X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=database%2Ffortunes.dat;h=1354d3270bb3b4e5ff8c8ce9c3347463439ffd14;hb=4d96bf54bf513c79b7e12b9ae6925a87d9ad05af;hp=0a1ca55396acfc7ab8f4cadbe973c3d535a26879;hpb=07b7382f215ebc9c73697447a651d5d9763c617c;p=feisty_meow.git diff --git a/database/fortunes.dat b/database/fortunes.dat index 0a1ca553..1354d327 100644 --- a/database/fortunes.dat +++ b/database/fortunes.dat @@ -38356,6 +38356,35 @@ believe in a particular religious practice, it is extremely important that we try to help each other and cultivate a feeling of affection for each other. That is the source of happiness in our life. -- H.H. the Dalai Lama +~ + It's important to differentiate a thought from an emotion. We say things +such as, "I feel like they don't accept me." Actually, that is a thought. +We may feel hurt or frustrated, and it's because we're thinking that others +don't accept us. How do we know they don't accept us? We don't. We +haven't asked them. Instead, on the basis of how they looked at us or a +comment they made, our mind constructs a story that we believe. + As soon as you hear yourself saying, "I feel like...," stop and recognize +that you can't "feel like" something. You are thinking. After you have +identified the thought, ask yourself, "Is that true? How do I know it's true? +What evidence do I have to prove the validity of that thought?" It's really +startling to see how often we assume our interpretation of a situation is true +when in fact it is based on flimsy evidence. + -- Thubten Chodron, from "Don't Believe Everything You Think: Living with + Wisdom and Compassion" +~ +We are all human beings, and from this point of view, we are the same. We all +want happiness and we do not want suffering. If we consider this point, we +will find that there are no differences between people of different faiths, +races, colors, or cultures. We all have this common wish for happiness. + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama +~ +Enlightenment is not anything new or something we create or bring into +existence. It is simply discovering within us what is already there. It is +the full realization of our intrinsic nature. In Tibetan, buddha is sang +gyay. Sang means that all of the faults have been cleared away, while gyay +means "full realization"; just as from darkness, the moon waxes, likewise +from ignorance, the qualities of the mind's intrinsic nature emerge. + -- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche ~ The fundamental teaching of the Buddha is that we should view others as being more important than we are. Of course, you cannot completely ignore yourself. @@ -38392,3 +38421,231 @@ happiness without any strings attached, without any expectations of what these people will do for us or how good they'll make us feel. -- Thubten Chodron, "Don't Believe Everything You Think: Living with Wisdom and Compassion" +~ +Because we don't recognize our essential nature--we don't realize that +although appearances arise unceasingly, nothing is really there--we invest +with solidity and reality the seeming truth of self, other, and actions +between self and others. This intellectual obscuration gives rise to +attachment and aversion, followed by actions and reactions that create karma, +solidify into habit, and perpetuate the cycles of suffering. This entire +process needs to be purified. + -- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, from "In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30 + Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers", edited by Reginald A. Ray. +~ + Effort is crucial in the beginning for generating a strong will. We all +have the Buddha nature and thus already have within us the substances through +which, when we meet with the proper conditions, we can turn into a fully +enlightened being having all beneficial attributes and devoid of all faults. +The very root of failure in our lives is to think, "Oh, how useless and +powerless I am!" It is important to have a strong force of mind thinking, +"I can do it," this not being mixed with pride or any other afflictive +emotion. + Moderate effort over a long period of time is important, no matter what you +are trying to do. One brings failure on oneself by working extremely hard at +the beginning, attempting to do too much, and then giving it all up after a +short time. A constant stream of moderate effort is needed. Similarly, when +meditating, you need to be skillful by having frequent, short sessions; it is +more important that the session be of good quality than that it be long. + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight" +~ +We Buddhists are supposed to save all sentient beings, but practically +speaking, this may be too broad a notion for most people. In any case, we +must at least think in terms of helping all human beings. This is very +important. Even if we cannot think in terms of sentient beings inhabiting +different worlds, we should nonetheless think in terms of the human beings on +our own planet. To do this is to take a practical approach to the problem. +It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily +lives. If we find we cannot help another, the least we can do is to desist +from harming them. We must not cheat others or lie to them. We must be +honest human beings, sincere human beings. + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama +~ + How things appear and how they actually exist differ greatly. A person +engaging in practice of the perfection of wisdom does this kind of analysis +and then examines how things appear in ordinary experience, alternating +analysis and comparison with the usual mode of appearance in order to notice +the discrepancy between the actual mode of subsistence of phenomena and their +appearance. + In this way the inherent existence which is the object of negation will +become