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-~
- Why E-Mail Is Like a Penis?
- * In the long-distant past, its only purpose was to transmit information
- considered vital to the survival of the species. Some people still
- think that's the only thing it should be used for, but most folks today
- use it for fun most of the time.
- * It has no conscience and no memory. Left to its own devices, it will
- just do the same damn dumb things it did before.
- * It provides a way to interact with other people. Some people take this
- interaction very seriously, others treat it as a lark. Sometimes it's
- hard to tell what kind of person you're dealing with until it's too
- late.
- * If you don't apply the appropriate protective measures, it can spread
- viruses.
- * It has no brain of its own. Instead, it uses yours. If you use it too
- much, you'll find it becomes more and more difficult to think
- coherently.
- * We attach an importance to it that is far greater than its actual size
- and influence warrant.
- * If you're not careful what you do with it, it can get you in big
- trouble.
- * It has its own agenda. Somehow, no matter how good your intentions, it
- will warp your behavior. Later you may ask yourself "why on earth did
- I do that?"
- * Some folks have it, some don't.
- Those who have it would be devastated if it were ever cut off. They
- think that those who don't have it are somehow inferior. They think it
- gives them power. They are wrong.
- Those who don't have it may agree that it's a nifty toy, but think it's
- not worth the fuss that those who do have it make about it. Still, many
- of those who don't have it would like to try it.
- * Once you've started playing with it, it's hard to stop. Some people
- would just play with it all day if they didn't have work to do.
- Thank you, please come again.
~
_
_|_|_
objectifying. And so it really does help you, in allowing you to be free from
being caught up in the play of emotions like hatred, attachment, and the like.
(p.162)
-
-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great
Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron, foreword by
Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion Pub.
+~
+ The quality of one's rebirth in the next life is determined by the quality
+of one's mental activity in this life. Generally speaking, we have no power
+to choose how we are born; it is dependent on karmic forces. However, the
+period near the time of death is very influential in terms of activating one
+from among the many karmas that a person has already accumulated, and,
+therefore, if one makes particular effort at generating a virtuous attitude at
+that time, there is an opportunity to strengthen and activate a virtuous
+karma. Moreover, when one has developed high realization and has gained
+control over how one will be reborn, it is possible to take what is called
+"reincarnation" rather than mere rebirth.(p.42)
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard:
+ Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey
+ Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
+~
+ Without an acute awareness of our personal suffering and a deep, heartfelt
+determination to be completely rid of both this suffering and its causes,
+there is no way to begin the spiritual quest authentically. For just as
+Prince Siddhartha's sudden and unexpected visions of old age, sickness and
+death shocked him out of mistaking the world to be a pleasure palace, so too
+must all spiritual seekers confront the unsatisfactory nature of their lives
+so directly that they become thoroughly disenchanted with the ordinary human
+condition.
+ If we do not take a long, hard look at the uncomfortable truths of our
+impermanent existence, we can easily waste the time between now and our
+inevitable death in essentially worthless pursuits, never taking advantage of
+this precious opportunity to do something truly meaningful with our life.
+Like the foolish prisoner who becomes so accustomed to the confines of his
+cell that he turns a blind eye to all chances of escape, we shall be
+condemning ourselves to spiritual stagnation and the endlessly recurring
+miseries of cyclic existence.
+ Yet it is not enough merely to become discontent with our present condition;
+everyone experiences discontent at one time or another but very few do
+anything of real significance about it. In fact, the usual ways of dealing
+with problems and disappointment--blaming them on someone else or drowning
+them in forgetfulness--only bind us tighter to the wheel of suffering. What
+we must do is recognize that the true causes of all our misery lie rooted in
+our own ignorant misconceptions and that these can only be eradicated through
+the development of a clear, penetrating insight into the nature of reality.
+Only through the continued cultivation of such penetrating wisdom will it
+eventually be possible to attain liberation from all states of existence
+conditioned by ignorance and be free of suffering.(p.45)
+ -- "Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practice", by Jonathan Landaw
+ and Andy Weber, published by Snow Lion Publications
+~
+ We must distinguish between pride and self-confidence. Self-confidence is
+necessary. It is what enables us, in certain situations, not to lose courage
+and to think with some justification, 'I am capable of succeeding.' Self-
+confidence is quite different from excessive self-assurance based on a false
+appreciation of our capacities or circumstances.
