X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=infobase%2Ffortunes.dat;h=7465b0627080df51fffec85b161d9860add918cf;hb=db9cc1ec34d9f144aec42e5f772dcef12626345c;hp=14ea0722be7d027fd2103e28dfe28c4646cbf11a;hpb=0497cef10ceea311f1e7dfa9c2bbf86656760265;p=feisty_meow.git

diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat
index 14ea0722..7465b062 100644
--- a/infobase/fortunes.dat
+++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat
@@ -39611,7 +39611,7 @@ animosity, discouragement and reluctance to engage with the teachings.
      Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion Publications.
 ~
 Bodhichitta can be understood as a quality of intention, sometimes called a
-“great will.” This great will does not come from the ego; it is
+"great will." This great will does not come from the ego; it is
 paradoxically an intention that arises through the surrender of the ego.  As
 the ego lets go of its assumption that it has a real understanding of what is
 needed in the path of awakening, it surrenders to a deeper quality of will and
@@ -39865,3 +39865,55 @@ seals, even independently of Buddha's teachings, even never having heard the
 name Shakyamuni Buddha, can be considered to be on the same path as he.
   -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, from "What Makes You Not a Buddhist",
      published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+The self-centered thought is not who we are.  The self-centered thought is
+different from the mind that wants to be happy because we’re sentient
+beings.  Everybody wants to be happy.  There’s no problem with wanting to be
+happy.  The problem is the way the self-centered thought goes about thinking
+of our happiness and the way it goes about getting happiness.  It is a
+distorted mental state that can be eliminated by seeing its disadvantages,
+applying the antidotes, and cultivating the mind that cherishes others.
+  - Thubten Chodron, from "Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Living with
+    Wisdom and Compassion", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+  According to the sutras, numerous eons ago, when the Buddha was an ordinary
+being, he took rebirth in a hell realm.  He suffered gravely there as a result
+of his past negative karma.
+  He and a companion were forced to pull a wheel of fire on which a wrathful
+hell-guard was sitting, holding a burning club with which to beat them.  His
+companion was so weak that he couldn’t pull the wheel anymore.  The hell-
+guard stabbed his companion with a burning trident.  His companion kept crying
+loudly and bleeding profusely.  At that moment, with strong love and
+compassion, the Buddha developed enlightened aspiration, a vow to take
+responsibility for helping his companion and all the suffering beings from the
+depth of his heart, and he became a bodhisattva for the first time.
+  The bodhisattva begged the hell-guard, "Please have a little mercy on my
+suffering companion."  At that, in a rage the hellguard hit him with a
+burning trident.  Because of the power of his strong compassion, the
+bodhisattva died and was liberated from the hell-realm.  His evil deeds of
+many eons were purified instantly by the power of such enlightened aspiration.
+Thereafter, he started his journey toward the fully enlightened state of
+buddhahood.
+  -- Tulku Thondup, from "Incarnation: The History and Mysticism of the Tulku
+     Tradition of Tibet", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Below rocky cliffs,
+a vivid sense of impermanence and disenchantment dawns,
+clear and inspired, helping us to achieve
+the union of calm abiding and penetrating insight.
+  -- Longchenpa, from "The Life of Longchenpa: The Omniscient Dharma King of
+     the Vast Expanse", by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, published by Shambhala
+     Publications
+~
+From one point of view, personal liberation without freeing others is selfish
+and unfair, because all sentient beings also have the natural right and desire
+to be free of suffering.  Therefore, it is important for practitioners to
+engage in the practice of the stages of the path of the highest scope,
+starting with the generation of bodhichitta, the altruistic aspiration to
+achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.  Once one has
+cultivated bodhichitta, all the meritorious actions that are supported by and
+complemented with this altruism—even the slightest form of positive
+action—become causes for the achievement of omniscience.
+  -- H. H. the Dalai Lama, from "The Fourteenth Dalai Lama in A Beginner’s
+     Guide to Meditation: Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary
+     Buddhist Teachers", published by Shambhala Publications