X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=database%2Ffortunes.dat;h=b7c5a1bbfc9d66a699db78d7ef61618e117178c4;hb=6c50d90a24c823e34878034fa7ae211e235454ec;hp=473472479916ade18f85277dce8c2e9d26544b37;hpb=94a850991b040a4b8000a3fa1a2906e7c7f4f612;p=feisty_meow.git

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@@ -38567,3 +38567,155 @@ 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.
+~
+       Who is more shameless in this world,
+       Than one who abandons to samsara's ocean of suffering
+       All the mothers who have tenderly cared for him since beginningless time
+       And instead strives toward the peace of a solitary nirvana?
+         --Shechen Gyaltsap Pema Namgyal
+
+  In each of our lives since beginningless time, our mother carried us within
+her body for nine months.  She took care of us when we were helpless babies;
+she gave us food, education, and protection.  In return, we feel love and
+gratitude for her kindness.
+  Why not extend our respect and appreciation for our mother to everyone else?
+If we take a broader perspective, we can consider that, within the countless
+existences we have lived, every being has been our mother at one time or
+another.  Don't they also deserve our kindness now?  We can extend the same
+debt of gratitude that we owe our present mother to all sentient beings.  By
+doing so, we naturally begin to develop a deep concern for the happiness of
+others, and this feeling makes sense to us.
+  We take the refuge vow not just for our own sake, but also for the sake of
+all sentient beings.  This is bodhichitta, or the altruistic mind, which aims
+for the enlightenment of all sentient beings.
+  --Shechen Rabjam, "The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the Notion
+    of Reality: Steps in Meditation on the Enlightened Mind"
+~
+      Direct perfect enlightenment [with regard to] all aspects,
+      and abandonment of the stains along with their imprints
+      [are called] buddha and nirvana respectively.
+      In truth, these are not two different things.
+        —Arya Maitreya
+
+All aspects of the knowable—all absolute and relative phenomena—are
+directly known.  Through this knowledge one is immediately and perfectly
+enlightened.  This is the aspect of realization.  All the adventitious
+defilements—the two veils along with their remaining imprints—are
+abandoned without any exception.  This is the aspect of abandonment.  These
+two qualities have been led to ultimate perfection.  They are therefore named
+"perfect buddha" ["perfectly awakened and expanded"] from the
+viewpoint of the former aspect, and "nirvana" ["gone beyond any torment
+and pain"] from the viewpoint of the latter aspect.  These two aspects are
+contained in one and the same meaning, the meaning of the tathagatagarbha,
+whereas a difference only lies in the convention of the different terms.  In
+the sense of the absolute field of experience of the noble ones' primordial
+wisdom the qualities of realization and abandonment are therefore completely
+inseparable and do not exist as two different things.
+  -- Arya Maitreya, "Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra with
+     Commentary", with commentary by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Thaye
+~
+  "Vehicle" (yana) has two meanings: the means by which one progresses and
+the destination to which one is progressing.  Mahayana in the sense of the
+vehicle by which one progresses means to be motivated by the mind of
+enlightenment—wishing to attain highest enlightenment for the sake of all
+sentient beings, one's objects of intent—and means to engage in the six
+perfections.
+  Seeing reason and need, Buddha set forth many systems and vehicles, but
+these did not arise due to his being intimate with some and alien to others.
+The trainees who were listening to his teaching had various dispositions,
+interests, and abilities, and thus he taught methods that were suitable for
+each of them.  For those who temporarily did not have the courage to strive
+for Buddhahood or who did not at all have the capacity of obtaining Buddhahood
+at that time, Buddha did not say, "You can attain Buddhahood."  Rather, he
+set forth a path appropriate to the trainees' abilities.  Buddha spoke in
+terms of their situation, and everything that he spoke was a means of
+eventually attaining highest enlightenment even though he did not always say
+that these were means for attaining Buddhahood.
+  Since the purpose of a Buddha's coming is others' realization of the
+wisdom of Buddhahood, the methods for actualizing this wisdom are one vehicle,
+not two.  A Buddha does not lead beings by a vehicle that does not proceed to
+Buddhahood; he establishes beings in his own level.  A variety of vehicles are
+set forth in accordance with temporary needs.
+  -- H.H. the Dalai Lama