+~
+If we are attached to a thought, it becomes an obstacle to the development of
+our meditation or samadhi. The remedies for reducing attachments to thoughts
+are called "pacification" and "taming the mind," which involve what to
+do when we are unwilling to let go of thoughts. Normally we regard thoughts,
+and especially certain thoughts, as either particularly important or
+particularly pleasant and therefore worthwhile or entertaining. However, in
+meditation, thoughts are nothing other than impediments to what we are trying
+to do. So, when we are practicing meditation, we have to maintain the
+attitude, "This is my time to meditate and now I am not trying to think
+thoughts. If I let myself think, I am wasting this time I have to practice."
+ -- Khenchen Thrangu, from "The Mahamudra Lineage Prayer: A Guide to
+ Practice", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The arrogant mind never stops searching for identity, and this identity always
+defines itself through attributes: "the beautiful one," "the smart one,"
+"the creative one," "the successful one." Sometimes we take this further by
+creating a more elaborate persona: "the rebel," "the maverick," "the suffering
+artist," "the fearless leader." We can hold onto these labels on a "good" day.
+But when we feel insecure about our attributes, or our lack thereof, we start
+to wonder how to define ourselves; we wonder who it is we really are.
+Regardless of whether we’re having a good day or a low self-esteem day, the
+point is, we haven’t found a way to relax, to be natural, unself-conscious.
+We don’t know how to take our seat in ordinariness and feel comfortable in
+our own skin. We’re always searching for something to be.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul, from "Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on
+ Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+VOTE DEMOCRAT 2018
+It's time for the adults to take back the wheel
+WE KNOW OUR ABCS...
+Apple pie, Baseball, Compassion, & Science
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Elevate your experience and remain wide-open like the sky.
+Expand your mindfulness and remain pervasive like the earth.
+Steady your attention and remain unshakable like a mountain.
+Brighten your awareness and remain shining like a flame.
+Clear your thought-free wakefulness and remain lucid like a crystal.
+ -- Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, "Clarifying the Natural State", from "Jewels of
+ Enlightenment: Wisdom Teachings from the Great Tibetan Masters", compiled
+ and translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Meditation, by nature, is like tasting nectar.
+
+To meditate on the meaning of what you have heard and contemplated
+pacifies all the illnesses of negative emotions.
+
+You will cross the ocean of conditioned existence and arrive at the
+far shore--the heart essence.
+
+Please meditate in the forest from now on.
+
+ -- Longchenpa, from "The Life of Longchenpa: The Omniscient Dharma King of
+ the Vast Expanse", Compiled and edited by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Compassion has no hierarchy of worthy and unworthy suffering; it makes no
+distinctions between the deserving and the undeserving. Wherever there is
+suffering, there is a need for compassion. Finding compassion for those who
+cause pain is an ongoing practice requiring remarkable patience and
+perseverance. It is a difficult journey, but the path of bitterness and
+division is far more painful. The path of compassion begins with your
+willingness to soften and stay present in all the moments when you are prone
+to recoil and flinch. You learn to open your eyes and heart in all the places
+you have been blinded by fear or rage. You begin to dismantle the boundaries
+that have too long divided you from others.
+ -- "All the Rage--Buddhist Wisdom on Anger and Acceptance", Edited by Andrea
+ Miller and the Editors of the Shambhala Sun, published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Each and every being in this world, including animals and all other beings of
+the six realms, wants to be happy. Nobody wants to suffer. Even through we
+have no wisdom or clairvoyance, we can see that everyone in this world is
+afflicted with disturbing emotions and delusion based on their karma\97not only
+we humans, but all beings in the six realms. Even a tiny little ant is
+constantly afflicted by the five poisons, and it\92s impossible for such a being
+to generate bodhichitta, faith, devotion, or pure perception for an instant.
+It can\92t even conceive of a path to liberation or ultimate happiness. Due to
+karma accumulated throughout beginningless lifetimes, all sentient beings
+experience various kinds of sorrow and happiness. Yet this isn\92t just random,
+for all that we experience is the result of our past actions.
+##--#Penor Rinpoche, from "An Ocean of Blessings: Heart Teachings of Drubwang
+ Penor Rinpoche", translated by Ani Jinba Palmo, published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ Dreaming is a dynamic process. Unlike the static images of film that we
+use as a metaphor, the images of a dream are fluid: they move, beings talk,
+sounds vibrate, sensation is vivid. The content of dream is formed by the
+mind, but the basis of the vitality and animation of the dream is the prana.
+The literal translation of the Tibetan word for prana, lung, is "wind," but
+it is more descriptive to call it the vital wind force.
+ Prana is the foundational energy of all experience, of all life.
+ -- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and edited by Mark Dahlby, from "The Tibetan
+ Yogas of Dream and Sleep", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Do they know this kid likes his chemistry set a little too much?
+ -- The Sopranos