and needy, give teaching to others,
29490 and give protection to them, even the small insects, as much as we can. In
29491 the case of things which we are not able to part with, we should cultivate the
29492 wish to give them away and develop more and more intimacy with that wish.
29493 -- "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries by H.H. the Dalai Lama XIV on the
29494 Jatakamala", translated by Tenzin Dorjee, edited by Dexter Roberts
29496 Mad yogins are known in virtually every tradition in Tibet, but most often
29497 in the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages, and also in the Shije (Pacification) and
29498 Chod traditions. The Nyingma, Kagyu, and Chod traditions are the three with
29499 which Tangtong Gyalpo had the closest ties. One of the texts in Tangtong's
29500 Oral Transmission, a collection of teachings originally passed down from
29501 Tangtong, quotes the great yogini Machik Labdron's statement concerning proper
29502 yogic conduct following realization. In response to a question by one of her
29503 sons, Machik recommended that a practitioner act like a child with unfeigned
29504 spontaneity, like a lunatic with no regard for what is conventionally
29505 acceptable, like a leper with no attachment to his or her own physical health,
29506 and like a wild animal wandering in isolated and rough terrain.
29507 ...Guru Padmasambhava himself prophesied that Tangtong Gyalpo would care
29508 for living beings by means of unpredictable actions. Tangtong's unusual
29509 conduct began to manifest at an early age, and resembled traits noted in the
29510 lives of other mad yogins. He was first called insane by his father and the
29511 members of his village when, as a child, he subdued a malicious spirit
29512 responsible for an epidemic. Several other early incidents are mentioned in
29513 the biographies. When he went to take scholastic examinations at the renowned
29514 monastery of Sakya he earned the nickname Tsondru Nyonpa (Crazy Tsondru)
29515 because of his disinterest in explaining the scriptural definitions of the
29516 highest states of realization. He preferred to spend his time absorbed in
29517 actually experiencing these states. When he was later practicing deliberate
29518 behavior secretly in a vast and empty wasteland, the dakinis gave him five
29519 names indicating his high realization, one of which was Lungtong Nyonpa
29520 (Madman of the Empty Valley).
29521 -- Cyrus Stearns, "King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron Bridge
29522 Builder Tangtong Gyalpo", a Tsadra Foundation book, published by
29523 Snow Lion Publications
29525 ...In the Buddhist teachings, when we search for the causes of suffering,
29526 we find what is called 'the truth of the origin of suffering', namely that
29527 negative actions--karma--and the negative emotions that induce such actions
29528 are the causes of suffering.
29529 Talking about causes, if we take a step further and investigate more
29530 deeply, we find that the cause alone is not sufficient for bringing about the
29531 results. Causes themselves have to come in contact with co-operative
29532 circumstances or conditions. For instance, say we search for a material or
29533 substantial cause for this plant, we will find that it has a continuity
29534 stretching back into beginningless time.
29535 There are certain Buddhist texts that speak of space particles, existing
29536 before the evolution of this present universe. According to these texts, the
29537 space particles serve as the material and substantial cause for matter, such
29538 as this plant. Now if the essential and substantial cause for matter is
29539 traced to these space particles, which are all the same, how do we account for
29540 the diversity that we see in the material world? It is here that the question
29541 of conditions and circumstances comes into play. When these substantial
29542 causes come in contact with different circumstances and conditions, they give
29543 rise to different effects, that is, different kinds of matter. So we find
29544 that the cause alone is not sufficient for bringing about a result. What is
29545 required is an aggregation of many different conditions and circumstances.
29546 Although you can find certain differences among the Buddhist philosophical
29547 schools about how the universe came into being, the basic common question
29548 addressed is how the two fundamental principles--external matter and internal
29549 mind or consciousness--although distinct, affect one another. External causes
29550 and conditions are responsible for certain of our experiences of happiness and
29551 suffering. Yet we find that it is principally our own feelings, our thoughts
29552 and our emotions, that really determine whether we are going to suffer or be
29554 -- H.H. The Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
29555 Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron, Foreword
29556 by Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion
29559 Right now many of us wish for liberation, yet sometimes we cannot keep
29560 ourselves from creating the causes for cyclic existence. When we understand
29561 true suffering well, our wish for liberation will become firm. At present our
29562 resolve to reach liberation is not firm because we think of suffering, but not
29563 deeply. The deluded attitude believing that the unsatisfactoriness of change
29564 is true happiness easily arises in us because we are not yet deeply convinced
29565 that all happiness in cyclic existence is contaminated and is in fact only a
29566 variety of suffering. To remedy this, we should meditate on true suffering
29567 more often and explore its meaning deeply. Then our wish for liberation will
29569 We consider many things--clothes, food, good health, nice possessions,
29570 financial security, the higher rebirths--as true happiness. As a result, we
29571 are attached to them and create more causes for suffering in cyclic existence
29572 in order to gain them. Thinking that the human birth is something marvelous,
29573 we work at creating the causes that propel us toward it. In fact all we are
29574 doing is creating the cause for yet another rebirth in cyclic existence,
29575 together with all the problems that such a rebirth involves.
29576 If we understand that by its nature, cyclic existence is unsatisfactory,
29577 we will have a deep aversion to it. If we do not have a deep aversion to it,
29578 we will not be determined to be free, and therefore will not be able to
29579 destroy our self-grasping ignorance, which is the root of cyclic existence.
29580 In that case, we will not be able to attain liberation. However, when we
29581 deeply feel the extent to which we suffer in cyclic existence, we will
29582 automatically want to abandon the true origin of suffering, attain the true
29583 cessation, and meditate on the true path. Having realized true suffering, we
29584 will easily realize the other three of the four noble truths. Thus it is
29585 said: suffering is to be known. The origin is to be abandoned. The cessation
29586 is to be attained. The path is to be practiced. The determination to be free
29587 is the wish for ourselves to be free of cyclic existence. When we wish others
29588 to be free, that is compassion.
29589 -- Geshe Jampa Tegchok, "Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage:
29590 An Explanation of the Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas", edited by
29591 Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
29593 Mantras are invocations to buddhas... prayers, or a combination of these.
29594 Tantric practitioners repeat them in order to forge karmic connections between
29595 themselves and meditational deities and to effect cognitive restructuring
29596 through internalizing the divine attributes that the mantra represents. A
29597 person who wishes to develop greater compassion, for instance, might recite
29598 the mantra of Avalokitesvara, who embodies this quality: om mani padme hum...
29599 [a] mantra [that] is well known to Tibetans. It represents for them the
29600 perfect compassion of Avalokitesvara, who they believe has taken a special
29601 interest in the spiritual welfare of the Tibetan people. He epitomizes
29602 universal compassion that is unsullied by any trace of negative emotions or
29603 mental afflictions.
29604 Among ordinary beings there are, of course, many acts of compassion, but
29605 these are generally tinged by self-interest, pride, or desire for recognition.
29606 Avalokitesvara's compassion, by contrast, is completely free from all
29607 afflictions and is so vast that it encompasses all sentient beings without
29608 exception and without distinction. People who wish to develop such a
29609 perspective recite Avalokitesvara's mantra over and over, meditating on its
29610 significance, and in so doing they try to restructure their minds in
29611 accordance with the cultivation of his exalted qualities. According to the
29613 'mani'... symbolizes the factors of method--the altruistic intention to
29614 become enlightened, compassion, and love. Just as a jewel is capable of
29615 removing poverty, so the altruistic mind of enlightenment is capable of
29616 removing the poverty, or difficulties, of cyclic existence and of solitary
29617 peace.... The two syllables, 'padme'... symbolize wisdom. Just as a lotus
29618 grows forth from mud but is not sullied by the faults of mud, so wisdom is
29619 capable of putting you in a situation of non-contradiction whereas there would
29620 be contradiction if you did not have wisdom.... Purity must be achieved by an
29621 indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable
29622 'hum', which indicates indivisibility.... Thus the six syllables, 'om mani
29623 padme hum', mean that in dependence on a path which is an indivisible union of
29624 method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into
29625 the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
29626 -- John Powers, "Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", published by Snow
29629 "Now let's look at ultimate reality," the Dalai Lama said, pointing a
29630 little finger to his mug. "What exactly is it? We're seeing color, shape.
29631 But if we take away shape, color, material, what is mug? Where is the mug?
29632 This mug is a combination of particles: atoms, electrons, quarks. But each
29633 particle is not 'mug.' The same can be said about the four elements, the
29634 world, everything. The Buddha. We cannot find the Buddha. So that's the
29635 ultimate reality. If we're not satisfied with conventional reality, if we go
29636 deep down and try to find the real thing, we ultimately won't find it."
29637 Thus, the Dalai Lama was saying, the mug is empty. The term "mug" is
29638 merely a label, something we use to describe everyday reality. But each mug
29639 comes into existence because of a complex web of causes and conditions. It
29640 does not exist independently. It cannot come into being by itself, of its own
29642 For example: suppose I decide to make a black mug. To do this, I mix
29643 black clay and water, shape it to my liking, and fire the resulting mixture in
29644 an oven. Clay plus water turns into a mug because of my actions. But it
29645 exists because of the myriad different ways that atoms and molecules interact.
29646 And what about me, the creator of the black mug? If my parents had never met,
29647 the black mug might never have existed.
29648 Therefore the mug does not exist independently. It comes into being only
29649 through a complex web of relationships. In the Dalai Lama's own words, and
29650 this is the key concept in his worldview, the mug is "dependently originated."
29651 It came to be a mug because of a host of different factors, not under its own
29652 steam. It is empty. "Empty" is shorthand for "empty of intrinsic, inherent
29653 existence." Or to put it another way, empty is another word for
29655 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Victor Chan, "The Wisdom of
29656 Forgiveness: Intimate Conversations and Journeys"
29658 Buddha teaches that one should not practice extremes.... As Nagarjuna's
29659 "Precious Garland of Advice" says,
29660 Practice is not done
29661 By mortifying the body,
29662 Since you have not forsaken injuring others
29663 And are not helping others.
29664 When you disregard the basic needs of the body, you harm the many sentient
29665 organisms that live within the body. You should also avoid the opposite
29666 extreme of living in great luxury. It is possible to make use of good food,
29667 clothing, residence, and furnishings without producing afflictive emotions
29668 such as attachment, pride, and arrogance. The crucial point is the control of
29669 internal factors such as lust and attachment; external factors are not in and
29670 of themselves good or bad. It is not suitable if attachment increases toward
29671 even mediocre food, clothing, and so forth.
29672 Contentment is the key. If you have contentment with material things, you
29673 are truly rich. Without it, even if you are a billionaire, you will not have
29674 happiness. You will always feel hungry and want more and more and more,
29675 making you not rich but poor. If you seek contentment externally, it will
29676 never happen. Your desire will never be fulfilled. Our texts speak of a king
29677 who gained control over the world, at which point he began thinking about
29678 taking over the lands of the gods. In the end his good qualities were
29679 destroyed by pride. Contentment is necessary for happiness, so try to be
29680 satisfied with adequate food, clothing, and shelter.
29681 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving
29682 Relationships", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
29684 There is another way of speaking about the two types of meditation. In this
29685 case, they are differentiated into 1) meditation that perceives the object and
29686 2) meditation in which our mind is transformed into a specific affective
29687 state. An example of the former is meditating on impermanence and emptiness.
29688 These are subtle objects that we must use analytical meditation to perceive.
29689 An example of the latter is meditation on the four immeasurables
29690 (brahmaviharas)--love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Here we are not
29691 trying to perceive a subtle object, but are practicing to transform our minds
29692 into those mental states. For example, everyone admires the quality of love,
29693 but we cannot just say, "I should love everyone," and expect our deepest
29694 feelings to change. First, we must free our minds from the gross obstacles of
29695 attachment to friends, hostility to people who threaten or harm us, and apathy
29696 towards strangers. On this basis, we then train our mind to recognize the
29697 kindness of others, which arouses in us a natural wish to reciprocate and
29698 share our kindness with them. After this we meditate on love and cultivate a
29699 genuine wish for all sentient beings to have happiness and its causes.
29700 Initially that feeling will arise in us but will not be stable. Anger may
29701 still flash into our mind making our good feelings towards others disappear.
29702 We need to cultivate love continuously and do so with a focused mind. The
29703 greater our concentration, the more stable and penetrative the experience
29705 -- Thubten Chodron, "Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path",
29706 foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion Publications
29708 ...for the Christian practitioner, the Creator and the acceptance of the
29709 Creator as almighty, is a very important factor within that tradition in order
29710 to develop self-discipline, compassion, or forgiveness and to increase them in
29711 one's intimate relationship with God. That's something very essential. In
29712 addition, when God is seen as absolute and almighty, the concept that
29713 everything is relative becomes a little bit difficult. However, if one's
29714 understanding of God is in terms of an ultimate nature of reality or ultimate
29715 truth, then it is possible to have a kind of unified approach.
29716 ...As to one's personal religion, I think this must be based on one's own
29717 mental disposition.... Generally speaking, I think it is better to practice
29718 according to your own traditional background, and certainly you can use some
29719 of the Buddhist techniques. Without accepting rebirth theory or the
29720 complicated philosophy, simply use certain techniques to increase your power
29721 of patience and compassion, forgiveness, and things like that.
29722 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
29723 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Thupten Jinpa, published by Snow
29726 When we compare two ancient spiritual traditions like Buddhism and
29727 Christianity, what we see is a striking similarity between the narratives of
29728 the founding masters: in the case of Christianity, Jesus Christ, and in the
29729 case of Buddhism, the Buddha. I see a very important parallel: in the very
29730 lives of the [founders] the essence of their teachings is demonstrated. For
29731 example... the essence of the Buddha's teaching is embodied in the Four Noble
29732 Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the
29733 truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path leading to this
29734 cessation. These Four Noble Truths are very explicitly and clearly
29735 exemplified in the life of... the Buddha himself. I feel [it] is the same
29736 with the life of Christ. If you look at the life of Jesus, you will see all
29737 the essential practices and teachings of Christianity exemplified. And in the
29738 lives of both Jesus Christ and the Buddha, it is only through hardship,
29739 dedication and commitment, and by standing firm on one's principles that one
29740 can grow spiritually and attain liberation. That seems to be a central and
29742 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Pocket Dalai Lama", compiled and edited
29745 With the achievement of quiescence, the attention is drawn inwards and is
29746 maintained continuously, single-pointedly upon its object. Tsongkhapa
29747 emphasizes that genuine quiescence is necessarily preceded by an experience of
29748 an extraordinary degree of mental and physical pliancy, which entails an
29749 unprecedented sense of mental and physical fitness and buoyancy.
29750 In the state of meditative equipoise, only the aspects of awareness,
29751 clarity, and joy of the mind appear, and all one's other sense faculties
29752 remain dormant. Thus, while one's consciousness seems as if it has become
29753 indivisible with space, one lacks any sensation of having a body; and when
29754 rising from that state, it seems as if one's body is suddenly coming into
29755 being. When genuine quiescence is achieved, one's attention can effortlessly
29756 be maintained for hours, even days, on end, with no interference by either
29757 laxity or excitation.
29758 -- B. Alan Wallace, "Balancing the Mind: A Tibetan Buddhist Approach
29759 to Refining Attention", published by Snow Lion Publications
29761 In Mahayana Buddhism, when one takes the bodhisattva vow, one pledges to
29762 work tirelessly in this life and all future lives to awaken oneself and purify
29763 oneself in order to help all other beings attain freedom from suffering
29764 through spiritual enlightenment. One vows to help beings whenever possible,
29765 and a profound way of doing this is to give a being the gift of life through
29766 an act of kindness. This can take the form of helping an animal in danger
29767 cross the road to safety before being struck by a vehicle or freeing an animal
29768 that is in captivity before it is killed by buying it from the captor and
29769 letting it roam free. If one is in a position to help save another's life--
29770 whether a human or an animal--one must practice fearless kindness to help the
29771 other being in danger.
29772 In Tibetan Buddhism, it is believed that due to the countless incarnations
29773 all beings have undergone throughout time, at one point or another any given
29774 living creature has been one's mother in a past life. Therefore, it is viewed
29775 as an obligation to repay the kindness of those who are referred to as "mother
29776 sentient beings." If your own mother in this life were in danger, you would
29777 certainly do whatever you could to save her life. Similarly, dedicated
29778 holders of the bodhisattva vow feel this kind of urgency to save the lives of
29779 all "mother sentient beings."
29780 -- Chatral Rinpoche, "Compassionate Action", edited, introduced and
29781 annotated by Zach Larson, published by Snow Lion Publications
29783 In the frenzy of modern life we lose sight of the real value of humanity.
29784 People become the sum total of what they produce. Human beings act like
29785 machines whose function is to make money. This is absolutely wrong. The
29786 purpose of making money is the happiness of humankind, not the other way
29787 around. Humans are not for money, money is for humans. We need enough to
29788 live, so money is necessary, but we also need to realize that if there is too
29789 much attachment to wealth, it does not help at all. As the saints of India
29790 and Tibet tell us, the wealthier one becomes, the more suffering one endures.
29791 ...Eating, working, and making money are meaningless in themselves.
29792 However, even a small act of compassion grants meaning and purpose to our
29794 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life",
29795 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
29797 Unlike the Lesser Vehicle tenet systems, which teach only a selflessness of
29798 persons, the Great Vehicle tenet systems teach that the most profound reality,
29799 the most subtle and important type of selflessness, is a selflessness, or
29800 emptiness, that is a quality of all phenomena. They hold that the bodhisattva
29801 trains in altruistically motivated meditation on the emptiness of all
29802 phenomena, thus preparing for the omniscience of buddhahood. Some Great
29803 Vehicle systems maintain that Lesser Vehicle practitioners do not realize the
29804 profound emptiness of phenomena at all and are therefore unable to overcome
29805 the obstructions to omniscience. However, the highest system, the Middle Way
29806 Consequence system, holds that persons on Lesser Vehicle paths do realize
29807 emptiness, but are unable to achieve omniscience on their paths because their
29808 wisdom is not empowered by association with altruism and altruistically
29809 motivated actions of giving, ethics, patience, etc.
29810 -- Guy Newland, "Appearance and Reality: The Two Truths in the Four
29811 Buddhist Tenet Systems", published by Snow Lion Publications
29813 Selflessness in Context: Ultimate Bodhichitta
29814 Let us return for a moment to the beginning of [the Heart] Sutra where the
29815 Buddha enters into the meditative absorption called "appearance of the
29816 profound" and Avalokiteshvara beholds the practice of the profound perfection
29817 of wisdom. Generally speaking, the expression "appearance of the profound"
29818 refers to the bodhisattva deeds, which are encompassed in the practice of the
29819 six perfections. Here, however, the expression refers particularly to the
29820 perfection of wisdom, known in Sanskrit as prajnaparamita. What the text
29821 means by "perfection of wisdom" is a direct, unmediated realization of
29822 emptiness that is also called "ultimate bodhichitta." This is not the direct
29823 realization of emptiness alone; rather it is this direct realization in union
29824 with bodhichitta--the aspiration to become a buddha in order to free all
29825 beings. This union of wisdom and method constitutes the first bhumi, or level
29826 of bodhisattva attainment.
29827 The importance of this altruistic aspiration cannot be overstated.
29828 Bodhichitta is not only important as a motivating factor at the beginning of
29829 practice, it is also important as a complementary and a reinforcing factor
29830 during every stage of the path. The bodhichitta aspiration is twofold,
29831 comprised both of the wish to help others and of the wish to become
29832 enlightened so that one's assistance will be supremely effective.
29833 --from Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom
29834 Teachings by H.H. the Dalai Lama, translated & edited by Thupten Jinpa
29836 From "The Prayer Requested by Namke Nyingbo" by Padmasambhava
29838 All these things of the outer environment and the beings therein
29839 That come into sight as the objects of your eyes like this,
29840 They may appear, but leave them in the sphere free from clinging to a self.
29841 Since they are pure of perceiver and perceived, they are the luminous-empty
29843 I pray to the guru in whom attachment is self-liberated,
29844 I pray to Padmasambhava from Uddiyana.
29846 All these sounds, taken as pleasant or unpleasant,
29847 That resound as the objects of your ears like this,
29848 Leave them in the sphere of inconceivable, empty resonance.
29849 Empty resonance, unborn and unceasing, is the Victor's speech.
29850 I pray to the words of the Victor that resound and yet are empty,
29851 I pray to Padmasambhava from Uddiyana.
29853 However these thoughts of afflictions' five poisons,
29854 Which stir as objects in your mind like this, may appear,
29855 Do not mess around with them through a mind that rushes ahead into the future
29856 or lingers in the past.
29857 Through leaving their movement in its own place, they uncoil as the
29859 I pray to the guru whose awareness is self-liberated,
29860 I pray to Padmasambhava from Uddiyana.
29862 Grant your blessings that the mind stream of someone like me is liberated
29863 Through the compassion of the Tathagatas of the three times,
29864 So that objects, appearing as if perceived outside, become pure,
29865 That my very mind, perceiving as if inside, becomes liberated,
29866 And that, in between, luminosity will recognize its own face.
29868 -- "Straight from the Heart: Buddhist Pith Instructions", translated and
29869 introduced by Karl Brunnholzl, published by Snow Lion Publications
29871 Some people feel that although it may be right to curb feelings of intense
29872 hatred which can cause us to be violent and even to kill, we are in danger of
29873 losing our independence when we restrain our emotions and discipline the mind.
29874 Actually, the opposite is true. Like their counterparts of love and
29875 compassion, anger and the afflictive emotions can never be used up. They
29876 have, rather, a propensity to increase, like a river flooding in summer when
29877 the snow melts, so that far from being free, our minds are enslaved and
29878 rendered helpless by them. When we indulge our negative thoughts and
29879 feelings, inevitably we become accustomed to them. As a result, gradually we
29880 become more prone to them and more controlled by them. And we become
29881 habituated to exploding in the face of displeasing circumstances.
29882 Inner peace, which is the principal characteristic of happiness, and anger
29883 cannot coexist without undermining one another. Indeed, negative thoughts and
29884 emotions undermine the very causes of peace and happiness. In fact, when we
29885 think properly, it is totally illogical to seek happiness if we do nothing to
29886 restrain angry, spiteful, and malicious thoughts and emotions. Consider that
29887 when we become angry, we often use harsh words. Harsh words can destroy
29888 friendship. Since happiness arises in the context of our relationships with
29889 others, if we destroy friendships, we undermine one of the very conditions of
29891 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Ethics for the New Millennium", edited by
29892 Alexander Norman, translated by Dr. Thupten Jinpa
29896 Psychologists talk about people who are co-dependent because they don't
29897 have a sense of self. What psychologists mean when they say a person has no
29898 sense of self is very different from what the Buddha meant by no-self or
29899 selflessness. People with psychological problems actually have a very strong
29900 sense of self in the Buddhist sense, although they may not in the
29901 psychological sense of the word. Psychologically, they don't see themselves
29902 as efficacious individuals in the world, but they still have a very strong
29903 sense of "I": "I am worthless." When somebody criticizes them, they don't
29904 like it. They get into co-dependent relationships to protect or to please
29905 this "I." When they fall into self-pity, their sense of an inherently
29906 existent "I" is very strong. Thus they still have self-grasping even though
29907 they lack a psychologically healthy sense of self.
29908 Buddhism recognizes two kinds of sense of self. There's one sense of self
29909 that is healthy and necessary to be efficacious on the path. The object of
29910 this sense of self is the conventionally existent "I." The other sense of
29911 self grasps at an inherently existent self that never has and never will
29912 exist. Within Buddhism, when we talk about realizing emptiness, we're
29913 negating the false self, this self that appears inherently existent to us.
29914 -- Thubten Chodron, "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of
29915 Chenrezig", foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion
29918 Question: If a person views the self and other phenomena as being empty of
29919 any inherent existence, is it then, in that state, possible for them to take
29920 any animate or inanimate phenomenon as their object, and through the power of
29921 imputation or words, enable that object to actually take on a manifesting role
29922 with the qualities which we view objects to have?
29924 His Holiness: This is an instance of not properly understanding the
29925 meaning of "lack of inherent existence." If we think that "emptiness" means
29926 things cannot function, then, with an improper understanding of the view of
29927 emptiness, one will have fallen into nihilism. So, because one has failed to
29928 reconcile emptiness and the fact that things work, this view is incorrect.
29929 That is why it is said that the meaning of emptiness is to be understood in
29930 terms of dependent arising.
29931 Now, since the meaning of emptiness is to be explained in terms of
29932 dependent arising, we can only explain something as arising dependently if
29933 there is a basis, that is, some thing that is dependent. Hence, such a basis
29934 must exist. We see then that when we speak of dependent arising, we are
29935 indicating that things work. Dependent arising proves that things have no
29936 inherent existence, through the fact that things work in dependence on each
29937 other. The fact that things work and the fact that they do so in dependence,
29938 one on the other, eliminates the possibility of their being independent. This
29939 in turn precludes the possibility of inherent existence, since, to inherently
29940 exist means to be independent. Hence, the understanding of emptiness, of the
29941 the emptiness of a kind of inherent existence that is independent, boils down
29942 to understanding dependent arising.
29943 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
29944 edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
29946 In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the most profound and commonly
29947 practiced teachings are those of the Vajrayana. Within this powerful system
29948 of skillful means, the supreme view and most potent methods are found in the
29949 teachings and practices of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. These instructions
29950 are regarded as the pinnacle of the teachings and as the most direct path to
29951 realizing the nature of mind and the reality of the world.
29952 The instructions of the Dzogchen lineage are used to directly point out
29953 the nature of mind and bring the experience of enlightenment into our ordinary
29954 life. These teachings are known as "pith instructions," the pure,
29955 quintessential knowledge that cuts through all confusion and gets straight to
29956 the point. There is a saying, "Don't beat around the bush," meaning, "Get to
29957 the point." That is Dzogchen.
29958 In many ways, these teachings go beyond scripture and the formality of
29959 spiritual techniques. These two do have their place, since it is important to
29960 study scripture and meditate in a step-by-step manner. Yet, at some point we
29961 also must connect directly with the nature of mind. We have to strike the
29962 crucial point, the enlightened state, and leap directly into experiencing and
29963 realizing the true nature of our mind.
29964 -- The Third Dzogchen Rinpoche, "Great Perfection: Outer and Inner
29965 Preliminaries", trans. by Cortland Dahl, intro. by Dzogchen Ponlop,
29966 published by Snow Lion Publications
29968 Dzogchen teaches that practice conducted with contriving, rough, fleeting
29969 minds cannot bring enlightenment. Only practice with the deep awareness of
29970 non-contriving rigpa--pure awareness--can bring us to the state of a Buddha.
29971 We can understand this in the same way as we do the statement that practice of
29972 the yoga class of tantras and below cannot bring us enlightenment by itself.
29973 The ultimate, deepest reason why it cannot is that the pathways of practice of
29974 these levels of teaching cannot by themselves make manifest the deep awareness
29975 of subtlest clear light mind. Without the manifestation of the deep awareness
29976 of clear light mind, we do not have the perpetrating causes for an
29977 enlightening body and enlightening mind of a Buddha--causes that are in the
29978 same uncommon category of phenomena as a Buddha's body and mind. Therefore,
29979 no matter how much we practice with pathway minds of yoga tantra and below, we
29980 are never able to attain to enlightenment on their basis alone.
29981 ...when we make clear light mind of deep awareness prominent or enhanced
29982 through techniques presented in the anuttarayoga tantra texts, and then
29983 transform it into the nature of being a pathway mind, only then do we have
29984 what can actualize an enlightening body and enlightening mind of a Buddha.
29985 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
29986 Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
29988 Whenever you consider there is bliss, and the objective conditions for
29989 bliss occur, if you fall under the control of that by becoming arrogant or
29990 conceited, then that will fester as an obstruction to the spiritual path.
29991 Rather than thinking about what has caused this happiness, which most probably
29992 is the accumulation of merit or the removal of obscurations, as soon as the
29993 bliss occurs, you think, "That's my nature." Based on that, you become
29994 arrogant or lazy, thinking, "Well, I've accomplished it." This is the
29995 greatest obstacle to the spiritual path. This is what creates the realms
29996 of deva-gods. Oftentimes it is said that people can handle only a little bit
29997 of felicity, but they can handle a lot of adversity. This is because
29998 happiness on the spiritual path is the most difficult thing to handle. Once
29999 it arises, that's where the path stops.
30000 This does not mean that it is necessary to give it all up. Giving up
30001 happiness is not the practice. The main point is not to become mesmerized by
30002 happiness as the end result. You realize that, "Ah, now, the good quality of
30003 this is that I am fortunate, and this is another result of the great fortune
30004 of the path and the result of the accumulation of merit and wholesome deeds.
30005 Even more than ever, I will carry on with the work at hand to achieve
30006 liberation from cyclic existence." So with more diligence and more courage,
30007 you continue listening to teachings, contemplating, meditating, and
30008 appreciating this precious human rebirth.
30009 -- Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche, "Meditation, Transformation, and Dream Yoga",
30010 translated by Sangye Khandro and B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow
30013 As to what might be the mechanism through which karma plays a causal role
30014 in the evolution of sentience, I find helpful some of the explanations given
30015 in the Vajrayana traditions, often referred to by modern writers as esoteric
30016 Buddhism. According to the Guhyasamaja tantra, a principal tradition within
30017 Vajrayana Buddhism, at the most fundamental level, no absolute division can be
30018 made between mind and matter. Matter in its subtlest form is prana, a vital
30019 energy which is inseparable from consciousness. These two are different
30020 aspects of an indivisible reality. Prana is the aspect of mobility, dynamism,
30021 and cohesion, while consciousness is the aspect of cognition and the capacity
30022 for reflective thinking. So according to the Guhyasamaja tantra, when a world
30023 system comes into being, we are witnessing the play of this energy and
30024 consciousness reality.
30025 ...Despite the success of the Darwinian narrative, I do not believe that
30026 all the elements of the story are in place. To begin with, although Darwin's
30027 theory gives a coherent account of the development of life on this planet and
30028 the various principles underlying it, such as natural selection, I am not
30029 persuaded that it answers the fundamental question of the origin of life.
30030 Darwin himself, I gather, did not see this as an issue. Furthermore, there
30031 appears to be a certain circularity in the notion of "survival of the
30032 fittest." The theory of natural selection maintains that, of the random
30033 mutations that occur in the genes of a given species, those that promote the
30034 greatest chance of survival are most likely to succeed. However, the only
30035 way this hypothesis can be verified is to observe the characteristics of
30036 those mutations that have survived. So in a sense, we are stating simply
30037 this: "Because these genetic mutations have survived, they are the ones that
30038 had the greatest chance of survival."
30039 From the Buddhist perspective, the idea of these mutations being purely
30040 random events is deeply unsatisfying for a theory that purports to explain the
30041 origin of life. ...One empirical problem in Darwinism's focus on the
30042 competitive survival of individuals, which is defined in terms of an
30043 organism's struggle for individual reproductive success, has consistently been
30044 how to explain altruism, whether in the sense of collaborative behavior, such
30045 as food sharing or conflict resolution among animals like chimpanzees or acts
30046 of self-sacrifice. There are many examples, not only among human beings but
30047 among other species as well, of individuals who put themselves in danger to
30049 ...From the scientific view, the theory of karma may be a metaphysical
30050 assumption--but it is no more so than the assumption that all of life is
30051 material and originated out of pure chance.
30052 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Universe in a Single Atom: Convergence of
30053 Science and Spirituality"
30055 Praising others should be part of our daily life and a component of our
30056 Dharma practice. Imagine what our life would be like if we trained our minds
30057 to dwell on others' talents and good attributes. We would feel much happier
30058 and so would they! We would get along better with others, and our families,
30059 work environments, and living situations would be much more harmonious. We
30060 plants the seeds from such positive actions on our mindstream, creating the
30061 cause for harmonious relationships and success in our spiritual and temporal
30063 An interesting experiment is to try to say something nice to or about
30064 someone every day for a month. Try it. It makes us much more aware of what
30065 we say and why. It encourages us to change our perspective so that we notice
30066 others' good qualities. Doing so also improves our relationships
30068 A few years ago, I gave this as a homework assignment at a Dharma class,
30069 encouraging people to try to praise even someone they didn't like very much.
30070 The next week I asked the students how they did. One man said that the first
30071 day he had to make something up in order to speak positively to a fellow
30072 colleague. But after that, the man was so much nicer to him that it was easy
30073 to see his good qualities and speak about them!
30074 -- Thubten Chodron, "Taming the Mind", published by Snow Lion Publications
30076 Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. -- Unknown
30078 To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
30081 He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
30082 -- Benjamin Franklin
30084 If, after having performed a virtuous action and accumulated its potency,
30085 that potency remained without degenerating until its fruit issued forth in
30086 either this or a future life, it would not be so fragile. But that is not the
30087 case. Rather, the generation of a strong nonvirtuous state of mind, such as
30088 anger, overpowers the capacity of a virtuously established potency so that it
30089 cannot issue forth, much like scorching a seed. Conversely, the generation of
30090 a strong virtuous attitude overpowers potencies established by nonvirtues,
30091 making them unable to issue their effects. Thus it is necessary not only to
30092 achieve many powerful constructive causes but also to avoid contrary forces
30093 that would cause those beneficial causes to degenerate.
30094 The good actions required for accumulating these causes, or potencies,
30095 arise from a tamed mind, whereas bad actions arise from an untamed mind.
30096 Common beings like us have been accustomed to an untamed mind since
30097 beginningless time. Given this predisposition, we can conclude that actions
30098 performed with an untamed mind are more powerful for us and actions performed
30099 with a tamed mind are weaker. It is important to appreciate that this
30100 excellent life support of a human body that we now possess is a wholesome
30101 result of many powerful good actions from a tamed mind in the past. It was
30102 very difficult to gain, and, since it is very rare, you must take care to use
30103 it well, making sure that it is not wasted.
30104 ...If this human endowment, so difficult to attain, were stable and
30105 permanent--not prone to deterioration--there would be time later to make use
30106 of it. However, this life-support system is fragile and easily disintegrates
30107 from many external and internal causes. Aryadeva's "Four Hundred Stanzas on
30108 the Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas" says that once the body depends on the four
30109 elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, which themselves oppose each other,
30110 physical happiness is just an occasional balance of these elements, not an
30112 ...So this human body is a precious endowment, potent and yet fragile.
30113 Simply by virtue of being alive, you are at a very important juncture, and
30114 carry a great responsibility. Powerful good can be achieved for yourself and
30115 others, so becoming distracted by the minor affairs of this lifetime would be
30116 a tremendous waste. You should make wishes to use this lifetime in this body
30117 effectively and make petitions to your guru, the three refuges, and other
30118 sources of help. In doing so, urge yourself on from the inside and seek
30119 assistance from the outside.....
30120 In sum, since this human body, which supports your life, is beneficial,
30121 was difficult to gain, and easily disintegrates, you should use it for your
30122 benefit and that of others. Benefits come from a tamed mind: When your mind
30123 is peaceful, relaxed, and happy, external pleasures such as good food,
30124 clothing, and conversation make things even better, but their absence does not
30125 overpower you. If your mind is not peaceful and tamed, no matter how
30126 marvelous the external circumstances are, you will be burdened by frights,
30127 hopes, and fears. With a tamed mind, you will enjoy wealth or poverty, health
30128 or sickness, you can even die happily. With a tamed mind, having many friends
30129 is wonderful, but if you have no friends, it is all right, too. The root of
30130 your own happiness and welfare rests with a peaceful and tamed mind.
30131 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living Well
30132 and Dying Consciously", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.
30134 One of the reasons there is a need to adopt a strong countermeasure
30135 against someone who harms you is that, if you let it pass, there is a danger
30136 of that person becoming habituated to extremely negative actions, which in the
30137 long run will cause that person's own downfall and is very destructive for the
30138 individual himself or herself. Therefore a strong countermeasure, taken out
30139 of compassion or a sense of concern for the other, is necessary. When you are
30140 motivated by that realization, then there is a sense of concern as part of
30141 your motive for taking that strong measure.
30142 ...One of the reasons why there is some ground to feel compassionate
30143 toward a perpetrator of crime or an aggressor is that the aggressor, because
30144 he or she is perpetrating a crime, is at the causal stage, accumulating the
30145 causes and conditions that later lead to undesirable consequences. So, from
30146 that point of view, there is enough ground to feel compassionate toward the
30148 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
30149 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published
30150 by Snow Lion Publications
30152 What do you think would be the chief obstacle in recognizing that each
30153 individual person has been kind to you? In my case, I was afraid of having to
30154 return the kindness, because then I'd be under the control of these people. I
30155 didn't want to do what my parents wanted me to do, although they gave me a lot
30156 of slack--I left college after my first year, went to the woods of Vermont,
30157 went to Tahiti, all on my own with whatever cash I earned. I didn't fit into
30158 the upper-middle-class community where we lived. I didn't want their control;
30159 the lifestyle they were pushing on me was completely unappealing. Therefore,
30160 I refused to recognize their kindness.
30161 However, assuming a debt with respect to every sentient being differs
30162 greatly from having a debt to a few. In this meditation, you start with
30163 friends, then neutral persons, and then enemies and contemplate: "I will
30164 return the debt of kindness that I have with this person through helping her
30165 or him achieve happiness." It is easy to determine that the response to all
30166 sentient beings' kindness cannot be to do everything they want, since, with so
30167 many people, what they want from you would be at cross-purposes. You cannot
30168 even do everything your mother of this lifetime wants you to do, though you
30169 know her advice is, for the most part, motivated by kindness....
30170 Those who help us--our parents, for instance--often attain power over us
30171 for that very reason: "Do as I say because I have helped you." Thus, for some,
30172 it becomes almost a mental habit to refuse to recognize those who have helped
30173 us, because they otherwise would attain some power over us. Still, we know we
30174 should return their many kindnesses. That is one reason why the practice of
30175 reflecting, "This person has helped me in many intimate ways and thus I must
30176 do something in return," gets to be uncomfortable, but when it is extended to
30177 more and more beings, we have to find a way of intending to return their
30178 kindness without coming under their misguided influence.
30179 ...one cannot do everything all those sentient beings want. There are so
30180 many of them, and they want such contradictory things. Besides, to fulfill
30181 what they temporarily want may not be the best way to help them. The greatest
30182 of all ways to return their kindness is to help them become free from all
30183 suffering and to assist in the process of becoming liberated from cyclic
30184 existence and attaining the bliss of Buddhahood. It is important to realize
30185 here in the step of developing an intention to return others' kindness that
30186 acknowledging a debt does not mean that you must do what they say. Otherwise,
30187 you might hold back from the truth of their attentive care.
30188 --Jeffrey Hopkins, "A Truthful Heart: Buddhist Practices for Connecting
30189 with Others", foreword by the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion
30192 ...Nagarjuna's Fundamental Treatise says, "That which arises dependently
30193 we explain as emptiness. This [emptiness] is dependent designation; this is
30194 the middle way." His Refutation of Objections says, "I bow down to the
30195 Buddha, the unequaled, supreme teacher, who taught that emptiness, dependent
30196 arising, and the middle way hold a single meaning."
30197 For Tsong-kha-pa, the compatibility of emptiness and dependent arising is
30198 the very heart of the Madhyamaka view and the key to the path. Dependent
30199 arising means that things come into being in dependence upon causes and
30200 conditions. Understanding dependent arising correctly refutes the idea that
30201 things exist in and of themselves--because they must depend on other things.
30202 In the same moment, it also refutes the nihilist extreme--because it shows
30203 that things do arise, they do come into existence, and they affect one
30204 another. Thus, Tsong-kha-pa advises that if you think that you may have found
30205 the profound view of emptiness, you should check to see if you have negated
30206 too much. Can this "emptiness" you have discovered be reconciled with the
30207 mere existence of things that arise interdependently? If not, then you are
30208 certainly mistaken.
30209 ...The point is that one cannot become a buddha without both compassionate
30210 action and nondual wisdom--and one cannot have these two types of path without
30211 both of the two truths, conventional and ultimate. If only emptiness existed
30212 and there were, in fact, no conventional truths, then there would be no living
30213 beings, no suffering to relieve; thus there would be no compassionate action;
30214 and thus there would be no buddhahood. Therefore, maintaining the
30215 compatibility of the two truths--the compatibility of emptiness and dependent
30216 arising--is crucial to the whole of the Dharma.
30217 -- Guy Newland, "Introduction to Emptiness: As Taught in Tsong-kha-pa's
30218 Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path", published by Snow Lion
30221 Anything that can be done chemically can be done by other means.
30222 -- William S. Burroughs
30224 ...let us discuss true sources of suffering. The fact that sufferings are
30225 not always produced but are produced in some places at some times and cease at
30226 some times and in some places indicates that they are caused. Logically, it
30227 can be said that sufferings are caused because of being produced occasionally.
30228 If sufferings were produced causelessly, either they would never exist or they
30229 would always exist.
30230 Since sufferings are caused, one needs to look into what their causes are.
30231 In the Buddhist systems, the causes are explained to be contaminated actions
30232 and afflictive emotions....
30233 For instance, if I had an angry feeling, this could serve as a motivating
30234 force that would lead to a harsh attitude, harsh speech, and harsh physical
30235 gestures. Since the anger that serves as the motivating factor is a
30236 defIlement--an afflictive emotion--the physical and verbal actions done
30237 through that motivating force are negative karmas, negative actions. Through
30238 them, the atmosphere immediately changes into one of tension. Right away, I
30239 might not feel the effects of those actions, perhaps even feeling that I had
30240 gained a victory over someone, even shouting, "I have won." However, later I
30241 will feel very sorry and shy, deep down experiencing a guilty conscience.
30242 Similarly, those around me would immediately lose their tranquility and peace.
30243 These are painful results of actions impelled by a bad motivation. This is
30244 the law of karma--motivation, action, result.
30245 Conversely, a good, open, sincere motivation such as compassion with a
30246 deep respect for others impels verbal and physical actions that immediately
30247 create a peaceful, harmonious, enjoyable atmosphere. Due to that, I feel
30248 happy and calm, enjoying that atmosphere, and others around me also enjoy the
30249 same. Therefore, bad motivation creates problems, suffering, and pain,
30250 whereas good motivation creates happiness and peacefulness--something good.
30251 This is the general explanation. On a deeper level, right at the time of
30252 an action, predisposing potencies are instilled in the consciousness. The
30253 performance of an action establishes a predisposing potency in the mind that,
30254 in the future, will serve as the causal condition for one's experiencing a
30255 good or bad effect.
30256 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
30257 Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
30258 published by Snow Lion Publications
30260 (Each day before breakfast the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, Thubten
30261 Chodron, gives a morning motivation for residents and guests. Below is a
30262 teaching given during March 2008.)
30266 Have you ever had this experience? You walk outside, and all of a sudden
30267 the silence strikes you--it's in such sharp contrast to the chatter that's
30268 going on in the mind.
30269 We live in a very quiet place. We walk outside and it's pretty quiet--a
30270 few birds chirping, sun shining. Then suddenly the chatter in the mind stops
30271 because we see that it's just chatter. It's in such stark contrast to the
30272 silence that's outside.
30273 We want to learn to notice that chatter before we even have to walk
30274 outside. And we want to be able to find that quiet place inside ourselves and
30275 keep it with us, so that even when we're in a place where there is a lot of
30276 noise, the mind can be quiet.
30277 All that mental chatter is basically negative conceptualization. If we
30278 were thinking about emptiness or developing compassion with that kind of
30279 mental activity, fine! Continue that outside, inside, everywhere. But most
30280 of the time what's going on is, "I like this. I don't like this. I want
30281 this. I don't want that. Why does this person do this? Why don't they do
30282 that?" That kind of mental activity makes the mind quite stressful as well
30283 as accumulates negative karma and wastes a great deal of time.
30284 As soon as we can catch it and be aware of what's going on in our mind,
30285 and come back to that silent space inside, the more peaceful we'll be. Our
30286 lives will be more productive in terms of having the Dharma grow in our
30287 hearts, and we'll be more focused in whatever daily activities we're doing.
30288 We won't be quite so distracted.
30289 -- Thubten Chodron, author of numerous books, including Buddhism for
30290 Beginners; Taming the Mind; Open Heart, Clear Mind; and Working
30293 ...if people have compassion, naturally that's something they can count
30294 on; even if they have economic problems and their fortune declines, they still
30295 have something to share with fellow human beings. World economies are always
30296 so tenuous and we are subject to so many losses in life, but a compassionate
30297 attitude is something that we can always carry with us.
30298 ...Of course, in attempting to explain to someone the importance of
30299 compassion, in some cases, you might be dealing with a very hardened,
30300 individualistic, and selfish person, someone concerned only with her or his
30301 own interests. And it is even possible that there are people who may not have
30302 the capacity to empathize with even someone whom they love or who may be close
30303 to them. But even to such people, it is still possible to present the
30304 importance of compassion and love on the grounds that it's the best way to
30305 fulfill their self-interests. They wish to have good health, live a longer
30306 life, and have peace of mind, happiness, and joy. And if these are things
30307 that they desire, I've heard that there is scientific evidence that these
30308 things can be enhanced by feelings of love and compassion.
30309 ...educating someone about these facts and scientific studies could
30310 certainly encourage some people to cultivate a more compassionate state of
30311 mind. But I think that, even aside from scientific studies, there are other
30312 arguments that people could understand and appreciate from their own practical
30313 or direct everyday experience. For example, you could point out that lack of
30314 compassion leads to a certain ruthlessness. There are many examples
30315 indicating that at some level deep down, ruthless people generally suffer from
30316 a kind of unhappiness and discontent, people like Stalin and Hitler. Such
30317 people suffer from a kind of nagging sense of insecurity and fear. Even when
30318 they are sleeping I think that sense of fear remains... these people lack
30319 something that you can find in a more compassionate person--a sense of
30320 freedom, a sense of abandonment, so when you sleep you can relax and let go.
30321 Ruthless people never have that experience. Something is always gripping
30322 them; there is some kind of hold on them, and they aren't able to experience
30323 that feeling of letting go, that sense of freedom.
30324 ...There are always different degrees of benefit that one might receive
30325 from practicing various methods and techniques, depending on one's particular
30326 circumstances.... First, through learning, thoroughly understanding the value
30327 of compassion--this gives you a feeling of conviction and determination.
30328 Then, employing methods to enhance empathy, such as using your imagination,
30329 your creativity, to visualize yourself in another's situation. And certain
30330 exercises or practices that you can undertake, such as Tong-Len, serve to
30331 strengthen your compassion. But I think it's important to remember that these
30332 techniques... were developed to help as many as possible, at least some
30333 portion of the human population. But it was never expected that these
30334 techniques could help 100 percent of people, the entire human population.
30335 ...the main point really, if we are talking about various methods to
30336 develop compassion, the important thing is that people make a sincere effort
30337 to develop their capacity for compassion. If they make their best efforts to
30338 be kinder, to cultivate compassion and make the world a better place, then at
30339 the end of the day they can say, "At least I've done my best!"
30340 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art of
30341 Happiness: A Handbook for Living"
30343 In ascertaining luminous clarity at the time of the path, the general
30344 technique is to rest evenly in the very essence of luminous clarity. Telopa
30347 Rest relaxed within the uncontrived native state;
30348 Bonds are released and freedom is sure.
30350 This and other such instructions are expressed unanimously by the mighty
30351 adepts. Accordingly, with the body in the seven-point posture of meditative
30352 stability, the mind rests without support, relaxed and uncontrived. This will
30353 create the unerring yogic direct perception of emptiness. This is the
30354 ultimate esoteric instruction of the completion phase found in the profound
30355 tantras. The reason is that once the vital points of the vajra body, which is
30356 the support, are bound, the mind, eyes, and energy currents remain in a state
30357 of nonthought. Because of the special interconnection between body and mind,
30358 the movement in the right and left channels is stopped and immobilized within
30359 the central channel, causing the direct experience of mahamudra, emptiness
30361 Therefore the luminous mind, which is the supported, is realized as empty
30362 appearance arising as the mahamudra of forms of emptiness. This, again,
30363 depends on the dissolution of the energy currents of the right and left
30364 channels in the central channel, the supreme support. There is no more
30365 profound method for affecting this dissolution than resting the mind once it
30366 is uncontrived and relaxed. Therefore, in all the esoteric instructions of
30367 highest tantra, this is called "the esoteric instruction of withdrawal" in the
30369 -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, "The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Eight, Part
30370 Four: Esoteric Instructions, A Detailed Presentation of the Process of
30371 Meditation in Vajrayana", trans. and annot. by Sarah Harding, foreword
30372 by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
30374 Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
30377 Dignity does not consist in a silk dress. -- A saying from the Orient
30379 To solve the problems humanity is facing, we need to organize meetings of
30380 scholars, educators, social workers, neuroscientists, physicians, and experts
30381 from all fields to discuss the positive and negative sides of what we have
30382 done thus far, as well as what needs to be introduced and what needs to be
30383 changed in our educational system. Proper environment plays a crucial role in
30384 the healthy growth of a child. All problems, including terrorism, can be
30385 overcome through education, particularly by introducing concern for all others
30386 at the preschool level.
30387 Living in society, we must share the suffering of our fellow citizens and
30388 practice compassion and tolerance not only toward our loved ones but also
30389 toward our enemies. This is the test of our moral strength. We must set an
30390 example by our own practice. We must live by the same high standards of
30391 integrity we seek to convey to others. The ultimate purpose is to serve and
30393 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to See Yourself As You Really Are",
30394 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.
30396 "When Tibet was still free, we cultivated our natural isolation,
30397 mistakenly thinking that we could prolong our peace and security that way.
30398 Consequently, we paid little attention to the changes taking place in the
30399 world outside. Later, we learned the hard way that in the international
30400 arena, as well as at home, freedom is something to be shared and enjoyed in
30401 the company of others, not kept to yourself." Budapest, 1994
30402 "I believe that Tibet will be free only when its people become strong, and
30403 hatred is not strength. It is a weakness. The Lord Buddha was not being
30404 religious, in the popular sense of the term, when he said that hatred does not
30405 cease by hatred. Rather, he was being practical. Any achievement attained
30406 through hatred [can only invite] trouble sooner or later." Statement, 10 March
30408 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Pocket Dalai Lama" compiled and edited by
30411 Persons from orally oriented cultures, writes Ong, tend to project their
30412 sensibilities, to see them expressed in the world around them. More widely
30413 literate cultures create persons who tend to withdraw for insight into their
30414 own personal psyches. Orally oriented peoples may thus be more inclined than
30415 persons in print-dominated cultures to set their feelings or experiences in
30416 the space around them, including the invisible spirits presumed to occupy that
30417 space, and less likely to project these feelings and experiences onto
30418 individual persons. In Tibet lineages or sects are the most likely targets of
30419 negative projections. Western print-oriented persons are more likely to
30420 project their feelings onto other individuals, especially people in
30421 significant relationships with them. Unlike Tibet, or the premodern West, the
30422 contemporary West tends to identify the mind as the exclusive locus of ideas,
30423 feelings, and values. With this localization, the mind becomes "psychic" in a
30424 new sense, distinct from bodily soma and from the larger world.
30425 This very different configuration of personhood affects the way Westerners
30426 are likely to understand the Great Bliss Queen practice. For example, there
30427 is a tendency among Westerners for "visualization" to be a more disembodied
30428 practice than it is for Tibetans. The point in imagining oneself as the Great
30429 Bliss Queen is not just to replace one visual image of oneself with another,
30430 as if observing a changing scene in a movie theater, but to experience a
30431 physical as well as mental shift from deep inside the body.
30432 -- Anne Carolyn Klein, "Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists,
30433 and the Art of the Self", published by Snow Lion Publications
30435 ...when you recognize how kind someone has been to you, you are using an
30436 ordinary worldly attitude to help keep you from responses of hatred. For
30437 instance, if someone gave me a grant with a blank check to form a team of
30438 translators of Tibetan thought, I would be more than extremely pleased. Now
30439 if the person who gave me the money came by someday and gave me a hard time, I
30440 would feel a measure of restraint due to reflecting on the person's kindness.
30441 I would seek other means to work things out with the person. When you reflect
30442 how kind every person has been, there is that restraint to the point where,
30443 believe it or not, trained Buddhists will look at a fly or an ant walking
30444 across the table and think, "This is someone who bore me in her womb in a
30445 former lifetime, who took care of me."
30446 If you watch how mothers take precautions for a child in the womb, it is
30447 clear that they do a great deal to help it. They eat nourishing foods and
30448 avoid harmful substances like coffee, alcohol, nicotine, and drugs. If you
30449 reflect on how such a mother takes care of the child in the womb and extend
30450 this reflection to all sentient beings, I think that because your field of
30451 awareness is no longer just a few sentient beings but is gradually expanding
30452 to more and more, you can reflect on the mother's kindness without doing it
30453 merely because you were helped. The staggering debt deflates your sense of
30454 exaggerated importance. The boil is pricked.
30455 -- Jeffrey Hopkins, "A Truthful Heart: Buddhist Practices for Connecting
30456 with Others", foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, published by
30457 Snow Lion Publications
30459 He that can have patience can have what he will. -- Benjamin Franklin
30461 One generation plants the trees, and another gets the shade.
30464 Most men are within a finger's breadth of being mad. -- Diogenes the Cynic
30466 Fashion is something that goes in one year and out the other. -- Unknown
30468 I'm a born-again atheist. -- Gore Vidal
30470 Buddha's teachings on non-manifest phenomena, such as the extremely subtle
30471 presentations of actions and their effect--which are very hidden phenomena--
30472 cannot be proved with reasoning. How then can they be verified?
30473 There is no need to verify manifest phenomena through reasoning because
30474 they appear directly to the senses. The slightly hidden, however, can be
30475 proved with reasoning that generates inferential understanding, and since
30476 emptiness is very profound but only slightly hidden, it is accessible to
30478 ...very hidden phenomena cannot be proved with reasoning, and it seems
30479 that Buddha can say whatever he likes. However, through our own experience we
30480 can confirm Buddha's teachings on more important topics such as emptiness, the
30481 altruistic mind of enlightenment, love, and compassion, for no matter who
30482 analyses--Buddhist or non-Buddhist--or how much one analyses, if the person is
30483 not biased through desire or hatred, these teachings can bear analysis and
30484 serve as powerful sources of thought. When you see that Buddha does not err
30485 with regard to these more important phenomena, you can accept his other
30487 ...The process of cyclic existence and the eradication of it can be proved
30488 by the reasoning that establishes the misconception of inherent existence as
30489 its root cause and establishes the wisdom cognising emptiness as its antidote.
30490 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in
30491 Tibet", published by Snow Lion Publications
30493 Meditation on [or cultivation of] the six deities is like faith or love
30494 meditation in that the mind is being generated into the entity of the object
30495 meditated. When faith or love are meditated, those two are not the object
30496 observed but the entity into which the consciousness is being generated.
30497 Meditation on impermanence or emptiness, on the other hand, means to take
30498 these as the object and meditate on them. Thus, there are two types of
30499 meditation--of a subjective aspect and on an objective aspect. Meditation on
30500 the six deities is the former, for first one generates a wisdom consciousness
30501 knowing the sameness in suchness of oneself and the deity--the ultimate--and
30502 then causes it to appear as the sounds, letters, and finally the form of the
30504 --His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins,
30505 "Deity Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra", published by Snow
30508 Once we realize emptiness, all phenomena are included within this reality,
30509 which is not separate from the cause and effect of karma and which is free of
30510 mental constructs. On this ultimate level of realization, it is possible to
30511 state that there is no wholesome or unwholesome action. When we have realized
30512 the nature of all phenomena, negative actions naturally subside and positive
30513 ones are spontaneously accomplished. Until this time, however, we would be
30514 slipping into nihilism if we said that the phenomena of relative truth, such
30515 as positive and negative actions or karma, do not exist.
30516 Just knowing this authentic view, however, is not enough. For others to
30517 be able to experience it, we must also know the scriptures and reasonings so
30518 that we can teach. Without the support of this knowledge, it will be
30519 difficult for others to trust what we say, and so Milarepa speaks of scripture
30520 and reasoning as an adornment to realization.
30522 Dissolving thoughts into the dharmakaya--
30523 Is this not meditation naturally arising?
30524 Join it with experience
30525 To make it beautifully adorned.
30527 One way to understand meditation is to see it as a practice of working
30528 with the many thoughts that arise in our mind. With realization they arise as
30529 mere appearances of the dharmakaya, the natural arising of mind's essential
30530 nature. Being clear about this true nature of thought is called "attaining
30531 the level of natural arising." At this point, there is no difference in any
30532 thought that may arise, because we see the nature of each thought to be
30533 emptiness, arising as the dharmakaya. Meditation could be defined as
30534 realizing the dharmakaya of the Buddha.
30535 -- Michele Martin, "Music in the Sky: The Life, Art & Teachings of the
30536 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje", published by Snow Lion Publications
30538 Who is the supreme friend
30539 always helpful in times of need?
30540 Mindfulness of the spiritual instructions
30541 learned through study and contemplation.
30542 -- The Seventh Dalai Lama
30544 Ordinary friends desert us when we fall on hard times or become an
30545 inconvenience in their lives. Others simply disappear into their own
30546 destinies. Even our spiritual teachers eventually die and leave us behind.
30547 Our practice of the Dharma, however, that has been cultivated by means of
30548 study, contemplation and meditation, is the one sure anchor that keeps our
30549 ship stable when the seas become choppy. In fact, the more difficult the
30550 situation we encounter, the more helpful it is to us.
30551 When the Buddha had become very old and was preparing to pass away,
30552 several of his disciples were overcome with grief. They asked him, "What
30553 will we do after you are gone?" He replied, "Whenever you rely upon my
30554 teachings, at that time I am there with you."
30555 The Second Dalai Lama wrote, "When we know how to rely on the Dharma, we
30556 are able to be happy in every situation. Where could one find a more
30557 trustworthy and reliable friend?"
30558 -- Glenn H. Mullin, "Gems of Wisdom from the Seventh Dalai Lama",
30559 published by Snow Lion Publications
30561 I always believe that each individual human being has some kind of
30562 responsibility for humanity as a whole. Particularly, I always believe that
30563 as scientists, you have a special responsibility. Besides your own
30564 profession, you have a basic motivation to serve humanity, to try to produce
30565 better, happier human beings. Whether we understand consciousness or not, we
30566 must produce warm-hearted persons. That is important. I want to express
30567 that. Whenever I meet scientists, I always have to say this.
30568 Through my own profession, I try my best to contribute as much as I can.
30569 This proceeds without my being concerned whether another person agrees with my
30570 philosophy or not. Some people may be very much against my belief, my
30571 philosophy, but I feel alright. So long as I see that a human being suffers
30572 or has needs, I shall contribute as much as I can to contribute to their
30573 benefit. Scientists and medically qualified people can contribute especially.
30574 That's different; that's a particular context. A human being needs to be
30575 cared for according to your professional calling. You can contribute; that's
30576 your shared professional responsibility
30577 -- H. H. the Dalai Lama, "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations
30578 with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara
30579 Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by
30580 Snow Lion Publications
30582 ...while walking in a park the body may be in the park while the mind is
30583 off working in the office, or at home, or talking to a distant friend, or
30584 making a list of groceries. That means the mind has disconnected from the
30585 body. Instead, when looking at a flower, really look at it. Be fully
30586 present. With the help of the flower, bring the mind back to the park.
30587 Appreciation for sensory experience reconnects mind and body. When the
30588 experience of the flower is felt throughout the body, a healing occurs; this
30589 can be the same when seeing a tree, smelling smoke, feeling the cloth of your
30590 shirt, hearing a bird call, or tasting an apple. Train yourself to vividly
30591 experience sensory objects without judgment. Try completely to be the eye
30592 with form, the nose with smell, the ear with sound, and so on. Try to be
30593 complete in experience while remaining in just the bare awareness of the
30595 When this ability is developed, reactions will still occur. Upon seeing
30596 the flower, judgements about its beauty will arise, or a smell may be judged
30597 to be foul. Even so, with practice the connection to the pure sensory
30598 experience can be maintained rather than continuing to become lost in the
30599 mind's distraction. Being distracted by a cloud of concepts is a habit and it
30600 can be replaced with a new habit: using bodily sensual experience to bring us
30601 to presence, to connect us to the beauty of the world, to the vivid and
30602 nourishing experience of life that lies under our distractions. This is the
30603 underpinning of successful dream yoga.
30604 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep",
30605 edited by Mark Dahlby, published by Snow Lion Publications
30607 To succeed in practicing any form of tantra, it is necessary first to
30608 train in developing the altruistic intention to become enlightened. Dzong-
30609 ka-ba says that this needs to be done "in accordance with the quintessential
30610 instructions," these being found in his Great Exposition of the Stages of the
30611 Path to Enlightenment. Specifically, such an altruistic intention is
30612 generated by way of the seven cause and effect quintessential instructions or
30613 the equalizing and switching of self and other. To do those, it is necessary
30614 to identify what liberation is and to develop an awareness seeking liberation,
30615 for which it is necessary to reflect on the three types of suffering and
30616 develop an intention to turn away from over-emphasizing the appearances of
30617 this life and then to turn away from over-emphasizing the appearances of
30618 future lives, developing an intention to leave such cyclic existence entirely,
30619 whereupon it is possible to reflect on how others suffer and develop
30620 compassion. Done continuously over a long period of time, at best one should
30621 develop a fully qualified altruistic intention to become enlightened, and at
30622 least one should develop such an intention from the depths of the heart.
30623 With such altruism as your basic motivation it is possible to receive
30624 initiation and take the pledges that lay out a type of behavior conducive to
30626 ...nowadays some people look on the practice of religion as if it were
30627 something that causes them to lose their freedom. Opposite to this, rules
30628 [for controlling counter-productive ill-deeds and overcoming afflictive
30629 emotions] are for the sake of utilizing your freedom to develop the limitless
30630 qualities of Buddhahood, in the quest for which you should never be satisfied.
30631 Toward material things, which necessarily have a limit, it is best to be
30632 satisfied with what you have, but with regard to the limitless development of
30633 spiritual qualities, you should never be satisfied with a mere portion, but
30634 continually seek higher development. The rules themselves make your mind
30635 conducive to such progress, so there is no reason to be uptight about them.
30636 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra:
30637 Paths to Magical Feats", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
30638 published by Snow Lion Publications
30640 The practice of Dzogchen may begin with doing fixation on an object, in
30641 order to calm one's thoughts. Then one relaxes the fixation, dissolving the
30642 dependence on the object, and one fixes one's gaze in open space. Then, when
30643 one succeeds in making the calm state stable, it is important to work with the
30644 movement of one's thoughts and one's energy, integrating this movement with
30645 the presence of contemplation. At this point one is ready to apply
30646 contemplation in one's daily life. The system of practice just described is
30647 characteristic of the Series of the Nature of the Mind, but that is not to say
30648 that in Dzogchen one must necessarily begin with fixation and meditation on a
30649 calm state. In the Series of Primordial Space, and the Series of Secret
30650 Instructions, for example, one enters directly into the practice of
30651 contemplation. Particularly in the former, there are very precise
30652 instructions on how to find the pure state of contemplation. In the latter,
30653 on the other hand, the explanations are mainly concerned with how one
30654 continues in contemplation in all circumstances.
30655 The practice of contemplation is concisely explained in the line that
30656 reads, "but vision nevertheless manifests: all is good." Even if the
30657 condition of "what is" cannot be grasped with the mind, the whole
30658 manifestation of the primordial state, including our karmic vision, does
30659 nevertheless exist. All the various aspects of forms, colours, and so on,
30660 continue to arise without interruption. When we find ourselves in
30661 contemplation, this doesn't mean that our impure vision just disappears
30662 and pure vision manifests instead. If we have a physical body, there is a
30663 karmic cause for that, so there would be no sense in trying to abandon or
30664 deny the situation we find ourselves in. We just need to be aware of it.
30665 If we have a vision of the material, physical level of existence, which is
30666 the cause of so very many problems, we need to understand that this vision
30667 is only the gross aspect of the colours, which are the essence of the elements.
30668 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, "Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State", edited by
30669 Adriano Clemente, translated by John Shane, published by Snow Lion Pub.
30671 Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm.
