+~
+ The purpose of practice is to habituate ourselves to openness. This means
+we need to understand reactive mind. How do we experience the difference
+between reacting and staying open?
+ At what point do we decide to go with the habitual tendencies of
+exaggeration and denial or try something new? Where is the fork in the road?
+We need to explore these two experiences: reacting... staying open...
+reacting... staying open... reacting... staying open again. We begin to see
+the difference. It's a process of refinement. Our investigation cultivates
+a discerning intelligence that guides us in a positive direction.
+ We need to ask ourselves: "If our confusion finds its genesis in our
+habit of turning away from the open state, what would happen if we habituated
+ourselves to staying open?"
+ -- Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, "The Power of an Open Question: The Buddha's
+ Path to Freedom", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Recognizing the instability of causes and conditions leads us to understand
+our own power to transform obstacles and make the impossible possible. This
+is true in every area of life. If you don't have a Ferrari, you very well
+may create the conditions to have one. As long as there is a Ferrari, there
+is the opportunity for you to own one. Likewise if you want to live longer,
+you can choose to stop smoking and exercise more. There is reasonable hope.
+Hopelessness--just like its opposite, blind hope--is the result of a belief
+in permanence.
+ You can transform not only your physical world but your emotional world,
+for example, turning agitation into peace of mind by letting go of ambition or
+turning low self-respect into confidence by acting out of kindness and
+philanthropy. If we all condition ourselves to put our feet in other
+people's shoes, we will cultivate peace in our homes, with our neighbors,
+and with other countries.
+ -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, "What Makes You Not a Buddhist", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+On the path of seeing there is (1) mindfulness whereby one does not forget the
+object, the truth; (2) the wisdom of perfect discernment with regard to the
+object; (3) diligence, delight in virtue, being assiduous in undertaking what
+is right and avoiding what is wrong in accordance with the path; (4) joy or
+mental happiness regarding the latter; (5) flexibility, in which mind and body
+function appropriately; (6) concentration; and (7) evenness, in which the mind
+enters the natural state, free from the conditions of lack of clarity and
+wildness. These seven are elements of the path of seeing, the essence of
+enlightenment. They will make one accumulate or accomplish the positive
+actions that help one attain nirvana.
+ -- Nagarjuna, "Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend"
+~
+ What is the relationship between bodhichitta and love? When you are in
+love, your heart and mind are naturally open and awake to life. When you
+cultivate bodhichitta by opening and awakening your heart and mind, love can
+flow and grow.
+ Bodhichitta is like opening the curtains, and love is like the sun shining
+through, bringing light and warmth into the room. Or we could say that
+bodhichitta is like opening the window, and love is the cool breeze that
+refreshes the stuffiness and stagnation of living inside a personal fortress.
+Bodhichitta is like discovering an inexhaustible treasure, and love is its
+enjoyment. Bodhichitta is our direct connection with basic goodness.
+ -- Moh Hardin, from "A Little Book of Love", published by Shambhala Pub.
+~
+ Use mindfulness to become aware of these negative thoughts as they arise.
+For example, when the first thought of anger arises, notice it and don't let
+it multiply. Instead, remember what happened in the past when you were
+overwhelmed by anger. Based on your direct experience, see the suffering and
+problems anger caused you and recognize its defects. You can crush anger
+using antidotes once you clearly see it as something destructive.
+ You can find a particular antidote to destroy each afflictive emotion. To
+conquer desire, you can meditate on the unappealing aspects of the object; for
+hatred, meditate on loving-kindness; for jealousy, joy; and so on. This is
+how you discard negative mental factors.
+ -- Shechen Rabjam, from "The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the
+ Notion of Reality", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+During my first trip to France, we didn't speak the same language, so we
+often communicated with gestures. Sometimes I think it is better not to know
+a language. Rather than talking, it is better to reserve energy through
+silence. But most Westerners try to look intelligent through talking and
+think silence is uncomfortable, so it is better to be talkative if you want to
+spend time in the West. Of course, since human beings have dualistic tongue,
+everything that is said is an impetuous expression of incurable, contagious
+blurting. We who have ordinary limited qualities incessantly chatter, while
+those with limitless wisdom qualities remain silent. It is like the
+difference between the movement of shallow water and the stillness of the
+deepest sea. Western people have many fine qualities, like the rapid waters
+of mountain rivers, but they cannot put out the blazing fire of their mouth.
+ -- Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, "A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Every moment of our lives, things are both perishing and arising. Some of
+our cells are dying while others are revitalized or reborn. We get old, and
+at the same time we get young. We get polluted physically, emotionally, and
+mentally, and simultaneously we get purified. Things decrease and increase.
+We forget, learn, and remember many things.
+ The Heart Sutra claims that in the midst of phenomena where all things are
+changing, the reality of boundless interactions continues, and that this fact
+itself will not change. After all, the ultimate reality both encompasses and
+is free of change in all manifestations.
+ -- Kazuaki Tanahashi, "The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic
+ of Mahayana Buddhism", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+In the state of mindfulness, your mind should look at both its going and
+staying. Other than that there is nothing else to cultivate. It suffices if
+awareness recognizes the nature of everything that arises. Apart from this
+you do not need to search somewhere else for more quality or clarity...
+Don't put aside what you have and look elsewhere for what you don't have.
+Just watch the identity of awareness, no matter what it thinks or where it
+goes. Don't give importance to whether the awareness is clear or not.
+Avoid stopping thought movement and pursuing stillness. Whatever stillness
+there is and no matter what arises, just sustain their natural flow at their
+own pace, without tainting it with alterations. Without allowing yourself to
+forget undistracted mindfulness even for a moment, persevere in maintaining
+its prevalence.
+ -- Khamtrul Rinpoche III, from "The Royal Seal of Mahamudra, Volume One: A
+ Guidebook for the Realization of Coemergence", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+As your true view, look into the changeless, empty cognizance.
+As your true meditation, let your mind nature be as it is.
+As your true conduct, let the delusion of dualistic fixation collapse.
+As your true fruition, don't seek the result that is spontaneously present.
+ -- from "The Life of Longchenpa: The Omniscient Dharma King of the Vast
+ Expanse", by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered
+as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded,
+that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers
+against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious
+persecution.
+ -- George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia (1789)
+~
+Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one,
+he must more approve of the homage of reason, then that of blindfolded fear.
+ -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr (1787)
+~
+In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof
+is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced, and both by
+precept and example inculcated on mankind.
+ -- Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1771)
+~
+Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the
+strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the
+law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.
+ -- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (1791)
+~
+Congress has no power to make any religious establishments.
+ -- Roger Sherman, Congress (1789)
+~
+The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.
+ -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1758)
+~
+I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people
+build a wall of separation between Church & State.
+ -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802)
+~
+To argue with a man who has renounced the use of reason is like administering
+medicine to the dead.
+ -- Thomas Paine, The American Crisis No. V (1776)
+~
+Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than
+our opinions in physics or geometry.
+ -- Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1779)
+~
+Christian establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which
+facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.
+ -- James Madison, letter to William Bradford, Jr. (1774)
+~
+There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of
+science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of
+public happiness.
+ -- George Washington, address to Congress (1790)
+~
+During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity
+been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride
+and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both,
+superstition, bigotry and persecution.
+ -- James Madison, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1785)
+~
+Being civil often has an element of acting. However, in the hinayana, you are
+behaving rather than acting. Acting is trying to manifest yourself for the
+sake of display, whereas behaving is how you feel. Acting is the way you
+dance, and behaving is the way you sneeze or hiccup. You know if you are
+being genuine. You are the first person who knows. When you are acting, you
+are concerned with other people's possible reactions; but when you are
+behaving, you are just behaving. It's like sitting on the toilet seat and
+doing your duty: nobody is watching. It's your private concern, so there is
+a quality of genuineness. In the hinayana, you behave decently because the
+dharma is actually a part of you. That is the meaning of taming yourself...
+Becoming a dharmic person means that in your everyday life from morning to
+morning, around the clock, you are not trying to kid anybody.
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, from "The Path of Individual Liberation: Volume One of
+ The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Today's world requires us to accept the oneness of humanity. In the past,
+isolated communities could afford to think of one another as fundamentally
+separate. Some could even exist in total isolation. But nowadays, whatever
+happens in one region eventually affects many other areas. Within the context
+of our inter-dependence, self-interest clearly lies in considering the
+interest of others.
+ -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "The Pocket Dalai Lama", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Compassion is an internal attitude that may manifest in our behavior.
+However, compassion is not the behavior itself, for one behavior can be done
+with different motivations. For example, we may take care of a sick relative
+because we have genuine affection for him. Conversely, we may care for him
+because we want to inherit his estate. The action is the same, but the
+motivations differ. The first motivation is prompted by genuine compassion,
+the second by self-concern.
+ Acting with compassion entails being creative and knowing that one
+behavior is not suitable for all occasions. In some circumstances, we may be
+compassionate by sharing our possessions; while in others, we may show it by
+saying, "no." In this way, compassion must be combined with good judgment to
+be effective.
+ -- Russell Kolts and Thubten Chodron, "An Open-Hearted Life", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+Since the very beginning, the mind streams of all sentient beings possess the
+way of being of the inseparability of being lucid and being empty in an
+intrinsic manner. No matter how it may be obscured by adventitious stains, in
+terms of its nature, it is never tainted by stains, while the stains exist in
+the manner of being separable from it. This mind that is the inseparability
+of being lucid and being empty has the nature of being permanent and being
+free from change, decrease, and increase. It is ever undeceiving, changeless,
+and genuinely stable. Throughout all three phases of ground, path, and
+fruition, it is this nature of the mind that is certain to be solely the
+object of the genuine meditative equipoise within the qualities that are the
+nature of phenomena. This is what needs to be manifested through the practice
+of superior insight.
+ -- from "When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition
+ as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra", translated by Karl Brunnholzl,
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Whatever obstacles we experience, if we can take them the right way, they
+won't obstruct our spiritual path. Rather, they will become a tool to
+stimulate our advancement toward our destination: unconditional love and
+enlightenment.
+ So try to feel joy when facing difficulties, for they provide the chance
+to purify unvirtuous past deeds, the cause of ills, and infuse us with the
+inspiration to generate yet greater virtuous deeds, the cause of healing and
+enlightenment.
+ -- Tulku Thondup, from "The Heart of Unconditional Love: A Powerful New
+ Approach to Loving-Kindness Meditation", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Although deliberately framed as if it were a law of nature or of mathematics,
+its purpose has always been rhetorical and pedagogical: I wanted folks who
+glibly compared someone else to Hitler or to Nazis to think a bit harder about
+the Holocaust.
+ -- Mike Godwin, on "Godwin's Law", originated in 1990, which (paraphrasing)
+ states that any online discussion will eventually devolve into a
+ comparison with Hitler or Nazism. At that point, the person who brought
+ either topic up has lost the argument and their basic credibility.
+~
+Your mind, the primordial buddha,
+Searches elsewhere due to the power of desire.
+Doesn't it notice that it is wandering in samsara?
+
+Now that you have obtained the precious human body,
+You continuously get carried away by mundane actions.
+Don't you notice that your life is running out?
+ -- Padmasambhava
+~
+ The key to understanding the truth of suffering is what the Buddha called
+the "three marks" of everything that exists. All conditioned phenomena,
+he said, are pervaded by these three marks: impermanence (anitya),
+dissatisfaction or suffering (duhkha), and insubstantiality (anatman,
+"without self").
+ According to the Buddha, if we do not understand how conditioned phenomena
+are marked by these three aspects, then we will not be able to understand the
+first Noble Truth. We may do all we can in order to avoid facing the fact
+that everything is contingent and transient--we may try to hide ourselves
+from it, and we may even spin out all kinds of metaphysical theories of an
+unchanging, permanent, substantial reality to avoid this all-pervasive nature
+of ephemerality. Also, if we do not understand that conditioned phenomena are
+unsatisfactory, we will not think about restraining ourselves from
+overindulgence in sensory gratifications, which makes us lose our center and
+become immersed in worldly concerns, so that our life is governed by greed,
+craving, and attachment. All of these things disturb the mind.
+ If we do not understand that everything is insubstantial--anatman--then
+we may believe that there is some kind of enduring essence or substance in
+things, or in the personality, and because of this belief we generate delusion
+and confusion in the mind.
+ -- Traleg Kyabgon, from "The Essence of Buddhism", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ When we grasp a self, how can we possibly practice self-reflection?
+Everything becomes personal: our pain, our anger, our shortcomings. When we
+take thoughts and emotions personally, they torture us. Looking at our
+thoughts and emotions in this way is like rubbing our nose in something
+unpleasant--what purpose does it serve other than to create more pain? This
+is not the kind of looking we are speaking of here.
+ With the view of selflessness, we can enjoy whatever arises in our
+awareness. We can accept that everything that arises is a result of our past
+actions, or karma, but it is not who we are.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul, from "It's Up to You", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+As with attaining any goal, you can't go about putting an end to suffering
+and arriving at enlightenment just any old way. If we throw a stone up into
+the air, we should not be surprised if it falls on our head. In the same way,
+when we commit any act, whatever it may be, we can only expect that sooner or
+later it will produce an effect. Thus it is logical that if we want to free
+ourselves from suffering, we have to perform certain actions and refrain from
+certain others. The law of the causality of actions is the very foundation of
+the teaching of the Buddha, who proclaimed:
+
+ Avoid the least harmful act,
+ Perfectly accomplish the good,
+ And master your mind.
+ That is the teaching of the Buddha.
+
+ -- Tenzin Wangmo, from "The Prince and the Zombie: Tibetan Tales of Karma",
+ with foreword by Matthieu Ricard, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+I am very pleased to be a human being, yet I know that I can make what I have
+been given even better. I know I am not perfect, yet I also know I have the
+ability to transform my imperfections. Remembering this when I begin to
+practice or study makes any effort needed during the session much more freely
+available. Resting meditation is not just sitting on a cushion and zoning
+out. Contemplative Meditation is not just thinking about whatever arises in
+the mind. Practicing either form of meditation takes joyful exertion and
+self-discipline.
+ -- Khenpo Gawang, "Your Mind is Your Teacher", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Not acting on our habitual patterns is only the first step toward not harming
+others or ourselves. The transformative process begins at a deeper level when
+we contact the rawness we're left with whenever we refrain. As a way of
+working with our aggressive tendencies, Dzigar Kongtrül teaches the
+nonviolent practice of simmering. He says that rather than "boil in our
+aggression like a piece of meat cooking in a soup," we simmer in it. We
+allow ourselves to wait, to sit patiently with the urge to act or speak in our
+usual ways and feel the full force of that urge without turning away or giving
+in. This is the journey of developing a kindhearted and courageous tolerance
+for our pain.
+ -- Pema Chödrön, "Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+During lifetimes spent wandering in the round of rebirth without beginning or
+end, your present enemies were once extremely beneficial friends and your
+present friends were once harmful enemies. Moreover, if you do not consider
+present enemies as such, but treat them helpfully as friends, it is possible
+that they will prove even more helpful than friends. Therefore, rest in
+equanimity toward others: give up attachment to friends and reject hatred
+toward enemies.
