X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=database%2Ffortunes.dat;h=1d3030f20822a342b6d70d8703cc015f52a2787d;hb=104140c587649332e9d57968f62a7bc4dc8c1ff4;hp=58d81f7a1150de830dfd89f205f3a2c5eb7bab17;hpb=a8b0f2b6e3b0f2b9cd5dbc7673a0b400d33b59ef;p=feisty_meow.git

diff --git a/database/fortunes.dat b/database/fortunes.dat
index 58d81f7a..1d3030f2 100644
--- a/database/fortunes.dat
+++ b/database/fortunes.dat
@@ -31598,7 +31598,7 @@ by unpleasant ones.
 ~
 crashola in second life:
 due to having been in a vehicle which crossed into forbidden land and got
-taken away, my avatar was left in an indetermine and very unhealthy state.
+taken away, my avatar was left in an indeterminate and very unhealthy state.
 i was unable to move, deep underground, and i saw this object off down to
 my left, so i clicked on it and picked 'edit'.  i realized as i was doing
 it, that this was my disembodied hair, which had flown off for some reason.
@@ -39305,4 +39305,136 @@ approachers to, and abiders in, these states.
   --from "Groundless Paths: The Prajnaparamita Sutras, The Ornament of Clear
     Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Nyingma Tradition",
     translated by Karl Brunnholzl, from Shambhala Publications
-
+~
+Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary
+Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
+  -- Benjamin Franklin
+~
+  We need a clear mind-training map to keep us from missing the correct path.
+If we want to go to New York we need to know the roads and directions.  Just
+jumping in the car and starting to drive may get us there, but most likely we
+will end up in another place or take much longer than is necessary.
+  I have seen this happen with students who tell me of doing years of
+meditation without seeing any changes.  They may blame themselves, meditation,
+or the Dharma, yet most often the problem is not knowing or applying the
+correct techniques or methods.  Meditation is both easy and not easy.  With
+the correct techniques and methods, applied with diligence, meditation can
+become a swift path to clearing confusion and unhelpful habits.  Without them,
+we may wander in fogginess or agitation, never having engaged in true
+meditation even after years of “sitting.”
+  At Namdroling Monastery we practiced both resting and analytical meditation.
+The renowned teacher Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche believed that both types of
+meditation were important, but he thought it was best to begin with analytical
+meditation, because gaining familiarity with the true nature of reality would
+naturally lead to a clearer understanding of resting meditation and how to
+engage our mind constructively.
+  -- Khenpo Gawang, "Your Mind Is Your Teacher: Self-Awakening through
+     Contemplative Meditation", Shambhala Publications
+~
+  Never think, “Even though I have confidence in the Three Jewels, it is not
+really certain that this work will be accomplished.” Instead, one should
+know that the Enlightened One is surely able to protect those who surrender
+and act in accord with his words, because the Enlightened One is endowed with
+the transcendental wisdom which knows all the paths of practice that are in
+harmony with the intelligence and nature of all living beings, because he has
+the compassionate desire to establish his disciples on the right path after
+turning them from wrong ways, and because he has accomplished the two
+accumulations of merit and transcendental wisdom and has accomplished the
+resolve to help beings.  So even though one has not yet attained liberation
+from worldly existence, it is one’s fault for not having trusted and not
+having acted in accord with the words of the Three Jewels, not because the
+Three Jewels have no compassion.
+  In brief, those who do not entrust themselves to the Precious Jewels, who
+are arrogant and who assume they are intelligent have no certainty in
+accomplishing their schemes.  Even if they are accomplished, it is not certain
+whether those schemes will turn out well in the long run.  So it is important
+to entrust oneself always to the Precious Jewels.
+  -- Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub, "Three Visions: Fundamental Teachings of the
+     Sakya Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism"
+~
+Setting out on a spiritual path is a little like planning a trip—to Machu
+Picchu, for example.  Some travellers will approach the project by investing a
+lot of time in reading travel books or Googling Internet sites about the best
+route to take and where to stay--a method that works, but only to a certain
+extent.  Other travellers prefer a much simpler and safer method: to ask
+someone they know and trust who has already been to Machu Picchu to go with
+them and show them the way.  Similarly, those wishing to follow the Buddhist
+path to enlightenment should rely on what are called in the teachings the
+“four authentics”: the authentic words of the Buddha (his teachings); the
+authentic clarification of the teachings that can be found in the shastras
+(commentaries) written by great masters of the past; the further clarification
+that is the result of authentic personal experience; and for this experience
+to find expression, an authentic guru.