30674 A tantric yogi who has gained control of the subtle energies of the body
30675 and the subtle levels of consciousness will have control over the inner and
30676 outer elements and consequently can transform his or her ordinary samsaric
30677 form into a joyous rainbow body. But until we can do this, we have to accept
30678 the fact that our physical basis is a magnet attracting every kind of
30679 discomfort and pain.
30680 ...This samsaric body keeps us running all of our lives. We have to run
30681 to fulfill its endless needs, to keep it away from things that may harm it,
30682 and to protect it from anything unpleasant. We have to give it pleasure and
30683 comfort. We become ordained, and at first this is very satisfactory; but soon
30684 our body makes it so difficult for us that we think our practice would be less
30685 disturbed if we were to live as a layperson. So we give up and return to
30686 ordinary life; but then we end up with a family to support, leaving us with no
30687 time or energy for meditation. We have the pressing tasks of feeding,
30688 clothing, and sheltering our children, and of arranging their education and so
30689 forth. Our lives are spent alternating between work and worry, with
30690 occasional short periods of pleasure, and then we have to die; but even this
30691 we cannot do in peace, for, when we lie down to die, our last thoughts are
30692 worried ones concerning the family we are leaving behind. Such is the nature
30693 of worldly existence.
30694 ...To care for our old people--these ones who have given us our body, our
30695 life, and our culture--is a sacred duty of humanity. But most humans act more
30696 like animals than people, and often we see old people who have been abandoned
30697 by their families. Family units were very strong in Tibet, and old people
30698 were usually cared for directly by relatives. The national care for the old
30699 that we see in the West is something very good, a healthy sign, although
30700 perhaps here the spiritual and psychological basis is somewhat lacking.
30701 The suffering of old age is something we all must face, unless we die
30702 prematurely. There is nothing we can do about it. Gone will be that false
30703 sense of personal ability and strength that made us so proud when we were
30704 young. Instead, helpers or friends will bathe us, dress us, spoonfeed us, and
30705 have to take us to the toilet. Rather than live under the delusion of
30706 permanence, we should engage in spiritual training so that we can enter old
30707 age at least with the grace of wisdom.
30708 ...So we can see that this body indeed causes us much grief in this life
30709 and, sadly, in their quest to satisfy its many needs, most people just collect
30710 an endless stream of negative karmic instincts that will lead them to lower
30711 rebirths in the future. These are the sufferings of the human world.
30712 ...The important point here is to become aware of the third type of
30713 suffering, the subtle suffering that pervades all imperfect existence, the
30714 all-pervading misery concomitant with having a perishable, samsaric base....
30715 [All are] enmeshed in suffering because the nature of their body and mind is
30716 bound with compulsive cyclic processes. Until we develop the wisdom that is
30717 able to free the mind from these compelling forces, there is no doubt that we
30718 shall experience suffering throughout our lives, and that we shall continue to
30719 wander endlessly in the wheel of birth, life, death, and rebirth where the
30720 presence of misery can always be felt.
30721 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
30722 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
30724 Observing the Mind Itself
30726 The primary meditative technique of great perfection is remaining in the
30727 state of pure awareness. This is accomplished by calming the mind and then
30728 abiding in comprehension of its basic clear light nature. The meditative
30729 practice involves being cognizant of the arising and passing away of feelings,
30730 emotions, sensations, etc., but understanding them within the context of pure
30731 awareness. The more one does this, the more one realizes that all phenomena
30732 arise from mind and remerge into it. They are of the nature of pure awareness
30733 and are a projection of luminosity and emptiness. Through cultivating this
30734 understanding, mental phenomena of their own accord begin to subside, allowing
30735 the clear light nature of mind to become manifest. They appear as reflections
30736 on the surface of a mirror and are perceived as illusory, ephemeral, and
30738 Those who succeed in this practice attain a state of radical freedom:
30739 there are no boundaries, no presuppositions, and no habits on which to rely.
30740 One perceives things as they are in their naked reality. Ordinary beings view
30741 phenomena through a lens clouded by concepts and preconceptions, and most of
30742 the world is overlooked or ignored. The mind of the great perfection adept,
30743 however, is unbounded, and everything is possible. For many beginners, this
30744 prospect is profoundly disquieting, because since beginningless time we have
30745 been constricted by rules, laws, assumptions, and previous actions. One who
30746 is awakened, however, transcends all such limitations; there is no ground on
30747 which to stand, no limits, nothing that must be done, and no prohibitions.
30748 This awareness is bottomless, unfathomable, immeasurable, permeated by joy,
30749 unboundedness, and exhilaration. One is utterly free, and one's state of mind
30750 is as expansive as space. Those who attain this level of awareness also
30751 transcend physicality and manifest the "rainbow body" ('ja lus), a form
30752 comprising pure light that cannot decay, which has no physical aspects, and
30753 which is coterminous with the nature of mind.
30754 -- John Powers, "A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", published by
30755 Snow Lion Publications
30757 Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening.
30760 In a democracy it's your vote that counts;
30761 in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
30764 You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. -- Indira Gandhi
30766 Luck is what you have left over after you give 100 percent.
30767 -- Langston Coleman
30769 Every child is an artist. The problem is how to
30770 remain an artist once he grows up.
30773 Among Tibetans, at least traditionally, the economic conditions are such
30774 that this nine-to-five daily employment isn't really an important part of
30775 [working life]. In Tibet, either you are a farmer or a nomad or a merchant.
30776 The work is seasonal.... During the season they work very hard, and when they
30777 finish they come back and don't have any employment.
30778 ...in modern society, and particularly in industrialized nations, the
30779 issue of unemployment is a very difficult situation. There are no easy
30780 answers. One has no choice but to try to cope, and make one's best effort to
30781 find new work. There is just no other solution.
30782 However, the basic attitude of the individual plays a very significant
30783 role, and can make a big difference in how someone responds. While we may not
30784 have control over our situation, our attitude is something that we have some
30785 control over. So first, what we need to realize is that uncertainty and
30786 change are very much a part of the modern economy, particularly with regard to
30787 employment. That is a serious problem, but a fact that we have to accept.
30788 There is no guarantee that there will be a job tomorrow if you are working
30789 today. So, if we understand this ahead of time, it may change how we respond
30790 when that happens. Then we won't feel so surprised, as if we are singled out.
30791 We understand that the loss of a job has many factors, the result of many
30792 causes and conditions. We will understand that, in many cases, it may even
30793 have roots in global economic issues. This way, we won't become so upset by
30794 taking it personally, or looking around us for someone to blame for our
30795 problems. This alone may help reduce our mental agitation. Of course, here
30796 we are talking about unemployment due to some wider causes or layoffs, not due
30797 to being fired because of one's own incompetence.
30798 So there might be different ways in which individuals will respond to the
30799 challenges of change. What is important is to acknowledge this fact and try
30800 to work out how best to cope with the immediate problem itself. For example,
30801 if you need employment as a means of your livelihood and if you become
30802 unemployed, then all your efforts should be put into looking for new
30803 employment so that your livelihood will be secure. But there are two
30804 different responses. One person may feel demoralized and become sort of
30805 paralyzed, thinking, There is no hope, I lost my job, what am I supposed to
30806 do? But another individual in the same situation might look at it as an
30807 opportunity to make some changes. As a challenge. So that is the more
30808 positive way, the more proactive way of dealing with this problem. But of
30809 course it is not easy.
30810 There may also be other ways that might help at least reduce the mental
30811 anxiety of dealing with the situation, so that a person can use all their
30812 mental energy to find new work. For Buddhists, there are certain thought
30813 processes and considerations that help--for example, the belief in karma
30814 [one's actions] and ultimately taking responsibility for one's own karma.
30815 Although this kind of mental attitude may not have any effect in physically
30816 resolving the situation, at least it will help ease the individual from the
30817 psychological effect of losing the job, and so on. And of course, believers
30818 in other religious systems can also take some consolation in their own
30820 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Howard C. Cutler, M.D.,
30821 "The Art of Happiness at Work"
30823 Compassion and love are not man-made. Ideology is man-made, but
30824 compassion and love are produced by nature. It is important to recognize
30825 natural qualities, especially when we face a problem and fail to find a
30826 solution. For example... in religious business, sometimes even due to
30827 religion, we create a problem. If we try to solve that problem using
30828 religious methods, it is quite certain that we will not succeed. So I feel
30829 that when we face those kinds of problems, it is important to return to our
30830 basic human quality. Then I think we will find that solutions come easier.
30831 Therefore, I usually say that the best way to solve human problems is with
30832 human understanding.
30833 It is very important to recognize the basic nature of humanity and the
30834 value of human qualities. Whether one is educated or uneducated, rich or
30835 poor, or belongs to this nation or that nation, this religion or that
30836 religion, this ideology or that ideology, is secondary and doesn't matter.
30837 When we return to this basis, all people are the same. Then we can truly say
30838 the words brother, sister; then they are not just nice words--they have some
30839 meaning. That kind of motivation automatically builds the practice of
30840 kindness. This gives us inner strength.
30841 ...Next, let us talk about the human being as a social animal. Even if we
30842 do not like other people, we have to live together. Natural law is such that
30843 even bees and other animals have to live together in cooperation. I am
30844 attracted to bees because I like honey--it is really delicious. Their product
30845 is something that we cannot produce, very beautiful, isn't it? I exploit them
30846 too much, I think. Even these insects have certain responsibilities, they
30847 work together very nicely. They have no constitution, they have no law, no
30848 police, nothing, but they work together effectively. This is because of
30849 nature. Similarly, each part of a flower is not arranged by humans but by
30850 nature. The force of nature is something remarkable. We human beings, we
30851 have constitutions, we have law, we have a police force, we have religion, we
30852 have many things. But in actual practice, I think that we are behind those
30854 Sometimes civilization brings good progress, but we become too involved
30855 with this progress and neglect or forget about our basic nature. Every
30856 development in human society should take place on the basis of the foundation
30857 of the human nature. If we lose that basic foundation, there is no point in
30858 such developments taking place.
30859 -- "The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings By and
30860 About the Dalai Lama" compiled and edited by Sidney Piburn, Foreword by
30861 Sen. Claiborne Pell, published by Snow Lion Publications
30863 Emphasizing neither renunciation nor transformation, though incorporating
30864 both into its preparatory practices, the Great Completeness provides a
30865 method know as "self-liberation" (rang 'grol), sometimes described as
30866 "liberation in its own spot" (rang sar 'grol). Liberation takes place in the
30867 situation just as it is, because one's mind and all things are, despite
30868 powerful appearances to the contrary, primordially pure. If one has not yet
30869 made this essential discovery, the Great Bliss Queen ritual can prepare one
30870 for it. If one is familiar with the Great Completeness perspective, one
30871 performs the visualization and recitation of the Great Bliss Queen ritual
30872 entirely within an experience of innate awareness. In either case, the ritual
30873 encompasses the three nondualisms already discussed.
30874 One way of accessing the primordial purity so important to the Great
30875 Completeness tradition is a practice known as "pure vision." This involves
30876 visualizing companions, family, surroundings, and so forth as creations of
30877 light, the habitat of an enlightened being. From the viewpoint of the Great
30878 Completeness, such pure vision is not an imaginative overlay, but a move
30879 toward understanding things as they are. As Khetsun Sangpo taught it, this
30880 practice allows you to understand that apparently ordinary things and persons
30881 have "been [primordially pure] from the beginning" so that "you are
30882 identifying their own proper nature. Your senses normally misrepresent what
30883 is there, but through this visualization you can come closer to what actually
30884 exists." In short, by identifying one's body, companions, and world with
30885 those of the Great Bliss Queen, one develops the ability to discover what has
30886 always been there. This being so, there is no need to renounce or change
30887 anything, only to see it more completely. This is the Great Completeness
30888 tradition's special mix of ontological and cognitive nondualisms. Unlike the
30889 tantric traditions, in which it is necessary to cease the coarse sense and
30890 mental consciousness in order for the most subtle mind of clear light to
30891 appear, the Dalai Lama observes that "in the Old [Nyingma] Translation School
30892 of the Great Completeness it is possible to be introduced to the clear light
30893 without the cessation of the six operative consciousnesses." Hence the
30894 possibility of "discovering" what is already in our midst. Such discovery
30895 reveals a spontaneous presence (yon dan hlun gyis grub ba) of collateral
30896 qualities such as clarity and spontaneous responsiveness. Thus, comments
30897 Longchen Rabjam, "primordially pure primordial wisdom is free in the face of
30898 thought and the primordial wisdom, with a nature of spontaneity, abides as
30899 primordial radiance, and profound clarity."
30900 -- Anne Carolyn Klein, "Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists,
30901 and the Art of the Self", by published by Snow Lion Publications
30903 Why is it that meeting our yidam deity directly and receiving the deity's
30904 blessing are so important? If we are studying texts and wish to become great
30905 scholars, there are an inconceivable number of the Buddha's teachings along
30906 with the treatises that comment on them. All these have to be studied
30907 diligently so that we can come to a basic understanding of their meaning;
30908 beyond this, it is extremely difficult to enter into the more subtle levels.
30909 In all of this practice and study, it is our own mind that is central.
30910 Without a great blessing or without awakening the generative power of previous
30911 habitual patterns, it will be extremely difficult to realize primordial
30913 Lord Maitreya stated that bodhisattvas abiding on the various levels are
30914 not able to attain omniscience immediately, and he also affirmed that we do
30915 not need to become expert in all five traditional Buddhist sciences. Among
30916 these are all classifications of the inner science that deals with the mind.
30917 In the practice of the Secret Mantrayana, it is said that as long as objects
30918 continue to arise in our minds, so long will the classifications of the Secret
30919 Mantrayana last. As long as we have not realized the simultaneity of concepts
30920 and liberation, as long as we have not been blessed with the knowledge that
30921 knowing the nature of one phenomenon liberates us into knowing the nature of
30922 all, we need to train from lifetime to lifetime in the many aspects of the
30923 teachings. If we try to become expert in all five sciences or try to know all
30924 the objects of knowledge, our training will be endless. For these reasons, it
30925 is extremely important to seek accomplishments and blessings from the yidam
30926 deity, for through the blessing of the deity, our positive habitual patterns
30927 from the past will be awakened and the doubts that cloud our minds will be
30929 -- "Music in the Sky: The Life, Art and Teachings of the Seventeenth
30930 Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje" by Michele Martin, published by Snow Lion
30934 When someone whom I have helped
30935 Or in whom I have placed great hopes
30936 Mistreats me in extremely hurtful ways
30937 May I regard him still as my precious teacher.
30938 -- Shantideva, "Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life"
30940 According to worldly norms of human behaviour, when we help someone and
30941 place great trust in them and they mistreat us in return, it is seen as
30942 reasonable to be angry with them because we have been hurt. However,
30943 practitioners of bodhicitta must not give in to this type of conventional
30944 thinking. Instead, we should learn to view such people in a special way, as
30945 objects for our practice of forbearance and loving kindness. We must in fact
30946 recognise these people as our spiritual teachers.
30947 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
30948 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
30950 Advanced meditators develop the ability to create environments of their
30951 own choosing, and they are able to transcend the sufferings that seem so real
30952 to ordinary beings who are bound by mundane conceptions. According to Tsong
30953 Khapa, for one who attains advanced levels of meditation, painful cognitions
30954 no longer occur, no matter what external experiences one encounters. All of
30955 one's cognitions are a union of bliss and emptiness. One recognizes that
30956 nothing is inherently what it appears to be. Whatever occurs is perceived by
30957 one's unshakably blissful consciousness as the sport of luminosity and
30960 "for a Bodhisattva who has attained the meditative stabilisation of
30961 bliss pervading all phenomena, only a feeling of pleasure arises with
30962 respect to all objects; pain and neutrality do not occur, even though
30963 [pieces from his body] the size of a small coin are cut or even though
30964 his body is crushed by elephants, only a discrimination of bliss is
30966 -- Tsong-ka-pa on Ratnarakshita's Commentary
30968 Tantric texts stress that such bodhisattvas are not creating a delusional
30969 system in order to hide from the harsher aspects of reality. Rather, they are
30970 transforming reality, making it conform to an ideal archetype. Since all
30971 phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they have no fixed nature. No one
30972 ever apprehends an object as it is in its true nature, because there is no
30973 such nature. Even if phenomena had fixed essences, we would still never be
30974 able to perceive them, since all we ever experience are our cognitions of
30975 objects, which are overlaid with conceptions about them. All our perceptions
30976 are ideas about things, and not real things. These ideas are also empty,
30977 arising from nothingness and immediately dissolving again into nothingness,
30978 leaving nothing behind. Tantric adepts develop the ability to reconstitute
30979 "reality," which is completely malleable for those who train in yogas
30980 involving blissful consciousnesses realizing emptiness. The sense of bliss
30981 pervades all their cognitions, and their understanding of emptiness allows
30982 them to generate minds that are manifestations of bliss and emptiness.
30983 -- John Powers, "A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", published
30984 by Snow Lion Publications
30986 Beware the flatterer; he feeds you with an empty spoon. -- Cosino DeGregrio
30988 Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict
30989 the man before the dollar.
30992 Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of
30993 labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is
30994 the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
30997 For those of you who are not able to devote all your time to meditation,
30998 there is nevertheless the possibility of engaging in practice in a serious
30999 way. For example, the students at the monastic universities in South India
31000 can, with some effort, do meditations during the prayers. When you recite the
31001 prayers, you can mentally do the contemplation. The lifestyle and daily
31002 routine at these monasteries have been structured by the great masters of the
31003 past in a way that is most conducive to individual practice as well as to the
31004 flourishing of the dharma.
31005 If you find that your mind is in a very fluctuating emotional state--
31006 displaying anger, hatred, attachment and so forth--then you should first try
31007 to calm down that state of strong emotion. This should be done by first
31008 transforming it into a neutral state of mind, because there is no way that one
31009 can switch directly from a negative state of mind to a positive one.
31010 Therefore, you should first reduce the force of these emotions and
31011 fluctuations and try to bring about some sort of calmness, using any means--
31012 such as taking a stroll or concentrating on the inhalation and exhalation of
31013 the breath--that will enable you to forget what you are immediately feeling.
31014 This will help you to reduce the force of strong emotion, thereby giving you
31015 the calmness necessary for the practice of dharma. Like a white piece of
31016 cloth which could be dyed any color that you desire, such a neutral state of
31017 mind could then be transformed into a virtuous state of mind.
31018 You could also engage in the preliminary practices of performing 100,000
31019 prostrations, recitations of the Vajrasattva mantra, and so forth. When you
31020 undertake these practices, you should do them properly, not being only
31021 concerned about the number. Many great masters of the past of all traditions
31022 have emphasized the importance of these preliminary practices--they will
31023 enable you to have a very firm start. If through them you can acquire a
31024 fertile mind, then when the seed of meditation is planted, it will readily
31025 bear the fruits of realizations.
31026 Having successfully neutralized the emotional fluctuations within your
31027 mind and having restored a reasonable degree of calmness, engage in the
31028 practice of taking refuge and generating the altruistic aspiration to attain
31029 full enlightenment. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the factor that
31030 distinguishes one's practice from that of an erroneous path, and the
31031 generation of the altruistic mind makes it superior to the paths aiming at
31032 individual liberation.
31033 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Bliss", translated by Geshe Thupten
31034 Jinpa, edited by Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
31036 ...if you consider just the subtlest mind and the wind or energy that
31037 serves as its mount, the mere factor of luminosity and knowing of the subtlest
31038 mind itself as well as the energy associated with it are what will be
31039 transformed into the mind and body of a Buddha. This is the mind that will
31040 turn into an omniscient consciousness--a Buddha's mind; it is this mind which
31041 will be transformed, not some other mind coming from the outside. In other
31042 words, the Buddha nature is inherent; it is not imported from somewhere else.
31043 This is true because the very entity of the mind, its nature of mere
31044 luminosity and knowing, is not polluted by defilements; they do not abide in
31045 the entity of the mind. Even when we generate afflictive emotions, the very
31046 entity or nature of the mind is still mere luminosity and knowing, and because
31047 of this we are able to remove the afflictive emotions.
31048 -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, "Kindness,
31049 Clarity, and Insight", edited and translated by Jeffrey Hopkins,
31050 co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion Publications
31052 The recognition that worldly attainments just do not provide enduring
31053 happiness, and that we need to work on the internals, rather than the
31054 externals, is an important motivation. It is also the basis of achieving
31055 nirvana, often represented by the lotus flower. It is no accident that most
31056 statues of Buddha have him sitting on cushions resting on a lotus flower--the
31057 symbol of renunciation.
31058 But what if we achieve nirvana? What if, through extreme diligence, we
31059 attain its supreme peace and happiness? Would that be enough, or is there a
31060 more profound level of motivation still?
31061 Some years ago a number of tourists were kidnapped by terrorists in the
31062 Philippines, and held hostage in the jungle for many months. Finally they
31063 were released in small groups. I will never forget the reaction of one
31064 hostage who was interviewed at the airport on his way home to join his wife,
31065 who had been freed just days earlier.
31066 You would think that after months of extreme privation and the constant
31067 threat of uncertainty and death, returning safely to one's wife, home, and
31068 family would be a cause for joyful celebration. But the hostage, while
31069 relieved, could only think of the group of hostages he'd left behind. Those
31070 who, in the preceding months, had been his fellow prisoners, whom he now knew
31071 better than anyone else, and with whom in several cases, he had formed unique
31072 and profound bonds of attachment. His overriding concern was to ensure that
31073 those still being held captive would be safely released to experience the same
31074 freedom he had now. Only then would he really be able to celebrate.
31075 -- David Michie, "Buddhism for Beginners: Finding Happiness in an Uncertain
31076 World", published by Snow Lion Publications
31078 The term "meditation" carries with it a burden of trendy, pseudo-mystical
31079 connotations. The biggest mistake people make is to think that they will "get
31080 something" out of meditation. It would be more accurate to think they will be
31081 getting rid of something. Awareness practice undermines our unwitting
31082 subjugation to hypermentation. It cuts through the cascade of thoughts and
31083 feelings that distract us from the present moment where life actually happens.
31084 The inner newsreel, with its imagined or distorted dramas, becomes less urgent
31085 and seductive. The unexamined hopes and fears that have thrown us into
31086 automatic or reflexive behavior lose their power to toss us about. What we
31087 get rid of, initially, is a great deal of compelling noise with no point or
31088 real substance to it. Even by becoming aware of its nature we de-reify it,
31089 render it less solid and intractable.
31090 ...How can we sort out our neuroses when the mind is a wild, chaotic mess
31091 of fragmented thought? How can we work with our anger when we experience it
31092 as a deluge of highly charged, urgent impulses, all mixed in with fleeting
31093 bits of narrative, physical sensations, whispers of memory, rushes of fear,
31094 and the visceral press to act? We can't. Every beginning meditator discovers
31095 very quickly that the mind has a mind of its own. No beginner sits down,
31096 says, "Peace! Be still!" and accomplishes enlightenment. It's enough at the
31097 start just to see, discover, and acknowledge the chatter. That, in itself, is
31098 a great step towards self-awareness. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche taught that the
31099 awareness of our confusion is the first step towards clarity.
31100 Over time, we can learn to just take note of whatever arises without being
31101 pushed and pulled emotionally. We can sit still and not respond reflexively
31102 to our hypermentation. We can allow ourselves to rest, to gently release
31103 thoughts, to find a quiet space apart from the discursive jumble. We can
31104 choose to be simply and quietly aware. In these quiet moments, experiences
31105 arise much more clearly and distinctly. Only then can we discover the source
31106 of our suffering and our anger.
31107 I once attended a conference between a highly esteemed Tibetan lama,
31108 Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and a group of psychiatrists. Someone asked
31109 Rinpoche: "What is meditation?" Rinpoche looked playfully puzzled, pretended
31110 not to understand, and after a brief consultation with his translator,
31111 answered: "Meditation? Meditation? I don't know what that means. We have
31112 another word for it which means 'paying attention to.' " Whatever the style,
31113 to meditate is to pay attention.
31114 -- Ron Leifer, M.D., "Vinegar into Honey: Seven Steps to Understanding and
31115 Transforming Anger, Aggression, and Violence", published by Snow Lion
31118 ...practice must be carried out in terms of one's own thought. If one
31119 knows how to bring the teachings into one's own thought, all physical and
31120 verbal deeds can be made to accord with practice. If one does not know how to
31121 bring them into one's own thought, even though one might meditate, recite
31122 scriptures, or spend one's life in a temple, it will not help; thought is
31123 therefore important for practice. Thus, taking refuge in the Three Jewels
31124 (Buddha, his Doctrine and the Spiritual Community), taking into account the
31125 relationship between actions and their effects, and generating an attitude of
31126 helping others, are most important.
31128 Formerly in Tibet there was a famous lama called Drom. One day Drom saw a
31129 man walking around a reliquary. 'Walking around a reliquary is good,' he
31130 said. 'Practice is even better.' The man thought, 'Then, reading a holy book
31131 would be good.' He did so, and one day while he was reading, Drom saw him and
31132 said, 'Reading a holy book is good; practice is even better.'
31134 The man thought, 'This also does not seem to be sufficient. Now if I do
31135 some meditation, that will certainly be practice.' Drom saw him in meditation
31136 and said, 'Meditation is good; practice is even better.' The man was amazed
31137 and asked, 'How does one practise?' Drom answered, 'Do not be attached to this
31138 life; cause your mind to become the practices.' Dram said this because
31139 practice depends on thought.
31141 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
31142 Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
31144 Dampa said, "If these practitioners want buddhahood, they must reverse their
31147 [Kunga] asked, "What is wrong with their present behavior?"
31151 They practice thinking that what are in actuality obstacles are
31153 They meet the liberating path, but doubting and striving, they part from
31155 Doubting if they should refrain from their ill-omened actions, they
31157 The speech of those without experience has become Dharma--supposedly the
31159 Kunga is never parted from his prayers for the three village girls!
31160 Now, draw your own conclusions!
31166 When I see people clinging to illusions as real, compassion arises with a
31168 If one considers the sufferings of the six realms in terms of oneself, one
31169 has no time to remain ordinary.
31170 When one sees that the characteristic of samsara is suffering, a mind
31171 wanting nothing whatsoever is born!
31172 When one sees the various bases as rootless, self-grasping is not born!
31173 When impermanence is born in the mind, faith and perseverance will come
31175 Those who grasp at permanence will not destroy persistent grasping at
31177 Kunga! Internalize truthlessness and throw the kitchen sauce into the
31179 -- Lion of Siddhas: The Life and Teachings of Padampa Sangye, translated
31180 by David Molk, with Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche, published by Snow
31183 Books have the same enemies as people:
31184 fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content.
31187 In Buddhism there are basically two types of practices: Sutra and
31188 Tantra.... The special purpose of Tantra is to provide a faster path so that
31189 qualified practitioners can be of service to others more quickly. In Tantra
31190 the power of imagination is harnessed to meditation in a practice called deity
31191 yoga. In this practice you imagine 1) replacing your mind as it ordinarily
31192 appears, full of troubling emotions, with a mind of pure wisdom motivated by
31193 compassion; 2) substituting your body as it ordinarily appears (composed of
31194 flesh, blood, and bone) with a body fashioned from compassionately motivated
31195 wisdom; 3) developing a sense of a pure self that depends on purely appearing
31196 mind and body in an ideal environment, fully engaged in helping others. As
31197 this distinctive practice of Tantra calls for visualizing yourself with a
31198 Buddha's body, activities, resources, and surroundings, it is called "taking
31199 imagination as the spiritual path."
31200 Let us consider a qualm about this practice. You are considering yourself
31201 to have Buddha qualities which you presently do not have. Is this, then, a
31202 correct type of meditative consciousness? Yes. Your mind is involved in
31203 understanding reality, out of which you are appearing as a deity. Therefore,
31204 your mind, from this viewpoint, is correct. Also, you are purposely imagining
31205 yourself as having a divine body even if you do not presently possess one.
31206 This is an imaginative meditation; you are not convinced from the depths that
31207 you actually have pure mind, body, and selfhood. Rather, based in clear
31208 imagination of ideal body and mind, you are cultivating the sense of being a
31209 deity, compassionately helping others.
31210 ...to engage in Tantra at any level demands a powerful intention to become
31211 enlightened for the sake of others, and a feeling that this needs to be done
31213 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful
31214 Life", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
31216 Why do we want to be wise and compassionate? If it's because we would simply
31217 like to be wise and compassionate, we are off course, because the "I" cannot
31218 attain wisdom and compassion. Wisdom and compassion can only be revealed once
31219 the "I" has disappeared. When we reach this level, we will be able to benefit
31220 others. In the meantime, it is the blind leading the blind. All true
31221 religions seek to gain access to that level of consciousness which is not ego-
31222 bound. In Buddhism, it is called the unconditioned, the unborn, the
31223 deathless. You can call it anything you like. You can call it atman. You
31224 can call it anatman. You can call it God. The fact is, there is a subtle
31225 level of consciousness which is the core of our being, and it is beyond our
31226 ordinary conditioned state of mind. We can all experience this. Some people
31227 experience it through service, others through devotion. Some even think they
31228 can experience it through analysis and intellectual discipline. Buddhists
31229 usually try to access it through meditation. That's what we are doing.
31230 Breaking through to the unconditioned in order to help others break through to
31231 the unconditioned. But we have to start where we are, from right here. We
31232 start with these minds, these bodies, these problems, these weaknesses, and
31234 -- Venerable Tenzin Palmo, "Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings
31235 on Practical Buddhism", published by Snow Lion Publications
31237 Over the last few days I have been meeting scientists, mainly specialists
31238 on the brain, as well as psychologists and psychotherapists.... The majority
31239 of them agreed... that the key cause of the mental unrest and depression so
31240 prevalent today... is lack of sympathy and affection.
31241 I think you might find the following story quite interesting. A few weeks
31242 ago I met someone whose mind, I was told, is severely disturbed. At the
31243 beginning, I used all of my reasoning to encourage him, explaining that, as a
31244 human being, there was no need for him to be discouraged, because we have such
31245 a good human brain and intelligence. I pointed out how, with determination,
31246 we can solve all our human problems and overcome all obstacles, and so there
31247 is no reason to worry or be discouraged or depressed. Personally, I always
31248 find this kind of reasoning is quite effective, but this time it failed. He
31249 was not impressed by this line of thinking. On the contrary, instead of
31250 showing any appreciation, he developed a rather contrary attitude. After
31251 listening to what I had to say, he became even more agitated, and asked me,
31252 "Why are you concerned about my problem? How do I know if your attitude is
31253 sincere or not?" I felt really sad. I was quite moved as well, and as I was
31254 explaining something or other, my hand reached out and caressed his arm. It
31255 was a natural gesture, a sincere expression of how I felt. Gradually, his
31256 mood altered; I could see his face beginning to change, and finally a smile
31257 began to appear. Then as I gained confidence, I increased that expression of
31258 affection. At last a big smile spread right across his face.
31259 I told him, "Please consider me as an old friend. Any time, you can come
31260 to see me. Whatever I can do to help you, I am ready to do. I am at your
31261 service." When I said this, then his mood, it was clear, became very happy
31262 and joyful. The following day he came to see me again. When he arrived, he
31263 already had a happy air about him, but nevertheless he was trying to pretend
31264 otherwise and was not smiling. Anyway, what this incident really gave me was
31265 another confirmation of how powerful genuine compassion, love, or altruism can
31266 be, to affect other people's minds. And how they can remove fear and
31267 suspicion, and alleviate feelings of insecurity and mistrust.
31268 So I always consider compassion as the key, not only for achieving and
31269 maintaining our own mental calmness, stability and happiness, but also as
31270 something extraordinarily useful for creating a healthy human society. By
31271 that I mean a happier and less harmful human society. Therefore--whether it
31272 be in individual cases, on a family level, a national level, or an
31273 international level--altruism, love and compassion are the basis for success,
31274 for happiness, and for a happy environment.
31275 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
31276 Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron,
31277 Foreword by Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published
31278 by Snow Lion Publications
31280 According to Tibetan Buddhism, ordinary beings are born into life situations
31281 in which they are destined to suffer and die. This is the result of former
31282 contaminated actions and afflictions, which have been accumulated since
31283 beginningless time. Because of this process, physical and mental afflictions
31284 are deeply rooted in sentient beings, and so it is generally considered
31285 necessary to prepare oneself for tantric practice by engaging in the
31286 "preliminary practices," or ngondro (sngon 'gro, purvagama), in order to begin
31287 to reverse one's negative conditioning. These practices combine physical
31288 movements with visualization in order to transform the mind from one that is
31289 fixated on mundane concerns and desires into one that is primarily oriented
31290 toward religious practice for the benefit of others. Some teachers consider
31291 these preparatory trainings to be so essential to successful tantric practice
31292 that they will not give tantric initiations to those who have not completed
31293 them, and even teachers who are willing to waive them generally stress their
31294 importance. The preliminary practices are: (1) taking refuge; (2)
31295 prostration; (3) Vajrasattva meditation; (4) mandala offering; and (5) guru
31297 -- John Powers, "A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism",
31298 published by Snow Lion Publications
31300 [It] is quite clear to me is that the moment you think only of yourself,
31301 the focus of your whole reality narrows, and because of this narrow focus,
31302 uncomfortable things can appear huge and bring you fear and discomfort and a
31303 sense of feeling overwhelmed by misery. The moment you think of others with a
31304 sense of caring, however, your view widens. Within that wider perspective,
31305 your own problems appear to be of little significance, and this makes a big
31307 If you have a sense of caring for others, you will manifest a kind of
31308 inner strength in spite of your own difficulties and problems. With this
31309 strength, your own problems will seem less significant and bothersome to you.
31310 By going beyond your own problems and taking care of others, you gain inner
31311 strength, self-confidence, courage, and a greater sense of calm. This is a
31312 clear example of how one's way of thinking can really make a difference.
31313 One's own self-interest and wishes are fulfilled as a byproduct of
31314 actually working for other sentient beings. As the well-known fifteenth-
31315 century master Tsongkhapa points out in his Great Exposition of the Path to
31316 Enlightenment, "The more the practitioner engages in activities and thoughts
31317 that are focused and directed toward the fulfillment of others' well-being,
31318 the fulfillment or realization of his or her own aspiration will come as a
31319 byproduct without having to make a separate effort." Some of you may have
31320 actually heard me remark, which I do quite often, that in some sense the
31321 bodhisattvas, the compassionate practitioners of the Buddhist path, are
31322 "wisely selfish" people, whereas people like us are the "foolishly selfish."
31323 We think of ourselves and disregard others, and the result is that we always
31324 remain unhappy and have a miserable time.
31325 ...we find that kindness and a good heart form the underlying foundation
31326 for our success in this life, our progress on the spiritual path, and our
31327 fulfillment of our ultimate aspiration, the attainment of full enlightenment.
31328 Hence, compassion and a good heart are not only important at the beginning but
31329 also in the middle and at the end. Their necessity and value are not limited
31330 to any specific time, place, society, or culture.
31331 Thus, we not only need compassion and human affection to survive, but they
31332 are the ultimate sources of success in life. Selfish ways of thinking not
31333 only harm others, they prevent the very happiness we ourselves desire. The
31334 time has come to think more wisely, hasn't it? This is my belief.
31335 -- Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "The Compassionate Life"
31337 ...all apparent phenomena are nothing but delusion and there is, moreover,
31338 no freedom from delusion to be achieved by dispelling delusion. Delusion is,
31339 by its own essence, completely pure and, hence, enlightened. All phenomena
31340 are, in this way, primordially, fully, and completely enlightened. Phenomena
31341 appearing as various attributes are, therefore, indeed the mandala of vajra
31342 body, speech, and mind. They are like the Buddhas of the three times, never
31343 transcending the essence of complete purity. Sentient beings and Buddhas are
31344 not differentiated in terms of their essence. Just like distinct causes and
31345 results appearing in a dream, they are nothing but perceptions of individual
31346 minds brought forth by the power of imputation.
31347 Here the issue might be raised, "although the scriptures do teach this,
31348 there is no certainty whether it is to be taken at face value or requires
31349 interpretation. Therefore the essential purity of phenomena may well be
31350 established, but it is unreasonable to say that precisely the nature of that
31351 which appears as subjects with attributes is primordially enlightened. For,
31352 if it were that way, thorough affliction and samsara would be entirely absent.
31353 There can't be a reasoning that establishes such a philosophy." The
31354 conceptual mind that takes objects that appear in the experience of sentient
31355 beings as valid is, since beginningless time, deluded. It accepts or negates
31356 with reference to the way things appear to it. With such dialectics it is,
31357 indeed, not possible to establish the vast and profound meaning. Nevertheless,
31358 since the nature of phenomena is inconceivable, it is not the case that there
31359 is no way to realize it by means of discriminating knowledge. Thus it is not
31360 in any way a mistake if one, rather than that, is inclined to approach simply
31361 by faith, regarding the scriptures and oral instructions as valid. One will
31362 then gain access through trust.
31363 One may object, "Well, if one cannot prove [the primordial mandala] with
31364 reasoning, one cannot gain access to it either." We can prove it as follows:
31365 That phenomena are fully enlightened as the mandala of vajra body, speech, and
31366 mind is proven with the reasoning of the intrinsic nature. Just as it is
31367 stated in a sutra, "Form is empty by nature. Why is that? It is so because
31368 that is its nature." All phenomena are pure by their intrinsic nature and,
31369 therefore, there is not a single phenomenon that is impure. This is the
31370 intrinsic nature of phenomena. Complete purity is, therefore, also the
31371 intrinsic nature of body, speech, and mind, and their complete purity is
31372 enlightenment. Therefore, body, speech, and mind, distinguished by their
31373 complete purity, are inseparable, free from mental constructs, and perfectly
31374 pervasive. One must in this way understand them to be the mandala of vajra
31375 body, speech, and mind.
31376 -- Heidi I. Koppl, "Establishing Appearances as Divine: Rongzom
31377 Chozang on Reasoning, Madhyamaka, and Purity", published by
31378 Snow Lion Publications
31380 Because spirits can be positive or negative in relation to humans, it is
31381 wise to be careful with practices that connect the practitioner to a spirit.
31382 It is currently popular for people to take drum journeys in their imaginations
31383 and to look for guardian spirits and power animals and so on. Although
31384 usually this is beneficial, or at least harmless, there really are beings with
31385 whom the rare individual will connect. Not all of them are beings anyone
31386 should want to connect with. There seems to be little regard for who the
31387 being is; this can be a dangerous practice. People are much more careful
31388 about choosing a business partner or a roommate than they seem to be about
31389 choosing a non-physical being for a guide or guardian.
31390 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "Healing with Form, Energy and Light:
31391 The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra and Dzogchen",
31392 published by Snow Lion Publications
31394 ...reflect upon the negative consequences of our strong attachment to
31395 friends and hostility toward enemies. Our feelings for a friend or a loved
31396 one sometimes blind us to certain of his or her aspects. We project a quality
31397 of absolute desirability, absolute infallibility, upon that person. Then,
31398 when we see something contrary to our projections, we are stunned. We swing
31399 from the extreme of love and desire to disappointment, repulsion, and
31400 sometimes even anger. Even that sense of inner contentment and satisfaction
31401 in a relationship with someone we love can lead to disappointment,
31402 frustration, and hatred. Though strong emotions, like those of romantic love
31403 or righteous hatred, may feel profoundly compelling, their pleasure is
31404 fleeting. From a Buddhist point of view, it is far better not to be in the
31405 grip of such emotions in the first place.
31406 What are the repercussions of becoming overpowered by intense dislike?
31407 The Tibetan word for hatred, shedang, suggests hostility from the depth of
31408 one's heart. There is a certain irrationality in responding to injustice or
31409 harm with hostility. Our hatred has no physical effect on our enemies; it
31410 does not harm them. Rather, it is we who suffer the ill consequences of such
31411 overwhelming bitterness. It eats us from within. With anger we slowly begin
31412 to lose our appetite. We cannot sleep at night and often end up just rolling
31413 back and forth, back and forth, all night long. It affects us profoundly,
31414 while our enemies continue along, blissfully unaware of the state we have been
31416 Free of hatred or anger, we can respond to actions committed against us
31417 far more effectively. If we approach things with a cool head, we see the
31418 problem more clearly and judge the best way to address it. For example, if a
31419 child is doing something that could be dangerous to himself or others, such as
31420 playing with matches, we can discipline him. When we behave in such a
31421 forthright manner, there is a far greater chance that our actions will hit the
31422 mark. The child will respond not to our anger but to our sense of urgency and
31424 This is how we come to see that our true enemy is actually within us. It
31425 is our selfishness, our attachment, and our anger that harm us. Our perceived
31426 enemy's ability to inflict harm on us is really quite limited. If someone
31427 challenges us and we can muster the inner discipline to resist retaliating, it
31428 is possible that no matter what the person has done, those actions do not
31430 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in
31431 Everyday Life", edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Khyongla
31432 Rato and Richard Gere
31434 "All phenomena should be understood as lacking an end and a middle, just
31435 as the mind does not have an end or a middle. With the knowledge that the
31436 mind is without an end or a middle, no identity of the mind is perceived.
31437 What is thoroughly realized by the mind, too, is realized as being empty.
31438 By realizing that, the very identity, which is established as the aspect
31439 of the mind, like the identity of physical form, and so forth, is also
31440 ultimately not perceived. In this way, when the person does not ultimately
31441 see the identity of all phenomena through wisdom, he will not analyze
31442 whether physical form is permanent or impermanent, empty or not empty,
31443 contaminated or not contaminated, produced or non-produced, and existent
31444 or non-existent. Just as physical form is not examined, similarly feeling,
31445 recognition, compositional factors, and consciousness are not examined.
31446 When the object does not exist, its characteristics also cannot exist.
31447 So how can they be examined?"
31448 -- Stages of Meditation by Kamalashila
31450 The above passage deals with ultimate reality; its meaning is that in the
31451 ultimate sense the object of imputation is not findable. In this context we
31452 find in the Heart Sutra phrases like: "There is no physical form, no sound, no
31453 smell, no taste, and no object of touch." The mind, too, is not findable in
31454 the ultimate sense. Since in the ultimate sense such things are non-existent,
31455 there is no point examining whether they are permanent or impermanent.
31456 Ultimately all phenomena, including the aggregates and so forth, are devoid of
31457 true existence. Within the notion of ultimate reality, things are devoid of
31458 true existence. In the same way, suchness, which is an attribute of
31459 phenomena, is also devoid of true existence. This is important. Even when we
31460 understand that phenomena like physical form and so forth are devoid of true
31461 existence, there is a danger of thinking that ultimate reality may have true
31463 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", root text by Kamalashila,
31464 translated by Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and
31465 Jeremy Russell, published by Snow Lion Publications
31467 We usually discriminate strongly between someone who intends to harm us
31468 and someone who doesn't. We think, "That's all right; he didn't mean it"; or
31469 the person who has harmed us can say, "Why do you blame me so much? I didn't
31470 mean to." But we get really angry when we know people mean to harm us. How
31471 could we possibly see such people as intimate, close, dear--as dear as our
31473 If you can retain a little compassion when people harm you
31474 unintentionally, you have made progress. But if you retain it when someone
31475 intends to harm you, you are really successful. It's not that you think,
31476 "This person is marvelous; she's trying to rob me," but you don't take these
31477 facts as reasons for hating the person. You recognize the intention and put
31478 your wallet in your front pocket. You take such measures, but the conditions
31479 that prompted them no longer serve as reasons for hatred. Our wish to love
31480 everyone and the actual attitudes we have under pressure are in constant
31481 conflict. That's just the way we are. We've been wandering in cyclic
31482 existence since beginningless time, because of desire and hatred, and it's
31483 going to take a lot of familiarization to change this. Be relaxed about it.
31484 Don't put pressure on yourself, thinking things like, "Oh, I'm a scumbag
31485 because I hate so deeply." Rather, try this attitude: "I have to admit it.
31486 As much as my ideals say I should love so-and-so--or at least be neutral--I
31487 have to face the fact that I don't." Go easy on yourself.
31488 -- Jeffrey Hopkins, "A Truthful Heart: Buddhist Practices for Connecting
31489 with Others", foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, published by
31490 Snow Lion Publications
31492 Many types of valid consciousnesses derive from basic, natural, and
31493 obvious perception. All of us have an innate "I," although if we try to
31494 locate this "I," we get into a lot of difficulties. This sense of "I" gives
31495 us a well-founded aspiration to happiness and a wish not to suffer.
31496 There are different levels of happiness and different kinds of suffering.
31497 Material things usually correspond to physical happiness, whereas spiritual
31498 development corresponds to mental happiness. Since our "I" has these two
31499 aspects--physical and mental--we need an inseparable combination of material
31500 progress and internal, or spiritual, progress. Balancing these is crucial to
31501 utilizing material progress and inner development for the good of human
31503 Big schemes for world development arise from this wish to gain happiness
31504 and relieve suffering. But there are higher levels of happiness beyond these
31505 worldly forms, in which one seeks something longer-term, not just confined to
31506 this lifetime. Just as we need a long-range perspective that protects the
31507 environment, we need an internal long-range perspective that extends to future
31509 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of
31510 Loving Relationships", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
31513 Desire is painful because of not getting,
31514 Anger is painful through lack of might,
31515 And confusion through not understanding.
31516 Because of this, these are not recognized.
31518 Desire produces suffering when one does not encounter what one badly
31519 wants. Anger produces suffering when one lacks might to crush the strong.
31520 Confusion* induces suffering when one fails to understand a subtle matter
31521 thoroughly. The inability to recognize these forms of suffering when one is
31522 overwhelmed by desire and so forth is great suffering indeed. Therefore,
31523 persevere in getting rid of the disturbing emotions. It is like a poor man's
31524 son who suffered because he wanted a queen.
31525 A certain poor man wanted a queen, but kings keep their queens heavily
31526 guarded, and because he could not get her, his desire made him suffer. He
31527 felt anger toward the king for guarding his queens well, and since he could
31528 not do the slightest harm to the king, he suffered acutely on account of his
31529 anger. Blinded by desire and anger his confusion grew, and unable to
31530 understand the situation properly, he was tormented by the suffering it caused
31533 * confusion's function is to feed desire and anger.
31535 -- "Aryadeva's Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way: with Commentary by
31536 Gyel-tsap by Aryadeva and Gyeltsap, additional commentary by Geshe Sonam
31537 Rinchen", translated by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
31539 Never hope more than you work. -- Rita Mae Brown
31541 To lead the people, walk behind them. -- Lao Tzu
31543 To consider those things which are existent, there are many phenomena
31544 which are produced only occasionally. For example, certain plants grow only
31545 during certain seasons, not all the time. That shows that they have been
31546 produced by their causes and conditions. On the other hand, certain phenomena
31547 exist permanently. Those are the two types of phenomena. In the case of
31548 phenomena which arise only occasionally for a certain period of time then
31549 cease to exist, their production is evidence used to prove their dependence on
31550 their causes and conditions. But permanent phenomena are not dependent on
31551 causes and conditions. Generally speaking, almost all phenomena which are
31552 beneficial or harmful to us belong to the category of the occasional, the
31553 dependent--the impermanent. Even our mind, which is to be disciplined and
31554 subdued, belongs to that category.
31555 Within the kind of phenomena which are existent, we can talk about
31556 different types: those which are animate and those which are inanimate; those
31557 with form and those formless; visible and invisible; audible and inaudible.
31558 And there are phenomena which definitely exist but can be experienced only by
31559 our mind, not our sense perceptions; in other words, we can talk about two
31560 types of phenomena, external matter and internal consciousness. When we talk
31561 about subduing mind, we refer to internal consciousness, that which has
31562 clarity and cognitive power and is capable of experiencing objects. Although
31563 our mind has arisen depending upon its causes and conditions, we need to find
31564 out to what extent it can be transformed, for it is through the transformation
31565 of our mind that we can subdue it. The way of transformation is to pacify the
31566 mind's faults and to cultivate and enhance its good qualities. Although there
31567 are certain phenomena which, having arisen from their causes and conditions,
31568 remain as they are and cannot be changed by any means, there are others,
31569 including our mind, which can be. To establish that kind of distinction, the
31570 reasons provided in the Lam-rim section on analytical meditation to generate
31571 special insight are especially important and useful.
31572 -- "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries", H.H. the Dalai Lama XIV on the
31573 Jatakamala translated by Tenzin Dorjee edited by Dexter Roberts
31575 Whatever appears, nothing has moved from the absolute nature.
31577 Decide that nothing is extraneous to the absolute nature, taking the
31578 example of gold jewelry.
31579 Once we know how to remain in the absolute nature, the manifold thoughts
31580 that arise in the mind are no different from gold jewelry. One can make all
31581 sorts of things out of gold, such as earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, but
31582 although they have a variety of different shapes, they are all made of gold.
31583 Likewise, if we are able to not move from the absolute nature, however many
31584 thoughts we might have, they never depart from the recognition of the absolute
31585 nature. A yogi for whom this is the case never departs from that realization,
31586 whatever he does with his body, speech, and mind. All his actions arise as
31587 the outer display or ornament of wisdom. All the signs one would expect from
31588 meditating on a deity come spontaneously without him actually doing any formal
31589 practice. The result of mantra recitation is obtained without his having to
31590 do a large number of recitations. In this way everything is included in the
31591 recognition that nothing is ever extraneous to the absolute nature.
31592 In that state one does not become excited at pleasant events or depressed
31593 by unpleasant ones.
31594 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "Zurchungpa's Testament: A Commentary on
31595 Zurchung Sherab Trakpa's 'Eighty Chapters of Personal Advice'", based
31596 on Shechen Gyaltsap's Annotated Edition, translated by the Padmakara
31597 Translation Group, published by Snow Lion Publications
31599 crashola in second life:
31600 due to having been in a vehicle which crossed into forbidden land and got
31601 taken away, my avatar was left in an indetermine and very unhealthy state.
31602 i was unable to move, deep underground, and i saw this object off down to
31603 my left, so i clicked on it and picked 'edit'. i realized as i was doing
31604 it, that this was my disembodied hair, which had flown off for some reason.
31605 once i clicked edit, *crunch*, no more second life.
31607 It makes no sense to brood anxiously on the harmful actions we have committed
31608 in the past to the point where we become paralyzed. They are done, it is
31609 over. If the person is a believer in God, the appropriate action is to find
31610 some means of reconciliation with Him. So far as Buddhist practice is
31611 concerned, there are various rites and practices for purification. When the
31612 individual has no religious beliefs, however, it is surely a matter of
31613 acknowledging and accepting any negative feelings we may have in relation to
31614 our misdeeds and developing a sense of sorrow and regret for them. But then,
31615 rather than stopping at mere sorrow and regret, it is important to use this as
31616 the basis for resolve, for a deep-seated commitment never again to harm others
31617 and to direct our actions all the more determinedly to the benefit of others.
31618 The act of disclosure, or confession, of our negative actions to another--
31619 especially to someone we really respect and trust--will be found to be very
31620 helpful in this. We are quite wrong if we merely acknowledge the gravity of
31621 our actions inwardly and then, instead of confronting our feelings, give up
31622 all hope and do nothing. This only compounds the error. Above all, we should
31623 remember that as long as we retain the capacity of concern for others, the
31624 potential for transformation remains.
31625 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Ethics for the New Millennium"
31627 According to Buddhism, compassion is an aspiration, a state of mind,
31628 wanting others to be free from suffering. It's not passive--it's not empathy
31629 alone--but rather an empathetic altruism that actively strives to free others
31630 from suffering. Genuine compassion must have both wisdom and lovingkindness.
31631 That is to say, one must understand the nature of the suffering from which we
31632 wish to free others (this is wisdom), and one must experience deep intimacy
31633 and empathy with other sentient beings (this is lovingkindness). Let's
31634 examine these two elements.
31635 The suffering from which we wish to liberate other sentient beings,
31636 according to Buddha's teachings, has three levels. The first level includes
31637 the obvious physical and mental sensations of pain and discomfort that we can
31638 all easily identify as suffering. This kind of suffering is primarily at the
31639 sensory level--unpleasant or painful sensations and feelings. The great
31640 Tibetan master Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyaltsan, tutor to the fifth Dalai Lama,
31641 reminds us that even animals seek to avoid physical suffering and pain.
31642 The second level of suffering is the suffering of change. Although
31643 certain experiences or sensations may seem pleasurable and desirable now,
31644 inherent within them is the potential for culminating in an unsatisfactory
31645 experience. Another way of saying this is that experiences do not last
31646 forever; desirable experiences will eventually be replaced by a neutral
31647 experience or an undesirable experience. If it were not the case that
31648 desirable experiences are of the nature of change, then, once having a happy
31649 experience, we would remain happy forever! In fact, if desirability were
31650 intrinsic to an experience, then the longer we remained in contact with it,
31651 the happier we would become. However, this is not the case. In fact, often,
31652 the more we pursue these experiences, the greater our level of
31653 disillusionment, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness becomes.
31654 ...But the third level of suffering is the most significant--the pervasive
31655 suffering of conditioning. This refers to the very fact of our unenlightened
31656 existence, the fact that we are ruled by negative emotions and their
31657 underlying root cause, namely our own fundamental ignorance of the nature of
31658 reality. Buddhism asserts that as long as we are under the control of this
31659 fundamental ignorance, we are suffering; this unenlightened existence is
31660 suffering by its very nature.
31661 If we are to cultivate the deepest wisdom, we must understand suffering at
31662 its deepest, most pervasive level. In turn, freedom from that level of
31663 suffering is true nirvana, true liberation, the true state of cessation.
31664 Freedom from the first level of suffering alone--merely being free of
31665 unpleasant physical and psychological experiences--is not true cessation of
31666 suffering. Freedom from the second level is again not true cessation.
31667 However, freedom from the third level of suffering--being completely free from
31668 the very source of suffering--that is genuine cessation, genuine liberation.
31669 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart
31670 of Wisdom Teachings", translated & edited by Geshe Thupten Jinpa
31672 The only conclusion that can legitimately be reached is that the self is a
31673 fiction, a mere label superimposed onto the aggregates, a concept created and
31674 reified by the mind but lacking any substantial reality. This reasoning
31675 process alone does not eliminate the idea, however; it merely weakens it.
31676 Because it is so deeply ingrained, the idea of self is only eliminated through
31677 repeated meditation on the reasonings of no-self, which enable the yogin to
31678 become progressively more familiar with the understanding that no self or
31679 essence exists. The Dalai Lama concludes that "when such a realization is
31680 maintained and reinforced through constant meditation and familiarization, you
31681 will be able to develop it into an intuitive or direct experience." (From Path
31683 Many Westerners reject this notion, contending that it would be a sort of
31684 cognitive suicide. The idea that the self (which is assumed even by people
31685 who reject religions that propound the idea) does not exist is profoundly
31686 disturbing to many non-Buddhists, but in Buddhist thought the denial of self
31687 is not seen as constituting a loss, but rather is viewed as a profoundly
31688 liberating insight. Since the innate idea of self implies an autonomous,
31689 unchanging essence, if such a thing were in fact the core of one's being, it
31690 would mean that change would be impossible, and one would be stuck being just
31691 what one is right now. Because there is no such self, however, we are open
31692 toward the future. One's nature is never fixed and determined, and so through
31693 engaging in Buddhist practice one can exert control over the process of change
31694 and progress in wisdom, compassion, patience, and other good qualities. One
31695 can even become a buddha, a fully awakened being who is completely liberated
31696 from all the frailties, sufferings, and limitations of ordinary beings. But
31697 this is only possible because there is no permanent and static self, no soul
31698 that exists self-sufficiently, separated from the ongoing process of change.
31699 -- John Powers, "A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", published
31700 by Snow Lion Publications
31702 I often encounter people in and our of my office who seem to be lost in
31703 thought. I sometimes ask them what they are thinking about. They are usually
31704 startled by the question. They look at me blankly and are often surprised to
31705 hear themselves admit with embarrassment that they don't know or can't say.
31706 Or they describe one small, fleeting fragment of disconnected thought. The
31707 "normal" human state of mind is constant, incessant thinking--an enigmatically
31708 linked stream of consciousness, sensations, memories, feelings, desires,
31709 fears, and chatter. And at the center of the narrative, the star of the show
31710 is always--ME! This is why the first leg of the journey requires courage. To
31711 become familiar with the chaotic, egotistical, and often nonsensical narrative
31712 of our own mind stream is disconcerting and painful. To discover directly
31713 that we are literally "lost in thought" can be frightening. But this is where
31714 we are and where we must begin.
31715 It's consoling to remember that everyone is neurotic, each one of us. The
31716 "normal" mind suffers from a complex of conflicting desires and aversions.
31717 The best we can do is to become aware of our neuroses, to become wiser in our
31718 thinking and our conduct of life. In my experience, meditation is the most
31719 direct and efficient method for developing self-awareness. Self-awareness is
31720 not a steady state because experience is not a steady state. Through the
31721 practice of meditation, we can learn to watch our ever-fluctuating mental
31722 processes from a more detached, aerial perspective. Without necessarily
31723 understanding ourselves in some intellectual way, we can directly discover how
31724 the mind works. The mind has its causes and effects, its motivations and
31725 intentions, and its awareness and evaluation of their possible consequences.
31726 -- Ron Leifer, M.D., "Vinegar Into Honey: Seven Steps to Understanding and
31727 Transforming Anger, Aggression, and Violence", published by Snow Lion
31730 "The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow,
31731 "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow
31732 old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to
31733 the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world
31734 about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the
31735 sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then--to learn. Learn
31736 why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can
31737 never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust,
31738 and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what
31739 a lot of things there are to learn."
31740 -- T. H. White, "The Once and Future King"
31742 In Chapter 4 we looked at the when and where of meditation. Whatever
31743 works best for you, given your personal circumstances and temperament, the
31744 important thing is to do it regularly, preferably every day.
31745 I would also recommend that you keep the session to a length of time that
31746 feels comfortable. This is because in the early stages of meditation it's
31747 easy to become discouraged and have thoughts along the lines of: "This might
31748 work for other people, but I don't have the right personality/mind/lifestyle/
31749 partner for meditation." Or: "I've been doing this for six months and my
31750 concentration is no better than when I started." With thoughts like these, you
31751 may start to resent the time you spend meditating and consider giving up.
31752 Much better to keep your practice light and easy to begin with; short
31753 sessions, and concentrated attention, especially towards the end of your
31754 practice so that you "finish like a winner" and feel encouraged for the next
31755 day. Better to end a short session thinking you could have gone on longer
31756 than keep glancing at your watch with the thought that has passed through the
31757 mind of every meditator at some stage--"My watch must have stopped. It's been
31758 longer than two minutes--surely?!"
31759 Having reviewed the meditation practices outlined in the previous chapter,
31760 you may decide you quite like the sound of several of them. On what basis
31761 should they be practiced? My own preference is to have a simple calendar of
31762 activity so that, for example, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are breath-
31763 counting days; Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are visualization days; and
31764 Sundays are for whatever I'm in the mood to do.
31765 On this point, I once asked a high-ranking Tibetan lama which of a number
31766 of meditation practices I should focus on. He gave me an indulgent smile and
31767 said simply, "Whichever you enjoy the most." D'oh!
31768 -- David Michie, "Hurry Up and Meditate: Your Starter Kit for Inner Peace
31769 and Better Health", published by Snow Lion Publications
31771 "Always be sustained by cheerfulness."
31773 The effectiveness of our practice can be measured by looking at our mood.
31774 If we are in better spirits, the practice is working. We can take heart
31775 because we have a purpose, to exchange whatever sadness we meet for joy. The
31776 smallest personal damage can be put to use to dissolve great suffering and do
31777 away with negativity. If there is a way, we try to stop unfortunate things
31778 from happening, but when unhappy events occur we meet them optimistically. We
31779 never let negativity discourage us or injure our ability to help.
31780 Setting out on any adventure demands determination. We may have to toil
31781 and struggle with setbacks along the way but the trials we face are short-
31782 lived. We can endure them because we have a great end in mind: to benefit all
31783 sentient beings. Remaining good-natured and enthusiastic shows that our
31784 efforts are succeeding. Being cheerful is the sign of a good practitioner.
31785 -- Ringu Tulku, "Mind Training", edited by B.M. Shaughnessy, published
31786 by Snow Lion Publications
31788 Once we take ourselves and the quality of our life seriously, and
31789 acknowledge the difficulties we may be experiencing, the next step is to have
31790 confidence that (1) it is possible to overcome them, (2) there is a way to
31791 accomplish this, and (3) we are capable of achieving it [Buddha-nature]. This
31792 bring us to the topics of refuge and Buddha-nature.
31793 Taking refuge is not a passive act of placing ourselves in the hands of a
31794 higher power that will do everything for us, as the English word "refuge"
31795 might imply. It is an active process of putting a safe, reliable and positive
31796 direction in our life. That direction is indicated by the Buddhas, the Dharma
31797 and the Sangha--the Three Precious Gems. They are precious in the sense that
31798 they are both rare and valuable....
31799 In short, the definitive level of the Three Precious Gems of Buddha,
31800 Dharma and Sangha presents the goal we would like to achieve. Their
31801 interpretable level indicates what we rely on, externally, to bring ourselves
31802 there. But we also have internal factors that we need to rely on as well.
31803 These refer to our Buddha-nature.
31804 We are capable of eliminating our problems and achieving the definitive
31805 Three Precious Gems because everyone has Buddha-nature, namely the various
31806 factors or working materials that make it possible. Of all our natural
31807 resources, the most important is mind. We all have a mind which, in its
31808 nature, is unhampered by anything from experiencing whatever exists. No
31809 matter what happens--no matter how confused, stressed or unhappy we may be--we
31810 experience it. Even death is something that we experience when it occurs.
31811 Therefore, because we have a mind that allows us to experience whatever
31812 exists, we have the basic resource that allows us to experience a total
31813 absence of confusion and a utilization of all possible good qualities for
31814 helping others--provided that such a total absence and utilization actually
31815 exist. In other words, if we can establish that it is possible for these two
31816 things to exist--and that they are not just objects of nice but totally
31817 unrealistic wishes--we can be confident that we are capable of attaining them,
31818 simply because we have a mind.
31819 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition
31820 of Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
31822 Actually, we Buddhists are supposed to save all sentient beings, but
31823 practically speaking, this may be too broad a notion for most people. In any
31824 case, we must at least think in terms of helping all human beings. This is
31825 very important. Even if we cannot think in terms of sentient beings
31826 inhabiting different worlds, we should nonetheless think in terms of the human
31827 beings on our own planet. To do this is to take a practical approach to the
31828 problem. It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our
31829 daily lives. If we find we cannot help another, the least we can do is to
31830 desist from harming them. We must not cheat others or lie to them. We must
31831 be honest human beings, sincere human beings.
31832 On a very practical level, such attitudes are things which we need.
31833 Whether one is a believer, a religious person, or not, is another matter.
31834 Simply as an inhabitant of the world, as a member of the human family, we need
31835 this kind of attitude. It is through such an attitude that real and lasting
31836 world peace and harmony can be achieved. Through harmony, friendship, and
31837 respecting one another, we can solve many problems in the right way, without
31839 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
31840 edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
31842 We may have all come on different ships, but we're all in the same boat now.
31843 -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
31845 ...Maitreya, in his text the Sublime Continuum, gives three reasons on the
31846 basis of which one can conclude that the essence of Buddhahood permeates the
31847 minds of all sentient beings. First, he says that the Buddha's activities
31848 radiate in the heart of all sentient beings. Now this can be understood in
31849 two different ways: one is that we can understand that in every sentient being
31850 there is a seed of virtue, and one could see the seed of virtue as an act of
31851 the completely enlightened, compassionate Buddha. But one could also see it
31852 in deeper terms, that is, that all sentient beings possess the potential for
31853 perfection. Therefore, there is a kind of perfected being inherent within all
31854 sentient beings, radiating. So one can understand it in these ways. Second,
31855 so far as the ultimate nature of reality is concerned, there is total equality
31856 between the samsaric state and nirvana. Third, we all possess a mind which
31857 lacks intrinsic reality and independent existence, which allows us to then
31858 remove the negativities and delusory states that obscure it. For these three
31859 reasons, Maitreya concludes that all sentient beings possess the essence of
31861 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
31862 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published by
31863 Snow Lion Publications
31865 ...Compassion diminishes fright about your own pain and increases inner
31866 strength. It gives you a sense of empowerment, of being able to accomplish
31867 your tasks. It lends encouragement.
