If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would
change.
-- Shakyamuni Buddha
+~
+brain fully charged
+(at lockn 2016...)
+
+It really seemed like every band built on the one just prior to it, so that as
+each day moved on, the acts just generated more and more energy and awesome
+music, storing it up in a celestial battery. the peak of it all for me was
+the phish show on the last night, which was so high energy and saturated with
+fun and healthy vibes that I felt like "i never need to feel fear again".
+that feeling lasted for days after the festival was over. hopefully memory of
+that thought never fades.
+~
+ Don’t become easily discouraged. If you never try to go beyond that
+stage of initial discouragement because there are thoughts arising in your
+meditation, you are never going to have the true experiences of meditation.
+You need to go beyond that initial stage. You need to keep trying. If you
+keep making that effort to go beyond that initial discouragement, you will
+arrive at the experience of not getting caught up in your thoughts and mental
+events.
+ Sometimes you may even observe an increase in the frequency of thoughts.
+When that happens, don’t get discouraged. My enlightened master Jigme
+Phuntsok Rinpoche says:
+ "One sign that your meditation is beginning to be effective is that both
+subtle thoughts and obvious thoughts become more noticeable than before. This
+is not a bad sign; it’s a good sign. When water rushes in a strong river
+current, you don’t see the fish or rocks beneath the rapids. But when the
+current slows and the water becomes clear, then you can see the fish, the
+rocks, and everything below the surface distinctly. Similarly, if you never
+pay attention to your mind, and your thoughts and emotions are uncontrolled,
+you don’t even know how many thoughts go by. But when your mind becomes
+more stable and calm, you begin to see your thoughts more clearly. Don’t be
+discouraged. Take heart at this sign. Don’t hold yourself too loosely or
+too tightly. Maintain your meditation in the right way without concern and
+gradually your meditation experience will increase and stabilize."
+ Remember: Do not follow the past. Do not anticipate the future. Remain
+in the present moment. Leave your mind alone. Those four simple,
+straightforward instructions give us a chance to go beyond our mental events
+and, eventually, to experience the natural state of mind.
+ -- Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche, in "Our Pristine Mind", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+ Knowing full well that his aim is to achieve enlightenment, Sujata adopts
+a parallel program to help sustain him. Symbolically feeding Gautama with
+each offering to the priests, she utters the dedication prayer,
+ May the Bodhisattva take my food and thereby truly attain perfect and
+completely unexcelled awakening!
+ After six years of this, the gods notify her that Gautama has ceased his
+austerities and urge her to take further action. Due to her abundant good
+karma in past lives, she is preordained to serve him. Sujata sets to work
+preparing the rice milk offering in the fashion of the one thousand cows
+milked to feed the five hundred and so forth. In observing miracles around
+the cooking pot, she prays that they foretell the Bodhisattva’s imminent
+supreme awakening. She brings the rice porridge in a golden bowl to Gautama
+where he is sitting along the river and offers it to him after reverentially
+making prostrations. According to this story, the Bodhisattva regains his
+former strength and splendor upon consuming Sujata’s excellent food. In
+this version, it is his first meal after the six years of austerities and has
+instantly restored him to wholeness. After bathing and meditating at the
+river, Gautama proceeds to the tree of enlightenment. All these events have
+taken place within the span of one day.
+ -- Wendy Garling, in "Stars at Dawn", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+True compassion is spacious and wise as well as resourceful. This type of
+compassion could be called intelligent love or intelligent affection. We know
+how to express our affection so that it does not destroy a person but instead
+helps him or her to develop. It is more like a dance than a hug. And the
+music behind it is that of intellect.
