new fortune

diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat
index e0afccec3fc9244e3793382f8862543b6f35ae95..ed1724a5e405d5a3bf8fa6b5cb4b08bcd270a069 100644 (file)
--- a/infobase/fortunes.dat
+++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat
@@ -43262,4 +43262,79 @@ It is better to make an effort.  We have to develop endeavor.
      on The Way of the Bodhisattva", The Bodhisattva Guide was originally
      published as For the Benefit of All Beings, also published by Shambhala
      Publications
+~
+        I am not angry with my bile and other humors—
+        Fertile source of suffering and pain!
+        So why should living beings give offence,
+        They likewise are impelled by circumstance?
+
+    Suffering may result from both animate and inanimate causes.  We may curse
+inanimate things like the weather, but it is with animate beings that we most
+often get angry.  If we analyze these animate causes that make us unhappy, we
+find that they are themselves influenced by other conditions.  They are not
+making us angry simply because they want to.  In this respect, because they
+are influenced by other conditions, they are in fact powerless.  So there is
+no need to get angry with them.
+
+  -- H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, from "The Bodhisattva Guide: A
+     Commentary on The Way of the Bodhisattva", published by Shambhala
+     Publications
+~
+I am not contained between my hat and boots.
+  --Walt Whitman
+~
+These delightful mountain solitudes
+Are like the family estate to the supreme guide’s heirs,
+And, as the best of protectors himself has said,
+To rely on solitude is indeed the pinnacle of joys!
+
+Forests, hermitages, and isolated dwelling places—
+These are the outer solitude of the Victor’s heirs.
+Avoiding selfishness and fainthearted fears—
+This is the bodhisattvas’ internal isolation.
+
+Keeping, therefore, to outer forms of solitude,
+Tame the inner afflictions through tranquility and insight
+And aspire to the supreme conduct of Samantabhadra—
+Possessing such good fortune one is truly the Buddha’s heir.
+
+With sweetly cascading mountain streams,
+Rocky mountain shelters ascending to heaven,
+And gently falling dewdrops of whitest moonlight,
+This mountain retreat surpasses even the deva realm.
+
+The dance of the slender trees does not stir the passions,
+And sweet birdsong brings neither attachment nor aversion,
+Enveloped in nonconceptuality’s gentle, cooling shade—
+Such youthful companionship is surely better than a silent void!
+
+Undisturbed by noisy chatter, that thorn in meditation’s side,
+Alone in this excellent place of unattended solitude,
+The old monkey of the mind has nowhere left to roam
+And, settling down within, finds satisfaction.
+
+Under the bright, oppressive sunlight of busy, bustling crowds,
+Our faults and unhelpful thoughts eclipse the constellations,
+But when embraced by threefold solitude’s cooling nectar beams,
+Such faults can easily be overcome through proper antidotes.
+
+When it is undisturbed by rippling thoughts of sadness,
+The pool-like surface of the mind is still, unmoving,
+And faith and compassion’s reflections readily arise.
+In such constancy, what need is there for a companion?
+
+If the mirror of mind is wiped clean, time and again,
+And uncluttered with objects or circumstances,
+Study, reflection, and meditation present a clear impression.
+What is there to prevent the dawn of Dharma’s light?
+
+Hunger, thirst, cold, and the like—all forms of physical affliction—
+Together with sadness, fear, and all such mental suffering,
+Can, through the teachings, enhance the purifying path
+And, unburdened by avoidance or indulgence, adorn the mind!      
+
+  -- Patrul Rinpoche, from "Beyond the Ordinary Mind: Dzogchen, Rimé, and the
+     Path of Perfect Wisdom", Translated by Adam Pearcey, published by
+     Shambhala Publications
+