+ -- Choying Tobden Dorje, from "The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to
+ Tantra, Books 1 to 10", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Compassion is not logical. It's basically spacious and generous. A
+compassionate person might not be sure whether he is being compassionate to
+you or whether you are being compassionate to him, because compassion creates
+a total environment of generosity. Generosity is implied; it just happens,
+rather than you making it happen. It's just there, without direction,
+without me, without "for them." It's full of joy, a spontaneously
+existing grin of joy, constant joy.
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, from "Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with
+ Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+We have a Buddhist prayer in which we ourselves aspire to become like [the
+earth]. We say:
+
+ May I be like the earth,
+ Providing the air, the ground, water,
+ And everything she provides
+ That is our sacred source of life.
+
+Inspired by the example of the earth, this prayer encourages us to aspire to
+be an unconditional source of all well-being and life for others. This is a
+supreme aspiration. We do not just have a great deal to learn about the
+environment--we also have a lot to learn from it.
+ -- H.H. the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, "The Heart Is Noble",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Many people wish to be healthy, to be free from disease, and to remain forever
+young, but these are not very meaningful goals. If you can tame your mind,
+the value of this will far surpass anything in the world. Patrul Rinpoche
+said, "Tame the mind, tame the mind, use bodhichitta to tame the mind. Even
+if we do not cultivate any good deeds in body and speech, taming our mind in
+fact benefits ourselves and all beings."
+ -- Jigme Phuntsok, from "Always Present", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Transcendent knowledge is beyond thought, word, or description. It neither
+arises nor ceases, like the identity of space. It is the domain of
+individual, self-knowing wakefulness. I salute this mother of the buddhas of
+the three times.
+ -- Shantarakshita, in praise of Prajnaparamita, from "Jewels of
+ Enlightenment", by Erik Pema Kunsang, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+To rejoice in others' happiness without any preferences of our own shows
+that we understand that the longing for happiness is the same for all beings.
+We can rejoice in their temporal happiness, which has come from their
+accumulation of merit. When we recognize the quality of happiness in
+others--when we see someone genuinely smile or laugh or see a glimmer of
+brightness in their eyes--we can rejoice. When they obtain something they
+want or need, whatever it may be, we have an opportunity to practice
+rejoicing. Beings long for all kinds of things, some of which we might not
+want ourselves--but that doesn't matter. The important thing is that, if
+only for a single moment, it has brought them some happiness.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul, from "Light Comes Through", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Even if we think we have found the origin of phenomena, we are only being
+deluded by the karmic seeds of new discoveries which are constantly ripening,
+becoming exhausted, and being replaced through the ripening of other karmic
+seeds. Yet we continue to be fascinated by trying to define substance,
+constantly trying to catch it, thinking that we have caught it but then losing
+it. We are endlessly lured by the material creations of our conceptions.
+Sublime beings, knowing the characteristics of each phenomenon and the nature
+of all phenomena, are never lured by anything. They abide in the infinite
+display of enlightenment's empty appearance without trying to catch anything
+or being able to be caught.
+ -- Thinley Norbu, from "White Sail", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+When there is never any fear or despair no matter what adversity or suffering
+is encountered, when difficulty is taken as an aid to mind training and you
+always have the help of a joyful mind, then you have acquired proficiency in
+mind training. When adverse conditions come, meditate joyfully and, in
+addition, learn to take joyfully all the adversity others experience.
+ -- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, from "The Great Path of Awakening", published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The origin of all science is in the desire to know causes; and the origin of
+all false science and imposture is in the desire to accept false causes rather
+than none; or, which is the same thing, in the unwillingness to acknowledge
+our own ignorance.
+ -- William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
+~
+Not only are there two different categories of phenomena, the person and the
+external phenomena, there are also two different types of misconceptions with
+respect to the nature of phenomena: misconceptions with respect to the nature
+of the person and with respect to the external phenomena. This means to
+overcome these two types of misconception is to realize selflessness, which is
+the ultimate nature of these two types of phenomena. Therefore there are two
+selflessnesses, selflessness of person and selflessness of phenomena.
+Generally speaking, comparing the two, the realization of the selflessness of
+the person is said to be easier than realization of the selflessness of
+phenomena because of long familiarity with the actual self, the person.
+ -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the
+ Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind", edited by Jeremy Hayward and
+ Francisco J. Varela, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The Tibetan term for renunciation is ngepar jungwa; nges par 'byung ba,
+which literally means "certainty of release." Ngepar is short for ngepar
+shepa, meaning to have certain, decisive knowledge from within; in this case,
+it refers to having certainty that the nature of worldly existence is
+suffering. In addition to this certainty, there is the heartfelt wish to be
+released, jungwa, from this suffering. One must gain confidence in the fact
+that the nature of cyclic existence in samsara is suffering, together with
+having the powerful wish and intention to be free of this suffering. This is
+what is known as the thought of renunciation.
+ -- Nyoshul Khenpo, "The Fearless Lion's Roar: Profound Instructions on
+ Dzogchen, the Great Perfection", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+"Karma" basically means action. When we talk about karma, we talk about
+action, which in Buddhism entails thinking in terms of cause and effect.
+Actions are performed because there are certain preexisting causes and
+conditions giving rise to the impulse to engage in particular actions, and
+from this the karmic effect issues. In the performance of actions, there is
+usually a propelling factor. We feel compelled by something to do certain
+things, and when we engage in those actions, based on those impulses, the
+actions then produce relevant effects. As we have seen though, this does not
+mean that every action performed has a particular cause and a particular
+effect. Nevertheless, the Buddhist theory of karma is irrevocably tied to
+this mechanism, for want of a better word, and hence to the responsibility of
+the individual, as opposed to a divine governance of sorts.
+ -- Traleg Kyabgon, "Karma: What It Is, What It Isn't, Why It Matters",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Nondistraction means not being lost in subtle undercurrents of delusion or
+indifferent stupor; it is immaculate, unending mindfulness. Not understanding
+this, if one is fearful and cautious about being distracted and is bound by a
+repressed, constricted mind, this is an error.
+ Natural, ordinary mind means this present mind unstained by either faults
+or good qualities. This self-nature is usustained by the continuity of
+awareness. Not nderstanding this, if one grasps at the substantiality of the
+rigid concepts of worldly, ordinary mind, this is an error.
+ To be meditationless means to enter profound, unconditioned natural space,
+detached from meditating and non-meditating, without any contrivance or aim,
+stabilizing the expansive fortress of mindfulness. Not understanding this, if
+one remains in ordinary, careless neutrality, or is lost in meaningless
+indifference, this is an error.
+ -- "Sunlight Speech That Dispels the Darkness of Doubt", translated by
+ Thinley Norbu, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+When Milarepa meditated in the mountains, he was alone for a long time. In
+spite of this, he always felt that he was inseparable from Marpa because his
+devotion was so powerful. Milarepa sang his vajra songs in solitude but,
+through devotion, was always connected to his lama. Devotion to the lama is a
+powerful protection from negative thoughts and nonvirtuous actions. It is
+also a special protection that allows us to properly practice meditation. Our
+awareness of enlightened beings and our knowledge of how to take care of our
+mind protect the mind so that it doesn't flow in a wrong direction. Through
+these joyous practices we develop a feeling of appreciation of how fortunate
+we are, and we cease feeling lonely or depressed.
+ -- "Opening the Treasure of the Profound", by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen
+ Rinpoche, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ We need to make our preparations now, and we need to be diligent about it.
+We may think, "I really want to practice the Dharma, but right now I'm
+really busy, and I have a lot of things to do. I'll get to the Dharma when
+my work is done." This way of thinking is an obstacle that will prevent us
+from practicing the Dharma. If we are busy doing something right now, then
+when we are done, something else will come up that will keep us busy, and when
+that's done, there will be something else, and something else after that.
+It's just one thing after another that we have to do. We end up with no
+opportunity to practice the Dharma at all.
+ Padampa Sangye says, "Now while it's in mind, make haste to practice."
+When we think, "I've got to practice the Dharma," we need to go and
+practice diligently right away. Otherwise, all kinds of things will come up
+that we think we need to do first, and we'll never get around to practicing.
+ -- Khenchen Thrangu and Padampa Sangye, from "Advice from a Yogi", published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The ultimate mode of being, the ground wherein both we and Guru Rinpoche are
+primordially inseparable--namely, the selfarisen primordial wisdom, which is
+subject to no movement of discursive thought--is referred to as Guru.
+Because deluded perceptions are themselves primordially pure, the path is free
+from all striving and the fruit is present spontaneously like a lotus in full
+flower. Therefore [the path itself] is referred to as Padma, or lotus. For
+the fruit is not something that occurs at a later stage as a result of the
+practice. In the ultimate expanse, which is selfarisen and spontaneously
+present, the primordial wisdom of selfawareness is clearly [and already]
+manifest. This is referred to as Siddhi, or accomplishment. And, although in
+terms of conceptual distinctions the self-arisen primordial wisdom may be
+classified as ground, path, and fruit, these three are not different in
+nature. This is directly perceived by self-cognizing awareness and is
+indicated by the syllable Hung.
+ -- Jamgon Mipham, "White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-Line Prayer to
+ Guru Padmasambhava", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+While dreaming, all kinds of things may come to mind, but these are nothing
+more than appearances. Likewise, a magician may create a variety of illusory
+appearances, but they do not exist objectively. Likewise, oneself, others,
+the cycle of existence, and liberation--in short, all entities--exist merely
+by the power of mind and convention.
+ -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "Transcendent Wisdom", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ From our deluded samsaric standpoint, it may seem that certain traits are
+necessary for our well-being, self-esteem, and self-worth. Talking about
+others' defects may make us appear more desirable, or gossiping about
+others' misfortunes may make our own misery seem less, but we have to
+examine these tendencies much more closely to see that this is a completely
+mistaken aspect of our lives.
+ Despite having a good motivation and the best intentions, our mind
+training will have little success if we can't commit ourselves strongly
+enough to undermining these traits. These tendencies don't bring us any
+self-confidence or happiness. In fact, they undermine our personal autonomy
+and well-being and obstruct our spiritual progress. It's important to put
+an end to these negative and paranoid tendencies and replace them with love,
+compassion, and the development of a kind heart.
+ -- Traleg Kyabgon, in "The Practice of Lojong", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Awareness of the thought process at the moment of an impulse arising is what
+makes freedom from thought possible, because when the mind is only at the
+stage of an impulse arising, the energies haven't fully engaged. There is
+an almost impartial quality about the energy of the impulse. When it is
+driven into specific thought, the situation changes and it becomes "my
+thought with my feeling, therefore me." This is what is meant by being
+caught in the thought. The inner energy has transmuted from being something
+relatively neutral and therefore not very important or compelling into
+something entirely personal and therefore extremely important and compelling.
+ -- Rob Nairn, in "Living, Dreaming, Dying", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ The Buddha, radically, interpreted the individual as a compound of many
+different elements, physical and mental--a psychophysical complex. Therefore
+our feelings, thoughts, emotions, memories, dispositions; our perceptual
+capability, our cognitive capacities, and our physical conditions--all are
+constantly interacting and impacting each other.
+ And agents themselves are also continually interacting with other agents.
+Logically, then, we need not feel compelled to identify ourselves with a
+single thing, a core element to our psyche, as it is really a matter of being
+in a constant state of flux. In this sense, karma could be said to operate as
+streams of networking karmic processes, where all kinds of living, breathing
+individuals are involved. The really important principle to grasp about this
+approach is to look closely at things, for things in their nature are complex.
+Acknowledging this will bring us great reward in fact. Doing the opposite,
+looking at things in a very simple way, keeps us trapped in ignorance.
+ -- Traleg Kyabgon, from "Karma: What It Is, What It Isn't, Why It Matters",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+There is magic in vajrayana practice and in vajrayana altogether. People
+often think that magic is the ability to do things like change fire into
+water, or float up toward the ceiling and then come down again, or make tomato
+ketchup into cream cheese. But we have a better understanding of magic than
+that; what is actually happening is better than those things. We are not
+talking about magic in the style of a conjuring magician on the stage, but we
+are talking about fundamental magic. This magic is always based on the
+profound effect that we have discovered from the hinayana discipline of one-
+pointedness and the mahayana discipline of openess and compassionate
+nonterritoriality. Out of that comes vajrayana magic, which is that we are
+able to cut our thoughts abruptly and directly. On the spot!
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, in "The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+When, in the Mahayana, one goes for refuge, one cultivates an unbearably
+powerful compassion for beings, who have been one's mothers in the past and
+whose number is as boundless as the sky is vast. But it is not enough to feel
+compassion for them; one must be determined and decide to liberate them from
+their suffering. As long as one is not free oneself, however, one is
+powerless to bring others to freedom. Consequently, in order to free oneself
+and others from the perils of both samsaric existence and the peace of
+nirvana, one takes refuge in the Three Jewels, according to the Mahayana,
+until one gains enlightenment.
+ -- Kunzang Pelden, in "Nectar of Manjushri's Speech", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+Just as a precious jewel, the sky, and water are by nature pure, likewise the
+tathagatagarbha or dharmadhatu is by nature always free from the defilement of
+the mental poisons and thus utterly pure. Whereas this is the meaning of the
+essence, the cause that completely purifies the adventitious defilements
+consists of devotion towards the Mahayana Dharma, of highest discriminative or
+analytical wisdom realizing the non-existence of a self, of limitless samadhi
+endowed with bliss, and of great compassion focusing on sentient beings as its
+point of reference. The realization arising from these [purifying causes] is
+to be known as enlightenment.
+ -- Maitreya, in "Buddha Nature", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Meditation means learning to control our minds, thereby protecting our minds
+from domination by delusion and other afflictions. We may think, "Oh, I
+wish my mind were not dominated by ignorance and other afflictions." But
+these afflictions are very powerful and very destructive; they operate despite
+our wishes. We have to work to develop effective countermeasures. We cannot
+buy such remedies from a store; even very sophisticated machines cannot
+produce them for us. They are obtained only through mental effort, training
+the mind in meditation.
+ -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "From Here to Enlightenment", published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+If we were asked to be free right now, to jump into the sea of love in this
+very moment, we might turn our attention inward and try it, and it may not
+work. Why? Because of a hindrance, a block. That block is the very sense of
+"I am" that is the false image of who we are. It is the shell that is
+veiling, covering our true nature. So the goal of all spiritual endeavors is
+to actually realize the enlightened part of who we are, not sometime in the
+future, but right now.
+ -- Anam Thubten, "The Magic of Awareness", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+You don't need to be an "excellent meditator" to start with. All you
+need to do is have your heart and mind make the following agreement:
+"Let's rest. There's no reason right now to wander around following
+thoughts or worrying. Let's be relaxed and open." There's not even any
+need to shut down your thoughts. Just be there with them, but not overly
+concerned or engaged. Let there be total openness, and just relax within
+that.
+ -- Dza Kilung Rinpoche, "The Relaxed Mind", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Awareness does not engage with objects of the ordinary mind. It is "self-
+cognizing primordial wisdom." This can be illustrated by the "light" of
+the new moon: a profoundly indwelling luminosity, which does not radiate
+outward. Therefore, despite the fact that the five primordial wisdoms are
+spontaneously present in awareness, the latter is without thoughts related to
+sense objects. By contrast, even when it is still, the ordinary mind
+nevertheless "moves" and follows after different objects. It is like the
+light of the moon on the fifteenth of the month, which radiates outward and
+engulfs everything.
