Buddhism-Buddhism

The path

Comment August 16, 2015

Walking upon this path you will make an end of suffering. Having discovered how to pull out the thorn of lust, I make known the path. You yourselves must strive; the Buddhas only point the way. Those meditative ones who tread the path are released from the bonds of Mara. All conditioned things are impermanent — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. ~Dhammapada
The yellow robe

Comment August 16, 2015

He who wishes to put on the yellow robe without having cleansed himself from sin, who disregards temperance and truth, is unworthy of the yellow robe. ~Dhammapada
Joy — sukkha

Comment August 16, 2015

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

Joy, the Pali word sukkha (Sanskrit su-kha) is usually translated as happiness. As the opposite of duhkha, however, it connotes the end of all suffering, a state of being that is not subject to the ups and downs of change – that is, abiding joy. It would be difficult to find a more thoroughly researched definition of joy than the Buddha’s. If we can trust that at least the outline of truth remains in the legends of his life, then his questionings just before going forth to the Four Noble Sights were chiefly concerned with the search for absolute joy. What anyone could want of worldly happiness, Prince Siddhartha surely had, with the promise of much more. But the young prince scrutinized the content of worldly happiness much more closely than the rest of us, and his conclusion was that what people called joy was a house of cards perched precariously on certain preconditions. When these preconditions are fulfilled, the pleasure we feel lasts but a moment, for the nature of human experience is to change. And when they are not fulfilled, there is longing and a frustratingly elusive sense of loss; we grasp for what we do not have and nurse the gnawing desire to have it again. To try to hold on to anything – a thing, a person, an event, a position – merely exposes us to its loss. Anything that changes, the Buddha concluded, anything in our experience that consists of or is conditioned by component sensations – the Buddha’s word was samskaras – produces sorrow, not joy. Experience promises happiness, but it delivers only.

~Anonymous, The Dhammapada
Thach Setha and delegation in Italy

Comment August 15, 2015

Thach Setha, KKC & KYAD delegation in Italy August 14, 2015. លោក ថាច់ សេដ្ឋា និងគណៈប្រតិភូ KKC & KYAD អញ្ជើញទៅធ្វើទស្សនកិច្ច ប្រទេសអ៊ីតាលី នៅថ្ងៃទី១៤ សីហា។ Photos courtesy: Karana Jet, Vann Vannarin

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A chain of fragrant flowers

Comment August 14, 2015

A chain of fragrant flowers, these snow mountains are tranquil and fresh.
In a healing land where white incense rises sweet,
May the gracious beauty of luminous moonbeams,
Light of the spiritual and temporal worlds,
Conquer all strife, the darkness of the shadow side.

~His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje
The Karma of Killing Animals

Comment August 13, 2015

by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Animals have feelings. They have the same mind as we have, and also want happiness, like we do. For example, if you suddenly touch them, they are immediately frightened. They get frightened if somebody beats or hits them with a stick. We also get frightened. If somebody throws cold water on our body, suddenly we feel a shock. It is the same for animals. They have the same mind, and it is very important what happens to them.

Even if they can’t speak, can’t express themselves, animals can show their fear through their body. For example, they try to run away. Human beings can talk and complain, and they can bring court cases. Human beings can report things to the police. Human beings can do so much, but animals can’—they can do nothing. They can’t express their suffering. Human beings can talk about their fears. Whether other people accept your suffering or not, at least you can explain it and the other person can hear. Animals can’t, but you can see how they feel from their movements. If someone tries to attacks them, they run away. They are afraid, which means they want happiness and not suffering. This is a very important point, that they have the same mind as us. If you kill them, you create the negative karma to be like them. For one hundred thousand lifetimes, you will have the karma to be born as an animal. For many thousands of lifetimes, you will suffer the consequences.

It is said in the teachings that if you kill one animal, because of that karma, you will be killed five hundred times by others. You will suffer in very hot hell realm for one thousand eons. It is also good to ask yourself how it would be if somebody killed you with a knife. How would you feel in that situation? For example, if you put your finger in hot water, can you bear that? You can’t bear it. It’s the same when you kill animals. There is no good result from it. There is no question about that.

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A principle of harmony

Comment August 13, 2015

Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don’t struggle against it,
we are in harmony with reality. ~Pema Chodron
Offer only understand and compassion

Comment August 13, 2015

If you do not know how to take care of yourself, and the violence in you, then you will not be able to take care of others. You must have love and patience before you can truly listen to your partner or child. If you are irritated you cannot listen. You have to know how to breath mindfully, embrace your irritation and transform it. Offer only understand and compassion to your partner or child – This is the true practice of love. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
The Beginning Is the End

Comment August 13, 2015

When we’re born we’re already dead, you know. Aging and death are the same thing. It’s like a tree. Part of it’s the base; part of it’s the end at the tip. When there’s a base, there’s an end. When there’s an end, there’s a base. When there’s no base, there’s no end. When there’s an end, there has to be a base. An end without a base: That can’t be. That’s how it is.

So it’s kind of amusing. When a person dies, we’re sad and upset. We sit and cry, grieving — all kinds of things. That’s delusion. It’s delusion, you know. When a person dies we sob and cry. That’s the way it’s been since who knows when. We don’t stop to examine this carefully. Actually — and excuse me for saying this — it appears to me that if you’re going to cry when a person dies, it’d be better to cry when a person is born. But we have it all backwards. When a child is born, people beam and laugh from happiness. But actually birth is death. Death is birth. The beginning is the end; the end is the beginning. ~Ajahn Chah Continue reading →
Love without trust is not yet love

Comment August 11, 2015

When you love someone, you have to have trust and confidence. Love without trust is not yet love. Of course, first you have to have trust, respect, and confidence in yourself. Trust that you have a good and compassionate nature. You are part of the universe; you are made of stars. When you look at your loved one, you see that he is also made of stars and carries eternity inside. Looking in this way, we naturally feel reverence. True love cannot be without trust and respect for oneself and for the other person. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

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