X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=infobase%2Ffortunes.dat;h=26b283e4902221afdba49e4370e1714d4a7dc972;hb=322dc8408ecce70626fb0ccb6079cdd349df4647;hp=e1bdde3b94aeb2bb7d4309477c2423e7aca28094;hpb=7c145384326efbe60c5e05004ea2ea7b154a2722;p=feisty_meow.git diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat index e1bdde3b..26b283e4 100644 --- a/infobase/fortunes.dat +++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat @@ -28186,7 +28186,7 @@ But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden. -- Shakyamuni Buddha ~ -You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by it. +You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. -- Shakyamuni Buddha ~ Buddhists take a vow of morality in the context of first taking refuge--in @@ -41501,4 +41501,607 @@ that, you can expand to others as well. So you are full, but at the same time, you are empty. -- Chögyam Trungpa, "The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom & Compassion", published by Shambhala Publications. +~ +Traditionally, many subtle distinctions are made about the various +characteristics and levels of the development of bodhichitta. Chagme Rinpoche +mentions these and says, “If you are studying to become a scholar, you need +to know all of these distinctions. But if you are a practitioner, these +distinctions are extremely unimportant.” For example, I arrived here at +these teachings by traveling in airplanes and automobiles. Now, I might +wonder, “Who built the airplane I traveled in? How does it work?” But, in +fact, I don’t know the answers to any of these things because it is not +important for me to know these things. What is important is that I got on an +airplane and flew thousands of miles and was able to get here. In the same +way, I regularly travel by automobile, and I might wonder, “How do you make +an automobile? Who made this automobile? How does it work exactly?” From +one point of view, of course, it is good to know these things, but from the +point of view of actually getting somewhere, it is not important. What is +important is that I got in a car and I came here. So, from one point of view, +it might be important to know all about the various aspects and +characteristics of bodhichitta, but according to Karma Chagme, it is perfectly +okay if you don’t. + -- Khenchen Thrangu, "Luminous Clarity: A Commentary on Karma Chagme’s + Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen", published by Shambhala Publications +~ +- You are a deeply selfish person. - +~ ++ You are a deeply compassionate person. + +~ +* You are a deeply deep person. * +~ +- You are a deeply selfish person. - ++ You are a deeply compassionate person. + +* You are a deeply deep person. * +~ + Buddhism asserts that the mind can be changed. I doubt whether anyone +would dispute that point although we often feel as if we are stuck with an +obstinate mind that refuses to do what we want it to. In addictions this +feeling of being stuck can be very powerful. But Buddha said that all this +can change, no matter how bad it is. + Buddha was a top psychologist. He taught methods for dealing with +immediate and urgent situations as well as methods that look into long-term +change. For the long term, meditation is an important method. When he was +teaching about how to meditate, he suggested a number of tools from which we +can benefit. We are going to use three of these tools to help us: +mindfulness, introspection, and equanimity. Mindfulness keeps our mind on +whatever we have decided to do. Introspection checks whether we are being +mindful or not. Equanimity stops the dramatizing and catastrophizing that we +get into when we do not get what we want (the craving and grasping that arise +from attachment) or we get what we do not want (aversion which gives rise to +hatred, jealousy, and depression). + -- Chönyi Taylor, from "Enough! A Buddhist Approach to Finding Release +from Addictive Patterns", published by Shambhala Publications +~ +It is said in the Supreme Continuum of the Great Vehicle: + Earth is based upon water, + Water on wind, and wind on space, + But space is not based on anything. + Similarly, the aggregates and sensory sense fields + Are based on deeds and afflictive mental states. + Deeds and afflictive mental states are always based on mistaken attention. + Mistaken attention is based on the purity of mind. + But the nature of mind is not itself based on any of these things. + -- Choying Tobden Dorje, from "The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to +Tantra, Books 15 to 17, Volume 1", published by Shambhala Publications +~ + First, I’ll begin with self, which sometimes goes by the name ego, or +more familiarly, I and me. What is this self, really? We can investigate by +trying to analyze this self, to locate it or pin it down, to see if it even +exists in the first place. This can be a highly illuminating contemplation, +but for the purposes of this book, I would like to focus more on our everyday +experience. Let’s identify how having a self feels. In our mind stream, +there is always some kind of feeling of having a self, which is at the center +of all our thoughts and emotions. One Tibetan phrase targets this phenomenon +precisely: dak che dzin. Dak means “self”; che means “important” or +“dear”; dzin means “holding” or “regarding.” This term has various +translations, which all capture different nuances: self-centeredness, self- +clinging, ego-clinging, self-absorption. I like to use all of these terms in +different contexts, but my favorite translation is “self-importance.” + This word may make us think dak che dzin has mostly to do with being proud +and arrogant, but such pride is nowhere near the whole story. Self-importance +includes both self-cherishing and self-protection. It is the source of the +five main types of painful emotions, known as the “five poisons”: +attachment, aggression, jealousy, arrogance, and stupidity. It can manifest +as feeling like we’re better than others, but just as easily it can manifest +as low self-esteem, or even self-hatred. The bottom line is that we regard +this self—whatever or wherever it is—as the most important thing in the +entire universe. + -- Dzigar Kongtrul, from "The Intelligent Heart: A Guide to the +Compassionate Life", published by Shambhala Publications. +~ +Poverty is an anomaly to rich people; it is very difficult to make out why +people who want dinner do not ring the bell. + -- Walter Bagehot +~ + In reality, nothing can save us from a state of chaos or confusion unless +we have acknowledged it and actually experienced it. Otherwise, even though +we may be in the midst of chaos, we don’t even notice it, although we are +subject to it. On the path of meditation, the first real glimpse of our +confusion and the general chaos is when we begin to feel uncomfortable. We +feel that something is a nuisance. Something is bugging us constantly. + What is that? Eventually we discover that we are the nuisance. We begin +to see ourselves being a nuisance to ourselves when we uncover all kinds of +thought problems, emotional hang-ups, and physical problems in meditation. +Before we work with anyone else, we have to deal with being a nuisance to +ourselves. We have to pull ourselves together. We might get angry with +ourselves, saying, "I could do better than this. What’s wrong with me? I +seem to be getting worse. I’m going backward." We might get angry with +the whole world, including ourselves. Everything, the entire universe, +becomes the expression of total insult. We have to relate to that experience +rather than rejecting it. If you hope to be helpful to others, first you have +to work with yourself. + -- Chögyam Trungpa, from "Mindfulness in Action", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ +If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered +as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, +that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers +against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious +persecution. + -- George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia (1789) +~ +Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, +he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear. + -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr (1787) +~ +In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof +is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced, and both by +precept and example inculcated on mankind. + -- Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1771) +~ +Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the +strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the +law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity. + -- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (1791) +~ +Congress has no power to make any religious establishments. + -- Roger Sherman, Congress (1789) +~ +The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. + -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1758) +~ +I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people +build a wall of separation between Church & State. + -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802) +~ +To argue with a man who has renounced the use of reason is like administering +medicine to the dead. + -- Thomas Paine, The American Crisis No. V (1776) +~ +Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than +our opinions in physics or geometry. + -- Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1779) +~ +Christian establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which +facilitate the execution of mischievous projects. + -- James Madison, letter to William Bradford, Jr. (1774) +~ +There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of +science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of +public happiness. + -- George Washington, address to Congress (1790) +~ +During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity +been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride +and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, +superstition, bigotry and persecution. + -- James Madison, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1785) +~ +If the present and the future +Depend upon the past, +Then both the present and the future +Are existent in the past. + +If the present and the future +Are not present then, +How could the present and the future +Be dependent on it? + +If they are not dependent on the past, +Then both are unestablished. +Thus