new fortunes

diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat
index 07892d41f09efed7c2dd6f7b3a070a0b91ce7204..b0eb78442a37cc9b57902ac28cfb7a7385a025ae 100644 (file)
--- a/infobase/fortunes.dat
+++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat
@@ -43591,4 +43591,48 @@ power of universal compassion delivers the realization of the true view.
 That’s when we have truly become students of the Dharma.
   -- Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, from "Sadness, Love, Openness: The Buddhist
      Path of Joy", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Buddha qualities are indivisible.
+The disposition is attained as it is.
+The true state is [always] free from any fickleness and deceit.
+Since beginningless time the nature has been peace itself.
+
+Direct perfect enlightenment [with regard to] all aspects,
+and abandonment of the stains along with their imprints
+[are called] buddha and nirvana respectively.
+In truth, these are not two different things.   
+
+  -- Maitreya, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, and
+     Asanga in "Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra with Commentary",
+     Translated by Rosemarie Fuchs, published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+Like vines that wrap themselves round sandal trees,
+People who keep company with holy ones
+Become, in their turn, holy.
+
+And like kusha grass left in a fetid marsh,
+People who keep company with evil beings
+Will in their turn be evil.
+
+So keep the company of holy beings
+And from bad teachers strive to keep your distance.
+
+  -- Longchenpa, in "Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind, The Trilogy of
+     Rest, Volume 1",  Translated by Padmakara Translation Group, published by
+     Shambhala Publications
+~
+Thinking about the self as composed of “aggregates” (Skt.  skandha) can
+help us reflect on our personal identity in new ways.  Generally, we attribute
+characteristics to our personal identity, feeling that it is solid, permanent,
+and real.  But here, describing the self as being composed of aggregates can
+help us see ourselves more accurately.  The word skandha can be translated
+literally as “heap.” This definition, when applied to ourselves, can help
+us see that we do not have a cohesive, real, and solid self.  We are just a
+heap of stuff — flesh, blood, veins, nerves, bones, hair, cartilage, and so
+on.  When we sort through this heap, what are we actually?  None of the
+elements of the heap is actually “me.”  We are a mere mishmash of material
+conditions that we have identified with and labeled “I.”
+  -- Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo, in "Stop Biting the Tail
+     You're Chasing: Using Buddhist Mind Training to Free Yourself from Painful
+     Emotional Patterns" published by Shambhala Publications