clearer and clearer. As much as the object of negation becomes +clearer, so much deeper will your understanding of emptiness become. Finally, +you will ascertain a mere vacuity that is a negative of inherent existence. + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama +~ + Three attitudes prevent us from receiving a continual flow of blessings. +They are compared to three "pots": a full pot, a pot with poison in it, +and a pot with a hole in the bottom. + The pot that's filled to the brim is like a mind full of opinions and +preconceptions. We already know it all. We have so many fixed ideas that +nothing new can affect us or cause us to question our assumptions. + The pot containing poison is like a mind that's so cynical, critical, and +judgmental that everything is poisoned by this harshness. It allows for no +openness and no willingness to explore the teachings or anything else that +challenges our righteous stance. + The pot with a hole is like a distracted mind: our body is present but +we're lost in thought. We're so busy thinking about our dream vacation or +what's for dinner that we're completely deaf to what's being said. + Knowing how sad it is to receive blessings and not be able to benefit, +Shantideva wants to save himself grief by remaining open and attentive. +Nothing will improve, he says, unless we become more intelligent about cause +and effect. This is a message worth considering seriously. + -- Pema Chödrön, from "No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the + Bodhisattva". +~ + Shantideva cites three benefits of pain. First, it is valuable because +through sorrow, pride is driven out. No matter how arrogant and condescending +we've been, great suffering can humble us. The pain of a serious illness or +loss of a loved one can be transformative, softening us and making us less +self-centered. + The second benefit of pain is empathy: the compassion felt for those who +wander in samsara. Our personal suffering brings compassion for others in the +same situation. A young woman was telling me that when her baby died, she +felt a deep connection to all the other parents who had lost children. This +was, as she put it, the unexpected blessing of her sorrow. + The third value of suffering is that evil is avoided and goodness seems +delightful. When we practice according to Shantideva's instructions, we can +get smarter about cause and result. Based on this understanding, we'll have +less inclination to cause harm, and more desire to gather virtue and benefit +others. + -- Pema Chödrön, from "No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the + Bodhisattva" +~ + Since emptiness, from between positive and negative phenomena, is a negative +phenomenon and, from between affirming negatives and non-affirming negatives, +is a non-affirming negative, when it appears to the mind, nothing will appear +except an absence of such inherent existence—a mere elimination of the +object of negation. Thus, for the mind of a person realizing emptiness there +is no sense of, "I am ascertaining emptiness," and there is no thought, +"This is emptiness." If you had such a sense, emptiness would become +distant. Nevertheless, the emptiness of inherent existence is ascertained and +realized. + After such realization, even though whatever phenomena appear appear to +exist in their own right, you understand that they do not exist that way. You +have a sense that they are like a magician's illusions in that there is a +combination of their appearing one way but actually existing another way. +Though they appear to exist inherently, you understand that they are empty of +inherent existence. + When phenomena are seen this way, the conceptions that superimpose a sense +of goodness or badness on phenomena beyond what is actually there and serve as +a basis for generating desire and hatred lessen; this is because they are +based on the misconception that phenomena are established in their own right. + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama +~ + Rely on timeless awareness, which is free of elaboration, without + identity, and the very essence of being; + do not rely on ordinary consciousness, which is a mind fixated + on characteristics and concepts. + + Timeless awareness entails (a) understanding that the way in which phenomena +actually abide is, from the ultimate perspective, free of all limitations +imposed by elaborations of origination, cessation, and so forth; (b) +realization of the nonexistence of the two kinds of identity; and (c) unerring +knowledge of sugatagarbha as utter lucidity, the way in which things actually +abide, beyond any context of speculative value judgments. It is on this +awareness that one should rely. + Ordinary consciousness entails (a) belief that what one immediately +perceives constitutes something truly existent; (b) conceptualization in terms +of characteristics, such as the sense of personal identity and the mind-body +aggregates; and (c) mental states that are conditioned, for example, by +attitudes of naively fixating on the pleasures of the senses. One should not +rely on such consciousness. + -- Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Taye, from "The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Seven + and Book Eight, Parts One and Two" +~ + Such is the process of karma: it is ineluctable; its results are greatly +magnified; actions not committed have no effect; and the effects of actions +committed never expire on their own. + Generally speaking, whether you are an ordinary mortal individual or a +spiritually advanced being, all positive experiences that carry with them any +pleasant sensation—down to even the slightest pleasure caused by a cool +breeze for beings reborn in a hell realm—occur due to positive karma +reinforced in the past; it is not in accord with the nature of things that +happiness be due to negative