+ -- Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche, and Jigme Lingpa, in "Treasury of
+ Precious Qualities: Book Two", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ According to Buddhism, all existents abide in loving-kindness free from
+concepts in their absolute nature. But the understanding and realization of
+that true nature have been covered over by the webs of our own mental,
+emotional, and intellectual obscurations.
+ Now, in order to uncover the true nature and its qualities, we must dispel
+the cover--our unhealthy concepts, emotions, and actions. Through the power
+of devotion and contemplation, we must uncover and see the true innate
+enlightened qualities--loving-kindness that is free from concepts--shining
+forever.
+ -- Tulku Thondup, from "The Heart of Unconditional Love", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+The method for taking all situations as the path is to rest within the essence
+of the mind. Within our minds, there are three aspects: the way things
+appear, how they are confused, and the way they actually are. We do not take
+our difficulties as the path in relation to how things appear or are confused,
+but in relation to how they actually are. We rest naturally within their
+nature--the clear and empty nature of the mind that is sometimes called the
+union of clarity and emptiness or the union of wisdom and the expanse. We
+rest within this, recognizing it. When we take sickness as the path, we look
+at the essence of the sickness without altering it in any way and just rest
+naturally within that. When we take the afflictions as the path, we just look
+at the essence of the greed, aversion, or delusion that has occurred. We do
+not follow the affliction or block it. We do not try to stop our thoughts.
+Instead, we look at those thoughts and at the afflictions that occur, and we
+rest naturally within their inherently empty essence.
+ -- Khenchen Thrangu, from "Vivid Awareness", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+I suggest that dana--in all its wonderful, profound simplicity--is a
+necessary and significant part of what Dr. Buddha would prescribe for our
+times. It can be understood without hours of study. It liberates us from
+acquisitive and protectionist habits. It mitigates individualism and
+nourishes community. Its meaning spans the most basic levels of practice
+through to the ultimate. It challenges "me" and "mine," fostering letting go.
+A reinvigorated and updated understanding and practice of dana can serve as a
+powerful antidote to consumerism's ills. I see this as essential for
+Buddhism to stay on course as we navigate this bizarre postmodern world
+seeking genuine peace and liberation.
+ -- Santikaro, from "Hooked!: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the
+ Urge to Consume", edited by Stephanie Kaza, published by Shambhala
+ Publications and Snow Lion Publications
+~
+ The teachings are for living in this world--for having fewer problems and
+fewer tensions. Many people speak now about world peace. What does that
+mean? How can we have world peace if we don't have peace in ourselves? We
+are each members of society--society meaning all of us together, not as
+individuals. Since many individuals make up society, it means that the
+individuals must have a kind of evolution. Although we have power and
+military might, and sometimes there are provisional changes, in the real sense
+it never changes.
+ Society is made up of individuals each having their point of view, their
+feelings, and their sensations. If we want to develop society so that there
+is more peace and happiness, each one of us must work with our condition. For
+example, our society is like numbers. When we count, we must always begin
+with the number "1." If I think about society, I must start with myself as
+"number one."
+ -- Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, from "Dzogchen Teachings", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ One of my favorite quotes from the Buddha is: "Let us rise up and be
+thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,
+and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got
+sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."
+ Gratitude is one of the fruits of living from genuine happiness; at the
+same time, it arises from an inherent seed in our being, a seed that requires
+cultivation. There's a quote from Meister Eckhart, the Christian mystic, that
+illustrates how important this quality is: "If the only prayer you said in
+your whole life was 'thank you,' that would suffice." If we truly understood
+the depth of this teaching it would be all we'd need to know. Unfortunately,
+we can't just tell ourselves to be grateful and expect it to happen, yet it's
+a quality that certainly can be nurtured.
+ -- Ezra Bayda, from "Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+In the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) teachings, the issue is always whether or
+not we recognize our true nature and understand that the reflections of that
+nature manifest as experience. The dream is a reflection of our own mind.
+This is easy to believe after we wake up, just as the Buddhas know--after
+they are enlightened--that the entities and objects of samsara are illusory.
+And just as it takes practice to recognize the illusory nature of dream while
+asleep, we must practice to realize the illusory nature of waking life.
+
+ -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep",
+published by Shambhala Publications
+
+~
+ The jewel in the lotus is a wonderful metaphor for the essential nature of
+mind. It integrates two very different approaches, recognizing that there is
+a worthy role for striving, for engaging in methods, for growth and
+development; and at the same time recognizing that all these methods are
+fundamentally designed simply to bring to light what is already there, in all
+of its perfection, in all of its completeness. This is the pure fountain of
+loving-kindness and wisdom we are trying to cultivate.
+ The mantra OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ is associated with Avalokiteśvara,
+the embodiment of enlightened compassion, and the mantra is the verbal
+articulation of that same quality of compassion. Among the many
+interpretations of the mantra, here is one I find especially meaningful. Oṃ
+signifies the manifest body, speech, and mind. Maṇi in Sanskrit means
+"jewel." Padme, pronounced pémé in Tibetan, means "in the lotus."
+Hūṃ, pronounced by the Tibetans as hoong, is a syllable suggestive of the
+deepest, essential, transcendent nature of consciousness. So the mantra
+starts out from the manifest state of the body, speech, and mind, then through
+the metaphor of the jewel in the lotus, goes to the depths of consciousness.
+ -- B. Alan Wallace, "The Four Immeasurables: Practices to Open the Heart",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ In general, people tend to minimize the importance of the ordinary sangha:
+Buddha is a big deal, Dharma is a big deal, and Sangha is something to put up
+with. Yet it's within the ordinary sangha, monastic or lay, that the
+roughest edges of our arrogance and pride can be smoothed down a little.
+Americans--with their car obsessions--have a good expression for this:
+"Where the rubber meets the road." Let's say there's a shiny new car
+on the floor. It appears to be perfect. But we still need to take it for a
+test–drive. The car that never leaves the shop is like a practitioner
+reciting nice words about compassion and selflessness, but removed from the
+opportunity to test–drive their intentions and aspirations. How do the
+bodhisattva ideals hold up when we actually interact with others?
+ Problems within the sangha inevitably arise because we're talking about
+unenlightened people trying to get along with each other. Jealousy,
+competition, and anger inevitably erupt. Although individual practitioners
+have unenlightened minds and commit unenlightened activities and get ensnared
+in ignorant understanding, the ordinary sangha still offers the best
+opportunity to apply dharma.
+ -- Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, "Turning Confusion into Clarity", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Silly beings, uninterested in this meaning,
+ Are always carried away by the river of samsara and finished.
+
+There are some who do not have much faith in the dharmachakra of No Mental
+Activity, the essence-meaning of mahamudra. Here, Mahasiddha Tilopa does not
+mean all sentient beings in general but rather some who cling to tenet
+systems--those with attachment to their own system. There are quite a few
+such intellectual logicians. Such intransigent stubborn "silly ones" who
+lack the eye of wisdom
+ -- Sangyes Nyenpa, "Tilopa's Mahamudra Upadesha", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ Ordinary beings--even those who are kind and compassionate--are
+primarily motivated by self-interest and work mainly for their own benefit.
+All of their activities and thoughts are tinged by self-serving motivations
+and attitudes. Even when they perform acts of kindness, they generally do so
+expecting praise or personal satisfaction and not because of pure altruism.
+ Bodhisattvas, however, are motivated by universal compassion, and they
+seek the ultimate goal of buddhahood in order to be of service to others.
+They embark on this path with the generation of the mind of awakening. Unlike
+ordinary beings, who think of their own advantage, bodhisattvas consider how
+best to benefit others.
+ -- John Powers, A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ "I'm fine. My life's together. I know what I'm doing. I've
+got to look like a good Dharma practitioner. People shouldn't see me cry.
+They shouldn't know how distracted I am during meditation. I can't let on
+how incredibly confused I am." We think we're the only one who is confused
+and not wanting to lose face, we hide our turmoil and pretend to be calmly in
+charge of the show. But we're in cyclic existence, so how much control do
+we really have? How peaceful can we be when we have a samsaric body and mind?
+ When our "garbage mind"--as Lama Yeshe used to call it--spills out,
+we may be alarmed and think that we're not doing the practice correctly. In
+fact, we are. Only by exposing the garbage mind can we identify it and free
+ourselves from it.
+ -- Thubten Chodron, "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Completely understanding his dire circumstances, the man had a strong
+feeling that the only way to be saved from deportation was to extend loving-
+kindness to Calcutta's police inspector general. He placed a photograph of
+the police inspector general on his desk. He then completely focused his
+attention on it, extending his feeling of loving-kindness toward the man. In
+fact, he sat up the entire night looking at the photograph and practicing his
+loving-kindness meditation.
+ When the police inspector general arrived in the morning, he approached
+the man and looked directly into his eyes. He then said, "I will not send
+you to Sri Lanka, Sir, but I will instead look after you here as if you were
+my own father."
+ -- Bhante Walpola Piyananda, "The Bodhi Tree Grows in L.A.", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+The scriptures say that thinking is not thinking, so do not even think about
+not having thoughts. There is no thinking about nonconceptualization, or
+about anything else. The scriptures also say that one should not think
+"stop thinking!" Do not think in order to clarify the meaning of
+nonconceptuality. This becomes more and more subtle, more and more peaceful,
+more and more clear, more and more equal. Once the basis has been
+transformed, rest in equanimity in the space of reality.
+ -- Sam van Schaik, "Tibetan Zen: Discovering a Lost Tradition", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ According the First Noble Truth, the first step in discovering truth and
+relieving our own and anyone else's suffering is to acknowledge the pain and
+suffering that are present in our lives. Sometimes people assume that
+Buddhism is a pessimistic sort of tradition because of this teaching. In
+fact, however, recognizing that pain is simply part of being alive can be a
+relief. It is not a sign that we have done something wrong, stupid, or
+shameful. Yet I often catch myself and hear others making just that
+assumption--that pain and suffering are signs of some personal defect.
+ If I tell one friend that I have a cold, for instance, she is likely to
+say, "Well, how did that happen? Were you out without your hat in the cold?"
+Even more distressing is the view we all have heard at one time or another,
+which blames sufferers of serious diseases for having them: "Oh, yes, cancer
+is a sign of unexpressed grief." Of course, as modern medical research is
+increasingly showing us, the mind and the body are deeply interconnected, and
+our attitudes, emotions, and behaviors do affect our health. Yet, even if we
+were able to do "everything right," if we live long enough, we will not escape
+old age, sickness, and death.
+ -- Karen Kissel Wegela, "The Courage to be Present", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+In brief, whatever is dawning, be right there with an uncontrived mind. Do
+not involve yourself with stopping, or starting, or with any modification
+whatsoever. Whatever arises, stay uncontrivedly right with that arising.
+Don't reel your mind in, don't cast around for an object of meditation out
+there. Be right there with the meditator, your very own mind. Unfound when
+sought, your own mind is primordially empty mindnature. Seeking also is
+unnecessary; the seeker--yourself--is that [which one is seeking].
+Unwaveringly remain right with that very seeker.
+ -- Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, "Strand of Jewels", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Thus, all compounded and uncompounded phenomena--the ten directions, the
+three times, the three worlds, and so forth--are none other than one's own
+mind, as is stated in the Great Sovereign of Practices, the Victory over the
+Three Worlds: "If one realizes, in accordance with one's own unmistaken
+mind or the power of the mind, that discerning consciousness is the very
+nature of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the like, one is enlightened. If one
+fails to understand this, everything appears as the vessel and contents that
+constitute samsara. The three worlds are simply this; the great elements
+are simply this."
+ -- Padmasambhava, "A Garland of Views: A Guide to View, Meditation, and
+ Result in the Nine Vehicles", from Padmasambhava's classic text with a
+ commentary by Jamgön Mipham, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The Hinayana counsels a life of discipline--not the onerous, punishing kind,
+but the kind that can actually create a life of joy. Little slips are to be
+avoided because they really seem to pile up. Rather than being seen as moral
+wrongdoings, however, they are seen as obstacles and obscurations to true
+wakefulness and as such are to be eschewed. To do so, tremendous precision is
+required. I mean, take just one of the most basic precepts, common to every
+religion under the sun: "don't lie." If you can read to the end of this
+paragraph without telling a lie, please alert the media.
+ -- Susan Piver, "Start Here Now", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The reason and the meaning of love in our life is very profound. It is unlike
+any other reason. In my own personal view, I do not think that love has to be
+for no reason at all. Rather, I think that the reason to love is so vast that
+it cannot be limited to any particular reasons.
+ -- The Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, in "The Heart Is Noble", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Human beings suffer birth, sickness, aging and death. We enumerate these
+different forms of suffering but prefer not to think about what they entail.
+We only need to watch a birth to know how traumatic and painful the passage
+through the birth canal must be for the baby. Aging is distasteful to
+everyone but small children, who long to be grown up. Everyone else likes to
+be told they don't look a day older.
+ Even reading about diseases or hearing of others' sicknesses fills us
+with a dread that we might contract them. When we actually fall ill
+ourselves, we feel afraid and helpless. As for death, everyone avoids talking
+about it. Humans also experience the constant frustration of not getting what
+they want and getting what they don't want. When we first meet people, they
+may seem successful and happy, but as soon as we get to know them better, we
+discover they all have a tale of woe to tell.
+ -- "Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment", commentary by Geshe
+ Sonam Rinchen, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+The idea is that passion should be transmuted into compassion for yourself and
+others. This is possible because passion without reference point, goal
+orientation, or aggression is compassion. When passion is transmuted into
+compassion, you do not abandon your existence, but you are able to be gentle
+and nice. Since you are not substituting such behavior for your actual self,
+you do not feel particularly lost or deprived of your capabilities. Beyond
+that, you can expand to others as well. So you are full, but at the same
+time, you are empty.
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, "The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom & Compassion",
+ published by Shambhala Publications.
+~
+Traditionally, many subtle distinctions are made about the various
+characteristics and levels of the development of bodhichitta. Chagme Rinpoche
+mentions these and says, "If you are studying to become a scholar, you need
+to know all of these distinctions. But if you are a practitioner, these
+distinctions are extremely unimportant." For example, I arrived here at
+these teachings by traveling in airplanes and automobiles. Now, I might
+wonder, "Who built the airplane I traveled in? How does it work?" But, in
+fact, I don't know the answers to any of these things because it is not
+important for me to know these things. What is important is that I got on an
+airplane and flew thousands of miles and was able to get here. In the same
+way, I regularly travel by automobile, and I might wonder, "How do you make
+an automobile? Who made this automobile? How does it work exactly?" From
+one point of view, of course, it is good to know these things, but from the
+point of view of actually getting somewhere, it is not important. What is
+important is that I got in a car and I came here. So, from one point of view,
+it might be important to know all about the various aspects and
+characteristics of bodhichitta, but according to Karma Chagme, it is perfectly
+okay if you don't.
