Many problems are created in our world today because people do not engage in what will actually lead them onto a path that benefits them and brings happiness. From the time we open our eyes in the morning until we sleep at night, if we can pass the whole day with a kind-hearted mind and cheerful face, on good terms with people and talking pleasantly to them, our mind will be relaxed when we go to sleep at night. On the other hand, if we spend the day making others upset, if we fight, and even if we win, when we are going off to sleep at night we will have regrets and our mind will not be at ease. ~ 17th Karmapa
The quintessential teaching of the Buddha — the nature of mind — is difficult to understand, not because it is complicated but because of its unbearably naked quality. One common method for deciphering the truth is through commentaries, analysis, arguments, and research. But the more we try to decipher this simplicity through academic studies and intellectual analysis, the more we get sidetracked, deterred, or worse, we end up constructing very convincing concepts that we mistake for the simplicity itself. Therefore, one must work hard to accumulate merit. Accumulating merit is the one and only way to cultivate trust in simplicity. But many of us have to first convince ourselves that accumulation of merit works. ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
What is delusion? How shall we define it? It is just as when a madman runs outside on a cold winter’s day and jumps into the water to wash himself, too deranged to realize that his body is being frozen. We think that such a man is insane, but in exactly the same way, when a Bodhisattva, clear-minded and undeceived, looks at us, our activities seem to him as demented as those of the lunatic! We should be quite convinced that we are thoroughly deluded and that when things appear to us the way they do, separate from our minds, they do not possess the slightest degree of reality in themselves. But what is it that creates this illusion? It is the mind, and it does so when it takes as real that which is illusory and non-existent. Nevertheless, we should clearly understand that such delusion is actually quite distinct from the mind in itself, the Buddha-nature or Sugatagarbha; it is not something, therefore, which it is impossible for us to remove. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
As long as you accept and practice these four truths (all compounded things are impermanent, all emotions are pain, all things have no inherent existence, nirvana is beyond concepts) you are a “practicing Buddhist.” You might read about these four truths for the sake of entertainment or mental exercise, but if you don’t practice them, you are like a sick person reading the label on a medicine bottle but never taking the medicine. On the other hand, if you are practicing, there is no need to exhibit that you are Buddhist. As a matter of fact, if it helps you to get invited to some social functions, it is totally fine to hide that you are a Buddhist. But keep in mind that as a Buddhist, you have a mission to refrain as much as possible from harming others, and to help others as much as possible. This is not a huge responsibility, because if you genuinely accept and contemplate the truths, all these deeds flow naturally. ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Verse 83: Indeed, the virtuous give up all (i.e., attachment to the five khandhas, etc.); the virtuous (lit., the tranquil) do not talk with sensual desire; when faced with joy or sorrow, the wise do not show elation or depression.
The Story of Five Hundred Bhikkhus
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (83) of this book, with reference to five hundred bhikkhus.
At the request of a brahmin from Veranja, the Buddha was, on one occasion, staying at Veranja with five hundred bhikkhus. While they were at Veranja, the brahmin failed to look after them. The people of Varanja, who were then facing a famine, could offer very little to the bhikkhus when they went on their rounds for alms-food. In spite of all these hardships, the bhikkhus were not disheartened; they were quite contented with the small amount of shrivelled grain which the horse-traders offered them daily. At the end of the vasa, after informing the brahmin from Veranja, the Buddha returned to the Jetavana monastery, accompanied by the five hundred bhikkhus. The people of Savatthi welcomed them back with choice food of all kinds.
A group of people living with the bhikkhus, eating whatever was left over by the bhikkhus, ate greedily like true gluttons and went to sleep after their meals. On waking up, they were shouting, singing and dancing, thus making themselves a thorough nuisance. When the Buddha came in the evening to the congregation of bhikkhus, they reported to him about the behaviour of those unruly persons, and said, “These people living on the leftovers were quite decent and well-behaved when all of us were facing hardship and famine in Veranja. Now that they have enough good food they are going about shouting, singing and dancing, and thus make themselves a thorough nuisance. The bhikkhus, however, behave themselves here just as they were in Veranja”.
To them the Buddha replied, “It is in the nature of the foolish to be full of sorrow and feel depressed when things go wrong, and to be full of gladness and feel elated when things go well. The wise, however, can withstand the ups and downs of life.”
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 83: Indeed, the virtuous give up all (i.e., attachment to the five khandhas, etc.); the virtuous (lit., the tranquil) do not talk with sensual desire; when faced with joy or sorrow, the wise do not show elation or depression.
Dhammapada Verse 83
Pancasatabhikkhu Vatthu
Sabbattha ye sappurisa cajanti
na kamakama lapayanti santo
sukhena phuttha atha va dukhena
na uccavacam pandita dassayanti.
Source: Tipitaka
Passionlessness is what enables you to practice the Dharma and to quiet your body, speech, and mind. It is related to the development of fearlessness and fearlessness. The idea of self-existence, or ego, creates tremendous self-hatred, which automatically projects out to others. In contrast, when there is kindness to oneself and others, this automatically creates a quality of workability. It creates immense space or emptiness.~Chögyam Trungpa
Someone asked me, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?” I allowed myself to breathe and then I said, “What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick, and you will not be able to help.” There are wars — big and small — in many places, and that can cause us to lose our peace. Anxiety is the illness of our age. We worry about ourselves, our family, our friends, our work, and the state of the world. If we allow worry to fill our hearts, sooner or later we will get sick. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh