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Post by dancingwind on Dec 7, 2005 7:31:36 GMT
The Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind
With a determination to accomplish The highest welfare for all sentient beings, Who surpass even a wish-granting jewel I will learn to hold them supremely dear.
Whenever I associate with others I will learn, To think of myself as the lowest among all, And respectfully hold others to be supreme, From the very depths of my heart.
In all actions I will learn to search into my mind And as soon as an afflictive emotion arises Endangering myself and others, Will firmly face and avert it.
I will learn to cherish all beings of bad nature And those oppressed by strong sins and sufferings, As if I had found a precious Treasury very difficult to find.
When others out of jealousy treat me badly With abuse, slander, and so on, I will learn to take all loss And offer the victory to them.
When one whom I have benefited with great hope Unreasonably hurts me very badly , I will learn to view that person As an excellent spiritual guide.
In short, I will learn to offer to everyone without exception, All help and happiness directly and indirectly, And respectfully take upon myself, All harm and suffering of my mothers.
I will learn to keep these practices, Undefiled by the stains of the eight worldly conceptions, And by understanding all phenomena as like illusion, Be released from the bondage of attachment.
Geshe Langri Tangpa Dorjey Sengey
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 7, 2005 9:33:35 GMT
Describing his awakening, the Buddha said: "Coming to be, coming to be! Ceasing to be, ceasing to be! At that thought, monks, there arose in me a vision of things not before called to mind. Knowledge arose--such is form, such is the coming to be of form, such is its passing away. Recognition arose--such is its coming to be, such is its passing away. And the state of abiding in the understanding of arising and passing away--that too arose."
-Samyutta Nikaya From "The Pocket Buddha Reader," edited
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 8, 2005 12:37:45 GMT
Buddhist(Zen) wisdom about Limiting Activity
When we practice zazen we limit our activity to the smallest extent. Just keeping the right posture and being concentrated on sitting is how we express the universal nature. Then we become Buddha, and we express Buddha nature. So instead of having some object of worship, we just concentrate on the activity which we do in each moment.
When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat.If you do this, the universal nature is there. In Japanese we call it ichigyo-zammai, or "one-act samadhi." Sammai (or samadhi) is "concentration." Ichigyo is "one practice."
Shunryu Suzuki
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 8, 2005 12:38:27 GMT
Enlightenment--that magnificent escape from anguish and ignorance--never happens by accident. It results from the brave and sometimes lonely battle of one person against his own weaknesses.
-Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano, "Landscapes of Wonder"
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 9, 2005 8:18:45 GMT
Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.
Thich That Nan
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 9, 2005 13:13:16 GMT
Where there is great hatred, are the fetters of hell. Where there is great avarice, are the fetters of the tortured spirits. Where there is great ignorance, are the fetters of the beasts. Where there is great lust, are the fetters of man. Where there is great envy, are the fetters of the demigods. Where there is great pride, are the fetters of the gods. These are the six fetters of non-liberation.
-Hundred Thousand Songs, Selections for Milarepa
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 11, 2005 9:27:42 GMT
Buddhist(Zen) wisdom
Over the course of centuries, Zen has branched out into different schools with individual methods, but the purpose is still the same- to point directly to the human mind. Once the ground of mind is clarifiedm there is no obstruction at all - you shed views and interpretations that are based on concepts such as victory and defeatm self and others, right and wrong. Thus you pass through all that and reach a realm of great rest and tranquility.
Zen Master Yuanwu
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 11, 2005 9:34:07 GMT
I like to walk alone on country paths, rice plants and wild grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the earth in mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth. In such moments, existence is a miraculous and mysterious reality.
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child--our own two eyes. All is a miracle.
-Thich Nhat Hanh, "Miracle of Mindfulness"
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 12, 2005 8:02:39 GMT
Buddhist(Zen) wisdom about Recognition
Zen enlightenment is as if you have been away from home for many years, when you suddenly see your father in town. you know him right away without a doubt. There is no need to ask anyone else whether he is your father or not.
Zen Master Foyan
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 12, 2005 13:00:35 GMT
Form is suffering. The cause and condition for the arising of form is also suffering. As form has originated from what is suffering, how could it be happiness?
-"The Connected Discourses of the Buddha"
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 13, 2005 10:12:39 GMT
Buddhist(Zen) wisdom about The Aim of Zen
When enlightened Zen masters set up teaching for a spiritual path, the only concern is to clarify the mind to arrive at its source. It is complete in everyone, yet people turn away from this basic mind because of their illusions.
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 13, 2005 10:13:47 GMT
Forsaking dark practices, the wise person should develop the bright, having gone from home to no-home in seclusion, so hard to enjoy. There he should wish for delight, discarding sensuality-- he who has nothing. He should cleanse himself--wise-- of what defiles the mind.
-Dhammapada, 6, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 14, 2005 14:48:51 GMT
Buddhist(Zen) wisdom about bad habits
In the root and stem of your own psyche there is an accumulation of bad habits, If you cannot see through them and act independently of them, you will unavoidablty get bogged down along the way. BY: Zen Master Yuansou
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 14, 2005 14:50:01 GMT
Anyone who, even for a second, feels a pure, clear confidence on hearing the truth will experience immeasurable happiness. Why? Because, at that moment, that person is not caught up in the concept of a self or a living being or a life span. He is not caught up in concepts about the world, nor is he caught up in concepts about nothingness. He does not take any notice of the idea that this is a sign, or this or that is not a sign.
For if you are caught up in ideas, then you will be caught up in the self. And even if you are caught up in ideas about nothingness, you will still be caught up in the self. That's why we should not get attached to the belief that things either exist or do not exist. This is the hidden meaning when I say that my teachings are a raft to be abandoned when you see true being.
-Diamond Sutra
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Post by dancingwind on Dec 15, 2005 8:40:53 GMT
Buddhist(Zen) wisdom: Summary of Zen Practice
When you're settled in Zen, your mind is serene, unaffected by worldly distractions. You enter the realm of enlightenment, and transcend the ordinary world, leaving the world while in the midst of society.
Zen Master Fenyang
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