Quotes and Reflections Page Six

The person who is free and easy Beyond every boundary, is enlightened. He doesn't hoe much, But there are no weeds in his field. Jungkwan Haean     We have much more possibilities available in each moment than we realize. Thich Nhat Hanh     Deaf, he hears his own nature. Blind, he sees his Original Mind. The empty, clear moon In the water rises Where heart and mind are forgotten. Jungkwan Ilson (1533-1608)     Sometimes, when we judge what we hear or see, we are actually reacting based on our own cravings and aversions. Dharma Teacher     Impossible to imagine something to be born. There is only continuation. Thich Nhat Hanh     Your first love has no beginning or end. Your first love is not your first love, and it is not your last. It is just love. It is one with everything. Thich Nhat Hanh     Do not just look for what you want to see, that would be futile. Do not look for anything, but allow the insight to have a chance to come by itself. That insight will help liberate you. Thich Nhat Hanh     Buddhism is a plan for living in such a way as to derive highest benefit from life for all living beings. It is a religion of wisdom where knowledge and intelligence predominate. The Buddha did not preach to win converts, but to enlighten listeners. Dharma Teacher     The mind for truth Begins, like a stream, shallow At first, but then Adds more and more depth While gaining greater clarity. Saigyo (1118-1190)     Without discrimination, Just so the immaculate element, Which in its essential nature is mind, Is present in all. Visuddhis Magga     Delusion, enlightenment just fox-words fooling Zen practitioners everywhere. Daito (1282-1334)     Forgiving is hard if you have not yet practiced cultivating the four universal love minds, Metta – Loving kindness Karuna - Compassion Mudita – Altruistic joy Upekkha – Equanimity With no love you can't forgive. Desmond Chiong     The nature of mind is the background to the whole of life and death, like the sky which enfolds the whole universe in its embrace. Sogyal Rinpoche     The mighty ocean has but one taste, The taste of salt. Even so, the true way has But one savor, The savor of freedom. Majjhima Nikaya     Dharma itself is pure. Therefore if the Dharma is left the way it is Dharma will be pure. Des Boo-ngoh     The essential Nature of Mind No words can describe it No example can point to it Samsara does not make it worse Nirvana does not make it better. It has never been born It has never ceased It has never been liberated It has never been deluded It has never existed It has never been nonexistent It has no limits at all. It does not fall into any kind of category. Dudjom Rinpoche     Overcome your uncertainties And free yourself From dwelling on sorrow. If you delight in existence, You will become a guide To those who need you, Revealing the path to many. Sutta Nipata     Oh sons and daughters of Buddha, there is no place where the wisdom of the Tathagata does not reach. Why? Because there is not a single sentient being that is not fully endowed with the wisdom of the Tathagata. Hua-yen Sutra     Life is energy and is not destroyed At the dissolution of one life. Energy changes form. n Buddhism Form is Emptiness. Life is therefore Emptiness. Des boo ngoh     I believe compassion can not be expressed toward anothers until we have fully felt it for ourselves. Once compassion is deeply experienced for ourselves and our own human plight, I think only then can it spill over to others. Most of us, however, are taught to never feel sorry for ourselves when so many others are in pain. But knowing our pain is the same for every sentient being just expressed differently, makes the seed of compassion flower naturally. Dharma Teacher     Constantly be aware, Without stopping. When the aware mind is present, It senses the formlessness Of things. Master Tao-hsin (580-651)     Learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. For it is only through meditation that you can undertake the journey to discover your true nature, and so find the stability and confidence you will need to live, and die, well. Meditation is the road to enlightenment. Sogyal Rinpoche     When your fear touches someone’s pain it becomes pity; when your love touches someone’s pain, it becomes compassion. Stephen Levine     We have to face the pain we have been running from. In fact, we need to learn to rest in it, and let its searing power transform us. Charlotte Joko Beck     If there is peace within oneself, there is room for another mind. Dharma Teacher     Increasing the space between the perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours we experience, we allow for stillness. Moving deeper in that stillness, patience. In that patience, concentration, generosity, morality, and