The tantric pledges, like a dented vessel, are restored by the
practitioner's strength.
--Jamgon Kongtrul
-
+~
When is it possible to restore a vow that has been transgressed? All the
tantras and transmissions state that if a monk has incurred a defeat with
concealment, the transgressed vow, like a broken clay pot, cannot be repaired.
-- Chögyam Trungpa, from "Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with
Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness", published by
Shambhala Publications
+~
+We have a Buddhist prayer in which we ourselves aspire to become like [the
+earth]. We say:
+
+ May I be like the earth,
+ Providing the air, the ground, water,
+ And everything she provides
+ That is our sacred source of life.
+
+Inspired by the example of the earth, this prayer encourages us to aspire to
+be an unconditional source of all well-being and life for others. This is a
+supreme aspiration. We do not just have a great deal to learn about the
+environment—we also have a lot to learn from it.
+ -- H.H. the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, "The Heart Is Noble",
+ published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Many people wish to be healthy, to be free from disease, and to remain forever
+young, but these are not very meaningful goals. If you can tame your mind,
+the value of this will far surpass anything in the world. Patrul Rinpoche
+said, "Tame the mind, tame the mind, use bodhichitta to tame the mind. Even
+if we do not cultivate any good deeds in body and speech, taming our mind in
+fact benefits ourselves and all beings."
+ -- Jigme Phuntsok, from "Always Present", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Transcendent knowledge is beyond thought, word, or description. It neither
+arises nor ceases, like the identity of space. It is the domain of
+individual, self-knowing wakefulness. I salute this mother of the buddhas of
+the three times.
+ -- Shantarakshita, in praise of Prajnaparamita, from "Jewels of
+ Enlightenment", by Erik Pema Kunsang, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+To rejoice in others’ happiness without any preferences of our own shows
+that we understand that the longing for happiness is the same for all beings.
+We can rejoice in their temporal happiness, which has come from their
+accumulation of merit. When we recognize the quality of happiness in
+others—when we see someone genuinely smile or laugh or see a glimmer of
+brightness in their eyes—we can rejoice. When they obtain something they
+want or need, whatever it may be, we have an opportunity to practice
+rejoicing. Beings long for all kinds of things, some of which we might not
+want ourselves—but that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that, if
+only for a single moment, it has brought them some happiness.
+ -- Dzigar Kongtrul, from "Light Comes Through", published by Shambhala
+ Publications
+~
+Even if we think we have found the origin of phenomena, we are only being
+deluded by the karmic seeds of new discoveries which are constantly ripening,
+becoming exhausted, and being replaced through the ripening of other karmic
+seeds. Yet we continue to be fascinated by trying to define substance,
+constantly trying to catch it, thinking that we have caught it but then losing
+it. We are endlessly lured by the material creations of our conceptions.
+Sublime beings, knowing the characteristics of each phenomenon and the nature
+of all phenomena, are never lured by anything. They abide in the infinite
+display of enlightenment’s empty appearance without trying to catch anything
+or being able to be caught.
+ -- Thinley Norbu, from "White Sail", published by Shambhala Publications
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