31868 Let me give you a small example. Recently, when I was in Bodh Gaya, I
31869 fell ill from a chronic intestinal infection. On the way to the hospital, the
31870 pain in my abdomen was severe, and I was sweating a great deal. The car was
31871 passing through the area of Vulture Peak (Buddha taught here) where the
31872 villagers are extremely poor. In general, Bihar State is poor, but that
31873 particular area is even more so. I did not even see children going to or
31874 coming from school. Just poverty. And sickness. I have a very clear memory
31875 of a small boy with polio, who had rusty metal braces on his legs and metal
31876 crutches up to his armpits. It was obvious that he had no one to look after
31877 him. I was very moved. A little later on, there was an old man at a tea
31878 stop, wearing only a dirty piece of cloth, fallen to the ground, left to lie
31879 there with no one to take care of him.
31880 Later, at the hospital, my thoughts kept circling on what I had seen,
31881 reflecting on how sad it was that here I had people to take care of me but
31882 those poor people had no one. That is where my thoughts went, rather than to
31883 my own suffering. Though sweat was pouring out of my body, my concern was
31885 In this way, though my body underwent a lot of pain that prevented sleep
31886 (a hole had opened in my intestinal wall), my mind did not suffer any fear or
31887 discomfort. It would only have made the situation worse if I had concentrated
31888 on my own problems. This is an example from my small experience of how an
31889 attitude of compassion helps even oneself, suppressing some degree of physical
31890 pain and keeping away mental distress, despite the fact that others might not
31891 be directly helped.
31892 Compassion strengthens your outlook, and with that courage you are more
31893 relaxed. When your perspective includes the suffering of limitless beings,
31894 your own suffering looks comparatively small.
31895 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living
31896 Well and Dying Consciously", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
31899 ...blissful light, with a Chenrezig on the tip of each ray, streams out of
31900 you and touches each and every sentient being--those whom you like, those whom
31901 you don't, and those you don't know. When this glowing light touches each
31902 sentient being, it performs two functions: it purifies them of their
31903 negativities, and it inspires them to realize all the stages of the path to
31904 enlightenment. We may start imagining the light touching the beings in the
31905 room and gradually spreading out to those in the area, the country, the
31906 continent, the world, and the universe. Or we can start with our friends and
31907 family, then radiate light to strangers, and finally to those who have harmed
31908 us or of whom we're afraid. Or, we can first radiate light to human beings,
31909 then animals, hungry ghosts, hell beings, demi-gods, and gods. We can use our
31910 creativity and imagination when doing this visualization. Each meditation
31911 session can have a different emphasis.
31912 It's very easy to love sentient beings in a general way. But it's more
31913 effective to be specific in our visualizations. Send light to the guy who cut
31914 you off on the highway. Send light to the IRS employee who questioned your
31915 tax return. Send light to the terrorist who thinks that killing others in the
31916 name of God will cause him to be reborn in heaven. Send light to government
31917 leaders who think that bombing others solves problems. Send light to your
31918 teenager who leaves his room a mess and gets mad when you comment on it. Send
31919 light to specific people you know and care about, people who are having
31920 problems, strangers, and people you don't like. Send it to hospitals, the
31921 Middle East, the inner cities, and Beverly Hills. There's suffering
31922 everywhere. The light frees sentient beings from their suffering.
31923 -- Thubten Chodron, "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method
31924 of Chenrezig", foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion
31927 In Tibetan drenpa means "mindfulness," and sheshin means "awareness."
31928 Drenpa also means "mindfulness and memory." It means that one is mindful of
31929 what one is doing and remembers what one has to do whether one is meditating,
31930 whether one has lost the power of concentration, and so on. Mindfulness is
31931 like a causal condition and awareness is like the result. If one has very
31932 concentrated mindfulness, one immediately notices a thought arising and this
31933 becomes awareness, which becomes sheshin, and one knows what is occurring.
31934 Normally, one does not know what is in one's mind or what one is thinking, so
31935 there is no awareness. But if one has mindfulness, then it is said to the
31936 extent that mindfulness brings mental stability, one has awareness. So when
31937 one has mindfulness, it is through one's awareness of what is happening.
31938 At this level of pacification we become aware of the negative qualities of
31939 distraction. Santideva explains this by saying that when the mind is
31940 distracted, it is between the fangs of the wild animal of the kleshas
31941 [emotional obscurations], and from mental distractions come all the
31942 difficulties and mental hardships of this and future lives. Being in a state
31943 of distraction will increase the negative qualities of the mind more and more.
31944 However, being aware of the negative qualities motivates us to meditate.
31945 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "The Practice of Tranquillity and Insight:
31946 A Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation", translated by Peter Roberts,
31947 published by Snow Lion Publications
31949 Developing a flexible approach to living is not only instrumental in
31950 helping us cope with everyday problems--it also becomes the cornerstone for a
31951 key element of a happy life: balance.
31952 Settling comfortably into his chair one morning, the Dalai Lama explained
31953 the value of leading a balanced life.
31954 "A balanced and skillful approach to life, taking care to avoid
31955 extremes, becomes a very important factor in conducting one's everyday
31956 existence. It is important in all aspects of life. For instance, in planting
31957 a sapling of a plant or a tree, at its very early stage you have to be very
31958 skillful and gentle. Too much moisture will destroy it, too much sunlight
31959 will destroy it. Too little will also destroy it. So what you need is a very
31960 balanced environment where the sapling can have a healthy growth. Or, for a
31961 person's physical health, too much or too little of any one thing can have
31962 destructive effects. For example, too much protein I think is bad, and too
31964 "This gentle and skillful approach, taking care to avoid extremes,
31965 applies to healthy mental and emotional growth as well."
31966 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., "The Art of
31967 Happiness: A Handbook for Living"
31969 ...Idle talk is usually considered a destructive action because it wastes
31970 our time. But if our friend is depressed and can't listen to wise advice, we
31971 can joke, tell silly stories, and use small talk to lighten his mood. Because
31972 our motivation is kind, our joking and chatting are positive.
31973 Laughing and having a good time aren't in opposition to Dharma. The more
31974 we leave behind attachment, anger, jealousy, and pride, the more we'll enjoy
31975 whatever we're doing. Our hearts will open to others and we can laugh and
31976 smile with ease. The holy beings I've been fortunate to meet have a wonderful
31977 sense of humor and are very friendly.
31978 In Buddhist groups, it's important for people to get to know each other
31979 and have a sense of fellowship. We can share experiences with our Dharma
31980 friends and encourage each other on the path. Buddhism isn't an isolated
31981 path, and it's important for Buddhists to cultivate group unity and
31983 It's not beneficial to retreat inside ourselves, thinking, "Every time I
31984 talk to someone I'm motivated by attachment. Therefore I'll concentrate on
31985 meditation and chanting and won't socialize with others." One of the
31986 fundamental principles of Buddhism is care and compassion for others.
31987 Although at times we may need to distance ourselves from others in order to
31988 settle our own minds, whenever possible we should actively develop genuine
31989 love for others. To do this, we must be aware of what's happening in others'
31990 lives, care about them as we do ourselves, and offer help whenever possible.
31991 Our ability to act with love develops with time and practice, and it has to be
31992 balanced with our need for private contemplation.
31993 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Taming the Mind", published by Snow Lion
31996 Young men and young women may work systematically six days in the week and
31997 rise fresh in the morning, but let them attend modern dances for only a few
31998 hours each evening and see what happens. The Waltz, Polka, Gallop and other
31999 dances of the same kind will be disastrous in their effects to both sexes.
32000 Health and vigor will vanish like the dew before the sun. It is not the
32001 extraordinary exercise which harms the dancer, but rather the coming into
32002 close contact with the opposite sex. It is the fury of lust craving
32003 incessantly for more pleasure that undermines the soul, the body, the sinews
32004 and nerves. Experience and statistics show beyond doubt that passionate
32005 excessive dancing girls can hardly reach twenty-five years of age and men
32006 thirty-one. Even if they reached that age they will in most instances be
32007 broken in health physically and morally. This is the claim of prominent
32008 physicians in this country.
32009 -- Quote from a 1910 periodical.
32011 Why I Can't Go Out With You: I'd LOVE to, but...
32012 -- I'm trying to see how long I can go without saying yes.
32013 -- I'm attending the opening of my garage door.
32014 -- The monsters haven't turned blue yet, and I have to eat more dots.
32015 -- I'm converting my calendar watch from Julian to Gregorian.
32016 -- I have to fulfill my potential.
32017 -- I don't want to leave my comfort zone.
32018 -- It's too close to the turn of the century.
32019 -- I have to bleach my hare.
32020 -- I'm worried about my vertical hold knob.
32021 -- I left my body in my other clothes.
32023 I remember most vividly my first lesson on epistemology as a child, when I
32024 had to memorize the dictum "The definition of the mental is that which is
32025 luminous and knowing." Drawing on earlier Indian sources, Tibetan thinkers
32026 defined consciousness. It was years later that I realized just how
32027 complicated is the philosophical problem hidden behind this simple
32028 formulation. Today when I see nine-year-old monks confidently citing this
32029 definition of consciousness on the debating floor, which is such a central
32030 part of Tibetan monastic education, I smile.
32031 These two features--luminosity, or clarity, and knowing, or cognizance--
32032 have come to characterize "the mental" in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist thought.
32033 Clarity here refers to the ability of mental states to reveal or reflect.
32034 Knowing, by contrast, refers to mental states' faculty to perceive or
32035 apprehend what appears. All phenomena possessed of these qualities count as
32036 mental. These features are difficult to conceptualize, but then we are
32037 dealing with phenomena that are subjective and internal rather than material
32038 objects that may be measured in spatiotemporal terms. Perhaps it is because
32039 of these difficulties--the limits of language in dealing with the subjective--
32040 that many of the early Buddhist texts explain the nature of consciousness in
32041 terms of metaphors such as light, or a flowing river. As the primary feature
32042 of light is to illuminate, so consciousness is said to illuminate its objects.
32043 Just as in light there is no categorical distinction between the illumination
32044 and that which illuminates, so in consciousness there is no real difference
32045 between the process of knowing or cognition and that which knows or cognizes.
32046 In consciousness, as in light, there is a quality of illumination.
32047 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Universe in a Single Atom: Convergence
32048 of Science and Spirituality"
32050 False conceptions are exaggerated modes of thought that do not accord with
32051 the facts. Even if an object--an event, a person, or any other phenomenon--
32052 has a slightly favorable aspect, once the object is mistakenly seen as
32053 existing totally from its own side, true and real, mental projection
32054 exaggerates its goodness beyond what it actually is, resulting in lust. The
32055 same happens with anger and hatred; this time a negative factor is
32056 exaggerated, making the object seem to be a hundred percent negative, the
32057 result being deep disturbance. Recently, a psychotherapist told me that when
32058 we generate anger, ninety percent of the ugliness of the object of our anger
32059 is due to our own exaggeration. This is very much in conformity with the
32060 Buddhist idea of how afflictive emotions arise.
32061 At the point when anger and lust are generated, reality is not seen;
32062 rather, an unreal mental projection of extreme badness or extreme goodness is
32063 seen, evoking twisted, unrealistic actions. All of this can be avoided by
32064 seeing the fuller picture revealed by paying attention to the dependent-
32065 arising of phenomena, the nexus of causes and conditions from which they arise
32066 and in which they exist.
32067 Looked at this way, the disadvantages of afflictive emotions are obvious.
32068 If you want to be able to perceive the actual situation, you have to quit
32069 voluntarily submitting to afflictive emotions, because in each and every
32070 field, they obstruct perception of the facts.....
32071 Love and compassion also involve strong feelings that can even make you
32072 cry with empathy, but they are induced not by exaggeration but by valid
32073 cognition of the plight of sentient beings, and the appropriateness of being
32074 concerned for their well-being. These feelings rely on insight into how
32075 beings suffer in the round of rebirth called "cyclic existence," and the depth
32076 of these feelings is enhanced through insight into impermanence and
32077 emptiness.... Though it is possible for love and compassion to be influenced
32078 by afflictive emotions, true love and compassion are unbiased and devoid of
32079 exaggeration, because they are founded on valid cognition of your relationship
32080 to others. The perspective of dependent-arising is supremely helpful in
32081 making sure that you appreciate the wider picture.
32082 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to See Yourself As You Really Are",
32083 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.
32085 The Prajna Paramita is a very profound philosophical doctrine, and I will just
32086 outline the main ideas in it in order to clarify the Chod. First we start off
32087 with the confused egocentric state of mind. This state of mind causes us to
32088 suffer, and so, to alleviate the suffering, we start to practice meditation.
32089 What happens in meditation is that the speedy mind begins to slow down and
32090 things begin to settle, like the mud sinking to the bottom of a puddle of
32091 water when it is left undisturbed. When this settling has occurred, a kind of
32092 clear understanding of the way things work in the mind takes place. This
32093 understanding is prajna, profound cognition. Then, according to Buddhist
32094 doctrine, through the use of this prajna, we begin to see that, in fact,
32095 although we think that we have a separate and unique essence, or self, which
32096 we call the "ego," when we look closely, we are a composite of form, sense-
32097 perceptions, consciousness, etc., and are merely a sum of these parts. This
32098 realization is the understanding of sunyata, usually translated as emptiness,
32099 or voidness. It means there is no self-essence, that we are "void of a self."
32100 If we are void of a self, there is no reason to be egocentric, since the whole
32101 notion of a separate ego is false. Therefore we can afford to be
32102 compassionate, and need not continually defend ourselves or force our desires
32104 -- Tsultrim Allione, "Women of Wisdom", published by Snow Lion Publications
32106 There is a film called "Groundhog Day," which is really a Buddhist movie
32107 because this is exactly what the plot is about. For those of you who haven't
32108 seen it, it's about somebody who had to relive the same day again and again
32109 until he got it right. He started out with an extremely negative attitude,
32110 and so throughout the first day he created a lot of negative causes. People
32111 related back to him from his own level of negativity, and so he had a very bad
32112 day. Then the next day he had to experience the same day all over again.
32113 Then again, and again. He became desperate to find a way out. He attempted
32114 suicide many times, but the next morning, there he was again in the same room
32115 and the same bed. The date hadn't changed, and the same song was playing on
32116 the radio. His attitude underwent many, many changes, until in the end he
32117 spent most of his time trying to help people. He forestalled tragedies he
32118 knew were going to happen because he had lived the day over so many times, and
32119 his whole attitude gradually turned around into working out ways to help
32120 others. As his inner attitude transformed, the day gradually got better and
32121 better. Finally, he was able to break through to a new day.
32122 The important thing is how we respond to our situation. We can transform
32123 anything if we respond in a skillful way. This is precisely what karma is
32124 about. If we greet situations with a positive attitude, we will eventually
32125 create positive returns. If we respond with a negative attitude, negative
32126 things will eventually come our way. Unlike the scenario in the movie, it
32127 doesn't always happen right away. We can be very nice people but still have
32128 lots of problems. On the other hand, we can be awful people and have a
32129 wonderful time. But from a Buddhist perspective, it's just a matter of time
32130 before we receive the results of our conduct. And usually it is true that
32131 people with a positive attitude encounter positive circumstances. Even if the
32132 circumstances do not appear positive, they be transformed through a positive
32133 view. On the other hand people with negative minds complain even when things
32134 are going well. They also transform circumstances, but they transform
32135 positive ones into negative ones!
32136 Both our present and our future depend on us. From moment to moment, we
32137 are creating our future. We are not a ball of dust tossed about by the winds
32138 of fate. We have full responsibility for our lives. The more aware we
32139 become, the more capable we are of making skillful choices.
32140 -- Venerable Tenzin Palmo, "Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings
32141 on Practical Buddhism", published by Snow Lion Publications
32143 Why is endeavor necessary? If we consider material progress, we see that
32144 research started by one person can always be continued by another. But this
32145 is not possible with spiritual progress. The realization we talk about in the
32146 Buddhadharma is something that has to be accomplished by the individual. No
32147 one else can do it for us. Of course, it would be wonderful if in the future
32148 we could attain realization through some sort of new injection or by means of
32149 a new generation of computers, without having to go through any difficulties.
32150 If we could be absolutely certain that such a time would come, we could simply
32151 lie back and wait to get enlightened. But I doubt that this will ever happen.
32152 It is better to make an effort. We have to develop endeavor.
32154 Thus with patience I will practice diligence,
32155 For it is through zeal that I will reach enlightenment.
32156 If there is no wind, then nothing stirs;
32157 Neither is there merit where there is no diligence.
32158 We can be patient in various ways, such as by not thinking ill of those
32159 who harm us or by accepting suffering as the path. Of these two, the latter
32160 is the more important for generating endeavor, and it is endeavor that enables
32161 us to attain enlightenment. As Shantideva says, "It is through zeal that I
32162 will reach enlightenment." In the same way that protecting a lamp from the
32163 wind allows the flame to burn without flickering, endeavor enables the
32164 virtuous mind to grow undisturbed.
32165 What is endeavor? It is finding joy in doing what is good. To do that,
32166 it is necessary to remove anything that counteracts it, especially laziness.
32167 Laziness has three aspects: having no wish to do good, being distracted by
32168 negative activities, and underestimating oneself by doubting one's ability.
32169 Related to these are taking undue pleasure in idleness and sleep and being
32170 indifferent to samsara as a state of suffering.
32171 -- Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "A Flash of
32172 Lightning in the Dark of Night: A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of
32173 Life", translated by The Padmakara Translation Group.
32175 Western women emerging from crisis situations often choose to live alone,
32176 intuitively knowing that the confrontation with oneself that this brings will
32177 lead to a deeper understanding. These women in our society (which sees them
32178 as pitiable and unfortunate) can take strength from the stories of Tibetan
32180 These Western women also seek the support of other women or
32181 psychotherapists to help them to emerge from their descents, just as the
32182 yoginis sought the guidance of their teachers and spiritual friends, and the
32183 Greeks needed the help of the "therapeutes" [helpers] to make sense of the
32184 memories they brought back from the oracle cave.
32185 Speaking of the descent myth in terms of her experiences in controlled
32186 therapeutic regressions, Jungian analyst M.L. Von Franz describes the descent
32187 process in relation to the story of "The Handless Maiden":
32188 In the Middle Ages there were many hermits, and in Switzerland there
32189 were the so-called Wood Brothers and Sisters. People who did not want
32190 to live a monastic life but who wanted to live alone in the forest had
32191 both a closeness to nature and also a great experience of spiritual
32192 inner life. Such Wood Brothers and Sisters could be personalities on
32193 a high level who had a spiritual fate and had to renounce active life
32194 for a time and isolate themselves to find their own inner relation to
32195 God. It is not very different from what the shaman does in the Polar
32196 tribes, or what medicine men do all over the world, in order to seek
32197 an immediate personal religious experience in isolation.
32198 ...If we avoid the descent because of fear of what we will discover about
32199 ourselves in the "underworld," we block ourselves off from a powerful
32200 transformative process. This process has been recognized by modern
32201 psychologists and ancient mystery religions alike.
32202 -- Tsultrim Allione, "Women of Wisdom", published by Snow Lion Publications
32204 The modes of thought in pride and in courageous thought are entirely
32206 Depression caused by disintegration of the ego probably comes from not
32207 being able to posit a conventionally existent I. Still, when some
32208 understanding of emptiness develops, you have a different feeling of I than
32209 that to which you previously were accustomed. Our usual feeling is that the I
32210 is something solid, really independent, and very forceful. Such no longer
32211 remains, but at the same time there is a sense of a mere I that accumulates
32212 karma and performs actions. Such a sense of self is not at all a source of
32214 If you have difficulty positing a merely nominal I as well as merely
32215 nominal cause and effect of actions--if you get to the point where if you
32216 assert selflessness, you cannot posit dependent-arising--then it would be
32217 better to assert dependent-arising and give up selflessness. Indeed, there
32218 are many levels of understanding selflessness, and Buddha, out of great
32219 skillfulness in method, taught many different schools of tenets that posit
32220 coarser levels of selflessness for those temporarily unable to understand the
32221 more subtle levels. It is not the case that only if the most profound level
32222 is immediately accessible, it is suitable, and if it is not accessible, the
32223 whole endeavor should be thrown away. You have to proceed step by step with
32224 whatever accords with your level of mind. Between emptiness and dependent-
32225 arising, you should value dependent-arising more highly.
32226 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the
32227 Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins,
32228 published by Snow Lion Publications
32230 Puba Supoche asked, "Dampa, tell me what it's like when you really
32231 practice sincerely! I understand neither heads nor tails of it!"
32232 Dampa said, "View is the destruction of extreme ideas regarding things!
32233 Cutting pride of self with confidence is realization! Being without support
32234 in luminosity is meditation! In insight, absence of recognition is the
32235 innate! Finding nowhere to place the mind among shifting phenomena is
32236 subsequent attainment! In their absence, there is no antidote but natural
32237 intensity! Naked awareness without grasping is dharmakaya! Disappearance
32238 without being anything is experience! Don't you wonder whether all this truly
32240 -- Padampa Sangye, "Lion of Siddhas: The Life and Teachings of Padampa
32241 Sangye", translated by David Molk, with Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche,
32242 published by Snow Lion Publications
32244 [do you have any thoughts about how a person could go about increasing their
32245 feeling of autonomy or freedom at work?]
32247 ...it will completely depend on the person's individual circumstances,
32248 what position they are in. Let's take the example of a prisoner. Now of
32249 course it is best not to be in prison, but even in that situation, where a
32250 person may be deprived of freedom, he or she may discover small choices that
32251 they are able to make. And even if somebody is in prison, with very rigid
32252 rules, they can undertake some spiritual practices to try to lessen their
32253 mental frustrations, try to get some peace of mind. So they can work on
32254 internal development...if people can do this under the extreme conditions of
32255 prison, in the workplace people may try to discover small things, small
32256 choices that they can make in how to go about their work. And of course,
32257 somebody may work on an assembly line with little variation in how to do their
32258 tasks, but they still have other kinds of choices in terms of their attitudes,
32259 how they interact with their co-workers, whether they utilize certain inner
32260 qualities or spiritual strengths to change their attitude at work even though
32261 the nature of the work may be difficult. Isn't it? So, perhaps that would
32263 Of course, when you are talking about rigid rules and lack of freedom,
32264 that doesn't mean that you are required to blindly follow and accept
32265 everything others tell you. In instances where the worker might be exploited,
32266 where the employer thinks of nothing but profit and pays a small salary and
32267 demands a lot of overtime, or where one may be asked to do things that are not
32268 appropriate or are unethical, one should not simply think, "Well, this is my
32269 karma," and take no action. Here it is not enough to think, "I should just be
32271 If there is injustice, then I think inaction is the wrong response. The
32272 Buddhist texts mention what is called "misplaced tolerance," or "misplaced
32273 forbearance." So...misplaced patience or forbearance refers to the sense of
32274 endurance that some individuals have when they are subject to a very
32275 destructive, negative activity. That is a misplaced forbearance and
32276 endurance. Similarly, in the work environment, if there is a lot of injustice
32277 and exploitation, then to passively tolerate it is the wrong response. The
32278 appropriate response really is to actively resist it, to try to change this
32279 environment rather than accept it. One should take some action...perhaps one
32280 could speak with the boss, with the management, and try to change these
32281 things. One needs to actively resist exploitation. And in some cases, one
32282 may simply need to quit and to look for other work.
32283 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Howard C. Cutler, M.D.,
32284 "The Art of Happiness at Work"
32286 The purpose of Buddha's coming to the world was for the sake of sentient
32287 beings' attaining the wisdom that he achieved. The paths that he taught are
32288 only a means leading to Buddhahood; he does not lead sentient beings with a
32289 low vehicle that is not a method leading to Buddhahood. He establishes
32290 sentient beings in the powers and so forth that exist in his own state.
32292 "Manjushri, all the doctrines that I teach to sentient beings are for
32293 the sake of attaining omniscient wisdom. Flowing into enlightenment
32294 and descending into the Mahayana, they are means of achieving
32295 omniscience, leading completely to one place. Therefore, I do not
32296 create different vehicles."
32297 -- from "Chapter of the True One Sutra".
32299 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in Tibet",
32300 published by Snow Lion Publications
32302 We are aiming to develop a strong feeling of love and compassion with
32303 respect to everyone, but this cannot be done without first seeing an equality
32304 of all beings throught meditatively cultivating equanimity. Otherwise, you'll
32305 easily be able to generate love and compassion for friends and may be able to
32306 extend a little of this to neutral people, but even minor enemies will remain
32307 a huge problem. Thus at first it is necessary to recognize how friends,
32308 neutral persons, and enemies are equal.
32309 This is done in two ways. One way to break down rigid classifications of
32310 people is by reflecting first with respect to friends, then neutral persons,
32312 "Just as I want happiness and don't want suffering, so this friend
32313 wants happiness and doesn't want suffering. And equally, this neutral
32314 person wants happiness and doesn't want suffering. And equally, this
32315 enemy wants happiness and doesn't want suffering."
32316 Another way is to reflect on what your relationships have been with others
32317 over the course of lifetimes, beginning with neutral persons, then friends,
32318 and finally enemies. An enemy in this lifetime wants to do you in, but over
32319 the course of lifetimes was this person just an enemy? No. If you do not
32320 believe in rebirth, utilize the rebirth game, the rebirth perspective, as a
32321 technique for making your mind more flexible.
32322 Either of these techniques will work:
32323 - Reflecting on the similarity of yourself and others in the basic
32324 aspiration to gain happiness and be rid of suffering.
32326 - Reflecting on the changeability of relationships over the course
32328 -- Jeffrey Hopkins, "A Truthful Heart: Buddhist Practices for Connecting
32329 with Others", foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, published by
32330 Snow Lion Publications
32332 What is wisdom? It is as explained in the perfection of supreme knowledge
32333 teachings: all phenomena are free from elaborations, and when the perceiving
32334 subject as well becomes equally free from elaborations, that is wisdom. In
32335 particular, the wisdom of the buddha consists in the pacification of the
32336 elaborations and their habitual tendencies in relation to suchness. It is the
32337 inseparability of the expanse and wisdom. It is free from singularity and
32338 multiplicity, quality and qualified. It realizes the nonduality of subjects
32339 and objects. In it all phenomena--samsara and nirvana, faults and qualities,
32340 and so on--are always undifferentiable and equal. Outside of that, there is
32341 no way to posit wisdom.
32342 In a nonanalytical context of repeating what others accept, we Followers
32343 of the Middle Way describe knowable objects as existing. The wisdom of the
32344 buddhas is the same. Since we speak of all phenomena as existing from the
32345 perspective of others (even though from our own perspective they are free of
32346 the elaborations of existence and nonexistence), it is unreasonable to debate
32347 solely about the existence or nonexistence of the wisdom of buddhas.
32348 -- "The Karmapa's Middle Way: Feast for the Fortunate by the Ninth Karmapa,
32349 Wangchuk Dorje", trans. by Tyler Dewar, published by Snow Lion
32352 Well timed silence hath more eloquence than speech. -- Martin Fraqhar Tupper
32354 A diplomat is a man who says you have an open mind,
32355 instead of telling you that you have a hole in the head.
32358 To achieve great things, two things are needed;
32359 a plan, and not quite enough time.
32360 -- Leonard Bernstein
32362 To bend a bamboo, start when it is a shoot. -- Malaysian Proverb
32364 Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.
32367 No shade tree? Blame not the sun, but yourself. -- Chinese Proverb
32369 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool,
32370 than to speak and remove all doubt.
32373 Art is either plagiarism or revolution. -- Paul Gauguin
32375 When this world initially formed, there seem to have been two types of
32376 events or entities, one sentient, the other insentient. Rocks, for instance,
32377 are examples of nonsentient entities. You see, we usually consider them to
32378 have no feelings: no pains and no pleasures. The other type, sentient beings,
32379 have awareness, consciousness, pains and pleasures.
32380 But there needs to be a cause for that. If you posit there is no cause
32381 for consciousness, then this leads to all sorts of inconsistencies and logical
32382 problems. So, the cause is posited, established. It is considered certain.
32383 The initial cause must be an independent consciousness. And on that basis
32384 is asserted the theory of continuation of life after death. It is during the
32385 interval when one's continuum of awareness departs from one's body at death
32386 that the subtle mind, the subtle consciousness, becomes manifest. That
32387 continuum connects one life with the next.
32388 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations
32389 with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara
32390 Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by
32391 Snow Lion Publications
32393 Channels and cakras represent the inner structure of the human body,
32394 referred to in the tantric teachings as the 'vajra body'. 'Vajra' means
32395 'indestructible', and 'vajra body' refers to the dimension of the three
32396 fundamental components: the channels and cakras, the prana that flows through
32397 them, and the bindu or thigle, the white and red seed-essences of the physical
32398 body that form the basis for practices such as the Tummo.
32399 In the tantras of the Upadesa section of Dzogchen, it is explained that
32400 after the conception of a human being the first thing to develop is the navel
32401 cakra. Then from this, through a channel, the head cakra develops followed by
32402 the other main cakras of the throat and the heart. This channel or meridian,
32403 known as the life-channel, develops into the spinal cord and spine. At the
32404 same time it remains as the fundamental energy of the central channel.
32405 The central channel, known as Uma in Tibetan, is connected with the two
32406 lateral channels called Roma and Kyangma. The Roma channel, which is white
32407 and corresponds to lunar energy, is on the right side in men and on the left
32408 in women. Ro means 'taste', and the main function of this channel is to give
32409 the sensation of pleasure. The Kyangma channel, red and corresponding to
32410 solar energy, is on the left side in men and on the right in women. Kyang
32411 means 'sole', and unlike the Roma, this channel is not connected with many
32412 secondary channels. Control of this channel is fundamental in order to
32413 cultivate the experience of emptiness. These are the characteristic features
32414 of the two channels, which are related to the two principles of upaya or
32415 method, and of prajna or energy. Method denotes everything pertaining to the
32416 visible or material dimension; while 'prajna', which generally means
32417 discriminating wisdom, in this context denotes the energy of emptiness that is
32418 the base of any manifestation.
32419 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, "Yantra Yoga: The Tibetan Yoga of Movement",
32420 translated by Adriano Clemente, published byy Snow Lion Publications
32422 Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them.
32425 The taller the bamboo grows, the lower it bends.
32428 You can't depend on the man who made the mess to clear it up.
32431 You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket. -- John Adams
32433 Kissing is like drinking salted water; you drink and your thirst increases.
32436 The eye is a menace to clear sight, the ear is a menace to subtle hearing, the
32437 mind is a menace to wisdom, every organ of the senses is a menace to its own
32438 capacity.... Fuss, the god of the Southern Ocean, and Fret, the god of the
32439 Northern Ocean, happened once to meet in the realm of Chaos, the god of the
32440 center. Chaos treated them very handsomely and they discussed together what
32441 they could doto repay his kindness. They had noticed that, whereas everyone
32442 else had seven apertures, for sight, hearing, eating, breathing and so on,
32443 Chaos had none. So they decided to make the experiment of boring holes in
32444 him. Every day they bored a hole, and on the seventh day, Chaos died.
32447 Everybody loves to talk about calm and peace, whether in a family,
32448 national, or international context. But without inner peace how can we make
32449 real peace? World peace through hatred and force is impossible. Even in the
32450 case of individuals, there is no possibility to feel happiness through anger.
32451 If in a difficult situation one becomes disturbed internally, overwhelmed by
32452 mental discomfort, then external things will not help at all. However, if
32453 despite external difficulties or problems, internally one's attitude is of
32454 love, warmth, and kind-heartedness, then problems can be faced and accepted.
32456 The necessary foundation for world peace and the ultimate goal of any new
32457 international order is the elimination of violence at every level. For this
32458 reason the practice of non-violence surely suits us all. It simply requires
32459 determination, for by its very nature non-violent action requires patience.
32460 While the practice of non-violence is still something of an experiment on this
32461 planet, if it is successful it will open the way to a far more peaceful world
32462 in the next century.
32463 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Pocket Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by
32466 On the tenth night of the twelfth month, Gyal Dawa, the girl, came again.
32467 She said, "Don't neglect my request for a prayer. It is very important."
32468 That's the dream she had. I thought, "I'll write it on the full moon day."
32469 So on the night of the fourteenth I prayed with single-pointed devotion to
32470 Guru Rinpoche to grant blessing that the prayer would be beneficial and then
32471 fell asleep. Early in the morning of the fifteenth I dreamed I was sitting in
32472 front of the shrine in a very large building that looked like a temple.
32473 Suddenly a young white man dressed in white with his hair falling loosely over
32474 his shoulder appeared at the entrance. He was playing the cymbals melodiously
32475 and dancing the swirling, joyous dance of the Ging. He came closer and
32478 If you want to establish the dharma,
32479 Establish it in your mind.
32480 In the depth of mind, you will find Buddha.
32481 If you wish to visit the buddha fields,
32482 Purify ordinary deluded attachment.
32483 The perfectly comfortable buddha field is close by.
32484 Develop the joyful effort to practice,
32485 That is the essence of the teaching.
32486 Without practice, who can gain the siddhis?
32487 It is hard to see one's faults,
32488 But to see them nakedly is powerful advice.
32489 In the end when faults have been cleared away,
32490 The enlightened qualities increase and shine forth.
32492 At the end of this he rolled his cymbals. Then he crashed them together,
32493 and I awoke. After I woke up, I did not forget what he had said. I
32494 understood it to have been advice on practicing what to accept and what to
32495 reject. I was sad that although I had actually seen the face of my only
32496 father, Guru Padmasambhava, I had not recognized him.
32497 I, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, old father of the Nyingma, wrote this from my own
32498 experience. Sarva Mangalam [May all be auspicious].
32499 -- Khenpo Tsewaang Dongyal Rinpoche, "Light of Fearless Indestructible
32500 Wisdom: The Life and Legacy of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche", published
32501 by Snow Lion Publications
32503 The modern economy has no national boundaries. When we talk about ecology,
32504 the environment, when we are concerned about the ozone layer, one individual,
32505 one society, one country cannot solve these problems. We must work together.
32506 Humanity needs more genuine cooperation. The foundation for the development
32507 of good relations with one another is altruism, compassion, and forgiveness.
32508 For small arguments to remain limited, in the human circle the best method is
32509 forgiveness. Altruism and forgiveness are the basis for bringing humanity
32510 together. Then no conflict, no matter how serious, will go beyond the bounds
32511 of what is truly human.
32512 -- "The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings By and
32513 About the Dalai Lama", compiled and edited bby Sidney Piburn, Foreword
32514 by Sen. Claiborne Pell, published by Snow Lion Publications
32516 Creation in four vajra steps entails meditation on emptiness; generating a
32517 moon, sun, and seed-syllable from which light emanates and then converges; the
32518 full manifestation of the deity resulting from the convergence of the light
32519 and transformation of the seed-syllable; and visualization of three syllables
32520 at the deity's three places. [The syllables om, ah, and hum are imagined at
32521 the forehead, throat, and heart, respectively.]
32522 ...Kongtrul explains that all the varieties of the creation phase
32523 incorporate the four key elements of form, imagination, result, and
32524 transformative power. "Form" means meditating on forms that represent the
32525 aspects of awakening and generating clear images of these forms, thereby
32526 stopping impure appearances. "Imagination" means using the force of creative
32527 imagination to convert the visualized forms of awakening into reality.
32528 "Result" means meditating on the result, that is, the very goal to be
32529 attained, and thereby achieving that goal. "Transformative power" means
32530 turning the ordinary body and mind into pristine awareness by relying on the
32531 transformative powers of awakened beings. Among these, Kongtrul points out,
32532 the most important element for realization of the path is the transformative
32533 power of the vajra master combined with one's own devotion to that master.
32534 -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taaye, "The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Eight,
32535 Part Three: The Elements of Tantric Practice", translated by Ingrid
32536 Loken McLeod and Elio Guarisco, published by Snow Lion Publications
32538 From The Prayer Requested by Namke Nyingbo
32541 All these things of the outer environment and the beings therein
32542 That come into sight as the objects of your eyes like this,
32543 They may appear, but leave them in the sphere free from clinging to a self.
32544 Since they are pure of perceiver and perceived, they are the
32545 luminous-empty body of the deity.
32546 I pray to the guru in whom attachment is self-liberated,
32547 I pray to Padmasambhava from Uddiyana.
32549 All these sounds, taken as pleasant or unpleasant,
32550 That resound as the objects of your ears like this,
32551 Leave them in the sphere of inconceivable, empty resonance.
32552 Empty resonance, unborn and unceasing, is the Victor's speech.
32553 I pray to the words of the Victor that resound and yet are empty,
32554 I pray to Padmasambhava from Uddiyana.
32556 However these thoughts of afflictions' five poisons,
32557 Which stir as objects in your mind like this, may appear,
32558 Do not mess around with them through a mind that rushes ahead into the
32559 future or lingers in the past.
32560 Through leaving their movement in its own place, they uncoil as the dharmakaya.
32561 I pray to the guru whose awareness is self-liberated, I pray to
32562 Padmasambhava from Uddiyana.
32564 Grant your blessings that the mind stream of someone like me is liberated
32565 Through the compassion of the Tathagatas of the three times,
32566 So that objects, appearing as if perceived outside, become pure,
32567 That my very mind, perceiving as if inside, becomes liberated,
32568 And that, in between, luminosity will recognize its own face.
32570 -- "Straight from the Heart: Buddhist Pith Instructions", translated
32571 and introduced by Karl Brunnholzl, published by Snow Lion Publications
32573 The actual method of cultivating the correct attitudes towards the
32574 spiritual master is to practice contemplative meditation upon the guru's good
32575 qualities and the beneficial effects that he or she introduces into one's
32576 life. By reflecting again and again on the great kindness the guru performs,
32577 a confidence suitable for spiritual training under him or her is born. This
32578 process of reflecting on the role of the guru is important in the beginning as
32579 well as in the higher practices, for as we sit in contemplation we become
32580 faced with a stream of reactions, which if understood at an early stage can
32581 clear the mind of much doubt, confusion and superstition.
32582 The spiritual master is the source of all spiritual progress. In this
32583 context, Geshe Potowa once said, "If even those who want to learn a common
32584 worldly trade must study under a qualified teacher, how much more so must we
32585 who seek enlightenment? Most of us have come from the lower realms and have
32586 no background or experience in the paths and stages to enlightenment; and, if
32587 we wish to gain this experience, why should we not study with someone
32588 qualified to teach us the methods that develop it?"
32589 In the beginning of his Great Exposition, Lama Tsongkhapa writes, "The
32590 root of spiritual development is to cultivate an effective relationship with a
32591 master." This means that we must cultivate the correct attitudes and then
32592 demonstrate them correctly in action. This is the root that, if made strong,
32593 supports the trunk, branches, leaves and flowers of practice. When the roots
32594 of a tree are strong, the entire tree becomes strong, whereas when the roots
32595 are weak, the entire tree will remain weak.
32596 ...We should engender respect such that we see the guru as a Buddha. If
32597 we can do this, then we experience the guru as we would a Buddha and
32598 consequently are sufficiently inspired to practice what he or she teaches.
32599 The instruction to see the guru as a Buddha is not unreasonable, for in many
32600 ways the spiritual master is Buddha himself.
32601 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
32602 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Liion Publications
32604 ...when you start practicing, you should not expect too much. We live in
32605 a time of computers and automation, so you may feel that inner development is
32606 also an automatic thing for which you press a button and everything changes.
32607 It is not so. Inner development is not easy and will take time. External
32608 progress, the latest space missions and so forth, have not reached their
32609 present level within a short period but over centuries, each generation making
32610 greater developments based on those of the previous generation. However,
32611 inner development is even more difficult since internal improvement cannot be
32612 transferred from generation to generation. Your past life's experience very
32613 much influences this life, and this life's experience becomes the basis for
32614 the next rebirth's development, but transference of inner development from one
32615 person to another is impossible. Thus, everything depends on yourself, and it
32617 I have met Westerners who at the beginning were very enthusiastic about
32618 their practice, but after a few years have completely forgotten it, and there
32619 are no traces of what they had practiced at one time. This is because at the
32620 beginning they expected too much. Shantideva's Engaging in the Bodhisattva
32621 Deeds emphasizes the importance of the practice of patience--tolerance. This
32622 tolerance is an attitude not only towards your enemy but also an attitude of
32623 sacrifice, of determination, soo that you do not fall into the laziness of
32624 discouragement. You should practice patience, or tolerance, with great
32625 resolve. This is important.
32626 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatsoo, "Kindness,
32627 Clarity, and Insight 25th Anniversary Edition", edited and translated
32628 by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow
32631 I take refuge until I am enlightened in the Buddhas,
32632 the Dharma, and the Sangha.
32633 By the positive potential I create by practicing generosity
32634 and the other far-reaching attitudes (ethical discipline,
32635 patience, joyous effort, meditative stabilization, and wisdom),
32636 may I attain Buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings.
32638 It takes only a few moments to think in this way and to recite the prayer,
32639 yet doing so has a significant effect on the rest of our day. We'll be more
32640 cheerful and will be sure of our direction in life. Especially if we don't do
32641 a regular meditation practice, starting the day in this way is extremely
32643 In the evening, after reviewing the day's activities and freeing our minds
32644 from any remaining afflictions that may have arisen during the day, we again
32645 take refuge and generate the altruistic intention.
32646 Before going to sleep, we can envision the Buddha, made of light, on our
32647 pillow. Placing our head in his lap, we fall asleep amidst the gentle glow of
32648 his wisdom and compassion. Instead, we can learn the guidelines and try to
32649 implement them as much as we can, reviewing them periodically to refresh our
32650 minds. We may choose one guideline to emphasize this week in our daily lives.
32651 Next week, we can add another, and so on. In that way, we'll slowly build up
32652 the good habits of practicing all of them.
32653 -- Ven. Thubten Chodron, "Taming the Mind", published by Snow Lion
32656 Compassion is the wish for another being to be free from suffering;
32657 love is wanting them to have happiness.
32658 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Compassionate Life"
32660 The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past,
32661 worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present
32662 moment wisely and earnestly.
32665 Our patience will achieve more than our force. -- Edmund Burke
32667 The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his tax return,
32668 it's the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.
32669 -- Arthur C. Clarke
32671 Despite all the material progress in this and the last century we still
32672 experience suffering, especially in relation to mental well-being. In fact,
32673 if anything, the complex way of life created by modernisation or globalisation
32674 is causing new problems and new causes of mental unrest. Under these
32675 circumstances I feel that the various religious traditions have an important
32676 role to play in helping to maintain peace and the spirit of reconciliation and
32677 dialogue, and therefore harmony and close contact between them is essential.
32678 Whether we are believers or non-believers and, within the category of the
32679 believers, whether we hold this or that belief, we must respect all the
32680 traditions. That's very important.
32681 I always tell people in non-Buddhist countries that followers of other
32682 religions should maintain their own tradition. To change religion is not
32683 easy, and people can get into trouble as a result of confusion. So it is much
32684 safer to keep to one's own tradition, while respecting all religions. I'm
32685 Buddhist--sometimes I describe myself as a staunch Buddhist--but, at the same
32686 time, I respect and admire the works of other traditionss' figures such as
32687 Jesus Christ. Basically, all the religious traditions have made an immense
32688 contribution to humanity and continue to do so, and as such are worthy of our
32689 respect and admiration.
32690 When we contemplate the diversity of spiritual traditions on this planet
32691 we can understand that each addresses the specific needs of different human
32692 beings, because there is so much diversity in human mentality and spiritual
32693 inclination. Yet, fundamentally, all spiritual traditions perform the same
32694 function, which is to help us tame our mental state, overcome our negativities
32695 and perfect our inner potential.
32696 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
32697 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
32699 ...For one who abides in thought
32700 Feats do not arise.
32701 Therefore abandon thought
32702 And think a mantra form.
32704 'Abandon thought' refers to the eradication of thought conceiving self
32705 [inherent existence] through the wisdom of selflessness; it does not mean to
32706 stop any and all types of thought. 'Think a mantra form' means to meditate on
32707 a deity. The measure of firmness in deity yoga is indicated by 'whether
32708 going, standing, or sitting is always immovable though moving about'. When
32709 one has attained the capacity to hold the mind on the divine body in all types
32710 of behaviour--whether in meditative equipoise or not--without moving to
32711 something else, one has the capacity to remove the pride of ordinaariness.
32712 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins,
32713 "Deity Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra", published by Snow
32716 A person who is liberated, who has freed his or her mind of all mental
32717 afflictions, still experiences physical suffering. The difference between us
32718 and an arhat, a person who has freed the mind from mental affliction, is that
32719 an arhat doesn't identify with pain. Arhats experience physical pain vividly
32720 but don't grasp onto it; they can take action to avoid or alleviate pain, but
32721 whether they do so or not, the physical pain doesn't come inside. What an
32722 arhat does not experience is mental suffering. A buddha, one who is perfectly
32723 spiritually awakened, has gone a further step. A buddha has no mental
32724 suffering of his or her own, but is vividly and non-dually aware of the
32725 suffering of others.
32726 Superficially, the arhat who is free from mental suffering can seem to us
32727 who lack this realization as numb and detached, in a state of existential
32728 anesthesia. A buddha, one who is fully awakened, presents the paradox of
32729 being free from suffering and also non-dually present with other people's joys
32730 and sorrows, hopes and fears. A buddha taps into immutable bliss, the
32731 ultimate ground state of awareness beyond the dichotomy of stimulus-driven
32732 pain and pleasure. The mind of a buddha has been purified of all obscuration
32733 and from its own nature there naturally arises immutable bliss, like a spring
32734 welling up from the earth. With the unveiling of the buddha-nature of
32735 unconditioned bliss, there is also a complete erosion of an absolute
32736 demarcation between self and other. The barrier is gone. This is why buddhas
32737 are vividly and non-dually aware of the suffering of others, their hopes and
32738 fears, the whole situation, and at the same time are not disengaged from the
32739 purity and bliss of their own awareness. The mind of a buddha doesn't block
32740 out anything and nothing is inhibited, and this is why the awareness of an
32741 awakened being is frequently described as "unimaginable."
32742 -- B. Alan Wallace, "Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point
32743 Mind Training", published by Snow Lion Publications
32745 The fifth Tara is known as Wangdu Rigje Lhamo. She is Kurukulle in
32746 Sanskrit and Rigjema or Rigje Lhamo in Tibetan. Wangdu means power of
32747 "gathering, summoning," or "magnetizing." We can think of it as attracting
32748 everything beneficial, to benefit all beings. Rigjema means "she who
32749 precisely understands everything" and Lhamo is "divine lady." So she is known
32750 as the Tara who precisely understands the power of magnetizing.
32751 Kurukulle's practice is very extensively taught throughout Tibetan
32752 Buddhism. She is often named the "Red Tara" because of her color. Her Praise
32754 CHAG TSHAL TUT TA RA HUNG YI GE
32755 Homage, Mother, filling all regions, sky, and the realm of desire
32757 DO DANG CHOG DANG NAM KHA GANG MA
32758 With the sounds of TUTTARA and HUNG,
32760 JIG TEN DUN PO ZHAB CHI NEN TE
32761 Trampling the seven worlds with her feet,
32763 LU PA ME PAR GUG PAR NU MA
32764 Able to summon all before her.
32765 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab annd Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, "Tara's Enlightened
32766 Activity: An Oral Commentary on 'The Twenty-one Praises to Tara'",
32767 published by Snow Lion Publications
32769 The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
32772 Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed
32773 is more important than any one thing.
32776 Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless-like water. Now you put water into a
32777 cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle,
32778 you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can
32779 crash. Be water, my friend.
32782 All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability.
32783 The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.
32786 A wise man can learn more from a foolish question
32787 than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
32790 The remembrance of youth is a sigh. -- Oriental Maxim
32792 Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.
32793 -- Herbert Henry Asquith
32795 The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.
32796 -- Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
32798 What we play is life. -- Louis Armstrong
32800 Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain
32801 the whole truth, or the only truth.
32804 Some say the glass is half empty,
32805 some say the glass is half full,
32806 I say, are you going to drink that?
32809 Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. -- Carl Jung
32811 Since a politician never believes what he says,
32812 he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.
32813 -- Charles de Gaulle
32815 On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable.
32816 The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the
32817 other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out
32818 is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting
32819 against each other.
32820 -- Stewart Brand at the first Hackers' Conference in 1984
32822 Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites.
32823 -- William Ruckelshaus
32825 Those who get too big for their briches will be exposed in the end. -- Anon.
32827 We're not talking about the same thing," he said. "For you the world is weird
32828 because if you're not bored with it you're at odds with it. For me the world
32829 is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my
32830 interest has been to convince you that you must accept responsibility for being
32831 here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous desert, in this marvelous
32832 time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count,
32833 since you are going to be here for only a short while, in fact, too short for
32834 witnessing all the marvels of it.
32835 -- Don Juan, Yaqui Shaman
32837 Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use.
32840 People prefer to believe what they prefer to be true. -- Francis Bacon
32842 The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling,
32843 but in rising every time we fall.
32846 Stapp's Ironical Paradox:
32847 The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any
32848 human accomplishment an incredible miracle.
32849 -- Col. John P. Stapp
32851 When the only tool you own is a hammer,
32852 every problem begins to resemble a nail.
32855 Peace is not a little white dove. It is you and me. -- Rigoberta Menchu Tum
32857 If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
32860 The reserve of modern assertions is sometimes pushed to extremes,
32861 in which the fear of being contradicted leads the writer to strip
32862 himself of almost all sense and meaning.
32863 -- Sir Winston Churchill
32865 Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is? -- Frank Scully
32867 Money often costs too much. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
32869 The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.
32872 The true meaning of life is to plant trees
32873 under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
32874 -- Nelson Henderson
32876 The first human being who hurled an insult instead
32877 of a stone was the founder of civilization.
32880 When the weight of the world has got you down
32881 and you want to end your life.
32882 Bills to pay, a dead-end job,
32883 and problems with the wife.
32884 But don't throw in the tow'l,
32885 'cuz there's a place right down the block...
32886 Where you can drink your misery away...
32887 At Flaming Moe's.... (Let's all go to Flaming Moe's...)
32888 When liquor in a mug (Let's all go to Flaming Moe's...)
32889 can warm you like a hug. (Flaming Moe's...)
32890 And happiness is just a Flaming Moe away...
32891 Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away...
32892 -- Flaming Moe's Theme Song, The Simpsons.
32894 Stop living for what's around the corner
32895 and start enjoying the walk down the street.
32898 Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom. -- George Iles
32900 One day Ananda, who had been thinking deeply about things for a while, turned
32901 to the Buddha and exclaimed: "Lord, I've been thinking--spiritual friendship
32902 is at least half of the spiritual life!" The Buddha replied: "Say not so,
32903 Ananda, say not so. Spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life!"
32904 -- Samyutta Nikaya, Verse 2
32906 There are moments when one feels free from one's own identification with human
32907 limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that one stands on
32908 some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly
32909 moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and death flow into one,
32910 and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only Being.
32913 A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but
32914 together can decide that nothing can be done.
32917 An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions.
32918 -- Robert A. Humphrey
32920 The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best--and therefore
32921 never scrutinize or question.
32922 -- Stephen Jay Gould
32924 41. One's own awareness, fresh and uncontrived
32925 One's own awareness, fresh and uncontrived,
32926 Is the primordially present ultimate Lama
32927 From whom you have not been separated for even an instant.
32928 This meeting with the original abiding nature--how amazing!
32929 I, Jnana, wrote this in response to Changchub Palmo's request.
32930 -- "Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice", translated by
32931 Ron Garry, a Tsadra Foundation Series book, published by Snow Lion
32933 I hunted up statistics, and was amazed to find that after all the glaring
32934 newspaper headings concerning railroad disasters, less than three hundred
32935 people had really lost their lives by those disasters in the preceding twelve
32936 months. The Erie road was set down as the most murderous in the list. It had
32937 killed forty-six.or twenty-six, I do not exactly remember which, but I know
32938 the number was double that of any other road. But the fact straightway
32939 suggested itself that the Erie was an immensely long road, and did more
32940 business than any other line in the country; so the double number of killed
32941 ceased to be matter for surprise.
32942 By further figuring, it appeared that between New York and Rochester the
32943 Erie ran eight passenger trains each way every day.sixteen altogether; and
32944 carried a daily average of 6,000 persons. That is about a million in six
32945 months.the population of New York city. Well, the Erie kills from thirteen
32946 to twenty-three persons out of its million in six months; and in the same
32947 time 13,000 of New York's million die in their beds! My flesh crept, my hair
32949 "This is appalling!" I said. "The danger isn't in travelling by rail, but
32950 in trusting to those deadly beds. I will never sleep in a bed again."
32951 --Mark Twain on Risk Analysis, 1871
32953 The activities of this degenerate age are like a madman's performance of dance.
32954 No matter what we do, there is no way to please others.
32955 Think about what is essential.
32956 This is my heart's advice.
32957 --Bhande Dharmaradza
32959 In any group of people, there is always some misunderstanding. You cannot
32960 satisfy everyone, no matter what you do. The Bodhicaryavatara says that every
32961 individual has a different way of thinking. Thus, it is very difficult to
32962 please everyone. Even the Buddha could not do it, so how can we? Instead of
32963 trying to please others, please yourself by applying yourself fully to
32965 Investigate your situation carefully, according to the Dharma. For us, it is
32966 more important to know what is best than to know how to please everyone. Know
32967 what is right, and on the basis of your own wisdom and skill, just do it.
32968 Don't expect that other people will be pleased with you or that they will be
32969 happy about what you do. Rather, do what's best, what's helpful for yourself
32970 and for others. If they are happy about it, that's fine. If they are not
32971 happy, what can you do?
32972 -- "A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path", by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen,
32973 edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
32975 Lochen Gyurme Dechen, nephew of the great accomplished master Tangtong
32976 Gyalpo, sang this song, a prayer of the Six Doctrines, called "The Rain
32979 Nama Shri Jnana Daki Nigupta-ye!
32981 Lady of the celestial realms, compassionate one,
32982 Chief of wisdom dakinis, Niguma,
32983 When I, your child, pray fervently to you,
32984 In your expanse free from formulations, please think of me.
32985 Lady who reveals the sacred circle of great secrets,
32986 Bestow now the empowerment of the four joys!
32987 Lady who opens the door to the unborn state,
32988 Clear away now my negative acts and obscurations with the purification
32990 Lady who emits fire from the short Ah,
32991 Burn now my soiled aggregates and sense elements!
32992 Lady who draws great bliss from the syllable Ham,
32993 Bestow now coemergent wisdom!
32994 Lady who reveals the natural experience of illusion,
32995 Destroy now my attachment to the reality of anger and desire!
32996 Lady who emanates and transforms during lucid dreams,
32997 Lady who makes spontaneous luminosity arise,
32998 Dispel now the darkness of my stupidity!
32999 Lady who leads above at the time of departure,
33000 Guide me now to the celestial realms!
33001 Lady who overcomes the appearances of delusion in the intermediate state,
33002 Grant me now the invincible body of enlightenment's perfect rapture.
33004 This prayer was sung by the religious teacher Gyurme Dechen.
33006 -- "Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse of the Shangpa Masters", compiled by
33007 Jamgon Kongtrul, translated & edited by Ngawang Zangpo, a Tsadra
33008 Foundation Series book, published by Snow Lion Publications
33010 ...ngondro, the foundational practices, are ways to bring body, speech, or
33011 energy, and all aspects of mind into increasingly effortless harmony with the
33012 oceanic expanse central to Dzogchen teachings. This expanse is another name
33013 for reality, the heart of our being, and thus for mind-nature. Its vastness
33014 challenges the cramped and reified self-images that temporarily obstruct our
33015 view of the whole. Finitudes of any kind--the sense of being small and
33016 contained, the familiar urgent rush of business, passions, or plans--are
33017 simply conceptions. These conceptions are both cause and effect of energetic
33018 holdings in the body. The foundational practices illuminate these holdings
33019 and, in the end, lead to their dissolution into the expanse. As Khetsun
33020 Sangpo Rinpoche has said, "Like a fire that burns fuel, the mind consumes
33021 thought by working with it."
33022 In the Tibetan traditions, teaching and practice sessions typically open
33023 with a reference, brief or extensive, to the foundational practices. Every
33024 lineage has its own variations, but the basic structure and principles of
33025 these practices are virtually identical. After an acknowledgment of one's
33026 guru or lineage and the intention to benefit all beings, the sequence usually
33027 begins with the four thoughts. These are reflections on (1) the preciousness
33028 of one's own life, (2) the fragility of life and the uncertainty of death's
33029 timing, (3) the inexorable nature of karma, and (4) the impossibility of
33030 avoiding suffering so long as ignorance holds one in samsara. In addition,
33031 there are two other contemplations: (5) the benefits of liberation compared to
33032 life in samsara and (6) the importance of a spiritual guide. These six are
33033 known as the outer foundational practices.
33034 These six are combined with five inner practices, each of which is repeated
33035 one hundred thousand times. The first inner foundational practice is refuge.
33036 Refuge, writes Adzom Drukpa, is the cornerstone of all paths. Without it, he
33037 adds, quoting Candrakirti, all vows come to nothing. Most succinctly, refuge
33038 helps us cultivate a quality vital to the path and to human interaction in
33039 general: this is the quality of trust, the ability to fruitfully rely on
33040 someone or something other than oneself. Adzom Paylo Rinpoche once said that
33041 whereas relying on others in the context of samsara generally leads us astray,
33042 relying on the Dharma increases our good qualities.
33043 -- "Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse: A Story of Transmission", by Anne C.
33044 Klein, foreword by Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, preface by Tulku Thondup
33045 Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
33047 1.18 Fruition of the Seed of Enlightenment
33049 When we engage in virtuous actions, we realize they are beneficial not only
33050 for others, but also for ourselves. Our good deeds can earn the praise and
33051 appreciation of others, and the benefits of our work come back to us through
33052 others. When we are involved with virtuous works, people respect us and hold
33053 us in high esteem. And we know we must be doing something good, because we
33054 experience a wholesome, pleasant feeling about our life's work. We quickly
33055 begin to see the short-term benefits of our involvement in virtuous action as
33056 our bodies and minds become more peaceful in our daily lives.
33057 This serenity in turn increases our longevity as our body and mind become
33058 more harmonized. Even after our death, we will be reincarnated in higher
33059 realms of existence as a result of our involvement with virtuous works during
33060 this life. Yet a higher rebirth is merely a short-term benefit, a temporary
33061 relief from the sufferings of samsara, for until we achieve liberation from
33062 samsara we remain trapped in the cycle of suffering, and "whatever goes up,
33064 Within the mundane world, when our evil deeds are common knowledge, no one
33065 sings their praises. If such deeds are remembered at all, it is in infamy.
33066 However, when a being lives with a mind of true bodhichitta and does great
33067 works of pure altruism, their deeds are remembered for centuries. Of such
33068 cases we have many examples within the Kagyu lineage alone: the historical
33069 Buddha, Guru Rinpoche, Milarepa, the Karmapas, and countless others. Yet it
33070 is also important to remember that virtuous action eventually leads us to the
33071 liberation of buddhahood; this is the ultimate long-term benefit of planting
33072 the seed of enlightenment of which we speak. Hence, as we make this journey
33073 towards liberation, it is extremely important for us to learn to recognize
33074 which of our actions are virtuous and which are not.
33075 -- Lama Dudjom Dorjee, "Heartfelt Advice", Snow Lion Publications
33077 Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, addressing those who have or will undertake a
33078 retreat, gives this advice:
33080 "You will fall sick, experience pain, and encounter many adverse
33081 circumstances. At such times do not think, 'Although I am practicing the
33082 Dharma, I have nothing but trouble. The Dharma cannot be so great. I have
33083 followed a teacher and done so much practice, and yet hard times still befall
33084 me.' Such thoughts are wrong views. You should realize that through the
33085 blessing and power of the practice, by experiencing sickness and other
33086 difficulties now, you are purifying and ridding yourself of negative
33087 actions.... By purifying them while you have the chance, you will later go
33088 from bliss to bliss. So do not think, 'I don't deserve this illness, these
33089 obstacles, these negative influences.' Experience your difficulties as
33090 blessings...when you do experience such difficulties, you should be very happy
33091 and avoid having adverse thoughts like, 'Why are such terrible things
33094 As Rinpoche advises, relating to hardship properly depends on the strength
33095 of one's view. In general, having a view is knowing exactly where you want
33096 to go and how to get there. It is the vision of knowing what you want. For
33097 example, if you have the view to become a doctor, your vision guides you
33098 through financial burdens, physical and emotional difficulties, and obstacles
33099 that get in your way. You know it will be difficult and involve sacrifice,
33100 but with a strong view, you forge to the finish line.
33101 Similarly, if you want to become spiritually awakened, it is the power of
33102 your view that gets you there. If you are having a hard time getting to the
33103 meditation cushion, or engaging in the necessary study, it is because your
33104 view is not strong enough or is incomplete. A partial view, in this case, is
33105 one that doesn't include hardship. You can strengthen your view and
33106 accelerate progress by understanding how you lose your view in the fog of
33107 hardship, and therefore lose sight of your path.
33108 -- Dr. Andrew Holecek, "The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual
33109 Hardship into Joy", published by Snow Lion Publications
33111 Chod is a very powerful path to buddhahood. Its power comes from working
33112 with the practitioner's afflictive emotions. Chod is purposely performed in
33113 frightening places to help the practitioner heighten his fear so that he has
33114 the opportunity to cut through it.
33115 -- adapted from Chod Practice in the Bon Tradition, by Alejandro Chaoul,
33116 published by Snow Lion Publications
33118 Under the heading of the great way's [Mahayana's] perspective, we read of how
33119 the Buddha merely demonstrates the process of enlightenment in this world,
33120 something he has done and will do repeatedly. Kongtrul quotes the Buddha in
33121 an important discourse:
33123 "In the past, countless ages ago, in a world-system that united as many
33124 realms as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, I attained enlightenment as
33125 Transcendent Buddha Crown of the Powerful One, aided beings, and transcended
33126 sorrow. Then once again, from that point until the present age, I have
33127 repeatedly demonstrated the inconceivable process of enlightenment.
33128 "I will continue, until cyclic existence is empty, to demonstrate [this
33129 process of] enlightenment beginning with the initial development of the mind
33130 of awakening as an ordinary being."
33132 While such statements do not help us grasp the nature of the Buddha's
33133 enlightenment, they do underline the fact that enlightenment is a specific
33134 experience, the result of a known and knowable process that the Buddha
33135 deliberately demonstrates time and again so that we might follow his example,
33136 no guesswork involved.
33137 -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, "Treasury of Knowledge, Books Two, Three,
33138 and Four: Buddhism's Journey to Tibet" translated and introduced by
33139 Ngawang Zangpo, published by Snow Lion Publications
33143 The essence of thoughts that suddenly arise is without any nature. Do not
33144 inhibit their appearance in any way, and without thinking of any essence, let
33145 them arise clearly, nakedly, and vividly. Likewise, if one thought arises,
33146 observe its nature, and if two arise, observe their nature. Thus, whatever
33147 thoughts arise, let them go without holding onto them. Let them remain as
33148 fragments. Release them unimpededly. Be naked without an object. Release
33149 them without grasping. This is close to becoming a Buddha. This is the self-
33150 extinction of samsara, samsara is overwhelmed, samsara is disempowered, and
33151 samsara is exhausted. Knowledge of the path of method and wisdom, appearances
33152 and emptiness, the gradual stages, the common and special paths, and the 84,
33153 000 entrances to the Dharma is made perfectly complete and fulfilled in an
33154 instant. This is self-arisen, for it is present like that in the very nature
33155 [of awareness]. Natural liberation is the essence of all the stainless paths,
33156 and it bears the essence of emptiness and compassion.