diligence arise. Harvey So Daiho Hilbert     When we filter information through the conditioned sense of self, we are an easy target to get hurt. Des Boo-ngoh     While evil minds can destroy everything, kind hearts can beautify the entire world. Desmond Chiong     We can use our sufferings to build more suffering. Or we can use suffering as a springboard to the path of liberation. Painful childhood memories too, can be used to remind us of our purpose on this path. Dharma Teacher     Listen carefully: The teachers of the past have said that people are complete as they are. Each one is perfected; not even the width of one eyebrow hair separates them from this perfection. All sentient beings fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the Buddha. But because they are overcome by delusive thoughts and attachments, they cannot manifest this. From: “The Awakening of Mugai Nyodai”     Good Karma Comes From a clear mind. Des boo ngoh     The Dharma is without living beings, because it is free of the dust of living beings. It is selfless, because it is free of the dust of desire. It is lifeless, because it is free from birth and death. It is without personalities, because it dispenses with past origins and future destinies. The Buddha in Vimalakirti Sutra     The realm of non-thinking Can hardly be fathomed by cognition. In the sphere of genuine suchness There is neither "I" nor "other." Master Yunmen (864-949)     The moon's the same old moon, The flowers exactly as they were. Yet I've become the thingness Of all the things I see! Bunan (1602-1676)     The eye sees it, But no hands can take hold of it. The moon in the stream: This is the secret of this school. Dharma Teacher     This empty, wide-open true mind Is subtly and correctly Illuminating. Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157)     The water of the mind, how clear it is! Gazing at it, the boundaries are invisible. But as soon as even a slight thought arises, ten thousand images crowd it. Attach to them, and they become real. Be carried by them, and it will be difficult to return. How painful to see a person trapped in the ten-fold delusions. Ryokan     All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become The Lord Buddha     Life is so hard and people are so difficult to deal with. There is no choice but to be loving and kind. Desmond Chiong     Taking refuge is not about ceremony, but mind. We should be mindful about Buddha's teachings, and practice them in our daily lives. Desmond Chiong     Only with precepts in their heart, can parents educate children with personal example, and teachers cultivate students with kind hearts. Dharma Teacher     Movement and stillness: Both are part of the same principle, Emotions of this dusty world Are not as important as the Way. So I endure this thin paper robe Until the dawn bell, While pomegranate leaves and mulberry Branches dance in the north wind. Tesshu Tokusai     To face life in its impermanence, is like stepping onto a boat that is about to sail out to sea and sink. Shunryu Suzuki Roshi     Your self-partiality is at the root of all your illusions. There aren't any illusions when you don’t have this preference for yourself. Master Bankei (1622-1693)     As long as you are subject To life bound by force of habit, You are not free from the Burden of the body. Master Kuei-Shan (771-854)     You should be an island to yourself, a refuge to yourself, not dependent on any other but taking refuge in the truth and none other than the truth. Digha Nikaya, 16     At the sound of the bell in the silent night, I wake from my dream in this dream world of ours. Gazing at the reflection of the moon in a clear pool, I see, beyond my form, my real form. Master Kojisei     The prerequisite for Ch'an practice is to extinguish wrong thinking. Shakyamuni Buddha taught much on this subject. His simplest and most direct teaching is the word "stop!" from the expression "stopping is Bodhi." Master Xuyun     Even after having defeated a million men, one is better off by conquering oneself. Dhammapada, 103     In Buddhist teaching, the law of karma, says only this: “For every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.” A skillful event is one that is not accompanied by craving, resistance or delusions; an unskillful event is one that is accompanied by any one of those things. (Events are not skillful in themselves, but are so called only in virtue of the mental events that occur with them.) Therefore, the law of karma teaches that responsibility for unskillful actions is born by the person who commits them. Dharma Teacher     Words cannot express things; Speech does not convey the spirit. Swayed by words, one is lost; Blocked by phrases, one is bewildered. Master Mumon