+ -- Khenchen Thrangu, "Luminous Clarity: A Commentary on Karma Chagme's
+ Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+- You are a deeply selfish person. -
+~
++ You are a deeply compassionate person. +
+~
+* You are a deeply deep person. *
+~
+- You are a deeply selfish person. -
++ You are a deeply compassionate person. +
+* You are a deeply deep person. *
+~
+ Buddhism asserts that the mind can be changed. I doubt whether anyone
+would dispute that point although we often feel as if we are stuck with an
+obstinate mind that refuses to do what we want it to. In addictions this
+feeling of being stuck can be very powerful. But Buddha said that all this
+can change, no matter how bad it is.
+ Buddha was a top psychologist. He taught methods for dealing with
+immediate and urgent situations as well as methods that look into long-term
+change. For the long term, meditation is an important method. When he was
+teaching about how to meditate, he suggested a number of tools from which we
+can benefit. We are going to use three of these tools to help us:
+mindfulness, introspection, and equanimity. Mindfulness keeps our mind on
+whatever we have decided to do. Introspection checks whether we are being
+mindful or not. Equanimity stops the dramatizing and catastrophizing that we
+get into when we do not get what we want (the craving and grasping that arise
+from attachment) or we get what we do not want (aversion which gives rise to
+hatred, jealousy, and depression).
+ -- Chönyi Taylor, from "Enough! A Buddhist Approach to Finding Release
+from Addictive Patterns", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+It is said in the Supreme Continuum of the Great Vehicle:
+ Earth is based upon water,
+ Water on wind, and wind on space,
+ But space is not based on anything.
+ Similarly, the aggregates and sensory sense fields
+ Are based on deeds and afflictive mental states.
+ Deeds and afflictive mental states are always based on mistaken attention.
+ Mistaken attention is based on the purity of mind.
+ But the nature of mind is not itself based on any of these things.
+ -- Choying Tobden Dorje, from "The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to
+Tantra, Books 15 to 17, Volume 1", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ First, I'll begin with self, which sometimes goes by the name ego, or
+more familiarly, I and me. What is this self, really? We can investigate by
+trying to analyze this self, to locate it or pin it down, to see if it even
+exists in the first place. This can be a highly illuminating contemplation,
+but for the purposes of this book, I would like to focus more on our everyday
+experience. Let's identify how having a self feels. In our mind stream,
+there is always some kind of feeling of having a self, which is at the center
+of all our thoughts and emotions. One Tibetan phrase targets this phenomenon
+precisely: dak che dzin. Dak means "self"; che means "important" or
+"dear"; dzin means "holding" or "regarding." This term has various
+translations, which all capture different nuances: self-centeredness, self-
+clinging, ego-clinging, self-absorption. I like to use all of these terms in
+different contexts, but my favorite translation is "self-importance."
+ This word may make us think dak che dzin has mostly to do with being proud
+and arrogant, but such pride is nowhere near the whole story. Self-importance
+includes both self-cherishing and self-protection. It is the source of the
+five main types of painful emotions, known as the "five poisons":
+attachment, aggression, jealousy, arrogance, and stupidity. It can manifest
+as feeling like we're better than others, but just as easily it can manifest
+as low self-esteem, or even self-hatred. The bottom line is that we regard
+this self—whatever or wherever it is—as the most important thing in the
+entire universe.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul, from "The Intelligent Heart: A Guide to the
+Compassionate Life", published by Shambhala Publications.
+~
+Poverty is an anomaly to rich people; it is very difficult to make out why
+people who want dinner do not ring the bell.
+ -- Walter Bagehot
+~
+ In reality, nothing can save us from a state of chaos or confusion unless
+we have acknowledged it and actually experienced it. Otherwise, even though
+we may be in the midst of chaos, we don't even notice it, although we are
+subject to it. On the path of meditation, the first real glimpse of our
+confusion and the general chaos is when we begin to feel uncomfortable. We
+feel that something is a nuisance. Something is bugging us constantly.
+ What is that? Eventually we discover that we are the nuisance. We begin
+to see ourselves being a nuisance to ourselves when we uncover all kinds of
+thought problems, emotional hang-ups, and physical problems in meditation.
+Before we work with anyone else, we have to deal with being a nuisance to
+ourselves. We have to pull ourselves together. We might get angry with
+ourselves, saying, "I could do better than this. What's wrong with me? I
+seem to be getting worse. I'm going backward." We might get angry with
+the whole world, including ourselves. Everything, the entire universe,
+becomes the expression of total insult. We have to relate to that experience
+rather than rejecting it. If you hope to be helpful to others, first you have
+to work with yourself.
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, from "Mindfulness in Action", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered
+as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded,
+that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers
+against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious
+persecution.
+ -- George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia (1789)
+~
+Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one,
+he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.
+ -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr (1787)
+~
+In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof
+is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced, and both by
+precept and example inculcated on mankind.
+ -- Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1771)
+~
+Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the
+strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the
+law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.
+ -- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (1791)
+~
+Congress has no power to make any religious establishments.
+ -- Roger Sherman, Congress (1789)
+~
+The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.
+ -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1758)
+~
+I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people
+build a wall of separation between Church & State.
+ -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802)
+~
+To argue with a man who has renounced the use of reason is like administering
+medicine to the dead.
+ -- Thomas Paine, The American Crisis No. V (1776)
+~
+Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than
+our opinions in physics or geometry.
+ -- Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1779)
+~
+Christian establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which
+facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.
+ -- James Madison, letter to William Bradford, Jr. (1774)
+~
+There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of
+science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of
+public happiness.
+ -- George Washington, address to Congress (1790)
+~
+During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity
+been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride
+and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both,
+superstition, bigotry and persecution.
+ -- James Madison, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1785)
+~
+If the present and the future
+Depend upon the past,
+Then both the present and the future
+Are existent in the past.
+
+If the present and the future
+Are not present then,
+How could the present and the future
+Be dependent on it?
+
+If they are not dependent on the past,
+Then both are unestablished.
+Thus the present and the future time
+Do not exist.
+
+To the two remaining times, it should be understood,
+This same procedure is applied.
+And likewise it applies to high and low and medium,
+And to the singular and so forth.
+
+Time that does not stay we cannot grasp;
+And time that could be grasped
+Does not remain. So how can time,
+Ungraspable, be said to be?
+
+If time depends on things,
+Then how can there be time if things do not exist?
+And since there are no things at all,
+How can time exist?
+ -- Nagarjuna, from "The Root Stanzas of the Middle Way: The
+ Mulamadhyamakakarika", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane
+
+One pill makes you larger
+And one pill makes you small
+And the ones that mother gives you
+Don't do anything at all
+Go ask Alice
+When she's ten feet tall
+
+And if you go chasing rabbits
+And you know you're going to fall
+Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar
+Has given you the call
+Call Alice
+When she was just small
+
+When the men on the chessboard
+Get up and tell you where to go
+And you've just had some kind of mushroom
+And your mind is moving low
+Go ask Alice
+I think she'll know
+
+When logic and proportion
+Have fallen sloppy dead
+And the White Knight is talking backwards
+And the Red Queen's off with her head
+Remember what the dormouse said
+Feed your head
+Feed your head
+~
+How can we integrate these teachings into our lives? I think that only
+happens when we are faced with challenges and respond to them in a new way,
+not according to habitual self-importance. In other words, we respond by
+applying the exchange of self and other. When tonglen becomes our familiar
+way of being, the entire path unfolds easily in front of us. This difficult
+modern age turns out to be the perfect setting for our spiritual practice,
+proving far more hospitable to our growth than past eras of idealized calm and
+simplicity. When we figure out for ourselves how to apply the wisdom of books
+to whatever difficult circumstances arise in life, then that wisdom becomes
+part of our mind. We become transformed. My hope for every reader—as well
+as for myself—is that we will apply these lojong teachings again and again
+until they become part of who we are.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul and Joseph Waxman, in "The Intelligent Heart: A Guide
+ to the Compassionate Life", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Siddhis? Cities.
+
+Honolulu: a relaxed city, like an uncrowded bar where everyone is clean and
+rested.
+
+Los Angeles: a scattered city, like a teenager's sexual curiosity.
+
+San Francisco: a clean city, like an elegant, genteel Christian graveyard.
+
+Santa Fe: a picturesque city, like a painter's bright, simple palette,
+imitating Tibet.
+
+Boston: a sophisticated city, like London without queens and dukes and falling
+bridges.
+
+New York: a no-more-nothingness city,
+where gentle, quiet audiences sit in theaters listening to classical concerts;
+where rough, noisy audiences sit in stadiums in pandemonium watching boxing;
+where there are clean people with dirty minds;
+where there are dirty people with clean minds;
+where hundreds of nihilist people reject spiritual teachings;
+where hundreds of spiritual teachers reject samsara's teachings;
+where poor people sleep underground on low subway platforms;
+where rich people sleep aboveground in high skyscraper penthouses;
+where many non-practitioners stay for their nightclub retreat to find pleasure;
+practitioners leave for their countryside retreat to find pleasure.
+ - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, from "A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+As a blind man feels when he finds a pearl in a dustbin, so am I amazed by the
+miracle of awakening rising in my consciousness. It is the nectar of
+immortality that delivers us from death, the treasure that lifts us above
+poverty into the wealth of giving to life, the tree that gives shade to us
+when we roam about scorched by life, the bridge that takes us across the
+stormy river of life, the cool moon of compassion that calms our mind when it
+is agitated, the sun that dispels darkness, the butter made from the milk of
+kindness by churning it with the dharma. It is a feast of joy to which all
+are invited.
+ -- from "Teachings of the Buddha", written by Shantideva, edited by Jack
+ Kornfield, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Even though we may actually recognize the nature of awareness, we should not
+hold on to that mindfulness tightly, thinking, "I have indeed recognized it."
+If we do hold on to it tightly, it will be like when a thread is twisted too
+taut: one cannot sew with it, because it knots up. In the same way, if one
+is too tense, one's mindfulness will be obscured. If mindfulness is not
+grasped too tightly but left in the natural flow, sometimes it will be clear
+and sometimes not. But we should not get caught up in whether it is clear or
+not. If genuine mindfulness is left without being altered, gradually we will
+come to know, through our own experience, "This is awareness, and this is
+ignorance; this is mind, and this is wisdom."
+ -- Dilgo Khyentse, from "Primordial Purity", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+He says Tibetans are unique because we value the practice of Buddhism. He
+gives the example of Tibetan mothers who in the course of a day point
+repeatedly toward suffering. They tell their children: don't kill the ant,
+it will suffer; don't pour hot water on the soil, the earthworm will feel
+the sting and the heat will cause it great pain; don't pull the dog's tail
+so hard. We are told to think for the animals and insects who cannot voice
+their pain but for whom suffering is as acute as it is for humans. From a
+young age, he says, we are reminded that nobody is free from suffering. I
+agree that my Tibetan friends are instinctively more likely to brush away
+flies or mosquitoes instead of crushing or swatting them. But why is
+compassion so important? What about our land, our independence? Will
+compassion free our land?
+ -- Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, in "Coming Home to Tibet: A Memoir of Love, Loss,
+and Belonging", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ At the end of every meditation session, recognize what kind of healing
+experience you are feeling. You could be feeling peace, warmth, bliss,
+spaciousness, boundlessness, richness, sacredness, or strength. If you have
+multiple experiences, it can help to recognize the most prominent one.
+ The goal is to calmly enjoy the particular experience, resting in
+awareness of what you are feeling, without grasping at it or analyzing it or
+needing to think about it in words. Just remain one with the experience, in
+open awareness, in silence, like water that has merged in water.
+ Purpose: This meditation is for sowing the seed of experience of the
+meditation, not on the rough surface of concepts or afflicting emotions but at
+the deeper and calmer level of the open mind. Merging your awareness with the
+experience ensures the fruition of the meditation with greatest certainty.
+Open awareness helps unite your mind with the result of healing.
+ This meditation could also lead to, or be, the awareness state of the
+enlightened nature itself.
+ -- by Tulku Thondup, in "Boundless Healing", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Amazing!
+ These precious freedoms and endowments are rare as a daytime star;
+ Even when found, like a candle flame in the wind,
+ They could vanish in an instant!
+ Pondering this, most people seem like mad sea captains.
+
+ The root of practice is renunciation.
+ So if you don't use the key points of mind training
+ To till the soil of your mind, hardened toward liberation,
+ When death comes and you beat your chest with regret,
+ it will be too late!
+
+ -- Jigme Lingpa, from "Steps to the Great Perfection: The Mind-Training
+ Tradition of the Dzogchen Masters", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+We don't have to try to surrender. That sounds too effortful. Then we will
+have a surrender competition. There is going to be a spiritual marathon, a
+spiritual Olympics, how about that? Indeed, there is a spiritual Olympics.
+It is not officially announced. Many people are working really hard trying to
+be the best meditator, the best ascetic, the most enlightened. So don't try
+to surrender with your personal will or deliberate effort. It sounds like too
+much work, trying to surrender to everything. Instead, go inside. That is
+all you need to do sometimes. Go inside and let yourself be in touch with
+your heart. You know how to be in touch with your heart. Your heart is
+waiting to be recognized. This is why the Tibetan masters often said there
+are many forms or levels of meditation. The highest level is what they call
+effortless meditation. When they teach how to meditate, especially the
+masters from the Nyingma tradition, they always say, "Don't do anything."
+Rest in the present moment. Relax in the natural state of your mind, because
+if you can relax, rest in the natural state of your own mind, then you will be
+in touch with your own heart, with your original heart, with your innocent
+heart, and then surrender is very easy because all of your heart wants it.
+ -- Anam Thubten, from "Embracing Each Moment: A Guide to the Awakened Life",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ One day the Dalai Lama went to Ganden accompanied by his security agent
+Kumbula. They went in ordinary clothes on ordinary horses and left Lhasa
+traveling east. When they got to the ferries they met with an elderly man
+heading back home from Lhasa where he had taken a load of wood on a donkey.
+The Dalai Lama entered into a conversation with him. "Where are you off to?"
+he asked. "I am going back home," the man replied. "I have taken a load of
+wood to the Norbulinka to the kitchens there." This was when a new building
+called the Chensel Palace was being constructed. New taxes had been
+introduced to pay for it and part of the tax was the requisitioning of pack
+animals to transport rocks. "He already has some very beautiful palaces but
+still he is building a new one. People have to spend a lot of their time
+there and use their animals for building this new palace. It is that fellow
+Kumbula who decided yet another palace is needed in Norbulinka even though
+there are a lot there already. He is not a bad fellow, this Kumbula," the old
+man continued, "but he really does load up the ordinary people with his taxes
+and requisitions. This fellow Kumbula, he always has to be starting some new
+project or other, he is that sort of fellow." Now Kumbula was right there
+with the Dalai Lama, and a bit later the old fellow started up again. "This
+Kumbula is definitely too quick to start up new projects, if you ask me; but
+you know, he is no fool either, and he is loyal to the Dalai Lama. He is
+useful to the Dalai Lama, no doubt about that." The gist of his remarks was
+that the ordinary man like himself found the taxation burdensome. The Dalai
+Lama was very pleased with the conversation.