33157 -- Karma Chagme, "A Spacious Path to Freedom: Practical Instructions on the
33158 Union of Mahamudra and Atiyoga", commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche, trans.
33159 by B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications
33161 We must learn to trust ourselves when we practice the doctrines of the Buddha.
33162 In time, we come to trust the infallibility of karmic cause and effect and of
33163 the interdependence of all actions. We must come to know and trust the
33164 importance of the accumulation of merit and wisdom, in the same way we know
33165 and trust that even the smallest drops of water falling into a bucket will
33166 eventually fill it.
33167 We must learn to trust that our own dharma practice will remove our entire
33168 jungle of kleshas [unwholesome qualities], much like knowing a raging wildfire
33169 can clear an entire forest from the earth. All of our negativities can be
33170 swept away by the firestorm of our compassionate wisdom. We must trust that
33171 all of our happiness and sadness is completely dependent on, and a result of,
33172 our previous karma; when we trust this process we can begin the accumulation
33173 of virtuous actions immediately.
33174 No one achieves perfection in anything meaningful the very first time they
33175 try; however, we've heard the phrase over and over again that "practice makes
33176 perfect." It is true that with multiple repetitions and patience everyone can
33177 achieve perfection over time. I don't know of anyone who has sat down to
33178 meditate for the very first time and immediately attained enlightenment, but
33179 just like the drops of water that we trust will eventually fill our bucket,
33180 consistent dharma practice will eventually lead us to liberation.
33181 -- Lama Dudjom Dorjee, "Heartfelt Advice", published by Snow Lion
33183 Unbroken practice is like a watchful guard.
33184 It is simply unscattered and is free from acceptance or rejection.
33185 There is no duality of things to be abandoned and their antidotes.
33186 This is my heart's advice.
33188 This verse and the following instructions concern how to continue with
33189 Mahamudra practice. Once we have received instructions, we have to accomplish
33190 them and perfect the practice. Continuity of practice is essential for the
33191 perfection of enlightenment.
33192 Unbroken practice means that one is mindful all the time, like a watchful
33193 guard. Thieves and robbers may come at any time, so the guard of a mansion
33194 containing great treasure must be alert twenty-four hours a day. In the same
33195 way, it is important to watch our mind since the thieves of attachment,
33196 desire, anger, and forgetfulness can come at any time and steal the wealth of
33197 our compassion and wisdom, along with our realization of Mahamudra.
33198 Once mindfulness is continuously established, an unscattered mind is "just
33199 there," on the spot, whether we are walking, eating, driving, or performing
33200 other activities. We can watch the mind and see how our mental state shapes
33201 our world. But when we watch it, we should just relax. Milarepa advises us
33204 Rest naturally, like a small child.
33205 Rest like an ocean without waves.
33206 Rest with clarity, like a candle flame.
33207 Rest without self-concern, like a corpse.
33208 Rest unmoving like a mountain.
33210 -- Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, "A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path",
33211 edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
33213 Every time we begin to practice, it helps not to plunge in right away.
33214 Instead, take a few moments to stop your ordinary chain of thoughts. This is
33215 especially relevant if you are very busy and have only five minutes for your
33216 daily practice, but even ordinarily we have this constant stream of thoughts.
33217 Suppose that just before practice you have a fight with your fianc�. This
33218 will probably trigger a chain of thoughts about what you want to say to your
33219 partner. If you start your practice in the midst of all this, it is not going
33220 to go so well. This is why it helps to put a stop to this chain of thoughts
33221 for just a few moments.
33222 I have found this to be very, very useful. There are actually countless
33223 methods for stopping the chain of thoughts, but for me, before I practice, I
33224 just sit for a while. Every time a thought comes along, I try to stop it by
33225 cultivating a sense of renunciation, and I do this over and over again. I
33226 think about how I am now forty-years-old and, even if I live to be eighty, I
33227 only have half of my life left. I think that out of this forty years, I am
33228 going to sleep the equivalent of twenty years. So now there are only twelve
33229 hours a day that could actually be termed living. If we then factor in
33230 watching at least one movie a day, eating, and gossip, we have maybe five
33231 hours or so left. Out of forty years that means eight years remain, and most
33232 of that will go to indulging our paranoia, anxiety, and all that.... There is
33233 actually very little time for practice!
33234 This should give you an idea of how to stop the chain of thoughts. Don't
33235 immediately throw yourself into the practice; instead, just watch yourself,
33236 watch your life, and watch what you are doing. If you are doing ten minutes
33237 of practice every day, you should try to stop the chain of thoughts for at
33238 least two to three minutes. We do this to transform the mind by invoking a
33239 sense of renunciation. When we think, "I am dying. I am coming closer to
33240 death" and other such thoughts, it really helps.
33241 -- Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in the commentary to "Entrance to the Great
33242 Perfection: A Guide to the Dzogchen Preliminary Practices", compiled,
33243 translated, and introduced by Cortland Dahl, published by Snow Lion
33246 Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that
33247 something else is more important than fear.
33250 Good timber does not grow with ease;
33251 the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.
33254 Q: Does every kind of desire lead to pain?
33256 A: Not all desire leads directly to pain. However, the very word expresses
33257 the sense of sticking to something. It does not permit freedom. It binds.
33258 When attached and fastened to something, we cannot move far away. It is as if
33259 the desired object pulls us back, and we cannot free ourselves from it. For
33260 this kind of desire we use a term meaning attachment. So long as we are
33261 attached, we stick there and cannot achieve liberation. However, this does
33262 not necessarily entail chaos and pain.
33264 Q: Does that mean that some desire is actually beneficial?
33266 A: In the Tibetan language, desire names an attachment that harms ourselves
33267 and others. The source of benefit for ourselves and others receives a
33268 different name; we call that "longing."
33270 -- "Essential Practice: Lectures on Kamalashila's Stages of Meditation in
33271 the Middle Way School by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche", translated and
33272 introduced by Jules B. Levinson, published by Snow Lion Publications
33274 He who plants a tree plants hope. -- Lucy Larcom
33276 We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with
33277 nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a
33278 presumption that once our eyes watered.
33281 The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do
33285 It is our earth, not yours or mine or his. We are meant to live on it,
33286 helping each other, not destroying each other.
33289 When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one
33290 finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and
33291 appreciates them, one is free of fear.
33294 In Buddhism, there is a teaching called the "three bodies" (sanjin), also
33295 called the "three properties" or the "three enlightened properties". These
33296 are the three kinds of form that a Buddha may manifest as: 1) the Dharma Body
33297 (dharmakaya or hosshin) is the form in which a Buddha transcends physical
33298 being and is identical with the undifferentiated unity of being or Suchness
33299 (Skt. tathata, Jp. shinnyo); 2) the Bliss or Reward Body (sambhogakaya or
33300 hojin) is obtained as the "reward" for having completed the bodhisattva
33301 practice of aiding other beings to end their suffering and having penetrated
33302 the depth of the Buddha's wisdom. Unlike the Dharma Body, which is
33303 immaterial, the Bliss Body is conceived of as an actual body, although one
33304 that is still transcendent and imperceptible to common people; 3) the
33305 Manifested Body (nirmanakaya or ojin) is the physical form in which the Buddha
33306 appears in this world in order to guide sentient beings. It is considered
33307 that the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is nirmanakaya. Honen believed that
33308 Amida is sambhogakaya.
33310 Sometimes we put our glasses in our pockets or on our heads and later we ask,
33311 "Where are my glasses?" This is quite common. We look everywhere else without
33312 finding our glasses. That is why we need the guru, who can say to us, "There
33313 are your glasses." That is all that the Mahamudra and Dzogchen teachers do:
33314 they simply point out. What they are pointing out is something that you
33315 already have. It is not something that they give you. They do not give you
33316 new glasses. They cannot afford to give you new glasses, but they can afford
33317 to point out where you can find your own glasses.
33318 When we receive pointing-out instructions from our root teacher, we are
33319 being introduced directly and nakedly to the reality of mind's nature. These
33320 instructions become very effective if we have prepared ourselves to receive
33322 ...Pointing-out is similar to pointing to the sky when it is very cloudy and
33323 saying to someone, "There is the blue sky." The person will look up and say,
33324 "Where?" You may reply, "It is there--behind the clouds." The person to whom
33325 you are pointing out the blue sky will not see it at first. However, if even
33326 a patch of blue sky appears, then you can say, "Look--the blue sky is like
33327 that." The person then gets a direct experience. He or she knows
33328 experientially that there is blue sky, which will be fully visible when the
33330 -- The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, "Mind Beyond Death", published by Snow
33333 In general, clear light is of two types--the objective clear light that is
33334 the subtle emptiness [of inherent existence], and the subjective clear light
33335 that is the wisdom consciousness realizing this emptiness.
33336 -- Lati Rinbochay, "Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth"
33338 [At the time of Buddha, a farmer asked to be ordained as a monk. Shariputra
33339 did not see his merit. But, with a great, compassionate mind, the Buddha took
33340 his hand and said, "I will give you ordination. You do have a seed to attain
33342 The Buddha explained, "Thousands and thousands of kalpas ago, this man was
33343 born as a fly. He was sitting on a pile of cow dung when a sudden rush of
33344 water caught the cow dung, along with the fly, and sent them into the river.
33345 Downstream, someone had placed a prayer wheel in the water, and that cow dung
33346 and fly swirled around and around it. Because of that circumambulation, this
33347 man now has a seed to attain arhatship in this lifetime."
33348 Cause and result are so subtle that only omniscient wisdom can perceive
33349 every detail. That is why we must be very careful that our actions are truly
33351 Reciting just one mantra, protecting the life of even one small bug, giving
33352 a small thing--we should not ignore such actions by saying, "This is nothing;
33353 it makes no difference if I do it or not." Many small actions will gather and
33354 swell like the ocean. These are not merely Buddhist beliefs; these are the
33355 causes that create our world no matter who we are. Our study and practice
33356 give us the opportunity to understand this and to be sincere with ourselves
33357 even in small things.
33358 -- Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, "A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path",
33359 edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
33361 Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.
33364 What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we
33365 open and shut our eyes!
33366 -- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
33368 Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an
33369 acquaintance, or a stranger.
33370 -- Franklin P. Jones
33372 Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.
33373 Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame,
33374 but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the
33378 Whosoever has heard the law of virtue and vice is as one who has eyes and
33379 carries a lamp, seeing everything and will become completely wise.
33382 ...in Dzogchen, one applies specific practices in order to create a variety of
33383 sensations, so that the practitioner is more clearly enabled to distinguish
33384 the state of presence--which always remains the same--from the sensations
33385 which change according to the practice being carried out. This obviously
33386 enables one to 'no longer remain in doubt' as to what the state of pure
33387 presence is. The practices known as the twenty-one Semdzin found in the
33388 Dzogchen Mennagde, or Upadesha, series, have this particular function,
33389 enabling the practitioner to separate the ordinary, reasoning mind from the
33390 nature of the mind.
33391 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, "The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra
33392 and Dzogchen", compiled and edited by John Shane, published by Snow Lion
33395 People often wonder how to reconcile the Buddha's teachings on non-attachment
33396 with those on love. How can we love others without being attached to them?
33397 Non-attachment is a balanced state of mind in which we cease overestimating
33398 others' qualities. By having a more accurate view of others, our unrealistic
33399 expectations fall away, as does our clinging. This leaves us open to loving
33400 others for who they are, instead of for what they do for us. Our hearts can
33401 open to care for everyone impartially, wishing everyone to be happy simply
33402 because he or she is a living being. The feeling of warmth that was
33403 previously reserved for a select few can now be expanded to a great number of
33405 -- Ven. Thubten Chodron, "Taming the Mind", published by Snow Lion Pub.
33407 Even in this world, and even now, there are said to be many hidden yogis or
33408 discreet yogis, called bepay naljor in Tibetan. It means those realized ones
33409 who are not generally recognized as great spiritual sages or saints, but have
33410 deeply tasted the fruit of enlightenment, and are living it. Perhaps they are
33411 anonymously doing their good works here among us right now!
33412 The infinite vast expanse is one's own inconceivable nature. Who can say
33413 who has realized it and who hasn't? When we travel around the world or
33414 experience other dimensions, there are so many beings who have tasted it. We
33415 can see it in their behavior, in their countenance, and in stories that are
33416 told--not just in the Dzogchen tradition or the Buddhist tradition, but in any
33417 tradition, and in our Western world too.
33418 This true nature is so vast and inconceivable that even some birds and
33419 animals and beings in other unseen dimensions can be said to have realized it,
33420 as in some of the ancient Indian Jataka stories and other teaching tales. It
33421 is always said that everything is the self-radiant display of the primordial
33422 Buddha Samantabhadra. There are infinite numbers of Buddhas and infinite
33423 numbers of beings. Who can say who is excluded from it?
33424 -- Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche and Lama Surya Das, "Natural Great Perfection:
33425 Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs", published by Snow Lion Publications
33427 Many spiritual seekers are not yet ready to become the disciples of
33428 spiritual mentors. Their present levels of commitment may suit working only
33429 with Buddhism professors, Dharma instructors, or meditation or ritual
33430 trainers. Even if they are ready to commit themselves to the Buddhist path
33431 and to spiritual mentors, they may not yet have found properly qualified
33432 mentors. Alternatively, the spiritual teachers available to them may be
33433 properly qualified and may even have shown them great kindness. Yet, none
33434 seem right to be their mentors. They feel they can relate to them only as
33435 their Buddhism professors. Nevertheless, the Kadam style of guru-meditation
33436 may still help such seekers to gain inspiration from these teachers at the
33437 present stages of their spiritual paths.
33438 Unless our spiritual teachers are total charlatans or complete scoundrels,
33439 all of them have at least some good qualities and exhibit at least some level
33440 of kindness. Our Buddhism professors, Dharma instructors, or meditation or
33441 ritual trainers may lack the qualities of great spiritual mentors. Still,
33442 they have some knowledge of the Dharma, some insight from applying the Dharma
33443 to life, or some technical expertise in the practice. Our teachers are kind
33444 to instruct us, even if their motivations contain the wish to earn a living.
33445 If we correctly discern and acknowledge whatever qualities and levels of
33446 kindness that our professors, instructors, or trainers in fact possess, we may
33447 derive inspiration, through guru-meditation, by focusing on them with
33448 conviction and appreciation.
33449 -- Dr. Alexander Berzin, "Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan Approaches to
33450 a Healthy Relationship", published by Snow Lion Publications
33452 A tenth-century Bengali pandita named Palden Atisha reintroduced Buddhism
33453 into Tibet. He had a servant who was really awful. He was abusive to Atisha,
33454 disobedient, and generally a big problem. The Tibetans asked Atisha what he
33455 was doing with such an awful guy who was so completely obnoxious. They said,
33456 "Send him back. We'll take care of you." Atisha replied, "What are you
33457 talking about? He is my greatest teacher of patience. He is the most
33458 precious person around me!"
33459 Patience does not mean suppression, and it doesn't mean bottling up our
33460 anger or turning it in on ourselves in the form of self-blame. It means
33461 having a mind which sees everything that happens as the result of causes and
33462 conditions we have set in motion at some time in this or past lives. Who
33463 knows what our relationship has been with someone who is causing us
33464 difficulties now? Who knows what we have have done to him in another life!
33465 If we respond to such people with retaliation, we are just locking ourselves
33466 into that same cycle. We are going to have to keep replaying this part of
33467 the movie again and again in this and future lifetimes. The only way to break
33468 out of the cycle is by changing our attitude.
33469 -- "Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism by
33470 Venerable Tenzin Palmo", published by Snow Lion Publications
33472 [Understanding through the merging of sound and meaning takes place when one
33473 immediately understands the meaning of a teaching through hearing the sound of
33476 One might ask what these words are in the key instructions on the Three
33477 Words That Strike the Vital Point. The sound and the word are the same. For
33478 example, the word "mother" can be understood as indicating someone who is very
33479 kind. If one says "mother," the meaning of what that word expresses is
33480 pointed out. What is known as "the three words" is like that.
33481 What are the three words? "View," "meditation," and "action." What does it
33482 mean to "strike the vital point" with these three words? If one wants to kill
33483 a man and strikes his heart with a weapon, the man will not live another hour.
33484 He will die immediately. What vital point do these three words strike? Just
33485 as oil is present in a mustard seed, all of us, all sentient beings, have
33486 buddha nature. Though it is present, we do not recognize it, because our
33487 minds are obscured by delusions. When, as a result of the view, meditation,
33488 and action, we come to recognize these delusions, we can get rid of them in a
33489 moment. In one day sentient beings can be transformed into buddhas--that is
33490 the ultimate view, meditation, and action of dzogchen. Such a power of
33491 transformation is called "striking the vital point."
33492 -- Dilgo Khyentse, "The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse", edited by
33493 Matthieu Ricard and Vivian Kurz, excerpt from Volume 3: "Primordial
33494 Purity", published by Snow Lion Publications
33496 If we can attain nondual, nonconceptual awareness in meditation, we are
33497 engaged in profound political activity, even though we may lose this awareness
33498 during the times we are not formally meditating (the buddha's awareness in
33499 post-meditation is the same as during meditation). Meditating in nondual,
33500 nonconceptual awareness, which is meditating on the dharmadhatu, immediately
33501 begins systematically to destroy in ourselves the structure of dualistic
33502 consciousness with all its attendant cognitive obscurations and emotional
33503 affiictions. From the standpoint of duality, since this dualistic
33504 consciousness also involves other sentient beings as the other pole of our
33505 duality, our activity in dissolving this consciousness has a profound impact
33507 While our nondualistic, nonconceptual meditation is purifying our own
33508 obscurations and afflictions and thereby transforming our personal experience
33509 of others, it is also becoming a spark of buddha activity in those others. As
33510 our meditation becomes effective, the attitude of others towards us begins to
33511 change, and they themselves begin to turn inward and to search with greater
33512 conscientiousness through the stuff of their own minds and lives for spiritual
33513 solutions to their own problems. And as the power of our meditation
33514 increases, this effect reaches ever-widening concentric circles of sentient
33515 beings with whom we have karmic interdependence, which in this day and age
33516 includes not only our immediate family and friends, working associates, and
33517 local communities, but also everyone with whom we are connected through all
33518 the media of our lives.
33519 --Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "The Ninth Karmapa's Ocean of Definitive
33520 Meaning", edited, introduced and annotated by Lama Tashi Namgyal,
33521 published by Snow Lion Publications
33523 Realizations come only if we practice joyfully, with confidence and courage.
33524 Realization doesn't grow within a timid or weak state of mind--it blossoms in
33525 the mind free of doubt and hesitation. Realization is fearless. When we see
33526 the true nature of reality, there's nothing hidden, nothing left to fear. At
33527 last we're seeing reality as it is, full of joy and peace.
33528 ...Thinking of Tara will bring total calm, peace, and protection from all
33529 fears and all frightening situations. Tara's practice removes the two
33530 obscurations: negative emotions and subtle conceptual thinking. It will
33531 increase the two merits: accumulation merit and wisdom merit. From the moment
33532 you start praying to and practicing Tara, your life will be always under the
33533 protection of the Great Mother. From then on rebirth in the lower realms will
33534 be prevented. If you do this prayer for others, it will bring them the same
33535 benefits; it will protect them in their lifetimes as well as uproot future
33536 births in the lower realms. So there is great benefit.
33537 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal in "Tara's Enlightened
33538 Activity: An Oral Commentary on 'The Twenty-one Praises to Tara'",
33539 published by Snow Lion Publications
33541 Realizations come only if we practice joyfully, with confidence and courage.
33542 Realization doesn't grow within a timid or weak state of mind--it blossoms in
33543 the mind free of doubt and hesitation. Realization is fearless. When we see
33544 the true nature of reality, there's nothing hidden, nothing left to fear. At
33545 last we're seeing reality as it is, full of joy and peace.
33546 ...Thinking of Tara will bring total calm, peace, and protection from all
33547 fears and all frightening situations. Tara's practice removes the two
33548 obscurations: negative emotions and subtle conceptual thinking. It will
33549 increase the two merits: accumulation merit and wisdom merit. From the moment
33550 you start praying to and practicing Tara, your life will be always under the
33551 protection of the Great Mother. From then on rebirth in the lower realms will
33552 be prevented. If you do this prayer for others, it will bring them the same
33553 benefits; it will protect them in their lifetimes as well as uproot future
33554 births in the lower realms. So there is great benefit.
33555 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal in "Tara's Enlightened
33556 Activity: An Oral Commentary on 'The Twenty-one Praises to Tara'",
33557 published by Snow Lion Publications
33559 6. Meditation on the Buddha
33560 Begin by observing your breath for a few minutes to calm the mind.
33561 Think of the qualities of infinite love, compassion, wisdom, skillful means,
33562 and other wonderful qualities you aspire to develop. What would it feel like
33563 to have those qualities? Get a sense of the expansiveness and peace of having
33564 a wise and kind heart that reaches out impartially to work for the benefit of
33566 Those qualities of love, compassion, wisdom, skillful means, and so on now
33567 appear in the physical form of the Buddha, in the space in front of you. He
33568 sits on an open lotus flower, and flat sun and moon disks. His body is made
33569 of radiant, transparent light, as is the entire visualization. His body is
33570 golden and he wears the robes of a monk. His right palm rests on his right
33571 knee and his left is in his lap, holding a bowl of nectar, which is medicine
33572 to cure our afflictions and other hindrances. The Buddha's face is very
33573 beautiful. His smiling, compassionate gaze looks at you with total acceptance
33574 and simultaneously encompasses all sentient beings. His eyes are long,
33575 narrow, and peaceful. His lips are red and his earlobes long.
33576 Rays of light emanate from each pore of the Buddha's body and reach every
33577 part of the universe. These rays carry countless miniature Buddhas, some
33578 going out to help beings, others dissolving back into the Buddha after having
33579 finished their work.
33580 The Buddha is surrounded by the entire lineage of spiritual teachers, all
33581 meditational deities, innumerable other Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, dakas,
33582 dakinis, and Dharma protectors. To the side of each spiritual master is an
33583 elegant table upon which are arranged volumes of Dharma teachings.
33584 Surrounding you are all sentient beings appearing in human form, with your
33585 mother on your left and your father on your right. The people you do not get
33586 along with are in front of you. All of you are looking to the Buddha for
33588 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Guided Meditations on the Stages of the
33589 Path", foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion
33592 If we investigate on a deeper level, we will find that when enemies inflict
33593 harm on us, we can actually feel gratitude toward them. Such situations
33594 provide us with rare opportunities to put to test our own practice of
33595 patience. It is a precious occasion to practice not only patience but the
33596 other bodhisattva ideals as well. As a result, we have the opportunity to
33597 accumulate merit in these situations and to receive the benefits thereof.
33598 The poor enemy, on the other hand, because of the negative action of
33599 inflicting harm on someone out of anger and hatred, must eventually face the
33600 negative consequences of his or her own actions. It is almost as if the
33601 perpetrators of the harm sacrifice themselves for the sake of our benefit.
33602 Since the merit accumulated from the practice of patience was possible only
33603 because of the opportunity provided us by our enemy, strictly speaking, we
33604 should dedicate our merit to the benefit of that enemy. This is why the Guide
33605 to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life speaks of the kindness of the enemy.
33606 --Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "The Compassionate Life"
33608 If our practice does not diminish self-grasping, or perhaps even enhances
33609 it, then no matter how austere and determined we are, no matter how many hours
33610 a day we devote to learning, reflection, and meditation, our spiritual
33611 practice is in vain.
33612 A close derivative of self-grasping is the feeling of self-importance. Such
33613 arrogance or pride is a very dangerous pitfall for people practicing Dharma.
33614 Especially in Tibetan Buddhism, with its many levels of practice, the exalted
33615 aspirations of the bodhisattva path, and the mystery surrounding initiation
33616 into tantra, we may easily feel part of an elite. Moreover, the philosophy of
33617 Buddhism is so subtly refined and so penetrating that, as we gain an
33618 understanding of it, this also can give rise to intellectual pride.
33619 But if these are the results of the practice, then something has gone awry.
33620 Recall the well-known saying among Tibetan Buddhists that a pot with a little
33621 water in it makes a loud noise when shaken, but a pot full of water makes no
33623 People with very little realization often want to tell everyone about the
33624 insights they have experienced, the bliss and subtleties of their meditation,
33625 and how it has radically transformed their life. But those who are truly
33626 steeped in realization do not feel compelled to advertise it, and instead
33627 simply dwell in that realization. They are concerned not to describe their
33628 own progress, but to direct the awareness of others to ways in which their own
33629 hearts and minds can be awakened.
33630 -- B. Alan Wallace, "The Seven-Point Mind Training", edited by Zara
33631 Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
33633 What is method, within the context of the unity of method and wisdom? It is
33634 a dedicated heart of bodhichitta, based on love and compassion. It apprehends
33635 its object, enlightenment, with the intention to achieve it in order to
33636 benefit others. Compassion, as its basis, apprehends its object, the
33637 suffering of others, with the wish to remove it.
33638 Wisdom, on the other hand, is a correct view that understands voidness--the
33639 absence of fantasized, impossible ways of existing. Even if it is aimed at
33640 the same object as method, it apprehends that object as not existing in an
33642 The ways wisdom and compassion each apprehend their object are not at all
33643 the same. Therefore, we need to actualize these two, as method and wisdom,
33644 first separately and then together.
33645 Even if we speak about the mahamudra* that is method and wisdom, inseparable
33646 by nature in the ultimate tantric sense, the first stage for its realization
33647 is understanding the abiding nature of reality.
33648 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
33649 Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
33651 In Buddhism we speak of three types of phenomena: First, there are evident
33652 phenomena that are perceived directly.
33653 Second, there are slightly hidden phenomena, which are not accessible to
33654 immediate perception. There are differences of opinion on this even within
33655 Buddhist philosophy. Generally speaking, we think this second type of
33656 phenomena can be known indirectly by inference.
33657 One example of something known by inference is that anything arising in
33658 dependence upon causes and conditions is itself subject to disintegration and
33659 momentary change. This momentary change is not immediately evident to your
33660 senses. You can look at something with your eyes, and it does not appear to
33661 be changing right now, but by inference you can know that it is momentarily
33662 changing. This is an example of the second category of phenomena.
33663 Third, there are very concealed phenomena, which cannot be known by either
33664 of the two preceding methods. They can be known only by relying upon
33665 testimony of someone such as the Buddha.
33666 -- "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on
33667 Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara Houshmand, Robert B.
33668 Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications
33670 I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in
33671 magnificent glow, than asleep and permanent as a planet.
33674 Sometimes our life can feel devoid of meaning even though we may try in
33675 different ways to put meaning into it.... Meaning comes when we go deeply
33676 within, wait, listen, and open. It begins to come when we genuinely open to
33677 the suffering of those around us with a compassionate heart. Equally, it
33678 comes as we respond to the environment within which we live with care and
33680 The meaning or purpose to be found in bodhichitta is less associated with
33681 what we do than with the quality we bring to what we engage in. Small, simple
33682 aspects of our life can be profoundly meaningful and have deep impact both for
33683 ourselves and others. Meaning lies in the quality of heart that we put into
33685 It is not, therefore, the outer manifestation of what we can achieve that is
33686 the root of meaning. It is the undercurrent of bodhichitta's intention or
33687 purpose and meaning that flows within. What bodhichitta implies is that in
33688 attuning to our buddha nature or buddha potential, we touch a source of
33689 meaning in ourselves that will come through whatever we do.
33690 This root of meaning gives the bodhisattva the capacity to live a relatively
33691 ordinary life and transform adverse circumstances into the path. Even small
33692 things become meaningful, like the way we respond to someone's distress or a
33693 gesture of friendliness that lifts someone's day. This deeper sense of
33694 purpose is reflected in the care we give to our relationships and the
33696 Being present and responsive to what arises may mean that the eventual goal
33697 of our sense of purpose is less crucial. We are seldom, if ever, able to see
33698 fully where our path will take us, and once we are open to the meaning present
33699 in bodhichitta, the ego must surrender ambitions and allow the journey to
33701 -- Rob Preece, "The Courage to Feel: Buddhist Practices for Opening to
33702 Others", published by Snow Lion Publications
33704 We have to admit impermanence into our lives. It's important to live with
33705 impermanence as a frame of reference so that we can approach each moment or
33706 each day with a sense of humility about what we are able to do and what we are
33707 not able to do and relinquish control over things we cannot have control over.
33708 It is important to live as if things are as permanent as stone.
33709 You have to invest yourself in love and concern for people, accept people's
33710 love as if that's the only thing that exists. The commitment to living as if
33711 everything is always there forever with the acceptance that nothing is going
33713 --David Hodge and Hi-Jin Kang Hodge, "Impermanence: Embracing Change",
33714 published by Snow Lion Publications
33716 We are the people our parents warned us about. -- Jimmy Buffett
33718 To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid,
33719 you must also be well-mannered.
33722 I won't take my religion from any man who never works except with his mouth.
33725 Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time.
33726 Hatred ceases through love.
33727 This is an unalterable law.
33728 -- Shakyamuni Buddha
33730 The Tibetan controversies about instantaneous enlightenment through
33731 recognition of the nature of the mind have been studied by David Jackson.
33732 As he shows, it is mainly members of the Kagyu traditions in Tibet who have
33733 maintained this doctrine, although it is certainly common in Chinese Ch'an
33734 Buddhism and in the teachings of the Great Perfection in Tibet. Dolpopa
33735 quotes the position that is the object of his refutation: "Recognizing the
33736 very essence naturally purifies them, without rejection." This expresses the
33737 view that through recognition of the essence of the thoughts as the dharmakaya
33738 they are purified or dissolved into the dharmakaya, and also the idea that any
33739 affliction that arises is actually a manifestation or self-presencing of
33740 primordial awareness itself. Thus there is no need to reject thoughts or
33741 afflictions, which are naturally purified by means of the recognition. This
33742 type of viewpoint is widespread in Tibetan Buddhism.
33743 In contrast to these views, Dolpopa claims that the definition of an
33744 ordinary sentient being or a buddha, and of samsara or nirvana, is determined
33745 by the presence or absence of the incidental and temporary obscurations that
33746 veil the true nature of reality. It is not determined solely by recognition
33747 of the nature of the mind or the thoughts.
33748 ...While the ground buddhahood of the dharmakaya and the resultant
33749 buddhahood of the dharmakaya have not the slightest difference in essence,
33750 they are distinguished as ground and result by means of the presence or
33751 absence of incidental stains.
33752 -- Cyrus Stearns, "The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought
33753 of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen", a Tsadra Foundation
33754 Series book, published by Snow Lion Publications
33756 We live in an ocean of cyclic existence whose depth and extent cannot be
33757 measured. We are troubled again and again by the afflictions of desire and
33758 hatred as if repeatedly attacked by sharks.
33759 Our mental and physical aggregates are impelled by former contaminated
33760 actions and afflictions and serve as a basis for present suffering as well as
33761 inducing future suffering. While such cyclic existence lasts, we have various
33762 thoughts of pleasure and displeasure: 'If I do this, what will people think?
33763 If I do not do this, I will be too late; I won't make any profit.' When we see
33764 something pleasant we think, 'Oh, if I could only have that!'
33765 ...Day and night, night and day we spend our lives in the company of the
33766 afflictions, generating desire for the pleasant and anger at the unpleasant,
33767 and continue thus even when dreaming, unable to remain relaxed, our minds
33768 completely and utterly mixed with thoughts of desire and hatred without
33770 To what refuge should we go? A source of refuge must have completely
33771 overcome all defects forever; it must be free of all faults. It must also
33772 have all the attributes of altruism--those attainments which are necessary for
33773 achieving others' welfare. For it is doubtful that anyone lacking these two
33774 prerequisites can bestow refuge; it would be like falling into a ditch and
33775 asking another who is in it to help you out. You need to ask someone who is
33776 standing outside the ditch for help; it is senseless to ask another who is in
33777 the same predicament. A refuge capable of protecting from the frights of
33778 manifold sufferings cannot also be bound in this suffering but must be free
33780 Furthermore, the complete attainments are necessary, for if you have fallen
33781 into a ditch, it is useless to seek help from someone standing outside it who
33782 does not wish to help or who wishes to help but has no means to do so.
33783 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in Tibet",
33784 published by Snow Lion Publications
33786 If we were forced to choose between a sense of practical application and
33787 learnedness, a sense of practical application would be more important, for one
33788 who has this will receive the full benefit of whatever he knows. The mere
33789 learnedness of one whose mind is not tamed can produce and increase bad states
33790 of consciousness, which cause unpleasantness for himself and others instead of
33791 the happiness and peace of mind that were intended. One could become jealous
33792 of those higher than oneself, competitive with equals and proud and
33793 contemptuous towards those lower and so forth. It is as if medicine had
33795 Because such danger is great, it is very important to have a composite of
33796 learnedness, a sense of practical application and goodness, without having
33797 learnedness destroy the sense of practical application or having the sense of
33798 practical application destroy learnedness.
33799 -- The Dalai Lama, "A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings By and
33800 About the Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by Sidney Piburn, Foreword
33801 by Sen. Claiborne Pell, published by Snow Lion Publications
33803 A bodhisattva, having generated a sincere and spontaneous desire to attain
33804 full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, enters the Mahayana
33805 path of accumulation. Here the bodhisattva cultivates the four mindfulnesses
33806 and develops mental quiescence, then passes on to the path of application,
33807 where she or he strives for a conceptual insight into emptiness. When
33808 quiescence and insight are combined in examining emptiness, the bodhisattva
33809 attains a direct, non-conceptual realization of emptiness, and thus becomes an
33810 arya, on the path of seeing.
33811 The path of seeing corresponds to the first of the ten bhumis, i.e. stages,
33812 levels, or grounds said to be traversed by a bodhisattva. The other nine
33813 bodhisattva stages are coextensive with the path of development, during the
33814 course of which the disciple completely eliminates not only the defilements
33815 that are obstacles to liberation but even the traces of defilement, which are
33816 obstacles to full enlightenment.
33817 When the path of development is completed, the disciple is ready to enter
33818 the path of no-more-training; this marks the attainment of full enlightenment,
33819 the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya of an omniscient, compassionate,
33820 and powerful buddha.
33821 -- Geshe Lhundub Sopa, Roger Jackson, John Newman, "The Wheel of Time: The
33822 Kalachakra in Context", edited by Beth Simon, published by Snow Lion
33825 "If you fear you are running after the objects of the six senses, hold
33826 yourself with the hook:"
33827 'Employ the watchman that is mindfulness.'
33829 Someone who has been captured with a hook has no option but to go wherever
33830 he is led. In the same way, if we catch hold of our mind--which risks being
33831 distracted by the objects of the six senses--with the hook of mindfulness, and
33832 with vigilance and carefulness, this will be of enormous benefit. We should
33833 use this watchman to constantly check how many positive or negative thoughts
33834 and actions we produce during the day. When we are able to control our minds
33835 through mindfulness, everything that appears in samsara and nirvana becomes an
33836 aid in our practice and serves to confirm the meaning of the teachings. All
33837 appearances are understood as being dharmakaya. We perceive everything in its
33838 natural purity, and there is nothing we can call impure.
33839 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "Zurchungpa's Testament: A Commentary on
33840 Zurchung Sherab Trakpa's 'Eighty Chapters of Personal Advice'", based on
33841 Shechen Gyaltsap's Annotated Edition, translated by the Padmakara
33842 Translation Group, published by Snow Lion Publications
33844 A committee can make a decision that is dumber than any of its members.
33847 Art is science made clear. -- Jean Cocteau
33849 A specification that will not fit on one page of 8.5x11 inch paper
33850 cannot be understood.
33853 A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff
33854 that nature replaces it with.
33855 -- Tennessee Williams
33857 The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time.
33858 -- Willem de Kooning
33860 We need to understand the essential nature of the broad diversity of
33861 phenomena. For example, if we are obliged to be involved frequently with a
33862 man who exhibits a personality that is true only on the surface, as well as
33863 another basic personality, it is important for us to know both of them. To
33864 engage in a relationship with this person that does not go awry, we must know
33865 both aspects of his personality. To know only the facade that he presents is
33866 insufficient; we need to know his basic disposition and abilities. Then we
33867 can know what to expect from him; and he will not deceive us.
33868 Likewise, the manifold events in the world are not non-existent; they do
33869 exist. They are able to help and hurt us--no further criterion for existence
33870 is necessary. If we do not understand their fundamental mode of existence, we
33871 are liable to be deceived, just as in the case of being involved with a person
33872 whose basic personality we do not know.
33873 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Transcendent Wisdom", translated, edited and
33874 annotated by B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications
33876 One has to be cautious when one is very successful since at that time there
33877 is danger of becoming prideful and becoming involved in the non-religious, and
33878 one has to be cautious also when one has undergone lack of success and so
33879 forth since there is a danger of becoming discouraged--the life of the mind,
33880 so to speak, dying--due to which harm to one's practice could be incurred.
33881 ...Specifically, in situations of low self-esteem, Shantideva recommends
33882 reflection this way:
33883 "Even very tiny bugs and worms have the Buddha nature and thus, when they
33884 encounter certain conditions, through the power of effort they can achieve
33885 the non-abiding nirvana of a Buddha. Now, I have been born as a human with
33886 the capacity to understand what is to be adopted in practice and what is to
33887 be discarded; thus, there is no reason for me to be discouraged. The great
33888 saints and so forth of the past who achieved a high level were people with
33889 a life-basis such as I have, not something separate."
33890 Through such reflection, a resurgence of will can be generated.
33891 -- "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace by
33892 H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso", translated and edited by
33893 Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
33895 When we understand the evolution of our unsatisfactory experiences in cyclic
33896 existence, we will see that meditating on emptiness is their antidote. All
33897 knowable things--people and phenomena--appear to our minds to be inherently
33898 existent. We then grasp at them as existing inherently. Our inappropriate
33899 attention focuses on them, and that gives rise to the various disturbing
33900 attitudes of anger, attachment, and so on. These disturbing attitudes
33901 motivate our actions, which in turn leave karmic imprints on our mindstreams.
33902 When these imprints ripen, we meet with suffering.
33903 -- Geshe Jampa Tegchok, "Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage: An
33904 Explanation of the Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas", edited by
33905 Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
33907 The essential point about this condition of potentiality is that, although
33908 there is a causal relationship between the physical world and the world of
33909 mental phenomena, in terms of their own continuum one cannot be said to be the
33910 cause of the other. A mental phenomenon, such as a thought or an emotion,
33911 must come from a preceding mental phenomenon; likewise, a particle of matter
33912 must come from a preceding particle of matter.
33913 Of course, there is an intimate relationship between the two. We know that
33914 mental states can influence material phenomena, such as the body; and,
33915 similarly, that material phenomena can act as contributory factors for certain
33916 subjective experiences. This is something that we can observe in our lives.
33917 Much of our gross level of consciousness is very closely connected to our
33918 body, and in fact we often use terminology and conventions which reflect this.
33919 For example, when we say 'human mind' or 'human consciousness' we are using
33920 the human body as the basis to define a particular mind state. Likewise, at
33921 the gross levels of mind such as our sensory experiences, it is very obvious
33922 that these are heavily dependent upon our body and some physiological states.
33923 When a part of our body is hurt or damaged, for instance, we immediately
33924 experience the impact on our mental state. Nevertheless, the principle
33925 remains that mental phenomena must come from preceding phenomena of the same
33927 If we trace mental phenomena back far enough, as in the case of an
33928 individual's life, we come to the first instant of consciousness in this life.
33929 Once we have traced its continuum to this point of beginning, we then have
33930 three options: we can either say that the first instant of consciousness in
33931 this life must come from a preceding instant of consciousness which existed in
33932 the previous life. Or we can say that this first instant of consciousness
33933 came from nowhere--it just sort of 'popped up'. Or we can say that it came
33934 from a material cause.
33935 From the Buddhist point of view, the last two alternatives are deeply
33936 problematic. The Buddhist understanding is that, in terms of its continuum,
33937 consciousness or mind is beginningless. Mental phenomena are beginningless.
33938 Therefore, the person or the being--which is essentially a designation based
33939 on the continuum of the mind--is also devoid of beginning.
33940 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
33941 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
33943 If someone wants a sheep, then that means that he exists.
33944 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
33946 If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? -- Abraham Lincoln
33948 There is something about the outside of a horse
33949 that is good for the inside of a man.
33950 -- Sir Winston Churchill
33952 Life is a party on death row. Recognizing mortality means we are willing to
33953 see what is true. Seeing what is true is grounding. It brings us into the
33954 present and, eventually, into presence. It also brings us into our bodies,
33955 especially if we combine meditation on impermanence with an energetic
33956 awareness at the base of the spine. At first, the important thing about
33957 impermanence seems to be the limited time we have in this precious life. This
33958 is crucial and foundational, and yet it is not the whole story.
33959 The teachings on impermanence concern the death of a self that never
33960 existed. Our sense of such a false and finite self, which initially is
33961 inseparable from our wish to practice, can dissolve. Understanding
33962 impermanence, Khetsun Rinpoche says, will lead you into the natural clarity of
33963 your own mind. To know impermanence is thus not only a path leading to what
33964 Dzogchen traditions speak of as "unbounded wholeness" (thigle nyag cig), it is
33965 also integral to that wholeness.
33966 -- Anne C. Klein, "Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse: A Story of
33967 Transmission", foreword by Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, preface by Tulku
33968 Thondup Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
33970 Now, you see, world peace through mental peace is an absolute. It is the
33971 ultimate goal. But as for the method, there are many factors that must be
33972 taken into consideration. Under a particular set of circumstances, a certain
33973 approach may be useful while under other circumstances another may be useful.
33974 This is a very complicated issue which compels us to study the situation at a
33975 particular point of time. We must take into account the other side's
33976 motivation, etc., so it is a very complex matter.
33977 But we must always keep in mind that all of us want happiness. War, on the
33978 other hand, only brings suffering--that is very clear. Even if we are
33979 victorious, that victory means sacrificing many people. It means their
33980 suffering. Therefore, the important thing is peace. But how do we achieve
33981 peace? Is it done through hatred, through extreme competition, through anger?
33982 It is obvious that through these means it is impossible to achieve any form of
33983 lasting world peace. Hence, the only alternative is to achieve world peace
33984 through mental peace, through peace of mind. World peace is achieved based
33985 only on a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, on the basis of compassion.
33986 The clear, genuine realization of the oneness of all mankind is something
33987 important. It is something we definitely need. Wherever I go, I always
33988 express these views.
33989 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
33990 edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
33992 koan for dependency inversion:
33994 High-level modules should not depend upon low-level modules.
33995 Both should depend upon abstractions.
33997 Abstractions should not depend upon details.
33998 Details should depend upon abstractions.
34000 People harm others only when they are unhappy. No one wakes up in the morning
34001 and says, "I feel so great today! I think I'll go out and harm someone!" When
34002 we can allow ourselves to know the depth of the pain and confusion felt by
34003 those who have harmed us, compassion--the wish that they be free from such
34004 suffering--can easily arise. Thinking in this way does not mean whitewashing
34005 or denying harm that was done. Rather, we acknowledge it, but go beyond
34006 amassing resentment, because we know that grudges help neither ourselves nor
34008 -- Thubten Chodron, "Working with Anger", published by Snow Lion Publications
34010 The reason why the qualities of a teacher are described at such length in
34011 the scriptures is because we should know what to look for when seeking a guru
34012 capable of opening up the Buddhist paths within us. To take up training under
34013 an unqualified teacher can be disastrous. It is said in the tantric
34014 scriptures that one is not unwise to examine a guru for twelve years before
34015 accepting that person as one's teacher. The choice of teachers is an
34016 important one and must be made carefully.
34017 Not only does the guru perform the work of the Buddhas and thus equal them
34018 in activity, in terms of kindness the guru surpasses them. Of all Buddhas of
34019 the past who have manifested as universal teachers, it is said that Buddha
34020 Shakyamuni is kindest to us; for it is with his teachings that we have come
34021 into contact...even though Buddha Shakyamuni is most kind of the past Buddhas,
34022 still we are unable to receive teachings from him or witness his inspiring
34024 Were all the Buddhas and lineage masters of the past to manifest before us
34025 at this very moment, we would not be able to recognize them as enlightened
34026 beings. Due to our not having a sufficiently strong karmic connection with
34027 them, they would be unable to affect us. The guru performs the great kindness
34028 of coming to us in an ordinary form which we can perceive and to which we can
34029 relate, and carries out the work of the Buddhas in our lives. The fact that a
34030 donkey like us is brought into the family of spiritual beings is purely due to
34031 the kindness of the guru. The Buddhas can only come to us through him or her.
34032 Thus if we do not respect the guru and heed his or her teachings, what hope do
34033 we have? We should meditate upon the guru's unexcelled kindness and give
34034 birth to profound appreciation.
34035 The reason why we have been wandering unceasingly in cyclic existence since
34036 time immemorial is because we have not met a spiritual master before; or even
34037 if we have met one we did not cultivate an effective relationship with him or
34038 her. We should determine to take the opportunities afforded by our present
34039 human situation and cultivate a spiritual practice under the guidance of a
34041 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
34042 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
34044 There was once a Spartan boy,
34045 who, one night, stole a fox.
34046 In order not to be caught,
34047 he hid it under his cloak.
34048 He stood stock still as his
34049 elder looked him over,
34050 but all the while the fox
34051 chewed away at his insides.
34052 The boy bit his lip against
34053 the pain until he inevitably fell,
34054 dead to the ground.
34057 An exalting task for all humankind
34058 The West is fascinated by efficiency. And there is no doubt that in many
34059 areas its efficiency is quite admirable. That is why I would like to ask this
34060 question, which seems natural to me: why not apply this technical efficiency
34061 to protect all forms of life? This would be an exalting task for all
34062 humankind, especially as we seem to lack a truly large-scale project or ideal.
34063 It is difficult, yet it is absolutely necessary. If the question of human
34064 survival is not solved, there will be nobody left to solve the problem. And
34065 Buddhism can help here.
34066 -- "The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace: The Essential Life and
34067 Teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama"
34069 If you continue to practice meditation, then your experience will gradually
34070 increase and there will be greater and greater stability and greater and
34071 greater lucidity. However, the experiences that can arise in meditation can
34072 take various different forms. And in spite of the fact that the person has a
34073 real recognition of the mind's nature, there is still the possibility or
34074 probability of fluctuation in experience even after that.
34075 Sometimes you may feel that you have amazing, tremendous meditation, and at
34076 other times you may feel that you have no meditation at all. This
34077 characterizes meditation experience, which fluctuates a great deal.
34078 Realization, which is distinct from experience, does not change, but
34079 experiences can fluctuate a great deal or alternate between good and bad.
34080 There will still be times when you will have what you regard as good
34081 experiences and, in contrast, what you regard as bad experiences. When that
34082 occurs, just keep on looking. Don't get distracted or sidetracked by the
34083 experience. Whatever meditation experience arises, you should recognize that
34084 it is transitory. As is said, "meditation experience is like mist, it will
34086 Experiences are different from the actual fact of the recognition itself.
34087 Because they are ephemeral experiences, they aren't worth investing in. So if
34088 you have a bad meditation experience, do not be alarmed, because it too will
34089 vanish. If you have a good meditation experience, you need to continue; if
34090 you have a bad meditation experience, you need to continue. In either case,
34091 you simply need to continue to rest in this recognition of the mind's nature.
34092 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "Pointing Out the Dharmakaya", published by
34093 Snow Lion Publications
34095 The person witnessing another person's suffering has only one appropriate
34096 response: "How can I help?" When karma comes to fruition and causes suffering,
34097 the response should never be, "This is your karma. It's your destiny, so I
34098 can't help." Your own karma may very well present itself as an opportunity to
34099 help a suffering person. Misunderstanding actions and their consequences can
34101 From the Buddhist perspective, the type of fortune we encounter, happiness
34102 or sorrow, is not due to somebody doing something to us. If I win the
34103 lottery, it is not because Buddha selected me for a bonus. No god or buddha
34104 is responsible for what happens to us....This does not imply that a suffering
34105 person is morally degenerate any more than suffering the consequences of
34106 eating contaminated food does. The suffering we experience is due to karma
34107 accumulated under the influence of delusion and mental afflictions. This is
34108 true for all sentient beings.
34109 The Buddhist response to the non-virtues we all commit while strapped to the
34110 wheel of samsara can be inspiring and encouraging. The Buddhist teaching is
34111 that it is possible to neutralize negative karmic seeds embedded in the stream
34112 of consciousness. Deeds cannot be undone, but it is possible to purify one's
34113 mind-stream so that the impact of karmic seeds will be nullified.
34114 The method used to purify the mind-stream is the "four remedial powers"
34115 [remorse, reliance, resolve, and purification]. The metaphor for the
34116 effectiveness of the four remedial powers is that of burning a seed. Karma,
34117 like a seed, can be scorched in the fire of purification so that it will not
34118 sprout. The seed won't vanish, but it will not sprout.
34119 -- B. Alan Wallace, "Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point
34120 Mind Training", published by Snow Lion Publications
34122 ...it is said that through the power of believing one's own body, speech,
34123 and mind to be undifferentiable from the deity's exalted body, speech, and
34124 mind all one's physical actions and movements are seals and all one's speech
34125 is mantra. In this way the Vajrapani Initiation Tantra says:
34126 "A son or daughter of lineage* who has seen a mandala, who generates the
34127 mind of enlightenment, who is compassionate, skilled in means and in teaching
34128 the ways of letters--the door of Secret Mantra--should think thus, 'Separate
34129 from speech, there is no mind. Separate from mind, there is no speech.
34130 Separate from mind, there is no divine form. Mind itself is speech; speech
34131 itself is mind; divine form itself is also mind, and speech itself is also
34133 "If a mantra practitioner believes in this way that these are
34134 undifferentiable, he attains purity of mind. At those times when he has a
34135 pure mind, he always views in all ways his own body to be the same as the
34136 deity's body, his own speech to be the same as the deity's speech, and his own
34137 mind to be the same as the deity's mind; then, he is in meditative equipoise."
34138 * One who is a suitable vessel for the teaching.
34139 -- "Deity Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra", by His Holiness the Dalai
34140 Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Pub.
34142 My fellow Americans. As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball, but
34143 tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward, upward not forward,
34144 and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.
34145 -- Kodos gives a speech, "Treehouse of Horror VII"
34147 Mind is empty like an illusion;
34148 Separate from body, it cannot achieve.
34149 Body also is like a wall;
34150 Separate from mind it is without activity.
34151 Similarly the yoga of seals....
34154 Mind separate from body cannot openly display activities; body separate from
34155 mind is the same. Rather, actions must be done upon the aggregation of mind
34156 and body. Just so, here when practicing techniques for transforming basic--or
34157 ordinary--body, speech, mind, and activities into those of the fruit stage of
34158 Buddhahood, it is necessary both to cultivate (1) internal meditative
34159 stabilization on a divine body, on a vajra on a moon disc at the heart, on a
34160 seed syllable on a vajra in the throat, and on a vajra at the heart, and (2)
34161 at the same time to construct the appropriate gesture, or seal, with the
34162 hands. These must be done in unison, for it is said in Yoga Tantra ritual
34163 texts that if you fail to construct seals with the hands, the rite is
34164 nullified. Unlike on other occasions, it is not just that if the hand-seals
34165 are constructed, it is better, but if not, there is no fault of nullifying the
34166 rite. Here, they must be done.
34167 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra: Paths
34168 to Magical Feats", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by
34169 Snow Lion Publications
34171 Following the Vajrayana teachings, we do not give up or reject anything;
34172 rather we make use of whatever is there. We look at our negative emotions and
34173 accept them for what they are. Then we relax in this state of acceptance.
34174 Using the emotion itself, it is transformed or transmuted into the positive,
34175 into its true face.
34176 When, for instance, strong anger or desire arises, a Vajrayana practitioner
34177 is not afraid of it. Instead he or she would follow advice along the
34178 following lines: Have the courage to expose yourself to your emotions. Do not
34179 reject or suppress them, but do not follow them either. Just look your
34180 emotion directly in the eye and then try to relax within the very emotion
34181 itself. There is no confrontation involved. You don't do anything.
34182 Remaining detached, you are neither carried away by emotion nor do you reject
34183 it as something negative. Then, you can look at your emotions almost casually
34184 and be rather amused.
34185 When our usual habit of magnifying our feelings and our fascination
34186 resulting from that are gone, there will be no negativity and no fuel. We can
34187 relax within them. What we are trying to do, therefore, is to skillfully and
34188 subtly deal with our emotions. This is largely equivalent to the ability of
34189 exerting discipline.
34190 -- Ringu Tulku, "Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha", edited and
34191 translated by Rosemarie Fuchs, published by Snow Lion Publications
34193 Although we did not have the fortune to see Buddha Shakyamuni himself in
34194 person, we do have the great fortune of having access to his own precious
34195 teachings, which is actually superior to seeing him in person. The same is
34196 the case with masters like Nagarjuna and his immediate disciples. If we make
34197 the necessary effort, and undertake the practice and study, we can fully enjoy
34198 a benefit equal to that of having met them in person.
34199 ...So visualize in space, in front of you, all the exalted masters,
34200 including Buddha Shakyamuni, Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, eighty mahasiddhas, the
34201 Nyingma masters, Atisha, the Kadampa masters, the five great masters of the
34202 Sakya tradition, the lineages of Lamdre practice, the great masters of the
34203 Kagyu lineage, such as Marpa, Milarepa, and also the great masters of the
34204 Gelugpa lineage, Lama Tsongkhapa, and all of their followers.
34205 Around you also are the protectors who have taken the oath in the presence
34206 of Buddha Shakyamuni to safeguard and protect the precious doctrine of Buddha.
34207 Visualize as well the harmful spirits--actually an embodiment of your own
34208 delusions--from which you are being protected by the guardians. Also
34209 visualize various emanations of the buddhas actively working for the benefit
34210 of all living beings. Surrounding you are all sentient beings...undergoing
34211 the sufferings of their individual realms of existence. Now generate a strong
34212 force of compassion directed towards all these sentient beings, particularly
34214 Having created this mental image, question yourself as to how all these
34215 objects of refuge, the buddhas and the masters of the past, achieved such a
34216 high state of realization and reached a state where they can provide
34217 protection to all living beings. You will find that it is because of their
34218 having made effort in the practice of dharma in general and, in particular,
34219 the practice of bodhicitta*. Think as follows: "I shall, from today, follow
34220 in the footsteps of these great masters, and take the initiative of generating
34222 * The aspiration to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all beings.
34223 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Bliss", translated by Geshe Thupten
34224 Jinpa, edited by Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
34226 To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.
34229 I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire
34230 to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
34233 The question then is "How do we cultivate and develop this bodhicitta, the
34234 mind of enlightenment?" The key, and the root, is great compassion.
34235 Compassion here refers to a state of mind that makes it utterly unbearable for
34236 us to see the suffering of other sentient beings. The way to develop this is
34237 through understanding how we feel about our own suffering. When we become
34238 conscious of our own suffering, we have a spontaneous wish to be free from it.
34239 If we are able to extend that feeling to all other beings, through realizing
34240 the common instinctive desire we all have to avoid and overcome suffering,
34241 then that state of mind is called 'great compassion'.
34242 All of us have the potential to develop that kind of compassion, because
34243 whenever we see people who are suffering, especially those close to us, we
34244 immediately feel empathy towards them, and witness a spontaneous response
34245 within our minds. So all we have to do is to bring that potential out, and
34246 then to develop it to become so impartial that it can include all sentient
34247 beings within its embrace, whether friend or foe.
34248 To cultivate this great compassion within ourselves, first of all we need to
34249 develop what is called loving-kindness, a feeling of connectedness or
34250 closeness with all living creatures. This closeness and intimacy should not
34251 be confused with the kind of feeling we normally have toward our loved ones,
34252 which is tainted by attachment...ego and selfishness. On the contrary, we are
34253 seeking to develop a feeling of closeness towards other sentient beings, and
34254 affection for them, by reflecting on the fact that suffering is inherent in
34255 their very nature, on the helplessness of their situation, and on the
34256 instinctive desire they all have to overcome suffering.
34257 The greater the force of our loving kindness towards other beings, the
34258 greater the force of our compassion. And the greater the force of our
34259 compassion, the easier it will be for us to develop a sense of responsibility
34260 for taking upon ourselves the task of working for others. The greater that
34261 sense of responsibility, the more successful we will be in generating
34262 bodhicitta, the genuine altruistic aspiration to attain buddhahood for the
34264 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
34265 Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron, Foreword by
34266 Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion Pub.
34268 Understanding the power of the path provides the inspiration that keeps us
34269 going forward; exploring its pain provides the understanding of what holds us
34270 back. It doesn't take long to discover the power, nor to feel the pain.
34271 Waking up hurts. And if we don't understand why, we will run from the pain
34272 and abandon the path. There are countless people who have become spiritual
34273 dropouts, or who are lost in detours because they have not understood
34275 When your arm falls asleep, it prickles and burns as it returns to life.
34276 Frozen fingers sting when they thaw; we jolt awake when the alarm clock rings.
34277 But physical instances of anesthesia are mild compared to the anesthesia born
34278 of ignorance, and so is the level of discomfort upon awakening. The longer
34279 something has been asleep, the more painful it is to wake it up. If your
34280 fingers are merely cold, it is easy to warm them up. But if your fingers are
34281 frozen solid, it hurts like hell when they thaw. According to the traditions,
34282 unless one is already a buddha, an "awakened one," one has been snoring from
34283 beginningless time, and it can really hurt before we completely wake up.
34284 Mingyur Rinpoche writes,
34285 "I'd like to say that everything got better once I was safely settled among
34286 the other participants in the three-year retreat.... On the contrary,
34287 however, my first year in retreat was one of the worst in my life. All the
34288 symptoms of anxiety I'd ever experienced--physical tension, tightness in the
34289 throat, dizziness, and waves of panic--attacked in full force. In Western
34290 terms, I was having a nervous breakdown. In hindsight, I can say that what I
34291 was actually going through was what I like to call a 'nervous breakthrough'."
34292 -- Dr. Andrew Holecek, "The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual
34293 Hardship into Joy", published by Snow Lion Publications
34295 Through our eyes the universe is perceiving itself, and through our ears the
34296 universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witness through which the
34297 universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.
34298 -- McMurdo Station Forklift Driver paraphrasing Alan Watts
34300 As human beings we are deeply insecure and we do not know who we truly are.
34301 Of course this problem does not show on the surface of our lives. We are
34302 always telling ourselves who we are, based on this notion that we are separate
34303 from everything else. This sense that "I am separate" is the ground of our
34304 sense of self. It is reinforced by various false identities that we cling to,
34305 notions that "I am this" or "I am that." Whatever beliefs we have about
34306 ourselves are just another extension. Most of the time when we look around,
34307 we immediately see that our surroundings are validating these false
34308 identities. For this very reason, it is a challenging endeavor to deconstruct
34309 this illusion of self.
34310 Every time we look into our mirror we might have some thought about
34311 ourselves. Each of these thoughts adds up. They become the conceptual bricks
34312 we use to keep building this illusory castle of self. Yet, there is a
34313 suspicion that this notion of self might be very fragile and transient, and
34314 this thought is silently lurking somewhere in our consciousness. Most of the
34315 time this suspicion is not brought into the light of awareness, but if it is,
34316 some deep, inner wisdom will arise without choice.
34317 Our suspicion of the fragility of this false notion of self can go in one of
34318 two directions. In general it becomes a source of fear, anxiety, and
34319 insecurity. We often see people who are fearful and overly defensive when it
34320 comes to their own identity. We ourselves tend to become fearful if our
34321 identity is threatened. But at other times the suspicion can go another way.
34322 When that happens, it can be a life-changing revelation that can lead us to
34323 the realization of the highest level of truth. This idea is not some new,
34324 lofty theory. It is timeless wisdom that has been realized by many people in
34325 human history. Buddha taught this wisdom, and in his tradition it is called
34326 anatman or "no self." Anatman, or "no self," is the term used to mean that one
34327 has seen through this false sense of self. One has seen that this false sense
34328 of self is merely an identification with one's roles in life. It is just a
34329 mask, not the truth.
34330 -- Anam Thubten, "No Self, No Problem", edited by Sharon Roe, published by
34331 Snow Lion Publications
34333 It is common worldly knowledge that by believing untrue information to be
34334 true we fall into confusion and are harmed. Similarly, by believing phenomena
34335 to be inherently existent when in fact they are not inherently existent, we
34336 are also harmed. For example, with respect to the different ways in which
34337 there can be a consciousness of 'I', there is a definite difference between
34338 the way the 'I' is apprehended when desire, hatred, pride and so forth are
34339 generated based on this 'I', and the way the 'I' is apprehended when we are
34340 relaxed without any of those attitudes being manifest.
34341 Similarly, there is the mere consciousness that apprehends an article in a
34342 store before we buy it, and there is the consciousness apprehending that
34343 article after it has been bought, when it is adhered to as 'mine' and grasped
34344 with attachment. Both these consciousnesses have the same object, and in both
34345 cases the mode of appearance of the article is the appearance of it as
34346 inherently existent. However, there is the difference of the presence or
34347 absence of our adhering to it as inherently or independently existent.
34348 ...a consciousness conceiving inherent existence precedes any bad
34349 consciousness, leading it on by the nose, and also accompanies, or aids, many
34350 other bad consciousnesses as well. Thus, if there were no ignorance
34351 conceiving inherent existence, then there would be no chance for desire,
34352 hatred and so forth to be generated.
34353 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
34354 Jeffrey Hopkins, with Anne Klein, published by Snow Lion Publications
34358 As practitioners we will face many obstacles and sidetracks on our path to
34359 liberation, and these will provide us with many challenges along the way. We
34360 shouldn't allow our practice to become interrupted due to these obstacles and
34361 sidetracks, such as the appearance and disappearance of the many friends we
34362 will have over the course of our lives.
34363 We also shouldn't allow our practice to become interrupted by a change in
34364 the availability or quality of food and shelter. And we shouldn't allow our
34365 practice to become interrupted by the obstacles and sidetracks presented by
34366 the many distractions of mind that are readily available in the mundane world
34367 of our external environment. We shouldn't allow our practice to be
34368 interrupted by obstacles and sidetracks that arise due to the desire and
34369 attachment we feel for loved ones, or our aversion to enemies, or our
34370 indifference towards others. Finally, we should not allow our practice to
34371 become interrupted by our desire to accumulate wealth, or by our attachment to
34372 our material possessions. Only an advanced practitioner, motivated by deep
34373 bodhichitta, can get through these obstacles and avoid these sidetracks to
34374 reach their goal of liberation from samsara.
34375 -- Lama Dudjom Dorjee, "Heartfelt Advice", published by Snow Lion Pub.
34377 Cultivating an aspiration to help other sentient beings becomes a cause for
34378 wanting to achieve Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. These are
34379 the two levels of the awakening mind of bodhichitta.
34380 Such a mind cannot be cultivated in a mere few months or years, but this
34381 does not mean it cannot be cultivated at all. If you continue your practice
34382 to cultivate bodhichitta, a time will come when you will be successful. For
34383 example, in the initial stage you may not even understand the meaning of the
34384 word bodhichitta. You might wonder how you could ever cultivate such a mind.
34385 But through repeated practice and familiarity, you will gradually come closer
34387 It is the nature of conditioned things that they change depending on causes
34388 and conditions. So it is important to recall the advantages and benefits of
34389 such a mind and cultivate a strong determination to achieve it. Make ardent
34390 prayers. Whether you sleep, walk, or sit, you should think: "How good it
34391 would be if I could cultivate such a mind." Try to cultivate bodhichitta even
34392 on an aspirational level. If you spend your days in such repeated and
34393 persistent practice, you can definitely develop it. Make the determination to
34394 cultivate it even if it will take many aeons. As Shantideva prays in his
34395 Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life:
34397 As long as space endures
34398 And as long as sentient beings remain,
34400 To dispel the sufferings of all sentient beings.
34402 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", root text by Kamalashila,
34403 translated by Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and
34404 Jeremy Russell, published by Snow Lion Publications
34406 The theory of dependent-arising can be applied everywhere. One benefit of
34407 applying this theory is that viewing a situation this way gives you a more
34408 holistic picture, since whatever the situation is--good or bad--it depends on
34409 causes and conditions. An event is not under its own power but depends on
34410 many present causes and conditions as well as many past causes and conditions.
