Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion Publications.
~
Bodhichitta can be understood as a quality of intention, sometimes called a
-“great will.” This great will does not come from the ego; it is
+"great will." This great will does not come from the ego; it is
paradoxically an intention that arises through the surrender of the ego. As
the ego lets go of its assumption that it has a real understanding of what is
needed in the path of awakening, it surrenders to a deeper quality of will and
-wisdom. The shift from the ego’s center of will to the intention of our
+wisdom. The shift from the ego's center of will to the intention of our
buddha nature to awaken us for the welfare of others aligns us with a source
of will far beyond our limited sense of self. I have often described this
will as a river of intention, which once stepped into becomes an undercurrent
natural resources. It finances startups. It helps to sell our products
overseas. It provides security to our diplomats abroad.
So let's work together to make government work better, instead of treating
-it like an enemy or purposely making it work worse. That’s not what the
+it like an enemy or purposely making it work worse. That's not what the
founders of this nation envisioned when they gave us the gift of self-
-government. You don’t like a particular policy or a particular president,
+government. You don't like a particular policy or a particular president,
then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election. Push to
-change it. But don’t break it. Don’t break what our predecessors spent
+change it. But don't break it. Don't break what our predecessors spent
over two centuries building. That's not being faithful to what this country
is about.
-- Barack Obama, after the US government shutdown of 2013 had ended.
When the teachings say we need to reduce our fascination with the things of
this life, it does not mean that we should abandon them completely. It means
avoiding the natural tendency to go from elation to depression in reaction to
-life’s ups and downs, jumping for joy when you have some success, or wanting
+life's ups and downs, jumping for joy when you have some success, or wanting
to jump out the window if you do not get what you want. Being less concerned
about the affairs of this life means assuming its ups and downs with a broad
and stable mind.
an exercise") without acceptance of their results.
Critical thinking varies according to the motivation underlying it. When
grounded in selfish motives, it is often manifested in the skillful
-manipulation of ideas in service of one’s own, or one's groups’, vested
+manipulation of ideas in service of one's own, or one's groups', vested
interest. As such it is typically intellectually flawed, however
pragmatically successful it might be. When grounded in fairmindedness and
intellectual integrity, it is typically of a higher order intellectually,
Buddhist teachings compare the mind and the breath to a rider and its mount.
In this metaphor, the wind energy is the mount and the mind is the rider.
This metaphor illustrates how it is the wind energy that carries the mind and
-that influences and shapes the mind’s energy. The wind energy is the root
-of all of our experience, since it provides energy for the mind’s movement.
+that influences and shapes the mind's energy. The wind energy is the root
+of all of our experience, since it provides energy for the mind's movement.
So, wind energy training is a powerful tool for purifying, calming, taming,
and relaxing the wind energy to impact the expression of neurotic mind.
-- Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo, from "The Tibetan Yoga of
Breath: Breathing Practices for Healing the Body and Cultivating Wisdom",
published by Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion Publications.
+~
+Imagination relies on empty perception. Painting relies on empty planes.
+Sculpture relies on empty space. Music relies on empty time. Literature
+relies on empty concepts. If we are to realize the art of freedom, if we are
+to discover our creative potential, we need to rely on the experience of our
+intrinsic vibrant emptiness--the beginningless ground of what we are.
+ -- Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, from "Roaring Silence: Discovering
+ the Mind of Dzogchen", published by Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion
+ Publications.
+~
+Detachment doesn't mean "throw it away" or "don't have feelings
+about it." It definitely does not mean denying or obstructing the mind's
+natural tendency to project. Imagine you are about to go into a cotton
+factory. Before entering you pour glue all over your body, and then you
+demand, "I don't want any cotton balls to stick to my body, but I won't
+remove the glue from my body either." Then you enter the cotton factory.
+Of course the glue, by its nature, makes cotton balls stick to you. In
+meditative language, that kind of stickiness is called deliberation or
+fabrication, and here we call it the state of nondetachment. The state of
+nondetachment is when you get entangled and you make the story line similar to
+that of a daytime soap opera in which four characters go on for twenty years.
+It keeps on multiplying and you exaggerate the situation. You create a state
+in your mind that is full of grasping, clinging, and attachment.
+ -- Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche from "The Healing Power of Meditation: Leading
+ Experts on Buddhism, Psychology, and Medicine Explore the Health Benefits
+ of Contemplative Practice", edited by Andy Fraser, published by Shambhala
+ Publications and Snow Lion Publications.
+~
+ According to Sthiramati, though samsara has the nature of nirvana, in
+ordinary beings true reality is obscured by their tendencies of clinging to a
+self and really existing phenomena. Thus, they do not see emptiness, which
+actually exists, but they naturally perceive the actually nonexistent
+phenomena of apprehender and apprehended, just as when mistakenly not seeing
+an existent rope, but seeing it as a nonexistent snake.
+ Bodhisattvas lack the clinging to a self and phenomena and thus they
+naturally see true reality—emptiness—while not seeing any duality, just as
+correctly seeing an existent rope, while not seeing it as a nonexistent snake.
+When existent emptiness—true reality—is seen and the nonexistent
+characteristics of apprehender and apprehended are not seen anymore, the
+alaya-consciousness—the dependent nature—has undergone the fundamental
+change. This fundamental change is liberation and nirvana.