+ "Rinpoche," the old man said, thinking the Dalai Lama was just a
+distinguished looking older monk, "have some tea with me." They had some tea
+and tsampa together and then the old fellow pulled out a bottle of barley beer
+and offered it to the Dalai Lama. "I am a monk, I do not drink beer," the
+Dalai Lama protested. "Do not be silly," he said, "a lot of the monks are
+drinking beer nowadays, go ahead and have a swig." "Is that so?" said the
+Dalai Lama. "A lot of the monks nowadays are drinking beer are they?" "Piles
+of them," the old fellow replied, "though I am pleased to see that you do not
+accept my offer." After the old man had downed his beer with some bread he
+was carrying, they set off in the direction of Ganden together, talking as
+they went. As they began to approach Ganden, at the place called Dechen, they
+caught sight of a large smoke offering and the monks of Ganden lined up to
+welcome a special guest. The old fellow said, "They are making a big welcome
+up there for someone today, I wonder who is coming." The Dalai Lama said, "I
+am not positive, but I suspect it is for me." Then the old fellow began to
+suspect that he was there with the Dalai Lama and he thought he had better
+make a run for it. As he tried to flee the Dalai Lama caught hold of him and
+would not let him go. He took the old man right in through the gates of
+Ganden Monastery and told the people there not to let him leave, but to give
+him a good meal and something excellent to drink. After he had been well-fed
+and looked after, the Dalai Lama sent word to bring him.
+ The old man was beside himself with fear, thinking he was going to be
+given a terrible punishment, but the Dalai Lama treated him as a friend and
+told him to sit down, right opposite to where Kumbula was sitting. "Hey, old
+fellow," he said, "I must introduce you to Kumbula. This is Kumbula." He was
+overcome with embarrassment, but the Dalai Lama said that he should not be.
+"You spoke your heart, you spoke what you felt was true and there is no shame
+in that. You described faults as faults and good qualities as good qualities.
+Some people only complain but you did not do that. Some, again, cover up
+faults and say nothing but good and that is not right either. You spoke
+honestly and openly, and I am very happy." He gave him fifty white silver
+sangs as a parting gift, a large sum of money, and said that the problems
+would be looked into. It was from then that the levies on the people for
+Norbulinka building projects stopped.
+ -- Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, translated by Ven. Dr. Gareth Sparham, "Memoirs
+ of a Tibetan Lama", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor
+to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and
+earnestly.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on
+the present moment.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+You only lose what you cling to. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Pain is certain, suffering is optional. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it
+at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to
+die.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually wear
+themselves out
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved
+worrying will do you no good.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates
+people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant
+relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be
+filled with joy.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on
+what you think.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Wear your ego like a loose fitting garment. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+People with opinions just go around bothering one another.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Greater in battle
+than the man who would conquer
+a thousand-thousand men,
+is he who would conquer
+just one--
+himself.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except your self. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+With our thoughts we make the world. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they
+do you if you do not act on upon them?
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not
+considered a good man because he is a good talker.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Silence is an empty space, space is the home of the awakened mind.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and
+soul to it
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our
+thoughts and made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil
+thought, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the hoof of the beast that
+draws the wagon... If a man speaks or acts with a good thought, happiness
+follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+The mind is everything. What you think you become. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+The fool who knows he is a fool is that much wiser. -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create
+distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Three things can not hide for long: the Moon, the Sun, and the Truth.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
+in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe
+in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do
+not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
+Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many
+generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything
+agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all,
+then accept it and live up to it.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would
+change.
+ -- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+brain fully charged
+(at lockn 2016...)
+
+It really seemed like every band built on the one just prior to it, so that as
+each day moved on, the acts just generated more and more energy and awesome
+music, storing it up in a celestial battery. the peak of it all for me was
+the phish show on the last night, which was so high energy and saturated with
+fun and healthy vibes that I felt like "i never need to feel fear again".
+that feeling lasted for days after the festival was over. hopefully memory of
+that thought never fades.
+~
+ Don't become easily discouraged. If you never try to go beyond that
+stage of initial discouragement because there are thoughts arising in your
+meditation, you are never going to have the true experiences of meditation.
+You need to go beyond that initial stage. You need to keep trying. If you
+keep making that effort to go beyond that initial discouragement, you will
+arrive at the experience of not getting caught up in your thoughts and mental
+events.
+ Sometimes you may even observe an increase in the frequency of thoughts.
+When that happens, don't get discouraged. My enlightened master Jigme
+Phuntsok Rinpoche says:
+ "One sign that your meditation is beginning to be effective is that both
+subtle thoughts and obvious thoughts become more noticeable than before. This
+is not a bad sign; it's a good sign. When water rushes in a strong river
+current, you don't see the fish or rocks beneath the rapids. But when the
+current slows and the water becomes clear, then you can see the fish, the
+rocks, and everything below the surface distinctly. Similarly, if you never
+pay attention to your mind, and your thoughts and emotions are uncontrolled,
+you don't even know how many thoughts go by. But when your mind becomes
+more stable and calm, you begin to see your thoughts more clearly. Don't be
+discouraged. Take heart at this sign. Don't hold yourself too loosely or
+too tightly. Maintain your meditation in the right way without concern and
+gradually your meditation experience will increase and stabilize."
+ Remember: Do not follow the past. Do not anticipate the future. Remain
+in the present moment. Leave your mind alone. Those four simple,
+straightforward instructions give us a chance to go beyond our mental events
+and, eventually, to experience the natural state of mind.
+ -- Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche, in "Our Pristine Mind", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ Knowing full well that his aim is to achieve enlightenment, Sujata adopts
+a parallel program to help sustain him. Symbolically feeding Gautama with
+each offering to the priests, she utters the dedication prayer,
+ May the Bodhisattva take my food and thereby truly attain perfect and
+completely unexcelled awakening!
+ After six years of this, the gods notify her that Gautama has ceased his
+austerities and urge her to take further action. Due to her abundant good
+karma in past lives, she is preordained to serve him. Sujata sets to work
+preparing the rice milk offering in the fashion of the one thousand cows
+milked to feed the five hundred and so forth. In observing miracles around
+the cooking pot, she prays that they foretell the Bodhisattva's imminent
+supreme awakening. She brings the rice porridge in a golden bowl to Gautama
+where he is sitting along the river and offers it to him after reverentially
+making prostrations. According to this story, the Bodhisattva regains his
+former strength and splendor upon consuming Sujata's excellent food. In
+this version, it is his first meal after the six years of austerities and has
+instantly restored him to wholeness. After bathing and meditating at the
+river, Gautama proceeds to the tree of enlightenment. All these events have
+taken place within the span of one day.
+ -- Wendy Garling, in "Stars at Dawn", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+True compassion is spacious and wise as well as resourceful. This type of
+compassion could be called intelligent love or intelligent affection. We know
+how to express our affection so that it does not destroy a person but instead
+helps him or her to develop. It is more like a dance than a hug. And the
+music behind it is that of intellect.
+ -- " 'Intellect and Intuition,' in The Heart of the Buddha: Entering the
+ Tibetan Buddhist Path", by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Gampopa recognized in Dusum Khyenpa an exceptional being and declared that
+he would amply spread Buddhism throughout Tibet. He added that he would be
+liberated in this life from samsara, cyclic existence. Over many years the
+Karmapa received from this great bodhisattva the teachings that Gampopa
+himself had been given by his masters. First, Gampopa transmitted to him the
+teachings of the Kadampa tradition, including the classical scholastic studies
+known as the "gradual path," which emphasize the development of
+renunciation and altruism. They henceforth became an educational constant for
+the Kagyu lineage and the basis of the study of the Vajrayana. Dusum Khyenpa
+then received from his master the teachings and transmissions related to the
+tantras. One day, when Gampopa bestowed upon his disciple the Hevajra
+initiation, the Karmapa perceived his master in the form of the deity himself.
+ Gampopa then urged Dusum Khyenpa to go on retreat into the neighboring
+caves in order to actualize what had been transmitted. After only nine days
+of meditation, he spontaneously experienced a strong feeling of warmth and
+bliss. He removed his monk robes and dressed himself in the simple attire of
+white cotton—repa—worn by yogis. He meditated for nine months,
+concentrating in particular on the practice of calm abiding (samatha), which
+allows practitioners to pacify and stabilize their mind. Having excelled in
+this, he continued his retreat for three more years, perfecting his meditative
+capacities on the understanding of the nature of mind through penetrating
+vision (vipashyana) practice. Finally Gampopa conferred upon him the ultimate
+instructions of the Kagyu lineage. He then considered that the realization of
+his disciple was henceforth stable.
+ From then on the life of Dusum Khyenpa was divided between retreat and
+travel. He traveled throughout central Tibet, receiving instructions from
+other teachers or dispensing his own teachings. Nonetheless, until his master
+passed away, he often returned to Gampopa to receive other transmissions.
+Gampopa encouraged the Karmapa to go on retreat in the near future at Kampo
+Gangra in eastern Tibet, prophesying that it would be in this location that
+Dusum Khyenpa would attain complete enlightenment.
+ -- from "History of the Karmapas", by Lama Kunsang, Lama Pemo, and Marie
+ Aubèle, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+One cannot force or grasp a spiritual experience, because it is as delicate as
+the whisper of the wind. But one can purify one's motivation, one's body,
+and train oneself to cultivate it. Because we come from a culture which
+teaches us there is always something external to be obtained which will lead
+us to fulfillment, we lose contact with our innate wisdom. As the Indian
+Tantric Buddhist saint Saraha says in one of his dohas (poems expressing the
+essence of his understanding):
+ Though the house-lamps have been lit,
+ The blind live on in the dark.
+ Though spontaneity is all-encompassing
+ And close, to the deluded it remains
+ Always far away.
+ -- Tsultrim Allione, in "Women of Wisdom", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+being royalty is nothing compared to being composed from parts of a far
+flung star explosion, as we all are.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Six right livelihood guidelines...
+
+Consume mindfully.
+ Eat with awareness and gratitude.
+ Pause before buying and see if breathing is enough.
+ Pay attention to the effects of media you consume.
+
+Pause. Breathe. Listen.
+ When you feel compelled to speak in a meeting or conversation, pause.
+ Breathe before entering your home, pleace of work, or school.
+ Listen to the people you encounter. They are buddhas.
+
+Practice gratitude.
+ Notice what you have
+ Be equally grateful for opportunities and challenges.
+ Share joy, not negativity.
+
+Cultivate compassion and loving kindness.
+ Notice where help is needed and be quick to help
+ Consider others' perspectives deeply.
+ Work for peace at many levels.
+
+Discover wisdom
+ Cultivate "don't know" mind (= curiosity).
+ Find connections between Buddhist teachings and your life.
+ Be open to what arises in every moment.
+
+Accept constant change.
+
+ -- Source: "Moon journeying through clouds", Zen Buddhist chants, sayings and recitations from the Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom.
+~
+never forget that the truth is always larger than you know.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Roger Babson's Ten Commandments of Investing
+
++ Keep speculation and investments separate.
++ Don't be fooled by a name.
++ Be wary of new promotions.
++ Give due consideration to market ability.
++ Don't buy without proper facts.
++ Safeguard purchases through diversification.
++ Don't try to diversify by buying different securities of the same company.
++ Small companies should be carefully scrutinized.
++ Buy adequate security, not super abundance.
++ Choose your dealer and buy outright (i.e., don't buy on margin.)
+~
+Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection. -- Mark Twain
+~
+All of us cherish helpful and loving friends, and wise, compassionate
+spiritual mentors are especially important to us to progress on the path.
+Being separated from the people we value or having an important relationship
+not work out the way we had hoped is painful, yet it is a common occurrence in
+cyclic existence. Because we ourselves, others, and all the conditioned
+things around us are impermanent by nature, whatever comes together must also
+separate.
+ -- Thubten Chodron, "Good Karma: How to Create the Causes of Happiness and
+ Avoid the Causes of Suffering", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+There are no limits to our imagination,
+or if there are,
+we can only imagine them.
+ -- Fred T. Hamster
+~
+When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say
+to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."
+ -- Fred Rogers
+~
+Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a
+triple.
+ -- Barry Switzer
+~
+ First, let's take a look at how physical and emotional health supports
+our spiritual health. What is spiritual health? One way that the Buddhist
+teachings define spiritual health is having a sense of interconnection with
+other living beings on the planet, as well as respect for the natural
+environment. Recognition of this interconnection with others is developed as
+we call to mind the things that all beings have in common: the wish to attain
+happiness and avoid suffering. We can reflect on this by thinking that all of
+the wonderful things we want for ourselves, others want them too. Just so,
+all of the painful things we would like to avoid, others wish to avoid those
+things too.
+ However, spiritual health is far more than a mere sense of connection.
+True spiritual health arises from discovering love and compassion for all
+sentient beings. In doing so, we cut through our own painful feelings of
+anger, resentment, and strong desire, which cause us so much personal
+unhappiness and sorrow. By bringing ourselves back into harmonious
+relationship with friends, family, and the larger community, even those we may
+dislike, we ourselves become spiritually rich.
+ -- Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo, "The Tibetan Yoga of Breath:
+ Breathing Practices for Healing the Body and Cultivating Wisdom",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Our worries may zoom around the state of the world. "What happens if the
+economy plummets? If the ozone layer keeps decreasing? If we have more
+anthrax attacks? If terrorists take over the country? If we lose our civil
+liberties fighting terrorism?" Here, our creative writing ability leads to
+fantastic scenarios that may or may not happen, but regardless, we manage to
+work ourselves into a state of unprecedented despair. This, in turn, often
+leads to raging anger at the powers that be or alternatively, to apathy,
+simply thinking that since everything is rotten, there's no use doing
+anything. In either case, we're so gloomy that we neglect to act
+constructively in ways that remedy difficulties and create goodness.
+ -- Thubten Chodron, in "Taming the Mind", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+It really seemed like every band built on the one just prior to it, so that as
+each day moved on, the acts just generated more and more energy and awesome
+music, storing it up in a celestial battery. the peak of it all for me was
+the phish show on the last night, which was so high energy and saturated with
+fun and healthy vibes that I felt like "i never need to feel fear again".
+that feeling lasted for days after the concert was over. hopefully memory of
+that thought never fades.
+ -- fred t. hamster, after lockn 2016
+~
+The dawn of the Great Eastern Sun is based on actual experience. It is not a
+concept. You realize that you can uplift yourself, that you can appreciate
+your existence as a human being. Whether you are a gas station attendant or
+the president of your country doesn't really matter. When you experience
+the goodness of being alive, you can respect who and what you are. You need
+not be intimidated by lots of bills to pay, diapers to change, food to cook,
+or papers to be filed. Fundamentally, in spite of all those responsibilities,
+you begin to feel that it is a worthwhile situation to be a human being, to be
+alive, not afraid of death.
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, "Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior", published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ These deities share a freedom from passion and experience more and more
+subtle states of mind in each higher level. In the first level, the freedom
+from passion is experienced; in the second, freedom from discursive thought;
+in the third, the elimination of gross joy in meditation, leaving only sublime
+delight; in the fourth, freedom even from delight. Above these are the four
+levels of the realm of formlessness, whose inhabitants have transcended form
+altogether and have no bodies or forms at all. Here deities experience
+successively even more subtle states of mind: the infinity of space, the
+infinity of consciousness, "nothing at all," and neither perception nor
+nonperception.
