As soon as we can catch it and be aware of what's going on in our mind,
and come back to that silent space inside, the more peaceful we'll be. Our
lives will be more productive in terms of having the Dharma grow in our
-hearts, and we’ll be more focused in whatever daily activities we're doing.
+hearts, and we'll be more focused in whatever daily activities we're doing.
We won't be quite so distracted.
-- Thubten Chodron, author of numerous books, including Buddhism for
Beginners; Taming the Mind; Open Heart, Clear Mind; and Working
...one of the things you can learn from history is that men have learned
to live with machinery at least as well as, and probably a good deal better
than, they have learned to live with one another.
- -- E. E. Morison, from “Computers and the World of the Future”
+ -- E. E. Morison, from "Computers and the World of the Future"
~
Everything is perfect in the universe--even your desire to improve it.
-- Dr. Wayne Dyer
with all their subpoints. There are five paths and ten bhumis, and each path
is divided into a number of stages, with certain numbers of obscurations
having to be relinquished on each one of those subpaths. Most people just
-think, "Who wants or needs to know all that? Don’t we have too many
+think, "Who wants or needs to know all that? Don't we have too many
thoughts already? I thought this was about letting go of all reference
points."
Of course nobody really wants to know all those details and in a sense we
Is spiritual practice really worthwhile? Is it really possible to eliminate
from within ourselves the forces that give rise to suffering? As is said,
-“The ultimate nature of mind is clear light.” Consciousness has many
+"The ultimate nature of mind is clear light." Consciousness has many
levels, and although the coarser levels are affected by the defiling forces,
the most subtle level remains free of gross negativities. In the Vajrayana
this subtle level of consciousness is called the mind of clear light.
overcome the entire host of mental distortions.
-- H.H. the Dalai Lama
~
-It is the general Buddhist procedure that one’s own pleasure and pain are
+It is the general Buddhist procedure that one's own pleasure and pain are
acheived by oneself and not from the outside, and that, therefore, sentient
beings themselves must understand and implement practices to bring about their
own happiness. Thus, the most efficacious way to help others is through
~
In meditation, imagine that in front of you are three persons—an enemy, a
friend, and a neutral person. At that time, in our minds we have (1) a sense
-of closeness for one of them, thinking, “This is my friend”; (2) a sense
+of closeness for one of them, thinking, "This is my friend"; (2) a sense
of dislike even when imagining the enemy; and (3) a sense of ignoring the
neutral person. Now, we have to think about the reasons why we generate these
feelings—the reasons being that temporarily one of them helped us whereas
internal peace—anxiety, doubt, disappointment—these are definitely less.
-- H.H. the Dalai Lama
~
-If we view the world’s religions from the widest possible viewpoint and
+If we view the world's religions from the widest possible viewpoint and
examine their ultimate goal, we find that all of the major world religions,
whether Christianity or Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, are dedicated to the
achievement of permanent human happiness. They are all directed toward that
existence.
-- H.H. the Dalai Lama
~
-If we view the world’s religions from the widest possible viewpoint and
+If we view the world's religions from the widest possible viewpoint and
examine their ultimate goal, we find that all of the major world religions,
whether Christianity or Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, are dedicated to the
achievement of permanent human happiness. They are all directed toward that
-- Ringu Tulku, from "Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha",
edited and translated by Rosemarie Fuchs.
~
- One should not view one’s dharma practice as being something decorative,
+ One should not view one's dharma practice as being something decorative,
regarding statues and images as material possessions or as furnishings for
-one’s house, or thinking that because there is an empty space on a wall one
+one's house, or thinking that because there is an empty space on a wall one
might as well put up a thangka for decoration. That kind of attitude should
not be cultivated. When you arrange the statues or thangkas, you should do so
out of a deep respect from the mind, moved by your faith and conviction. If
you can arrange these physical representations—statues and so forth—out of
-deep respect and faith, that’s all right. On the other hand, the attitude
+deep respect and faith, that's all right. On the other hand, the attitude
that they are merely material possessions is dangerous and destructive. I
think that some people who have a cupboard or the like in which they keep all
their precious possessions may arrange an altar on it just for the sake of
teachings. But if we are unable to practise them, simply listening to the
teachings will not in itself liberate us from samsara, and will be of no help
to us when we are confronted by the hardships of birth, disease, old age and
-death. If we do not follow the doctor’s prescription when we are sick, then
+death. If we do not follow the doctor's prescription when we are sick, then
even if the doctor sits constantly by our side, the pain will not go away.
-- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, from "Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the
Seven-Point Mind Training", translated by Padmakara Translation Group.
-- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, from "Vivid Awareness" in "The Best Buddhist
Writing 2012", edited by Melvin McLeod and the editors of the Shambhala
Sun, page 200.
+~
+ If your engagement with others is tainted by strong attachment, craving,
+aversion, anger, and so forth, then that form of grasping is undesirable. But
+on the other hand, when you are interacting with other living beings and
+become aware of their needs or suffering or pain, then you need to fully
+engage with that and be compassionate. So there can be positive attachment in
+this sense of active engagement.
