X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;ds=sidebyside;f=infobase%2Ffortunes.dat;h=7daa698271d33037fa6f2627b7231b17c2a52fe7;hb=36b908cbff4e640e02d9a5b9dd011225194a1cbb;hp=26b563dd6ac7ffd41a607ffd7b39c350a119771b;hpb=e1aba7dfecd72ee717c6d101fcc00fb970b05656;p=feisty_meow.git diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat index 26b563dd..7daa6982 100644 --- a/infobase/fortunes.dat +++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat @@ -41179,4 +41179,121 @@ endowed with bliss, and of great compassion focusing on sentient beings as its point of reference. The realization arising from these [purifying causes] is to be known as enlightenment. -- Maitreya, in "Buddha Nature", published by Shambhala Publications - +~ +Meditation means learning to control our minds, thereby protecting our minds +from domination by delusion and other afflictions. We may think, “Oh, I +wish my mind were not dominated by ignorance and other afflictions.” But +these afflictions are very powerful and very destructive; they operate despite +our wishes. We have to work to develop effective countermeasures. We cannot +buy such remedies from a store; even very sophisticated machines cannot +produce them for us. They are obtained only through mental effort, training +the mind in meditation. + -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, "From Here to Enlightenment", published + by Shambhala Publications +~ +If we were asked to be free right now, to jump into the sea of love in this +very moment, we might turn our attention inward and try it, and it may not +work. Why? Because of a hindrance, a block. That block is the very sense of +“I am” that is the false image of who we are. It is the shell that is +veiling, covering our true nature. So the goal of all spiritual endeavors is +to actually realize the enlightened part of who we are, not sometime in the +future, but right now. + -- Anam Thubten, "The Magic of Awareness", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ +You don’t need to be an "excellent meditator" to start with. All you +need to do is have your heart and mind make the following agreement: +"Let's rest. There’s no reason right now to wander around following +thoughts or worrying. Let’s be relaxed and open." There’s not even any +need to shut down your thoughts. Just be there with them, but not overly +concerned or engaged. Let there be total openness, and just relax within +that. + -- Dza Kilung Rinpoche, "The Relaxed Mind", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ +Awareness does not engage with objects of the ordinary mind. It is “self- +cognizing primordial wisdom.” This can be illustrated by the “light” of +the new moon: a profoundly indwelling luminosity, which does not radiate +outward. Therefore, despite the fact that the five primordial wisdoms are +spontaneously present in awareness, the latter is without thoughts related to +sense objects. By contrast, even when it is still, the ordinary mind +nevertheless “moves” and follows after different objects. It is like the +light of the moon on the fifteenth of the month, which radiates outward and +engulfs everything. + -- Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche, and Jigme Lingpa, in "Treasury of + Precious Qualities: Book Two", published by Shambhala Publications +~ + According to Buddhism, all existents abide in loving-kindness free from +concepts in their absolute nature. But the understanding and realization of +that true nature have been covered over by the webs of our own mental, +emotional, and intellectual obscurations. + Now, in order to uncover the true nature and its qualities, we must dispel +the cover—our unhealthy concepts, emotions, and actions. Through the power +of devotion and contemplation, we must uncover and see the true innate +enlightened qualities—loving-kindness that is free from concepts—shining +forever. + -- Tulku Thondup, from "The Heart of Unconditional Love", published by + Shambhala Publications +~ +The method for taking all situations as the path is to rest within the essence +of the mind. Within our minds, there are three aspects: the way things +appear, how they are confused, and the way they actually are. We do not take +our difficulties as the path in relation to how things appear or are confused, +but in relation to how they actually are. We rest naturally within their +nature—the clear and empty nature of the mind that is sometimes called the +union of clarity and emptiness or the union of wisdom and the expanse. We +rest within this, recognizing it. When we take sickness as the path, we look +at the essence of the sickness without altering it in any way and just rest +naturally within that. When we take the afflictions as the path, we just look +at the essence of the greed, aversion, or delusion that has occurred. We do +not follow the affliction or block it. We do not try to stop our thoughts. +Instead, we look at those thoughts and at the afflictions that occur, and we +rest naturally within their inherently empty essence. + -- Khenchen Thrangu, from "Vivid Awareness", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ +I suggest that dana—in all its wonderful, profound simplicity--is a +necessary and significant part of what Dr. Buddha would prescribe for our +times. It can be understood without hours of study. It liberates us from +acquisitive and protectionist habits. It mitigates individualism and +nourishes community. Its meaning spans the most basic levels of practice +through to the ultimate. It challenges "me" and "mine," fostering letting go. +A reinvigorated and updated understanding and practice of dana can serve as a +powerful antidote to consumerism’s ills. I see this as essential for +Buddhism to stay on course as we navigate this bizarre postmodern world +seeking genuine peace and liberation. + -- Santikaro, from "Hooked!: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the + Urge to Consume", edited by Stephanie Kaza, published by Shambhala + Publications and Snow Lion Publications +~ + The teachings are for living in this world—for having fewer problems and +fewer tensions. Many people speak now about world peace. What does that +mean? How can we have world peace if we don’t have peace in ourselves? We +are each members of society—society meaning all of us together, not as +individuals. Since many individuals make up society, it means that the +individuals must have a kind of evolution. Although we have power and +military might, and sometimes there are provisional changes, in the real sense +it never changes. + Society is made up of individuals each having their point of view, their +feelings, and their sensations. If we want to develop society so that there +is more peace and happiness, each one of us must work with our condition. For +example, our society is like numbers. When we count, we must always begin +with the number “1.” If I think about society, I must start with myself as +“number one.” + -- Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, from "Dzogchen Teachings", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ + One of my favorite quotes from the Buddha is: "Let us rise up and be +thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, +and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got +sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." + Gratitude is one of the fruits of living from genuine happiness; at the +same time, it arises from an inherent seed in our being, a seed that requires +cultivation. There's a quote from Meister Eckhart, the Christian mystic, that +illustrates how important this quality is: "If the only prayer you said in +your whole life was 'thank you,' that would suffice." If we truly understood +the depth of this teaching it would be all we'd need to know. Unfortunately, +we can't just tell ourselves to be grateful and expect it to happen, yet it's +a quality that certainly can be nurtured. + -- Ezra Bayda, from "Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment", + published by Shambhala Publications