+ These states can certainly appear enormously attractive from our human
+point of view. In fact, they correspond to what many think religious practice
+is all about—attaining some kind of heaven or some sort of tranquillity or
+bliss. But from the Buddhist viewpoint, the sublimity even of these states is
+not a worthy ultimate goal. One may ask, "What can possibly be wrong with
+such attainments?"
+ It is important to remember that the divine states of the desire realm,
+the form realm, and the formless realm, like all the other states known in the
+other five realms, are still part of samsara and subject to karma,
+impermanence, and suffering. In spite of the relative exaltation of their way
+of being, there comes a day for every god when he or she begins to feel the
+signs of impending death. The intoxication of the godly state gives way to
+sadness, pain, fear, and finally terror, and this is followed by death and
+rebirth in a lower realm.
+ In addition, the gods have one enormous liability: precisely because of
+their power, longevity, and intoxication, they are unable to hear the dharma
+with its teachings about duhkha, the first noble truth. They, like the
+inhabitants of all the other nonhuman realms, are victims of their karma and
+are unable to practice a spiritual path to gain liberation.
+ -- Reginald A. Ray, in "Indestructible Truth", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes, "I like to walk alone on country paths,
+rice plants and wild grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the
+earth in mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth. In such
+moments, existence is a miraculous and mysterious reality. People usually
+consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real
+miracle is to walk on earth... a miracle we don't even recognize."
+ -- from Jan Chozen Bays, MD, "How to Train a Wild Elephant & Other Adventures
+ in Mindfulness", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself
+
+Whatever pain you feel, take it in, wishing for all beings to be free of it.
+Whatever pleasure you feel, send it out to others. In this way, our personal
+problems and delights become a stepping-stone for understanding the suffering
+and happiness of all beings.
+ -- Pema Chodron's "Compassion Cards", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Tuvaṭaka Sutta: The Discourse on Being Quick
+
+(The Buddha said,)
+"Let them completely destroy the root
+Of conceptual differentiation,
+That is, [the idea] 'I am the thinker.'
+Ever mindful, they train to subdue their cravings.
+
+"They shouldn't get entrenched in any teachings they know
+Whether their own or that of others.
+Good people say that
+Being entrenched is not release.
+
+"They would not, because of this, think themselves
+Better, worse, or equal [to others].
+Experiencing many things,
+They don't take a stand in thoughts of themselves."
+
+ The Buddha's first teachings in this poem are particularly important.
+Here he emphasizes the destruction of the root source for conceptual
+proliferation which he describes as being either the idea "I am the
+thinker" or the thought "I am." While the grammar of the Pali phrase
+allows for both translations into English, the two options both identify some
+form of conceit as the basis from which a problematic differentiation of
+concepts with which the world is categorized arises. When this conceit is
+uprooted, the conceptual proliferation stops. A sage does not categorize or
+conceptualize the world with any fixed reference point of existing as "I."
+ While training to become such a sage, a monastic should avoid swelling up
+with conceit, which is described as thinking they are better, worse, or equal
+to others. The alternative to such comparative thinking is to have a mind
+that is still and unmoving like a calm sea. Many of the training instructions
+the Buddha mentions can be understood as support for having a still, peaceful
+mind.
+ -- Gil Fronsdal, "The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early
+ Teachings", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+I. Path of Accumulation
+
+ One who has the Mahayana family cultivates bodhicitta, receives teachings
+from masters, and makes effort in the virtues until the heat of wisdom is
+attained. During this time, progress is classified in four stages:
+realization, aspiration, greater aspiration, and achievement. Why is this
+called the path of accumulation? Because on it, one gathers the accumulations
+of virtue in order to become a vessel for the realization of heat and so forth.
+Therefore, it is called the path of accumulation.
+
+ These are also called the root virtues which are similar to liberation.
+At this stage, twelve of the branches of enlightenment are practiced:
+
+ A. the four types of mindfulness,
+ B. the four types of perfect abandonment, and
+ C. the four feet of miracle powers.
+
+The Four Types of Mindfulness are:
+
+ 1. sustaining mindfulness of the body,
+ 2. sustaining mindfulness of feelings,
+ 3. sustaining mindfulness of the mind, and
+ 4. sustaining mindfulness of phenomena.
+
+These four occur during the lesser stage of the path of accumulation.
+
+The Four Types of Perfect Abandonment are:
+
+ 1. abandoning nonvirtues which have been created,
+ 2. not allowing new nonvirtues to be produced,
+ 3. producing the antidotes, virtues which have not arisen, and
+ 4. allowing those virtues which have arisen to increase.
+
+These four occur during the middle stage of the path of accumulation.
+
+The Four Feet of Miracle Powers are:
+
+ 1. the absorption of strong aspiration,
+ 2. the absorption of perseverance,
+ 3. the absorption of the mind, and
+ 4. the absorption of investigation.
+
+These four occur during the greater stage of the path of accumulation.
+ -- Gampopa, from "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+II. Path of Application
+
+ The path of application begins after perfection of the path of
+accumulation. It has four stages corresponding to the realization of the Four
+Noble Truths: heat, maximum heat, patience, and realization of the highest
+worldly dharma. Why is it called the path of application? Because there, one
+makes an effort to directly realize truth.
+
+A. Five Powers. Furthermore, during the stages of heat and maximum heat,
+five powers are practiced:
+ the power of faith,
+ the power of perseverance,
+ the power of mindfulness,
+ the power of absorption, and
+ the power of wisdom awareness.
+
+B. Five Strengths. During the stages of patience and highest worldly dharma,
+five strengths are practiced:
+ the strength of faith,
+ the strength of perseverance,
+ the strength of mindfulness,
+ the strength of absorption, and
+ the strength of wisdom awareness.
+ -- Gampopa, in "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+III. Path of Insight
+
+ The path of insight begins after the highest worldly dharma and consists
+of calm abiding as a basis for special insight focused on the Four Noble
+Truths. Four insights correspond to each of the Four Noble Truths, making a
+total of sixteen—eight patient acceptances and eight cognitions: the patient
+acceptance of the cognition of the dharma with respect to suffering, the
+cognition of the dharma with respect to suffering, the patient acceptance of
+the cognition that is the subsequent realization with respect to suffering,
+the cognition that is the subsequent realization with respect to suffering,
+and so forth.
+ Why is it called the path of insight? Because there, one realizes the
+Four Noble Truths which were not seen before. At this stage there are seven
+of the branches of enlightenment:
+ the perfect mindfulness branch,
+ the perfect discrimination branch,
+ the perfect perseverance branch,
+ the perfect joy branch,
+ the perfect relaxation branch,
+ the perfect absorption branch, and
+ the perfect equanimity branch.
+ -- The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, by Gampopa, published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+IV. Path of Meditation
+
+The path of meditation practice begins after the realization of special
+insight. It has two paths:
+ A. the path of worldly meditation practice and
+ B. the path of meditation practice beyond the world.
+A.
+ Worldly Meditation Practice consists of the first, second, third, and
+fourth meditative stages, and the formless stages of increasing the infinite
+nature of space, increasing the infinity of consciousness, increasing the
+nothing-whatsoever-ness, and increasing neither perception nor non-perception.
+There are three purposes to practicing this meditation:
+
++ suppressing the afflicting emotions which are the subject of
+abandonment in the path of meditation;
++ establishing the special qualities of the Four Immeasurables and so
+forth; and
++ creating the foundation for the path beyond the world.
+
+B.
+ Meditation Practice Beyond the World consists of the furthering of calm
+abiding and special insight, focused on the two types of wisdom. During the
+path of insight there were two "patient acceptances" and two
+"awarenesses" corresponding to each of the Four Noble Truths, making a
+total of sixteen. The eight patient acceptances were completed in the path of
+insight. One becomes familiarized with the eight awarenesses in the path of
+meditation through the calm abiding and special insight related to the four
+meditative concentrations and three of the formless absorptions. Furthermore,
+part of the awareness of phenomena is to familiarize oneself with all the
+realization of dharma-as-such. Part of the continuity awareness is to
+familiarize oneself with all the realization of primordial wisdom. The state
+of neither perception nor non-perception is merely worldly meditation because
+the movement of sensation is so unclear.
+ Why is this called the path of meditation? Because there, one becomes
+familiar with the realizations that one achieved in the path of insight. At
+this stage, there are eight of the thirty-seven branches of enlightenment:
+
++ perfect view,
++ perfect conception, perfect speech, perfect action,
++ perfect livelihood,
++ perfect effort,
++ perfect mindfulness, and
++ perfect absorption.
+ -- Gampopa, from "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation", published by Shambhala
+Publications
+~
+ Your eggnog to rum ratio should be 23% to 77%. I would then spice the
+eggnog with nutmeg and use more than you're comfortable with because sailors
+used to use it as [a] hallucinogen...
+ Also, enter on a reindeer. And if you enter on a reindeer, stay on the
+reindeer. And if you can't reach something because you're too high up
+sitting on the reindeer, just ask for help. That goes for life, too. Don't
+be afraid to ask for help and stay on that reindeer.
+ -- T.J. Miller's recipe for the perfect holiday party
+~
+if you can't beat them, join them, and subvert them from the inside.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+regarding christmas cards...
+"i would create my own as a desktop publishing activity, with all new current
+stuff. but it's way too much effort. basically, i can either give you a
+present or make you a card. which do you prefer?"
+ -- thus spake slackathustra.
+~
+Hope is not a strategy.
+Luck is not a factor.
+Fear is not an option.
+ -- James Cameron
+~
+A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do,
+nothing else.
+ -- John Galsworthy
+~
+The Order of the Four Noble Truths
+
+We do analytical meditation to understand the various unsatisfactory
+conditions or sufferings of cyclic existence. When we gain an experience of
+them, we then place our mind firmly on that experience using stabilizing
+meditation. The more we meditate on suffering, the more we are motivated to
+rid ourselves of it. We will want to find out its causes and cease creating
+them. Thus, after contemplating true suffering, we contemplate true origin.
+Investigating this, we will see that suffering arises from karma, which is
+produced in dependence on the disturbing attitudes. These in turn are rooted
+in self-grasping ignorance. We will want to eliminate this ignorance, and
+will see that because it is a faulty attitude or misconception, it can be
+eliminated. Thus we will be certain that we can attain the true cessation of
+suffering and its origin. Through further contemplating the four noble
+truths, we will recognize that the way to abandon self-grasping ignorance is
+to meditate on the true path, since this path is principally the wisdom
+realizing the non-existence of the self that is adhered to by ignorance. This
+is the order in which the four noble truths unfold in meditation and thus is
+the order in which to practice them. So, although the actual order in which
+the four occur is first the causes and then the effects, when the Buddha
+taught for the purpose of practice, he explained the results first.
+ -- Geshe Jampa Tegchok, "Transforming Adversity Into Joy and Courage: An
+ Explanation of the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+Take Refuge in the Buddha
+
+ We live in an ocean of cyclic existence whose depth and extent cannot be
+measured. We are troubled again and again by the afflictions of desire and
+hatred as if repeatedly attacked by sharks.
+ Our mental and physical aggregates are impelled by former contaminated
+actions and afflictions and serve as a basis for present suffering as well as
+inducing future suffering. While such cyclic existence lasts, we have various
+thoughts of pleasure and displeasure: "If I do this, what will people think?
+If I do not do this, I will be too late; I won't make any profit." When we
+see something pleasant we think, "Oh, if I could only have that!" We see
+that others are prosperous, and we generate jealousy, unable to bear their
+prosperity. We see an attractive man or woman, and we want a relationship.
+We are not satisfied with a passing relationship but want it to last forever.
+And then, once staying together with that person, we desire someone else.
+When we see someone we do not like, we become angry and quarrel after a single
+word; we feel we cannot remain even for an hour near this hated person but
+must leave immediately. Day and night, night and day we spend our lives in
+the company of the afflictions, generating desire for the pleasant and anger
+at the unpleasant, and continue thus even when dreaming, unable to remain
+relaxed, our minds completely and utterly mixed with thoughts of desire and
+hatred without interruption.
+ Only a Buddha has extinguished all defects and gained all attainments.
+Therefore, one should mentally go for refuge to a Buddha, praise him or her
+with speech, and respect him or her physically. One should enter the teaching
+of such a being.
+ -- from "The Essence of Tantra," by the Dalai Lama, in The Great Exposition
+ of the Secret Mantra, Volume I: Tantra in Tibet by Tsongkhapa, published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+V. Path of Perfection
+
+ After the vajra-like absorption, one actualizes the nature of awareness,
+the awareness of exhaustion, and awareness of the unborn. The vajra-like
+absorption is the state at the edge of the path of meditation and is included
+in the preparation and unobstructed stages. This absorption is called
+"vajra-like" because it is unobstructed, hard, stable, of one taste, and
+all-pervasive.
+ "Unobstructed" means that it cannot be affected by the action of the
+world. "Hard" means it cannot be destroyed by obscurations. "Stable"
+means it cannot be shaken by discursive thoughts. "One taste" means
+everything is of one taste. "All pervasive" means that it observes the
+suchness of all knowledge.
+ The "awareness of the exhaustion of causes" that arises after this
+absorption is the primordial wisdom awareness that observes the Four Noble
+Truths by the power of the exhaustion of all causes. The "awareness of the
+unborn" is the primordial wisdom that observes the Four Noble Truths by the
+power of abandoning the result, suffering. In other words, this primordial
+wisdom clearly observes the exhaustion of the cause and non-production of the
+result and is called the "awareness of the exhaustion and non-production."
+ Why is this called the path of perfection? Because the training is
+perfected and one enters the city of nirvana—this is why it is called the
+path of perfection. At this stage, there are ten attainments of no-more-
+training: starting with perfect view of no-more-training through the perfect
+absorption of no-more-training and then the full liberation of no-more-
+training and the perfect primordial wisdom of no-more-training—these ten
+attainments of no-more-training are included in the five unafflicted skandas:
+
+ perfect speech of no-more-training, perfect action, and perfect
+livelihood are in the heap of moral ethics;
+ perfect mindfulness of no-more-training and perfect absorption are in
+the heap of absorption;
+ perfect view of no-more-training, perfect conception, and perfect
+effort are in the heap of wisdom awareness;
+ perfect, full liberation is in the heap of full liberation;
+ perfect awareness is in the heap of seeing the primordial wisdom of
+full liberation.
+ -- Gampopa, from "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+i try to think of 10,008 impossible things before breakfast,
+and i'm near ecstatic if any of those is worth writing down.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+businesses or products mashed up with despots:
+- fidelity castro
+- mao zeding-dong
+- pol potstickers
+- donald trump
+~
+Relaxing in the midst of chaos,
+learning not to panic--this is the spiritual path.
+ -- Pema Chödrön, "When Things Fall Apart"
+~
+Driving all blames into oneself applies whenever we complain about anything,
+even that our coffee is cold or the bathroom is dirty. We may think that we
+are the voice of the world, that we are speaking on behalf of others, but we
+are simply speaking on behalf of ourselves. According to this slogan,
+everything is due to our own ego fixation, which makes us very vulnerable.