+ If you feel able to accomplish a task that other people cannot manage, then
+you cannot be called proud as long as your assessment is well founded. It is
+as if someone tall came across a group of short people who wanted to get
+something too high for them to reach, and said to them, 'Don't exert
+yourselves, I can do it.' This would simply mean that he was more qualified
+than the others to carry out a particular task, but not that he is superior to
+them or that he wants to crush them.(p.259)
+ -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the
+ Heart", edited by Matthieu Ricard, translated by Christian Bruyat,
+ published by Snow Lion Publications
+~
+ What is progress? How do we recognize it? The teachings are like a mirror
+before which we should hold our activities of body, speech, and mind. Think
+back to a year ago and compare the stream of activities of your body, speech,
+and mind at that time with their present condition. If we practice well, then
+the traces of some improvement should be reflected in the mirror of Dharma.
+ The problem with having expectations is that we usually do not expect the
+right things. Not knowing what spiritual progress is, we search for signs of
+it in the wrong areas of our being. What can we hope for but frustration? It
+would be far better to examine any practice with full reasoning before
+adopting it, and then to practice it steadily and consistently while observing
+the inner changes one undergoes, rather than expecting this or that fantasy to
+become real.
+ The mind is an evolving organism, not a machine that goes on and off with
+the flip of a switch. The forces that bind and limit the mind, hurling it
+into unsatisfactory states of being, are impermanent and transient agents.
+When we persistently apply the practices to them, they have no option but to
+fade away and disappear.
+ Ignorance and the "I"-grasping syndrome have been with us since
+beginningless time, and the instincts of attachments, aversion, anger,
+jealousy and so forth are very deeply rooted in our mindstreams. Eliminating
+them is not as simple as turning on a light to chase away the darkness of a
+room. When we practice steadily, the forces of darkness are undermined, and
+the spiritual qualities that counteract them and illuminate the mind are
+strengthened and made firm. Therefore, we should strive by means of both
+contemplative and settled meditation to gain stability in the various Lam Rim
+topics.(p.176)
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Path to Enlightenment", edited and translated
+ by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications
+~
+ We are beings of the Desire Realm, and thus our minds are also included
+within Desire Realm minds. If we cultivate great compassion, our own minds
+are the basis for great compassion. By contemplating countless sentient
+beings and meditating to develop great compassion, one eventually achieves
+great compassion. At that point, the mental basis--one's own mind--has become
+of the entity of great compassion. There is no distinguishing the two at that
+time. Meditating on great compassion does not mean taking compassion as an
+object and looking at it; it means taking sentient beings as one's object and
+developing compassion for them such that the mind comes to be of the nature of
+great compassion.
+ The texts frequently speak of different mental bases: the basis for calm
+abiding, the basis for meditative absorption, the basis for achieving a path.
+The way of understanding all of these is the same. You may wonder whether,
+when one cultivates a certain path, the mind becomes of the entity of that
+path. It is important to understand this question because that is, in fact,
+what occurs when one cultivates calm abiding. The mental basis becomes of the
+nature of calm abiding.
+ -- Geshe Gedun Lodro, "Calm Abiding and Special Insight: Achieving Spiritual
+ Transformation Through Meditation", translated and edited by Jeffrey
+ Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
+~
+ Nature's law dictates that, in order to survive, bees must work together.
+As a result, they instinctively possess a sense of social responsibility.
+They have no constitution, no law, no police, no religion or moral training,
+but because of their nature, they labor faithfully together. Occasionally,
+they may fight, but in general, based on cooperation, the whole colony
+survives.
+ We human beings have a constitution, laws and a police force. We have
+religion, remarkable intelligence and a heart with a great capacity for love.
+We have many extraordinary qualities, but in actual practice, I think we are
+lagging behind those small insects. In some respects I feel we are poorer
+than the bees.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "The Pocket Dalai Lama", compiled and edited by
+ Mary Craig
+~
+ Nagarjuna offers us encouragement in terms of someone of modest potential
+accomplishing the practice, in verse 116:
+
+ And even those who realized the truth
+ Did not fall from the heavens, nor emerge
+ Like crops of corn from earth's dark depths, but once
+ Were ruled by kleshas and were ordinary men.
+
+ Not one of all the sublime beings who have appeared--individuals who had
+direct realization of the Dharma of the four truths--was already a sublime
+being right from the beginning: they did not fall from the sky, nor did they
+emerge from the darkness of the earth like a crop. In the past they were
+subject to afflictive emotions ['kleshas']--they were ordinary people
+dominated by the afflictive emotions. They are therefore worth following as
+an example for accomplishing the path.(p.150)
+ -- Nagarjuna, "Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: with Commentary by Kangyur
+ Rinpoche", with commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kyabje Kangyur
+ Rinpoche, translated by The Padmakara Translation Group, published by
+ Snow Lion Publications
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