34411 Otherwise, it could not come into being.
34412 When you think from this viewpoint, you can see much more of the whole
34413 picture, and from this wider perspective, you can see the reality of the
34414 situation, its interdependence. With the help of this relational outlook, the
34415 action that you take will be realistic.
34416 ...Failure to look at the whole picture means realism is lost. The attitude
34417 that money alone is sufficient leads to unforeseen consequences. Money is
34418 certainly necessary; for instance, if you thought that religious retreat in
34419 meditation alone was sufficient, you would not have anything to eat. Many
34420 factors have to be considered. With awareness of the fuller picture, your
34421 outlook becomes reasonable, and your actions become practical, and in this way
34422 favorable results can be achieved.
34423 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to See Yourself As You Really Are",
34424 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.
34426 Fear and Fearlessness.
34428 Perhaps the first reaction we have to our own suffering is fear. Fear
34429 arises in us almost automatically when we experience strong emotions or pain.
34430 We don't have to sit there and generate fear--it just arises. When we
34431 experience a disturbing emotion such as jealousy we think, "No, I don't want
34432 this." We would rather not experience it. However, if we examine fear
34433 closely, we see that it is a thought to which we have been habituating our
34434 mind for a very long time. We have repeated this thought pattern of fear for
34435 many years, and from a Buddhist point of view, many lifetimes.
34436 In just the same way, when we habituate our minds to being fearless, to
34437 being brave and open towards our emotions, fearlessness will also arise
34438 naturally. In order for this to happen, we must train in applying antidotes
34439 to our thought patterns that are caught up in fear. In this way, we transcend
34440 fear first through a conceptual process, which later becomes nonconceptual, a
34441 natural fearlessness. In order to become fearless in this way, we need
34442 determination and the willingness to face our emotions. With that strong
34443 determination and courage, fearlessness will arise effortlessly.
34444 -- "Trainings in Compassion: Manuals on the Meditation of Avalokiteshvara",
34445 trans. by Tyler Dewar under the guidance of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche,
34446 published by Snow Lion Publications
34448 There is both a reason and a purpose for cultivating the meditative
34449 stabilization observing exhalation and inhalation of the breath. The reason
34450 is mainly to purify impure motivations. What exactly is to be purified? The
34451 main of these are the three poisons--desire, hatred, and obscuration. Even
34452 though we have these at all times and even though the meditator will still
34453 retain them, she or he is seeking to suppress their manifest functioning at
34454 that time. The specific purpose for cleansing impure motivations before
34455 meditation is to dispel bad motivations connected with this lifetime, such as
34456 having hatred toward enemies, attachment to friends, and so forth.
34457 In terms of the practice I am explaining here, even the thought of a
34458 religious practitioner of small capacity is included within impure
34459 motivations; such a person engages in practice mainly for the sake of a good
34460 future lifetime. Similarly, if on this occasion one has the motivation of a
34461 religious practitioner of middling capacity--that of only oneself escaping
34462 from cyclic existence, this is also impure.
34463 What is a pure motivation? To take as one's aim the welfare of all sentient
34464 beings. This is the motivation of a religious practitioner of great capacity.
34465 Meditators should imagine or manifest their own impure motivation in the form
34466 of smoke, and with the exhalation of breath should expel all bad motivation.
34467 When inhaling, they should imagine that all the blessings and good qualities
34468 of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in the form of bright light, are inhaled into
34469 them. This practice is called purification by way of the descent of ambrosia.
34470 There are many forms of this purification, but the essence of the practice is
34472 -- Geshe Gedun Lodro, "Calm Abiding and Special Insight: Achieving Spiritual
34473 Transformation Through Meditation", translated and edited by Jeffrey
34474 Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
34476 Tsongkhapa pays homage to the "foremost holy lamas," for it is in dependence
34477 upon a qualified lama that the three principal aspects of the path are
34479 The high title "lama" alone does not qualify someone as a lama; the good
34480 qualities associated with the title must also be present. The three words--
34481 foremost, holy, and lama--set forth the three qualities of a lama.
34482 "Foremost" describes a person who has diminished emphasis on this lifetime
34483 and is primarily concerned with future lifetimes and deeper topics. Such a
34484 person has a longer perspective than the shortsighted one of those who mainly
34485 look to the affairs of this life and thus, in relation to common beings whose
34486 emphasis is mainly on this life, is the foremost, or a leader.
34487 "Holy" refers to one who, as a result of developing renunciation for all
34488 forms of cyclic existence, is not attached to any of its marvels and is
34489 seeking liberation. A holy person has turned his or her mind away from
34490 attachment outside to the better things of cyclic existence and focused it
34492 In the word "lama", "la" means high, and "ma" is a negative, which indicates
34493 that there is none higher; this is a person who has turned away from self-
34494 cherishing to cherishing others, has turned away from the lower concern for
34495 personal benefit in order to achieve the higher purpose of attaining benefit
34497 -- "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight 25th Anniversary Edition", by The
34498 Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, edited and translated
34499 by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion
34502 ...beginning with an attitude
34503 Of love for all living creatures,
34504 Consider beings, excluding none,
34505 Suffering in the three bad rebirths,
34506 Suffering birth, death and so forth.
34508 The" attitude of love" to which the text refers is the affection which sees
34509 all living beings as lovable. The stronger our affection the more easily
34510 compassion arises and the more intense and steadfast it is. Compassion can
34511 arise without it, but it will not be consistent. Unless we see all living
34512 beings as near, dear, appealing and beloved, we won't care what happens to
34513 them. On the contrary, we may even wish more suffering on those we dislike.
34514 That affection is what a doting mother feels for the apple of her eye, what a
34515 dog-owner feels for a beloved pet--a warm feeling that makes you want to hug
34516 and pat and say, "Adorable!"
34517 At present our feelings of affection are restricted to those we like and,
34518 even then, vanish quite quickly if they do something that goes against our
34519 wishes. It's a tall order to ask us to feel affection toward all living
34520 beings. It doesn't come naturally, which is why we need to train ourselves to
34521 see them in a new way.
34522 -- "Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment", commentary by Geshe Sonam
34523 Rinchen, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion
34526 Why should one work so hard to please people, doing all sorts of things for
34527 others in order to make them feel happy? If one can't bear one's enemy's
34528 happiness, then why should one do all sorts of things to make anyone else
34530 Shantideva explains an inconsistency regarding this issue. He notes that
34531 when praise is directed toward oneself, when people speak highly of oneself,
34532 one not only feels happy but also expects others to be happy when they hear
34533 this praise. However, this is totally inconsistent with one's attitude toward
34534 others. When people praise others, then not only does one disapprove of
34535 others' happiness but one's own peace of mind and happiness are destroyed as
34536 well. So there seems to be an inconsistency when it comes to relating to
34537 praise directed toward oneself and praise directed toward others.
34538 Then, especially for a Bodhisattva practitioner who has dedicated his or her
34539 life to bringing about joy and happiness in others and leading them to the
34540 ultimate state of happiness, to be jealous of others' happiness and joy is
34541 totally inappropriate. In fact, one should feel that if other sentient beings
34542 of their own accord, from their own efforts, gain any little experience of
34543 happiness and joy here and there, we should be all the more grateful, because
34544 without our helping them, they have been able to achieve these joyful
34545 experiences and happiness.
34546 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
34547 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published by
34548 Snow Lion Publications
34550 What is meant by going for refuge is that you are seeking refuge from some
34551 fear. All the objects [Buddha, lama, guru, etc.] in front of you are what is
34552 known as the causal refuge, because they serve as the cause for bringing about
34553 the resultant refuge within you. You should entrust yourself to these objects
34554 from the depth of your heart, and you should see the objects as protectors.
34555 The resultant state of your own future realizations, becoming an arya being
34556 and attaining buddhahood--which depends on your own actualization of the path-
34557 -is called the resultant refuge. Someone in difficulty seeking the assistance
34558 of a high official is analogous to someone seeking refuge in the causal
34560 But depending upon others' protection forever is not a courageous way of
34561 life; therefore, one has to try to achieve a state where one is no longer
34562 dependent upon such a refuge, and this is likened to taking refuge in the
34563 resultant buddha, dharma, and sangha. That is the process of taking refuge by
34564 a person of high faculty and courage. This practice should be done not for
34565 the sake of oneself alone but rather for the sake of all other sentient
34566 beings. When you cultivate such an aspiration focused toward the achievement
34567 of the omniscient state, it is very much like the generation of the
34569 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Union of Bliss and Emptiness: Teachings on the
34570 Practice of Guru Yoga", translated by Thupten Jinpa, published by Snow
34573 Many of the methods of practicing Dharma that are learned during waking can,
34574 upon development of dream awareness, be applied in the dream condition. In
34575 fact, one may develop these practices more easily and speedily within the
34576 Dream State if one has the capacity to dream lucidly. There are even some
34577 books that say that if a person applies a practice within a dream, the
34578 practice is nine times more effective than when it is applied during the
34580 The dream condition is unreal. When we discover this for ourselves within
34581 the dream, the immense power of this realization can eliminate obstacles
34582 related to conditioned vision. For this reason, dream practice is very
34583 important for liberating us from habits. We need this powerful assistance in
34584 particular because the emotional attachments, conditioning, and ego
34585 enhancement which compose our normal life have been strengthened over our
34587 In a real sense, all the visions that we see in our lifetime are like the
34588 images of a dream. If we examine them well, the big dream of life and the
34589 smaller dreams of one night are not very different. If we truly see the
34590 essential nature of both, we will find that there really is no difference
34591 between them. If we can finally liberate ourselves from the chains of
34592 emotions, attachments, and ego by this realization, we have the possibility of
34593 ultimately becoming enlightened.
34594 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, "Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light",
34595 ed. & intro. by Michael Katz, published by Snow Lion Publications
34597 Cultivating Memory and Joyful Effort
34599 [This] foundational practice is engaged upon awaking in the morning. It
34600 further cultivates strong intention and also strengthens the capacity to
34601 remember the events of the night.
34602 Begin by reviewing the night. The Tibetan term for this preparation is
34603 literally "remembering." Did you dream? Were you aware that you were in a
34604 dream? If you dreamt but did not attain lucidity, you should reflect, "I
34605 dreamt but did not recognize the dream as a dream. But it was a dream."
34606 Resolve that next time you enter a dream you will become aware of its true
34607 nature while still in the dream.
34608 If you find it difficult to remember dreams, it can be helpful, throughout
34609 the day and particularly before sleep, to generate a strong intention to
34610 remember dreams. You can also record dreams in a notepad or with a tape
34611 recorder, as this will reinforce the habit of treating your dreams as
34612 something valuable. The very act of preparing the notebook or recorder at
34613 night serves to support the intention to recall the dream upon waking. It is
34614 not difficult for anyone to remember dreams once the intention to do so is
34615 generated and sustained, even over just a few days.
34616 If you did have a lucid dream, feel joy at the accomplishment. Develop
34617 happiness relative to the practice and resolve to continue to develop the
34618 lucidity the following night. Keep building intention, using both successes
34619 and failures as occasions to develop ever stronger intent to accomplish the
34620 practice. And know that even your intention is a dream.
34621 --Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep",
34622 published by Snow Lion Publications
34624 On some occasions, people faint. Even when your breath temporarily stops,
34625 during that moment, there is a reduced level of consciousness. Consciousness
34626 is most reduced late in the course of dying. Even after all physical
34627 functions cease, we believe that the "I," or "self," still exists. Similarly,
34628 just at the beginning of life, there must be a subtle form of consciousness to
34629 account for the emergence of consciousness in the individual.
34630 We must explore further the point at which consciousness enters into a
34631 physical location. At conception, the moment when and the site where
34632 consciousness interacts with the fertilized egg is something to be discovered,
34633 although there are some reference to this in the texts.... The Buddhist
34634 scriptures do deal with it, but I am interested to see what science has to say
34635 about this. During this period we believe that without the subtle
34636 consciousness, there would be a life beginning without consciousness. If that
34637 were the case then no one could ever recollect experiences from their past
34638 life. It is also in terms of Buddhist beliefs relating to this topic that
34639 Buddhism expounds its theory of cosmology: how the universe began and how it
34641 Based on this metaphysical reasoning and other arguments, and based on the
34642 testimony of individuals who are able to recollect their experiences in past
34643 lives very vividly, Buddhists make this claim. I am a practitioner, so based
34644 on my own limited experiences, and the experiences of my friends, I cannot say
34645 with one hundred percent certainty that there is a subtle consciousness.
34646 Scientists don't posit consciousness in the same sense that Buddhists do.
34647 At the moment of conception, however, there has to be something that prevents
34648 the sperm and egg from simply rotting, and causes it to grow into a human
34649 body. When does that occur? Why does that occur?
34650 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with
34651 the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara Houshmand,
34652 Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion
34653 Taking the reins is the key to happiness
34655 The state of mind of a Buddhist practitioner should be stable, and should
34656 not be subject to too many conflicting events. Such a person will feel both
34657 joy and pain, but neither will be too weak or too intense. Stability is
34658 developed through discipline. The heart and mind become more full of energy,
34659 more resolute, and therefore less susceptible to being blown about by outside
34661 Deep within the human being abides the wisdom that can support him or her in
34662 the face of negative situations. In this way, events no longer throw him
34663 because he is holding the reins. Similarly, when something good happens it is
34664 also possible to rein it in. Taking the reins is the key to happiness. In
34665 Tibet we have a saying: "If you are beside yourself with joy, tears are not
34666 far behind." This shows how relative what we call joy and pain are.
34667 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner
34668 Peace: The Essential Life and Teachings"
34670 From a Buddhist perspective, busying ourselves with worldly activities is a
34671 form of laziness, because we're lax in self-cultivation. Our lives are so
34672 busy in modern society: Our appointment books are completely full and we're
34673 always running here and there. We often complain there isn't enough time for
34675 However, whenever we have a spare moment, we work overtime or call some
34676 friends to fill in the gap. We always have time to eat, but we hardly ever
34677 have time to nourish ourselves spiritually by attending Dharma classes or
34678 meditating. When the temple has entertainment and free meals, we go; but when
34679 there is meditation or lessons, we're busy.
34680 This hindrance to spiritual progress comes because we're attached to worldly
34681 pleasures: food, money, reputation, amusement, and friends. The harm comes
34682 from our inappropriate way of relating to them. Attached, we selfishly
34683 indulge in them. However, these things in and of themselves aren't bad.
34684 Through pacifying our afflictions, we can enjoy these things with a good
34685 motivation--to improve ourselves for the benefit of others.
34686 -- Ven. Thubten Chodron, "Taming the Mind", published by Snow Lion Pub.
34688 It is important to note that we should make sure that our meditation suits
34689 our mind. If we feel comfortable doing analytical meditation on the various
34690 topics in a progressive way, we should go ahead with it. If, on the other
34691 hand, we find it difficult and it is not compatible with our mind, we should
34692 meditate on whatever topic we like.
34693 If we enjoy meditation on emptiness, we should go ahead with this. If it
34694 suits us and we derive pleasure from meditating principally on the altruistic
34695 intention, we can emphasize this. At some point if we find that we cannot
34696 really get into whatever analytical meditation we have been doing, but doing
34697 prostrations, chanting mantra, visualizing a meditation deity, or reciting
34698 aspirational prayers brings peace and pleasure to our mind, we should do that
34700 -- Geshe Jampa Tegchok, "Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage: An
34701 Explanation of the Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas", edited by
34702 Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
34704 Attaining realization is not such a long path once we become able to
34705 integrate all our movements of energy in our practice, because then every
34706 action is governed by presence and becomes a step on the path and an
34707 expression of virtue.
34708 Practice is not only sitting in meditation, reciting mantras, or chanting.
34709 It is the application of practice in daily life that is most difficult,
34710 working with our energy in every life situation, with every sense perception,
34711 with every person we meet, whether we want to encounter that person or not.
34712 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of
34713 Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet", published by Snow Lion
34715 When we focus our attention on the passage of breath, we break the usually
34716 continuous flow of thoughts of attachment, hostility and so forth, whatever
34717 they might be. This causes such thoughts to subside for the moment. Thus, by
34718 occupying the mind with our breath, we cleanse it of all positive and negative
34719 conceptual thoughts and thus remain in a neutral state of mind unspecified as
34720 either constructive or destructive. This is the meaning of the line in the
34721 root text, "Thoroughly clean out your state of awareness." This unspecified or
34722 neutral state of mind, cleaned out of all positive and negative conceptual
34723 thoughts, is the most conducive one to work with. Because an unspecified
34724 state of mind like this is unburdened and supple, it is relatively easy to
34725 generate it into a constructive state.
34726 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
34727 Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
34730 "You may ask: If there is no sentient being, whose is the goal? We grant
34731 that desire [for liberation, etc.] is indeed delusive. Still, in order to
34732 eradicate suffering, effective delusion, whose result [is understanding of
34733 the ultimate] is not prevented."
34737 If sentient beings do not exist, who is it that attains the fruition of the
34738 spiritual path--full awakening? And while on the path, for whom does one
34739 cultivate compassion?
34742 Sentient beings do exist. It is for them that compassion is felt, and
34743 compassion is cultivated by existent people. Whatever is designated by
34744 delusion is to be acknowledged. Due to cultivating compassion while on the
34745 spiritual path, the fruition of full awakening is attained. Who attains
34746 awakening? That, too, is to be established conventionally, without [ultimate]
34747 examination or analysis. In order to pacify the suffering of oneself and
34748 others, impure appearances that arise due to ignorance are not to be rejected.
34749 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Transcendent Wisdom", translated, edited and
34750 annotated by B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications
34752 The object of meditation this time is emotion. In other words, we
34753 specifically focus on the emotions that arise from our feelings of good, bad,
34754 and indifferent. In the first of the equanimity meditations, we made the
34755 choice to not follow up these emotions. This time we make the choice to
34756 meditate on them. We might choose to meditate on sensations and feelings that
34757 arise in our immediate, present environment. We might also choose to meditate
34758 on an event or person that sets off strong sensations, feelings, and emotions.
34759 Let's say you choose to base your meditation on an event such as a family
34760 argument. This time you contemplate an aspect of that event and try to
34761 disentangle the sensations, feelings, and emotions. Sensations are what you
34762 feel with your body. Feelings assess whether that sensation is nice, nasty,
34763 or neutral. What emotions arise as a result of those sensations and feelings?
34764 As we now know, equanimity means not getting caught in further
34765 exaggerations: "Oh, I am so bad because this is what I did," "Look how good I
34766 am," "How could anyone love someone like me?" and so on. In this meditation,
34767 equanimity means not judging whether we are good or bad people, but just
34768 noting what happened.
34769 -- Chonyi Taylor, "Enough! A Buddhist Approach to Finding Release from
34770 Addictive Patterns", published by Snow Lion Publications
34772 Everyone tries to remove superficial pain, but there is another class of
34773 techniques concerned with removing suffering on a deeper level--aiming at a
34774 minimum to diminish suffering in future lives and, beyond that, even to remove
34775 all forms of suffering for oneself as well as for all beings. Spiritual
34776 practice is of this deeper type.
34777 These techniques involve an adjustment of attitude; thus, spiritual practice
34778 basically means to adjust your thought well. In Sanskrit it is called dharma,
34779 which means "that which holds." This means that by adjusting counterproductive
34780 attitudes, you are freed from a level of suffering and thus held back from
34781 that particular suffering. Spiritual practice protects, or holds back,
34782 yourself and others from misery.
34783 From first understanding your own situation in cyclic existence and seeking
34784 to hold yourself back from suffering, you extend your realization to other
34785 beings and develop compassion, which means to dedicate yourself to holding
34786 others back from suffering. It makes practical sense...by concentrating on
34787 the welfare of others, you yourself will be happier.
34788 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living Well
34789 and Dying Consciously", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.
34791 Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me eight
34792 times, I must be a f**king idiot.
34793 -- Jon Stewart, on the last eight presidents vowing to end America's
34794 addiction to foreign oil
34796 A lot of disappointed people have been left standing on the street corner
34797 waiting for the bus marked "Perfection".
34800 In his closing discussion on loving-kindness, Buddhaghosa asks: "What is the
34801 proximate cause of loving-kindness?" The answer is the observation of
34802 lovableness in the person to whom you are attending.
34803 Bring to mind right now someone whom you find lovable. It could be a person
34804 you have a romance with, or a child, or a dear friend, or a great teacher--
34805 someone to whom your heart would leap like a deer in the forest if this person
34806 were to walk through the door, someone whose presence is so lovable that a
34807 gladness arises on seeing him or her. If you can sense that in a dear friend,
34808 then try to seek out the lovableness of a neutral person. Then, finally, when
34809 you break down all the barriers, see it in a person who has done you injury.
34810 It's a great key if you can seek out something to love, even in the enemy.
34811 Bear clearly in mind that this does not endorse or embrace evil. The crucial
34812 point here is to be able to slice through like a very skilled surgeon,
34813 recognizing vicious behavior that we would love to see annihilated as separate
34814 from the person who is participating in it. The doctor can be optimistic. A
34815 cure is possible: the person is not equivalent to the action or the
34816 disposition. Moreover there is something there that we can hold in affection,
34817 with warmth. That really seems to be a master key that can break down the
34818 final barrier and complete the practice.
34819 One way of approaching this is to look at the person you hold in contempt,
34820 and try to find any quality he might share with someone you deeply admire and
34821 respect. Is there anything at all noble to be seen, anything that would be
34822 akin to what a truly great spiritual being would display? Focus on that:
34823 There is something there that you can love. The rest is chaff, that hopefully
34824 will be blown away quickly, to everyone's benefit. It is as if you could see
34825 a little ray of light from within, knowing that its source is much deeper than
34826 the despicable qualities on the outside. That light is what you attend to.
34828 -- B. Alan Wallace, "The Four Immeasurables: Practices to Open the Heart",
34829 edited by Zara Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
34831 Question: I have the strong wish to be reborn in any of the realms in a
34832 position to truly help other sentient beings in that realm. Is it wrong for
34833 me in these circumstances not to have the strong wish to leave the wheel of
34836 Answer: Your wish to stay in order to help is certainly right. One of
34837 Shantideva's prayers, roughly translated is, "As long as there is space, I
34838 will remain with sentient beings, to serve and help them." Therefore, I also
34839 am trying to practice this. Helping others is the real purpose of life; it
34840 will bring the most satisfaction. The one action of helping others out of a
34841 sincere motivation brings two results--satisfaction for yourself and benefit
34842 to others. It is most beautiful.
34843 One might ask whether there is a contradiction between a Bodhisattva's
34844 developing a determination to leave cyclic existence by viewing it as faulty
34845 and a Bodhisattva's wishing to remain in cyclic existence in order to help
34846 others. An answer to this is given in Bhavaviveka's Heart of the Middle Way:
34847 ...because of being under the influence of love and compassion, one is not
34848 captivated by the idea of retreating into solitary peace and, with an attitude
34849 of seeking to bring about the welfare of other sentient beings, remains in
34850 cyclic existence. This attitude is really marvelous. Though you are really
34851 fed up with cyclic existence, still because of a willingness and a
34852 determination to serve others, you voluntarily accept to remain.
34853 However, as is indicated by the frequently cited example of a lotus that is
34854 produced from mud but not polluted by it, a Bodhisattva stays in cyclic
34855 existence but is not affected by its faults. It would indeed be hypocritical
34856 to claim from one's mouth that one had taken up the practice of a Bodhisattva
34857 but actually to be happily stuck in cyclic existence with great attachment.
34859 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet Tenzin Gyatso, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard:
34860 Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey
34861 Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
34863 Sutras, tantras, esoteric instructions, and experiences teach
34864 The vital point of deathlessness, awakening without meditating:
34865 How this body of karma fully ripening
34866 Arises as a naturally pure awareness body.
34867 Visualize the fully ripening karmic body as the deity's form
34868 And meditate without fixation on it.
34869 It is itself inseparable from mind.
34870 No essence of mind is established,
34871 So where is something that dies?
34872 "Death" is just a concept.
34873 The hosts of concepts are nonexistent phenomena of samsara and nirvana.
34876 According to this and other statements, since one's own mind in essence has
34877 no real existence whatsoever, it was always unborn. Therefore the great
34878 natural liberation of deathlessness is attained. As for this body of fully
34879 ripening karma, since it is a conglomeration of inert matter, it is not a
34880 basis on which to attribute the designations of birth or death. In fact, the
34881 body even arises as a mere appearance of mind.
34882 When one gains confidence in the realization that the mind is unborn and
34883 undying, then the body appears as the deity's form in mahamudra and one
34884 becomes bound to basic space without erring into the path of deluded
34885 appearance. By this kind of instruction one discovers the kaya of union in
34886 this lifetime. Even just hearing it can cause one to get enlightened in the
34887 intermediate state as the sambhogakaya of the victors. Of the Five Golden
34888 Dharmas, it is said to be like the ripened fruit. (p. 248)
34889 -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, "The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Eight, Part
34890 Four: Esoteric Instructions, A Detailed Presentation of the Process of
34891 Meditation in Vajrayana", translated by Sarah Harding, published by Snow
34894 Buddhas and Bodhisattvas see clearly that our neglect of others, our self-
34895 preoccupation and our disregard for the connection between actions and their
34896 effects are responsible for all our miseries. The feeling that it doesn't
34897 matter what we do as long as we can get away with it kills our chances of
34898 liberation and enlightenment. Our selfishness robs us of worldly and
34899 supramundane good qualities, leaving us naked and empty-handed. It separates
34900 us from happiness now and in the future and fetters us to suffering.
34901 Resolve never again to let yourself be dominated by this mean and selfish
34902 way of thinking and do everything in your power to combat it. Your happiness
34903 begins the moment you recognize self-cherishing as your chief foe. There are
34904 many good reasons why cherishing others makes sense. Shantideva says:
34905 The state of Buddhahood is accomplished
34906 Equally through living beings and Victorious Ones.
34907 What kind of behavior then is it to revere
34908 Victorious Ones but not living beings?
34909 ...If we truly want to please Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all those noble
34910 beings in the world whom we admire and whose sole guiding principles are their
34911 affection, love and compassion for others, we can do nothing better than to
34912 cherish living beings. (p. 100)
34913 -- "The Three Principal Aspects of the Path", an oral teaching by Geshe
34914 Sonam Rinchen, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow
34917 How Purification Works
34919 During Nyungne [fasting] practice, true purification is possible primarily
34920 because of the power of Chenrezig's compassion and blessing, as well as our
34921 faith, devotion, and correct motivation to do the practice. When such causes
34922 and conditions come together, a result inevitably occurs, and this result is
34923 understood as the interdependently-arising nature of all phenomena.
34924 For the most part, enlightened and unenlightened phenomena all arise due to
34925 this interdependently-arising nature. As a spiritual practitioner, the basic
34926 qualities one must bring to the practice are faith, devotion, and a trust in
34927 the power of the practice and Chenrezig. These qualities stem from our own
34928 pure nature of mind, a purity that is identical to Chenrezig's heart, that is,
34929 unceasing love and compassion. When these two things are combined together,
34930 our devotion and faith and Chenrezig's love and compassion, one could say
34931 miracles happen; a true purification takes place.
34932 It has been said that when one is sitting before the mandala of Chenrezig,
34933 one should believe that although Chenrezig is not physically visible to us, in
34934 fact he is really there in front of us. Just as we would be very careful of
34935 our thoughts and behavior if we were in the presence of a powerful and
34936 clairvoyant enlightened guru, in the same way we must generate vigilance so
34937 that we don't act shamefully in front of this great being. If we develop such
34938 vigilance and noble habit, then our negativities will automatically decrease.
34940 -- Wangchen Rinpoche, "Buddhist Fasting Practice: The Nyungne Method of
34941 Thousand-Armed Chenrezig", published by Snow Lion Publications
34943 Reflect on the basic pattern of our existence. In order to do more than
34944 just barely survive, we need shelter, food, companions, friends, the esteem of
34945 others, resources, and so on; these things do not come about from ourselves
34946 alone but are all dependent on others. Suppose one single person were to live
34947 alone in a remote and uninhabited place. No matter how strong, healthy, or
34948 educated this person were, there would be no possibility of his or her leading
34949 a happy and fulfilling existence.... Can such a person have friends? Acquire
34950 renown? Can this person become a hero if he or she wishes to become one? I
34951 think the answer to all these questions is a definite no, for all these
34952 factors come about only in relation to other fellow humans.
34953 When you are young, healthy, and strong, you sometimes can get the feeling
34954 that you are totally independent and do not need anyone else. But this is an
34955 illusion. Even at that prime age of your life, simply because your are a
34956 human being, you need friends, don't you? This is especially true when we
34957 become old and need to rely more and more on the help of others: this is the
34958 nature of our lives as human beings.
34959 In at least one sense, we can say that other people are really the principal
34960 source of all our experiences of joy, happiness, and prosperity, and not only
34961 in terms of our day-to-day dealings with people. We can see that all the
34962 desirable experiences that we cherish or aspire to attain are dependent upon
34963 cooperation and interaction with others. It is an obvious fact.
34964 Similarly, from the point of view of a Buddhist practitioner, many of the
34965 high levels of realization that you gain and the progress that you make on
34966 your spiritual journey are dependent upon cooperation and interaction with
34967 others. Furthermore, at the stage of complete enlightenment, the
34968 compassionate activities of a buddha can come about spontaneously only in
34969 relation to other beings, for those beings are the recipients and
34970 beneficiaries of those enlightened activities. (p.5)
34971 -- Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "The Compassionate Life"
34973 The difficulty with a purely materialistic interpretation of life is that,
34974 in addition to ignoring an entire dimension of the mind, it does not deal
34975 effectively with the problems of this life. A materialistic mind is an
34976 unstable mind, for its happiness is built on transient, physical
34977 circumstances. Mental disease is as high among the affluent as it is among
34978 the poor, which is a clear indication of the limitations of the approach.
34979 Although it is essential to maintain a reasonable material basis on which to
34980 live, the emphasis in one's life should be on cultivating the mental and
34981 spiritual causes of happiness. The human mind is very powerful and our
34982 worldly needs are not so great that they must demand all of our attention,
34983 especially in light of the fact that materialistic success solves so few of
34984 the many challenges and problems that confront men and women throughout their
34985 lives, and it does nothing for them at death.
34986 On the other hand, if one cultivates spiritual qualities such as mental
34987 harmony, humility, non-attachment, patience, love, compassion, wisdom and so
34988 forth, then one becomes equipped with a strength and intelligence able to deal
34989 effectively with the problems of this life; and because the wealth one is
34990 amassing is mental rather than material, it will not have to be left behind at
34991 death. There is no need to enter the after-death state empty-handed. (31)
34992 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
34993 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
34995 The bardo* of this life does not last forever. We know that, like a guest
34996 in a hotel, our mind is only temporarily sheltered in this body. As we face
34997 the challenges of this life and the impending challenges of the bardos to
34998 come, how does engaging in the three-stage process of study, contemplation and
34999 meditation help us? By applying ourselves to these three, we acquire the
35000 skills to stabilize our mind and we develop actual insight into how our mind
35001 functions. First we gain an understanding of the nature of mind; then, we
35002 experience that nature; and finally, we arrive at the ultimate benefit, which
35003 is fully realizing that nature.
35004 When we practice these stages of the path, it is like accumulating the exact
35005 things we will need to take with us on our trip. When we are ready to pack
35006 our suitcase, we will have what we need without looking further. We will not
35007 have to go out at the last minute and buy a map or a guidebook. We will not
35008 have to worry about whether we are forgetting something crucial.
35009 We have knowledge and experience that has blossomed into realization;
35010 therefore we can handle any situation. We have confidence in ourselves, in
35011 the teachings, and the guidance of our lineage teachers. At this point, we
35012 can let go of all our doubt and hesitation. We can simply relax and be who we
35013 are, wherever we are. (p.58)
35014 * in-between state, interval
35015 -- The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, "Mind Beyond Death", published by Snow
35018 The thoughts that in this year and month
35019 I will put right all my tasks and plans
35020 And then start a perfect dharma practice
35021 Is in fact the devil which brings all downfalls.
35023 The lack of death awareness prevents one from undertaking the practice of
35024 dharma. This is very true: If one is not aware of the eventuality of death,
35025 one will be totally concerned and preoccupied with the affairs of this
35026 lifetime alone, and with actions that are just for the benefit of this
35027 lifetime. Such ventures may take all one's time and energy, but no matter how
35028 important they appear to be, since they are directly related to this lifetime
35029 alone, their benefits are limited--once one leaves the present body, their
35030 benefit ends. Even though one might have a best friend, when one has to leave
35031 the body, one cannot take the friend along.
35032 ...Think that after twenty or thirty years even the Dalai Lama will also be
35033 no more. While I am alive, there will be people who are, from the depths of
35034 their hearts, prepared to give their lives for my sake, but on the day when I
35035 have to leave, I cannot take even one among them with me. Neither will I be
35036 able to take any of my possessions, even the body which I have always
35037 preserved and protected. This also will be left behind. At that time of my
35038 death, what will benefit is only the positive seeds that are imprinted upon my
35039 consciousness. No other factors will help at that time. (p.106)
35040 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Bliss", translated by Geshe Thupten
35041 Jinpa, edited by Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
35043 At the beginning of the process of deity meditation and mantra repetition
35044 one meditates on emptiness, settling the non-inherent existence of oneself and
35045 the deity through a reasoning such as that of dependent-arising--the fact that
35046 both oneself and the deity arise in dependence on their respective bases of
35047 designation. One's own final nature and the final nature of the deity are the
35048 same, an emptiness of inherent existence.
35049 To perform deity yoga one does not just withdraw ordinary appearances and
35050 then appear as a deity but causes the mind realising emptiness itself to
35051 appear as a deity. Thus, it is essential initially to meditate on emptiness,
35052 cleansing all appearances in emptiness. One then uses that wisdom
35053 consciousness realising emptiness as the basis of emanation of a divine body.
35054 This must be done at least in imitation of a consciousness actually doing
35055 this, for meditation on a truly existent divine body, instead of helping, will
35056 only increase adherence to inherent existence. Meditated properly, the
35057 appearance of a divine figure is the sport of the ultimate mind of
35058 enlightenment, first in imitation and later in fact. (p.39)
35059 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Deity
35060 Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra", published by Snow Lion Pub.
35062 If one could attain the state of perfect buddhahood that is free from all
35063 faults, that sees directly all aspects of the qualities to be cultivated and
35064 faults overcome in the quest for enlightenment, and that is physically adorned
35065 with the marks and signs of perfection, the mere perception of which is
35066 beneficial, then one would be beyond the distinction of feeling attraction or
35067 aversion toward the infinite sentient beings. One would regard all beings
35068 with an equal compassion, and would have the ability to really benefit them.
35069 Think, "I should make every effort to attain this all-beneficial state."
35070 In brief, the motivation should be, "For the ultimate benefit of the
35071 sentient beings, who are as infinite as the sky is vast, I must attain the
35072 state of a peerless, perfect, pure buddha." This is the aspirational aspect of
35074 -- Glenn Mullin, "The Practice of Kalachakra", foreword by H.H. the Dalai
35075 Lama, published by Snow Lion Publications
35077 After suffering severe puncture wounds without shooting any goop on my
35078 opponent, I realized I was simply outgunned. Never bring caulk to a
35080 -- Stephanie S. Thompson
35082 My cat Elea added a trick to her repertoire this morning.
35083 I sleep in a bit on the weekend, and both cats protest by
35084 visiting the bed every few minutes until I get up.
35085 Elea, being toothless, is afflicted with a mean case of drool when
35086 she's hungry. So this morning I got a "drool shower" since she
35087 sat next to my face and shook her head vigorously,
35088 flinging drool everywhere (especially onto my face).
35089 I know this wasn't just a fluke because a few minutes later
35090 she came back and did it again.
35093 On Arcadia Asylum, pioneering creator in Second Life...
35094 "Nope, she can't log into Arcadia, Aley Arai, nor Lora Lemon. She's great
35095 at building, but she doesn't think she should have to pay the Lindens for
35096 anything, so she doesn't, and they get mad about that and close her
35099 The important thing is the obvious thing nobody is saying.
35100 -- William S. Burroughs
35102 Our fundamental nature--what we term 'the buddha nature', the very nature of
35103 our mind, is inherently present within us as a natural attribute. This mind
35104 of ours, the subject at hand, has been going on throughout beginningless time,
35105 and so has the more subtle nature of that mind. On the basis of the
35106 continuity of that subtle nature of our mind rests the capacity we have to
35107 attain enlightenment. This potential is what we call 'the seed of
35108 buddhahood', 'buddha nature', 'the fundamental nature', or 'tathagatagarbha'.
35109 We all have this buddha nature, each and every one of us. For example, this
35110 beautiful statue of Lord Buddha here, in the presence of which we are now
35111 sitting, is a representation that honours someone who attained buddhahood. He
35112 awakened into that state of enlightenment because his nature was the buddha
35113 nature. Ours is as well, and just as the Buddha attained enlightenment in the
35114 past, so in the future we can become buddhas too.
35115 ...In any case, there dwells within us all this potential which allows us to
35116 awaken into buddhahood and attain omniscience. The empowerment process draws
35117 that potential out, and allows it to express itself more fully. When an
35118 empowerment is conferred on you, it is the nature of your mind--the buddha
35119 nature--that provides a basis upon which the empowerment can ripen you.
35120 Through the empowerment, you are empowered into the essence of the buddhas of
35121 the five families. In particular, you are 'ripened' within that particular
35122 family through which it is your personal predisposition to attain buddhahood.
35124 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
35125 Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron, Foreword by
35126 Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion Pub.
35128 For achieving calm abiding... your mind must have two qualities:
35129 -great clarity of both the object and the consciousness itself
35130 -staying one-pointedly on the object of observation.
35131 Two factors prevent these from developing--laxity and excitement. Laxity
35132 prevents the development of clarity, and excitement prevents the stability of
35133 staying with the object.
35134 That which interferes with the steadiness of the object of observation and
35135 causes it to fluctuate is excitement, which includes any scattering of the
35136 mind to an object other than the object of meditation. To stop that, withdraw
35137 your mind more strongly inside so that the intensity of the mode of
35138 apprehension of the object begins to lower. If you need a further technique
35139 to withdraw the mind, it helps to leave the object of meditation temporarily
35140 and think about something that makes you more sober, such as the imminence of
35141 death. Such reflections can cause your heightened mode of apprehension of the
35142 object, the mind's being too tight, to lower or loosen somewhat, whereby you
35143 are better able to stay on the object of observation.
35144 It is not sufficient just to have stability; clarity is also needed. That
35145 which prevents clarity is laxity, which is a case of the mind's becoming too
35146 relaxed, too loose, lacking intensity--the tautness of the mind having become
35147 weak, caused by over-withdrawal inside. Heaviness of mind and body can lead
35148 to becoming lax, which can lead to a type of lethargy in which, losing the
35149 object of observation, you have as if fallen into darkness; this can lead even
35150 to sleep. When this begins to occur, it is necessary to raise, to heighten,
35151 this excessive declination of the mind by making it more taut, more tight. To
35152 accomplish this, it helps to brighten the object of meditation or, if that
35153 does not work, to leave the object of meditation temporarily and think on
35154 something that makes you joyous, such as the wonderful opportunity that a
35155 human lifetime affords for spiritual practice. If that does not work, you can
35156 even leave off meditating and go to a high place or where there is a vast
35157 view. Such techniques cause your deflated mind to heighten, to sharpen.
35158 While holding the object of observation with mindfulness, investigate with
35159 introspection from time to time to see whether the mind has come under the
35160 influence of laxity or excitement and determine the best practice for lowering
35161 or heightening it. In time, your will develop a sense of the proper level of
35162 tautness of the mind such that you will be able to catch laxity and excitement
35163 just before they arise and prevent their arising. (p.50)
35164 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra: Paths
35165 to Magical Feats", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow
35168 The position of the body [during meditation] is very important because the
35169 channels within the body will follow the external disposition of the body.
35170 The way the body is placed will set the channels; and the winds, of course,
35171 flow inside the channels, so if they are properly set, the winds will flow
35172 properly. Mind follows the wind. To focus the mind properly, the winds must
35173 also be functioning properly. (p.39)
35174 -- Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche, "The Practice of Mahamudra", translated
35175 by Robert Clark, ed. by Ani K. Trinlay Chodron, published by Snow Lion
35177 The real source of my suffering is self-centeredness: my car, my possession,
35178 my well-being. Without the self-centeredness, the suffering would not arise.
35179 What would happen instead? It is important to imagine this fully and to focus
35180 on examples of your own. Think of some misfortune that makes you want to lash
35181 out, that gives rise to anger or misery. Then imagine how you might respond
35182 without suffering. Recognize that we need not experience the misery, let
35183 alone the anger, resentment, and hostility. The choice is ours.
35184 Let's continue with an example. You see that there is a dent in the car.
35185 What needs to be done? Get the other driver's license number, notify the
35186 police, contact the insurance agency, deal with all the details. Simply do it
35187 and accept it. Accept it gladly as a way to strengthen your mind further, to
35188 develop patience and the armor of forbearance. There is no way to become a
35189 Buddha and remain a vulnerable wimp.
35190 Patience does not suddenly appear as a bonus after full enlightenment. Part
35191 of the whole process of awakening is to develop greater forbearance and
35192 equanimity in adversity. Santideva, in the sixth chapter of his Guide to the
35193 Bodhisattva's Way of Life, eloquently points out that there is no way to
35194 develop patience without encountering adversity, and patience is indispensable
35195 for our own growth on the path to awakening. (p.66)
35196 -- B. Alan Wallace, "The Seven-Point Mind Training", edited by Zara
35197 Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
35199 While the great adept [Tangtong Gyalpo] did not stray from vajralike
35200 meditative concentration on the peak of glorious Riwoche, the ornamental wheel
35201 of his inexhaustible enlightened body, speech, and mind manifested in three
35202 great regions of Kham.
35203 At Gyalmorong, a person who had received the Path with the Result at Sakya,
35204 and who meditated single-mindedly on the Time of the Path during four sessions
35205 and on the Profound Path Guruyoga, saw the great adept to be Vajradhara, the
35206 lord of all spiritual families, and made countless prostrations.
35207 ...A person who recited a thousand of the heart-mantra of Tara every day,
35208 declared, "This isn't Avalokiteshvara. It's Tara."
35209 Also, a person said, "This is the Great Adept of Iron Bridges. O great
35210 adept, why do different visual manifestations appear to us?" The great adept
35212 By bringing the vital winds
35213 and mind under control,
35214 taking control of how things appear to myself,
35215 overwhelming how things appear to others,
35216 and positioning magical bodies,
35217 I display whatever will tame sentient beings
35218 according to their various inclinations.
35220 -- Cyrus Stearns, "King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron Bridge Builder
35221 Tangtong Gyalpo", a Tsadra Foundation Series book, published by Snow Lion
35223 When I was a boy, Ling Rinpochay, who was then my junior tutor, was always
35224 very stern; he never smiled, not even a little. This bothered me a lot. By
35225 wondering why he was so humorless, I examined more and more what I was doing
35226 in my own mind. This helped me develop self-awareness with regard to my
35227 motivation. By my early twenties when I had matured, Ling Rinpochay
35228 completely changed; he always had a big smile when we were together.
35229 Effective practice of the morality of individual liberation depends upon
35230 sound, long-term motivation. For example, one should not become a monk or a
35231 nun to avoid having to work at a worldly job for food and clothing. Also, it
35232 is not sufficient merely to seek to avoid difficulty in this lifetime. To be
35233 motivated by such trifling purposes does not help to achieve freedom from
35234 cyclic existence--the ultimate reason to practice the morality of individual
35236 This is confirmed by Buddha's life story. One day Shakyamuni slipped
35237 outside the palace wall to experience life for himself. For the first time he
35238 saw a sick person, an old person, and a corpse. Deeply troubled by the
35239 suffering of sickness, aging, and death, he came to the conclusion that
35240 worldly life is without substance. Later, inspired by several religious
35241 practitioners, Buddha became captivated by the possibility of a higher, more
35242 meaningful, spiritual life. At that point he escaped from the palace, leaving
35243 his ordinary life behind to pursue that vision.
35244 What does this teach us? Like Buddha we need to begin by becoming concerned
35245 about the suffering of cyclic existence and by turning away from temporary
35246 distractions. Influenced by this new attitude, we must take up a system of
35247 morality by renouncing cyclic existence and by taking vows of pure behavior
35248 through seeking to avoid the ten nonvirtues. (p.29)
35249 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful
35250 Life", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
35252 Tsong-ka-pa's intention in praising Buddhism is not to insult other
35253 teachers. Statements of the greatness of Buddhism are made in order to
35254 develop one-pointedness of mind toward practice, for one who is able to
35255 practise Buddhism must generate effort to do so. It is necessary for him to
35256 have confidence in Buddha's teaching from the round orb of his heart.
35257 There is a Tibetan saying that one cannot sew with a two-pointed needle or
35258 achieve aims with a two-pointed mind. Similarly, if a practitioner is
35259 hesitant, he will not put great force into the practice of any one system.
35260 Tsong-ka-pa states that Buddhism is the best in order that persons who would
35261 be helped more through engaging in the Buddhist path than through another
35262 system might not be diverted to another path. (p.48)
35263 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in Tibet",
35264 published by Snow Lion Publications
35266 At the level of conventional truth we all naturally possess both the desire
35267 and the potential to overcome suffering and to attain happiness. In this
35268 context, we can reflect upon the Buddha's teachings on the Four Noble Truths
35269 and the Two Truths, and on the basis of such reflection we gradually develop
35270 an understanding of how we can gain freedom from suffering and of the
35271 potential we possess within ourselves for accomplishing such a goal.
35272 We can reflect further that: 'Just like me, all other sentient beings
35273 possess this same desire and potential to be happy and overcome suffering',
35274 and ask ourselves: 'If I continue to be guided by my own self-centredness and,
35275 through my single-pointed concern for my own well-being, continue to ignore
35276 the well-being of others, what will the consequences be?'
35277 Then we can reflect: 'From beginningless lifetimes I have harboured this
35278 self-cherishing attitude and have grasped onto the notion of an intrinsically
35279 real, enduring self. I have nurtured these two thoughts of self-cherishing
35280 and self-grasping deep in my heart as if they are twin jewels. But where has
35281 this way of being led me? By pursuing the dictates of my self-grasping and
35282 self-centredness, have I actually managed to attain the fulfilment of my self-
35283 interest? If it were possible, surely by now I should have achieved my goal.
35284 But I know that this is not the case.'
35285 We should then compare ourselves to enlightened beings such as the Buddha
35286 Shakyamuni who achieved total victory over all defilements and perfected all
35287 qualities of goodness. We should then ask ourselves: 'How did the Buddha
35288 accomplish this?' Through contemplation we will come to recognise that, at a
35289 certain point in his existence, the Buddha reversed the normal way of thinking
35290 and being. In the place of self-cherishing he cultivated the thought of
35291 cherishing the well-being of other sentient beings, and in place of self-
35292 grasping he cultivated the wisdom realising the absence of self-existence. In
35293 this way he attained full awakening. (p.30)
35294 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
35295 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
35297 In the history of the Nyungne tradition, many practitioners have been able to
35298 overcome incurable disease through the practice of Nyungne. We could say
35299 miracles like this literally do take place, although in the Buddhist
35300 understanding, overcoming great obstacles and disease would be considered
35301 blessings. A miracle is something else. It is the enlightened power that is
35302 demonstrated by enlightened masters. A true miracle in the Buddhist sense
35303 would be like the miracle of Milarepa entering into a little horn while his
35304 student, Rechungpa, sees him in his usual size yet he is inside the horn. Or
35305 like the miracle of Milarepa sitting on a lake and people seeing that he
35306 hasn't become any larger nor has the lake shrunk in size, yet he is completely
35307 covering it. These are real, enlightened miracles.(p.13)
35308 -- Wangchen Rinpoche, "Buddhist Fasting Practice: The Nyungne Method of
35309 Thousand-Armed Chenrezig", published by Snow Lion Publications
35311 [In listening to teachings one] of the defects is to listen in a way that is
35312 like a container with holes. This means that even though we are listening to
35313 the teachings, we do not retain their contents. In this case we lack
35314 mindfulness and memory. Practice of Dharma means that we should be able to
35315 benefit from what we have heard. It is not a pastime, like listening to a
35316 story. The teachings give us guidance on how to live meaningful lives and how
35317 to develop proper attitudes. So in order to benefit from the teachings, we
35318 must retain them with mindfulness.
35319 In all kinds of learning processes, listening, reading, etc., we must pay
35320 full attention and should endeavor to remember their contents. When our
35321 interest is halfhearted, we only remember half the points, and we retain them
35322 for only a short time. We should reflect and think about whatever we have
35323 heard, over and over again. In this way, the knowledge will stay in our mind
35324 for a long time. Another technique for remembering instructions is debate as
35325 it is practiced in the traditional debating schools. (p.22)
35326 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", root text by Kamalashila,
35327 translated by Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and
35328 Jeremy Russell, published by Snow Lion Publications
35330 We are duped by maya. The whole display of our senses has tricked us into
35331 believing it and thus seduces us into the world of suffering. And the
35332 illusionist is that old trickster, one's own mind. But when this illusory
35333 nature is recognized to be just that, one is released from the bondage of the
35334 magic show, at which time it becomes a wonderful spectacle, even a display of
35335 the unimpeded creativity and freedom of mind. Then maya itself is both the
35336 medium for this realization and the expression of it.
35337 This conscious and intentional method of relating to all phenomena as
35338 illusion is thus cast in a totally positive light on the spiritual path, a
35339 complete turn-around from the original negative valuation of it as deceit.
35340 Now illusion is seen as illumination and opportunity. The nature of our
35341 relationship with it is the salient point, rather than its own nature, which
35342 certainly does not exist anyway, in any way.
35344 Since everything is an illusory display,
35345 it is possible to attain enlightenment.
35346 The transformation of the maya concept from something to escape to something
35347 to engage may be loosely correlated with the shift of emphasis on
35348 understanding emptiness that emerged in the mahayana teachings. A further
35349 development may be seen in the vajrayana teachings with the esoteric
35350 instruction known as Illusory Body (sgyu lus). This occurs as one of the Six
35351 Dharmas of Niguma and in other configurations of completion stage practices in
35352 many lineages. (p.40)
35353 -- Sarah Harding, "Niguma, Lady of Illusion", a Tsadra Foundation Series
35354 book, published by Snow Lion Publications
35356 Afflictions are classed as peripheral mental factors and are not themselves
35357 any of the six main minds [eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mental
35358 consciousnesses]. However, when any of the afflicting mental factors becomes
35359 manifest, a main mind [a mental consciousness] comes under its influence, goes
35360 wherever the affliction leads it, and 'accumulates' a bad action.
35361 There are a great many different kinds of afflictions, but the chief of them
35362 are desire, hatred, pride, wrong view and so forth. Of these, desire and
35363 hatred are chief. Because of an initial attachment to oneself, hatred arises
35364 when something undesirable occurs. Further, through being attached to oneself
35365 the pride that holds one to be superior arises, and similarly when one has no
35366 knowledge of something, a wrong view that holds the object of this knowledge
35367 to be non-existent arises.
35368 How do self-attachment and so forth arise in such great force? Because of
35369 beginningless conditioning, the mind tightly holds to 'I, I' even in dreams,
35370 and through the power of this conception, self-attachment and so forth occur.
35371 This false conception of 'I' arises because of one's lack of knowledge
35372 concerning the mode of existence of things. The fact that all objects are
35373 empty of inherent existence is obscured and one conceives things to exist
35374 inherently; the strong conception of 'I' derives from this. Therefore, the
35375 conception that phenomena inherently exist is the afflicting ignorance that is
35376 the ultimate root of all afflictions. (p.26)
35377 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
35378 Jeffrey Hopkins, with Anne Klein, published by Snow Lion Publications
35380 With regard to awareness of the present moment, our mind is utterly
35381 insubstantial and yet has this characteristic of luminosity (Tib. salwa).
35382 "Luminosity" here simply means the cognitive capacity, the fact that our mind
35383 can know, experience, feel, and so on. This awareness always occurs in the
35384 present. When we are not thinking of the past or thinking of the future, when
35385 we're letting our mind simply rest in the direct experience of the present
35386 moment, then this awareness or lucidity emerges as an unfabricated
35388 Initially we do this very briefly, for one moment, two moments, and so on,
35389 but as we work with this, it starts to take on a momentum. However, it's
35390 important not to interfere with the naturalness of this awareness by
35391 appraising what is occurring, which means that we shouldn't think, "Well, this
35392 is happening, that is happening, I'm aware of this, I'm aware of that." Nor
35393 should we judge what's happening by thinking, "Well, this is good, this is
35394 what's supposed to be happening," or, "This is bad, this isn't what's supposed
35396 On the other hand, we do need to "plant the watchman of mindfulness and
35397 alertness," which means that we maintain some intentional awareness of what is
35398 occurring. Here, mindfulness means a simple, direct recollection of what
35399 we're trying to do. In other words, mindfulness is recollecting that we are
35400 trying to rest in a direct experience of the present moment. Alertness then
35401 is that faculty of mind that becomes aware when we become distracted from this
35402 present experience. However, this watchfulness or, this watchman, has to be
35403 very relaxed and gentle. It can't be too heavy-handed, otherwise the whole
35404 thing becomes a conceptual judgement. The technique of mind is to rest in
35405 this awareness of the present moment with a gentle watchman of mindfulness and
35407 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "Pointing Out the Dharmakaya", foreword by
35408 the Dalai Lama, introduction by Lama Tashi Namgyal, published by Snow
35411 The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet. -- William Gibson
35413 Complete spiritual fulfillment requires the ability to act compassionately,
35414 and that involves making practical distinctions. Therefore, Tsong-kha-pa
35415 insists upon the clarifying power of analysis that is not ultimate, analysis
35416 that operates within the constraints and boundaries of conventional fact and
35417 language so as to illuminate what does and what does not exist, what is and
35418 what is not helpful.
35419 Not all useful analysis need immediately reduce everything to emptiness. In
35420 other words, we can learn valuable, practical things by analyzing which car is
35421 good to drive, which action is good to do, which seed is good to plant,
35422 without at each step interrogating the final ontological status of the car,
35424 ...A pervasive sense that things are real and solid and exist just as they
35425 appear is woven right into the fabric of the world as we experience it. While
35426 tables do exist, we have yet to see them just as they are. Our very
35427 perception of them--while a valid source of information--is at the same time
35428 contaminated with a layer of distortion. That distortion is the appearance of
35429 the table as something that is able to be there on its own power, something
35430 that exists in and of itself.
35431 Thus when we begin to see, or even to suspect, that things lack essence and
35432 are not at all as we had supposed, we may feel terrified, as though our world
35433 is coming apart at the seams or evaporating beneath our feet. We calm those
35434 fears by again remembering that it is not that there is nothing. There is
35435 dependent arising, just as there has always been. Analysis threatens nothing
35436 but the false overlay, the distorting superimposition, which has caused us and
35437 others so much misery. (p.43)
35438 -- Guy Newland, "Introduction to Emptiness: As Taught in Tsong-kha-pa's
35439 Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path", published by Snow Lion Pub.
35441 The play of this divine mind,
35442 The union of bliss, the supreme father, and emptiness,
35443 Is unlimited and thus beyond concept.
35444 -- The Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelsang Gyatso
35446 Cultivate a state of mind focused on bliss and emptiness as forcefully as
35447 possible. The wisdom of bliss and emptiness is compared to space, which is
35448 non-obstructive and expansive. Because offerings are the manifestation of the
35449 wisdom of bliss and emptiness, these substances are called "offerings of
35450 Samantabhadra (All-Good)."
35451 Generally speaking, a bodhisattva named Samantabhadra is renowned for his
35452 elaborate offerings to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. But here the term all-
35453 good (samantabhadra) refers most appropriately to the wisdom of bliss and
35454 emptiness. It is all-good from the viewpoint of emptiness and also from the
35455 viewpoint of bliss. This emptiness is the ultimate truth and also the
35456 ultimate virtue. And the wisdom of great bliss is the clear light wisdom:
35457 With a feeling of joy, imagine that offerings having such a nature pervade
35458 entire space. (p.64)
35459 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Union of Bliss and Emptiness: Teachings on the
35460 Practice of Guru Yoga", translated by Thupten Jinpa, published by Snow
35463 The spiritual path is truly simple. It is simple because it is not about
35464 acquiring, accumulating, or achieving anything. It is all about giving up
35465 what we don't need. It's about giving up what isn't useful instead of
35466 acquiring things with the idea of going somewhere or achieving something.
35467 That was the old game. That game which we have been playing for a long time
35468 is like a vicious circle. It has no end.
35469 Sometimes the spiritual search itself prevents us from seeing the truth that
35470 is always one with us. We have to know when to stop the search. There are
35471 people who die while they are searching for the highest truth with
35472 philosophical formulas and esoteric techniques. For them spiritual practice
35473 becomes another egoic plot which simply maintains and feeds delusions.
35474 Amazing! Buddha, God, truth, the divine, the great mystery, whatever you have
35475 been searching for, is here right now. (p.37)
35476 -- Anam Thubten, "No Self, No Problem", edited by Sharon Roe, published
35477 by Snow Lion Publications
35479 Practice of the morality of individual liberation, whether lay or monastic,
35480 leads to contentment.... Examine your attitudes toward food, clothes, and
35481 shelter. By reducing expectations you will promote contentment. The extra
35482 energy which is released should be devoted to meditation and to achieving
35483 cessation of problems, corresponding to the fourth and third noble truths. In
35484 this way, contentment is the basis, and the resulting action is called "liking
35485 meditation and abandonment."
35486 We should be contented in material areas, for those are bound by limitation,
35487 but not with regard to the spiritual, which can be extended limitlessly.
35488 Though it is true that a discontented person who owned the whole world might
35489 want to own a tourist center on the moon, that person's life is limited, and
35490 even the amount that can be owned is limited. It is better right from the
35491 beginning to be contented.
35492 However, with regard to compassion and altruism there is no limit, and thus
35493 we should not be content with the degree that we have. We are just the
35494 opposite; in the spiritual field we are content with slight amounts of
35495 practice and progress, but materially we always want more and more. It should
35496 be the other way around. Everyone needs to practice this, whether lay or
35498 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful
35499 Life", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
35501 If we view the world's religions from the widest possible viewpoint and
35502 examine their ultimate goal, we find that all of the major world religions,
35503 whether Christianity or Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, are dedicated to the
35504 achievement of permanent human happiness. They are all directed toward that
35505 goal. All religions emphasize the fact that the true follower must be honest
35506 and gentle, in other words, that a truly religious person must always strive
35507 to be a better human being. To this end, the different world religions teach
35508 different doctrines which will help transform the person. In this regard, all
35509 religions are the same, there is no conflict. This is something we must
35510 emphasize. We must consider the question of religious diversity from this
35511 viewpoint. And when we do, we find no conflict.
35512 ...Different kinds of food have different tastes: one may be very hot, one
35513 may be very sour, and one very sweet. They are opposite tastes, they
35514 conflict. But whether a dish is concocted to taste sweet, sour, or hot, it is
35515 nonetheless made in this way so as to taste good. Some people prefer very
35516 spicy, hot foods with a lot of chili peppers. Many Indians and Tibetans have
35517 a liking for such dishes. Others are very fond of bland tasting foods. It is
35518 a wonderful thing to have variety. It is an expression of individuality; it
35519 is a personal thing. Likewise, the variety of the different world religious
35520 philosophies is a very useful and beautiful thing. (p.13)
35521 -- "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists by the Dalai Lama", edited
35522 by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
35524 The basic principles and precepts of all true religions are very pure. What
35525 you see as impure is simply the inability of those who adhere to them. So as
35526 Buddhists, for instance, if you fail to embrace and internalize the basic
35527 principles and precepts of the practice, then your mind is always going to be
35528 overrun by the five mental afflictions. These negative afflictions are
35529 desire, hatred, jealousy, pride, and ignorance. They are the basic obstacles
35530 which impede you from making any true progress on the path. It is, in fact,
35531 the function of the preliminary training to prepare the field of the mind so
35532 that you are actually able to put to rest the gross delusions and give rise to
35533 your innermost qualities. This allows you to actualize your true bodhicitta
35534 nature, the mind which cares about others more than self.
35535 Leaving aside the idea of the so-called spiritual path, or religion, if you
35536 are able to uproot these delusions, the stones and boulders, from the field of
35537 your mind, then you will become an honorable person, respected in the world,
35538 with an easier, flexible attitude toward yourself and others. If you are
35539 able, through your development of wisdom and skillful means, to unite the
35540 teachings with your life, then true results will be achieved. (p.96)
35541 -- Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche, "Meditation, Transformation, and Dream Yoga",
35542 trans. by B. Alan Wallace and Sangye Khandro, published by Snow Lion
35544 What premises or grounds do we have for accepting that mental afflictions
35545 can be ultimately rooted out and eliminated from our mind? In Buddhist
35546 thought, we have three principal reasons for believing that this can happen.
35547 One is that all deluded states of mind, all afflictive emotions and thoughts,
35548 are essentially distorted in their mode of apprehension, whereas all the
35549 antidotal factors such as love, compassion, insight, and so on not only are
35550 undistorted, but they also have grounding in our varied experience and in
35552 Second, all these antidotal forces also have the quality of being
35553 strengthened through practice and training. Through constant familiarity, one
35554 can enhance their capacity and increase their potential limitlessly. So the
35555 second premise is that as one enhances the capacity of these antidotal forces
35556 and increases their strength, one is able to correspondingly reduce the
35557 influences and effects of delusory states of mind.
35558 The third premise is that the essential nature of mind is pure; in other
35559 words, there is the idea that the essential nature of mind is clear light or
35561 So it is on these three premises that Buddhism accepts that delusions, all
35562 afflictive emotions and thoughts, can be ultimately eliminated through
35563 practice and meditation. (p.38)
35564 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
35565 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published
35566 by Snow Lion Publications
35568 As we become aware of the working of our mind, we'll find ourselves
35569 grappling with an inner trickster. Pay attention! The mind in which anger
35570 arises is also the mind that holds it, hides it, fans it, justifies it, or
35571 suppresses it. That's why this first step is crucial--before we can
35572 understand, befriend, tame, and transform our anger, we have to recognize it
35573 clearly and acknowledge it frankly. This is no small task.
35574 Self-awareness is a precondition for understanding and healing our anger.
35575 If we become aware of the workings of our mind we can discover the means by
35576 which we create our anger and the key to healing it. If we become aware that
35577 we are harboring irrational beliefs, ideas with false premises, mistaken
35578 assumptions or flawed logic, we can examine them and correct them. If we
35579 discover that we cherish ideas which are not in harmony with the realities of
35580 life and nature we can learn to relax into existence. If we find that we
35581 harbor desires, hopes, and expectations which cannot be achieved we have the
35582 option of letting them go.
35583 ...To develop awareness is to take a journey within--into the heart of our
35585 -- Ron Leifer, M.D., "Vinegar into Honey: Seven Steps to Understanding and
35586 Transforming Anger, Aggression, and Violence", published by Snow Lion
35588 A kind heart is the essential cause of happiness. Being kind to others is
35589 the nicest thing we can do for ourselves. When we respect others and are
35590 considerate of their needs, opinions and wishes, hostility evaporates. It
35591 takes two people to fight, and if we refuse to be one of them, there is no
35593 ...A kind heart is the root of harmony and mutual respect. It prevents us
35594 from feeling estranged or fearful of others. It also protects us from
35595 becoming angry, attached, closed-minded, proud or jealous. When opportunities
35596 arise to help others we won't lack courage or compassion. If political
35597 leaders had impartial minds and kind hearts, how different our world would be!
35598 As all problems arise from the self-cherishing attitude, it would be wise
35599 for each of us, as individuals, to exert ourselves to subdue it. World peace
35600 doesn't come from winning a war, nor can it be legislated. Peace comes
35601 through each person eliminating his or her own selfishness and developing a
35602 kind heart...we can each do our part beginning today. The beneficial result
35603 in our own lives will immediately be evident. (p.76)
35604 -- Thubten Chodron, "Open Heart, Clear Mind", foreword by His Holiness
35605 the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion Publications
35607 In order to have strong consideration for others' happiness and welfare, it
35608 is necessary to have a special altruistic attitude in which you take upon
35609 yourself the burden of helping others. In order to generate such an unusual
35610 attitude, it is necessary to have great compassion, caring about the suffering
35611 of others and wanting to do something about it. In order to have such a
35612 strong force of compassion, first you must have a strong sense of love which,
35613 upon observing suffering sentient beings, wishes that they have happiness--
35614 finding a pleasantness in everyone and wishing happiness for everyone just as
35615 a mother does for her sole sweet child.