+ -- " 'Intellect and Intuition,' in The Heart of the Buddha: Entering the
+ Tibetan Buddhist Path", by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, published by
+ Shambhala Publications
+~
+ Gampopa recognized in Dusum Khyenpa an exceptional being and declared that
+he would amply spread Buddhism throughout Tibet. He added that he would be
+liberated in this life from samsara, cyclic existence. Over many years the
+Karmapa received from this great bodhisattva the teachings that Gampopa
+himself had been given by his masters. First, Gampopa transmitted to him the
+teachings of the Kadampa tradition, including the classical scholastic studies
+known as the “gradual path,” which emphasize the development of
+renunciation and altruism. They henceforth became an educational constant for
+the Kagyu lineage and the basis of the study of the Vajrayana. Dusum Khyenpa
+then received from his master the teachings and transmissions related to the
+tantras. One day, when Gampopa bestowed upon his disciple the Hevajra
+initiation, the Karmapa perceived his master in the form of the deity himself.
+ Gampopa then urged Dusum Khyenpa to go on retreat into the neighboring
+caves in order to actualize what had been transmitted. After only nine days
+of meditation, he spontaneously experienced a strong feeling of warmth and
+bliss. He removed his monk robes and dressed himself in the simple attire of
+white cotton—repa—worn by yogis. He meditated for nine months,
+concentrating in particular on the practice of calm abiding (samatha), which
+allows practitioners to pacify and stabilize their mind. Having excelled in
+this, he continued his retreat for three more years, perfecting his meditative
+capacities on the understanding of the nature of mind through penetrating
+vision (vipashyana) practice. Finally Gampopa conferred upon him the ultimate
+instructions of the Kagyu lineage. He then considered that the realization of
+his disciple was henceforth stable.
+ From then on the life of Dusum Khyenpa was divided between retreat and
+travel. He traveled throughout central Tibet, receiving instructions from
+other teachers or dispensing his own teachings. Nonetheless, until his master
+passed away, he often returned to Gampopa to receive other transmissions.
+Gampopa encouraged the Karmapa to go on retreat in the near future at Kampo
+Gangra in eastern Tibet, prophesying that it would be in this location that
+Dusum Khyenpa would attain complete enlightenment.
+ -- from "History of the Karmapas", by Lama Kunsang, Lama Pemo, and Marie
+ Aubèle, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+One cannot force or grasp a spiritual experience, because it is as delicate as
+the whisper of the wind. But one can purify one’s motivation, one’s body,
+and train oneself to cultivate it. Because we come from a culture which
+teaches us there is always something external to be obtained which will lead
+us to fulfillment, we lose contact with our innate wisdom. As the Indian
+Tantric Buddhist saint Saraha says in one of his dohas (poems expressing the
+essence of his understanding):
+ Though the house-lamps have been lit,
+ The blind live on in the dark.
+ Though spontaneity is all-encompassing
+ And close, to the deluded it remains
+ Always far away.
+ -- Tsultrim Allione, in "Women of Wisdom", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+being royalty is nothing compared to being composed from parts of a far
+flung star explosion, as we all are.
+ -- fred t. hamster
+~
+Six right livelihood guidelines...
+
+Consume mindfully.
+ Eat with awareness and gratitude.
+ Pause before buying and see if breathing is enough.
+ Pay attention to the effects of media you consume.
+
+Pause. Breathe. Listen.
+ When you feel compelled to speak in a meeting or conversation, pause.
+ Breathe before entering your home, pleace of work, or school.
+ Listen to the people you encounter. They are buddhas.
+
+Practice gratitude.
+ Notice what you have
+ Be equally grateful for opportunities and challenges.
+ Share joy, not negativity.
+
+Cultivate compassion and loving kindness.
+ Notice where help is needed and be quick to help
+ Consider others' perspectives deeply.
+ Work for peace at many levels.
+
+Discover wisdom
+ Cultivate "don't know" mind (= curiosity).
+ Find connections between Buddhist teachings and your life.
+ Be open to what arises in every moment.
+
+Accept constant change.
+
+##--#Source: "Moon journeying through clouds", Zen Buddhist chants, sayings and recitations from the Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom.
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