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.”
+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
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
+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
+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,”
+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
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.”
+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.
-- 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
+~
+It is through the teacher’s blessing that you see
+The self-arisen primal wisdom, inexpressible,
+Beyond both word and thought.
+And in the moment of its seeing,
+Timeless are the three times,
+No difference separates the future from the past.
+This is the Wisdom That Has Gone Beyond; the Middle Way;
+The Stilling (of all thought and sorrow); the Great Seal;
+The Great Perfection of the quintessential ultimate reality,
+That is, the fundamental natural state
+Where, from the very first,
+Phenomena are all exhausted.
+It is mind’s luminosity,
+The self-arisen primal wisdom.
+Many names it has received, yet all have but one meaning:
+Ultimate reality, beyond the range
+Of speech, of thought, of explanation:
+The enlightened mind,
+The space-like nature where saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are not two.
+ -- Longchenpa, from "Finding Rest in Meditation", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ Become accustomed to the fact that all we accept or reject, dualistically
+affirm or deny (such as enjoyment and disgust, happiness and frustration,
+beauty and ugliness, fear and security, sickness and health, enemies and
+friends, love and hatred, or whatever), has one taste, thus judgments are
+reversed.
+
+Listen great being: do not create duality from the unique state.
+Happiness and misery are one in pure and total presence.
+Buddhas and beings are one in the nature of mind.
+Appearances and beings, the environment and its inhabitants are one in
+ reality.
+Even the duality of truth and falsehood are the same in reality.
+Do not latch onto happiness; do not eliminate misery.
+Thereby everything is accomplished.
+Attachment to pleasure brings misery.
+Total clarity, being non-conceptual,
+Is self-refreshing pristine awareness.
+ -- Longchenpa, from "You Are the Eyes of the World", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+The realizations that arise through meditating thus
+Are all of the same taste.
+They are not manifold; they are not different.
+It is like those who come from three directions
+And meet together in a single place,
+And like the different flowing streams
+That join and are as one within a single sea.
+Bliss, luminosity, and no-thought—
+Whichever of these methods one may practice—
+When mental movement comes to complete rest
+And in the nature of the mind, the unborn space, dissolves,
+The enlightened mind, devoid of concepts
+(Whether of existence or of nonexistence),
+The sun of fundamental nature, bright and clear,
+Will rise up from within.
+In this realization, changeless and unmoving,
+There is nothing to be added, nothing to remove.
+ -- Longchenpa, from "Finding Rest in Meditation", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
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