35616 In order to have a sense of closeness and dearness for others, you first
35617 train in acknowledging their kindness through using as a model a person in
35618 this lifetime who was very kind to yourself and then extending this sense of
35619 gratitude to all beings. Since, in general, in this life your mother was the
35620 closest and offered the most help, the process of meditation begins with
35621 recognizing all other sentient beings as like your mother. (p.44)
35622 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, "Kindness,
35623 Clarity, and Insight 25th Anniversary Edition", edited and translated
35624 by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow
35627 Most people feel cozy enough in samsara. They do not really have the
35628 genuine aspiration to go beyond samsara; they just want samsara to be a little
35629 bit better. It is quite interesting that "samsara" became the name of a
35630 perfume. And it is like that. It seduces us into thinking that it is okay:
35631 samsara is not so bad; it smells nice! The underlying motivation to go beyond
35632 samsara is very rare, even for people who go to Dharma centers. There are
35633 many people who learn to meditate and so forth, but with the underlying motive
35634 that they hope to make themselves feel better. And if it ends up making them
35635 feel worse, instead of realizing that this may be a good sign, they think
35636 there is something wrong with Dharma. We are always looking to make ourselves
35637 comfortable in the prison house. We might think that if we get the cell wall
35638 painted a pretty shade of pale green, and put in a few pictures, it won't be a
35640 ...There are two basic reasons we follow a spiritual path and look for
35641 liberation. One reason is that we want to be free. Let's take the
35642 traditional example of a burning house: your whole house is on fire, and you
35643 run out from it. But all your family--your partner, your children, your
35644 parents, even your pet dog--are all still inside. What are you going to do?
35645 You don't just say, "Well, I'm out. So too bad. Do your best to get out,
35646 too." Naturally this leads to the second basic reason for following a
35647 spiritual path: we will try to pull them out as well. (p.71)
35648 -- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, "Into the Heart of Life", foreword by H.H. the
35649 Gyalwang Drukpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
35651 "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form."
35653 We are empty, or rather the matter of which we are composed is empty. But I
35654 must emphasize that emptiness does not mean nothingness. Some commentators
35655 have been mistaken when they have accused Buddhism of being nihilistic. We
35656 believe that the world in which we live is part of a flux, a stream of events.
35657 This does not mean it is nothing. Everything depends on everything else.
35658 Nothing exists on its own. On account of all the influences that come to bear
35659 upon them, things appear, exist, and disappear, and then reappear again. But
35660 they never exist independently. Form is therefore empty, by which we mean it
35661 is not separate and independent. Form depends on a multitude of different
35662 factors. And emptiness is form because all forms emerge from emptiness, from
35663 this absence of independent existence. Emptiness exists only to give rise to
35665 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner
35666 Peace: The Essential Life and Teachings".
35668 When we understand the empty nature of our own mind, then the consequences
35669 of merit and sin will not be realized. In the state of emptiness, there
35670 exists no objective merit or sin.
35671 ...The nature of the mind is like a mirror; merits and sins are like the
35672 reflections in this mirror; and reflections in no way affect or modify the
35673 nature of the mirror. When we are in a state of contemplation, we are living
35674 in the condition of the mirror. At the time when all phenomena are exhausted
35675 and pass into the nature of reality, then our virtuous and vicious deeds will
35676 cause no benefit or harm to us. There is no basis for effect--all
35677 limitations, all frames of reference, all solid ground having been eliminated.
35678 But if we do not understand the nature of the mind and intrinsic awareness
35679 through direct personal experience, it will be a very dangerous situation for
35681 Indeed, it is not sufficient merely to understand these teachings
35682 intellectually; one must first practice and attain realization from this
35683 practice. Otherwise the virtuous and the vicious acts we commit in this life
35684 will create and accumulate karma, leading us again inevitably into
35685 transmigration. From the present time until we realize the ultimate
35686 exhausting of all phenomena into the nature of reality, our behavior must be
35687 refined; it must be heedful and scrupulous. Otherwise our view is only so
35688 much empty intellectual talk. (p.66)
35689 -- "Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness", translation and
35690 commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds, foreword by Namkhai Norbu, published
35691 by Snow Lion Publications
35693 The attainment of shamata is a serenely stilled state of mind, settled on
35694 mind itself. Although the attainment of such a meditational state focused on
35695 mind is the foundation for developing the highest attainments and is, of
35696 course, very excellent, by itself it is insufficient for reaching those goals.
35697 When we achieve a mind focused on mind with the perfect placement of
35698 absorbed concentration, free from all faults of dullness or flightiness, we
35699 increasingly experience an element of bliss accompanying our meditation. When
35700 we experience serene joy, on both a physical and mental level, brought on by
35701 the force of total absorption of mind on mind, we achieve a meditational state
35702 that fulfills the definition of shamata.
35703 Our ordinary mind is like raw iron ore that needs to be made into a steel
35704 sword. Progressing through the stages for attaining shamata is like forging
35705 the iron into steel. All the materials are there at our disposal. But since
35706 the mind wanders after external objects, then although it is the material for
35707 attaining shamata, it cannot yet be used as this product. We have to forge
35708 our mind through a meditational process. It is like putting the iron ore into
35710 To fashion the steel into a sword, or in this analogy to fashion the mind
35711 into an instrument that understands voidness, our serenely stilled and settled
35712 mind needs to come to decisive realization of voidness as its object. Without
35713 such a weapon of mind, we have no opponent with which to destroy the
35714 disturbing emotions and attitudes. (p.142)
35715 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
35716 Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
35718 The Yolmo Valley has many different aspects that are beneficial to
35719 practitioners. Ian Baker writes:
35720 Chatral Rinpoche said that specific [places] in Yolmo are conducive to
35721 particular kinds of practice. Places with waterfalls inspire reflection on
35722 impermanence. Places with steep cliffs where the rocks are dark and jagged
35723 are good for meditating on wrathful deities. Places with rolling hills and
35724 flowering meadows support meditation on peaceful deities....
35725 Chatral Rinpoche clarified that the beyul [hidden lands] that Padmasambhava
35726 established in Tibet are not literal arcadias, but paradises for Buddhist
35727 practice, with multiple dimensions corresponding to increasingly subtle levels
35728 of perception. Beyond Yolmo's visible terrain of mountains, streams, and
35729 forests, he said, lies an inner level, corresponding to the flow of intangible
35730 energies in the physical body. Deeper still, the subtle elements animating
35731 the environment merge with the elements present within the practitioner--the
35733 Finally, at the beyul's innermost level--yangsang--lies a paradisiacal, or
35734 unitary dimension revealed through an auspicious conjunction of person, place,
35735 and time.... Chatral Rinpoche contended that yangsang is not merely a
35736 metaphor for the enlightened state, but an ever-present, if hidden, reality.
35738 -- Chatral Rinpoche, "Compassionate Action", edited and annotated by Zach
35739 Larson, published by Snow Lion Publications
35741 Distinguishing between constructive and destructive emotions is right there
35742 to be observed in the moment when a destructive emotion arises--the calmness,
35743 the tranquillity, the balance of the mind are immediately disrupted. Other
35744 emotions do not destroy equilibrium or the sense of well-being as soon as they
35745 arise, but in fact enhance it--so they would be called constructive.
35746 Also there are emotions that are aroused by intelligence. For example,
35747 compassion can be aroused by pondering people who are suffering. When the
35748 compassion is actually experienced, it is true that the mind is somewhat
35749 disturbed, but that is more on the surface. Deep down there is a sense of
35750 confidence, and so on a deeper level there is no disturbance. A consequence
35751 of such compassion, aroused by intelligent reflection, is that the mind
35753 The consequences of anger--especially its long-term effects--are that the
35754 mind is disturbed. Typically, when compassion moves from simply being a
35755 mental state to behavior, it tends to manifest in ways that are of service to
35756 others, whereas when anger goes to the point of enactment it generally, of
35757 course, becomes destructive. Even if it doesn't manifest as violence, if you
35758 have the capacity to help, you would refrain from helping. That too would be
35759 a kind of destructive emotion. (p.158)
35760 -- "Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them?" A Scientific Dialogue
35761 with the Dalai Lama narrated by Daniel Goleman
35763 I love smiles. That is a fact. How to develop smiles? There are a variety
35764 of smiles. Some smiles are sarcastic. Some smiles are artificial-diplomatic
35765 smiles. These smiles do not produce satisfaction, but rather fear or
35766 suspicion. But a genuine smile gives us hope, freshness. If we want a
35767 genuine smile, then first we must produce the basis for a smile to come.
35768 —- H.H. the Dalai Lama
35770 Suffering is something very concrete, which everyone knows and wants to
35771 avoid if possible, and the Buddha therefore began his teaching by talking
35772 about it in his famous formulation of the Four Noble Truths.
35773 The first truth draws our attention to the fact that we suffer, pointing out
35774 the existence of the basic dissatisfaction inherent in our condition; the
35775 second truth explains the cause of dissatisfaction, which is the dualistic
35776 state and the unquenchable thirst (or desire) inherent in it: the subject
35777 reifies its objects and tries to grasp them by any means, and this thirst (or
35778 desire) in turn affirms and sustains the illusory existence of the subject as
35779 an entity separate from the integrated wholeness of the universe.
35780 The third truth teaches that suffering will cease if dualism is overcome and
35781 reintegration achieved, so that we no longer feel separate from the plenitude
35782 of the universe. Finally, the fourth truth explains that there is a Path that
35783 leads to the cessation of suffering, which is the one described by the rest of
35784 the Buddhist teachings.
35785 All the various traditions are agreed that this basic problem of suffering
35786 exists, but they have different methods of dealing with it to bring the
35787 individual back to the experience of primordial unity. (p.47)
35788 -- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, "The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra,
35789 and Dzogchen", compiled and edited by John Shane, published by Snow Lion
35791 To disciples of increasing purity, ability, and rarity the Buddha gave more
35792 private guidance in the subtle mysteries. It appears that such teachings are
35793 included in the Mahayana sutras. There is no certainty, however, that all of
35794 the tantras were taught while the historical Buddha was alive. To an
35795 extremely small number of pure disciples the Buddha could appear today. They
35796 could encounter Vajradhara, the King of the Tantras, and he could reveal
35797 tantras and quintessential guidance to them.
35798 This is possible even though more than twenty-five hundred years have gone
35799 by since the historical Buddha passed away. There is no possibility, after
35800 the Buddha's death, of additions being made to his public discourses. But I
35801 think that teachings to disciples of pure action do not necessarily have to be
35802 given during the historical Buddha's lifetime. (pg.44)
35803 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Transcendent Wisdom", translated, edited and
35804 annotated by B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications
35807 Since the five perfections without wisdom
35808 Cannot bring perfect enlightenment,
35809 Along with skillful means cultivate the wisdom
35810 Which does not conceive the three spheres [as real]
35811 This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
35812 -- Gyelsay Togmay Sangpo
35814 Practice of the five perfections without the understanding of reality
35815 remains contaminated, and though it may yield boundless happiness, it doesn't
35816 lead to omniscience. Love and compassion without the understanding of reality
35817 cannot help us to escape from worldly existence.
35818 On the other hand, we may easily remain trapped in a state of personal peace
35819 if we have understood reality but lack enough love and compassion. It is
35820 therefore the practice of Bodhisattvas to combine the two--skillful means and
35821 wisdom. Which of us can say we don't want to possess knowledge, kindness and
35822 pure conduct? Our text is a manual of instruction on how to gain these
35823 qualities and become a fully developed human being. (p.70)
35824 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, "The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas",
35825 translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
35827 "The Buddhas have already achieved all their own goals, but remain in the
35828 cycle of existence for as long as there are sentient beings. This is because
35829 they possess great compassion. They also do not enter the immensely blissful
35830 abode of nirvana like the Hearers. Considering the interests of sentient
35831 beings first, they abandon the peaceful abode of nirvana as if it were a
35832 burning iron house. Therefore, great compassion alone is the unavoidable
35833 cause of the non-abiding nirvana of the Buddha."
35836 Compassion's importance cannot be overemphasized. Chandrakirti paid rich
35837 tribute to compassion, saying that it was essential in the initial,
35838 intermediate, and final stages of the path to enlightenment.
35839 Initially, the awakening mind of bodhichitta is generated with compassion as
35840 the root, or basis. Practice of the six perfections and so forth is essential
35841 if a Bodhisattva is to attain the final goal.
35842 In the intermediate stage, compassion is equally relevant. Even after
35843 enlightenment, it is compassion that induces the Buddhas not to abide in the
35844 blissful state of complacent nirvana. It is the motivating force enabling the
35845 Buddhas to enter non-abiding nirvana and actualize the Truth Body, which
35846 represents fulfillment of your own purpose, and the Form Body, which
35847 represents fulfillment of the needs of others. Thus, by the power of
35848 compassion, Buddhas serve the interests of sentient beings without
35849 interruption for as long as space exists. This shows that the awakening mind
35850 of bodhichitta remains crucial even after achieving the final destination.
35852 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, root text by Kamalashila, "Stages of Meditation",
35853 translated by Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and
35854 Jeremy Russell, published by Snow Lion Publications
35856 [During sleep and waking states] there are physiological processes that
35857 correspond to different mental states, and these are associated with
35858 subjectively experienced energies in the body.
35859 In the waking state, these energies tend to be drawn into a locus in the
35860 center of the head, at the level of the forehead. In the dreaming stage,
35861 these energies will be even more drawn to a point in the throat. In the deep
35862 sleep state, these energies are more drawn into the heart. The location is
35863 not the physical heart, the organ, but the heart center which is right in the
35864 center of the chest.
35865 Certain events are experienced in meditation that seem to corroborate this
35866 theory. For example, in meditation, it is possible to bring your awareness
35867 into the heart cakra, and sometimes when this happens, the person will faint.
35868 On other occasions, the meditative awareness, finely concentrated, may be
35869 brought into the area of the navel. And at this juncture, it has been found
35870 experientially that heat is produced by such concentration. If you look at
35871 the anatomy of the body, you don't find these cakra points. (p.106)
35872 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with
35873 the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism", edited by Zara Houshmand,
35874 Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Pub.
35876 When you meditate with concentration, there are three particular experiences
35877 that arise: bliss, clarity, and nonthought.
35878 The experience of meditative bliss is greater than ordinary worldly
35879 happiness. Sometimes when you are meditating, a feeling of blissfulness
35880 suddenly arises from the subtle state of your mind and pervades your entire
35881 body. This bliss is healthy and brings out your inner qualities. Some people
35882 use drugs to induce blissfulness and visions, but drugs are external supports
35883 that cannot bring lasting happiness. The bliss experienced in meditation can
35884 last for many days, according to your ability to meditate. When you
35885 experience this kind of bliss, on the outside you might look very poor, but
35886 inside you remain very joyful.
35887 The second main experience in meditation is clarity. Sometimes while
35888 meditating you can suddenly feel that your mind is very clear and bright.
35889 Even if you are meditating in the dark, you do not feel heavy or tired.
35890 Sometimes your body feels very light and your mind is very clear, and many
35891 kinds of reflections appear. Clarity brings great wisdom and the ability to
35892 read other people's minds, as well as to see your own past and future lives.
35893 The third main experience is nonthought, or a state of equanimity without
35894 distractions. Beginners can also experience this. Nonthought is more settled
35895 than the experiences of bliss and clarity. If you have thoughts, they
35896 suddenly dissolve and you can remain continuously in meditation. As your
35897 ability to meditate develops, your mind becomes more and more settled, so that
35898 you can meditate for one hour or one week or one month without being
35899 distracted by thoughts. You simply remain in the natural state for as long as
35901 Bliss, clarity, and nonthought are the main qualities of concentration.
35902 However, it is important not to be attached to them or concerned about whether
35903 they arise or not; one should simply continue to practice. (p.29)
35904 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche,
35905 "The Buddhist Path: A Practical Guide from the Nyingma Tradition of
35906 Tibetan Buddhism", published by Snow Lion Publications
35908 The Buddha's teachings can be divided into two main categories: the
35909 scriptures and realization. A verse states:
35911 The teachings of the Teacher have two aspects:
35912 Scripture and realization presented as they truly are.
35913 There is nothing else to do but
35914 Sustain them, speak of them, and practice them.
35916 When we practice listening, reflecting, and meditating, the teachings will
35917 free us from the heavy darkness of suffering. They are like a never-setting
35918 sun whose luminous rays reach to the farthest corners of this world. Among
35919 the eighty-four thousand teachings of the Buddha are those found in Tibet that
35920 maintain the unity of the sutra and mantra traditions. These teachings are
35921 like a tree trunk with numerous branches: a variety of lamas hold lineages
35922 within diverse traditions.
35923 ...In showing how to cut through the delusion of duality, these teachings
35924 open up to every living being the possibility of attaining true mastery over
35925 the immense and profound gates to the eighty-four thousand teachings. They
35926 are precious because they make nonconceptual wisdom manifest and bring forth
35927 the amrita of all-pervading emptiness. Like placing a perfect fruit in the
35928 palm of our hand, these teachings bring about two kinds of wisdom: the wisdom
35929 that sees the multitude of all phenomena distinctly and the wisdom that sees
35930 clearly into their nature.
35931 Relying on an appropriate path allows the fruition of practice to manifest.
35932 This result is possible because buddha nature is found in the mindstream of
35933 all living beings. (p.160)
35934 -- "Music in the Sky: The Life, Art and Teachings of the Seventeenth
35935 Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje", by Michele Martin, published by Snow Lion
35937 All is neither real nor delusive--
35938 Held to be like [a reflection of] the moon on water by the learned.
35939 Just this ordinary mind
35940 Is called "dharmadhatu" and "Heart of the victors."
35941 --Venerable Rangjung Dorje
35943 ...Thus, seeming reality consists of the adventitious stains that are like
35944 [mistakenly seeing] a [white] conch as being yellow. Ultimate reality is the
35945 tathagata heart, which is like the [natural] white of the conch. Except for
35946 the mere appearances from the perspective of a mistaken [perceiving] subject,
35947 within the object--the conch--there is nothing white or yellow to be added or
35948 to be removed. Therefore, the pith instruction is to rest naturally and
35950 In brief, what are called "samsara" and "nirvana" are set up from the point
35951 of view of mere seeming appearances, while the nature of both--luminosity free
35952 from reference points--is called tathagata heart. Consequently, in terms of
35953 the definitive meaning, mere appearances and their nature cannot be separated,
35954 just like fire and its heat. For this reason, the mother [sutras] say:
35955 "Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. Emptiness is nothing other than
35956 form. Form is nothing other than emptiness." (p.165)
35957 -- "Gone Beyond: The Prajnaparamita Sutras, The Ornament of Clear
35958 Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Kagyu Tradition", Volume One
35959 translated and introduced by Karl Brunnholzl, a Tsadra Foundation Series book,
35960 published by Snow Lion Publications
35962 In the Mahayana 'cause and effect' refer to totally supreme emptiness and
35963 supreme immutable bliss. The Brief Explication of Initiations (Shekhoddesha)
35964 [included in the Kalachakra cycle] says:
35966 That bearing the form of emptiness is the cause,
35967 That bearing immutable compassion is the effect.
35968 Emptiness and compassion indivisible
35969 Are called the mind of enlightenment.
35971 The indivisibility of these two is a Cause Vehicle in the sense of being the
35972 means by which one progresses, and it is an Effect Vehicle in the sense of
35973 being that to which one is progressing. Such a Vajra Vehicle has reference to
35974 Highest Yoga Tantra and cannot occur in the lower tantras. For the supreme
35975 immutable bliss can only arise when one has attained the branch of meditative
35976 stabilisation (in the system of the Kalachakra) and thus the branches of
35977 mindfulness and those below must be the means of achieving it. The three
35978 lower tantras do not have all the factors that are included in these causal
35980 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Tantra in Tibet",
35981 published by Snow Lion Publications
35983 ...one of the things you can learn from history is that men have learned
35984 to live with machinery at least as well as, and probably a good deal better
35985 than, they have learned to live with one another.
35986 -- E. E. Morison, from "Computers and the World of the Future"
35988 Everything is perfect in the universe--even your desire to improve it.
35993 I encourage you to conduct your own research on the results of practicing in
35994 various environments. Tibetan yogis are especially attracted to places with
35995 an enormous amount of open space and distant vistas. I have greatly enjoyed
35996 meditating in the high desert of the eastern Sierra Nevada range, where the
35997 views extend to peaks sixty miles away. The ability to direct the attention
35998 to such distant points gives a very expansive feeling to the intervening
36000 In such a spacious environment, allow your awareness to come out, with your
36001 eyes open and your gaze resting vacantly in the space in front of you. The
36002 experience in a vast space is very different from that in a tiny room. Gazing
36003 up at a clear night sky studded with stars is a wonderful way to experience
36004 the sheer enormity of space.
36005 It is important to distinguish between the contents of a space and the space
36006 itself. Colors and shapes constitute the contents of visual space. These are
36007 aspects or representations of ordinary phenomena in the visual field.
36008 Attending to the space of the mind means attending to that space from which
36009 all such contents emerge, in which they are present, and into which they
36010 dissolve; it is the space that lingers in between discrete events. (p.220)
36011 -- B. Alan Wallace, "Minding Closely: The Four Applications of Mindfulness",
36012 published by Snow Lion Publications
36014 "Through analytical meditation, you come to a point of clarity and decisive
36015 insight, and at this point it is beneficial to abide in that revelation. Your
36016 insight will grow gradually like a sprout. Simply be present and settle your
36017 mind in the absolute nature of reality. Remain in a state of meditative
36018 equipoise, and do not think of this as a waste of your time. If you think you
36019 should rather be actively engaged in such practices as circumambulations or
36020 the stage of generation, it is the time for you to be simply present in
36021 meditative equipoise. But do not just sit and space out."
36024 In some scholarly discursive meditations in the sutra tradition, one
36025 continually seeks out the mind, and there is a tradition in which
36026 investigation is needed. Here, in the tradition of Mahamudra and Atiyoga, it
36027 is enough to seek and investigate during this phase of Dharma practice, but
36028 afterwards it is not necessary to continue the search. In the Katok
36029 tradition, the investigation of the mind is said to takes months, for one
36030 examines for three days each of the points of the mind's color and shape as
36031 well as the exterior and the interior of the body. Our tradition does not
36032 take so long, so it is important for you to seek out the mind without even a
36033 moment's distraction. (p.100)
36034 -- Karma Chagme, "A Spacious Path to Freedom: Practical Instructions on the
36035 Union of Mahamudra and Atiyoga", commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche, trans. by B.
36036 Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications
36038 When the root of duality--dualistic clinging, dualistic perceptions, deluded
36039 perceptions--is severed, all the leaves, the branches, and even the tree trunk
36040 of samsara and nirvana naturally wither on their own and topple in their own
36041 time. Then this great spreading tree of samsara and nirvana, of duality, of
36042 worldliness, of conditioned being, does not need to be chopped down: it is
36043 already as if dead. We can relax; done is what had to be done, as the Buddha
36045 This is the whole point of the Dharma, of spiritual awakening, of
36046 Buddhahood; this is its ultimate evolution or unfolding. If we aspire to
36047 experience such an awakening, there is nothing else to do except recognize the
36048 true nature of our primordial awareness, our own essential being, our own
36049 birthright, which is within. This is the intrinsic nature of our own heart-
36050 mind, also known as bodhicitta or bodhi-mind. It is our own being, our own
36051 nature, this renowned buddha-nature. It is not a Buddha anywhere else. (p.103)
36052 -- Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche and Lama Surya Das, "Natural Great Perfection:
36053 Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs", published by Snow Lion Publications
36055 A common [Tibetan Buddhist] motif is the "Wheel of Life," symbolizing the
36056 workings of cyclic existence. This is frequently found at the doorway to a
36057 main assembly hall and serves to remind the inhabitants of the dangers of
36058 mundane existence. This striking image has a large central circle divided
36059 into two halves. The top half has three sections, representing the three
36060 "happy transmigrations"--humans, demi-gods, and gods. The lower half also has
36061 three sections, indicative of the three bad transmigrations--animals, hungry
36062 ghosts, and hell beings. A pigeon symbolizes the mental affliction of desire,
36063 a snake represents hatred, and a pig--symbol of ignorance--holds the tails of
36064 the first two in its mouth. These three afflictions are the primary factors
36065 that bind people to cyclic existence, causing them to transmigrate helplessly
36066 from birth to birth.
36067 The theme of cause and effect is further illustrated by twelve sections
36068 around the rim of the wheel, symbolizing the twelve links of dependent arising
36069 (a summary of the process of transmigration). The whole wheel is held in the
36070 jaws of the Lord of Death, indicating that death is inevitable for those who
36071 are caught up in this cycle. Outside of the wheel are buddhas and
36072 bodhisattvas, often shown teaching the dharma, which provides an avenue of
36073 escape for those who are perceptive enough to recognize this and follow their
36074 instructions. (p.239)
36075 -- John Powers, "Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism", published by Snow Lion
36078 Is Anger Beneficial?
36080 We generally consider something beneficial if it promotes happiness. But
36081 when we ask ourselves, "Am I happy when I'm angry?" the answer is undoubtedly
36082 no. We may feel a surge of physical energy due to physiological reasons, but
36083 emotionally we feel miserable. Thus, from our own experience, we can see that
36084 anger does not promote happiness.
36085 In addition, we don't communicate well when we're angry. We may speak
36086 loudly as if the other person were hard of hearing or repeat what we say as if
36087 he had a bad memory, but this is not communication. Good communication
36088 involves expressing ourselves in a way that the other person understands. It
36089 is not simply dumping our feelings on the other. Good communication also
36090 includes expressing our feelings and thoughts with words, gestures, and
36091 examples that make sense to the other person. Under the sway of anger,
36092 however, we neither express ourselves as calmly nor think as clearly as usual.
36093 Under the influence of anger, we also say and do things that we later
36094 regret. Years of trust built with great effort can be quickly damaged by a
36095 few moments of uncontrolled anger.... If we could tame our anger, such
36096 painful consequences could be avoided.(p.23)
36097 -- Thubten Chodron, "Working with Anger", published by Snow Lion Pub.
36099 Why should we want to help our enemies or to give them happiness? Here are
36100 various useful ideas to consider. One approach is to think that the harm they
36101 have done us is, in fact, the result of our own past negative actions through
36102 which we have set ourselves up as a target for their harm. We could also
36103 consider how those who harm us are totally driven by their disturbing
36105 If someone in our family, someone we love dearly, becomes insane and tries
36106 to harm us, we wouldn't think of taking revenge but would try to help them
36107 regain a normal state of mind. Living beings, our mothers, are crazed by
36108 their disturbing emotions. Those who harm us are in particular need of our
36109 love and compassion. (p.52)
36110 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, "The Bodhisattva Vow", translated and edited by
36111 Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
36113 On top of the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death, we encounter
36114 the pains of facing the unpleasant, separating from the pleasant, and not
36115 finding what we want. The basic problem lies with the type of mind and body
36116 that we have. Our mind-body complex serves as a basis for present sufferings
36117 in the form of aging, sickness, and death, and promotes future suffering
36118 through our usual responses to painful situations.
36119 By reflecting on birth and on the nature of mind and body, you will be moved
36120 from the depths of your heart to seek relief, thinking, "If I could only be
36121 free from a life driven by afflictive emotions and karma!" Without such
36122 reflection on pain, your knowledge of your own condition will be limited,
36123 which itself will put a limit on your compassion. As Tsonghkapa says:
36124 "If you do not cultivate a genuine sense of disenchantment with cyclic
36125 existence--whose nature is a mind-body complex under the sway of afflictive
36126 emotions and karma--you will have no chance to develop a genuine attitude
36127 intent on liberation, and there will be no way to develop great compassion for
36128 beings wandering in cyclic existence. Therefore, it is crucial to reflect on
36129 your situation." (p.151)
36130 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Becoming Enlightened", trans. and ed. by
36131 Jeffrey Hopkins, PhD
36133 When I was a young boy, Tantra was just a matter of blind faith. At age
36134 twenty-four I lost my own country, and then after coming to India started
36135 really reading Tsongkhapa's explanations on emptiness. Then, after moving to
36136 Dharamsala, I put more effort into the study and practice of the stages of the
36137 path, emptiness, and Tantra. So it was only in my late twenties after gaining
36138 some experience of emptiness that deity yoga made sense.
36139 One time in the main temple in Dharamsala I was performing the ritual of
36140 imagining myself as a deity of Highest Yoga Tantra, called Guhyasamaja. My
36141 mind continuously remained on the recitation of the ritual text, and when the
36142 words "I myself" came, I completely forgot about my usual self in relation to
36143 my combination of mind and body: Instead, I had a very clear sense of "I" in
36144 relation to the new, pure combination of mind and body of Guhyasamaja that I
36145 was imagining. Since this is the type of self-identification that is at the
36146 heart of Tantric yoga, the experience confirmed for me that with enough time I
36147 could definitely achieve the extraordinary, deep states mentioned in the
36148 scriptures. (p.188)
36149 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful
36150 Life", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
36152 In Buddhism, one speaks of three different levels of understanding, which
36153 are sequential--an understanding arrived at through learning and studying, an
36154 understanding developed as a result of deep reflection and contemplation, and
36155 an understanding acquired through meditative experience.
36156 There is a definite order in the sequence of this three. So on the basis of
36157 study and learning--which is the first level--we deepen our understanding of a
36158 given topic by constantly reflecting upon it until we arrive at a point where
36159 we gain a high degree of certainty or conviction that is firmly grounded in
36160 reason. At this point, even if others were to contradict our understanding
36161 and the premises upon which it is based we would not be swayed, because our
36162 conviction in the truth has arisen through the power of our own critical
36163 reflection. This is the second level of understanding which, however, is
36164 still at the level of the intellect.
36165 If we pursue this understanding further and deepen it through constant
36166 contemplation and familiarity with the truth, we reach a point where we feel
36167 the impact at the emotional level. In other words, our conviction is no
36168 longer at the level of mere intellect. This is the third level of
36169 understanding, which is experiential, and this is referred to in the Buddhist
36170 texts as an understanding derived through meditative experience.... You will
36171 need to deepen your understanding still further by engaging in regular
36172 meditation so that you can progress to the third level of understanding.
36173 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
36174 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
36176 Shortly after attaining enlightenment under the bodhi tree, the Buddha gave
36177 a sermon in Varanasi sharing the fruits of his realization. This sermon is
36178 referred to as the "first turning of the wheel of Dharma." The word Dharma
36179 here refers to the Buddha's teachings themselves. It was this sermon in which
36180 the Buddha developed what would become the framework for the entirety of his
36181 teachings: the four noble truths.
36182 These four truths are the truth of suffering, the truth of its origin, the
36183 truth of the possibility of its cessation, and the truth of the path that
36184 leads to that cessation. In essence, the four noble truths say that we all
36185 naturally desire happiness and do not wish to suffer--and that the suffering
36186 we wish to avoid comes about as a result of a chain of causes and conditions
36187 begun even before our birth. If we are to pursue our aspiration to gain
36188 freedom from suffering, we need to clearly understand the causes and
36189 conditions that give rise to suffering and strive to eliminate them.
36190 Additionally, we must clearly understand the causes and conditions that give
36191 rise to happiness as well, and actively practice them. This is the essence of
36192 the four noble truths.
36193 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's
36194 Heart of Wisdom Teachings", translated & edited by Geshe Thupten Jinpa
36196 In Dzogchen, while thoughts are active, rigpa permeates them all, so that
36197 even at the very moment when powerful thoughts like attachment and aversion
36198 are arising, there remains a pervasive quality of clear light rigpa.
36199 Dodrupchen says, "in Dzogchen, since the clear light's natural way of being is
36200 like the sun and its rays, inseparable, if you are able, through this, to
36201 bring out the radiance of genuine mind, you will be able to maintain the
36202 experience of clear light in meditation, without it fluctuating, or coming and
36204 Longchen Rabjam speaks of self-arising wisdom, which is in fact rigpa:
36205 "Self-arising wisdom is rigpa that is empty, clear and free from all
36206 elaboration, like an immaculate sphere of crystal. Its very being is such
36207 that it never explores objects of the senses."
36208 This "self-arising wisdom" is rigpa, which in essence is primordially pure.
36209 Longchenpa describes it as "empty and clear". To call it empty is to refer to
36210 its essence, primordially pure. To call it clear is to speak of its nature,
36211 spontaneously present. As such, it is "free from all elaboration", and free
36212 from the elaborations of adventitious phenomena. So it is like a flawless
36213 crystal sphere, and truly "its very being is such that it never explores
36214 objects of the senses". (p.180-5)
36215 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
36217 There is an Indian saying: if you are struck by a poisonous arrow, it is
36218 important first to pull it out, there is no time to ask who shot it, what sort
36219 of poison it is and so on. First handle the immediate problem, and later we
36220 can investigate. Similarly, when we encounter human suffering, it is
36221 important to respond with compassion rather than question the politics of
36222 those we help. Instead of asking whether their country is enemy or friend, we
36223 must think, "These are human beings, they are suffering, and they have a right
36224 to happiness equal to our own."
36225 Our attitude towards suffering is very important because it can affect how
36226 we cope with it when it arises. Our usual attitude consists of an intense
36227 aversion and intolerance of our own pain and suffering. However, if we can
36228 transform our attitude, adopt an attitude that allows us greater tolerance of
36229 it, this can do much to help counteract feelings of mental unhappiness,
36230 dissatisfaction and discontent. (p.92)
36231 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Pocket Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by
36234 Why should we want to help our enemies or to give them happiness? Here are
36235 various useful ideas to consider. One approach is to think that the harm they
36236 have done us is, in fact, the result of our own past negative actions through
36237 which we have set ourselves up as a target for their harm. We could also
36238 consider how those who harm us are totally driven by their disturbing
36240 If someone in our family, someone we love dearly, becomes insane and tries
36241 to harm us, we wouldn't think of taking revenge but would try to help them
36242 regain a normal state of mind. Living beings, our mothers, are crazed by
36243 their disturbing emotions. Those who harm us are in particular need of our
36244 love and compassion. (p.52)
36245 -- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, "The Bodhisattva Vow", translated and edited by
36246 Ruth Sonam, published by Snow Lion Publications
36248 If you are totally concerned and preoccupied with the affairs of this
36249 lifetime, there is a great danger of causing your own downfall. If by such
36250 concern you were able to achieve the desired happiness, that is okay, but this
36252 We all let ourselves be caught in this web of preoccupation with the
36253 activities and confusion of this lifetime. Having too much worldly
36254 involvement ends in confusion. We spend our whole lives thinking that this
36255 might be better than that, I should do this, or perhaps something else is
36256 better and I should do that. If you reflect upon the underlying
36257 dissatisfaction, then you will be able to find that, well, after all, whatever
36258 they might be, the affairs of this lifetime are not that important, because
36259 they yield a limited benefit. This does not mean that you should not work for
36260 your own livelihood, but it does indicate that you should not be preoccupied
36261 with that alone. (p.107)
36262 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Bliss", translated by Geshe Thupten
36263 Jinpa, edited by Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications
36265 Do you understand who the enemy is? You do not need to beat anyone up, and
36266 you do not need a weapon to kill your enemy. You do not need money to buy a
36267 weapon. It is all very easy.
36268 How is liberation accomplished? The offering of liberation is accomplished
36269 by abandoning the dualistic mind of discursive thoughts. The sharp weapon of
36270 primordial wisdom, which completely annihilates the dualistic mind, is the
36271 means for achieving this separation. This "weapon" has been part of your
36272 continuum for a long time now. With this weapon you can completely devastate
36273 the dualistic mind, leaving not even a trace behind, thus liberating the mind
36274 into the sphere of unborn truth. The enemy will never return. This is called
36276 I must emphasize that primordial wisdom is not something you can buy, get
36277 from your best friend or have handed to you by a buddha in heaven. It is not
36278 something that someone else has but you do not. Abandon such concepts.
36279 Primordial wisdom does not come from an external source. It is simply your
36280 true nature. It is something that you and everyone else have as the very
36281 essence of your mind.
36282 You should know what your qualities and capabilities are. (p.79)
36283 -- Gyatrul Rinpoche, "The Generation Stage in Buddhist Tantra", published
36284 by Snow Lion Publications
36286 With regard to ordinary study, except for the fact that there is a limit to
36287 our lifetime, it is not that you arrive at a point where there is no more room
36288 in your brain. No matter how much you study, even if you study a hundred
36289 thousand million words, the mind can still retain them. This indicates that
36290 the basis of these qualities, consciousness, is stable and continuous.
36291 The other day, I made a joke to someone who was asking about the brain. I
36292 said that if, like a computer, you needed a cell for each moment of memory,
36293 then as you become more and more educated, your head would have to get bigger
36295 Because of these reasons--that compassion, wisdom, and so forth are
36296 qualities that depend on the mind, and the mind is stable and continuous--they
36297 can be developed to a limitless degree.
36298 It is from this point of view that it is said that the conception of
36299 inherent existence can be extinguished. When one removes the conception of
36300 inherent existence, one thereby also ceases the afflictive emotions generated
36301 in dependence upon that ignorance. Also, since the ignorance that drives
36302 contaminated actions has ceased, this class of actions ceases. Once the
36303 motivator of the action and the actions cease, the results of those actions
36304 will cease. That is how the third noble truth--true cessation--comes to be.
36306 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, "The Dalai Lama at
36307 Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and
36308 edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
36310 "Accumulating merit" can be approached from a psychological perspective that
36311 lends itself to experiential verification or from a spiritual dimension that
36312 requires some faith. "Merit" can be understood as "spiritual power" that
36313 manifests in day-to-day experience. When merit, or spiritual power, is
36314 strong, there is little resistance to practicing Dharma and practice itself is
36316 Tibetans explain that people who make rapid progress in Dharma, gaining one
36317 insight after another, enter practice already having a lot of merit. By the
36318 same theory, it is possible to strive diligently and make little progress.
36319 Tibetans explain this problem as being due to too little merit. Merit is the
36320 fuel that empowers spiritual practice.
36321 How do you accumulate merit? Engaging in virtue of any sort, with your
36322 mind, your speech, or your body results in merit. Just as merit can be
36323 accumulated, it can also be dissipated by doing harm. In general, mental
36324 afflictions dissipate merit. The mental affliction that is like a black hole
36325 sucking up merit, worse than all the others, is anger. Attachment or sensual
36326 craving can get you in a lot of trouble, but it doesn't have the debilitating
36327 impact upon spiritual practice that anger does. Remember the warrior
36328 metaphor--standing at the gateway of the mind, vigilant, spear ready. The
36329 spear is for mental afflictions, especially anger. Nip anger in the bud. (p.208)
36330 -- B. Alan Wallace, "Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind
36331 Training", published by Snow Lion Publications
36333 It is necessary to alternate stabilising meditation and analytical
36334 meditation... by merely cultivating non-conceptuality and non-analysis it is
36335 impossible to enter into the yoga of signlessness.
36336 Even after emptiness has been realised, powerful and repeated analysis is
36337 needed. Merely to set one's mind on the meaning of emptiness is the mode of
36338 cultivating calm abiding observing emptiness; in order to cultivate special
36339 insight it is necessary to analyse again and again. These two modes of
36340 meditation--stabilising and analytical--are alternated until analysis itself
36341 induces even greater stablisation, at which point stabilisation and wisdom are
36342 of equal strength, this being a union of calm abiding and special insight.
36343 In Performance as well as in Action Tantra the meditative stabilisation
36344 which is a union of calm abiding and special insight is used to gain feats for
36345 the sake of aiding sentient beings and accumulating merit quickly. (p.42)
36346 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Deity
36347 Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra", published by Snow Lion Pub.
36349 Seeking a Place of Refuge.
36351 A spiritual aspirant requires a model, something he or she can look up to as
36352 an ideal and thus find guidance and inspiration. In Buddhism this is the
36353 Triple Gem, or the Three Jewels of Refuge: the Buddhas, Dharma and Sangha.
36354 When we think of the fully enlightened Buddhas--the beings who have purified
36355 their minds of all stains and obscurations and who have expanded their wisdom
36356 to the limits of existence--we feel very attracted and awed; but somehow there
36357 always seems to be a great distance between the Buddhas and us. Therefore,
36358 there is the refuge of Sangha, the community of spiritual aspirants, the
36359 assembly of practitioners dwelling in the various stages of practice and
36361 These beings provide us with a perspective on the path. We have to look up
36362 to the Sangha, but not as far as to the Buddhas. The Sangha make us think,
36363 "This person is not that far ahead of me. If I just make a bit more
36364 effort...." They give us confidence for spiritual practice. Sometimes they
36365 make us feel like we can even race them to enlightenment. These are the
36366 Sangha of spiritual friends.
36367 Thoughts of the Buddhas make us numb with admiration; thoughts of the Sangha
36368 cause us to jump to it and to apply ourselves with zeal to the spiritual path.
36369 This path and the methods for traversing it are the third Jewel of Refuge, the
36370 Dharma. This is the collection of teachings to be practiced and the
36371 realizations to be attained. (p.97)
36372 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
36373 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
36375 Suppose there is this religious group building thousands of childcare
36376 facilities and hospices.... Although these religious workers are doing a lot
36377 of caring work, there is no wish to enlighten sentient beings. Their aim is
36378 just to provide food and education. At the same time, imagine there is one
36379 hermit living somewhere in the mountains of the Himalayas who is doing none of
36380 this. In fact, within close range of him, there are a lot of babies dying,
36381 yet outwardly he is doing nothing about it. Inwardly, however, he is actually
36382 meditating, "May all sentient beings be enlightened!" and he continues to do
36383 this every day. Purely because of the enlightenment aspect, this person is
36384 worthier of homage than the first group. Why? Because it is so difficult to
36385 truly and genuinely wish for the enlightenment of others. It is much easier
36386 to give people food and educate them.
36387 Most of us don't really appreciate this fact. We have never before
36388 genuinely wished for someone else to achieve enlightenment. Likewise, if
36389 someone were to come over and say to us: "Here you go, you have a ticket for
36390 enlightenment. There is only one ticket." I don't think we would even think
36391 about giving it to someone else! We'd grab it and go for it. Enlightenment
36392 is such a valuable thing.
36393 Actually, enlightenment is much too large a subject, so let's not take that
36394 as an example. Instead, let's say someone comes along with a potion that
36395 promises you clairvoyance or omniscience. We would drink it ourselves, not
36396 even sharing half of it with others!
36397 Just think how often we are jealous when someone is a better practitioner.
36398 How often do we get jealous when someone receives a better or a higher
36399 teaching than we do? If you have genuine bodhichitta, you should be happy,
36400 shouldn't you? After all, isn't that what you wished for? Their getting
36401 enlightenment means your wish is at last coming true. Their receiving higher
36402 teachings, or becoming better practitioners, means that your aspiration is
36403 finally being fulfilled! But we don't feel this way, instead we feel jealous
36404 or envious. Some of us may be so-so Dharma practitioners, so we don't really
36405 feel jealous or envious, but we still feel left behind. Who cares? If you
36406 are a genuine bodhisattva, you shouldn't care about these things. (p.123)
36407 -- "Entrance to the Great Perfection: A Guide to the Dzogchen Preliminary
36408 Practices", compiled, translated, and introduced by Cortland Dahl,
36409 published by Snow Lion Publications
36411 It is very difficult to help somebody overcome his or her problems when the
36412 problems are unstructured, when in a certain way this person does not have any
36413 problems, though deep inside all the problems are there. It is very difficult
36414 for a human being whose problem is confused, whose ego is ill-defined and
36415 without foundation, to really purify, clarify, and develop anything.
36416 The same principle applies to praying. As long as we have our self, our
36417 ego, we pray to the Buddha: "Please bless me so that my prayers for the
36418 benefit of all sentient beings be fulfilled." Otherwise our prayer does not
36419 follow any line or direction. It would be like going to a big five-star hotel
36420 with five hundred rooms and not knowing your room number, or taking an
36421 elevator without knowing which floor to go to--this would be a big problem.
36422 This is the reason for calling upon the great compassion of the Buddha and
36423 asking him to consider our prayers. The reason is not that the Buddha only
36424 listens to someone who prays to him; rather, without praying to the Buddha we
36425 are not developed enough to have the condition necessary to receive his
36426 blessing. Rain might be falling for ten thousand years, yet if our cup is
36427 upside down it will remain empty. Through praying we open up, we turn our cup
36428 to let the water get inside. (p.48)
36429 -- XII Khentin Tai Situpa Rinpoche, "The Third Karmapa's Mahamudra Prayer",
36430 translated and edited by Rosemarie Fuchs, published by Snow Lion Pub
36432 Catproof is an oxymoron, childproof nearly so. -- unknown
36434 In Tibetan there is no word for "emotion."
36435 Bearing in mind that the fundamental goal of Buddhist practice is the
36436 achievement of nirvana, when you study the mind what you're really concerned
36437 with is what specific mental states impede the accomplishment of that end.
36438 That's what the six primary states and twenty derivative states (the
36439 unwholesome mental factors) all have in common. Some are emotions and some
36440 are not, but it doesn't really matter. What's important is they all share
36441 that common factor of being impediments.
36442 In contrast, modern psychology does not have the aim of nirvana. My
36443 conjecture, in terms of trying to understand why the West places such a strong
36444 emphasis on identifying emotion, is that, going back to the Enlightenment,
36445 even as far back as Aquinas, there is an enormous priority placed on reason
36446 and intelligence. What can impede reason? Emotion.
36447 You have two categories that are set in opposition to each other. The fact
36448 that there is a specific term for emotion in Western thought does not
36449 necessarily imply that there was a special emphasis placed on understanding
36450 the nature of emotion. Perhaps initially the motive for labeling something as
36451 emotion was to enhance reason by identifying something that is unreasonable,
36452 something that is irrational. (p.159)
36453 -- "Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them? A Scientific Dialogue
36454 with the Dalai Lama", narrated by Daniel Goleman, foreword by the Dalai
36457 The solution of this problem is trivial and is left as an exercise for the reader.
36458 -- Standard textbook cookie
36461 Your Holiness and other teachers tell us to be sincerely joyful about
36462 others' worldly achievements, happiness, and acquisitions. But if we know
36463 with certainty that a person has acquired or achieved something through
36464 unskillful or non-virtuous means, such as lying, stealing, cheating, harming,
36465 in what manner should that happiness for them be experienced and expressed?
36468 One's attitude toward superficial successes that are achieved through wrong
36469 means of livelihood such as lying, stealing, cheating, and so on, should not
36470 be the same as for achievements and happiness which are genuine. However,
36471 here you must bear in mind that if you examine this carefully, you will find
36472 that although the immediate circumstances that gave rise to a person's joy and
36473 happiness may be a wrong means of livelihood, that is merely the immediate
36474 circumstance: the actual cause of that happiness is the individual's merit in
36476 So one has to see the difference between immediate circumstances and long-
36477 term causes. One of the characteristics of karmic theory is that there is a
36478 definite, commensurate relationship between cause and effect. There is no way
36479 that negative actions or unwholesome deeds can result in joy and happiness.
36480 Joy and happiness, by definition, are the results or fruits of wholesome
36481 actions. So, from that point of view, it is possible for us to admire not so
36482 much the immediate action, but the real causes of joy. (p.119)
36483 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
36484 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published by
36485 Snow Lion Publications
36487 At all times, do not lose courage in your inner awareness; uplift yourself,
36488 while assuming a humble position in your outer demeanor. Follow the example
36489 of the life and complete liberation of previous accomplished masters (siddha).
36490 Do not blame your past karma; instead, be someone who purely and flawlessly
36491 practices the Dharma. Do not blame temporary negative circumstances; instead,
36492 be someone who remains steadfast in the face of whatever circumstances may
36494 In brief, taking your own mind as witness, make your life and practice one,
36495 and at the time of death, with no thought of anything left undone, do not be
36496 ashamed of yourself. This itself is the pith instruction of all practices.
36497 Eventually, when the time of death arrives, completely give up whatever
36498 wealth you possess, and do not cling to even one needle. Moreover, at death,
36499 practitioners of highest faculty will be joyful; practitioners of middling
36500 faculty will be without apprehension; and practitioners of the lowest faculty
36501 will have no regrets. When realization's clear light becomes continuous day
36502 and night, there is no intermediate state (bardo): death is just breaking the
36503 enclosure of the body.
36504 If this is not the case, but if you have confidence that you will be
36505 liberated in the intermediate state, whatever you have done in preparation for
36506 death will suffice. Without such confidence, when death arrives, you can send
36507 your consciousness to whichever pure land you wish and there traverse the
36508 remaining paths and stages to become enlightened. (p.58)
36509 -- "Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice", translated by Ron Garry,
36510 a Tsadra Foundation Series book, published by Snow Lion Publications
36512 There are many different forms of bodywork that can purify and heal in the
36513 context of preparing for tantric practice. Trauma held in the body from early
36514 experiences is cleared only when we are able to work therapeutically in the
36515 body. Whether it is body-centered therapy or the various practices of
36516 acupuncture, osteopathy, homeopathy, and so on, if the practice releases and
36517 transforms trauma, then it is beneficial as a preliminary to any further
36518 tantric practice. I often suggest to people I teach that they follow some
36519 form of body-energy healing in order to further their release of trauma.
36520 Also, after trauma has been released, it is often extremely useful to then
36521 explore some form of psychotherapy.
36522 We should not assume that the traditional practices will do it all for us.
36523 It is simply idealistic and naive to think that all our ills can be resolved
36524 by doing the traditional preliminary practices or, indeed, by classical
36525 "dharma practice" alone. We should consider a healthy body-mind-life
36526 relationship as a necessary part of our practice. When we get this balance
36527 right, we create the basis for a sound dharma practice.
36528 The practice of tantra in particular needs this healthy, balanced basis
36529 because when we work with tantric practices, we stimulate processes in the
36530 body that are often very powerful. If we have a sound base for practice and
36531 have a level of emotional and energetic maturity, then the effects of tantra
36532 can be held and grounded without creating the potential for problems to arise.
36533 Without a sound relationship to the body, the practice of tantra has no real
36534 base from which to unfold.(p.53)
36535 -- Rob Preece, "Preparing for Tantra: Creating the Psychological Ground
36536 for Practice", published by Snow Lion Publications
36538 During a visit to America, Winston Churchill was invited to a buffet luncheon
36539 at which cold fried chicken was served. Returning for a second helping, he
36540 asked politely, "May I have some breast?" "Mr. Churchill," replied the
36541 hostess, "in this country we ask for white meat or dark meat." Churchill
36542 apologized profusely. The following morning, the lady received a magnificent
36543 orchid from her guest of honor. The accompanying card read: "I would be most
36544 obliged if you would pin this on your white meat."
36548 What are the methods for causing one's own mind to become the practices?
36549 Initially, one should take refuge and think about actions and their effects.
36550 The refuge is the Three Jewels: Buddha, his Doctrine and the Spiritual
36553 [Buddha] When a sentient being purifies the taints of his own mind as well
36554 as their latent predispositions, he is free of all defects that act as
36555 obstructions. Thus, he simultaneously and directly knows all phenomena. Such
36556 a being is called a Buddha, and he is a teacher of refuge, like a physician.
36558 [Dharma] The Doctrine jewel is the superior paths--the chief right paths
36559 which remove the taints as well as their latent predispositions--and the
36560 absences which are states of having removed what is to be removed. The
36561 Doctrine is the actual refuge, like medicine.
36563 [Sangha] The Spiritual Community jewel is all persons, whether lay or
36564 ordained, who have generated a superior path in their continuum. They are
36565 friends helping one to achieve refuge, like nurses.
36567 The three refuges that have been achieved and presently exist in other
36568 beings' continuums are one's own causal refuge; one relies on a protector just
36569 as a weak person takes refuge in a stronger person. The three refuges that
36570 one will attain in the future are one's own effect refuge. One who relies on
36571 the Three Jewels from the point of view of knowing that he is to attain them,
36572 must cause them to be generated in his own continuum.(p.35)
36573 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Buddhism of Tibet", translated and edited by
36574 Jeffrey Hopkins, with Anne Klein, published by Snow Lion Publications
36576 Buddhism was extremely helpful to me during the process of my sister's
36577 lingering death two years ago. She was forty-five years old and had very few
36578 spiritual aspirations. She was actually fearful and closed to any suggestions
36579 that she might find comfort in expanding her degree of awareness and
36580 understanding. At first I was extremely upset by her attitude, but then I
36581 realized it was not for me to decide what she should or should not do with the
36582 last few months of her life. I was with her for support and comfort and not
36583 to force her to view her life in a way which was foreign and threatening to
36585 Enabling a person to accomplish a sense of having lived purposefully and
36586 with significance is a major goal of caregivers and loved ones. Being able to
36587 support someone during their dying trajectory, regardless of what they are
36588 thinking or feeling is probably one of the most valuable services one person
36589 can offer to another. But, it is difficult to stay close to someone who is
36590 dying. Not trying to evade an open encounter with the intense psychic pain
36591 that usually accompanies the recognition of impending death is one of the most
36592 valuable contributions that a nurse or any other caregiver or loved one can
36593 make to the patient who wishes to discuss his or her circumstances. Facing
36594 forthrightly the situation of dying, however, requires feeling comfortable
36595 with one's own feelings about death and the frailty of being human.
36596 Buddhism has taught me that death need not be approached only as a tragedy;
36597 it is also an event from which a profound understanding can unfold. (p.44)
36598 -- "Buddhism through American Women's Eyes", edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo,
36599 published by Snow Lion Publications
36601 Offerings should not be influenced by fluctuations of motivation and they
36602 should not be procured by devious means--offerings procured through wrong
36603 means are not good offerings. They should be arranged with proper motivation.
36604 As explained in the precepts of refuge, you should make offerings of the first
36605 portion of your food or drink of the day, whether it be food, milk or tea.
36606 Offerings should be made of what is edible; it is not helpful to arrange a
36607 torma that could not be eaten and then to say OM AH HUM, OM AH HUM. If you
36608 can in reality transform something into delicious food just by reciting OM AH
36609 HUM three times, then it is alright! On the other hand, if your offerings
36610 remain as mere tsampa (roasted barley flour) after having repeated OM AH HUM a
36611 thousand times, it will not help much. The offerings should be the best you
36612 can afford. At least you can offer the first portion of your daily food, as
36613 no one can live without food! Our offerings should be something which is
36614 edible.... [Even] if you make water offerings in a proper manner, you can
36615 generate great merit.(p.35)
36616 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Union of Bliss and Emptiness: Teachings on the
36617 Practice of Guru Yoga", translated by Thupten Jinpa, published by Snow
36620 Hundreds of people may be more popular, powerful, and wealthy than we are,
36621 but from the point of view of the Dharma, no one is more fortunate. We have a
36622 very precious opportunity to make the best of our lives by working toward the
36623 attainment of buddhahood. We have obtained this precious human birth and have
36624 come in contact with the teachings and spiritual friends. All the favorable
36625 conditions are available--we could not ask for more. Yet this is only for a
36626 very short period of time. Within this very short time, the best thing we can
36627 do for ourselves is commit ourselves fully and wholeheartedly to practicing
36628 the disciplines, which are an essential part of the practice of the teachings.
36629 ...The practice of discipline is very profound. In terms of the
36630 effectiveness of the practice of the Dharma, there is a hundredfold difference
36631 between someone who follows some level of discipline and someone who does not.
36632 Whether visualizing a deity, practicing basic meditation, or reciting mantras,
36633 the benefit is a hundredfold greater when we have the ground of discipline.
36634 The teachings of the Buddha say that if we take dust from the footprint of a
36635 person who embodies discipline and put it on our heads, it is a blessing.
36636 Even the king of the devas would do that, because of the sacredness of
36637 discipline. There is a tradition, followed to this day in India, of touching
36638 the feet of a holy person or touching the doorstep before entering his or her
36639 door, and then touching our foreheads. This is not merely a cultural
36640 tradition, but is acknowledging something very profound.(p.73)
36641 -- Khenpo Karthar, "Dharma Paths" 2nd Edition, translated by Ngödup Burkhar
36642 and Chöjor Radha, edited by Laura M. Roth, published by Snow Lion
36645 According to the lower schools of Buddhist thought, when a being, like
36646 Sakyamuni Buddha, attains mahaparinirvana and passes away, he ceases to exist,
36647 there is no further continuity of consciousness. Therefore, according to the
36648 Vaibhasika school, for example, after this point there is no more being, no
36649 more consciousness. Only the name remains. And yet, they believe that this
36650 being who has now disappeared can influence the course of those who follow him
36651 due to the virtues that he created in the past.
36652 This is not accepted by the higher schools of thought, however, that instead
36653 believe that there are two kinds of bodies, those that are pure in nature and
36654 those that are impure. The latter is more gross, whereas a body that has been
36655 purified is more subtle. Now, for example, when Sakyamuni Buddha gave up his
36656 body, there still remained the more subtle one. So, according to these
36657 schools of thought, at the stage of Buddhahood, there are two bodies: a mental
36658 body and a physical one. I don't know whether the English word "body" is the
36659 most appropriate one. In Sanskrit, the words used to signify these two bodies
36660 of the Buddha are dharmakaya and rupakaya. The first is of the nature of
36661 mind, whereas the latter is material. So when the Buddha passes away, there
36662 is still this more subtle body, which is of the nature of mind, and since the
36663 mental continuum is also present, we can say that the personality is still
36664 there. Even today, the Buddha remains as a living being. I think this is
36665 better, don't you?(p.91)
36666 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists",
36667 edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications
36669 Blame everything on one thing. It simplifies life incredibly, and yet it
36670 truly is not simplistic. If we believe from our hearts that all of our
36671 misfortunes can be attributed to self-centeredness, this must radically
36672 transform our lives.
36673 Do we have reservations? Isn't there some part of the mind that says,
36674 "Self-centeredness is not such a bad idea. It got me my job, a good salary,
36675 my house and car. How can this be my enemy?" On the surface self-centeredness
36676 may seem like an aide who looks after our interests. There is one powerful
36677 answer to this: insofar as self-centeredness dominates our lives, it brings us
36678 into conflict with virtually everyone else. Because most people are dominated
36679 by self-centeredness, their interests are at odds with our own. There is
36680 bound to be conflict, and conflict gives rise to suffering.
36681 Imagine what life would be like without self-centeredness. Would we give
36682 away all our possessions, waste away from malnutrition, and die prematurely of
36683 disease? No. This would be a partial lack of self-centeredness combined with
36684 a large part of stupidity. If we are to serve others effectively, we must
36685 take care of ourselves. A bodhisattva has no self-centeredness, but there
36686 have been people in all stations of life, including kings, who are
36687 bodhisattvas. If we free ourselves of self-centeredness and really concern
36688 ourselves with the cherishing of others, then our own welfare comes as a kind
36690 -- B. Alan Wallace, "The Seven-Point Mind Training", edited by Zara
36691 Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
36693 When we achieve a mind focused on mind with the perfect placement of
36694 absorbed concentration, free from all faults of dullness or flightiness, we
36695 increasingly experience an element of bliss accompanying our meditation. When
36696 we experience serene joy, on both a physical and mental level, brought on by
36697 the force of total absorption of mind on mind, we achieve a meditational state
36698 that fulfills the definition of shamata.
36699 Our ordinary mind is like raw iron ore that needs to be made into a steel
36700 sword. Progressing through the stages for attaining shamata is like forging
36701 the iron into steel. All the materials are there at our disposal. But since
36702 the mind wanders after external objects, then although it is the material for
36703 attaining shamata, it cannot yet be used as this product. We have to forge
36704 our mind through a meditational process. It is like putting the iron ore into
36706 To fashion the steel into a sword, or in this analogy to fashion the mind
36707 into an instrument that understands voidness, our serenely stilled and settled
36708 mind needs to come to decisive realization of voidness as its object. Without
36709 such a weapon of mind, we have no opponent with which to destroy the
36710 disturbing emotions and attitudes.(p.142)
36711 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin, "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
36712 Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
36714 Focusing the mind on the object of meditation is like planting a seed for
36715 the arisal of the realization.... Even in the beginning stages one might
36716 become impatient, thinking, "I really want to get this done quickly." One
36717 might think that by exerting more effort, by adding more and more stuff, by
36718 changing things this way or that way the process can be made to go faster.
36719 The good gardener knows that too much water or fertilizer is harmful, not
36720 helpful. The mature meditator must understand this as well. The Kadampa
36721 masters of old gave this counsel: First, pay great heed to getting the proper
36722 causes and conditions together. Next, engage in the practice without
36723 agitation and without anxiety. Then, with the mind at ease, carry on to the
36725 --Gen Lamrimpa, "How to Practice Shamatha Meditation: The Cultivation of
36726 Meditative Quiescence", translated by B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow
36729 The Need for Reasoning
36731 All Buddhist schools agree that the analytical reasoning process which leads
36732 to an inference (a conceptual realization) derives from basic, shared, direct
36733 perception. As an example let us consider the following reasoning:
36735 A plant does not inherently exist because of being a dependent-arising.
36737 You begin by reflecting on the fact that a plant is a dependent-arising
36738 because its production depends on certain causes and conditions (such as a
36739 seed, soil, sunlight, and water), but eventually the reasoning process must be
36740 supported by direct perception, or it cannot stand. We can see with our eyes
36741 that plants change; they grow; mature, and finally dry up. In this sense,
36742 inference is blind, since it must eventually rely on direct perception.
36743 Inference depends on reasoning, which in turn rests on basic, shared,
36744 indisputable experience through direct perception. (p.153)
36745 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful
36746 Life", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
36748 The root of all qualities of the Bodhisattva vehicle is caring for sentient
36749 beings. We admire and respect the Buddha because he has reached the state
36750 free of all faults and possessing all good qualities, knows the method to
36751 reach that state, and teaches it to us. If we do as the Buddha did, by
36752 meditating on love and compassion for all sentient beings, not harming or
36753 getting angry with them, we too can become a Buddha.
36754 Our enlightenment depends on the Buddhas and on sentient beings, and from
36755 this point of view, they are equally important to us. Thus when we look at
36756 any sentient being, we should recognize that she is indispensable to our
36757 attainment of enlightenment. Our enlightenment comes from cherishing sentient
36758 beings; it does not come from cherishing only ourselves. Understanding this,
36759 whenever we encounter people in our lives, it becomes easy to feel, "May this
36760 person be happy and free from suffering."
36761 Caring for sentient beings means freeing them from the suffering of
36762 unfortunate rebirths and of cyclic existence in general, teaching the Dharma
36763 to those who want to hear it, providing the means for them to eliminate the
36764 causes which bring suffering temporarily and ultimately, not harming them, not
36765 lying to them, not creating discord among them, not speaking harshly to them,
36766 and so on. Through caring about them now, excellent results will follow, for
36767 us and for them.(p.179)
36768 -- Geshe Jampa Tegchok, "Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage: An
36769 Explanation of the Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas", edited by
36770 Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
36772 The term 'karma' literally means 'action', and more specifically refers to
36773 the process of cause and effect, where the intention of an agent or being is
36774 involved. So here karma means an intentional act committed or carried out by
36775 a being who possesses a sentient nature and who is also capable of having a
36776 sentient experience.
36777 ...Buddhist texts state that only a buddha's omniscient mind can penetrate
36778 the subtlest aspects of the workings of karma, and know at the most
36779 microscopic level which specific causes and conditions give rise to which
36780 specific consequences. At our level, we can only recognise that an intimate
36781 relationship exists between the external elements of the material world and
36782 the internal elements of our mental world; and, based on that, we can learn to
36783 detect varying levels of subtlety within our mental and emotional experiences.
36785 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
36786 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
36788 All attachment and aversion come from what we have mentally created. We
36789 have made an image and that is our mind as we normally experience it. In
36790 order to solve this problem in a more profound and permanent way, we have to
36791 look at our mind and see its true nature. In our innate, unfabricated nature,
36792 which is the basic state of our mind, there is no problem. We make all our
36793 problems by creating concepts and all kinds of mental conditioning.