+  -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called
+     Preliminary Practices", Shambhala Publications
+~
+With regard to selflessness, it is necessary to know what "self" is--to
+identify the self that does not exist.  Then one can understand its opposite,
+selflessness.  Selflessness is not a case of something that existed in the
+past becoming non-existent; rather, this sort of "self" is something that
+never did exist.  What is needed is to identify as non-existent something that
+always was nonexistent, for due to not having made such identification, we are
+drawn into the afflictive emotions of desire and hatred as well as all the
+problems these bring.
+  -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, from "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight", Shambhala
+     Publications
+~
+  The essence of mind is somewhat difficult to explain, so we look at it from
+the negative point of view, that is, what mind is not.  First of all, we see
+that it is not something which arises or ceases or abides.  It is free of
+these three things.  From beginningless time, there is no arising, no
+cessation and no abiding in terms of staying in one place, not moving, or not
+changing.  It is completely free of all three of these.
+  It is also free of being a thing or a substance composed of particles.  The
+essential entity, or substance, of mind is not something that can be defiled
+or stained by grasping at subject and object.  It is completely free of the
+stains from those activities.
+  Further, when we look at the essential substance of mind, we find that no
+matter how much we search for it, no matter how much we analyze it, there is
+no thing there to be found.  There is no entity that we can come up with by
+searching, evaluating, and analyzing.  No matter how much we seek for its
+essential substance, we cannot find it.  The searcher, the one who does the
+search for essential substance of mind, cannot find it.  Therefore it is said
+that the essential substance of mind itself is emptiness.
+  -- Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche, "The Practice of Mahamudra", published
+     by Shambhala Publications
+~
+  "Like a cloud." This is a simile for how the wisdom mind benefits sentient
+beings without conceptual thought.  For example, in the summer, clouds gather
+in the sky without effort, causing crops and so forth to grow perfectly
+through the rain falling on the ground without conceptual thought.
+  Likewise, the activities of the wisdom mind ripen the trainees' crop of
+virtue through the rainfall of Dharma without conceptual thought.
+  -- Gampopa, from "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: The Wish-fulfilling Gem
+     of the Noble Teachings"
+~
+  Psychologists tell us that a strong sense of self is essential to be
+psychologically healthy.  But it seems Buddhism says there is no self.  How
+can we reconcile these two views?
+  When psychologists speak of a sense of "self" they are referring to the
+feeling that oneself is an efficacious person, someone who is self-confident
+and can act in the world.  Buddhists agree that such a sense of self is both
+realistic and necessary.  However, the sense of self that Buddhism says is
+unrealistic is that of a very solid, unchanging, independent "I."  Such a
+self never has and never will exist.  To understand this is to realize
+emptiness.
+  Strange though it may sound, someone may have a psychologically weak sense
+of self that in Buddhist parlance would be considered strong self-grasping.
+For example, a person with poor self-esteem may focus a lot on himself and
+have a strong feeling of the existence of an independent self that is
+inferior, unlovable, and a failure.  From a Buddhist viewpoint, such an
+independent self does not exist, although a conventional self does.
+  --Thubten Chodron, "Buddhism for Beginners"
+~
+We all depend on one another.  For this reason, whenever we act according to
+self-interest, sooner or later our selfish aims are bound to clash with the
+aims of the people we rely upon to accomplish our own goals.  When that
+happens, conflicts will inevitably arise.  As we learn to be more balanced in
+valuing others’ concerns with our own, we will naturally find ourselves
+involved in fewer and fewer conflicts.  In the meantime, it is helpful to
+acknowledge that conflicts are the logical outcome of this combination of
+self-interest and interdependence.  Once we recognize this, we can see that
+conflicts are nothing to feel shocked or offended by.  Rather, we can address
+them calmly and with wisdom.
+  -- Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, in "Beyond Anger: How to Hold On to Your
+     Heart and Your Humanity in the Midst of Injustice", Shambhala Publications