+ Just as people liberated from bondage can do what they please, once this
+fundamental change occurs, bodhisattvas are liberated because they have gained
+mastery over their minds, which abide like space without any appearance of
+characteristics. Thus, no matter what they encounter, they are able to act as
+they please without being bound by any attachment or aversion.
+ -- Karl Brunnhölzl, from "Mining for Wisdom within Delusion: Maitreya's
+ Distinction between Phenomena and the Nature of Phenomena and Its Indian
+ and Tibetan Commentaries", published by Shambhala Publications and Snow
+ Lion Publications
+~
+Our awareness of feelings in the body and mind ranges from simple frustration
+and malaise to anguish, despair, and white-hot physical pain, and from simple
+pleasures to extraordinary ecstasy. As we become clearly cognizant of the
+bandwidth of our own feelings, we direct our awareness externally. We become
+vividly aware that myriad sentient beings around us are not simply objects of
+our pleasure, displeasure, or indifference, but have feelings just like ours.
+By turning our awareness outward and closely applying mindfulness to other
+sentient beings, we can empathize with their feelings. When we empathize with
+another's suffering and we attend closely, compassion arises. The suffering
+of unpleasant feelings is the very source of the experience of compassion.
+ -- B. Alan Wallace, in "Minding Closely: The Four Applications of
+ Mindfulness", works published by Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion
+ Publications
+~
+It is our aim to have genuine loving-kindness toward all sentient beings
+because we see them suffering. In the Mahayana tradition, it says that
+through our innumerable lifetimes, at some time or other, every single
+sentient being has been in the relation to us of our mother, our friends, or
+someone who has helped us. We look at all sentient beings in this way. We
+feel a deep yearning to help them because they have helped us. When we
+contemplate in this way, we find that some kind of compassion begins to take
+place.
+ -- Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in "The Tibetan Buddhism Reader", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+If there is one constant tendency of our fickle and ever-changing minds, it is
+our strong predilection for ordinary distractions. Until we learn to master
+our thoughts and attain true stability of mind, our commitment is bound to be
+hesitant, and we run the risk of being distracted by activities with little
+true meaning, wasting our life and the precious opportunities for the Dharma
+it has brought us. To postpone the practice of Dharma until tomorrow is
+tantamount to postponing it till we die.
+ -- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Padampa Sangye, in "The Hundred Verses of
+ Advice: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on What Matters Most", published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+The dharma is based on honesty, on not having self-deception of any kind.
+When the dharma says blue, it is blue; when it says red, it is red. Dharma is
+like saying fire is hot, or the sky is blue: it is speaking the truth. The
+difference is that dharma is the truth of the reality of the journey toward
+freedom. Saying that red is red does not particularly liberate you from
+seeing green or yellow. But when dharma speaks about reality, we see that it
+is worth stepping out of our little world of habitual patterns, our little
+nest. In that way, the dharma brings greater vision.
+ -- Chögyam Trungpa, from "The Path of Individual Liberation, Volume One of
+ The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ So, what makes you a Buddhist? You may not have been born in a Buddhist
+country or to a Buddhist family, you may not wear robes or shave your head,
+you may eat meat and idolize Eminem and Paris Hilton. That doesn't mean you
+cannot be a Buddhist. In order to be a Buddhist, you must accept that all
+compounded phenomena are impermanent, all emotions are pain, all things have
+no inherent existence, and enlightenment is beyond concepts.
+ It's not necessary to be constantly and endlessly mindful of these four
+truths. But they must reside in your mind. You don't walk around
+persistently remembering your own name, but when someone asks your name, you
+remember it instantly. There is no doubt. Anyone who accepts these four
+seals, even independently of Buddha's teachings, even never having heard the
+name Shakyamuni Buddha, can be considered to be on the same path as he.
+ -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "What Makes You Not a Buddhist",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The self-centered thought is not who we are. The self-centered thought is
+different from the mind that wants to be happy because we’re sentient
+beings. Everybody wants to be happy. There’s no problem with wanting to be
+happy. The problem is the way the self-centered thought goes about thinking
+of our happiness and the way it goes about getting happiness. It is a
+distorted mental state that can be eliminated by seeing its disadvantages,
+applying the antidotes, and cultivating the mind that cherishes others.
+ - Thubten Chodron, from "Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Living with
+ Wisdom and Compassion", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+ According to the sutras, numerous eons ago, when the Buddha was an ordinary
+being, he took rebirth in a hell realm. He suffered gravely there as a result
+of his past negative karma.
+ He and a companion were forced to pull a wheel of fire on which a wrathful
+hell-guard was sitting, holding a burning club with which to beat them. His
+companion was so weak that he couldn’t pull the wheel anymore. The hell-
+guard stabbed his companion with a burning trident. His companion kept crying
+loudly and bleeding profusely. At that moment, with strong love and
+compassion, the Buddha developed enlightened aspiration, a vow to take
+responsibility for helping his companion and all the suffering beings from the
+depth of his heart, and he became a bodhisattva for the first time.
+ The bodhisattva begged the hell-guard, "Please have a little mercy on my
+suffering companion." At that, in a rage the hellguard hit him with a
+burning trident. Because of the power of his strong compassion, the
+bodhisattva died and was liberated from the hell-realm. His evil deeds of
+many eons were purified instantly by the power of such enlightened aspiration.
+Thereafter, he started his journey toward the fully enlightened state of
+buddhahood.
+ -- Tulku Thondup, from "Incarnation: The History and Mysticism of the Tulku
+ Tradition of Tibet"
+
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