+~
+I once heard a Buddhist teacher say that the whole point of having a teacher
+was to become autonomous. I considered that for a while. I thought, "Well,
+yes, as a mother, I did everything I could to help my son stand on his own two
+feet. I get that." But is it possible for anyone to stand on their own two
+feet without their mother, father, or guardian to guide them? When we are
+born, we are completely helpless and dependent. We would never survive
+without the help of others. There is truly no such thing as autonomy. So if
+you want to live in accordance with the nature of things—which means living
+in grace—practically speaking, it will require some humility and gratitude
+for the ways in which your tradition has come down to you with so much care.
+ -- Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, from "The Logic of Faith: The Buddhist Approach
+ to Finding Certainty Beyond Belief and Doubt", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+If we are attached to a thought, it becomes an obstacle to the development of
+our meditation or samadhi. The remedies for reducing attachments to thoughts
+are called "pacification" and "taming the mind," which involve what to
+do when we are unwilling to let go of thoughts. Normally we regard thoughts,
+and especially certain thoughts, as either particularly important or
+particularly pleasant and therefore worthwhile or entertaining. However, in
+meditation, thoughts are nothing other than impediments to what we are trying
+to do. So, when we are practicing meditation, we have to maintain the
+attitude, "This is my time to meditate and now I am not trying to think
+thoughts. If I let myself think, I am wasting this time I have to practice."
+ -- Khenchen Thrangu, from "The Mahamudra Lineage Prayer: A Guide to
+ Practice", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The arrogant mind never stops searching for identity, and this identity always
+defines itself through attributes: "the beautiful one," "the smart one,"
+"the creative one," "the successful one." Sometimes we take this further by
+creating a more elaborate persona: "the rebel," "the maverick," "the suffering
+artist," "the fearless leader." We can hold onto these labels on a "good" day.
+But when we feel insecure about our attributes, or our lack thereof, we start
+to wonder how to define ourselves; we wonder who it is we really are.
+Regardless of whether we’re having a good day or a low self-esteem day, the
+point is, we haven’t found a way to relax, to be natural, unself-conscious.
+We don’t know how to take our seat in ordinariness and feel comfortable in
+our own skin. We’re always searching for something to be.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul, from "Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on
+ Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+VOTE DEMOCRAT 2018
+It's time for the adults to take back the wheel
+WE KNOW OUR ABCS...
+Apple pie, Baseball, Compassion, & Science
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Elevate your experience and remain wide-open like the sky.
+Expand your mindfulness and remain pervasive like the earth.
+Steady your attention and remain unshakable like a mountain.
+Brighten your awareness and remain shining like a flame.
+Clear your thought-free wakefulness and remain lucid like a crystal.
+ -- Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, "Clarifying the Natural State", from "Jewels of
+ Enlightenment: Wisdom Teachings from the Great Tibetan Masters", compiled
+ and translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Meditation, by nature, is like tasting nectar.
+
+To meditate on the meaning of what you have heard and contemplated
+pacifies all the illnesses of negative emotions.
+
+You will cross the ocean of conditioned existence and arrive at the
+far shore--the heart essence.
+
+Please meditate in the forest from now on.
+
+ -- Longchenpa, from "The Life of Longchenpa: The Omniscient Dharma King of
+ the Vast Expanse", Compiled and edited by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Compassion has no hierarchy of worthy and unworthy suffering; it makes no
+distinctions between the deserving and the undeserving. Wherever there is
+suffering, there is a need for compassion. Finding compassion for those who
+cause pain is an ongoing practice requiring remarkable patience and
+perseverance. It is a difficult journey, but the path of bitterness and
+division is far more painful. The path of compassion begins with your
+willingness to soften and stay present in all the moments when you are prone
+to recoil and flinch. You learn to open your eyes and heart in all the places
+you have been blinded by fear or rage. You begin to dismantle the boundaries
+that have too long divided you from others.