the present and the future time +Do not exist. + +To the two remaining times, it should be understood, +This same procedure is applied. +And likewise it applies to high and low and medium, +And to the singular and so forth. + +Time that does not stay we cannot grasp; +And time that could be grasped +Does not remain. So how can time, +Ungraspable, be said to be? + +If time depends on things, +Then how can there be time if things do not exist? +And since there are no things at all, +How can time exist? + -- Nagarjuna, from "The Root Stanzas of the Middle Way: The + Mulamadhyamakakarika", published by Shambhala Publications +~ +White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane + +One pill makes you larger +And one pill makes you small +And the ones that mother gives you +Don't do anything at all +Go ask Alice +When she's ten feet tall + +And if you go chasing rabbits +And you know you're going to fall +Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar +Has given you the call +Call Alice +When she was just small + +When the men on the chessboard +Get up and tell you where to go +And you've just had some kind of mushroom +And your mind is moving low +Go ask Alice +I think she'll know + +When logic and proportion +Have fallen sloppy dead +And the White Knight is talking backwards +And the Red Queen's off with her head +Remember what the dormouse said +Feed your head +Feed your head +~ +How can we integrate these teachings into our lives? I think that only +happens when we are faced with challenges and respond to them in a new way, +not according to habitual self-importance. In other words, we respond by +applying the exchange of self and other. When tonglen becomes our familiar +way of being, the entire path unfolds easily in front of us. This difficult +modern age turns out to be the perfect setting for our spiritual practice, +proving far more hospitable to our growth than past eras of idealized calm and +simplicity. When we figure out for ourselves how to apply the wisdom of books +to whatever difficult circumstances arise in life, then that wisdom becomes +part of our mind. We become transformed. My hope for every reader—as well +as for myself—is that we will apply these lojong teachings again and again +until they become part of who we are. + -- Dzigar Kongtrul and Joseph Waxman, in "The Intelligent Heart: A Guide + to the Compassionate Life", published by Shambhala Publications +~ +Siddhis? Cities. + +Honolulu: a relaxed city, like an uncrowded bar where everyone is clean and +rested. + +Los Angeles: a scattered city, like a teenager's sexual curiosity. + +San Francisco: a clean city, like an elegant, genteel Christian graveyard. + +Santa Fe: a picturesque city, like a painter’ s bright, simple palette, +imitating Tibet. + +Boston: a sophisticated city, like London without queens and dukes and falling +bridges. + +New York: a no-more-nothingness city, +where gentle, quiet audiences sit in theaters listening to classical concerts; +where rough, noisy audiences sit in stadiums in pandemonium watching boxing; +where there are clean people with dirty minds; +where there are dirty people with clean minds; +where hundreds of nihilist people reject spiritual teachings; +where hundreds of spiritual teachers reject samsara's teachings; +where poor people sleep underground on low subway platforms; +where rich people sleep aboveground in high skyscraper penthouses; +where many non-practitioners stay for their nightclub retreat to find pleasure; +practitioners leave for their countryside retreat to find pleasure. + - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, from "A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan", + published by Shambhala Publications +~ +As a blind man feels when he finds a pearl in a dustbin, so am I amazed by the +miracle of awakening rising in my consciousness. It is the nectar of +immortality that delivers us from death, the treasure that lifts us above +poverty into the wealth of giving to life, the tree that gives shade to us +when we roam about scorched by life, the bridge that takes us across the +stormy river of life, the cool moon of compassion that calms our mind when it +is agitated, the sun that dispels darkness, the butter made from the milk of +kindness by churning it with the dharma. It is a feast of joy to which all +are invited. + -- from "Teachings of the Buddha", written by Shantideva, edited by Jack + Kornfield, published by Shambhala Publications +~ +Even though we may actually recognize the nature of awareness, we should not +hold on to that mindfulness tightly, thinking, “I have indeed recognized it." +If we do hold on to it tightly, it will be like when a thread is twisted too +taut: one cannot sew with it, because it knots up. In the same way, if one +is too tense, one's mindfulness will be obscured. If mindfulness is not +grasped too tightly but left in the natural flow, sometimes it will be clear +and sometimes not. But we should not get caught up in whether it is clear or +not. If genuine mindfulness is left without being altered, gradually we will +come to know, through our own experience, “This is awareness, and this is +ignorance; this is mind, and this is wisdom.” + -- Dilgo Khyentse, from "Primordial