new fortunes.

diff --git a/database/fortunes.dat b/database/fortunes.dat
index 8db68eac4e97266b9461f2dd54baf816aca5ed8b..b1e6a42f30667092030b5af33e0477f180212680 100644 (file)
--- a/database/fortunes.dat
+++ b/database/fortunes.dat
@@ -37628,3 +37628,55 @@ an example for accomplishing the path.(p.150)
      Rinpoche", with commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kyabje Kangyur
      Rinpoche, translated by The Padmakara Translation Group, published by
      Snow Lion Publications
      Rinpoche", with commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kyabje Kangyur
      Rinpoche, translated by The Padmakara Translation Group, published by
      Snow Lion Publications

+~
+Our sense of self
+
+  As long as we cling to some notion of objective existence--the idea that
+something actually exists in a concrete, identifiable way--emotions such as
+desire and aversion will follow.  When we see something we like--a beautiful
+watch, for example--we perceive it as having some real quality of existence
+among its parts.  We see the watch not as a collection of parts, but as an
+existing entity with a specific quality of watch-ness to it.  And if it's a
+fine mechanical timepiece, our perception is enhanced by qualities that are
+seen to exist definitely as part of the nature of the watch.  It is as a
+result of this misperception of the watch that our desire to possess it
+arises.
+  In a similar manner, our aversion to someone we dislike arises as a result
+of attributing inherent negative qualities to the person.  When we relate this
+process to how we experience our own sense of existence--how the thought "I"
+or "I am" arises--we notice that it invariably does so in relation to some
+aspect of our physical or mental aggregates.
+  Our notion of ourselves is based upon a sense of our physical and emotional
+selves.  What's more, we feel that these physical and mental aspects of
+ourselves exist inherently.  My body is not something of which I doubt the
+specificity.  There is a body-ness as well as a me-ness about it that very
+evidently exists.  It seems to be a natural basis for my identifying my body
+as "me." Our emotions such as fear are similarly experienced as having a valid
+existence and as being natural bases for our identifying ourselves as "me."
+Both our loves and our hates serve to deepen the self sense.  Even the mere
+feeling "I'm cold" contributes to our sense of being a solid and legitimate
+"I."(p.61)
+  -- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday
+     Life", edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Richard Gere
+~
+  In the Mahayana, there exist the vows of the Bodhisattva... but in Dzogchen,
+there exist no such rules or vows.
+  When the Indian Buddhist master Atisa came to Tibet in the eleventh century,
+he met the famous Tibetan translator Rinchen Zangpo.  Atisa asked him how he
+practiced the Tantras which he had translated, and he replied that he
+practiced them meticulously one after the other.  But Atisa told him that this
+was not the correct way.  He pointed out to the translator that all of the
+Tantras could be condensed and integrated into a single Upadesa and one need
+only practise that in order to maintain all of the transmissions which he had
+received.
+  The same is true with Dzogchen.  If we really understand this single
+teaching here which comes directly from Guru Padmasambhava, we can attain
+liberation.  But we must grasp this vital core of the teaching.  No matter
+what we are doing, which ever among the four modes of behavior--walking,
+sitting, lying down, or eating, we must always hold to awareness, never
+forgetting, never losing this awareness.  This is the real meaning of Rigdzin,
+one who is totally aware.  In Dzogchen, there is only one rule--always be
+aware in whatever we do, never be distracted!(p.68)
+  -- "Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness", translation and
+     commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds, foreword by Namkhai Norbu,
+     published by Snow Lion Publications