Daily Thoughts
Buddhist Thought of the Day
Thought for Fri, 05 Sep 2008
There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth — not going all the way, and not starting. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Thu, 04 Sep 2008
A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. ‘What are you?’ I cried to them as they drifted by. ‘I am a bubble, of course’ nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed. But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, ‘We are this stream’, and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 03 Sep 2008
While the Tathagata, in his teaching, constantly makes use of conceptions and ideas about them, disciples should keep in mind the unreality of all such conceptions and ideas. They should recall that the Tathagata, in making use of them in explaining the Dharma always uses them in the semblance of a raft that is of use only to cross a river. As the raft is of no further use after the river is crossed, it should be discarded. So these arbitrary conceptions of things and about things should be wholly given up as one attains enlightenment. -Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Tue, 02 Sep 2008
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. - Dogen… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 01 Sep 2008
The fifth step of the Eightfold Path is Right Livelihood, meaning to abstain from all evil living and all manner of ill-gotten gain or means of livelihood…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 31 Aug 2008
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 30 Aug 2008
On the phenomenal plane we seek pleasure and the avoidance of pain. On the noumenal plane we know the absence of both - which is Bliss. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 29 Aug 2008
There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Thu, 28 Aug 2008
The practice of meditation is represented by the three monkeys, who cover their eyes, ears and mouths so as to avoid the phenomenal world. The practice of non-meditation is ceasing to be the see-er, hearer or speaker while eyes, ears and mouths are fulfilling their function in daily life. Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 27 Aug 2008
Ask yourself this; 'Are you a human being having a spiritual experience, or a spiritual being having a human experience? - Wayne Dyer, PhD… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 26 Aug 2008
[on Gandhi] I felt I was in the presence of a noble soul . . . a true disciple of Lord Buddha and a true believer in peace and harmony among all men. - The Dalai Lama… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 25 Aug 2008
Turn your mind away from things which are not permanent. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 24 Aug 2008
Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 23 Aug 2008
Just as the dawn is the forerunner, the vanguard of the rising sun, so too, possession of virtue is the forerunner, the vanguard of the rising of the Noble Eightfold Path. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 22 Aug 2008
If there is only empty space, with no suns nor planets in it, then space loses its substantiality. -Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 21 Aug 2008
Of little importance is the loss of such things as wealth. But a terrible thing is to lose wisdom. Of little importance is the gaining of such things as wealth. Great is the importance of gaining wisdom. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 20 Aug 2008
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 19 Aug 2008
For this has been said: - 'As with the assembly of parts. The word “chariot” is countenanced, So, When the khandhas are present, ‘A being’ is said in common usage' (Kindred Sayings I, 135). … [Link]
Thought for Mon, 18 Aug 2008
Rejection of the idea that mental events have no locus by common sense, for whatever reason, proves nothing. Other fields of science are built on propositions that may seem absurd but in fact are true. (Air is heavy, has weight? Water is made up of two gases? The continents are adrift in the oceans? - Donald O. Hebb, 1980… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 17 Aug 2008
One day Ananda, who had been thinking deeply about things for a while, turned to the Buddha and exclaimed: “Lord, I’ve been thinking- spiritual friendship is at least half of the spiritual life!” The Buddha replied: “Say not so, Ananda, say not so. Spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life!” - Samyutta Nikaya, Verse 2… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 16 Aug 2008
It is important to recognize the power of our emotions–and to take responsibility for them by creating a light and positive atmosphere around ourselves. This attitude of joy that we create helps alleviate states of hopelessness, loneliness, and despair. Our relationships with others thus naturally improve, and little by little the whole of society becomes more positive and balanced. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 15 Aug 2008
If you want to have friends, you must be friendly. If you want to make peace, you must be peaceful. - Peace Pilgrim… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 14 Aug 2008
On the phenomenal plane we seek pleasure and the avoidance of pain. On the noumenal plane we know the absence of both - which is Bliss. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 13 Aug 2008
The first step of the Eightfold Path is Right Views, which means Knowledge of the Four Noble Truths…. [Link]
Thought for Tue, 12 Aug 2008
Whoever among men who walk the Earth has seen these Mysteries is blessed, but whoever in uninitiated and has not received his share of the rite, he will not have the same lot as the others, once he is dead and dwells in the mould where the sun goes down. - Homer, Hymn to Demeter… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 11 Aug 2008
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 10 Aug 2008
A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 09 Aug 2008
THIS which is seeking is THAT which is sought, and THAT which is sought is THIS which is seeking. ‘All Else is Bondage; Non-Volitional Living’ - Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 08 Aug 2008
But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 07 Aug 2008
Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth. - Sutta Nipata … [Link]
Thought for Wed, 06 Aug 2008
This is the way of peace: “Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” - Peace Pilgrim… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 05 Aug 2008
On hearing the Teachings, the wise become perfectly purified, like a lake: deep, clear, and still. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 04 Aug 2008
Are you still thinking, looking, living, as from an imaginary phenomenal center? As long as you do that you can never recognize your freedom. - Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 03 Aug 2008
Amida Buddhism opened up Buddhism in Japan to all classes. Where heretofore Buddhism had been exclusionary to woman and lower classes, the spread of Pure Land philosophy allowed a democratic and inclusionary blossoming of Buddhism throughout Japan…. [Link]
Thought for Sat, 02 Aug 2008
Let us live in joy, free of hatred, among the spiteful; among the spiteful let us live without hatred. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 01 Aug 2008
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Thu, 31 Jul 2008
“I gave way to delight, as mystics have for centuries when they peeked through the curtains and discovered that this world- so manifestly real was actually a tiny stage set constructed by the mind. We discover abruptly that everything we accept as reality is just social fabrications. - Timothy Leary, 1966… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 30 Jul 2008
There is no objective world independent of the observer. - Deepak Chopra… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 29 Jul 2008
Through awareness and perseverance you can break this cycle of birth and death and find yourself elevated to the highest. Therefore, awareness leads you forward, while lack of awareness leads you nowhere. (Awareness, v21)… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 28 Jul 2008