Purity", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ +He says Tibetans are unique because we value the practice of Buddhism. He +gives the example of Tibetan mothers who in the course of a day point +repeatedly toward suffering. They tell their children: don’t kill the ant, +it will suffer; don’t pour hot water on the soil, the earthworm will feel +the sting and the heat will cause it great pain; don’t pull the dog’s tail +so hard. We are told to think for the animals and insects who cannot voice +their pain but for whom suffering is as acute as it is for humans. From a +young age, he says, we are reminded that nobody is free from suffering. I +agree that my Tibetan friends are instinctively more likely to brush away +flies or mosquitoes instead of crushing or swatting them. But why is +compassion so important? What about our land, our independence? Will +compassion free our land? + -- Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, in "Coming Home to Tibet: A Memoir of Love, Loss, +and Belonging", published by Shambhala Publications +~ + At the end of every meditation session, recognize what kind of healing +experience you are feeling. You could be feeling peace, warmth, bliss, +spaciousness, boundlessness, richness, sacredness, or strength. If you have +multiple experiences, it can help to recognize the most prominent one. + The goal is to calmly enjoy the particular experience, resting in +awareness of what you are feeling, without grasping at it or analyzing it or +needing to think about it in words. Just remain one with the experience, in +open awareness, in silence, like water that has merged in water. + Purpose: This meditation is for sowing the seed of experience of the +meditation, not on the rough surface of concepts or afflicting emotions but at +the deeper and calmer level of the open mind. Merging your awareness with the +experience ensures the fruition of the meditation with greatest certainty. +Open awareness helps unite your mind with the result of healing. + This meditation could also lead to, or be, the awareness state of the +enlightened nature itself. + -- by Tulku Thondup, in "Boundless Healing", published by Shambhala Publications +~ + Amazing! + These precious freedoms and endowments are rare as a daytime star; + Even when found, like a candle flame in the wind, + They could vanish in an instant! + Pondering this, most people seem like mad sea captains. + + The root of practice is renunciation. + So if you don’t use the key points of mind training + To till the soil of your mind, hardened toward liberation, + When death comes and you beat your chest with regret, + it will be too late! + + -- Jigme Lingpa, from "Steps to the Great Perfection: The Mind-Training + Tradition of the Dzogchen Masters", published by Shambhala Publications +~ +We don’t have to try to surrender. That sounds too effortful. Then we will +have a surrender competition. There is going to be a spiritual marathon, a +spiritual Olympics, how about that? Indeed, there is a spiritual Olympics. +It is not officially announced. Many people are working really hard trying to +be the best meditator, the best ascetic, the most enlightened. So don’t try +to surrender with your personal will or deliberate effort. It sounds like too +much work, trying to surrender to everything. Instead, go inside. That is +all you need to do sometimes. Go inside and let yourself be in touch with +your heart. You know how to be in touch with your heart. Your heart is +waiting to be recognized. This is why the Tibetan masters often said there +are many forms or levels of meditation. The highest level is what they call +effortless meditation. When they teach how to meditate, especially the +masters from the Nyingma tradition, they always say, "Don’t do anything." +Rest in the present moment. Relax in the natural state of your mind, because +if you can relax, rest in the natural state of your own mind, then you will be +in touch with your own heart, with your original heart, with your innocent +heart, and then surrender is very easy because all of your heart wants it. + -- Anam Thubten, from "Embracing Each Moment: A Guide to the Awakened Life", + published by Shambhala Publications +~ + One day the Dalai Lama went to Ganden accompanied by his security agent +Kumbula. They went in ordinary clothes on ordinary horses and left Lhasa +traveling east. When they got to the ferries they met with an elderly man +heading back home from Lhasa where he had taken a load of wood on a donkey. +The Dalai Lama entered into a conversation with him. "Where are you off to?" +he asked. "I am going back home," the man replied. "I have taken a load of +wood to the Norbulinka to the kitchens there." This was when a new building +called the Chensel Palace was being constructed. New taxes had been +introduced to pay for it and part of the tax was the requisitioning of pack +animals to transport rocks. "He already has some very beautiful palaces but +still he is building a new one. People have to spend a lot of their time +there and use their animals for building this new palace. It is that fellow +Kumbula who decided yet another palace is needed in Norbulinka even though +there are a lot there already. He is not a bad fellow, this