From: Chris Koeritz Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2017 22:15:58 +0000 (-0400) Subject: new fortunes X-Git-Tag: 2.140.90~160 X-Git-Url: https://feistymeow.org/gitweb/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=78df379aa0eabf30e71969e468aa9b232a570743;p=feisty_meow.git new fortunes --- diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat index b2f713a9..8c1caadf 100644 --- a/infobase/fortunes.dat +++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat @@ -42772,3 +42772,94 @@ carried by warriors that vanquish all the enemy hosts. -- Machik Lapdrön, "Chöd: The Sacred Teachings on Severence", by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, translated by Sarah Harding, published by Shambhala Publications +~ +The system of two truths is propounded solely for didactic purposes, as an +entry to the path. On the ultimate level, the division into two truths has no +place. There is only the inconceivable dharmadhātu, pure suchness, the +ultimate mode of being. As it is written in the sutra, + + There is but one truth: absence of all origin, + Yet some will crow about there being four. + But in the essence of enlightenment, + Not one is found—why speak of four? + +But whereas on the ultimate level, the two truths are not posited, on the +relative level, they are. For there is certainly a difference between the way +things are and the way they appear. As was said earlier, "These the two +truths are declared to be." + -- The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham’s Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of + The Way of the Bodhisattva, translated by the Padmakara Translation + Group, published by Shambhala Publications +~ + People who embark upon the path of the Mahayana, the supreme path of +beings of great scope leading to omniscience, should try to acquire four +circumstances. They should (1) live in solitude, in a place that has all the +necessary conditions and is in harmony with the Dharma. They should (2) +frequent a teacher who is learned in the Tripitaka and steeped in the practice +of the three trainings. By doing this, they will avoid the inferior attitudes +of ordinary folk as well as the wrong behavior that leads to suffering, and +they will acquire all the good qualities deriving from the Dharma of +transmission and realization. They should in addition (3) nourish an intense +wish to practice in accordance with the teaching expounded by their master and +should (4) zealously adopt the supreme protection afforded by the merit +accumulated in their past and present existences. The venerable Nagarjuna +refers to these four conditions as the ‘‘four wheels,’’ the idea being +that, just as someone riding in a (horse-drawn) chariot can cover in a short +time a distance that would take many days for a cow or ox, a Bodhisattva +taking advantage of these four conditions will progress speedily toward +omniscience. Nagarjuna refers to them in his Suhrllekha when he says: + + Your dwelling place befits the task, + You keep the company of holy beings. + With highest aspirations and a store of merit, + You have indeed the ‘‘four wheels’’ all complete. + + -- from "Treasury of Precious Qualities, Book One: Sutra Teachings", by + Jigme Lingpa, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, published + by Shambhala Publications +~ + + We are far removed from eighth-century Tibet, where we meet her, but +Yeshé Tsogyal continues to be present and available. She lives outside +linear time, but visits it: her limitless emanations form a bridge from her +lifetime to the present. She promised to remain accessible to any spiritual +seeker wishing to follow her lead. In her own words, + + And so, from now until the scouring of samsara, + My stream of emanations, primary and secondary, + Will flow unceasing. + Especially to those who in the future meditate + Upon the subtle veins and energies, + I’ll show myself--at best directly, + Else in visions, or at least in dreams, + Appearing as a common person, or as the secret consort. + I shall clear the obstacles of those who keep samaya, + Bringing progress to their practice, + Helping to attain with speed the blissful warmth and thence + accomplishment. + + As promised, she continuously appears to lead and inspire the faithful in +dreams, visions, and real life. As well, her human reincarnations ceaselessly +return to the world, guiding others in whatever capacity is needed. + -- from "The Life and Visions of Yeshé Tsogyal", by Drimé Kunga and Yeshé + Tsogyal Translated by Chönyi Drolma, published by Shambhala Publications +~ + It is impossible to conceive how many beings, from beginningless time in +samsara, have been related to us--as parents, as enemies, or as people +indifferent to us. In fact, all beings have been linked to us in these three +ways innumerable times. When they were our enemies, they injured us; when +they were our parents or our friends, they cherished and aided us; when they +were neither, they ignored us. It would be impossible to calculate the number +of relationships that we have experienced. Once when the noble Katyayana went +begging for alms, he came across a group of people and, perceiving the karmic +links that bound them together, commented: + + He strikes his mother, eats his father’s flesh; + His hated foe he dandles on his lap. + Here is a wife that sucks her husband’s bones-- + At this samsara how can I not laugh? + + -- from "Treasury of Precious Qualities, Book One: Sutra Teachings", by + Jigme Lingpa, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, published + by Shambhala Publications +