Buddhism-Buddhism

The Wise Man

Comment July 26, 2015

The wise man tells you
Where you have fallen
And where you yet may fall-
Invaluable secrets!
Follow him, follow the way.

Let him chasten and teach you
And keep you from mischief.
The world may hate him.
But good men love him.

Do not look for bad company
Or live with men who do not care.
Find friends who love the truth.

Drink deeply.
Live in serenity and joy.
The wise man delights in the truth
And follows the law of the awakened.

The farmer channels water to his land.
The fletcher whittles his arrows.
And the carpenter turns his wood.
So the wise man directs his mind.

The wind cannot shake a mountain.
Neither praise nor blame moves the wise man.

He is clarity.
Hearing the truth,
He is like a lake,
Pure and tranquil and deep. Continue reading →
Balanced Life

Comment July 25, 2015

Your own interests and your own life will be balanced only when they include both the well-being of yourself and others. Any wholesome undertaking necessarily includes a desire to benefit others. If an undertaking is egocentric and full of self-cherishing, then that balance will be extremely difficult to find and maintain. ~ 17th Karmapa
It’s in your eyes, your smile…

Comment July 23, 2015

Beauty isn’t in the clothes you wear, or the way you look.
It’s in your eyes, your smile, and your laugh. It’s the way
you breathe in life. Beauty is living in spite of everything
out there that tries to pull you down. ~Unknown
Don’t be in a hurry to judge

Comment July 22, 2015

‘No matter how long we listen to a teacher talk about the truth we won’t know or see that truth just from listening. If we did it would be only through guesswork or conjecture.’

‘Even though simply listening to the Dhamma may not lead to realization, it is beneficial. In the Buddha’s time there were those who arrived at the highest realization while listening to a discourse. But those people were already highly developed. It’s like a football. When a football is pumped up with air it expands. Now the air in that football is all pushing to get out, but there’s no hole for it to do so. As soon as a no needle punctures the football the air comes bursting out.’

‘Don’t be in a hurry to judge whether this teaching is right or wrong. Just listen to it first. If I were to give you all a fruit and tell you it’s delicious, you should take note of my words, but don’t believe me offhand, because you haven’t tasted it yet. The teaching I give you today is the same. If you want to know whether the fruit is sweet or sour you have to slice a piece off and taste it. Then you will know its taste for yourself.’ ~Ajahn Chah

Dragonflys. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt
Once we rid ourselves of wrong view

Comment July 22, 2015

Buddha once saw a jackal, a wild dog, run out of the forest where he was staying. It stood still for a while, then it ran into the underbrush, and then out again. Then it ran into a tree hollow, then out again. Then it went into a cave, only to run out again. One minute it stood, the next it ran, then it lay down, then it jumped up. The jackal had the mange. When it stood, the mange would eat into its skin, so it would run. Running, it was still uncomfortable, so it would stop. Standing, it was still uncomfortable, so it would lie down. Then it would jump up again, running to the underbrush, the tree hollow, never staying still. The Buddha said, “Monks, did you see that jackal this afternoon? Standing, it suffered. Running, it suffered. Sitting, it suffered. Lying down, it suffered. It blamed standing for its discomfort. It blamed sitting. It blamed running and lying down. It blamed the tree, the underbrush, and the cave. In fact, the problem was with none of those things. The problem was with his mange.” We are just the same as that jackal. Our discontent is due to wrong view. Because we don’t exercise sense restraint, we blame our suffering on externals. Whether we live in Thailand, America or England, we aren’t satisfied. Why not? Because we still have wrong view. Just that! So wherever we go, we aren’t content. But just as that jackal would be content wherever it went as soon as its mange was cured, so would we be content wherever we went once we rid ourselves of wrong view. ~Ajahn Chah
Spiritual Consumerism

Comment July 22, 2015

17th Karmapa

I want to be clear that seeking your own understanding does not mean rejecting all established spiritual paths. Many people feel that organized religions are problematic – or even hopelessly flawed. They might even think that they could assemble a better religion for themselves by picking and choosing bits they like from different religions. I do not think this is realistic. It simply does not work as we think it might. Instead of something holistic that transforms us, it just yields a patchwork that pleases us. This can become a kind of spiritual consumerism.

Worse, it can be dangerous. Bits that you thought would be beneficial for you can turn out to be ineffective or even harmful if you apply them out of context. When you extract practices from a gradual path of transformation, they might not have the same effect outside of their intended sequence. Our spiritual path has to unfold organically – and we have to be receptive to going where it leads us, step-by-step. ~17th Karmapa
Recognizing who we are

Comment July 21, 2015

When it comes to the true nature of mind, this isn’t something that we get from a spiritual tradition or religion. It’s not something that we need to seek from a guru or that we need to find by going to a sacred place, but it’s a matter of recognizing who we are, whatever that it is. When we see this completely clearly, when who we actually are becomes completely evident and obvious to us, and we recognize it and appreciate it in a completely perfect way, then that I think is what is called recognizing the true nature of mind. Then we fully make this a reality for ourselves. ~ 17th Karmapa
The essence of Buddhism

Comment July 21, 2015

The essence of Buddhism is being able to distinguish
what it is that we need to do from what it is that we need
to give up. It is taking up virtue and giving up non-virtue.
We need to identify what it is that will bring benefit to ourselves
and others, and then we need to do that. We also need to identify
what it is that will harm ourselves and others, and then we need
to give that up. So you can condense it all into doing what is beneficial
and giving up what is harmful. We need to know what the essence
of dharma is, and then bring it into our lives. ~ 17th Karmapa

Sariputta ordained Prince Rahula, Buddha’s son.
I give them all away

Comment July 21, 2015

My body, thus, and all my good besides,
And all my merits gained and to be gained,
I give them all away withholding nothing
To bring about the benefit of beings.

~Shantideva

Red Tiger Orchids. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt
Pleasure…

Comment July 21, 2015

All the suffering in the world comes from seeking pleasure for oneself.
All the happiness in the world comes from seeking pleasure for others.
~Shantideva

Soylent Green. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

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