~
crashola in second life:
due to having been in a vehicle which crossed into forbidden land and got
-taken away, my avatar was left in an indetermine and very unhealthy state.
+taken away, my avatar was left in an indeterminate and very unhealthy state.
i was unable to move, deep underground, and i saw this object off down to
my left, so i clicked on it and picked 'edit'. i realized as i was doing
it, that this was my disembodied hair, which had flown off for some reason.
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary
Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
-- Benjamin Franklin
+~
+ We need a clear mind-training map to keep us from missing the correct path.
+If we want to go to New York we need to know the roads and directions. Just
+jumping in the car and starting to drive may get us there, but most likely we
+will end up in another place or take much longer than is necessary.
+ I have seen this happen with students who tell me of doing years of
+meditation without seeing any changes. They may blame themselves, meditation,
+or the Dharma, yet most often the problem is not knowing or applying the
+correct techniques or methods. Meditation is both easy and not easy. With
+the correct techniques and methods, applied with diligence, meditation can
+become a swift path to clearing confusion and unhelpful habits. Without them,
+we may wander in fogginess or agitation, never having engaged in true
+meditation even after years of “sitting.”
+ At Namdroling Monastery we practiced both resting and analytical meditation.
+The renowned teacher Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche believed that both types of
+meditation were important, but he thought it was best to begin with analytical
+meditation, because gaining familiarity with the true nature of reality would
+naturally lead to a clearer understanding of resting meditation and how to
+engage our mind constructively.
+ -- Khenpo Gawang, "Your Mind Is Your Teacher: Self-Awakening through
+ Contemplative Meditation", Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Never think, “Even though I have confidence in the Three Jewels, it is not
+really certain that this work will be accomplished.” Instead, one should
+know that the Enlightened One is surely able to protect those who surrender
+and act in accord with his words, because the Enlightened One is endowed with
+the transcendental wisdom which knows all the paths of practice that are in
+harmony with the intelligence and nature of all living beings, because he has
+the compassionate desire to establish his disciples on the right path after
+turning them from wrong ways, and because he has accomplished the two
+accumulations of merit and transcendental wisdom and has accomplished the
+resolve to help beings. So even though one has not yet attained liberation
+from worldly existence, it is one’s fault for not having trusted and not
+having acted in accord with the words of the Three Jewels, not because the
+Three Jewels have no compassion.
+ In brief, those who do not entrust themselves to the Precious Jewels, who
+are arrogant and who assume they are intelligent have no certainty in
+accomplishing their schemes. Even if they are accomplished, it is not certain
+whether those schemes will turn out well in the long run. So it is important
+to entrust oneself always to the Precious Jewels.
+ -- Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub, "Three Visions: Fundamental Teachings of the
+ Sakya Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism"
+~
+Setting out on a spiritual path is a little like planning a trip—to Machu
+Picchu, for example. Some travellers will approach the project by investing a
+lot of time in reading travel books or Googling Internet sites about the best
+route to take and where to stay--a method that works, but only to a certain
+extent. Other travellers prefer a much simpler and safer method: to ask
+someone they know and trust who has already been to Machu Picchu to go with
+them and show them the way. Similarly, those wishing to follow the Buddhist
+path to enlightenment should rely on what are called in the teachings the
+“four authentics”: the authentic words of the Buddha (his teachings); the
+authentic clarification of the teachings that can be found in the shastras
+(commentaries) written by great masters of the past; the further clarification
+that is the result of authentic personal experience; and for this experience
+to find expression, an authentic guru.
+ -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called
+ Preliminary Practices", Shambhala Publications
+~
+With regard to selflessness, it is necessary to know what "self" is--to
+identify the self that does not exist. Then one can understand its opposite,
+selflessness. Selflessness is not a case of something that existed in the
+past becoming non-existent; rather, this sort of "self" is something that
+never did exist. What is needed is to identify as non-existent something that
+always was nonexistent, for due to not having made such identification, we are
+drawn into the afflictive emotions of desire and hatred as well as all the
+problems these bring.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight", Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ The essence of mind is somewhat difficult to explain, so we look at it from
+the negative point of view, that is, what mind is not. First of all, we see
+that it is not something which arises or ceases or abides. It is free of
+these three things. From beginningless time, there is no arising, no
+cessation and no abiding in terms of staying in one place, not moving, or not
+changing. It is completely free of all three of these.
+ It is also free of being a thing or a substance composed of particles. The
+essential entity, or substance, of mind is not something that can be defiled
+or stained by grasping at subject and object. It is completely free of the
+stains from those activities.
+ Further, when we look at the essential substance of mind, we find that no
+matter how much we search for it, no matter how much we analyze it, there is
+no thing there to be found. There is no entity that we can come up with by
+searching, evaluating, and analyzing. No matter how much we seek for its
+essential substance, we cannot find it. The searcher, the one who does the
+search for essential substance of mind, cannot find it. Therefore it is said
+that the essential substance of mind itself is emptiness.
+ -- Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche, "The Practice of Mahamudra", published
+ by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ "Like a cloud." This is a simile for how the wisdom mind benefits sentient
+beings without conceptual thought. For example, in the summer, clouds gather
+in the sky without effort, causing crops and so forth to grow perfectly
+through the rain falling on the ground without conceptual thought.
+ Likewise, the activities of the wisdom mind ripen the trainees' crop of
+virtue through the rainfall of Dharma without conceptual thought.
+ -- Gampopa, from "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: The Wish-fulfilling Gem
+ of the Noble Teachings"
projects / feisty_meow.git / blobdiff