+ -- "All the Rage--Buddhist Wisdom on Anger and Acceptance", Edited by Andrea
+ Miller and the Editors of the Shambhala Sun, published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Each and every being in this world, including animals and all other beings of
+the six realms, wants to be happy. Nobody wants to suffer. Even through we
+have no wisdom or clairvoyance, we can see that everyone in this world is
+afflicted with disturbing emotions and delusion based on their karma\97not only
+we humans, but all beings in the six realms. Even a tiny little ant is
+constantly afflicted by the five poisons, and it\92s impossible for such a being
+to generate bodhichitta, faith, devotion, or pure perception for an instant.
+It can\92t even conceive of a path to liberation or ultimate happiness. Due to
+karma accumulated throughout beginningless lifetimes, all sentient beings
+experience various kinds of sorrow and happiness. Yet this isn\92t just random,
+for all that we experience is the result of our past actions.
+##--#Penor Rinpoche, from "An Ocean of Blessings: Heart Teachings of Drubwang
+ Penor Rinpoche", translated by Ani Jinba Palmo, published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ Dreaming is a dynamic process. Unlike the static images of film that we
+use as a metaphor, the images of a dream are fluid: they move, beings talk,
+sounds vibrate, sensation is vivid. The content of dream is formed by the
+mind, but the basis of the vitality and animation of the dream is the prana.
+The literal translation of the Tibetan word for prana, lung, is "wind," but
+it is more descriptive to call it the vital wind force.
+ Prana is the foundational energy of all experience, of all life.
+ -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and edited by Mark Dahlby, from "The Tibetan
+ Yogas of Dream and Sleep", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Do they know this kid likes his chemistry set a little too much?
+ -- The Sopranos
+~
+The Nine Expressions of Dance
+
+The upper part of one's body should have the demeanor of a lion.
+The waist should maintain the demeanor of elegance.
+The wrists and ankles should maintain a demeanor of dexterity.
+The thigh muscles should maintain a relaxed demeanor.
+The blood should maintain a fiery red demeanor.
+The countenance should maintain a handsome demeanor.
+The movements should maintain a slow demeanor.
+The knees should maintain a supple demeanor.
+The feet and head should maintain a demeanor of happiness.
+And overall [the dancer] should maintain a demeanor
+That is both heroic and magnificent.
+
+ -- by Konchog Lhadrepa and Charlotte Davis, from "The Art of Awakening:
+ A User's Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Art and Practice", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+Advice to Myself
+
+ Stop living a false and empty life.
+ Drop those deceptions of your own mind
+ And endless projects that you don't need!
+
+ Don't make your head spin with the burden
+ Of strings of ideas that never come true
+ And endless distracting activities--
+ They're just waves on water.
+ Just keep quiet.
+
+ -- Patrul Rinpoche, from "Enlightened Vagabond: The Life and Teachings of
+ Patrul Rinpoche", By Matthieu Ricard, Edited by Constance Wilkinson,
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Like the vast expanse of the ocean, birthplaces of other beings are vast and
+multitudinous. Just as the yoke has only a single opening, human birth is
+small in extent and few in number. Just as the tortoise rises up only once
+every hundred years, so it is rare to accumulate the karma that results in
+human birth. Just as the tortoise is blind, so one's accumulated karma is
+feeble. Just as the yoke is tossed about in every direction by the wind, so
+there are many adverse forces obstructing the coincidence of conditions needed
+for human birth.
+ -- Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub, from "Three Visions: Fundamental Teachings of
+ the Sakya Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism", translated by Lobsang Dagpa and
+ Jay Goldberg, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ The actual nature of things is inconceivable and inexpressible. Yet, for
+those fortunate individuals who seek to penetrate the profound meaning of
+dharmata, I shall offer here a few words by way of illustration.
