X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=database%2Ffortunes.dat;h=f4a56a560eae1199b7303801d80fc52edc7c6dca;hb=e8d9ed3714c4cef6e38553fbfc6ab85461375691;hp=d1a0220b284999baa552f2b1e6fa5331d38a2002;hpb=1f61865ba0789a688349d28998b055417a5bd0b8;p=feisty_meow.git diff --git a/database/fortunes.dat b/database/fortunes.dat index d1a0220b..f4a56a56 100644 --- a/database/fortunes.dat +++ b/database/fortunes.dat @@ -37491,3 +37491,90 @@ aspects of the mind. -- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "Everyday Consciousness and Primordial Awareness", translated and edited by Susanne Schefczyk, published by Snow Lion Publications +~ + Q: How can Dzogchen help us in our daily jobs and careers? + + HHDL: In the first place, it is quite difficult to have an experience of +Dzogchen. But once you do have that experience, it can be extremely +beneficial in dealing with your day to day life, your job, and your career. +This is because that kind of experience will give you the ability to prevent +yourself from being overwhelmed by circumstances, good or bad. You will not +fall into extreme states of mind: you will not get over-excited or depressed. +Your attitude toward circumstances and events will be as if you were someone +observing the mind, without being drawn away by circumstances. + For example, when you see a reflection of a form in a mirror, the reflection +appears within the mirror but it is not projected from within. In the same +way, when you confront the situations of life, or deal with others, your +attitude too will be mirror-like. + Also, when a reflection appears in the mirror, the mirror does not have to +go after the object that is reflected: it simply reflects, spontaneously, on +the surface. The same with you: since there is no attachment or agitation at +having these 'reflections' in your mind, you will feel tremendous ease and +relief. You are not preoccupied by what arises in the mind, nor does it cause +you any distress. You are free from conceptuality or any form of +objectifying. And so it really does help you, in allowing you to be free from +being caught up in the play of emotions like hatred, attachment, and the like. +(p.162) + -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great + Perfection", translated by Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barron, foreword by + Sogyal Rinpoche, edited by Patrick Gaffney, published by Snow Lion Pub. +~ + The quality of one's rebirth in the next life is determined by the quality +of one's mental activity in this life. Generally speaking, we have no power +to choose how we are born; it is dependent on karmic forces. However, the +period near the time of death is very influential in terms of activating one +from among the many karmas that a person has already accumulated, and, +therefore, if one makes particular effort at generating a virtuous attitude at +that time, there is an opportunity to strengthen and activate a virtuous +karma. Moreover, when one has developed high realization and has gained +control over how one will be reborn, it is possible to take what is called +"reincarnation" rather than mere rebirth.(p.42) + -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: + Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey + Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications +~ + Without an acute awareness of our personal suffering and a deep, heartfelt +determination to be completely rid of both this suffering and its causes, +there is no way to begin the spiritual quest authentically. For just as +Prince Siddhartha's sudden and unexpected visions of old age, sickness and +death shocked him out of mistaking the world to be a pleasure palace, so too +must all spiritual seekers confront the unsatisfactory nature of their lives +so directly that they become thoroughly disenchanted with the ordinary human +condition. + If we do not take a long, hard look at the uncomfortable truths of our +impermanent existence, we can easily waste the time between now and our +inevitable death in essentially worthless pursuits, never taking advantage of +this precious opportunity to do something truly meaningful with our life. +Like the foolish prisoner who becomes so accustomed to the confines of his +cell that he turns a blind eye to all chances of escape, we shall be +condemning ourselves to spiritual stagnation and the endlessly recurring +miseries of cyclic existence. + Yet it is not enough merely to become discontent with our present condition; +everyone experiences discontent at one time or another but very few do +anything of real significance about it. In fact, the usual ways of dealing +with problems and disappointment--blaming them on someone else or drowning +them in forgetfulness--only bind us tighter to the wheel of suffering. What +we must do is recognize that the true causes of all our misery lie rooted in +our own ignorant misconceptions and that these can only be eradicated through +the development of a clear, penetrating insight into the nature of reality. +Only through the continued cultivation of such penetrating wisdom will it +eventually be possible to attain liberation from all states of existence +conditioned by ignorance and be free of suffering.(p.45) + -- "Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practice", by Jonathan Landaw + and Andy Weber, published by Snow Lion Publications +~ + We must distinguish between pride and self-confidence. Self-confidence is +necessary. It is what enables us, in certain situations, not to lose courage +and to think with some justification, 'I am capable of succeeding.' Self- +confidence is quite different from excessive self-assurance based on a false +appreciation of our capacities or circumstances. + If you feel able to accomplish a task that other people cannot manage, then +you cannot be called proud as long as your assessment is well founded. It is +as if someone tall came across a group of short people who wanted to get +something too high for them to reach, and said to them, 'Don't exert +yourselves, I can do it.' This would simply mean that he was more qualified +than the others to carry out a particular task, but not that he is superior to +them or that he wants to crush them.(p.259) + -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the + Heart", edited by Matthieu Ricard, translated by Christian Bruyat, + published by Snow Lion Publications