Kumbula," the old +man continued, "but he really does load up the ordinary people with his taxes +and requisitions. This fellow Kumbula, he always has to be starting some new +project or other, he is that sort of fellow." Now Kumbula was right there +with the Dalai Lama, and a bit later the old fellow started up again. "This +Kumbula is definitely too quick to start up new projects, if you ask me; but +you know, he is no fool either, and he is loyal to the Dalai Lama. He is +useful to the Dalai Lama, no doubt about that." The gist of his remarks was +that the ordinary man like himself found the taxation burdensome. The Dalai +Lama was very pleased with the conversation. + "Rinpoche," the old man said, thinking the Dalai Lama was just a +distinguished looking older monk, "have some tea with me." They had some tea +and tsampa together and then the old fellow pulled out a bottle of barley beer +and offered it to the Dalai Lama. "I am a monk, I do not drink beer," the +Dalai Lama protested. "Do not be silly," he said, "a lot of the monks are +drinking beer nowadays, go ahead and have a swig." "Is that so?" said the +Dalai Lama. "A lot of the monks nowadays are drinking beer are they?" "Piles +of them," the old fellow replied, "though I am pleased to see that you do not +accept my offer." After the old man had downed his beer with some bread he +was carrying, they set off in the direction of Ganden together, talking as +they went. As they began to approach Ganden, at the place called Dechen, they +caught sight of a large smoke offering and the monks of Ganden lined up to +welcome a special guest. The old fellow said, "They are making a big welcome +up there for someone today, I wonder who is coming." The Dalai Lama said, "I +am not positive, but I suspect it is for me." Then the old fellow began to +suspect that he was there with the Dalai Lama and he thought he had better +make a run for it. As he tried to flee the Dalai Lama caught hold of him and +would not let him go. He took the old man right in through the gates of +Ganden Monastery and told the people there not to let him leave, but to give +him a good meal and something excellent to drink. After he had been well-fed +and looked after, the Dalai Lama sent word to bring him. + The old man was beside himself with fear, thinking he was going to be +given a terrible punishment, but the Dalai Lama treated him as a friend and +told him to sit down, right opposite to where Kumbula was sitting. "Hey, old +fellow," he said, "I must introduce you to Kumbula. This is Kumbula." He was +overcome with embarrassment, but the Dalai Lama said that he should not be. +"You spoke your heart, you spoke what you felt was true and there is no shame +in that. You described faults as faults and good qualities as good qualities. +Some people only complain but you did not do that. Some, again, cover up +faults and say nothing but good and that is not right either. You spoke +honestly and openly, and I am very happy." He gave him fifty white silver +sangs as a parting gift, a large sum of money, and said that the problems +would be looked into. It was from then that the levies on the people for +Norbulinka building projects stopped. + -- Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, translated by Ven. Dr. Gareth Sparham, "Memoirs + of a Tibetan Lama", published by Shambhala Publications +~ +The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor +to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and +earnestly. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on +the present moment. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +You only lose what you cling to. -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Pain is certain, suffering is optional. -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it +at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to +die. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually wear +themselves out + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved +worrying will do you no good. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates +people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant +relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be +filled with joy. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on +what you think. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Wear your ego like a loose fitting garment. -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +People with opinions just go around bothering one another. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Greater in battle +than the man who would conquer +a thousand-thousand men, +is he who would conquer +just one-- +himself. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except your self. -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +With our thoughts we make the world. -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they +do you if you do not act on upon them? + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not +considered a good man because he is a good talker. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Silence is an empty space, space is the home of the awakened mind. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and +soul to it + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our +thoughts and made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil +thought, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the hoof of the beast that +draws the wagon... If a man speaks or acts with a good thought, happiness +follows him like a shadow that never leaves him. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +The mind is everything. What you think you become. -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +The fool who knows he is a fool is that much wiser. -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Every human being is the author of his own health or disease. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create +distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Three things can not hide for long: the Moon, the Sun, and the Truth. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe +in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe +in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do +not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. +Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many +generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything +agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, +then accept it and live up to it. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would +change. + -- Shakyamuni Buddha +~ +brain fully charged +(at lockn 2016...) + +It really seemed like every band built on the one just prior to it, so that as +each day moved on, the acts just generated more and more energy and awesome +music, storing it up in a celestial battery. the peak of it all for me was +the phish show on the last night, which was so high energy and saturated with +fun and healthy vibes that I felt like "i never need to feel fear again". +that feeling lasted for days after the festival was over. hopefully memory of +that thought never fades. +~ + Don’t become easily discouraged. If you never try to go beyond that +stage of initial discouragement because there are thoughts arising in your +meditation, you are never going to have the true experiences of meditation. +You need to go beyond that initial stage. You need to keep trying. If you +keep making that effort to go beyond that initial discouragement, you will +arrive at the experience of not getting caught up in your thoughts and mental +events. + Sometimes you may even observe an increase in the frequency of thoughts. +When that happens, don’t get discouraged. My enlightened master Jigme +Phuntsok Rinpoche says: + "One sign that your meditation is beginning to be effective is that both +subtle thoughts and obvious thoughts become more noticeable than before. This +is not a bad sign; it’s a good sign. When water rushes in a strong river +current, you don’t see the fish or rocks beneath the rapids. But when the +current slows and the water becomes clear, then you can see the fish, the +rocks, and everything below the surface distinctly. Similarly, if you never +pay attention to your mind, and your thoughts and emotions are uncontrolled, +you don’t even know how many thoughts go by. But when your mind becomes +more stable and calm, you begin to see your thoughts more clearly. Don’t be +discouraged. Take heart at this sign. Don’t hold yourself too loosely or +too tightly. Maintain your meditation in the right way without concern and +gradually your meditation experience will increase and stabilize." + Remember: Do not follow the past. Do not anticipate the future. Remain +in the present moment. Leave your mind alone. Those four simple, +straightforward instructions give us a chance to go beyond our mental events +and, eventually, to experience the natural state of mind. + -- Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche, in "Our Pristine Mind", published by Shambhala + Publications +~ + Knowing full well that his aim is to achieve enlightenment, Sujata adopts +a parallel program to help sustain him. Symbolically feeding Gautama with +each offering to the priests, she utters the dedication prayer, + May the Bodhisattva take my food and thereby truly attain perfect and +completely unexcelled awakening! + After six years of this, the gods notify her that Gautama has ceased his +austerities and urge her to take further action. Due to her abundant good +karma in past lives, she is preordained to serve him. Sujata sets to work +preparing the rice milk offering in the fashion of the one thousand cows +milked to feed the five hundred and so forth. In observing miracles around +the cooking pot, she prays that they foretell the Bodhisattva’s imminent +supreme awakening. She brings the rice porridge in a golden bowl to Gautama +where he is sitting along the river and offers it to him after reverentially +making prostrations. According to this story, the Bodhisattva regains his +former strength and splendor upon consuming Sujata’s excellent food. In +this version, it is his first meal after the six years of austerities and has +instantly restored him to wholeness. After bathing and meditating at the +river, Gautama proceeds to the tree of enlightenment. All these events have +taken place within the span of one day. + -- Wendy Garling, in "Stars at Dawn", published by Shambhala Publications