+ What we call the essence of mind is the actual face of unconditioned pure
+awareness, recognized through receiving the guru's blessings and
+instructions. If you wonder what this is like, it is empty in its essence,
+beyond conceptual reference; it is cognizant by nature, spontaneously present;
+and it is all-pervasive and unobstructed in its compassionate energy. This is
+the pure awareness (rigpa) in which the three kayas are inseparable.
+ -- from "Beyond the Ordinary Mind: Dzogchen, Rime, and the Path of
+ Perfect Wisdom", translated by Adam Pearcey, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Being attached to your ordinary dualistic considerations is a pitfall in your
+way of living. No matter what appears, by applying yourself without being at
+all distracted from the perspective and meditation, this unobstructed,
+powerful way of life will come about with the six senses naturally relaxed.
+Apply yourself without contradicting this.
+ -- Longchenpa, from "You Are the Eyes of the World", translated by Kennard
+ Lipman and Merrill Peterson, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Kyema!
+Hear me, young and faithful girl!
+I, the Lotus-Born, will preach the Dharma in the land of ogres.
+My flawless adamantine form, surpassing change,
+Is not to be compared with that of beings racked by ills.
+The country of Tibet I filled with Dharma, within the earth and on it.
+If you are strong in practice and instruction,
+No shortage of the Dharma will there be.
+ -- Yeshe Tsogyal, from "Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and Enlightenment
+ of Yeshe Tsogyal", by Gyalwa Changchub and Namkhai Nyingpo, translated by
+ Padmakara Translation Group, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Ultimately, spiritual and worldly values are totally contradictory; this is
+something we simply have to accept. In the materialistic world, being "rich"
+means that you own plenty of property, run various businesses, and have a
+great deal of money; whereas the spiritual world defines being "rich" as
+perfect contentment. From a spiritual point of view, we are rich when we no
+longer torture our minds with thoughts about everything we lack.
+ -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "Best Foot Forward: A Pilgrim's Guide
+ to the Sacred Sites of the Buddha", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The cultivation of Pure Awareness does not evolve in a straight line. It is
+not that we have a certain realization and then it is ours and we can hang on
+to it and in the next practice session begin from there and move on to the
+next higher realization. Every time we sit down to practice, it's a brand new
+situation, a new journey. "Back to square one," as Trungpa Rinpoche used to
+say. Back to Suzuki Roshi's "beginner's mind."
+ -- Reginald A. Ray, from "The Practice of Pure Awareness: Somatic Meditation
+ for Awakening the Sacred", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+When the seven consciousnesses melt
+Into the consciousness of the universal ground,
+And the universal ground is purified in the ultimate expanse,
+There occurs primordial coemergent wisdom,
+Empty, luminous, and self-arisen.
+This is what yogis must recognize.
+ -- Longchenpa, from "Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind: The Trilogy
+ of Rest, Volume 1", translated by Padmakara Translation Group, published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The purpose of a knife is much like the purpose of the brain, and that is to
+stop being used. Just as the brain should do some computation and then desist
+from functioning for a while to rest and relax, so too should one stop using a
+knife as soon as the purpose for which the knife was picked up is achieved.
+If it seems like it's fun to play with a knife or if one feels that the knife
+is an extension of one's penis, then that is not a very good reason to pick up
+a knife; one should probably put the knife right back down in those degenerate
+(in the mathematical sense) cases. #WhatILearnedFromTheBoyScouts
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Full of trust you left home,
+and soon learned to walk the Path--
+making yourself a friend to everyone
+and making everyone a friend.
+
+When the whole world is your friend,
+fear will find no place to call home.
+
+And when you make the mind your friend,
+you'll know what trust
+really means.
+
+Listen.
+
+I have followed this Path of friendship to its end.
+And I can say with absolute certainty--
+it will lead you home.
