1. The very essence of all Dharma

    Comment

    If someone has compassion, he is a Buddha;
    Without compassion, he is a Lord of Death.

    With compassion, the root of Dharma is planted,
    Without compassion, the root of Dharma is rotten.

    One with compassion is kind even when angry,
    One without compassion will kill even as he smiles.

    For one with compassion, even his enemies will turn into friends,
    Without compassion, even his friends turn into enemies.

    With compassion, one has all Dharmas,
    Without compassion, one has no Dharma at all.

    With compassion, one is a Buddhist,
    Without compassion, one is worse than a heretic.

    Even if meditating on voidness, one needs compassion as its essence.
    A Dharma practitioner must have a compassionate nature.

    Compassion is the distinctive characteristic of Buddhism.
    Compassion is the very essence of all Dharma.

    Great compassion is like a wish-fulfilling gem.
    Great compassion will fulfill the hopes of self and others.

    Therefore, all of you, practitioners and laypeople,
    Cultivate compassion and you will achieve Buddhahood.

    May all men and women who hear this song,
    With great compassion, benefit all beings!

    ~ Shabkar

  2. Look at your own eyes without using a mirror

    Comment

    A great teacher of meditation once said, “Meditating is trying to look at your own eyes without using a mirror.” That’s a very mysterious statement. How can we look at our own eyes without a mirror? The idea stops us in our tracks. But maybe we can explore that in our practice. The only way to solve this riddle is just to be there. ~ Chögyam Trungpa

  3. What the Buddha taught

    Comment

    Just as a grammarian first has students
    Read a model of the alphabet,
    Buddha taught students
    The doctrine that they could bear.

    To some he taught doctrines
    To turn them away from ill-deeds.
    To some, for the sake of achieving merit.
    To some, doctrines based on duality.

    To some, doctrines based on non-duality.
    To some, what is profound and frightening to the fearful –
    Having an essence of emptiness and compassion –
    The means of achieving unsurpassed enlightenment.

    ~ Nagarjuna

  4. Dharma is the truth of the reality

    Comment

    The dharma is based on honesty, on not having self-deception of any kind. When the dharma says blue, it is blue; when it says red, it is red. Dharma is like saying fire is hot, or the sky is blue: it is speaking the truth. The difference is that dharma is the truth of the reality of the journey toward freedom. Saying that red is red does not particularly liberate you from seeing green or yellow. But when dharma speaks about reality, we see that it is worth stepping out of our little world of habitual patterns, our little nest. In that way, the dharma brings greater vision. ~ Chögyam Trungpa

  5. Forgiveness will not be possible until compassion is born in our heart

    Comment

    Forgiveness will not be possible until compassion is born in our heart. Even if you want to forgive, you cannot forgive. In order to be compassionate, you have to understand why the other person has done that to you and your people. You have to see that they are victims of their own confusion, their own worldview, their own grieving, their own discrimination, their own lack of understanding and compassion. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

    Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

     

  6. If you are filled with anger…

    Comment

    If you are filled with anger, you create more suffering for yourself than for the other person. When you are inhabited by the energy of anger, you want to punish, you want to destroy. That is why those who are wise do not want to say anything or do anything while the anger is still in them. So you try to bring peace into yourself first. When you are calm, when you are lucid, you will see that the other person is a victim of confusion, of hate, of violence transmitted by society, by parents, by friends, by the environment. When you are able to see that, your anger is no longer there. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

     

  7. The highest state of meditation is Samadhi

    Comment

    The highest state of meditation is Samadhi, where there is no ego anymore, no doubts, no me, no you, no notion of time, no eating, no talking, no walking, no working and not doing anything at all, realizing that the Self is action-less. ~Dharma Mittra

     

  8. Just as you feel love for your mother of this life…

    Comment

    Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

    Just as you think of your mother in this life, therefore,
    Contemplate the suffering and hardship
    Of all those poor beings who were your mothers before,
    And shed tears for them all, again and again.

    Just as you feel love for your mother of this life,
    Generate love for all beings, your mothers from the past,
    And arouse compassion and bodhichitta too —
    With this, you will enter the ranks of the Mahayana.

    Again and again, bring to mind all the kindness
    Of beings of the six classes, your own kind parents.
    If you care for them like your mother of this life,
    They will love you too, as their very own child.

    ~ Shabkar

  9. Expectations make you restless

    Comment

    It’s a mistake to expect benefits from any pose. Expectations make you restless because if you fail to get what you expect, you feel miserable. Yoga practice is an act of adoration to the Lord. You do it because it has to be done. If you have this mental attitude, your selfishness disappears and the benefits come. ~Dharma Mittra

    Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

Live & Die for Buddhism

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Me & Grandma

My Reflection

This site is a tribute to Buddhism. Buddhism has given me a tremendous inspiration to be who and where I am today. Although I came to America at a very young age, however, I never once forget who I am and where I came from. One thing I know for sure is I was born as a Buddhist, live as a Buddhist and will leave this earth as a Buddhist. I do not believe in superstition. I only believe in karma.

A Handful of Leaves

A Handful of Leaves

Tipitaka: The pali canon (Readings in Theravada Buddhism). A vast body of literature in English translation the texts add up to several thousand printed pages. Most -- but not all -- of the Canon has already been published in English over the years. Although only a small fraction of these texts are available here at Access to Insight, this collection can nonetheless be a very good place to start.

Major Differences

Major Differences in Buddhism

Major Differences in Buddhism: There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments on a supposedly Judgement Day ...read more

Problems we face today

jendhamuni pink scarfnature

Of the many problems we face today, some are natural calamities and must be accepted and faced with equanimity. Others, however, are of our own making, created by misunderstanding, and can be corrected...

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