+Consequently, we provide an ideal target. We get hit, but nobody meant to hit
+us--we are actually inviting the bullets.
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma: The
+ Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
+ -- Wayne Gretzky
+~
+Aren't surveys inherently biased, because they only include people who are
+willing to be surveyed? What about people who value their time?
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+if throwing your dirty clothes at the hamper causes an avalanche,
+then it's time to do the laundry. #NoteToSelf
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+stoner marxism:
+"from each according to his stash, to each according to his jones."
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+i learned everything i needed to know about the 2016 election cycle by
+listening to devo in the 70s. "We're pinheads now. We are not whole."
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+"i made a sample with my organ!"
+"that's disgusting!"
+"an electronic organ, dork."
+"oh, i get it."
+"i sampled the sound of orgasm."
+"gahh!"
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+"the universe is flat in all directions" is what an infinitely dimensional
+person might say as she perceives all realities simultaneously.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Out of ten soldiers who are perfect in drill and the manual of arms, only one
+knows the purpose of the sights on his gun or can hit the broad side of a barn.
+ -- General Burnside, of his civil war recruits
+~
+music is the balm that soothes.
+anger is the bomb that kills.
+so don't listen to your anger if you want to feel right about life.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+don't torture yourself with overblown expectations of how much you can
+accomplish. stretch goals are fine, "burst" goals are not.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+In the gap between two thoughts,
+Thought-free wakefulness manifests unceasingly.
+ -- Milarepa
+~
+After Yeshe Tsogyal had helped countless beings in Tibet with her body,
+speech, and mind, the naga Nanda made offerings and with tears in his eyes he
+sang to her:
+
+ Kyema!
+ Guru, mother, Yeshe Tsogyal,
+ Key to the mysteries of Padmasambhava,
+ With mercy taking up the pains of others.
+
+ Free from concepts,
+ "Clean" and "unclean" have no hold on you.
+ Eager for the benefit of others,
+ You bury underground all love of self,
+ Mistress holder of the Teachings,
+ Mother of Victorious Ones, I bow to you.
+
+ -- Excerpted from: "Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and Enlightenment of
+ Yeshe Tsogyal" (translated by the Padmakara Translation Group), published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The mind captivated by a state of craving has no clue as to what pain and
+pleasure really are. When we hanker after objects, do we experience peace and
+bliss? Are we in control? Do we feel at ease? Or do we feel restless?
+Stressed and worried? Insecure and desperate? The slippery thing about
+attachment is that, in our bewilderment, we can't tell the difference
+between pleasure and pain, love and desire, happiness and sorrow. The craving
+mind can mistake anything for pleasure--even pain! It's like an addiction.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrül, "Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening
+ to Our Natural Intelligence", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The path of dharma, its fruit, and everything included within great gnosis,
+too, are nothing more than the realization of the significance of the
+nonduality of phenomena. At this point, there is attainment of the signs of
+cultivating bodhicitta. When realized in this manner, there is no need for
+training on a multitude of paths. Therefore, the unmistaken path is simply
+the realization of the nature of one's own mind just as it is.
+ -- Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo's treatise on Dzogchen as the culmination of the
+ Mahāyāna, Entering the way of the Great Vehicle, translated by Dominic
+ Sur, 2017, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Lineage is not like a baton that one person passes to another person and then
+to another, leaving the ones behind empty-handed. It's like the flame of a
+lamp. If you light one lamp and then keep lighting more lamps, the first lamp
+still has the flame. There are no distinctions. There is a continuum.
+ -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "The Guru Drinks Bourbon?", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention with
+the possible exceptions of handguns and Tequila.
+ -- Mitch Ratcliffe
+~
+Even with realization, if you do not directly cut through, it is like tossing
+out a tempered sharp weapon: the view will not protect you, and you are bound
+by fear. The yoga that brings together view and conduct is like the weapons
+carried by warriors that vanquish all the enemy hosts.
+ -- Machik Lapdrön, "Chöd: The Sacred Teachings on Severence", by Jamgön
+ Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, translated by Sarah Harding, published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+The system of two truths is propounded solely for didactic purposes, as an
+entry to the path. On the ultimate level, the division into two truths has no
+place. There is only the inconceivable dharmadhātu, pure suchness, the
+ultimate mode of being. As it is written in the sutra,
+
+ There is but one truth: absence of all origin,
+ Yet some will crow about there being four.
+ But in the essence of enlightenment,
+ Not one is found—why speak of four?
+
+But whereas on the ultimate level, the two truths are not posited, on the
+relative level, they are. For there is certainly a difference between the way
+things are and the way they appear. As was said earlier, "These the two
+truths are declared to be."
+ -- The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham’s Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of
+ The Way of the Bodhisattva, translated by the Padmakara Translation
+ Group, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ People who embark upon the path of the Mahayana, the supreme path of
+beings of great scope leading to omniscience, should try to acquire four
+circumstances. They should (1) live in solitude, in a place that has all the
+necessary conditions and is in harmony with the Dharma. They should (2)
+frequent a teacher who is learned in the Tripitaka and steeped in the practice
+of the three trainings. By doing this, they will avoid the inferior attitudes
+of ordinary folk as well as the wrong behavior that leads to suffering, and
+they will acquire all the good qualities deriving from the Dharma of
+transmission and realization. They should in addition (3) nourish an intense
+wish to practice in accordance with the teaching expounded by their master and
+should (4) zealously adopt the supreme protection afforded by the merit
+accumulated in their past and present existences. The venerable Nagarjuna
+refers to these four conditions as the ‘‘four wheels,’’ the idea being
+that, just as someone riding in a (horse-drawn) chariot can cover in a short
+time a distance that would take many days for a cow or ox, a Bodhisattva
+taking advantage of these four conditions will progress speedily toward
+omniscience. Nagarjuna refers to them in his Suhrllekha when he says:
+
+ Your dwelling place befits the task,
+ You keep the company of holy beings.
+ With highest aspirations and a store of merit,
+ You have indeed the ‘‘four wheels’’ all complete.
+
+ -- from "Treasury of Precious Qualities, Book One: Sutra Teachings", by
+ Jigme Lingpa, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+
+ We are far removed from eighth-century Tibet, where we meet her, but
+Yeshé Tsogyal continues to be present and available. She lives outside
+linear time, but visits it: her limitless emanations form a bridge from her
+lifetime to the present. She promised to remain accessible to any spiritual
+seeker wishing to follow her lead. In her own words,
+
+ And so, from now until the scouring of samsara,
+ My stream of emanations, primary and secondary,
+ Will flow unceasing.
+ Especially to those who in the future meditate
+ Upon the subtle veins and energies,
+ I’ll show myself--at best directly,
+ Else in visions, or at least in dreams,
+ Appearing as a common person, or as the secret consort.
+ I shall clear the obstacles of those who keep samaya,
+ Bringing progress to their practice,
+ Helping to attain with speed the blissful warmth and thence
+ accomplishment.
+
+ As promised, she continuously appears to lead and inspire the faithful in
+dreams, visions, and real life. As well, her human reincarnations ceaselessly
+return to the world, guiding others in whatever capacity is needed.
+ -- from "The Life and Visions of Yeshé Tsogyal", by Drimé Kunga and Yeshé
+ Tsogyal Translated by Chönyi Drolma, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ It is impossible to conceive how many beings, from beginningless time in
+samsara, have been related to us--as parents, as enemies, or as people
+indifferent to us. In fact, all beings have been linked to us in these three
+ways innumerable times. When they were our enemies, they injured us; when
+they were our parents or our friends, they cherished and aided us; when they
+were neither, they ignored us. It would be impossible to calculate the number
+of relationships that we have experienced. Once when the noble Katyayana went
+begging for alms, he came across a group of people and, perceiving the karmic
+links that bound them together, commented:
+
+ He strikes his mother, eats his father’s flesh;
+ His hated foe he dandles on his lap.
+ Here is a wife that sucks her husband’s bones--
+ At this samsara how can I not laugh?
+
+ -- from "Treasury of Precious Qualities, Book One: Sutra Teachings", by
+ Jigme Lingpa, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ When the actual process of dying begins, you pass through eight phases--
+the first four involve the collapse of the four elements, and the last four
+involve the collapse of consciousness into the innermost level of mind, called
+the mind of clear light.
+ In the final phase of dying, when all coarse consciousnesses dissolve into
+the all-empty, which is the fundamental innate mind of clear light, the myriad
+objects of the world, as well as concepts such as sameness and difference, are
+pacified in this subtlest mind. At that time, all appearances of environments
+and beings withdraw of their own accord. Even for a nonpractitioner, coarse
+appearances also withdraw; this withdrawal of conventional appearances,
+however, is not due to a perception of reality attained through meditation.
+When, in the last phase, the temporary winds that carry consciousness have all
+dissolved, the mind (whether of a practitioner or a nonpractitioner) becomes
+as if undifferentiated, and an immaculate openness dawns.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "The Heart of Meditation", translated and
+ edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ There’s a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have
+ever been born on the earth that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain
+and just try to get comfortable. You can see this even in insects and animals
+and birds.
+ A much more interesting, kind, adventurous, and joyful approach to life is
+to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring whether the object of our
+inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet.
+ When people start to meditate or to work with any kind of spiritual
+discipline, they often think that somehow they’re going to improve, which is
+a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. It’s a bit
+like saying, "If I jog, I’ll be a much better person." Or the scenario
+may be that they find fault with others; they might say, "If it weren’t
+for my husband, I’d have a perfect marriage." And "If it weren’t for
+my mind, my meditation would be excellent."
+ But loving-kindness--maitri--toward ourselves doesn’t mean getting rid
+of anything. Maitri means that we can still be crazy after all these years.
+We can still be angry after all these years. We can still be timid or jealous
+or full of feelings of unworthiness. Meditation practice isn’t about trying
+to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending
+who we are already.
+ Perhaps we will experience what is traditionally described as the fruition
+of maitri--playfulness...
+ -- Pema Chödrön, from "Awakening Loving-Kindness", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ In texts we inherited from India, the basic principle is sometimes called
+the "fundamental innate mind of clear light" and the "fundamental innate
+wisdom of clear light"— these two terms having the same meaning. In other
+texts, it is called the "space-diamond pervading space," whereas in even
+others it is called the "jewel mind," as, for example, when it is said,
+"Separate from the jewel mind, there is no buddha and no sentient being."
+ Then, in Tibet, in some texts, it is called "ordinary consciousness"
+and "innermost awareness." These terms are used in the context of speaking
+about freedom from thought, which is psychologically and experientially
+described as "self-release," "naked release," and "unimpeded
+penetration"; we will be discussing these in detail later. The innermost
+awareness is said to be the basis of the appearance of all of the round of
+suffering (called "cyclic existence") and also the basis of liberation
+(called "nirvana"). Everything, without exception, is complete in the
+continuum of innermost awareness. It is even said to be "naturally arisen,"
+since it has always been and always will be.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "The Heart of Meditation", translated and
+ edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+When phenomena are indeed seen to be devoid of true existence, great
+compassion will well up effortlessly, a compassion that will never abandon
+living beings who circle in samsara through their clinging to true existence.
+For as it has been taught, it is in the nature of things that such an attitude
+is born.
+ -- from "The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham’s Commentary on the Ninth
+ Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+When resting evenly in meditation with the points of body,
+If appearances cease and you are without thoughts,
+These are the doings of a lethargic shamatha.
+But when you rouse yourself with mindfulness,
+It’s like a candle, self-luminous and shining bright,
+Or like a flower that’s naturally vivid and clear.
+Like looking with your eyes at the glow of the sky,
+Awareness-emptiness is naked, open, and clear.
+
+That nonconceptuality that’s luminous and clear
+Is the arising of the shamatha experience.
+On the basis of that meditative experience,
+While supplicating the precious jewels,
+Gain certainty by studying and contemplating the dharma.
+Take the vipashyana that brings the understanding of no self
+And tie the sturdy rope of shamatha to that.
+Then that strong noble being with love and compassion
+Through the mighty strength of rousing bodhichitta to benefit others,
+Having been lifted up with a pure aspiration
+To the completely pure path of seeing,
+There, vipashyana directly realizes the purity that cannot be seen
+And then the faults of mind’s hopes and fears will be known.
+Without going anywhere, you’ll arrive at the Buddha’s ground.
+Without looking at anything, you’ll see dharmakaya.
+Without achieving anything, your aim will be spontaneously accomplished.
+ -- from "The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa", By Tsangnyon Heruka,
+ Translated by Christopher Stagg, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Trying to find the pain in life is the renunciation of hinayana. Trying to
+find the ambition in life, trying to reach higher goals, is the
+bodhisattva’s ambition in the mahayana. Trying to find the subtleties of
+life is the tantric discovery of mystical experience in the vajrayana.
+ -- Milarepa, from "Milarepa: Lessons from the Life and Songs of Tibet’s
+ Great Yogi", by Chögyam Trungpa, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The root of our current unsatisfactory condition in a cycle of death and
+rebirth is our innate tendency to view the personal self in a reified manner
+(LRCM: 574). We also have innate tendencies to view all other phenomena in a
+reified manner. To achieve wisdom, or to know emptiness, means to overcome
+this reifying view, to realize that the self or essential being as thus
+conceived does not exist at all. In order reach this realization, according
+to Tsong kha pa, one must use reason to refute the existence, and to prove the
+nonexistence, of this reified self or essence. Having intellectually arrived
+at the correct philosophical view—that the self lacks a shred of intrinsic
+nature—one proceeds along the path to spiritual liberation through intense,
+deep, and extensive meditative familiarization with this view. At the same
+time, however, the practitioner also cultivates compassionate engagement with
+other living beings, making a commitment to help all of them reach perfect
+happiness.
+ -- from "Ask a Farmer: Ultimate Analysis and Conventional Existence in
+ Tsong kha pa’s Lam rim chen mo", by Guy Newland from Changing Minds:
+ Contributions to the Study of Buddhism and Tibet in Honor of Jeffrey
+ Hopkins, edited by Guy Newland, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+inexplicably ted was awoken,
+incredibly loud noise of the broken,
+his cat invaded the stash,
+seeking out some tasty hash,
+sis boom *bong* goes crash--ted won't be tokin'.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+shania the stony gal really dug her twerkin',
+slingin' her booty all around was really workin',
+but the other dancers looked askance,
+and asked "can this chick actually dance?",
+shania wasn't so much dancin' as berzerkin'!
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+ All art is composed of subtle and gross elements. There is no way for
+artists to express without elements. When people use expressions such as hot-
+headed, cold-hearted, dry-humored, or all wet, it shows that they naturally
+connect subtle element temperaments with gross element expressions. But
+artists must go beyond outwardly expressing the elements in an obvious way in
+order to gain experience with the inner subtle elements, which are the source
+of the outer gross elements. Then they can make art which reflects what
+people need.
+ According to the Buddhist point of view, an artist’s intention is
+compassion. Buddhist artists create in order to make a link with other beings
+through their inner pure elements, and to transform their outer ordinary gross
+elements into enlightenment by means of that connection.