36794 Seeing the true nature of mind means experiencing the way the mind is when
36795 we do not fabricate and contrive anything. We need to look at our mind when
36796 it is devoid of our creations and free from mental elaborations. If we can
36797 see this state of mind, there is no grasping, no grasped object, and no
36798 subject doing the grasping. There is simply perception or seeing, which in
36799 itself does not cause a problem.
36800 When the true nature of mind is seen, there are just appearances without any
36801 evaluation. One thing arises in the mind and then another thing arises. The
36802 arising that is pleasant is no better than the one that is unpleasant. They
36803 are simply different manifestations of the mind. There is no need to grasp
36804 one and reject the other. Once this is seen clearly, we see the true nature
36805 of mind. This is something that we need to experience directly. When we see
36806 the truth, we become liberated from our struggle within the nets of aversion
36807 and attachment.(p.97)
36808 --Ringu Tulku, "Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha", edited and
36809 translated by Rosemarie Fuchs, published by Snow Lion Publications
36811 In general, most non-Buddhist religions meditate on the deity as being
36812 outside the physical body. In these cases the deity takes the form of a
36813 refuge, or of a protector or messenger. Thus do they meditate, and of course
36814 this is fine. In the Buddhist tradition, however, the deity is not meditated
36815 on as being outside the physical body. One meditates on the deity as being
36816 one's own essence expressing itself through oneself arising as the deity. One
36817 therefore thinks, "I am the deity," and with this conviction one meditates.
36818 Why is it justifiable to meditate in this manner? As previously seen, the
36819 five afflictions are actually self-expressions of the five kinds of primordial
36820 awareness; thus our own mind is in essence exactly the same as the mind of a
36821 Buddha. In the philosophical treatises this is sometimes referred to as
36822 'sugatagarbha' or 'buddha-nature'.
36823 Because all beings possess this innately pure buddha-nature, they are pure
36824 by nature and not at all impure. Being pure by nature it is perfectly
36825 justified to meditate that you are the deity, because this is exactly how it
36827 --Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "Everyday Consciousness and Primordial
36828 Awareness", translated and edited by Susanne Schefczyk, published by Snow
36831 In day to day life if you lead a good life, honestly, with love, with
36832 compassion, with less selfishness, then automatically it will lead to
36833 nirvana....We must implement these good teachings in daily life. Whether you
36834 believe in God or not does not matter so much; whether you believe in Buddha
36835 or not does not matter so much; as a Buddhist, whether you believe in
36836 reincarnation or not does not matter so much. You must lead a good life.
36837 And a good life does not mean just good food, good clothes, good shelter.
36838 These are not sufficient. A good motivation is what is needed: compassion,
36839 without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that
36840 others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their rights and human
36841 dignity. That we humans can help each other is one of our unique human
36842 capacities. We must share in other peoples' suffering; even if you cannot
36843 help with money, to show concern, to give moral support and express sympathy
36844 are themselves valuable. This is what should be the basis of activities;
36845 whether one calls it religion or not does not matter.... In my simple
36846 religion, love is the key motivation.(p.20)
36847 -- The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, "Kindness,
36848 Clarity, and Insight 25th Anniversary Edition", edited and translated by
36849 Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion
36851 All beings suffer in the same way as we do, and some are even more deeply
36852 immersed in sorrow. Yet all of these beings wish to experience only happiness
36853 and to avoid all suffering, frustration, and pain. They wish lasting
36854 happiness but do not know how to cultivate its causes, and they wish to avoid
36855 misery but automatically collect only causes of further misery. As Shantideva
36856 said, "Although seeking happiness, they destroy their own causes of happiness
36857 as they would an enemy. And although seeking to avoid misery, they treat its
36858 causes as they would a close friend."
36859 Were the countless sentient beings unrelated to us, or were they not to mind
36860 their sufferings, perhaps there would be no need for us to bother with their
36861 welfare. In reality, however, all are related to us and not one of them
36862 wishes to suffer. Over the billions of lifetimes that we have experienced
36863 since beginningless time, we have known all the living beings again and again.
36864 Sometimes they have been parents to us, sometimes friends or mates, sometimes
36865 enemies. Without exception, each of them has been even a mother to us again
36866 and again, performing all the kindnesses of a mother. How can we be
36867 indifferent to them?
36868 Wishing them to have only happiness and its causes and to be free of
36869 suffering and its causes, we ourselves should generate a sense of
36870 responsibility for their well-being. Finally, as only an omniscient
36871 Enlightened One is effectively able to benefit beings in deep, lasting, and
36872 ultimate ways, we must quickly attain enlightenment. This is the wishing
36873 bodhimind, the inner basis of Mahayana practice.(p.136)
36874 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
36875 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
36877 Recalling our interconnectedness, we begin to recognize our total
36878 interdependence and that whatever we enjoy in our life comes through others--
36879 through their efforts, their work, their hardships.
36880 It does not necessarily require that others had a specific intention to
36881 enable us to enjoy the things of our life. If we think of this in terms of
36882 the obvious examples like food and clothing, we can immediately see the global
36883 meaning of this contemplation. Our food comes from all over the world and if
36884 we consider the people and other creatures involved in its production,
36885 picking, packaging, transportation, and selling so that we can enjoy it, the
36886 numbers are vast. It is through their labor, their efforts, their struggles
36887 that we enjoy what we eat. Often their lives are terribly hard, and to feed a
36888 family they must work for very little--yet we enjoy the fruits of their labor.
36889 This is something to feel a huge gratitude for.
36890 If we begin to look more closely at our Western life, we can see how much we
36891 are dependent upon people in considerably poorer circumstances all over the
36892 world for what we consume. What we often don't consider is the impact of this
36893 consumption on those who produce it. In this meditation, it can be very
36894 useful to spend some time dwelling upon this so that we really feel the
36895 profound depth of appreciation for our interdependence upon others for our
36896 lives. This can counter the tendency to take our good fortune for granted and
36897 can open up a sense of gratitude for the kindness of those around. If guilt
36898 arises, it can be used to increase our awareness of the responsibility we have
36900 Gradually, we may begin to see the complete interdependent nature of our
36901 relationship with the countless other beings around us. We cannot overlook
36902 this connectedness to others and the kindness and benefit we have gained
36903 through them. When we come to feel this deeply, we will be able to hold
36904 others dear and automatically respond to others with a greater sense of care
36906 -- Rob Preece, "The Courage to Feel: Buddhist Practices for Opening to
36907 Others", published by Snow Lion Publications
36909 If you cannot stop worrying over something in the past or what might happen in
36910 the future, shift your focus to the inhalation and exhalation of your breath.
36911 Or recite this mantra: om mani padme hum (pronounced "om mani padmay hum").
36912 Since the mind cannot concentrate on two things simultaneously, either of
36913 these meditations causes the former worry to fade.(p.133)
36914 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful
36915 Life", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
36917 When serving society or others in general, it is very important to set a
36918 proper motivation at the start of each day. When we wake up each morning, we
36919 reflect, 'Today I am not going to come under the power of either attachment or
36920 hostility. Today I am going to be of benefit and help to others.' Thus we
36921 consciously set the tone for the entire day so that we go through it within
36922 the context of a pure, altruistic motivation and attitude.
36923 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, excerpted from "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of
36924 Mahamudra", published by Snow Lion Publications
36926 We all have a certain style for doing things--how we drive, how we cook, how
36927 we dress. Some of us are shy or cautious, others assertive or flamboyant.
36928 We've refined that style over the years based on how successful it is, but
36929 it's not usually something of which we're completely aware. As long as it
36930 gets the job done, as long as we get the appropriate feedback from others, our
36931 style goes unnoticed, and when questioned we'll say, "That's just the way I
36933 When we begin meditation, it is inevitable that we will meditate with the
36934 same style with which we do everything else, because it's who we think we are.
36935 Furthermore, this style has proven to be reasonably successful in our other
36936 activities. However, in this case, it is not at all appropriate. If there is
36937 any style, there is a hidden agenda and an implicit judgment of the various
36938 phenomena of meditation. There is not the true detachment or choiceless
36939 awareness of real meditation. Our style contains our unacknowledged attitudes
36941 ...What's the problem in meditating with an attitude? First, a large amount
36942 of energy goes into maintaining the attitude. To make this clearer, if we are
36943 trying to be aware of our breathing, 100 percent of our attention should be on
36944 our breathing. If we're thinking, "I'm a shy person and I'm a little afraid
36945 of what's going on here," even if we're not consciously aware of that thought,
36946 it will be taking our energy away from the breathing and keeping it tied up in
36947 the world of ego. Consequently, this energy is not available for our
36948 practice. And your evaluation of your practice and progress will be based on
36949 your agenda rather than on the Buddha's teaching.
36950 Of course, no one is a perfect meditator. It's not like we have to wait
36951 until we have a perfect attitude before we begin. If that were the case, we
36952 would never start..With time, the purity of your attitude will grow...refining
36953 one's approach is a lifetime's work and is at the same time the practice
36955 -- Bruce Newman, "A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism", published by
36956 Snow Lion Publications
36958 Developing a sense of good cheer in the face of adversity, you can
36959 specifically use adversity as the support for refuge and true spiritual
36960 development. I am discussing how you relate to your suffering, how you relate
36961 to your adversity, as it affects you in life and on the path.
36962 Now, as you know, whenever you are suffering by way of the body, speech, and
36963 mind, be it physical illness or a mental affliction, this is a very big deal
36964 to you. Usually it appears as something major. Even if it's minor, you make
36965 it into some great distress. If you lose a little money or if someone speaks
36966 nastily to you, it invokes a strong reaction. This is called "appearances
36967 arising as the enemy." When your habituation to adversity reaches such a
36968 point that you actually fall prey to appearances arising as the enemy, it
36969 means that you no longer have patience for suffering.
36970 ...If you can't bear the minor aspects of adversity in this, the best
36971 rebirth in cyclic existence, the precious human rebirth, what will you do when
36972 you're reborn in the three lower realms? Samsara is so vast, so deep and
36973 limitless, and the number of sentient beings within samsara are equal to that.
36974 All of them want to be free; all of them desire liberation. You should
36975 consider then how unnecessary or pointless it is to think that your small
36976 problems in this fortunate life are so great, when in fact they really are
36978 Any rebirth in this ocean of cyclic existence will by nature bring this type
36979 of discontent or suffering. Since you've been in this cycle of rebirths from
36980 beginningless time until now and you are still not free, it points out the
36981 fact that help is needed. Refuge is necessary. Adversity then becomes the
36982 support for training in refuge, which demonstrates that adversity is used to
36983 your advantage.(p.44)
36984 -- Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche, "Meditation, Transformation, and Dream Yoga",
36985 trans. by B. Alan Wallace and Sangye Khandro, published by Snow Lion Pub.
36987 The practice of Dharma is to pacify the afflictions and concepts that fill
36988 our minds. When we blend the teachings with our minds, the power of the
36989 Dharma can act upon and pacify afflictions and concepts. If on the outside we
36990 look like Dharma practitioners while on the inside our Dharma practice has not
36991 diminished our afflictions or concepts, we merely call ourselves practitioners
36992 without actually being one. This is not to say that outer behavior, our
36993 reflection in the world, is not important, but what is crucial is to train in
36995 What we tame are the three main afflictions: ignorance, attachment, and
36996 aversion. Ignorance, the root of the two others, is defined as the continual
36997 fixation on our self that we assume to be permanent and independent. This
36998 ego-clinging is the main cause for our cycling in samsara. We wish to be in
36999 paradise for our own advantage; we wish to erase all suffering for our own
37000 advantage. We cling to this "I" of ours, thinking that it is so special that
37001 we should not be bothered with problems but enjoy wealth, power, and charisma.
37002 If we honestly look into our minds, it is quite easy to see this kind of
37003 coarse and obvious grasping to a self.
37004 There are also subtle forms of fixating on the self ("I") and what belongs
37005 to it ("mine"), like the quick thought of ourselves before another one comes.
37006 When practicing Dharma, we are taming this coarse and subtle clinging to an
37007 ego. If this does not happen, we will merely be able to suppress the
37008 afflictions temporarily, distancing ourselves for the time being. To cut
37009 through them completely, we must steadily apply ourselves to practice.(p.187)
37010 -- "Music in the Sky: The Life, Art and Teachings of the Seventeenth
37011 Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje", by Michele Martin, published by Snow
37014 "The mantra of the perfection of wisdom--the mantra of great knowledge,
37015 the unexcelled mantra, the mantra equal to the unequalled, the mantra
37016 that quells all suffering--is true because it is not deceptive."
37019 The perfection of wisdom is called "the mantra of great knowledge" because
37020 thoroughly understanding its meaning eliminates the three poisons of craving,
37021 hatred, and delusion. It is called the "unexcelled mantra" because there is
37022 no greater method than the perfection of wisdom for saving one from the
37023 extremes of cyclic existence and the isolated peace of individual nirvana. It
37024 is called the mantra "equal to the unequalled" because the Buddha's
37025 enlightened state is unequalled, and, through the deepest realization of this
37026 mantra, one attains a state equal to that state. Finally, the perfection of
37027 wisdom is known as the "mantra that quells all suffering" because it quells
37028 manifest sufferings and also removes all propensities for future suffering.
37029 The perfection of wisdom is the ultimate truth, thus the statement "it is
37030 true." In the realm of the ultimate truth, there is no disparity, as there is
37031 in conventional reality, between appearance and reality, and thus this
37032 manifest ultimate truth is "not deceptive." This nondeceptiveness also
37033 suggests that, through actualization of this mantra, the perfection of wisdom
37034 can enable one to attain total freedom from suffering and its causes. From
37035 this perspective too, we can say that it is the truth.
37036 "The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is proclaimed: tadyatha gate gate
37037 paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha! Shariputra, the bodhisattvas, the great
37038 beings, should train in the perfection of wisdom in this way."
37039 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart
37040 of Wisdom Teachings", translated & edited by Geshe Thupten Jinpa
37042 For as long as space endures
37043 And for as long as sentient beings remain,
37044 Until then may I too abide,
37045 To dispel the misery of the world.
37046 -- Shantideva, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life
37048 Global Responsibility
37050 Occasionally I notice that people are making a convenient distinction
37051 between ethics on the personal level and ethics on the wider social level. To
37052 me, such attitudes are fundamentally flawed, as they overlook the
37053 interdependence of our world.
37054 That individual ethics--or rather their absence--can have an impact on the
37055 lives of many is powerfully demonstrated by the global financial crisis that
37056 began in 2008, the repercussions of which are still being felt around the
37057 world. It revealed the way unbridled greed on the part of a few can adversely
37058 affect the lives of millions. So, just as in the wake of the 9/11 attacks we
37059 started to take the dangers of religious extremism and intolerance seriously,
37060 so too, in the wake of the financial crisis, should we take the dangers of
37061 greed and dishonesty seriously. When greed is seen as acceptable, even
37062 praiseworthy, there is clearly something wrong with our collective value
37064 In this age of globalization, the time has come for us to acknowledge that
37065 our lives are deeply interconnected and to recognize that our behavior has a
37066 global dimension. When we do so, we will see that our own interests are best
37067 served by what is in the best interests of the wider human community. By
37068 contrast, if we concentrate exclusively on our inner development and neglect
37069 the wider problems of the world, or if, having recognized these, we are
37070 apathetic about trying to solve them, then we have overlooked something
37071 fundamental. Apathy, in my view, is itself a form of selfishness. For our
37072 approach to ethics to be truly meaningful, we must of course care about the
37073 world. This is what I mean by the principle of global responsibility, which
37074 is a key part of my approach to secular ethics.(p.84)
37075 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole
37076 World", trans. by Thupten Jinpa Langri
37078 Speech that is not harmful is the meaning of "right speech." It is wise
37079 speech. Wise people can still be quite firm and decisive when that is what is
37080 needed. It means finding generous and productive ways of saying things.
37081 There are times when we need to be strict, but we do not have to denigrate or
37082 harm the person or child who is out of line. Firm speech can also be wise
37084 Wise speech is another tool that can be practiced. We can begin by
37085 practicing wise speech to ourselves--replacing the inner voice of guilt that
37086 is putting us down and opening a space to listen to our deeper needs.
37087 What can I say which will be helpful to someone? What tone of voice will I
37088 use? And when is it wise to say nothing? Imagine yourself actually saying
37089 something helpful and supportive. Imagine the difference it would make in
37090 your life if you could say just one helpful thing to one person. Imagine your
37091 life if your speech always came from wisdom.(p.136)
37092 -- Chonyi Taylor, "Enough! A Buddhist Approach to Finding Release from
37093 Addictive Patterns", published by Snow Lion Publications
37095 The famous nineteenth-century dzogchen master Paltrul Rinpoche explained self-
37096 liberation concretely and precisely:
37098 The practitioner of self-liberation is like an ordinary person as far as
37099 the way in which the thoughts of pleasure and pain, hope and fear,
37100 manifest themselves as creative energy. However, the ordinary person,
37101 taking these really seriously and judging them as acceptable or rejecting
37102 them, continues to get caught up in situations and becomes conditioned by
37103 attachment and aversion.
37105 Not doing this, a practitioner, when such thoughts arise, experiences
37106 freedom: initially, by recognizing the thought for what it is, it is freed
37107 just like meeting a previous acquaintance; then it is freed in and of
37108 itself, like a snake shedding its skin; and finally, thought is freed in
37109 being unable to be of benefit or harm, like a thief entering an empty
37112 ...Freeing or liberating thought does not mean ignoring, letting go of, being
37113 indifferent to, observing, or even not having thoughts. It means being
37114 present in hope and fear, pain and pleasure, not as objects before us, but as
37115 the radiant clarity of our natural state. Thus anger, for example, when
37116 experienced dualistically, is an irritation which we may indulge in or reject,
37117 depending on our conditioning. Either way we are caught up in it and act out
37118 of it. But when aware of anger as a manifestation of clarity, its energy is a
37119 very fresh awareness of the particulars of the situation. However, these
37120 particulars are no longer irritating.(p.77)
37122 -- Longchenpa, "You Are the Eyes of the World", translated by Kennard Lipman
37123 and Merrill Peterson, introduction by Namkhai Norbu, published by Snow
37126 In this practice one recollects negativity, contemplates its nature,
37127 generates apprehension of its karmic implications, and resolves to purify
37128 one's mind of the negative traces. On the basis of this resolve one takes
37129 refuge, develops the bodhimind and enters the Vajrasattva meditation or
37130 whatever method is being used. One can also do exercises such as prostrations
37131 and so forth. This concentration of purifying energies destroys the potency
37132 of negative karmic imprints like the germ of a barley seed roasted in a fire.
37133 Here it is important to begin the meditation session with a contemplative
37134 meditation and then to transform this into settled meditation for a prolonged
37135 period of time. One abides in the settled meditation until it begins to lose
37136 intensity, and then temporarily reverts to contemplative meditation in order
37137 to invigorate the mind, returning to fixed meditation once a contemplative
37138 atmosphere has been restored.
37139 Generally our mind is habituated to directing all of our energies into
37140 things that benefit this life alone, things of no spiritual consequence. By
37141 performing these types of meditations, our natural attachment to the
37142 meaningless activities of this life subsides and we begin to experience an
37143 inner appreciation for spiritual values. When spontaneously one's mind
37144 appreciates spiritual rather than mundane goals one has become an active
37145 practitioner of initial perspective.(p.117)
37146 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
37147 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
37149 When doing lamrim meditations, it is important to know clearly the state of
37150 mind you want to reach as a conclusion to the meditation. Lamrim texts
37151 describe the purpose of each meditation, and we want to make sure that our
37152 mind arrives at that conclusion and not at an incorrect or irrelevant
37153 conclusion. For example, when meditating on the disadvantages of the self-
37154 centered thought, our mind may twist that meditation and conclude, "I'm a
37155 horrible person because I'm so selfish." This is the wrong conclusion to reach
37156 from that meditation. The Buddha didn't teach the disadvantages of self-
37157 centeredness so that we would deride ourselves.
37158 If you meditate on a lam rim topic and arrive at an incorrect conclusion,
37159 the meditation hasn't been done correctly. In the above case, thinking, "I'm
37160 a bad person because I'm so selfish," indicates that we have misunderstood the
37161 purpose of the meditation and probably have fallen into an old pattern of
37162 putting ourselves down. Stop and ask yourself,
37163 "What conclusion does the Buddha want me to reach from this meditation? He
37164 wants me to ascertain that the self-centered mind is the actual 'enemy' that
37165 destroys my happiness. Self-centeredness is not an intrinsic part of me; it
37166 is not who I am. It's an incorrect, but deeply entrenched, thought that
37167 creates problems for me. I can free myself from it. Since I want to be
37168 happy, I will realize this selfish attitude for what it is and will stop
37169 following it! Instead, I will cultivate love and compassion for all beings."
37170 This is the conclusion you want to reach.(p.58)
37171 -- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Guided Meditations on the Stages of the
37172 Path", foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion
37174 Greed is a form of desire. However, it is an exaggerated form of desire,
37175 based on overexpectation. The true antidote of greed is contentment.
37176 For a practicing Buddhist, for a Dharma practitioner, many practices can act
37177 as a kind of counterforce to greed: the realization of the value of seeking
37178 liberation or freedom from suffering, recognizing the underlying
37179 unsatisfactory nature of one's existence, and so on. These views also help an
37180 individual to counteract greed. But in terms of an immediate response to
37181 greed, one way is to reflect upon the excesses of greed, what it does to one
37182 as an individual, where it leads. Greed leads one to a feeling of
37183 frustration, disappointment, a lot of confusion, and a lot of problems.
37184 When it comes to dealing with greed, one thing which is quite characteristic
37185 is that although it arises from the desire to obtain something, it is not
37186 satisfied by obtaining it. Therefore, it becomes limitless or boundless, and
37187 that leads to trouble. The interesting thing about greed is that although the
37188 underlying motive is to seek satisfaction, as I pointed out, even after
37189 obtaining the object of one's desire, one is still not satisfied. On the
37190 other hand, if one has a strong sense of contentment, it doesn't matter
37191 whether one obtains the object or not; either way, one is still content.(p.32)
37192 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
37193 Buddhist Perspective", translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, published by
37194 Snow Lion Publications
37196 We will hereby start scouring the net for people who say git is hard to
37197 understand and use, and just kill them. They clearly are just polluting
37203 What is the Bodhisattva's Way of life? It is the way of life that follows
37204 naturally from having cultivated the awakening mind of bodhicitta.
37205 Omniscience is achieved only through the process of purifying the disturbing
37206 emotions within your mind. It cannot be achieved merely through wishes and
37207 prayers. We have to train in eliminating all the specific disturbing emotions
37208 within your mind. We have to train in eliminating all the specific disturbing
37209 emotions by relying on specific antidotes.
37210 All the activities of a Bodhisattva can be included in two major categories:
37211 the practice of skillful means and the practice of wisdom. If the practices
37212 of giving, ethics, and so forth are to be perfected, they should be supported
37213 and influenced by the practice of wisdom. Without the practice of wisdom, the
37214 first five of the six perfections cannot actually become practices of
37215 perfection. In order to cultivate such wisdom, you must first cultivate the
37216 genuine unmistaken philosophical view that is known as the view of the Middle
37217 Way, or Madhyamika.
37218 ...even when you have understood the wisdom realizing emptiness, that alone
37219 will not become a powerful antidote to ignorance if it is not supported by
37220 other practices such as giving, ethics, patience, and so forth. Mere
37221 understanding of selflessness is not sufficient to defeat the disturbing
37223 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Stages of Meditation", root text by Kamalashila,
37224 translated by Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and
37225 Jeremy Russell, published by Snow Lion Publications
37227 The many tantras of both the Ancient and New traditions unanimously agree
37228 that these, and others, are the consequences of violating the pledges.
37230 Means of Restoration
37231 The proclaimers' vows, like a clay pot, once broken cannot be repaired;
37232 The awakening mind commitments, like gold or silver, can be restored;
37233 The tantric pledges, like a dented vessel, are restored by the
37234 practitioner's strength.
37237 When is it possible to restore a vow that has been transgressed? All the
37238 tantras and transmissions state that if a monk has incurred a defeat with
37239 concealment, the transgressed vow, like a broken clay pot, cannot be repaired.
37240 An awakening mind commitment that has been transgressed is like a cracked gold
37241 or silver vase which can still be soldered by a blacksmith. A violated vow or
37242 pledge in this Secret Mantra system is likened to a dented golden vessel,
37243 which can be straightened out by the practitioner's own strength.
37244 Pledges are restored through action, precious substances, earnest desire,
37245 contemplation, and reality.
37246 The Great Cleansing can purify all transgressions.(p.296)
37247 -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, "Treasury of Knowledge--Book Five: Buddhist
37248 Ethics", trans. by the Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group, under the
37249 direction of Ven. Bokar Rinpoche, published by Snow Lion Publications
37251 How to Become a Receptacle Suitable for Cultivating the Paths.
You are
37252 made into a vessel suitable for cultivating the path through entering a
37253 mandala such as that of the Vajra Element, receiving initiation, and receiving
37254 the pledges and vows.
37255 Concerning this, there are two types: those who merely enter a mandala and
37256 those who enter and receive initiation, of which there are two types. The
37257 former are those who cannot hold the vows of the five lineages but who hold
37258 the Bodhisattva vows; only the initiation of a student is granted to them.
37259 However, to those who can hold both Bodhisattva and mantra vows the full
37260 initiation of a vajra master is granted.(p.78)
37261 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra: Paths
37262 to Magical Feats", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by
37263 Snow Lion Publications
37265 Awareness as virtue. Beyond choosing more virtuous forms of speech, you can
37266 also try to cultivate awareness of the subtle vibration underlying your speech
37267 and of how your speech manifests from there. Is your voice creating the right
37269 In dzogchen the concept of virtuous speech is taken to its highest level.
37270 For example, the A-Tri system of dzogchen offers a group of successive
37271 practices in which one learns to maintain awareness while engaging in various
37272 virtuous, neutral, and nonvirtuous activities.
37273 One initially tries to stay present amid virtuous activity such as praying
37274 or chanting mantras. Once that experience is stabilized, one integrates
37275 presence with neutral speech, such as conversing casually with a friend about
37276 cooking or gardening. Finally, one tries to integrate with negative speech
37277 such as lying, arguing, or giving insults. It is easier if you can establish
37278 your intent for self-awareness before you get drawn into an angry argument.
37279 For example, think of how courtroom lawyers argue a case: although they may
37280 use strong, sharp language, they are never driven by their emotions--every
37281 word is carefully chosen for its impact and is guided by intent, if not
37283 From this perspective "nonvirtuous speech" might be defined as speech that
37284 is driven and not guided and through which you lose connection with your self.
37285 In dzogchen practice you aim to arrive at a place where all activity of body,
37286 speech, and mind becomes an expression of contemplative awareness and an aid
37287 to spiritual development--therefore virtuous in the truest sense of the word.
37289 -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "Tibetan Yogas of Body, Speech, and Mind",
37290 edited by Polly Turner, published by Snow Lion Publications
37292 Bodhisattvas give solely out of concern for others, without a self-
37293 cherishing attitude. That is the proper way of giving. Courageous
37294 Bodhisattvas risk even their lives to help others, and so, when we are in
37295 relatively better, more comfortable situations, we must certainly practice
37296 giving. Even if they are threatened, the courageous ones will not engage in
37297 improper actions. Instead, after examining the situation carefully, when they
37298 find that certain actions are correct and justified, on the basis of reason,
37299 they engage in them even at the risk of their lives. That is the way of the
37300 decent, civilized and courageous ones, who do not follow misleading paths.(p.20)
37301 -- H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama, "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries by H.H. the
37302 Dalai Lama XIV on the Jatakamala, Garland of Birth Stories", translated
37303 by Tenzin Dorjee, edited by Dexter Roberts
37305 Merely understanding the mind is not good enough. Recognizing it as the
37306 source of happiness and suffering is good, but great results come only from
37307 looking inward and meditating on the nature of the mind. Once you recognize
37308 its nature, then you need to meditate with joyful effort. Joyful meditation
37309 will actualize the true nature of the mind, and maintaining the mind in this
37310 natural state will bring enlightenment. This type of meditation reveals the
37311 innermost, profound wisdom that is inherent in the mind.
37312 Meditation can transform your body into wisdom light, into what is known as
37313 the rainbow body of wisdom. Many masters in the history of the Nyingma
37314 lineage have achieved this, as can anyone who practices these methods of
37315 meditation. The wisdom aspect of our nature exists at all times in each of
37316 us. You have always had this nature and it can be revealed through
37317 meditation. When you maintain the mind in its natural state, wonderful
37318 qualities shine out like light from the sun. Among these qualities are
37319 limitless compassion, limitless loving-kindness, and limitless wisdom.
37320 -- Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche,
37321 "The Buddhist Path: A Practical Guide from the Nyingma Tradition of
37322 Tibetan Buddhism", published by Snow Lion Publications
37324 In order for the wisdom of special insight to remove impediments to proper
37325 understanding, and to remove faulty mental states at their very roots, we need
37326 concentrated meditation, a state of complete single-mindedness in which all
37327 internal distractions have been removed.
37328 Single-minded meditation involves removing subtle internal distractions such
37329 as the mind's being either too relaxed or too tight. To do so we must first
37330 stop external distractions through training in the morality of maintaining
37331 mindfulness and conscientiousness with regard to physical and verbal
37332 activities--being constantly aware of what you are doing with your body and
37333 your speech. Without overcoming these obvious distractions, it is impossible
37334 to overcome subtler internal distractions. Since it is through sustaining
37335 mindfulness that you achieve a calm abiding of the mind, the practice of
37336 morality must precede the practice of concentrated meditation.(p.23)
37337 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life",
37338 translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
37340 Buddha means one who is fully enlightened. In other words, a buddha has
37341 fully awakened from the sleep of delusion. He is free from all obscurations,
37342 both gross and subtle, and has revealed the two intrinsic wisdom awarenesses.
37343 Buddhahood is the spontaneously established, uncompounded nature that does not
37344 depend on any other conditions. A buddha has perfect wisdom, has perfectly
37345 accomplished the nature of compassion, and has every ability to manifest all
37346 excellent activities.
37347 There are many buddhas in the past, present, and future. In fact, there are
37348 as many buddhas as there are particles of dust. Basically, the term buddha
37349 refers to anyone whose mind is fully awakened and who is free from all
37350 suffering and its causes. When we point to Buddha Shakyamuni as a buddha, he
37351 is an example of this. A buddha has four forms, all of which emanate from the
37353 1. Nirmanakaya is a buddha who has emanated in a physical form. A
37354 nirmanakaya can emanate anywhere as anything animate or inanimate--as a human
37355 being, an animal, or even a bridge, if necessary...
37356 2. Sambhogakaya is the expression of the complete, perfect manifestation
37357 of the Buddha's excellent, infinite qualities, called the enjoyment body--
37358 splendid and glorious. All the buddhas appear and manifest in the limitless
37359 buddha fields in this form...
37360 3. Dharmakaya is one's own perfection, fully free from all delusion and
37361 suffering. It is infinite and transcends all boundaries...
37362 4. Svabhavikakaya is the indivisible nature of the other three forms.(p.165)
37363 -- Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, "A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path",
37364 edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
37366 Boundless joy is the joy you should feel when you see gifted and learned
37367 beings who are happy, famous or influential. Instead of feeling uneasy and
37368 envious of their good fortune, rejoice sincerely, thinking, "May they continue
37369 to be happy and enjoy even more happiness!" Pray too that they may use their
37370 wealth and power to help others, to serve the Dharma and the Sangha, making
37371 offerings, building monasteries, propagating the teachings and performing
37372 other worthwhile deeds. Rejoice and make a wish: "May they never lost all
37373 their happiness and privileges. May their happiness increase more and more,
37374 and may they use it to benefit others and to further the teachings."
37375 Pray that your mind may be filled with boundless equanimity, loving-
37376 kindness, compassion and joy--as boundless as a Bodhisattva's. If you do so,
37377 genuine bodhichitta will certainly grow within you.
37378 The reason these four qualities are boundless, or immeasurable, is that
37379 their object--the totality of sentient beings--is boundless; their benefit--
37380 the welfare of all beings--is boundless; and also their fruit--the qualities
37381 of enlightenment--is boundless. They are immeasurable like the sky, and they
37382 are the true root of enlightenment.(p.49)
37383 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "The Excellent Path to Enlightenment",
37384 translated and edited by The Padmakara Translation Group, published by
37385 Snow Lion Publications
37387 Regarding an online merchant... I think I have bought a couple things from
37388 them before, and my "cornholio sense" is not tingling (a power I got from
37389 being bitten by a radioactive asshole), so I don't think they were jerks when
37390 I used them last time.
37393 External circumstances are not what draw us into suffering. Suffering is
37394 caused and permitted by an untamed mind. The appearance of self-defeating
37395 emotions in our minds leads us to faulty actions. The naturally pure mind is
37396 covered over by these emotions and troubling conceptions. The force of their
37397 deceit pushes us into faulty actions, which leads inevitably to suffering.
37398 We need, with great awareness and care, to extinguish these problematic
37399 attitudes, the way gathering clouds dissolve back into the sphere of the sky.
37400 When our self-defeating attitudes, emotions, and conceptions cease, so will
37401 the harmful actions arising from them.
37402 As the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa says, "When arising, arising within space
37403 itself; when dissolving, dissolving back into space." We need to become
37404 familiar with the state of our own minds to understand how to dissolve ill-
37405 founded ideas and impulses back into the deeper sphere of reality. The sky
37406 was there before the clouds gathered, and it will be after they have gone. It
37407 is also present when the clouds seem to cover every inch of the sky we can
37409 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving
37410 Relationships", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
37412 Usually the reason that we can't experience transcendent bliss is because
37413 our consciousness is actually chained by the illusion called "I." It is
37414 chained because this concept literally ties our consciousness to the prison of
37415 duality, the prison of concepts and ideas. What most people experience is
37416 that their consciousness is chained by that illusion.
37417 But now and then there are people who find the so-called spiritual path.
37418 This is another quite strange and sneaky way that ego can actually keep
37419 binding our consciousness once again to another form of prison, the prison of
37420 duality, the prison of concepts and ideas. Transcendent bliss comes from
37421 breaking every chain.
37422 Breaking all chains, losing every concept, every idea, sounds very
37423 frightening to the ego's mind. But actually when we let go of every concept,
37424 we land on this infinite ground of eternal bliss, and that bliss is not some
37425 kind of religious or mystical experience, some altered state of consciousness.
37426 That bliss is not the result of doing something to our consciousness, rather
37427 it is the pure state of our consciousness.(p.74)
37428 -- Anam Thubten, "The Magic of Awareness", edited by Sharon Roe, published
37429 by Snow Lion Publications
37431 The all-base consciousness* works like a savings bank. Continuously money
37432 is paid into the bank and continuously it is taken out again. In the same way
37433 karmic imprints are absorbed by the all-base, are stored there, and can
37434 therefore be brought forth again.
37435 Learning, for example, occurs through the mind consciousness. The mind
37436 consciousness itself vanishes. Nevertheless, on the next day we have a memory
37437 of what we learned. At this time of remembrance, the mind consciousness of
37438 what we learned is no longer actually present, since it has ceased to exist.
37439 Yet, still we did not forget what we learned previously. What we learned was
37440 seized by the all-base in the form of karmic imprints, and stored. Due to the
37441 'all-base of complete ripening' these imprints can be re-awakened, so that the
37442 mind consciousness perceives them afresh. This is why we learn things. It is
37443 similar with strong mental afflictions.
37444 ...The example of the savings bank is particularly effective, especially in
37445 the context of karmic actions. Whoever puts money into the bank can get it
37446 out again later, often including interest!(p.37)
37448 * The all-base consciousness is the general basis for the whole mind, all
37449 aspects of the mind.
37451 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "Everyday Consciousness and Primordial
37452 Awareness", translated and edited by Susanne Schefczyk, published by
37453 Snow Lion Publications
37455 Q: How can Dzogchen help us in our daily jobs and careers?
37457 HHDL: In the first place, it is quite difficult to have an experience of
37458 Dzogchen. But once you do have that experience, it can be extremely
37459 beneficial in dealing with your day to day life, your job, and your career.
37460 This is because that kind of experience will give you the ability to prevent
37461 yourself from being overwhelmed by circumstances, good or bad. You will not
37462 fall into extreme states of mind: you will not get over-excited or depressed.
37463 Your attitude toward circumstances and events will be as if you were someone
37464 observing the mind, without being drawn away by circumstances.
37465 For example, when you see a reflection of a form in a mirror, the reflection
37466 appears within the mirror but it is not projected from within. In the same
37467 way, when you confront the situations of life, or deal with others, your
37468 attitude too will be mirror-like.
37469 Also, when a reflection appears in the mirror, the mirror does not have to
37470 go after the object that is reflected: it simply reflects, spontaneously, on
37471 the surface. The same with you: since there is no attachment or agitation at
37472 having these 'reflections' in your mind, you will feel tremendous ease and
37473 relief. You are not preoccupied by what arises in the mind, nor does it cause
37474 you any distress. You are free from conceptuality or any form of
37475 objectifying. And so it really does help you, in allowing you to be free from
37476 being caught up in the play of emotions like hatred, attachment, and the like.
37478 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
37479 Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron, foreword by
37480 Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion Pub.
37482 The quality of one's rebirth in the next life is determined by the quality
37483 of one's mental activity in this life. Generally speaking, we have no power
37484 to choose how we are born; it is dependent on karmic forces. However, the
37485 period near the time of death is very influential in terms of activating one
37486 from among the many karmas that a person has already accumulated, and,
37487 therefore, if one makes particular effort at generating a virtuous attitude at
37488 that time, there is an opportunity to strengthen and activate a virtuous
37489 karma. Moreover, when one has developed high realization and has gained
37490 control over how one will be reborn, it is possible to take what is called
37491 "reincarnation" rather than mere rebirth.(p.42)
37492 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard:
37493 Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey
37494 Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
37496 Without an acute awareness of our personal suffering and a deep, heartfelt
37497 determination to be completely rid of both this suffering and its causes,
37498 there is no way to begin the spiritual quest authentically. For just as
37499 Prince Siddhartha's sudden and unexpected visions of old age, sickness and
37500 death shocked him out of mistaking the world to be a pleasure palace, so too
37501 must all spiritual seekers confront the unsatisfactory nature of their lives
37502 so directly that they become thoroughly disenchanted with the ordinary human
37504 If we do not take a long, hard look at the uncomfortable truths of our
37505 impermanent existence, we can easily waste the time between now and our
37506 inevitable death in essentially worthless pursuits, never taking advantage of
37507 this precious opportunity to do something truly meaningful with our life.
37508 Like the foolish prisoner who becomes so accustomed to the confines of his
37509 cell that he turns a blind eye to all chances of escape, we shall be
37510 condemning ourselves to spiritual stagnation and the endlessly recurring
37511 miseries of cyclic existence.
37512 Yet it is not enough merely to become discontent with our present condition;
37513 everyone experiences discontent at one time or another but very few do
37514 anything of real significance about it. In fact, the usual ways of dealing
37515 with problems and disappointment--blaming them on someone else or drowning
37516 them in forgetfulness--only bind us tighter to the wheel of suffering. What
37517 we must do is recognize that the true causes of all our misery lie rooted in
37518 our own ignorant misconceptions and that these can only be eradicated through
37519 the development of a clear, penetrating insight into the nature of reality.
37520 Only through the continued cultivation of such penetrating wisdom will it
37521 eventually be possible to attain liberation from all states of existence
37522 conditioned by ignorance and be free of suffering.(p.45)
37523 -- "Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practice", by Jonathan Landaw
37524 and Andy Weber, published by Snow Lion Publications
37526 We must distinguish between pride and self-confidence. Self-confidence is
37527 necessary. It is what enables us, in certain situations, not to lose courage
37528 and to think with some justification, 'I am capable of succeeding.' Self-
37529 confidence is quite different from excessive self-assurance based on a false
37530 appreciation of our capacities or circumstances.
37531 If you feel able to accomplish a task that other people cannot manage, then
37532 you cannot be called proud as long as your assessment is well founded. It is
37533 as if someone tall came across a group of short people who wanted to get
37534 something too high for them to reach, and said to them, 'Don't exert
37535 yourselves, I can do it.' This would simply mean that he was more qualified
37536 than the others to carry out a particular task, but not that he is superior to
37537 them or that he wants to crush them.(p.259)
37538 -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the
37539 Heart", edited by Matthieu Ricard, translated by Christian Bruyat,
37540 published by Snow Lion Publications
37542 What is progress? How do we recognize it? The teachings are like a mirror
37543 before which we should hold our activities of body, speech, and mind. Think
37544 back to a year ago and compare the stream of activities of your body, speech,
37545 and mind at that time with their present condition. If we practice well, then
37546 the traces of some improvement should be reflected in the mirror of Dharma.
37547 The problem with having expectations is that we usually do not expect the
37548 right things. Not knowing what spiritual progress is, we search for signs of
37549 it in the wrong areas of our being. What can we hope for but frustration? It
37550 would be far better to examine any practice with full reasoning before
37551 adopting it, and then to practice it steadily and consistently while observing
37552 the inner changes one undergoes, rather than expecting this or that fantasy to
37554 The mind is an evolving organism, not a machine that goes on and off with
37555 the flip of a switch. The forces that bind and limit the mind, hurling it
37556 into unsatisfactory states of being, are impermanent and transient agents.
37557 When we persistently apply the practices to them, they have no option but to
37558 fade away and disappear.
37559 Ignorance and the "I"-grasping syndrome have been with us since
37560 beginningless time, and the instincts of attachments, aversion, anger,
37561 jealousy and so forth are very deeply rooted in our mindstreams. Eliminating
37562 them is not as simple as turning on a light to chase away the darkness of a
37563 room. When we practice steadily, the forces of darkness are undermined, and
37564 the spiritual qualities that counteract them and illuminate the mind are
37565 strengthened and made firm. Therefore, we should strive by means of both
37566 contemplative and settled meditation to gain stability in the various Lam Rim
37568 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
37569 by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
37571 We are beings of the Desire Realm, and thus our minds are also included
37572 within Desire Realm minds. If we cultivate great compassion, our own minds
37573 are the basis for great compassion. By contemplating countless sentient
37574 beings and meditating to develop great compassion, one eventually achieves
37575 great compassion. At that point, the mental basis--one's own mind--has become
37576 of the entity of great compassion. There is no distinguishing the two at that
37577 time. Meditating on great compassion does not mean taking compassion as an
37578 object and looking at it; it means taking sentient beings as one's object and
37579 developing compassion for them such that the mind comes to be of the nature of
37581 The texts frequently speak of different mental bases: the basis for calm
37582 abiding, the basis for meditative absorption, the basis for achieving a path.
37583 The way of understanding all of these is the same. You may wonder whether,
37584 when one cultivates a certain path, the mind becomes of the entity of that
37585 path. It is important to understand this question because that is, in fact,
37586 what occurs when one cultivates calm abiding. The mental basis becomes of the
37587 nature of calm abiding.
37588 -- Geshe Gedun Lodro, "Calm Abiding and Special Insight: Achieving Spiritual
37589 Transformation Through Meditation", translated and edited by Jeffrey
37590 Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
37592 Nature's law dictates that, in order to survive, bees must work together.
37593 As a result, they instinctively possess a sense of social responsibility.
37594 They have no constitution, no law, no police, no religion or moral training,
37595 but because of their nature, they labor faithfully together. Occasionally,
37596 they may fight, but in general, based on cooperation, the whole colony
37598 We human beings have a constitution, laws and a police force. We have
37599 religion, remarkable intelligence and a heart with a great capacity for love.
37600 We have many extraordinary qualities, but in actual practice, I think we are
37601 lagging behind those small insects. In some respects I feel we are poorer
37603 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Pocket Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by
37606 Nagarjuna offers us encouragement in terms of someone of modest potential
37607 accomplishing the practice, in verse 116:
37609 And even those who realized the truth
37610 Did not fall from the heavens, nor emerge
37611 Like crops of corn from earth's dark depths, but once
37612 Were ruled by kleshas and were ordinary men.
37614 Not one of all the sublime beings who have appeared--individuals who had
37615 direct realization of the Dharma of the four truths--was already a sublime
37616 being right from the beginning: they did not fall from the sky, nor did they
37617 emerge from the darkness of the earth like a crop. In the past they were
37618 subject to afflictive emotions ['kleshas']--they were ordinary people
37619 dominated by the afflictive emotions. They are therefore worth following as
37620 an example for accomplishing the path.(p.150)
37621 -- Nagarjuna, "Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: with Commentary by Kangyur
37622 Rinpoche", with commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kyabje Kangyur
37623 Rinpoche, translated by The Padmakara Translation Group, published by
37624 Snow Lion Publications
37628 As long as we cling to some notion of objective existence--the idea that
37629 something actually exists in a concrete, identifiable way--emotions such as
37630 desire and aversion will follow. When we see something we like--a beautiful
37631 watch, for example--we perceive it as having some real quality of existence
37632 among its parts. We see the watch not as a collection of parts, but as an
37633 existing entity with a specific quality of watch-ness to it. And if it's a
37634 fine mechanical timepiece, our perception is enhanced by qualities that are
37635 seen to exist definitely as part of the nature of the watch. It is as a
37636 result of this misperception of the watch that our desire to possess it
37638 In a similar manner, our aversion to someone we dislike arises as a result
37639 of attributing inherent negative qualities to the person. When we relate this
37640 process to how we experience our own sense of existence--how the thought "I"
37641 or "I am" arises--we notice that it invariably does so in relation to some
37642 aspect of our physical or mental aggregates.
37643 Our notion of ourselves is based upon a sense of our physical and emotional
37644 selves. What's more, we feel that these physical and mental aspects of
37645 ourselves exist inherently. My body is not something of which I doubt the
37646 specificity. There is a body-ness as well as a me-ness about it that very
37647 evidently exists. It seems to be a natural basis for my identifying my body
37648 as "me." Our emotions such as fear are similarly experienced as having a valid
37649 existence and as being natural bases for our identifying ourselves as "me."
37650 Both our loves and our hates serve to deepen the self sense. Even the mere
37651 feeling "I'm cold" contributes to our sense of being a solid and legitimate
37653 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday
37654 Life", edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Richard Gere
37656 In the Mahayana, there exist the vows of the Bodhisattva... but in Dzogchen,
37657 there exist no such rules or vows.
37658 When the Indian Buddhist master Atisa came to Tibet in the eleventh century,
37659 he met the famous Tibetan translator Rinchen Zangpo. Atisa asked him how he
37660 practiced the Tantras which he had translated, and he replied that he
37661 practiced them meticulously one after the other. But Atisa told him that this
37662 was not the correct way. He pointed out to the translator that all of the
37663 Tantras could be condensed and integrated into a single Upadesa and one need
37664 only practise that in order to maintain all of the transmissions which he had
37666 The same is true with Dzogchen. If we really understand this single
37667 teaching here which comes directly from Guru Padmasambhava, we can attain
37668 liberation. But we must grasp this vital core of the teaching. No matter
37669 what we are doing, which ever among the four modes of behavior--walking,
37670 sitting, lying down, or eating, we must always hold to awareness, never
37671 forgetting, never losing this awareness. This is the real meaning of Rigdzin,
37672 one who is totally aware. In Dzogchen, there is only one rule--always be
37673 aware in whatever we do, never be distracted!(p.68)
37674 -- "Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness", translation and
37675 commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds, foreword by Namkhai Norbu,
37676 published by Snow Lion Publications
37678 Our mind needs to stretch to encompass emptiness. Our minds are so stuck in
37679 the idea, "Things exist the way they appear to me. What I see is reality. It
37680 is 100 percent true. There's nothing to doubt. Things exist exactly as they
37681 appear to my senses, exactly as they appear to my mental consciousness." We
37682 hardly ever doubt that. Not only do we have the appearance of inherent
37683 existence to our sense consciousnesses and mental consciousness, but also our
37684 mental consciousness grasps on to that appearance and says, "Yes! Everything
37685 really exists in this findable, independent way. Everything is real as it
37687 When we believe there's a real "me," then we have to protect that self and
37688 bring it happiness. Thus, we are attached to things that are pleasurable and
37689 become angry at anything unpleasant. Pride, jealousy, laziness, and the whole
37690 gamut of negative emotions follow. Motivated by these, we act physically,
37691 verbally, and mentally. These actions, or karma, leave seeds on our
37692 mindstream, and when these ripen, they influence what we experience. We again
37693 relate to these experiences ignorantly, so more emotions arise, motivating us
37694 to create more karma. As a result, cyclic existence with all its difficulties
37695 continues on and on, created by our mind, dependent on the ignorance that
37696 misconceives the nature of ourselves and all other phenomena.
37697 ...However, when we investigate more deeply and look beyond appearances, we
37698 realize that it's impossible for things to exist in the way they appear.
37699 Seeing this gives us a kind of spaciousness and freedom because, if samsara
37700 were inherently existent and everything really did exist the way it appears to
37701 us, then transformation and change could not occur...and the best we could
37702 ever have is what we have right now. Thinking about the emptiness of inherent
37703 existence shows us the possibility for change. Beauty can come forth because
37704 nothing is inherently concrete, fixed, or findable.(p.105)
37705 -- Thubten Chodron, "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of
37706 Chenrezig", foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion Pub.
37710 If one does not sow the seed
37711 Of appreciation for a perfect guru,
37712 The tree of spiritual power is not born.
37713 With undivided mind entrust yourself.
37715 Human life is rare and precious,
37716 Yet if not inspired by thoughts of death,
37717 One wastes it on materialism:
37718 Be ready to die at any moment.
37720 All living beings have been our mothers,
37721 Three circles of suffering always binding them.
37722 Ignoble it would be not to repay them,
37723 Not to strive to attain enlightenment. (p.100)
37725 The colophon [inscription] for this poem reads, "Written at the request of
37726 Ritropa Samdrub, an Amdo monk from Dechen Monastery, who begged for a short
37727 teaching...." The Seventh Dalai Lama advises him to establish three central
37728 pillars in his spiritual practice: (1) a disciplined spiritual connection with
37729 his teacher; (2) awareness of the preciousness of life, and the uncertainty of
37730 the time of death; and (3) the mind of love and compassion for all living
37731 beings, coupled with the aspiration to enlightenment as the best means of
37732 fulfilling that love and compassion.
37733 -- The Seventh Dalai Lama, "Meditations to Transform the Mind", translated,
37734 edited, and introduced by Glenn Mullin, published by Snow Lion Pub.
37736 Courageous Bodhisattvas risk their lives to help others, and so, when we are
37737 in relatively better, more comfortable situations, we must certainly practice
37738 giving. Even if they are threatened, the courageous ones will not engage in
37739 improper actions. Instead, after examining the situation carefully, when they
37740 find that certain actions are correct and justified, on the basis of reason,
37741 they engage in them even at the risk of their lives. That is the way of the
37742 decent, civilized and courageous ones, who do not follow misleading paths.(p.20)
37743 -- H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama, "Generous Wisdom: Commentaries by H.H. the
37744 Dalai Lama XIV on the Jatakamala, Garland of Birth Stories", translated
37745 by Tenzin Dorjee, edited by Dexter Roberts
37747 One day, when a very learned scholar or geshe and I were discussing the fact
37748 that the self is an elusive phenomenon, that it is unfindable in either body
37749 or mind, he remarked: 'If the self did not exist at all, in a sense that would
37750 make things very simple. There would be no experience of suffering and pain,
37751 because there would be no subject to undergo such experiences. However, that
37752 is not the case. Regardless of whether we can actually find it or not, there
37753 is an individual being who undergoes the experience of pain and pleasure, who
37754 is the subject of experiences, who perceives things and so on. Based on our
37755 own experience we do know that there is something--whatever we may call it--
37756 that makes it possible for us to undergo these experiences. We have something
37757 called discernment or the ability to perceive things.'
37758 In fact, when we examine the experience of suffering, although some
37759 sufferings are at the sensory or bodily level, such as physical pain, even the
37760 very experience of pain is intimately connected with consciousness or mind and
37761 therefore is part of our mental world. This is what distinguishes sentient
37762 beings from other biological organisms, such as plants, trees and so on.
37763 Sentient beings have a subjective dimension, which we may choose to call
37764 experience, consciousness or the mental world.
37765 ....One thing we can understand, both through scientific analysis and also
37766 from our own personal experience or perception, is that whatever experiences
37767 we have now are consequences of preceding conditions. Nothing comes into
37768 being without a cause. Just as everything in the material world must have a
37769 cause or condition that gives rise to it, so must all experiences in the
37770 mental world also have causes and conditions.(p.74)
37771 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Lighting the Way", translated by Geshe Thupten
37772 Jinpa, published by Snow Lion Publications
37774 Meditation, when learned skillfully, can enable a return to awareness of the
37775 body, our sensations, and feelings. When we are not given specific guidance
37776 to ground our meditation within the body, however, meditation can easily
37777 perpetuate a disembodied spiritual practice. This is accentuated if our view
37778 of spirituality sees the body as some kind of problem to be transcended.
37779 Unfortunately, this view can prevail even within the Buddhist world, despite
37780 being counter to the essential principle of mindfulness and presence. When,
37781 however, we cultivate the capacity to remain present in our felt experience
37782 within the body, our relationship to ourselves changes. We can begin to feel
37783 more grounded in our life and more stable in our identity.
37784 Engaging in a disembodied spirituality is no solution to our life demands.
37785 It may be a way of experiencing states of mind that can be very seductive,
37786 even addictive. Seldom does it address the roots of our emotional problems.
37787 Transformation comes when we are willing and able to restore or develop a
37788 sound relationship to our body in a healthy way. With many Buddhist
37789 practices, such as Tantra, this is essential, for the body contains the
37790 vitality that is the heart of our innate creative potential.
37791 Embodiment therefore implies a full engagement in life with all of its
37792 trials and tribulations, rather than avoidance through disembodied spiritual
37793 flight. The value of meditation is that it can enable this engagement because
37794 it cultivates the capacity to be present and remain open, not grasping at or
37795 rejecting what arises. When meditation emphasizes presence rather than
37796 transcendence, this openness is a natural outcome.(p.143)
37797 -- Rob Preece, "The Wisdom of Imperfection: The Challenge of Individuation
37798 in Buddhist Life", published by Snow Lion Publications
37800 Those training in great love should forsake self-centeredness and engage in
37801 the Buddha's practice, the root of which is compassion. You may be thinking,
37802 Love is indeed very profound, but I do not have the skill to practice it; I
37803 will focus my efforts on practices aimed at getting myself out of cyclic
37804 existence instead. On one hand, this is true, because you should choose a
37805 path of development appropriate to your ability. On the other hand, there is
37806 great advantage in attempting the highest degree of love you can.
37807 Even if you cannot actually implement the practices of love and compassion,
37808 merely hearing about them establishes powerful predispositions for future
37809 success. This can be amplified by planting prayer-wishes aspiring to
37810 altruism. Do not be discouraged; it is difficult to absorb such a profound
37811 perspective. Be courageous and think of your future potential. It is
37812 particularly important to do the best you can.(p.82)
37813 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving
37814 Relationships", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
37816 What is very important for us to recognise is our own falsity. This is not
37817 a judgement that sometimes we are authentic and sometimes we are false. It
37818 means that everything about us in our ordinary sense of self is false because
37819 it is grounded on a misapprehension of the nature of reality.... It is like
37820 somebody in University who is having their final examinations. They go into
37821 the wrong examination room and not reading the questions very clearly they
37822 write very long answers on their own subject that is unfortunately not the one
37823 they are being examined on. It does not matter how good the answer is they
37824 will fail, for they are not addressing the question.
37825 The basic question is always: "Who are you?", "Who am I?" but we do not
37826 understand it and so we answer with a ceaseless narrative of self definition.
37827 This covers over the freshness of the question, the possibility of looking and
37828 seeing, and so all our answers are stale, the reworking of self-protective
37829 versions constructed out of unexamined elements. We have many, many, many
37830 answers and all of them are false. That's why it is very important when you
37831 do meditations, to put your full energy one-pointedly into the practice, to
37832 try to repair the initial basic fault that has torn subject and object apart.
37833 It is very important to stop being ashamed of being false. For we have to
37834 see how falsity arises, how obscuration develops. We want to look directly at
37835 our falsity and learn its tricks so that we will not be caught by them. This
37836 helps to open the space in which we can recognise our own nature.
37837 "When you understand the falsity of your confusion remain unartificially,
37838 effortlessly in the natural mode (dharmakaya)."(p.90)
37839 -- "Being Right Here: A Dzogchen Treasure Text of Nuden Dorje entitled 'The
37840 Mirror of Clear Meaning' with commentary by James Low", published by Snow
37844 this is an event that can be caused by strong intoxication of various sorts.
37845 the sufferer passes out while seated at a table, such that he or she then has
37846 their head thud down onto the table. after a brief rest, the unlucky person
37847 wakes up again, and starts to rise off the table. when the head rises to a
37848 certain point, where blood pressure starts to increase, the effect of the
37849 intoxication takes over again, and they pass out once more. bam. hence, the
37850 head repeatedly banging into the table: a groundhog daze.
37851 i have seen this happen. it's not fun to watch. well, maybe a little.
37854 We are the source of healing and happiness. Our generosity and concern
37855 pacify every negative situation. As we send out kindness, we grow accustomed
37856 to being strong and kind. In this way, our positive feelings are constantly
37857 renewed and can never be exhausted.
37858 Perhaps you know the story about the man who arrived in heaven and when
37859 asked by God where he wanted to go replied that he wanted to see both heaven
37860 and hell. First, he went to hell. There was a large table with all the
37861 inhabitants of hell sitting around it. The center of the table was full of
37862 delicious food. Each person had two very long chopsticks. They could reach
37863 the food but they could not get it into their mouths because their chopsticks
37864 were too long. They were miserable. No one was eating and everyone went
37865 hungry. Next he was taken to visit heaven. All the inhabitants of heaven
37866 were also sitting around a big table full of delicious food but they were
37867 happy. They too had very long chopsticks but they were eating and enjoying
37868 themselves. They used the chopsticks to feed each other across the table.
37869 The people in heaven had discovered that it was in their interest to
37870 collaborate unselfishly.(p.69)
37871 -- Ringu Tulku, "Mind Training", published by Snow Lion Publications
37873 When you are in a fluctuating state of mind, like when you are angry or have
37874 lost your temper, then it is good to bring back calmness by concentrating on
37875 breathing. Just count the breaths, completely forgetting about anger.
37876 Concentrate on breathing and count in/out "one, two, three," up to twenty.
37877 At that moment when your mind concentrates fully on breathing, the breath
37878 coming and going, the passions subside. Afterwards it is easier to think
37880 Since all activities, including meditation, depend very much on the force of
37881 intention or motivation, it is important that, before you begin to meditate,
37882 you cultivate a correct motivation... The correct motivation is the
37883 altruistic attitude.(p.69)
37884 -- Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Cultivating a Daily
37885 Meditation", published by Snow Lion Publications
37887 The crazy elephant of the mind behaving wildly
37888 Is tied to the pillar of an object of observation
37889 With the rope of mindfulness.
37890 By degrees it is brought under control with the hook of wisdom.
37893 "Wisdom" here is introspection. Hence, the example of taming an elephant
37894 indicates the achievement of a serviceable mind by way of the two--mindfulness
37895 and introspection. The subtle vajra that is the base on which the mind is
37896 being set is like a stable pillar to which an elephant is tied. The
37897 unserviceable mind is like an untamed elephant. Causing the mind not to be
37898 distracted from its object of observation through relying on mindfulness is
37899 like using a rope to tie an elephant. Setting the mind free from fault--when
37900 it does not hold the object of observation as originally set--through
37901 immediately recognizing such by means of introspection is like a herder's
37902 hitting an elephant with a hook and correcting it when it strays from the tie-
37905 Hence, there are two important factors with regard to holding the mind:
37906 + From the beginning, stay on the object of observation without being
37907 distracted to anything other than it.
37908 + Then if distracted, immediately recognize such, and again focus the mind
37910 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba and Jeffrey Hopkins, "Yoga Tantra: Paths
37911 to Magical Feats", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by
37912 Snow Lion Publications
37914 Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor
37915 technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or
37916 defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this
37917 you will awaken from your dreams.
37918 -- Hagakure, Yamamoto Tsunetomo
37920 LEEEEEEEROYYYY JENNNNNKINZZZ!!!
37921 -- To be yelled before irrationally throwing away all plans and jumping into
37922 the worst possible situation.
37924 what is an inference?
37925 someone says, "my hand stinks because my butt stinks."
37926 an inference you could draw:
37927 that hand has probably been too close to that butt.
37929 What Do We Mean by Bodhisattva?
37931 Bodhi means enlightenment, the state devoid of all defects and endowed with
37932 all good qualities. Sattva refers to someone who has courage and confidence
37933 and who strives to attain enlightenment for the sake of all beings. Those who
37934 have this spontaneous, sincere wish to attain enlightenment for the ultimate
37935 benefit of all beings are called bodhisattvas. Through wisdom, they direct
37936 their minds to enlightenment, and through their compassion, they have concern
37937 for beings. This wish for perfect enlightenment for the sake of others is
37938 what we call bodhichitta, and it is the starting point on the path.
37942 When we talk about the notion of self in Buddhism, it is important to bear
37943 in mind that there are different degrees or types. There are some types of
37944 sense of self which are not only to be cultivated but also to be reinforced
37945 and enhanced. For instance, in order to have a strong determination to seek
37946 buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, one needs a very strong
37947 sense of confidence, which is based upon a sense of commitment and courage.
37948 This requires a strong sense of self. Unless one has that identity or sense
37949 of self, one will not be able to develop the confidence and courage to
37950 strongly seek this aim.
37951 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
37953 Genuine peace of mind is rooted in affection and compassion. There is a very
37954 high level of sensitivity and feeling involved. So long as we lack inner
37955 discipline, an inner calmness of mind, then no matter what external facilities
37956 or conditions we may have, they will never give us the feeling of joy and
37957 happiness that we seek. On the other hand, if we possess this inner
37958 quality—that is, calmness of mind, a degree of stability within—then even
37959 if we lack various external facilities that are normally considered necessary
37960 for a happy and joyful life, it is still possible to live a happy and joyful
37962 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
37964 COMPLICATED SIMPLICITY
37966 Emptiness is the simplest and most unelaborated thing we could imagine, but
37967 then there is this whole literature about all these very discursive details
37968 with all their subpoints. There are five paths and ten bhumis, and each path
37969 is divided into a number of stages, with certain numbers of obscurations
37970 having to be relinquished on each one of those subpaths. Most people just
37971 think, "Who wants or needs to know all that? Don't we have too many
37972 thoughts already? I thought this was about letting go of all reference
37974 Of course nobody really wants to know all those details and in a sense we
37975 all know them already, because they are the details of the many reference
37976 points that we already have in our mind. The fact that these sutras and their
37977 commentaries talk about our obscurations is precisely the point why they seem
37978 so endless and complicated—because our minds are complicated. Emptiness is
37979 extremely simple, but our convoluted minds that do not get this simplicity are
37980 very complicated. It is not that the Buddha and the other speakers in the
37981 sutras and the commentaries really like to, but they need to address each one
37982 of those knots in our minds, which are like knots in space.
37984 If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have
37985 to be a horrible warning.
37988 THE MIND OF CLEAR LIGHT
37990 Is spiritual practice really worthwhile? Is it really possible to eliminate
37991 from within ourselves the forces that give rise to suffering? As is said,
37992 "The ultimate nature of mind is clear light." Consciousness has many
37993 levels, and although the coarser levels are affected by the defiling forces,
37994 the most subtle level remains free of gross negativities. In the Vajrayana
37995 this subtle level of consciousness is called the mind of clear light.
