X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=infobase%2Ffortunes.dat;h=02ad7f10f55fbefb69be2bf7e40abc84f471459e;hb=58ad380bdbc6a72548de22696ccd66949dca1891;hp=3c42bcf57cf9c30c745aa26ce48f94dd44ce7b87;hpb=92d110c6e1256dc1e4bd0b6660365a560f8fd60c;p=feisty_meow.git diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat index 3c42bcf5..02ad7f10 100644 --- a/infobase/fortunes.dat +++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat @@ -40379,3 +40379,94 @@ knows. Innate awareness-wisdom, rigpa, is functioning through us even now, if we only knew it. -- Nyoshul Khenpo and Lama Surya Das, "Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs", published by Shambhala Publications +~ +I recognize that this wish to create a better society, end all the suffering +of all beings everywhere, and protect the entire planet may not seem +particularly feasible. But whether or not we accomplish such goals in our +lifetime, it is nevertheless deeply meaningful to cultivate such a vast sense +of responsibility, and the wholehearted wish to be able to benefit others. +This outlook is so wholesome and noble that it is worth developing, regardless +of the probability of actually accomplishing such a vast vision. + -- H.H. the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, "The Heart Is Noble: + Changing the World from the Inside Out", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ +Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. + -- Oscar Wilde +~ +We might feel terrible, utterly hopeless, but if we look at ourselves fully +and thoroughly, we will find fundamental goodness. There is something that +makes us look up at the blue sky or the clouds or the sun, something that +allows us to polish our shoes and press our clothes. When we wake up in the +morning, there is something that allows us to brush our teeth, comb our hair, +or use a bar of soap. Such actions may seem rather ordinary, but they come +from a very powerful instinct. That sense of workability comes from ultimate +bodhichitta. + -- Chögyam Trungpa, "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. Volume + Two: The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion", published by + Shambhala Publications +~ +Respect and develop pure perception and devotion toward +Those who are practicing Dharma as the noble sangha. +If you see faults in others, think that they’re the reflections + of your own delusions. +If you see good qualities in others, meditate on rejoicing + over them. +Disclose and expel your own faults. +Generate virtuous qualities and act with astonishing perserverance. +Be with holy people and abandon evil friends. +Stay in solitary places and promise to pursue meditation. +Make sure that whatever you do is consonant with Dharma practice. + -- Longchen Rabjam, "Counsel for Liberation", published by Shambhala + Publications. +~ +The key point of the mahayana approach is the commitment to dedicate yourself +to helping other sentient beings. Building yourself up or perpetuating your +own existence is regarded as neurosis. Instead of building yourself up, you +should continue with your pursuit of helping others. Instead of being +selfish, you should empty yourself. The basic definition of ego is holding on +to one’s existence—and paramita practices are techniques that allow you +not to grasp onto or propagate the notion of me-ness, or "I am." Experiencing +egolessness is a process of letting go. But you do not regard the ego as an +enemy or obstacle, you regard it as a brussels sprout that you cook and eat. + -- Chögyam Trungpa, "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. Volume + Two: The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion", published by + Shambhala Publications +~ + Sentient beings are brought to maturation through three forms of generosity: +giving all, giving equally, and giving tirelessly. Bodhisattvas do not have +even one iota of their own body or enjoyments that they are not willing to +give to others if they see that it would help the other person to do so. They +give all that they possess. + Moreover, their generosity does not simply benefit others by supplying them +with the particular thing that is given. It benefits others in this life by +completely fulfilling their wishes, and, as it also matures them and +establishes them in virtue, which is the cause of the fulfillment of one’s +wishes, it benefits them in future lives as well. Thus, bodhisattvas +establish these beings in lasting happiness by planting the seed of +liberation. In this way, generosity matures sentient beings by helping them +in two ways, insofar as there are both temporary and lasting benefits. + Moreover, this generosity is practiced with equal regard for all. Since +there are no biases in terms of the recipients’ moral standing, social +position, or relation to oneself, they characteristically practice giving +equally. + Finally, not content with giving a confined number of material things for a +certain number of years or eons, a bodhisattva never knows enough of the +qualities of generosity, even were he or she to continue giving until the end +of cyclic existence. + -- from "Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sutras: Maitreya’s + Mahayanasutralamkara", with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham, + published by Shambhala Publications. +~ +Something I find worthy of meditation is how in the dialectic between Samsara +and Nirvana, the dreamworld of Samsara is logically prior to and quite +necessary for the awakening to Nirvana. When discussing Tantric Buddhism, +Gunapala Dharmasiri says in the spirit of Nagarjuna, "We make a Samsara out of +Nirvana through our conceptual projections. Tantrics maintain that the world +is there for two purposes. One is to help us to attain enlightenment. As the +world is, in fact, Nirvana, the means of the world can be utilized to realize +Nirvana, when used in the correct way." + -- Charles Johnson, "Taming the Ox: Buddhist Stories and Reflections on + Politics, Race, Culture, and Spiritual Practice", published by Shambhala + Publications +