+ -- Thinley Norbu, from "Magic Dance: The Display of the Self-Nature of the
+ Five Wisdom Dakinis", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Never admit defeat. Just move the front.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+down came eddy from his heady,
+where he dwells often unsteady,
+you see he gets so high,
+mind expanded to sky;
+real world grokking just not ready.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+ Generally speaking, when we are too desirous of something in life, we’re
+less likely to attain it. Success seems to increase in direct proportion to
+the diminution of our desires. The same logic applies to our need for
+recognition. We might want to be appreciated and respected, but we have only
+a limited ability to influence how other people respond and we can’t make
+somebody show us gratitude any more than we can force someone to love us. If
+we show love without expecting it to be reciprocated, we will have more chance
+of finding love than if we simply yearn for it. Likewise, doing something
+without expecting gratitude is more likely to elicit appreciation for what we
+do. Whether someone can acknowledge our actions or not should be no concern
+of ours.
+ We simply commit ourselves to doing things to the best of our ability and
+in as thorough a manner as possible without sloppiness. We should never think
+that other people are indebted to us or obligated to help us in return. We
+should simply do things because we love doing them, not because we want other
+people to feel indebted to us. Shantideva says:
+
+ The work of bringing benefit to beings
+ Will not, then, make me proud and self-admiring.
+ The happiness of others is itself my satisfaction;
+ I do not expect another recompense.
+
+ -- Traleg Kyabgon, from "The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion
+ through Training the Mind", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava says:
+
+ If you want to go sightseeing, try touring your own clear,
+ mirrorlike mind instead.
+
+ What technique can we use to effectively start our journey to realizing
+our natural, pristine state?
+ The clearest instructions for doing this come from Guru Rinpoche
+Padmasambhava, the main architect of the Pristine Mind teachings. Guru
+Rinpoche has given us the essential opening instructions for practicing
+Pristine Mind meditation in four steps:
+
+ Don’t follow the past.
+ Don’t anticipate the future.
+ Remain in the present moment.
+ Leave your mind alone.
+
+ We must understand these instructions. They are designed to help us stay
+in the present moment. Some other forms of meditation teachings say that
+remaining in the present moment is the ultimate objective of meditation.
+However, the present moment itself is not ultimate reality, ultimate truth, or
+the ultimate goal of Pristine Mind meditation. Nor is it what I mean when I
+refer to our fundamental nature. Instead, being in the present moment, with
+our mind calm and relaxed, simply creates the right conditions to begin to
+connect with our Pristine Mind.
+ --Excerpted from "Our Pristine Mind: A Practical Guide to Unconditional
+ Happiness", by Orgyen Chowang, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Some people think that causes are not necessary. They think that things do
+not need causes and can exist without them. This is mistaken. Think about
+it. If you plant a seed in a flowerpot, a flower will grow. It will not grow
+from this table in front of me now. What is the reason for that? The causes
+for a flower are present in a flowerpot, and for that reason a flower can grow
+there. The causes for a flower are not present on the surface of this table,
+and for that reason a flower cannot grow there. If things arose in the
+absence of causes, a flower would have to be able to grow from the surface of
+this table even though the causes for a flower are not present there. Or, as
+we know, flowers bloom in the summer but not in the winter. What is the
+reason for that? In the summer, the causes and conditions for the growth of
+flowers are complete. In the winter, they are not. In dependence upon that,
+flowers grow in the summer but not in the winter. If causes were not
+necessary, flowers would grow in the winter also. They would grow at all
+times.
+ -- Khenchen Thrangu, "Essential Practice: Lectures on Kamalashīla’s
+ Stages of Meditation in the Middle Way School", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ Human beings have many kinds of suffering. Some human beings are put into
+prisons. Some are destitute. Some are enslaved by others. Thus, they are
+not actually hell-beings, but their sufferings are like those of hell-beings;
+they are not actually hungry ghosts, but their sufferings are like those of
+hungry ghosts; and they are not actually animals, but their sufferings are
+like those of animals. We think in that way about the sufferings that human
+beings experience. Some human beings are wealthy and comfortable. However,
+that wealth and comfort does not last for a very long time. Not being able to
+enjoy wealth and comfort for a long time, in the end suffering comes to them
+too. When we think about the suffering that they experience, compassion
+arises.
+ The demigods suffer from continual jealousy of and warfare with the gods
+of the Desire Realm. As for the gods, though comfortable temporarily, later
+they fall down into painful situations and, at the time of falling, they
+suffer greatly. Similarly, even the gods of the Form Realm and the Formless
+Realm cannot just stay there. They fall down to the states of hell-beings,
+hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and so forth. When they fall, mentally they
+suffer greatly. Therefore, sentient beings born in the states of the six
+wanderers have nothing but suffering. If we think about that, compassion can
+arise.
+ -- Khenchen Thrangu, "Essential Practice: Lectures on Kamalashīla’s
+ Stages of Meditation in the Middle Way School", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ When they related this to Buddha, he poured water into a little vessel and
+asked, "Will this water remain without evaporating?" Because India is very
+hot, the Hearers thought, "In a few days the water will evaporate. This
+must mean that our virtue will not remain at all." They were extremely
+worried. Then Buddha asked, "If this water is poured in the ocean, how long
+will it stay? It will remain until the ocean itself evaporates."
+ Therefore, if you do not just leave this virtue, but dedicate it, making a
+prayer petition that it become a cause of help and happiness for limitless
+sentient beings, then until that actually occurs, the virtue will not be lost.
+Like a small amount of water poured into the ocean, which will last until the
+ocean itself dries up, so the fruit of your virtue will remain until it has
+ripened. The benefit of hearing, thinking, and meditating, in terms of
+causing all persons to possess happiness and the causes of happiness, is
+inconceivable, but if it is not dedicated, then when anger arises, it will be
+destroyed. This benefit cannot be seen with the eye, but it is inconceivable.
+ -- Kensur Lekden, from "Meditations of a Tibetan Tantric Abbot: The Main
+ Practices of the Mahayana Buddhist Path", translated and edited by
+ Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Because you need to obtain the happy effects and the causes producing them,
+and because it is necessary for yourself and others to attain them, you must
+meditate. In this world there were nihilists who said that one should not
+meditate, doing only those activities that will bring about marvelous
+happiness, comfort, and prosperity in this lifetime. The nihilists said that
+one should gather possessions and clothing, and if one’s body is sick, one
+should take medicine, that these activities were justified, but that nothing
+else was needed. Such a philosophy appeared in the world and with respect to
+it there is this Buddhist teaching: You need a job for your livelihood, you
+need to work for the sake of your country, for the sake of yourself and
+others, to set up factories, to plant fields; still you should act mainly for
+the sake of your future life, because you will not always remain in this
+lifetime. All persons will definitely die, and the time of death is
+indefinite. At the time of death, nothing helps except religious practice.
+This is how it is. Therefore, even though you need happiness and comfort in
+this life and even though it is necessary to strive for the sake of food and
+drink now, this lifetime is short. Our longest condition of life is our
+countless future lives. If you consider only this which you can see now and
+you do not consider all the future lives which you cannot see, you will incur
+immeasurable fault. You will harm yourself.
+ -- Kensur Lekden, from "Meditations of a Tibetan Tantric Abbot: The Main
+ Practices of the Mahayana Buddhist Path", translated and edited by
+ Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The ground of primal wisdom
+Where the truth beyond all concepts is beheld
+Is reached more easily by humans than by gods.
+The essence also of the deep path of the Vajrayāna
+Is more easily attained by those who find a human form.
+The basis of the Dharma of both great and lesser vehicles
+Is said to be supremely noble--
+This human state endowed with freedoms and advantages.
+
+Just like a beggar who has chanced upon a treasure of great price,
+Reflect with joy upon your freedoms and advantages.
+In doubt and apprehension that you might be dreaming,
+Implement the sacred Dharma--
+Source of happiness and benefit in this and future lives!
+ -- Longchenpa, from "Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind", published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+This lifetime passes like the weeping clouds
+Where dance the lightning garlands of the Lord of Death,
+And from them, day and night, there falls
+An endless rain to bathe the shoots
+That grow in the three levels of existence.
+
+The world and its inhabitants will pass.
+The universe is formed and then destroyed
+By seven fires, a flood, and then the scattering wind.
+The all-encircling sea, the continents,
+And even mighty Sumeru compounded of four jewels,
+All girded by the rings of lesser peaks--all this will pass.
+The time will come when all will have dissolved
+Into a single space.
+Remember this and practice Dharma from your heart.
+ -- Longchenpa, from "Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind", published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ The most important thing is to have faith and trust in the Buddha’s
+words. The Buddha’s teachings were not taught to deceive us but to explain
+the way things actually are. Many people try to analyze the Buddha’s
+teachings, but how is it possible to scrutinize a buddha’s qualities? We
+don’t even know what will happen tomorrow, or when we will die, or anything
+about our future lives, so how could we possibly examine the teachings of the
+Omniscient One? Since we are totally obscured by our strong disturbing
+emotions, in order to progress on the path toward enlightenment, we have no
+choice but to have faith in the Buddha’s teachings and apply them in our own
+lives.
+ The ability to practice Dharma depends on certain conditions. For
+example, this is a rare time during which the teachings of the Great
+Perfection are said to flourish. We’re very fortunate that through
+Padmasambhava’s blessings, such teachings have appeared and we’re able to
+receive them. We must have accumulated incredible merit and made fervent
+prayers very sincerely over numerous lifetimes to be able to encounter such
+amazing teachings now. Still, most people are just too involved in worldly
+activities to have time to practice the Dharma, and very few people in this
+world totally dedicate themselves to the teachings. Most people work for the
+sake of success in this life, to gain wealth, fame, power, and so on, but none
+of these worldly aims can liberate us from the suffering of samsara; in fact,
+they only create further conditions for ensuring that we remain in samsara for
+countless lifetimes to come.
+ -- Penor Rinpoche, from "An Ocean of Blessings: Heart Teachings of Drubwang
+ Penor Rinpoche", translated by Ani Jinba Palmo, published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ "When the sun comes out and illumines the world, its image is reflected in
+all clean vessels of water, being in all places without coming or going. If
+one vessel breaks, then the reflection of the sun does not appear in it. Do
+you think it is the fault of the sun that its reflection does not appear
+there?"
+ "No--it is just because the vessel is broken; it’s no fault of the sun."
+ "The knowledge of realization of Thusness, buddha-knowledge, is also like
+this, appearing throughout the cosmos, without before or after: Buddha appears
+in the clean mind-vessels of all sentient beings. If the mind-vessel is
+always clean, the embodiment of Buddha is always seen; if the mind is
+polluted, the vessel breaks and the Buddha cannot be seen."
+ -- from "The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of The Avatamsaka
+ Sutra", translated by Thomas Cleary, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Why is endeavor necessary? If we consider material progress, we see that
+research started by one person can always be continued by another. But this
+is not possible with spiritual progress. The realization we talk about in the
+Buddhadharma is something that has to be accomplished by the individual. No
+one else can do it for us. Of course, it would be wonderful if in the future
+we could attain realization through some sort of new injection or by means of
+a new generation of computers, without having to go through any difficulties.
+If we could be absolutely certain that such a time would come, we could simply
+lie back and wait to get enlightened. But I doubt that this will ever happen.
+It is better to make an effort. We have to develop endeavor.
+
+ 1.
+ Thus with patience I will strive with diligence.
+ For in such diligence enlightenment is found.
+ If no wind blows, then nothing stirs,
+ And neither is there merit without diligence.
+
+ -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "The Bodhisattva Guide: A Commentary
+ on The Way of the Bodhisattva", The Bodhisattva Guide was originally
+ published as For the Benefit of All Beings, also published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ I am not angry with my bile and other humors—
+ Fertile source of suffering and pain!
+ So why should living beings give offence,
+ They likewise are impelled by circumstance?
+
+ Suffering may result from both animate and inanimate causes. We may curse
+inanimate things like the weather, but it is with animate beings that we most
+often get angry. If we analyze these animate causes that make us unhappy, we
+find that they are themselves influenced by other conditions. They are not
+making us angry simply because they want to. In this respect, because they
+are influenced by other conditions, they are in fact powerless. So there is
+no need to get angry with them.
+
+ -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "The Bodhisattva Guide: A
+ Commentary on The Way of the Bodhisattva", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+I am not contained between my hat and boots.
+ --Walt Whitman
+~
+These delightful mountain solitudes
+Are like the family estate to the supreme guide’s heirs,
+And, as the best of protectors himself has said,
+To rely on solitude is indeed the pinnacle of joys!
+
+Forests, hermitages, and isolated dwelling places—
+These are the outer solitude of the Victor’s heirs.
+Avoiding selfishness and fainthearted fears—
+This is the bodhisattvas’ internal isolation.
+
+Keeping, therefore, to outer forms of solitude,
+Tame the inner afflictions through tranquility and insight
+And aspire to the supreme conduct of Samantabhadra—
+Possessing such good fortune one is truly the Buddha’s heir.
+
+With sweetly cascading mountain streams,
+Rocky mountain shelters ascending to heaven,
+And gently falling dewdrops of whitest moonlight,
+This mountain retreat surpasses even the deva realm.
+
+The dance of the slender trees does not stir the passions,
+And sweet birdsong brings neither attachment nor aversion,
+Enveloped in nonconceptuality’s gentle, cooling shade—
+Such youthful companionship is surely better than a silent void!
+
+Undisturbed by noisy chatter, that thorn in meditation’s side,
+Alone in this excellent place of unattended solitude,
+The old monkey of the mind has nowhere left to roam
+And, settling down within, finds satisfaction.
+
+Under the bright, oppressive sunlight of busy, bustling crowds,
+Our faults and unhelpful thoughts eclipse the constellations,
+But when embraced by threefold solitude’s cooling nectar beams,
+Such faults can easily be overcome through proper antidotes.
+
+When it is undisturbed by rippling thoughts of sadness,
+The pool-like surface of the mind is still, unmoving,
+And faith and compassion’s reflections readily arise.
+In such constancy, what need is there for a companion?
+
+If the mirror of mind is wiped clean, time and again,
+And uncluttered with objects or circumstances,
+Study, reflection, and meditation present a clear impression.
+What is there to prevent the dawn of Dharma’s light?
+
+Hunger, thirst, cold, and the like—all forms of physical affliction—
+Together with sadness, fear, and all such mental suffering,
+Can, through the teachings, enhance the purifying path
+And, unburdened by avoidance or indulgence, adorn the mind!
+
+ -- Patrul Rinpoche, from "Beyond the Ordinary Mind: Dzogchen, Rimé, and the
+ Path of Perfect Wisdom", Translated by Adam Pearcey, published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Our endeavor is not religious, but rather a test of what we as a human
+ being can become, the greatest unfolding of our potential.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
+
+Because everything leans, you belong to something much, much greater than what
+you may often refer to as "the world" or "my life"; you belong to something
+greater than your community, political party, nation, or even this magnificent
+planet Earth. You are a noble citizen of the boundless field of contingent
+relationships, pratityasamutpada.
+ -- Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, from "The Logic of Faith", published by
+ Shambhala Publications