From eed46848c60b504f49bc168c65b3eb69f5cb28b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chris Koeritz Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:38:14 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] new fortunes --- database/fortunes.dat | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+) diff --git a/database/fortunes.dat b/database/fortunes.dat index 2c6e739e..8f0d22e8 100644 --- a/database/fortunes.dat +++ b/database/fortunes.dat @@ -37532,3 +37532,33 @@ control over how one will be reborn, it is possible to take what is called -- H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace", translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications +~ + Without an acute awareness of our personal suffering and a deep, heartfelt +determination to be completely rid of both this suffering and its causes, +there is no way to begin the spiritual quest authentically. For just as +Prince Siddhartha's sudden and unexpected visions of old age, sickness and +death shocked him out of mistaking the world to be a pleasure palace, so too +must all spiritual seekers confront the unsatisfactory nature of their lives +so directly that they become thoroughly disenchanted with the ordinary human +condition. + If we do not take a long, hard look at the uncomfortable truths of our +impermanent existence, we can easily waste the time between now and our +inevitable death in essentially worthless pursuits, never taking advantage of +this precious opportunity to do something truly meaningful with our life. +Like the foolish prisoner who becomes so accustomed to the confines of his +cell that he turns a blind eye to all chances of escape, we shall be +condemning ourselves to spiritual stagnation and the endlessly recurring +miseries of cyclic existence. + Yet it is not enough merely to become discontent with our present condition; +everyone experiences discontent at one time or another but very few do +anything of real significance about it. In fact, the usual ways of dealing +with problems and disappointment--blaming them on someone else or drowning +them in forgetfulness--only bind us tighter to the wheel of suffering. What +we must do is recognize that the true causes of all our misery lie rooted in +our own ignorant misconceptions and that these can only be eradicated through +the development of a clear, penetrating insight into the nature of reality. +Only through the continued cultivation of such penetrating wisdom will it +eventually be possible to attain liberation from all states of existence +conditioned by ignorance and be free of suffering.(p.45) + -- "Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practice", by Jonathan Landaw + and Andy Weber, published by Snow Lion Publications -- 2.34.1