karma. And all negative experiences that carry +with them any unpleasant sensation—down to even the slightest suffering that +could occur in the experience of an arhat—occur due to negative karma one +has reinforced in the past; for it is not in accord with the nature of things +that suffering be due to positive karma. + -- Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Taye, from "The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Seven + and Book Eight, Parts One and Two" +~ + "That which is seen and that which is touched are of a dream-like and + illusion-like nature. Because feeling arises together with the mind, + it is not [ultimately] perceived." --Shantideva + + There is nothing whatever that has a true mode of existence. Nevertheless, +this does not suggest that a person who experiences feelings and the feelings +themselves—pleasant and unpleasant—are utterly non-existent. They do +exist, but in an untrue fashion. Thus, the things that we see and touch have +a dream-like and illusion-like quality. + In the second line the author refutes the true existence of the mind that +experiences feelings. Since feelings arise in conjunction with the mind, +feelings are not perceived by the mind that is simultaneous with them. There +must be a causal relationship between the experienced object and the +experiencing subject. If two entities are substantially distinct and exist +simultaneously, there could be neither a causal relationship nor an identity +relationship between them. + For this reason the author denies that either [intrinsic] relationship could +hold for the feelings and the awareness that is simultaneous with them. Two +mental events that arise in conjunction with each other are not able to +apprehend one another. This holds true for all states of awareness. Thus, +feelings are not observed by the awareness that arises in conjunction with +them and that exists simultaneously with them. + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama +~ +Any happiness there is in the world ultimately turns to pain. Why? Consider +the two sides of a coin: just because what we desire is to be seen on the +front does not mean that dislike won’t soon appear on the back. Likewise, +hope and fear are a single coin, one entity with two faces--on the other side +of a moment in which we hope for more happiness will be our fear of more +suffering. Until attachment is eliminated, we can be certain of having both +hope and fear. As long as there is hope and fear, the delusions of samsara +will be perpetuated and there will be constant suffering. Thus attachment is +the nature of both hope and fear: looking at the ultimate emptiness of the +self-envisioned magical illusion of hope and fear, we should hang loosely in +the flow. + --Tulku Pema Rigtsal, "The Great Secret of Mind: Special Instructions on the + Nonduality of Dzogchen", translated by Keith Dowman +~ + The feelings of joy and sorrow do not exist from their own side. Although +they exist as conceptual imputations, you cling to them as existing from their +own side. Feelings do not exist by their own intrinsic nature; rather, they +are identified on the basis of contributing circumstances. + Therefore, this analysis is cultivated as an antidote for that [false +conception of intrinsic existence]. The meditative absorption that arises +from the field of discriminative investigation is the food of the +contemplative.—Shantideva + Feelings do not truly exist; they are not found when sought through +analysis; they do not exist independently, but exist by the power of +convention. Thus, the means for overcoming the misconception of the true +existence of feelings is meditation on their lack of such existence. This +entails analyzing the mode of existence of feelings. + Such investigation is an aid to meditative absorption and leads to the +integration of meditative quiescence and insight. That increases the physical +vitality of the contemplative and enhances the power of his [or her] spiritual +practice. Thus it is called the nourishment of the contemplative. + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Transcendent Wisdom". +~ +It is not enough merely to look into the space of happiness or sadness; it is +important to have pure presence constant in that flow. If the power of +meditation is not constant, it is impossible to remain long in the place of +nondual perception. Thoughts that arise intermittently will break the +continuity, and radiating out from this, like ripples on a pond, the poisonous +taste of emotion will arise to obstruct the meditation. As gross thoughts +increase, ripples become rough waves that intensify the emotion. Until subtle +emotions are left behind, we cannot eradicate suffering, so it is crucially +important to sustain the state of meditation. When we gain strong familiarity +by staying in that space for a long time, then no matter what thoughts arise, +whether gross or subtle, they will not be able to dislodge us: upon +recognizing the first thought, whatever thought it may be, in that very +moment, we realize it to be the play of the spontaneous creativity of +dharmakaya. Like a wave falling back into the ocean, the thought vanishes +into the dharmakaya. In that space of naked empty pure presence that is the +view, always cherishing thoughts of the five poisonous emotions and all the +movements of body, speech, and mind, and the acts of eating, sleeping, moving, +and sitting, we are known as the yogins and yoginis who stand guard over the +shifting dharmakaya display. This is the supreme method of sustaining the +essence of meditation. According to Dzogchen teaching, this is unadulterated +by any kind of focus; it is called “the great meditation that is +nonmeditation.” + --Tulku Pema Rigtsal, "The Great Secret of Mind: Special Instructions on the + Nonduality of Dzogchen", translated by Keith Dowman.