+
+ -- from "The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns",
+ by Matty Weingast
+~
+If we are honest with ourselves, we know from our own experience that the more
+we try to find solutions to our problems through thinking about them, the more
+we start going around in circles, sometimes interminably. Buddhism counsels
+us to resist being abused by our conflicting emotions and to let go of
+excessive thinking. Emotions can be expressed in an unhealthy, self-
+destructive manner or in a healthy and constructive fashion. Similarly, we
+can think in a self-destructive, confused way, which reinforces our negative
+habits, or we can think in a constructive way. Buddhism emphasizes that
+overindulgence in conflicting emotions and distorted forms of thinking only
+reinforces our old habits, which solidifies our karmic tendencies even
+further.
+ -- Traleg Kyabgon, from "Mind at Ease: Self-Liberation through Mahamudra
+ Meditation", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ACHTUNG!
+ALLES TURISTEN UND NONTEKNISCHEN LOOKENSPEEPERS!
+DAS KOMPUTERMASCHINE IST NICHT FÜR DER GEFINGERPOKEN UND MITTENGRABEN!
+ODERWISE IST EASY TO SCHNAPPEN DER SPRINGENWERK, BLOWENFUSEN UND POPPENCORKEN
+MIT SPITZENSPARKEN.
+IST NICHT FÜR GEWERKEN BEI DUMMKOPFEN. DER RUBBERNECKEN SIGHTSEEREN KEEPEN
+DAS COTTONPICKEN HÄNDER IN DAS POCKETS MUSS.
+ZO RELAXEN UND WATSCHEN DER BLINKENLICHTEN.
+~
+ATTENTION
+This room is fullfilled mit special electronische equippment.
+Fingergrabbing and pressing the cnoeppkes from the computers is allowed for
+die experts only!
+So all the "lefthanders" stay away and do not disturben the brainstorming von
+here working intelligencies.
+Otherwise you will be out thrown and kicked anderswhere!
+Also: please keep still and only watchen astaunished the blinkenlights.
+~
+Naval Lint! Belly up to the finest barnacle scrub on the market, and have
+your teams boat bright as a button!
+Only $9.99 a bottle, sold at all Ben Franklin Department Stores.
+ -- fictional product developed due to misspelling of navel lint
+~
+(a missing phone haiku)
+
+tech disconnection
+no friends, no spam, brain at peace
+must log back in now!
+
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you for speaking the
+truth, for being correct, for being you. Never apologize for being correct,
+or for being years ahead of your time. If you're right and you know it,
+speak your mind. Speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one, the
+truth is still the truth.
+ -- Mahatma Gandhi
+~
+ The sky is pure, open space, free from all obstructions. The nature of
+our mind is similar: the afflictions, self-centered attitude, and other
+obscurations are not in its essential nature. Just as clouds may temporarily
+obscure the open sky, anger, attachment, and confusion can temporarily obscure
+our mind. When they do, the pure, open nature of the mind still remains; we
+just can't see it at the time.
+ By generating the wisdom realizing the emptiness of inherent existence, we
+will be able to eradicate obscurations from our mind forever and enjoy the
+sky-like spaciousness of a purified mind.
+ -- Thubten Chodron, from "Awaken Every Day: 365 Buddhist Reflections to
+ Invite Mindfulness and Joy", Shambhala Publications
+~
+i buy all my hats
+at interdimensional
+pancake restaurant
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Love is about finding something pleasant in everyone. It can't be external
+appearance, or what the person is engaged in at the moment; it has to be just
+the fact that this is a sentient being who wants happiness and does not want
+suffering and who has been the best of friends at some time in the limitless
+past. A Tibetan definition of love is that the person pleasantly comes to
+mind (yid du 'ong ba). Rather than pushing people away, you experience a core
+similarity and closeness in them that makes you receptive to their basic
+being, regardless of the problem--regardless of how distorted their current
+attitudes and behavior are. That's how strong spiritual love is.
+ -- Jeffrey Hopkins, from "A Truthful Heart: Buddhist Practices for
+ Connecting with Others", Shambhala Publications