37996 The delusions and emotional afflictions as well as the dualistic mind of
37997 right and wrong, love and hatred, etc., are associated only with the coarse
37998 levels of consciousness. At the moment, we are totally absorbed in the
37999 interplay of these coarse states, so we must begin our practice by working
38000 within them. This means consciously encouraging love over hate, patience in
38001 place of anger, emotional freedom rather than attachment, kindness over
38002 violence, and so forth. Doing this brings immediate peace and calm to the
38003 mind, thus making higher meditation possible.
38004 Then, because grasping at a self and at phenomena as being truly existent is
38005 the cause of all the vast range of distorted states of mind, one cultivates
38006 the wisdom that eliminates this ego-grasping. To overcome ego-grasping is to
38007 overcome the entire host of mental distortions.
38008 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38010 It is the general Buddhist procedure that one's own pleasure and pain are
38011 acheived by oneself and not from the outside, and that, therefore, sentient
38012 beings themselves must understand and implement practices to bring about their
38013 own happiness. Thus, the most efficacious way to help others is through
38014 teaching what should be adopted in practice and what should be discarded from
38015 among current behavior. There is no way to do this unless you come to know
38016 all of the topics involved in what should be adopted in practice and what
38017 should be discarded—you must become omniscient. As mentioned earlier, there
38018 is no way to accomplish this except by removing the obstructions to
38019 omniscience, and one who has overcome, utterly and forever, the obstructions
38020 to omniscience is a Buddha.
38021 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38023 In meditation, imagine that in front of you are three persons—an enemy, a
38024 friend, and a neutral person. At that time, in our minds we have (1) a sense
38025 of closeness for one of them, thinking, "This is my friend"; (2) a sense
38026 of dislike even when imagining the enemy; and (3) a sense of ignoring the
38027 neutral person. Now, we have to think about the reasons why we generate these
38028 feelings—the reasons being that temporarily one of them helped us whereas
38029 the other temporarily harmed us, and the third did neither. However, when we
38030 think in terms of the long course of beginningless rebirth, none of us could
38031 decide that someone who has helped or harmed us in this life has been doing so
38033 When you contemplate this way, eventually you arrive at a point where a
38034 strong generation of desire or hatred appears to you to be just senseless.
38035 Gradually, such a bias weakens, and you decide that one-sided classification
38036 of persons as friends and enemies has been a mistake.
38037 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38039 Generally speaking, even if money brings us happiness, it tends to be the
38040 kind that money can buy: material things and sensory experiences. And these,
38041 we discover, become a source of suffering themselves. As far as actual
38042 possessions are concerned, we must admit that they often cause us more, not
38043 less, difficulty in life. The car breaks down, we lose our money, our most
38044 precious belongings are stolen, our house is damaged by fire. Or we worry
38045 about these things happening.
38046 The problem is not materialism as such. Rather it is the underlying
38047 assumption that full satisfaction can arise from gratifying the senses alone.
38048 Unlike animals whose quest for happiness is restricted to survival and to the
38049 immediate gratification of sensory desires, we human beings have the capacity
38050 to experience happiness at a deeper level, which, when achieved, can overwhelm
38051 unhappy experiences.
38052 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38054 We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of
38055 others' actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like
38056 it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives in which we do not benefit
38057 from others' activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most
38058 of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others. Nor
38059 is it so remarkable that our greatest joy should come when we are motivated by
38060 concern for others. But that is not all. We find that not only do altruistic
38061 actions bring about happiness, but they also lessen our experience of
38062 suffering. Here I am not suggesting that the individual whose actions are
38063 motivated by the wish to bring others happiness necessarily meets with less
38064 misfortune than the one who does not. Sickness, old age, mishaps of one sort
38065 or another are the same for us all. But the sufferings which undermine our
38066 internal peace—anxiety, doubt, disappointment—these are definitely less.
38067 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38069 If we view the world's religions from the widest possible viewpoint and
38070 examine their ultimate goal, we find that all of the major world religions,
38071 whether Christianity or Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, are dedicated to the
38072 achievement of permanent human happiness. They are all directed toward that
38073 goal. All religions emphasize the fact that the true follower must be honest
38074 and gentle, in other words, that a truly religious person must always strive
38075 to be a better human being. To this end, the different world religions teach
38076 different doctrines which will help transform the person. In this regard, all
38077 religions are the same, there is no conflict. This is something we must
38078 emphasize. We must consider the question of religious diversity from this
38079 viewpoint. And when we do, we find no conflict.
38080 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38082 Emptiness vs. Non-Existence
38084 The doctrines of emptiness and selflessness do not imply the non-existence of
38085 things. Things do exist. When we say that all phenomena are void of self-
38086 existence, it does not mean that we are advocating non-existence, that we are
38087 repudiating that things exist. Then what is it we are negating? We are
38088 negating, or denying, that anything exists from its own side without depending
38089 on other things. Hence, it is because things depend for their existence upon
38090 other causes and conditions that they are said to lack independent self-
38092 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38094 If we view the world's religions from the widest possible viewpoint and
38095 examine their ultimate goal, we find that all of the major world religions,
38096 whether Christianity or Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, are dedicated to the
38097 achievement of permanent human happiness. They are all directed toward that
38098 goal. All religions emphasize the fact that the true follower must be honest
38099 and gentle, in other words, that a truly religious person must always strive
38100 to be a better human being. To this end, the different world religions teach
38101 different doctrines which will help transform the person. In this regard, all
38102 religions are the same, there is no conflict. This is something we must
38103 emphasize. We must consider the question of religious diversity from this
38104 viewpoint. And when we do, we find no conflict.
38105 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38107 The process of overcoming our defilements goes in conjunction with gaining
38108 higher levels of realisation. In fact, when we speak of gaining higher levels
38109 of realisation in Buddhism we are speaking primarily of the processes through
38110 which our wisdom and insight deepen. It is actually the wisdom aspect that
38111 enables the practitioner to move from one level to the next on the path.
38112 The attainment of the levels of the path is explained in condensed form in
38113 the Heart Sutra, where we find the mantra tadyatha om gate gate paragate
38114 parasamgate bodhi svaha. Tadyatha means It is thus; gate gate means go, go;
38115 paragate means go beyond and transcend; parasamgate means go utterly beyond,
38116 go thoroughly beyond; and bodhi svaha means firmly rooted in enlightenment.
38117 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38120 It is often seen that human beings can endure problems quite well, but
38121 cannot endure success. When we are successful and have everything we desire,
38122 it can easily go to our heads. There is a great danger of losing our common
38123 sense and becoming careless and arrogant. As it is said, "Nothing corrupts a
38124 person more than power." Very powerful people sometimes become so proud that
38125 they no longer care about their actions or about the effect they have on
38126 others. Losing any sense of right and wrong, they create severe problems for
38127 themselves and everyone else.
38128 Even if we have all the success we could dream of—fame, wealth, and so
38129 on—we must understand that these things have no real substance. Attachment
38130 does not come from having things, but from the way our mind reacts to them.
38131 It is fine to participate in good circumstances, provided we can see that they
38132 have no real essence. They may come and they may go. When seeing this, we
38133 will not become so attached. Even if we lose our wealth we will not be badly
38134 affected, and while it is there we will enjoy it without being senseless and
38136 -- Ringu Tulku, from "Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha",
38137 edited and translated by Rosemarie Fuchs, page 92.
38139 The role of other sentient beings
38141 In relation to the attainment of liberation from cylic existence, which is
38142 known also as "definite goodness," the role of other sentient beings is
38143 indispensable. In the Buddhist understanding, the key spiritual practices
38144 that lead to the attainment of liberation are the Three Higher
38145 Trainings—higher training in morality, in meditation, and in wisdom. The
38146 last two are based upon the foundation of the first, namely the training in
38147 morality. As I said before, the presence of other sentience beings is
38148 indispensable for this training. This is how we come to the powerful
38149 realisation that the role of other sentient beings is essential in all areas
38150 of our mundane and spiritual activities.
38151 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38153 To avoid being hurt by thorns and brambles, we might consider covering all
38154 the mountains with leather. That would be impossible, but putting on shoes
38155 would serve the same purpose. Similarly, if we tried to subdue all our outer
38156 enemies, we would never succeed. Once one was eliminated, another would rise
38157 against us. While doing this, our anger would continue to breed new foes.
38158 The only way to overcome our enemies is to turn inward and kill the real one,
38159 which is our own hatred.
38160 -- Ringu Tulku, from "Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha",
38161 edited and translated by Rosemarie Fuchs.
38163 One should not view one's dharma practice as being something decorative,
38164 regarding statues and images as material possessions or as furnishings for
38165 one's house, or thinking that because there is an empty space on a wall one
38166 might as well put up a thangka for decoration. That kind of attitude should
38167 not be cultivated. When you arrange the statues or thangkas, you should do so
38168 out of a deep respect from the mind, moved by your faith and conviction. If
38169 you can arrange these physical representations—statues and so forth—out of
38170 deep respect and faith, that's all right. On the other hand, the attitude
38171 that they are merely material possessions is dangerous and destructive. I
38172 think that some people who have a cupboard or the like in which they keep all
38173 their precious possessions may arrange an altar on it just for the sake of
38174 decoration. This is very wrong.
38175 Having such motivations is not the proper way to become a Buddhist; the
38176 proper way to become a Buddhist is to bring about some positive change within
38177 the mind. Any practice that can give you more courage when you are undergoing
38178 a very difficult time and that can provide you with some kind of solace and
38179 calmness of mind is a true practice of the dharma.
38180 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38182 The environment where you are doing the meditation should be properly cleaned.
38183 While cleaning, you should cultivate the motivation that since you are engaged
38184 in the task of accumulating great stores of merit by inviting the hosts of
38185 buddhas and bodhisattvas to this environment, it is important to have a clean
38186 place. You should see that all external dirt and dust around you is basically
38187 a manifestation of the faults and stains within your own mind. You should see
38188 that the most important aim is to purge these stains and faults from within
38189 your mind. Therefore, as you cleanse the environment, think that you are also
38190 purifying your mind. Develop the very strong thought that by cleaning this
38191 place you are inviting the hosts of buddhas and bodhisattvas who are the most
38192 supreme merit field, and that you will subsequently engage in a path that will
38193 enable you to purge your mind of the stains and delusions.
38194 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38196 From the point of view of one who seeks enlightenment, it is far better to
38197 be a human being than to be born even in the heavens of the gods, where there
38198 is nectar to live on and all wishes are granted by the wish-fulfilling tree;
38199 where there is neither fatigue nor difficulty, neither sickness nor old age.
38200 It is as humans, possessed of the eight freedoms and the ten endowments, and
38201 not as gods, that every one of the thousand Buddhas of this age has attained,
38202 or will attain, enlightenment. This human existence, moreover, is not to be
38203 achieved by force or mere chance; it is the result of positive actions. And
38204 because it is rare for beings to accomplish positive actions, a precious human
38205 existence is indeed difficult to obtain.
38206 Nevertheless, we have now managed to be born into such a state; we have
38207 encountered the Buddadharma, have entered the path and are now receiving
38208 teachings. But if we are unable to practise them, simply listening to the
38209 teachings will not in itself liberate us from samsara, and will be of no help
38210 to us when we are confronted by the hardships of birth, disease, old age and
38211 death. If we do not follow the doctor's prescription when we are sick, then
38212 even if the doctor sits constantly by our side, the pain will not go away.
38213 -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, from "Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the
38214 Seven-Point Mind Training", translated by Padmakara Translation Group.
38216 The realization of the nature of the mind is not something we can find by
38217 searching for it from afar. It is present within the essence of the mind
38218 itself. If we do not alter or change that in any way, that is enough. It is
38219 not as if we were lacking something before, so we need to make something new
38220 through our meditation. It is not as if we are bad and have to go through all
38221 sorts of efforts to make ourselves good. Goodness is something we all have.
38222 It has always been with us, but we have just not looked for it or seen it yet,
38223 so we have become confused. Therefore all we need to do is to just rest
38224 within it without changing it. We see where it stays and rest there, so we
38225 are like a kusulu. This means that we rest free and easy with nothing to do,
38226 very simply. We do not need to think that we are making something good or
38227 that we need to meditate properly. It is enough just to know what we already
38229 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, from "Vivid Awareness", in "The Best Buddhist
38230 Writing 2012", edited by Melvin McLeod and the editors of the Shambhala
38231 Sun, pages 196–197.
38233 We all have to recognize the tremendous opportunity that we have. As humans
38234 we have this rare intelligence, but there is a real danger that we will waste
38235 it. Death is certain, but when we will die is totally unpredictable. We
38236 could lose our precious human existence at any moment. With such reflections,
38237 we must motivate ourselves to do something meaningful right now. The best way
38238 to make your human existence meaningful is to really engage in the practice of
38239 Dharma. During formal sitting meditation and in between sessions, in
38240 different ways, be mindful and introspectively vigilant. Keep constant watch
38242 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38244 In order to carry out a practice--such as constantly watching the mind--you
38245 should form a determination, make a pledge, right when you wake up: "Now, for
38246 the rest of this day, I will put into practice what I believe just as much as
38247 I can." It is very important that, at the start of the day, we should set out
38248 to shape what will happen later. Then, at the end of every day, check what
38249 happened. Review the day. And if you carried through for that whole day your
38250 morning's determination, then rejoice. Reinforce further your motivation to
38251 continue in the same line. However, when you do your reviewing, you may
38252 discover that you did things during the day that are contrary to your
38253 religious values and beliefs. You should then acknowledge this and cultivate
38254 a deep sense of remorse. Strengthen your resolve not to indulge in these
38255 actions in the future.
38256 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38258 There are two different ways in which we can understand the term "ordinary
38259 mind." One way is to not take control over anything and end up following our
38260 afflictions. When a thought of anger arises, we follow it; when greed arises,
38261 we lose control of ourselves to it. Similarly, we lose control of ourselves
38262 to our pride and jealousy. Although we might think of this as our ordinary
38263 state of mind, it is not what we mean here. Here it does not mean losing
38264 control of ourselves to negative emotions. Instead, it means that we do not
38265 need to do anything at all to the essence of the mind itself.
38266 We do not need to alter this essence in any way. We do not have to worry
38267 about what we are thinking, what is pleasant, or what is painful. We can
38268 leave this mind as it is. If we try to alter the mind in any way, thoughts
38269 will arise. But if we do not do anything to it and let it rest easily, then
38270 it is unaltered. The Kagyu masters of the past called this the ordinary mind,
38271 or the natural state. They called it this out of their experience. This
38272 ordinary mind itself is the dharma expanse and the essence of the buddhas; it
38273 is our buddha-nature.
38274 -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, from "Vivid Awareness" in "The Best Buddhist
38275 Writing 2012", edited by Melvin McLeod and the editors of the Shambhala
38278 If your engagement with others is tainted by strong attachment, craving,
38279 aversion, anger, and so forth, then that form of grasping is undesirable. But
38280 on the other hand, when you are interacting with other living beings and
38281 become aware of their needs or suffering or pain, then you need to fully
38282 engage with that and be compassionate. So there can be positive attachment in
38283 this sense of active engagement.
38284 Buddhist masters have long used the term attachment to describe the quality
38285 of compassion for others. For example, a verse from Haribhadra's Clear
38286 Meaning Commentary refers to compassion that is attached to other living
38287 beings. And as we have seen, Nagarjuna teaches that attachment for other
38288 living beings will arise spontaneously in the person who realizes emptiness.
38289 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38291 Kongtrul Rinpoche suggested we pray to the guru, buddhas, and bodhisattvas and
38292 ask them to grant their blessings, "So I may give birth to the heart of
38293 sadness." But what is a "heart of sadness"? Imagine one night you have
38294 a dream. Although it is a good dream, deep down you know that eventually you
38295 will have to wake up and it will be over. In life, too, sooner or later,
38296 whatever the state of our relationships, or our health, our jobs and every
38297 aspect of our lives, everything, absolutely everything, will change. And the
38298 little bell ringing in the back of your head to remind you of this
38299 inevitability is what is called the "heart of sadness." Life, you realise,
38300 is a race against time, and you should never put off dharma practice until
38301 next year, next month, or tomorrow, because the future may never happen.
38302 -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-
38303 Called Preliminary Practices"
38305 What we want to eliminate is grasping that is grounded upon falsification of
38306 the object, distortions that arise as afflictions grasp at the apparent
38307 substantial existence of an object. Some texts say that mental states such as
38308 compassion and faith are, by their very nature, virtuous and thus cannot at
38309 the same time be afflicted mental states. Yet there are other texts that
38310 refer to "afflicted compassion" or "afflicted faith." For those of us
38311 who have not realized emptiness, when we generate strong devotion toward the
38312 Buddha perhaps there is within that faith, within that devotion, an element of
38313 grasping at the Buddha as substantially real. This makes it an instance of
38314 so-called "afflicted devotion."
38315 Still, it is important to distinguish grasping rooted in falsification and
38316 distortion from the attachment, focus, or holding that we associate with
38317 compassion. In our immediate experience, these two forms of grasping may seem
38318 the same, but in terms of the overall mental environment they are quite
38319 different. Compassion is fact-based, while distorted grasping is not.
38320 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38322 By and large, human beings tend to prefer to fit in to society by following
38323 accepted rules of etiquette and being gentle, polite, and respectful. The
38324 irony is that this is also how most people imagine a spiritual person should
38325 behave. When a so-called dharma practitioner is seen to behave badly, we
38326 shake our heads over her audacity at presenting herself as a follower of the
38327 Buddha. Yet such judgments are better avoided, because to "fit in" is not
38328 what a genuine dharma practitioner strives for.
38329 Think of Tilopa, for example. He looked so outlandish that if he turned up
38330 on your doorstep today, odds are you would refuse to let him in. And you
38331 would have a point. He would most likely be almost completely naked; if you
38332 were lucky, he might be sporting some kind of G-string; his hair would never
38333 have been introduced to shampoo; and protruding from his mouth would quiver
38334 the tail of a live fish. What would your moral judgment be of such a being?
38335 "Him! A Buddhist?" This is how our theistic, moralistic, and judgmental
38336 minds work. Of course, there is nothing wrong with morality, but the point of
38337 spiritual practice, according to the vajrayana teachings, is to go beyond all
38338 our concepts, including those of morality.
38339 -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-
38340 Called Preliminary Practices".
38342 Because it is a reality that we are by nature social animals, bound to depend
38343 on each other, we need to cultivate affection and concern for other people if
38344 we really desire peace and happiness. Look at wild animals and birds. Even
38345 they travel together, flock together, and help each other. Bees do not have a
38346 particular legal system, they do not follow any spiritual practice, but for
38347 their livelihood and survival they depend on each other--that is their
38348 natural way of existence. Even though we intelligent human beings must also
38349 depend on each other, we sometimes misuse our intelligence and try to exploit
38350 each other. That goes against human nature. For those of us who profess to
38351 believe in a particular religious practice, it is extremely important that we
38352 try to help each other and cultivate a feeling of affection for each other.
38353 That is the source of happiness in our life.
38354 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38356 It's important to differentiate a thought from an emotion. We say things
38357 such as, "I feel like they don't accept me." Actually, that is a thought.
38358 We may feel hurt or frustrated, and it's because we're thinking that others
38359 don't accept us. How do we know they don't accept us? We don't. We
38360 haven't asked them. Instead, on the basis of how they looked at us or a
38361 comment they made, our mind constructs a story that we believe.
38362 As soon as you hear yourself saying, "I feel like...," stop and recognize
38363 that you can't "feel like" something. You are thinking. After you have
38364 identified the thought, ask yourself, "Is that true? How do I know it's true?
38365 What evidence do I have to prove the validity of that thought?" It's really
38366 startling to see how often we assume our interpretation of a situation is true
38367 when in fact it is based on flimsy evidence.
38368 -- Thubten Chodron, from "Don't Believe Everything You Think: Living with
38369 Wisdom and Compassion"
38371 We are all human beings, and from this point of view, we are the same. We all
38372 want happiness and we do not want suffering. If we consider this point, we
38373 will find that there are no differences between people of different faiths,
38374 races, colors, or cultures. We all have this common wish for happiness.
38375 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38377 Enlightenment is not anything new or something we create or bring into
38378 existence. It is simply discovering within us what is already there. It is
38379 the full realization of our intrinsic nature. In Tibetan, buddha is sang
38380 gyay. Sang means that all of the faults have been cleared away, while gyay
38381 means "full realization"; just as from darkness, the moon waxes, likewise
38382 from ignorance, the qualities of the mind's intrinsic nature emerge.
38383 -- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
38385 The fundamental teaching of the Buddha is that we should view others as being
38386 more important than we are. Of course, you cannot completely ignore yourself.
38387 But neither can you neglect the welfare of other people and other sentient
38388 beings, particularly when there is a clash of interest between your own
38389 welfare and the welfare of other people. At such a time you should consider
38390 other people's welfare as more important than your own personal well-being.
38391 Compare yourself to the rest of sentient beings. All other sentient beings
38392 are countless, while you are just one person. Your suffering and happiness
38393 may be very important, but it is just the suffering and happiness of one
38394 individual, whereas the happiness and suffering of all other sentient beings
38395 is immeasurable and countless. So, it is the way of the wise to sacrifice one
38396 for the benefit of the majority and it is the way of the foolish to sacrifice
38397 the majority on behalf of just one single individual. Even from the point of
38398 view of your personal well-being, you must cultivate a compassionate
38399 mind—that is that source of happiness in your life.
38400 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38402 Attachment and love are similar in that both of them draw us to the other
38403 person. But in fact, these two emotions are quite different. When we're
38404 attached we're drawn to someone because he or she meets our needs. In
38405 addition, there are lots of strings attached to our affection that we may or
38406 may not realize are there. For example, I 'love' you because you make me feel
38407 good. I 'love' you as long as you do things that I approve of. I 'love' you
38408 because you're mine. You're my spouse or my child or my parent or my friend.
38409 With attachment, we go up and down like a yo-yo, depending on how the other
38410 person treats us. We obsess, "What do they think of me? Do they love me?
38411 Have I offended them? How can I become what they want me to be so that they
38412 love me even more?" It's not very peaceful, is it? We're definitely stirred
38414 On the other hand, the love we're generating on the Dharma path is
38415 unconditional. We simply want other to have happiness and the causes of
38416 happiness without any strings attached, without any expectations of what these
38417 people will do for us or how good they'll make us feel.
38418 -- Thubten Chodron, "Don't Believe Everything You Think: Living with Wisdom
38421 Because we don't recognize our essential nature--we don't realize that
38422 although appearances arise unceasingly, nothing is really there--we invest
38423 with solidity and reality the seeming truth of self, other, and actions
38424 between self and others. This intellectual obscuration gives rise to
38425 attachment and aversion, followed by actions and reactions that create karma,
38426 solidify into habit, and perpetuate the cycles of suffering. This entire
38427 process needs to be purified.
38428 -- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, from "In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30
38429 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers", edited by Reginald A. Ray.
38431 Effort is crucial in the beginning for generating a strong will. We all
38432 have the Buddha nature and thus already have within us the substances through
38433 which, when we meet with the proper conditions, we can turn into a fully
38434 enlightened being having all beneficial attributes and devoid of all faults.
38435 The very root of failure in our lives is to think, "Oh, how useless and
38436 powerless I am!" It is important to have a strong force of mind thinking,
38437 "I can do it," this not being mixed with pride or any other afflictive
38439 Moderate effort over a long period of time is important, no matter what you
38440 are trying to do. One brings failure on oneself by working extremely hard at
38441 the beginning, attempting to do too much, and then giving it all up after a
38442 short time. A constant stream of moderate effort is needed. Similarly, when
38443 meditating, you need to be skillful by having frequent, short sessions; it is
38444 more important that the session be of good quality than that it be long.
38445 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight"
38447 We Buddhists are supposed to save all sentient beings, but practically
38448 speaking, this may be too broad a notion for most people. In any case, we
38449 must at least think in terms of helping all human beings. This is very
38450 important. Even if we cannot think in terms of sentient beings inhabiting
38451 different worlds, we should nonetheless think in terms of the human beings on
38452 our own planet. To do this is to take a practical approach to the problem.
38453 It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily
38454 lives. If we find we cannot help another, the least we can do is to desist
38455 from harming them. We must not cheat others or lie to them. We must be
38456 honest human beings, sincere human beings.
38457 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38459 How things appear and how they actually exist differ greatly. A person
38460 engaging in practice of the perfection of wisdom does this kind of analysis
38461 and then examines how things appear in ordinary experience, alternating
38462 analysis and comparison with the usual mode of appearance in order to notice
38463 the discrepancy between the actual mode of subsistence of phenomena and their
38465 In this way the inherent existence which is the object of negation will
38466 become clearer and clearer. As much as the object of negation becomes
38467 clearer, so much deeper will your understanding of emptiness become. Finally,
38468 you will ascertain a mere vacuity that is a negative of inherent existence.
38469 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38471 Three attitudes prevent us from receiving a continual flow of blessings.
38472 They are compared to three "pots": a full pot, a pot with poison in it,
38473 and a pot with a hole in the bottom.
38474 The pot that's filled to the brim is like a mind full of opinions and
38475 preconceptions. We already know it all. We have so many fixed ideas that
38476 nothing new can affect us or cause us to question our assumptions.
38477 The pot containing poison is like a mind that's so cynical, critical, and
38478 judgmental that everything is poisoned by this harshness. It allows for no
38479 openness and no willingness to explore the teachings or anything else that
38480 challenges our righteous stance.
38481 The pot with a hole is like a distracted mind: our body is present but
38482 we're lost in thought. We're so busy thinking about our dream vacation or
38483 what's for dinner that we're completely deaf to what's being said.
38484 Knowing how sad it is to receive blessings and not be able to benefit,
38485 Shantideva wants to save himself grief by remaining open and attentive.
38486 Nothing will improve, he says, unless we become more intelligent about cause
38487 and effect. This is a message worth considering seriously.
38488 -- Pema Chödrön, from "No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the
38491 Shantideva cites three benefits of pain. First, it is valuable because
38492 through sorrow, pride is driven out. No matter how arrogant and condescending
38493 we've been, great suffering can humble us. The pain of a serious illness or
38494 loss of a loved one can be transformative, softening us and making us less
38496 The second benefit of pain is empathy: the compassion felt for those who
38497 wander in samsara. Our personal suffering brings compassion for others in the
38498 same situation. A young woman was telling me that when her baby died, she
38499 felt a deep connection to all the other parents who had lost children. This
38500 was, as she put it, the unexpected blessing of her sorrow.
38501 The third value of suffering is that evil is avoided and goodness seems
38502 delightful. When we practice according to Shantideva's instructions, we can
38503 get smarter about cause and result. Based on this understanding, we'll have
38504 less inclination to cause harm, and more desire to gather virtue and benefit
38506 -- Pema Chödrön, from "No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the
38509 Since emptiness, from between positive and negative phenomena, is a negative
38510 phenomenon and, from between affirming negatives and non-affirming negatives,
38511 is a non-affirming negative, when it appears to the mind, nothing will appear
38512 except an absence of such inherent existence—a mere elimination of the
38513 object of negation. Thus, for the mind of a person realizing emptiness there
38514 is no sense of, "I am ascertaining emptiness," and there is no thought,
38515 "This is emptiness." If you had such a sense, emptiness would become
38516 distant. Nevertheless, the emptiness of inherent existence is ascertained and
38518 After such realization, even though whatever phenomena appear appear to
38519 exist in their own right, you understand that they do not exist that way. You
38520 have a sense that they are like a magician's illusions in that there is a
38521 combination of their appearing one way but actually existing another way.
38522 Though they appear to exist inherently, you understand that they are empty of
38523 inherent existence.
38524 When phenomena are seen this way, the conceptions that superimpose a sense
38525 of goodness or badness on phenomena beyond what is actually there and serve as
38526 a basis for generating desire and hatred lessen; this is because they are
38527 based on the misconception that phenomena are established in their own right.
38528 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38530 Rely on timeless awareness, which is free of elaboration, without
38531 identity, and the very essence of being;
38532 do not rely on ordinary consciousness, which is a mind fixated
38533 on characteristics and concepts.
38535 Timeless awareness entails (a) understanding that the way in which phenomena
38536 actually abide is, from the ultimate perspective, free of all limitations
38537 imposed by elaborations of origination, cessation, and so forth; (b)
38538 realization of the nonexistence of the two kinds of identity; and (c) unerring
38539 knowledge of sugatagarbha as utter lucidity, the way in which things actually
38540 abide, beyond any context of speculative value judgments. It is on this
38541 awareness that one should rely.
38542 Ordinary consciousness entails (a) belief that what one immediately
38543 perceives constitutes something truly existent; (b) conceptualization in terms
38544 of characteristics, such as the sense of personal identity and the mind-body
38545 aggregates; and (c) mental states that are conditioned, for example, by
38546 attitudes of naively fixating on the pleasures of the senses. One should not
38547 rely on such consciousness.
38548 -- Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Taye, from "The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Seven
38549 and Book Eight, Parts One and Two"
38551 Such is the process of karma: it is ineluctable; its results are greatly
38552 magnified; actions not committed have no effect; and the effects of actions
38553 committed never expire on their own.
38554 Generally speaking, whether you are an ordinary mortal individual or a
38555 spiritually advanced being, all positive experiences that carry with them any
38556 pleasant sensation—down to even the slightest pleasure caused by a cool
38557 breeze for beings reborn in a hell realm—occur due to positive karma
38558 reinforced in the past; it is not in accord with the nature of things that
38559 happiness be due to negative karma. And all negative experiences that carry
38560 with them any unpleasant sensation—down to even the slightest suffering that
38561 could occur in the experience of an arhat—occur due to negative karma one
38562 has reinforced in the past; for it is not in accord with the nature of things
38563 that suffering be due to positive karma.
38564 -- Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Taye, from "The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Seven
38565 and Book Eight, Parts One and Two"
38567 "That which is seen and that which is touched are of a dream-like and
38568 illusion-like nature. Because feeling arises together with the mind,
38569 it is not [ultimately] perceived." --Shantideva
38571 There is nothing whatever that has a true mode of existence. Nevertheless,
38572 this does not suggest that a person who experiences feelings and the feelings
38573 themselves—pleasant and unpleasant—are utterly non-existent. They do
38574 exist, but in an untrue fashion. Thus, the things that we see and touch have
38575 a dream-like and illusion-like quality.
38576 In the second line the author refutes the true existence of the mind that
38577 experiences feelings. Since feelings arise in conjunction with the mind,
38578 feelings are not perceived by the mind that is simultaneous with them. There
38579 must be a causal relationship between the experienced object and the
38580 experiencing subject. If two entities are substantially distinct and exist
38581 simultaneously, there could be neither a causal relationship nor an identity
38582 relationship between them.
38583 For this reason the author denies that either [intrinsic] relationship could
38584 hold for the feelings and the awareness that is simultaneous with them. Two
38585 mental events that arise in conjunction with each other are not able to
38586 apprehend one another. This holds true for all states of awareness. Thus,
38587 feelings are not observed by the awareness that arises in conjunction with
38588 them and that exists simultaneously with them.
38589 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38591 Any happiness there is in the world ultimately turns to pain. Why? Consider
38592 the two sides of a coin: just because what we desire is to be seen on the
38593 front does not mean that dislike won't soon appear on the back. Likewise,
38594 hope and fear are a single coin, one entity with two faces--on the other side
38595 of a moment in which we hope for more happiness will be our fear of more
38596 suffering. Until attachment is eliminated, we can be certain of having both
38597 hope and fear. As long as there is hope and fear, the delusions of samsara
38598 will be perpetuated and there will be constant suffering. Thus attachment is
38599 the nature of both hope and fear: looking at the ultimate emptiness of the
38600 self-envisioned magical illusion of hope and fear, we should hang loosely in
38602 --Tulku Pema Rigtsal, "The Great Secret of Mind: Special Instructions on the
38603 Nonduality of Dzogchen", translated by Keith Dowman
38605 The feelings of joy and sorrow do not exist from their own side. Although
38606 they exist as conceptual imputations, you cling to them as existing from their
38607 own side. Feelings do not exist by their own intrinsic nature; rather, they
38608 are identified on the basis of contributing circumstances.
38609 Therefore, this analysis is cultivated as an antidote for that [false
38610 conception of intrinsic existence]. The meditative absorption that arises
38611 from the field of discriminative investigation is the food of the
38612 contemplative.—Shantideva
38613 Feelings do not truly exist; they are not found when sought through
38614 analysis; they do not exist independently, but exist by the power of
38615 convention. Thus, the means for overcoming the misconception of the true
38616 existence of feelings is meditation on their lack of such existence. This
38617 entails analyzing the mode of existence of feelings.
38618 Such investigation is an aid to meditative absorption and leads to the
38619 integration of meditative quiescence and insight. That increases the physical
38620 vitality of the contemplative and enhances the power of his [or her] spiritual
38621 practice. Thus it is called the nourishment of the contemplative.
38622 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Transcendent Wisdom".
38624 It is not enough merely to look into the space of happiness or sadness; it is
38625 important to have pure presence constant in that flow. If the power of
38626 meditation is not constant, it is impossible to remain long in the place of
38627 nondual perception. Thoughts that arise intermittently will break the
38628 continuity, and radiating out from this, like ripples on a pond, the poisonous
38629 taste of emotion will arise to obstruct the meditation. As gross thoughts
38630 increase, ripples become rough waves that intensify the emotion. Until subtle
38631 emotions are left behind, we cannot eradicate suffering, so it is crucially
38632 important to sustain the state of meditation. When we gain strong familiarity
38633 by staying in that space for a long time, then no matter what thoughts arise,
38634 whether gross or subtle, they will not be able to dislodge us: upon
38635 recognizing the first thought, whatever thought it may be, in that very
38636 moment, we realize it to be the play of the spontaneous creativity of
38637 dharmakaya. Like a wave falling back into the ocean, the thought vanishes
38638 into the dharmakaya. In that space of naked empty pure presence that is the
38639 view, always cherishing thoughts of the five poisonous emotions and all the
38640 movements of body, speech, and mind, and the acts of eating, sleeping, moving,
38641 and sitting, we are known as the yogins and yoginis who stand guard over the
38642 shifting dharmakaya display. This is the supreme method of sustaining the
38643 essence of meditation. According to Dzogchen teaching, this is unadulterated
38644 by any kind of focus; it is called "the great meditation that is
38646 --Tulku Pema Rigtsal, "The Great Secret of Mind: Special Instructions on the
38647 Nonduality of Dzogchen", translated by Keith Dowman.
38649 Who is more shameless in this world,
38650 Than one who abandons to samsara's ocean of suffering
38651 All the mothers who have tenderly cared for him since beginningless time
38652 And instead strives toward the peace of a solitary nirvana?
38653 --Shechen Gyaltsap Pema Namgyal
38655 In each of our lives since beginningless time, our mother carried us within
38656 her body for nine months. She took care of us when we were helpless babies;
38657 she gave us food, education, and protection. In return, we feel love and
38658 gratitude for her kindness.
38659 Why not extend our respect and appreciation for our mother to everyone else?
38660 If we take a broader perspective, we can consider that, within the countless
38661 existences we have lived, every being has been our mother at one time or
38662 another. Don't they also deserve our kindness now? We can extend the same
38663 debt of gratitude that we owe our present mother to all sentient beings. By
38664 doing so, we naturally begin to develop a deep concern for the happiness of
38665 others, and this feeling makes sense to us.
38666 We take the refuge vow not just for our own sake, but also for the sake of
38667 all sentient beings. This is bodhichitta, or the altruistic mind, which aims
38668 for the enlightenment of all sentient beings.
38669 --Shechen Rabjam, "The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the Notion
38670 of Reality: Steps in Meditation on the Enlightened Mind"
38672 Direct perfect enlightenment [with regard to] all aspects,
38673 and abandonment of the stains along with their imprints
38674 [are called] buddha and nirvana respectively.
38675 In truth, these are not two different things.
38678 All aspects of the knowable—all absolute and relative phenomena—are
38679 directly known. Through this knowledge one is immediately and perfectly
38680 enlightened. This is the aspect of realization. All the adventitious
38681 defilements—the two veils along with their remaining imprints—are
38682 abandoned without any exception. This is the aspect of abandonment. These
38683 two qualities have been led to ultimate perfection. They are therefore named
38684 "perfect buddha" ["perfectly awakened and expanded"] from the
38685 viewpoint of the former aspect, and "nirvana" ["gone beyond any torment
38686 and pain"] from the viewpoint of the latter aspect. These two aspects are
38687 contained in one and the same meaning, the meaning of the tathagatagarbha,
38688 whereas a difference only lies in the convention of the different terms. In
38689 the sense of the absolute field of experience of the noble ones' primordial
38690 wisdom the qualities of realization and abandonment are therefore completely
38691 inseparable and do not exist as two different things.
38692 -- Arya Maitreya, "Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra with
38693 Commentary", with commentary by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Thaye
38695 "Vehicle" (yana) has two meanings: the means by which one progresses and
38696 the destination to which one is progressing. Mahayana in the sense of the
38697 vehicle by which one progresses means to be motivated by the mind of
38698 enlightenment—wishing to attain highest enlightenment for the sake of all
38699 sentient beings, one's objects of intent—and means to engage in the six
38701 Seeing reason and need, Buddha set forth many systems and vehicles, but
38702 these did not arise due to his being intimate with some and alien to others.
38703 The trainees who were listening to his teaching had various dispositions,
38704 interests, and abilities, and thus he taught methods that were suitable for
38705 each of them. For those who temporarily did not have the courage to strive
38706 for Buddhahood or who did not at all have the capacity of obtaining Buddhahood
38707 at that time, Buddha did not say, "You can attain Buddhahood." Rather, he
38708 set forth a path appropriate to the trainees' abilities. Buddha spoke in
38709 terms of their situation, and everything that he spoke was a means of
38710 eventually attaining highest enlightenment even though he did not always say
38711 that these were means for attaining Buddhahood.
38712 Since the purpose of a Buddha's coming is others' realization of the
38713 wisdom of Buddhahood, the methods for actualizing this wisdom are one vehicle,
38714 not two. A Buddha does not lead beings by a vehicle that does not proceed to
38715 Buddhahood; he establishes beings in his own level. A variety of vehicles are
38716 set forth in accordance with temporary needs.
38717 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38719 You do not have to seek out loneliness--it is always there. Egolessness is a
38720 concept, a philosophy, but loneliness is a reality that you experience. A
38721 feeling of loneliness is part of the journey. As for me, I feel that way
38722 constantly, and I think it's a very healthy feeling, a very real feeling.
38723 When you sense that you are not you anymore and that nothing can replace that
38724 state, you begin to make discoveries. You discover devotion, and you discover
38725 a quality of richness and artistic expression that is very special. Being
38726 you, but not being you, is very resourceful. You become a complete mountain
38727 man: you know how to make fire and cook food. But it doesn't mean anything.
38728 You are still nobody. That is the inspiration.
38729 -- Chögyam Trungpa, "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, Volume
38730 One: The Individual Path of Liberation"
38732 Interdependence is our reality, whether we accept it or not. In order to
38733 live productively within such a reality, it is better to acknowledge and work
38734 with interdependence, wholeheartedly and without resistance. This is where
38735 love and compassion come in. It is love that leads us to embrace our
38736 connectedness to others, and to participate willingly in the relations created
38737 by our interdependence. Love can melt away our defenses and our painful sense
38738 of separation. The warmth of friendship and love makes it easy for us to
38739 accept that our happiness is intimately linked to that of others. The more
38740 widely we are able to love others, the happier and more content we can feel
38741 within the relations of interdependence that are a natural part of our life.
38742 Love is possible in all our relationships because all people want happiness.
38743 No one wants to suffer. This is true of the people we love. It is also true
38744 of those we dislike. We are all absolutely identical in this respect. I
38745 think this universal wish for happiness is something we can easily grasp
38746 intellectually. When we learn to also feel and respect this in our heart,
38747 love naturally flourishes within us.
38748 -- The Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, "The Heart is Noble: Changing the World
38749 from the Inside Out"
38751 Day and night, night and day we spend our lives in the company of the
38752 afflictions, generating desire for the pleasant and anger at the unpleasant,
38753 and continue thus even when dreaming, unable to remain relaxed, our minds
38754 completely and utterly mixed with thoughts of desire and hatred without
38756 To what refuge should we go? A source of refuge must have completely
38757 overcome all defects forever; it must be free of all faults. It must also
38758 have all the attributes of altruism—those attainments which are necessary
38759 for achieving others' welfare. For it is doubtful that anyone lacking these
38760 two prerequisites can bestow refuge; it would be like falling into a ditch and
38761 asking another who is in it to help you out. You need to ask someone who is
38762 standing outside the ditch for help; it is senseless to ask another who is in
38763 the same predicament. A refuge capable of protecting from the frights of
38764 manifold sufferings cannot also be bound in this suffering but must be free
38765 and unflawed. Furthermore, the complete attainments are necessary, for if you
38766 have fallen into a ditch, it is useless to seek help from someone standing
38767 outside it who does not wish to help or who wishes to help but has no means to
38769 Only a Buddha has extinguished all faults and gained all attainments.
38770 Therefore, one should mentally go for refuge to a Buddha, praise him with
38771 speech, and respect him physically. One should enter the teaching of such a
38773 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38775 All that is has me—universal creativity,
38776 pure and total presence—as its root.
38777 How things appear is my being.
38778 How things arise is my manifestation.
38779 Sounds and words heard are my messages
38780 expressed in sounds and words.
38781 All the capacities, forms, and pristine
38782 awareness of the buddhas;
38783 The bodies of sentient beings, their
38784 habituations, and so forth;
38785 All environments and their inhabitants,
38786 life forms, and experiences;
38787 Are the primordial state of pure and total
38790 Without understanding me, the creativity of
38792 But investigating the phenomena that I
38794 You perceive everything dualistically due
38795 to your attachment and longing.
38796 Impermanent, apparitional things will fade
38798 They are aimless, like a blind man.
38800 All that is experienced and
38801 Your own mind are the unique primary reality.
38802 They cannot be conceptualized according to
38803 the cause and effect systems of thought.
38804 Investigate your mind's real nature
38805 So that your pure and total presence will
38806 actually shine forth.
38808 -- Longchenpa, "You Are the Eyes of the World"
38810 Devotion, or mögü in Tibetan, can be divided into two aspects: möpa and
38811 küpa. Möpa means "longing" or "wanting," and küpa means "humility,"
38812 "respect," or "being without arrogance." With küpa, you are not pretending
38813 to be somebody who has reached a higher level of wisdom. So in devotion,
38814 longing and humbleness are put together. That state of mind brings openness
38815 to the teacher and to the dharma.
38816 With küpa, the longing of möpa does not become purely an emotional
38817 indulgence or demand on the part of either the student or the teacher. The
38818 devotion of küpa is the respect or sacredness that comes from that experience
38819 of aah [the space before first thought]! Küpa arises because every highlight
38820 in your life has always been touched by the sacredness of vajrayana, even
38821 before you knew it.
38822 -- Chogyam Trungpa, from "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma,
38823 Volume Three: The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness"
38825 All suffering in this life and others is created by the unsubdued mind.
38826 Similarly, the basis of all the practices of the six paramitas, such as
38827 generosity, moral discipline, and so on, is the mind.
38829 Nothing is more important than guarding the mind. Let us constantly keep
38830 watch over the wild elephant of the mind, curbing it with mindfulness and
38831 vigilance. This is how to avoid being influenced by different external
38832 conditions. But even in retreat in a very secluded place, if the mind is not
38833 kept under control, it will wander all over the place. Even completely alone,
38834 we can have an enormous amount of negative emotions.
38836 How are we to guard the mind? We should use attentiveness to watch our
38837 thoughts and use mindfulness to judge whether we are acting correctly. With
38838 these two we have the means to annihilate all adverse conditions. But without
38839 them, we will not see whether our thoughts are positive or negative or whether
38840 we are doing right or wrong, nor will we then be able to use antidotes as
38842 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38844 The great yogi Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol replies to a Losar Day request from
38845 his disciple Depa Wangpo on what to adopt and what to reject regarding
38846 attitude and conduct...
38848 Don't harm your friends and neighbors; help them.
38849 Don't be stingy; use your wealth for offerings and charity.
38850 Don't let your body be idle; do prostrations and circumambulations.
38851 Don't let your mouth be idle; recite the mani mantra.
38852 Always have pure thoughts towards others.
38854 In brief, keeping Death in mind, practice the sacred Dharma.
38855 Give up doing wrong, and do what is wholesome.
38856 Whatever happiness and sufferings you undergo,
38857 Regard them as the result of previous actions.
38858 Always act in accord with the Dharma.
38859 Even though I may be far away,
38860 These instructions will remain like my very presence.
38863 -- Shabkar Natshok Rangdrol, in "The Life of Shabkar"
38865 On the very night of Dodrupchen's death, his spiritual testament was
38866 received by his principal disciple, Do Khyentse. Dodrupchen appeared in the
38867 sky in a radiant light body and an attire of lights. He was floating on a
38868 carpet of light, which was held up by four dakinis. In a very enchanting
38869 voice he sang the verses of his testament, which include the following lines:
38871 I am going into the expanse of the Wisdom of the Ultimate Sphere,
38872 Which is the state that transcends thoughts and expressions.
38873 I am going into the state of Mirrorlike Wisdom,
38874 Which is the ceaseless clear glow, fresh and open.
38875 I am going into the expanse of the Wisdom of Evenness,
38876 In which all the thoughts of grasping and grasper have vanished into the
38878 I am going into the Wisdom of Discriminative Awareness,
38879 Which is the clarity, the dawn of six kinds of foreknowledge.
38880 I am going into the state of the Wisdom of Accomplishment,
38881 Which emanates various manifestations in accordance with [the needs of]
38884 Son, please stay healthy.
38885 Now you have won over the obstructions of your life.
38886 Until all the phenomenal existents are liberated as the signs and
38887 teachings [of Dharma],
38888 [You should be] aware of samsara and nirvana as dreams and illusions.
38889 Dedicate yourself to the meditation where there is no reference point.
38890 This is the empowerment of total entrustment and aspiration.
38891 This is the supreme empowerment of empowerments.
38893 -- from "Masters of Meditation and Miracles", by Tulku Thondup.
38895 The view of interdependence makes for a great openness of mind. In general,
38896 instead of realizing that what we experience arises from a complicated network
38897 of causes, we tend to attribute happiness or sadness, for example, to single,
38898 individual sources. But if this were so, as soon as we came into contact with
38899 what we consider to be good, we would be automatically happy, and conversely,
38900 in the case of bad things, invariably sad. The causes of joy and sorrow would
38901 be easy to identify and target. It would all be very simple, and there would
38902 be good reason for our anger and attachment. When, on the other hand, we
38903 consider that everything we experience results from a complex interplay of
38904 causes and conditions, we find that there is no single thing to desire or
38905 resent, and it is more difficult for the afflictions of attachment or anger to
38906 arise. In this way, the view of interdependence makes our minds more relaxed
38908 By training our minds and getting used to this view, we change our way of
38909 seeing things, and as a result we gradually change our behavior and do less
38910 harm to others. As it says in the sutras:
38913 Practice virtue well;
38915 This is the Buddha's teaching.
38917 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "For the Benefit of All Beings"
38919 In the avadhuti, the main path of enlightenment,
38920 Prana and mind, bliss and warmth, are united,
38921 Becoming unconditioned great bliss.
38922 The wisdom of unobscured insight dawns.
38924 "This is unsurpassable," the guru has said.
38925 The darkness of ignorance is purified in space.
38926 One is free from the two obscurations of grasping and fixation.
38927 Therefore bliss and luminosity dawn in simplicity.
38929 This appearance of collective coincidence
38930 Is a reflection without self-nature.
38931 All appearances are realized like that,
38932 And just like appearances in a dream,
38933 All dharmas arise as illusions...
38935 When thoughts arise, rest naturally.
38936 When dreaming, be mindful without corrupting it.
38937 When in the pardo, don't control, but be aware.
38938 When there is fruition, let it arise without obscuration.
38940 -- from "The Life of Marpa the Translator" translated by Chögyam Trungpa
38941 and the Nalanda Translation Committee.
38943 The Four Seals in Buddhism are:
38945 All products are impermanent.
38946 (or all compounded phenomena are impermanent?)
38947 ('du byed thams cad mi rtag pa)
38949 All contaminated objects are miserable.
38950 (zag bcas thams cad sdug bsngal ba)
38952 All phenomena are selfless.
38953 (chos thams cad bdag med pa)
38956 (mya ngan las 'das ba zhi ba)
38958 --from "Meditation on Emptiness" (London: Wisdom, 1983), by Jeffrey Hopkins
38960 When you pass away, nothing will do you any good except for the pure Dharma.
38961 You will not simply disappear when you die. Rather, what happens next will be
38962 dictated by your previous actions.
38963 For these reasons, you should exert yourself by whatever means necessary to
38964 free yourself from samsara, which is nothing but a vast ocean of suffering!
38965 Practice your teacher's guidance concerning what to do and what to give up
38966 to the letter, without falling under the influence of immature friends or bad
38967 influences. To the best of your ability, incorporate this genuine teaching on
38968 the certainty of death into each and every day.
38969 Keeping all this in mind, arouse faith in the Three Jewels so that you will
38970 be able to practice in this manner, thinking to yourself, "Think of me,
38971 Three Jewels!" At the same time, be sure to generate an intense sense of
38972 renunciation and subdue your mind stream.
38973 -- from "Entrance to the Great Perfection: A Guide to the Dzogchen
38974 Preliminary Practices", edited and translated by Cortland Dahl
38976 I would like to mention my visit to Lourdes as a pilgrim. There, in front of
38977 the cave, I experienced something very special. I felt a spiritual vibration,
38978 a kind of spiritual presence there. And then, in front of the image of the
38979 Virgin Mary, I prayed. I expressed my admiration for this holy place that has
38980 long been a source of inspiration and strength, that has provided spiritual
38981 solace, comfort and healing to millions of people. And I prayed that this may
38982 continue for a long time to come. My prayer there was not directed to any
38983 clearly defined object, like Buddha or Jesus Christ or a bodhisattva, but was
38984 simply directed to all great beings who have infinite compassion towards all
38986 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
38988 The Buddhist teaching is superior in four ways: view, meditation, behavior,
38991 1. The "four seals" that distinguish the [Buddhist] view are as follows: all
38992 composed phenomena are impermanent, all contaminated things are miserable, all
38993 phenomena are selfless, and nirvana is peace.
38995 2. Buddhist meditation serves as an antidote to all cyclic existence within
38998 3. Buddhist behavior is free from the two extremes, having abandoned both the
38999 extreme of overindulgence of desire, which is a case of being desirous and
39000 wanting good and great quantities of food and clothing, and the extreme of
39001 being too tired and worn out in body and mind.
39003 4. The fruits are the true cessations, which are abandonments such that the
39004 obstruction that is removed does not arise again [and which comes about]
39005 through analyzing individually the nonexistence of the referent object of the
39006 conception of self.
39008 These four [view, meditation, behavior, and fruit] are the distinguishing
39009 features of Buddhist doctrine.
39010 -- Jamyang Shayba, from "Buddhist Philosophy: Losang Gonchok's Short
39011 Commentary to Jamyang Shayba's Root Text on Tenets", by Daniel Cozort
39012 and Craig Preston, page 88.
39014 When you are busy and preoccupied, you feel hassled by your own existence.
39015 You are so busy that you think that you do not have any time to spare for your
39016 practice. Such torment and busyness seem to be monumental or historic, but
39017 that is not the case. As far as we are concerned, that kind of torment is
39018 absolutely ordinary. As you begin to work on that, you realize that the
39019 inconvenience, discomfort, and anguish that you experience is no more than
39020 anybody else experiences. So your experience is no longer regarded as
39021 monumental—no more than if you step on a cat's tail, and the cat cries
39022 out, "Wooaaaoow!" However, it is still a problematic situation. Therefore
39023 you need to practice the paramita of discipline, which overcomes that type of
39024 preoccupation altogether. You begin to realize that preoccupations are
39025 garbage; they are worth flushing out so that something real could come up.
39026 Then paramita activity begins to make sense, and you begin to act in a more
39028 -- Chögyam Trungpa, from "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma.
39029 Volume Two: The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion"
39031 If we unbalance nature, humankind will suffer. Furthermore, we must consider
39032 future generations: a clean environment is a human right like any other. It
39033 is therefore part of our responsibility toward others to ensure that the world
39034 we pass on is as healthy as, if not healthier than, we found it. This is not
39035 quite such a difficult proposition as it might sound. For although there is a
39036 limit to what we as individuals can do, there is no limit to what a universal
39037 response might achieve. It is up to us as individuals to do what we can,
39038 however little that may be. Just because switching off the light on leaving
39039 the room seems inconsequential, it does not mean we shouldn't do it.
39040 -- His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "The Pocket Dalai Lama"
39042 Basically we are trying to put a stop to frivolity of any kind. Frivolity is
39043 an interesting word. It can mean being crazy and indulging unnecessarily in a
39044 very crude fashion, but it could also mean indulging in something in the name
39045 of humor and overdoing it slightly. If you are embarrassed to deal with a
39046 particular subject, you find another subject to discuss. If you are tired of
39047 drinking vodka, you switch to sake. If you are bored with talking to one
39048 person, you switch to somebody else. Frivolity is anything that creates
39049 further confusion, or the longing for further confusion. Confusion may seem
39050 luxurious: when you no longer have it, you begin to miss that confusion, and
39051 you would like to re-create it. It is like going back to an adult bookshop
39052 and getting more magazines. But with discipline, you control any form of
39053 potential escape from reality.
39054 -- Chögyam Trungpa, from "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma.
39055 Volume Two: The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion"
39057 The essence of all the songs can be epitomized by the four dharmas of
39058 Gampopa. These are: (1) one’s mind becomes dharmic; (2) that dharma
39059 practice becomes path; (3) in following that path, confusion is removed; (4)
39060 having removed confusion, everything dawns as wisdom.
39061 The first dharma is the ground, where our mind becomes dharmic so that we
39062 and the dharma are no longer separate entities. We develop true renunciation
39063 and have a sense of revulsion towards samsara. The second dharma is the path.
39064 When our mind goes along with the dharma, the dharma becomes the path, and any
39065 obstacles, whether extreme or ordinary, become a part of our journey. The
39066 third dharma is the fruition. As the journey is taking place, the process of
39067 the journey liberates us from confusion and anxiety. We are delighted by our
39068 journey and we feel it is good. The fourth dharma is the total vision. When
39069 we are able to overcome confusion and anxiety, even our anxiety is not
39070 regarded as anti-dharma or anti-path. Cosmic wakefulness takes place.
39071 -- Chögyam Trungpa's in the foreword to "The Rain of Wisdom: The Essence of
39072 the Ocean of True Meaning"
39074 Scrutinize Apperances
39076 No matter what our mind makes appear as an object of one of our six
39077 collections of consciousness—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile or
39078 bodily sensations, or mental objects or events—we thoroughly scrutinize its
39079 mode of appearance. Our mind is making it appear as though its existence were
39080 established by virtue of itself, empowered by some truly and inherently
39081 existent self-nature—and not by virtue simply of mental labeling
39082 establishing its existence as what can be labeled "this" or "that"
39083 from this side. We thoroughly scrutinize this mode of appearance and the mode
39084 of existence it implies. There does appear to be something solidly there, not
39085 existing as what it is by virtue simply of mental labeling, but by virtue of
39086 itself, independently of anything else. But, by reminding ourselves that it
39087 does not exist as it appears to exist—by being mindful that its existence
39088 and identity are not established through its own power—we automatically
39089 reconfirm and become even stronger in our conviction in its bare mode of
39090 existence. In other words, as the text [the First Panchen Lama’s A Root
39091 Text for the Precious Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra] says, "[You
39092 experience] their bare mode of existence dawning in an exposed, resplendent
39094 -- His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition
39097 The dakini principle must not be oversimplified, as it carries many levels of
39098 meaning. On an outer level, accomplished female practitioners were called
39099 dakinis.... But ultimately, though she appears in female form, a dakini
39100 defies gender definitions. “To really meet the dakini, you have to go
39101 beyond duality,” Khandro Rinpoche teaches, referring to an essential
39102 understanding in Vajrayana that the absolute reality cannot be grasped
39103 intellectually. The Tibetan word for dakini, khandro, means “sky-goer” or
39104 “space-dancer,” which indicates that these ethereal awakened ones have
39105 left the confinements of solid earth and have the vastness of open space to
39107 -- Michaela Haas, from "Dakini Power: Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the
39108 Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West"
39110 Drawing from Longchenpa, Jamgon Kongtrul explains the method of awakening in
39111 the Dzog-chen system, calling it the “Liberation as Ever-Perfect,” as the
39112 primordial buddha Samantabhadra... Liberation as Ever-Perfect does not refer
39113 to the liberation of a buddha that has occurred in the past, such as that of
39114 Buddha Sakyamuni, but to the way in which countless beings are liberated right
39115 now and will continue to be liberated in the future simply by realizing their
39116 primordial purity. The basis, the path, and the ultimate result in this
39117 system are all of a singular, undifferentiated nature: total, pure awareness.
39118 Thus, the primordial freedom that one seeks to attain by practicing the
39119 spiritual path is something that one already possesses. Intrinsic freedom is
39120 itself the path that leads to the actualization of the goal.
39121 -- from the Translator's Introduction, "The Treasury of Knowledge: Book One,
39122 Myriad Worlds", by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye
39124 If we realize, “I am a human being. A human being can do anything,”
39125 this determination, courage, and self-confidence are important sources of
39126 victory and success. Without will power and determination, even something
39127 that you might have achieved easily cannot be achieved. If you have will
39128 power and reasonable courage—not blind courage but courage without
39129 pride—even things that seemed impossible at a certain stage turn into being
39130 possible because of continuing effort inspired by that courage. Thus,
39131 determination is important.
39132 How can this be developed? Not through machines, not by money, but by our
39133 own inner strength based on clear realization of the value of human beings, of
39134 human dignity. For, once we realize that a human being is much more than just
39135 material, much more than just money, we can feel the importance of human life,
39136 from which we can feel the importance of compassion and kindness.
39137 Human beings by nature want happiness and do not want suffering. With that
39138 feeling everyone tries to achieve happiness and tries to get rid of suffering,
39139 and everyone has the basic right to do this. In this way, all here are the
39140 same, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, Easterner or Westerner,
39141 believer or nonbeliever, and within believers whether Buddhist, Christian,
39142 Jewish, Muslim, and so on. Basically, from the viewpoint of real human value
39143 we are all the same.
39144 -- His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight"
39148 Racoon dead six weeks.
39153 Through aspiration prayers and arousing bodhicitta, for the noble families the
39154 time had come to tame the māras and cannibal demons of Tibet, and resounding
39155 as self-arising formless sound from the sky was this song, which invokes the
39156 enlightened mindstreams [of all the sages]:
39159 Unborn primordially empty dharmadhatu,
39160 Unobstructed ground for the arising of phenomena,
39161 The strength of emptiness free from the extremes of existing or not,
39162 Listen to this song, a self-arising spontaneously present song.
39164 Without considering the six grains of the three months of autumn,
39165 Why toil in the fields in the three months of spring?
39166 Without considering the abundance of the plunder,
39167 Why wave your arms to summon enemies and disputes?
39168 Without considering the benefit of others,
39169 Why single-pointedly practice to try to accomplish enlightenment?
39171 Failing to know the minds of those to be tamed, one is not a buddha.
39172 Failing to fulfill the welfare of others is not the sacred dharma.
39173 Failing to lead others to liberation is not the sangha.
39175 -- from The Epic of Gesar of Ling, "Gesar’s Birth and Childhood"
39177 When we meditate I encourage all of us to have the attitude that we are
39178 meditating to dissolve the self. That’s why we meditate. Hold this
39179 perspective in your awareness and let your dualistic mind dissolve for at
39180 least a half hour, or at least for ten minutes every day. When you allow
39181 yourself to witness that unexpected glimpse of the truth, where the self is
39182 dissolved, it’s like drinking nectar. It’s inexpressible. We often use
39183 the word bliss to describe that state. Bliss is a good word, but it can be
39184 misunderstood. The bliss that I am speaking about has nothing to do with
39185 ordinary bliss. It’s not like the bliss of having great food or other
39186 sensual pleasure. This is nonconceptual bliss that is not based on emotions
39187 but is based on awareness. We often say that realizing the true nature of who
39188 we are is like drinking the nectar of ultimate bliss. The more we drink, the
39189 more we are going to be addicted, which is very good.
39190 -- Anam Thubten, "No Self, No Problem: Awakening to Our True Nature"
39192 Why is a man condemned to death not fortunate
39193 If he is released after having his hand cut off?
39194 Why am I who am experiencing human misery not fortunate
39195 If by that I am spared from (the agonies of) hell?
39197 If I am unable to endure
39198 Even the mere sufferings of the present,
39199 Then why do I not restrain myself from being angry,
39200 Which will be the source of hellish misery?
39202 In these two verses [from The Way of the Bodhisattva], Shantideva explains
39203 that by not being angry and developing hatred in response to harm caused by
39204 others, what one is gaining is protection from potential undesirable
39205 consequences that might otherwise come about. Because if one responds to such
39206 situations with anger and hatred, not only does it not protect one from the
39207 injury that has already been done, but on top of that one creates an
39208 additional cause for one’s own suffering in the future. However, if one
39209 responds without anger and hatred and develops patience and tolerance, then
39210 although one many face temporary discomfort or injury, that temporary
39211 suffering will protect one from potentially dangerous consequences in the
39212 future. If this is the case, then by sacrificing small things, by putting up
39213 with small problems or hardships, one will be able to forgo experiences of
39214 much greater suffering in the future.
39215 An example Shantideva uses here is that if a convicted prisoner can save his
39216 life by sacrificing his arm as a punishment, wouldn’t that person feel
39217 grateful for that opportunity? By accepting the pain and suffering of having
39218 his arm cut off, that person will be saving himself from death, which is a
39219 greater suffering. Shantideva adds that there is another advantage: not only
39220 will one be protected from potentially dangerous consequences in the future,
39221 but also by experiencing the pain and suffering which has been caused
39222 temporarily by others, one is exhausting the karmic potentials of negative
39223 karma which one has accumulated in the past. So it serves two purposes.
39224 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a
39225 Buddhist Perspective"
39227 The Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682) was perhaps the most mystical of all the
39228 Dalai Lamas in that he seemed to spend much of his time in a state of trance.
39229 During these trances many gurus of past ages, as well as mandala deities,
39230 buddhas, and bodhisattvas, would appear directly to him and give him secret
39231 transmissions, initiations, and teachings. As the Thirteenth Dalai Lama says
39232 of the Great Fifth later in this chapter, he “was continually absorbed in
39233 the wisdom dance that experiences all appearances as pure vision.”
39234 -- Glenn H. Mullin, from "From the Heart of Chenrezig: The Dalai Lamas on
39237 Wishing others to be happy doesn’t mean we give them everything they want,
39238 because sometimes what they want can be harmful. Wishing them to be happy
39239 entails wanting them to be free from pain and loneliness. Wouldn’t it be
39240 wonderful if they were free from these and all other miseries? In order to
39241 love others, we have to be able to overcome our anger and hatred toward them.
39242 We have to be able to forgive them for the wrongs they’ve done. To do that,
39243 we have to get “me” out of the way and see that when people create harm,
39244 it is a reflection of their own pain, confusion, and misery. We just happened
39245 to walk across their path. We may even have done something to antagonize
39246 them, either deliberately or accidentally, but the reason that they got so
39247 upset is because of what is going on inside of them. We might also look at
39248 how we made ourselves into a target or accidentally became a target onto which
39249 they projected their confusion. Maybe we weren’t very considerate of them.
39250 Maybe we have certain bad habits of which we’re not aware and to which
39252 -- Thubten Chodron, "How to Free Your Mind: The Practice of Tara the
39255 We humans are actually not that far from enlightenment. Our five senses are
39256 like the Emanation Body of a Buddha; our dream body, which is similar to the
39257 after-death form, is like a Buddha’s Beatific Form; and the basis of both of
39258 these is the subtle mind of clear light which shares the nature of a
39259 Buddha’s Wisdom Body. All we have to do is learn to transform these
39260 ordinary elements into their pure natures. Then buddhahood naturally comes
39262 -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "The Path to Enlightenment"
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