Recently, one friend asked me, "How can I force myself to smile when I am filled with sorrow?  It isn't natural."  I told her she must be able to smile to her sorrow, because we are more than our sorrow.  A human being is like a television set with millions of channels. If we turn the Buddha on, we are the Buddha. If we turn sorrow on then we are sorrow. If we turn a smile on, we really are the smile. We can not let just one channel dominate us. We have the seed of everything in us, and we have to seize the situation in our hand, to recover our own sovereignty.  ~Thich Nhat Hanh

“One must not deliberately kill any living creature either by committing the act oneself, instructing others to kill, or approving of or participating in acts of killing. To completely abstain from the act of killing directly and indirectly, eat only pure vegetarian food.” ~BuddhismWhat do the teachings of Buddhism say about animal rights? In Buddhism the highest and universal ideal is to continually work for a permanent end to the suffering of all creatures, not just the human animal, but all animals, all living beings without exception.

Buddhism affirms the unity of all living beings, all equally posses the Buddha-nature, and all have the potential to become Buddhas, that is, to become fully and perfectly enlightened. Among the sentient, there are no second-class citizens.

According to Buddhist teaching, human beings do not have a privileged, special place above and beyond that of the rest of life. The world is not a creation specifically for the benefit and pleasure of human beings. Furthermore, in some circumstances according with their karma, humans can be reborn as humans and animals can be reborn as humans. In Buddhism the most fundamental guideline for conduct is ahimsa-the prohibition against the bringing of harm and/or death to any living being.

Why should one refrain from killing? It is because all beings have lives; they love their lives and do not wish to die. Even one of the smallest creatures, the mosquito, when it approaches to bite you, will fly away if you make the slightest motion. Why does it fly away? Because it fears death. It figures that if it drinks your blood, you will take its life. . . . We should nurture compassionate thought. Since we wish to live, we should not kill any other living being. Furthermore, the karma of killing is understood as the root of all suffering and the fundamental cause of sickness and war, and the forces of killing are explicitly identified with the demonic. The highest and most universal ideal of Buddhism is to work unceasingly for permanent end to the suffering of all living beings, not just humans.

The Buddha in a former life was reborn as a Deer-king. He offers to substitute his own life for that of a pregnant doe who is about to give birth. In another previous lifetime, the Buddha sacrificed his own life to feed a starving tiger and her two cubs, who were trapped in the snow. He reasoned that it would be better to save three lives than to merely preserve his own. It is better to lose one’s own life than to kill another being.

A disciple of the Buddha must maintain a mind of kindness and cultivate the practice of liberating beings. He should reflect thus: ‘All male beings have been my father and all females have been my mother. There is not a single being who has not given birth to me during my previous lives, hence all beings of the Six Destinies are my parents. Therefore, when a person kills and eats any of these beings, he thereby slaughters my parents.

Furthermore, he kills a body that was once my own, for all elemental earth and water previously served as part of my body and all elemental fire and wind have served as my basic substance. Therefore, I shall always cultivate the practice of liberating beings and in every life be reborn in the eternally­abiding Dharma and teach other to liberate beings as well.’

Whenever a Bodhisattva sees a person preparing to kill an animal, he should devise a skilful method to rescue and protect it, freeing it from its suffering and difficulties… (Brahma Net Sutra I 162)
Source: http://online.sfsu.edu

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ¬~♥ இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ¬~♥

All beings-human or beast –
Love life and hate to die.
They fear most the butcher's knife
Which slices and chops them piece-by-piece.
Instead of being cruel and mean,
Why not stop killing and cherish life?
~(Cherishing Life, I, 83)

The poem is in Khmer only – for my Cambodian FriendsSimilar to other religions, Buddhism has incorporated various types of traditions, custom, miracles, mysticism, fortune-telling, fung-shui, charms, talismans, mantras, prayers and many rites and rituals that may not be found in the original teaching. As a result, people give more attention to self-protection from evil spirits and to seeking good luck and prosperity, etc. They are only interested in discovering ways to get rid of misfortunes, difficulties and bad influence of stars, black magic, etc. by external powers. Thus, religious practices and beliefs are degenerated, and confined to worldly pursuits. People become superstitious because of their blind faith in the name of that religion.

The Buddha rejects superstitions but urges us to pursue wisdom. The Buddha teaches us to develop the most important practices: self-discipline, self-restraint, cultivation of morality and spiritual development. The Buddha also teaches us to cultivate the strength of will-power, wisdom, understanding of Mind and self-nature.

IDEAL WORSHIP, NOT IDOL WORSHIP
Regarding as a way of cultivation, some people place the Buddhist images to worship. However, if they pray the images requesting for guidance and protection for health and wealth for good luck and fame, for power and love, etc, or if they ask favours from the images and figures to forgive their evil deeds, then they are not in the right path of cultivation.

The worship of the Buddhist images is to pay respects to the Buddha, the greatest, wisest, most benevolent, compassionate man who has ever lived in this world. The images help people to recall the Buddha in their mind. They may be used as a symbol or an object of concentration to gain a piece of mind. The serenity of the Buddhist images influences and inspires them to observe the right path of conduct and thought.

The recollection of the Buddha produces joy, invigorates the mind and elevates man from states of restlessness, tension and frustration. Thus, the worship of the Buddha is not a prayer in its usual sense, but a meditation. Therefore, it is not idol worship, but “ideal” worship.

On the other hand, respecting the Buddha images without following Buddha’s teaching is not the way of cultivation. All worshippers should endeavour to understand the spirit of the Buddha.

SPIRITUAL POWER, NOT MIRACULOUS POWER
In Buddhism, there are so-called Six Psychic Power, which can be attained through long and intense training in meditation. The Buddha has advised his disciples not to exercise such psychic power, such as walking on water, exorcising spirits, fortune-telling, etc. The people may be converted and attracted to a religion, not because they realize the truth, but because they harbour hallucinations. It is not appropriate. In Buddhism, miracles can hinder a person to attain enlightenment.

The Buddha says that a person can gain miraculous power without gaining spiritual power. However, it is dangerous because this power may be misused, and harmful to people. These so-called miracles are merely imaginations and hallucinations created by their own minds due to a lack of understanding of things as they truly are. The Buddha expressly forbade his disciples to use miracles to prove the superiority of his teachings. The Buddha teaches us to cultivate and gain the spiritual power, then we automatically have the psychic power too. The latter is the “side-product” of the former, but the Buddha advises us not to crave and cling to the psychic power, or any other responses in form. The change for the better arising from an understanding of Dharma.

Source: http://www.buddhistdoor.com

I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace. ~Dalai Lama

Mankind could cross from a world of superstition, or hatred and fear, to a new world of light, of true love and happiness. ~Buddha

Today is the Buddha Day or Vesak, the day Buddha was born, the day he attained enlightenment, and the day he passed away. May all beings live in Happiness and Peace. Always master your thoughts, your words and never allow your body to harm anyone.
~Jendhamuni

No mud, no Lotus. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh