X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=infobase%2Ffortunes.dat;h=be05d8339438ed8f27bc002c691a80b2a3463606;hb=42fc4d3fd60ae9e1791c52a507c220eec8f39fb9;hp=973bc15cf0672a53cc1f341a2c337b4431da28ff;hpb=9898bee183c5a8230368b7c5a4d165e452534939;p=feisty_meow.git

diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat
index 973bc15c..be05d833 100644
--- a/infobase/fortunes.dat
+++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat
@@ -40500,4 +40500,81 @@ Middle Way view that all phenomena are emptiness, helps us transform our
 confused consciousness into perfect wisdom.
   -- Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso, in "Stars of Wisdom", published by Shambhala
      Publications
+~
+  Egolessness is not the same as self-extinction.  We do not cease to exist,
+but we come to know more about ourselves.  Realizing that there is no
+unchanging self can in fact be an enriching experience.  The path consists of
+working with ourselves so that gradually, by overcoming the various
+inhibitions, confusions, and delusions of the mind, we start to develop more
+insight into our own nature.
+  When we look at ourselves in the present moment, we see all kinds of
+confusions and defilements in our mind.  Yet the possibility of overcoming all
+that and becoming enlightened is a reality.  Our own lives become enriched
+from having undertaken this journey.  So it’s important not to mistranslate
+this concept of selflessness or nonexistence of ego.  To say that we do not
+exist at all is the nihilistic view, which the Buddha rejected completely.
+  -- Traleg Kyabgon, from "The Essence of Buddhism: An Introduction to Its
+     Philosophy and Practice", published by Shambhala Publications
+##Karma is basically habit.  It’s the momentum of repeated actions that
+become habitual.  It’s in our best interest to develop as many positive
+habits as we can.  In the Mahanama Sutta, the Buddha said, “Just as oil
+rises to the top of a pot submerged in water, your virtue, your goodness, your
+faith, or generosity will rise to the top, and that is what will carry you to
+your next destination.”
+~
+  Karma is basically habit.  It’s the momentum of repeated actions that
+become habitual.  It’s in our best interest to develop as many positive
+habits as we can.  In the Mahanama Sutta, the Buddha said, “Just as oil
+rises to the top of a pot submerged in water, your virtue, your goodness, your
+faith, or generosity will rise to the top, and that is what will carry you to
+your next destination.”
+  Try to get to the point where your emotional default is into bodhichitta.
+In other words, what is your automatic reflex to life situations, especially
+difficult ones?  Do you think about yourself, and how you might profit or
+escape from a situation?  Or do you think about others, and how you can help?
+Progress on the path, and a sign that you’re well prepared for death, is
+when the former changes into the latter, when you default not into selfishness
+but into selflessness.  If you’re uncertain about what to do in a situation,
+just open your heart and love.  This is training in bodhichitta.
+  -- Andrew Holecek, from "Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual
+     Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition", published by Shambhala
+     Publications
+~
+When you explain or hear the teachings, if your mind and the teachings remain
+separate, then whatever is explained will be inconsequential.  Hence, listen
+in such a way that you determine how these teachings apply to your mind.  For
+example, when you want to find out whether or not there is some smudge, dirt,
+or whatever, on your face, you look in a mirror and then remove whatever is
+there.  Similarly, when you listen to the teachings, your faults such as
+misconduct and attachment appear in the mirror of the teachings.  At that
+time, you regret that your mind has become like this, and you then work to
+clear away those faults and establish good qualities.
+  -- Tsong-kha-pa, from "The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to
+     Enlightenment, Volume 1", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+We work hard to bring happiness and peace into our lives, but there is no way
+to achieve real peace through material goods alone.  Perhaps we can accomplish
+a little artificial joy and happiness, but these don’t last long.  Truly
+substantial and lasting happiness and peace can be established only by
+exercising our inner mind with the precious Dharma teachings.  This is the
+purpose of our meditation practice, and this is what Jigten Sumgön taught.
+Mental afflictions and neuroses can be pacified only through the Dharma.
+Dharma is the ultimate remedy for confusion.
+  -- Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, "Opening the Treasure of the Profound",
+     published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+    The purpose of practice is to habituate ourselves to openness.  This means
+we need to understand reactive mind.  How do we experience the difference
+between reacting and staying open?
+    At what point do we decide to go with the habitual tendencies of
+exaggeration and denial or try something new?  Where is the fork in the road?
+We need to explore these two experiences: reacting... staying open...
+reacting... staying open... reacting... staying open again.  We begin to see
+the difference.  It’s a process of refinement.  Our investigation cultivates
+a discerning intelligence that guides us in a positive direction.
+    We need to ask ourselves: "If our confusion finds its genesis in our
+habit of turning away from the open state, what would happen if we habituated
+ourselves to staying open?"
+  -- Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, "The Power of an Open Question: The Buddha’s
+     Path to Freedom", published by Shambhala Publications