+ Buddhist masters have long used the term attachment to describe the quality
+of compassion for others. For example, a verse from Haribhadra's Clear
+Meaning Commentary refers to compassion that is attached to other living
+beings. And as we have seen, Nagarjuna teaches that attachment for other
+living beings will arise spontaneously in the person who realizes emptiness.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
+~
+Kongtrul Rinpoche suggested we pray to the guru, buddhas, and bodhisattvas and
+ask them to grant their blessings, "So I may give birth to the heart of
+sadness." But what is a "heart of sadness"? Imagine one night you have
+a dream. Although it is a good dream, deep down you know that eventually you
+will have to wake up and it will be over. In life, too, sooner or later,
+whatever the state of our relationships, or our health, our jobs and every
+aspect of our lives, everything, absolutely everything, will change. And the
+little bell ringing in the back of your head to remind you of this
+inevitability is what is called the "heart of sadness." Life, you realise,
+is a race against time, and you should never put off dharma practice until
+next year, next month, or tomorrow, because the future may never happen.
+ -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-
+ Called Preliminary Practices"
+~
+ What we want to eliminate is grasping that is grounded upon falsification of
+the object, distortions that arise as afflictions grasp at the apparent
+substantial existence of an object. Some texts say that mental states such as
+compassion and faith are, by their very nature, virtuous and thus cannot at
+the same time be afflicted mental states. Yet there are other texts that
+refer to "afflicted compassion" or "afflicted faith." For those of us
+who have not realized emptiness, when we generate strong devotion toward the
+Buddha perhaps there is within that faith, within that devotion, an element of
+grasping at the Buddha as substantially real. This makes it an instance of
+so-called "afflicted devotion."
+ Still, it is important to distinguish grasping rooted in falsification and
+distortion from the attachment, focus, or holding that we associate with
+compassion. In our immediate experience, these two forms of grasping may seem
+the same, but in terms of the overall mental environment they are quite
+different. Compassion is fact-based, while distorted grasping is not.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
+~
+ By and large, human beings tend to prefer to fit in to society by following
+accepted rules of etiquette and being gentle, polite, and respectful. The
+irony is that this is also how most people imagine a spiritual person should
+behave. When a so-called dharma practitioner is seen to behave badly, we
+shake our heads over her audacity at presenting herself as a follower of the
+Buddha. Yet such judgments are better avoided, because to "fit in" is not
+what a genuine dharma practitioner strives for.
+ Think of Tilopa, for example. He looked so outlandish that if he turned up
+on your doorstep today, odds are you would refuse to let him in. And you
+would have a point. He would most likely be almost completely naked; if you
+were lucky, he might be sporting some kind of G-string; his hair would never
+have been introduced to shampoo; and protruding from his mouth would quiver
+the tail of a live fish. What would your moral judgment be of such a being?
+"Him! A Buddhist?" This is how our theistic, moralistic, and judgmental
+minds work. Of course, there is nothing wrong with morality, but the point of
+spiritual practice, according to the vajrayana teachings, is to go beyond all
+our concepts, including those of morality.
+ -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-
+ Called Preliminary Practices".
+~
+Because it is a reality that we are by nature social animals, bound to depend
+on each other, we need to cultivate affection and concern for other people if
+we really desire peace and happiness. Look at wild animals and birds. Even
+they travel together, flock together, and help each other. Bees do not have a
+particular legal system, they do not follow any spiritual practice, but for
+their livelihood and survival they depend on each other--that is their
+natural way of existence. Even though we intelligent human beings must also
+depend on each other, we sometimes misuse our intelligence and try to exploit
+each other. That goes against human nature. For those of us who profess to
+believe in a particular religious practice, it is extremely important that we
+try to help each other and cultivate a feeling of affection for each other.
+That is the source of happiness in our life.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
+~
+ It's important to differentiate a thought from an emotion. We say things
+such as, "I feel like they don't accept me." Actually, that is a thought.
+We may feel hurt or frustrated, and it's because we're thinking that others
+don't accept us. How do we know they don't accept us? We don't. We
+haven't asked them. Instead, on the basis of how they looked at us or a
+comment they made, our mind constructs a story that we believe.
+ As soon as you hear yourself saying, "I feel like...," stop and recognize
+that you can't "feel like" something. You are thinking. After you have
+identified the thought, ask yourself, "Is that true? How do I know it's true?
+What evidence do I have to prove the validity of that thought?" It's really
+startling to see how often we assume our interpretation of a situation is true
+when in fact it is based on flimsy evidence.
+ -- Thubten Chodron, from "Don't Believe Everything You Think: Living with
+ Wisdom and Compassion"
+~
+We are all human beings, and from this point of view, we are the same. We all
+want happiness and we do not want suffering. If we consider this point, we
+will find that there are no differences between people of different faiths,
+races, colors, or cultures. We all have this common wish for happiness.
+ -- H.H. the Dalai Lama
+~
+Enlightenment is not anything new or something we create or bring into
+existence. It is simply discovering within us what is already there. It is
+the full realization of our intrinsic nature. In Tibetan, buddha is sang
+gyay. Sang means that all of the faults have been cleared away, while gyay
+means “full realization”; just as from darkness, the moon waxes, likewise
+from ignorance, the qualities of the mind’s intrinsic nature emerge.
+ -- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
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