What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What’s the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood? - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 27 Jul 2008
Lead a righteous life; lead not a base life. The righteous live happily both in this world and the next. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 26 Jul 2008
In order to see birds its is necessary to become a part of the silence. - Robert Lynd… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 25 Jul 2008
Whenever we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. - John Muir… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 24 Jul 2008
It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions. - T.H. Huxley… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 23 Jul 2008
What is your trouble? Mistaken identity. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 22 Jul 2008
While the Tathagata, in his teaching, constantly makes use of conceptions and ideas about them, disciples should keep in mind the unreality of all such conceptions and ideas. They should recall that the Tathagata, in making use of them in explaining the Dharma always uses them in the semblance of a raft that is of use only to cross a river. As the raft is of no further use after the river is crossed, it should be discarded. So these arbitrary conceptions of things and about things should be wholly given up as one attains enlightenment. -Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Mon, 21 Jul 2008
Turn your mind away from things which are not permanent. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 20 Jul 2008
It is important to recognize the power of our emotions–and to take responsibility for them by creating a light and positive atmosphere around ourselves. This attitude of joy that we create helps alleviate states of hopelessness, loneliness, and despair. Our relationships with others thus naturally improve, and little by little the whole of society becomes more positive and balanced. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 19 Jul 2008
Keep it simple; as simple as posible, but no simpler. - Albert Einstein… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 18 Jul 2008
While the Tathagata, in his teaching, constantly makes use of conceptions and ideas about them, disciples should keep in mind the unreality of all such conceptions and ideas. They should recall that the Tathagata, in making use of them in explaining the Dharma always uses them in the semblance of a raft that is of use only to cross a river. As the raft is of no further use after the river is crossed, it should be discarded. So these arbitrary conceptions of things and about things should be wholly given up as one attains enlightenment. -Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Thu, 17 Jul 2008
In Buddhism, it is said that those who commit any of five grievous sins (gogyakuzai) invariably fall into the hells of incessant suffering. These five offences are: 1) killing one’s father, 2) killing one’s mother, 3) killing an arhat [a well accomplished monk or nun] 4) injuring a buddha, 5) causing disunity among the community of followers…. [Link]
Thought for Wed, 16 Jul 2008
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. - The Beatles… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 15 Jul 2008
Whoever makes love grow boundless, and sets his mind for seeing the end of birth, his fetters are worn thin. If he loves even a single being, Good will follow. But the Noble One with compassionate heart for all mankind, generates abounding good. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 14 Jul 2008
The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest precept is continual awareness. The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything. The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways. The greatest magic is transmuting the passions. The greatest generosity is non-attachment. The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest patience is humility. The greatest effort is not concerned with results. The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go. The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances. - Atisha … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 13 Jul 2008
In the noble eightfold path, what is Right Action? Not to kill, not to steal, and not to engage in sexual misconduct…. [Link]
Thought for Sat, 12 Jul 2008
In order to be effective truth must penetrate like an arrow - and that is likely to hurt. ‘Posthumous Pieces’ by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 11 Jul 2008
If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. - William Blake… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 10 Jul 2008
The practice of meditation is represented by the three monkeys, who cover their eyes, ears and mouths so as to avoid the phenomenal world. The practice of non-meditation is ceasing to be the see-er, hearer or speaker while eyes, ears and mouths are fulfilling their function in daily life. Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 09 Jul 2008
War can only be understood and put an end to if you and all those who are concerned very deeply with the survival of man, feel that you are utterly responsible for killing others. What will make you change? - J. Krishnamurti… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 08 Jul 2008
Go to the Awakened Masters - and leave all your baggage behind. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 07 Jul 2008
Whoever among men who walk the Earth has seen these Mysteries is blessed, but whoever in uninitiated and has not received his share of the rite, he will not have the same lot as the others, once he is dead and dwells in the mould where the sun goes down. - Homer, Hymn to Demeter… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 06 Jul 2008
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. -Einstein … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 05 Jul 2008
Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth. - Sutta Nipata … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 04 Jul 2008
Through the progress of natural science the totality of the world and our oneness with it becomes clearer to our spirit. When this realization of the complete unity is not only an intellectual realization, when it opens up our whole being to the light of total consciousness, then it becomes a radiant joy, an all encompassing love. - Rabindranath Tagore… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 03 Jul 2008
By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 02 Jul 2008
The vow of all embracing compassion by Amida Buddha is expressed especially clearly in his Eighteenth Original Vow (juhachi-gan): “When I attain Buddhahood, if all sentient beings in the ten directions, who aspire in all sincerity and faith to be born in my land and think of me even ten times, are not born there, then may I not attain supreme enlightenment.”… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 01 Jul 2008
What we appear to be is a fleeting shadow, a distorted and fragmentary reflection of what we all are when we no longer assume that we are that phenomenal appearance. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 30 Jun 2008
Even the intellectual understanding of the inexistence of our ‘selves’ is a rare and bitter attainment which few even attempt. And that is only the elimination round which qualifies us for access to Reality… Intellectual understanding should be not indispensable to a ‘simple’ mind, but, with our conditioning, it would seem to be an almost inevitable preliminary. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 29 Jun 2008
War can only be understood and put an end to if you and all those who are concerned very deeply with the survival of man, feel that you are utterly responsible for killing others. What will make you change? - J. Krishnamurti… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 28 Jun 2008
When you are deluded and full of doubt, even a thousand books of scripture are not enough. When you have realized understanding, even one word is too much. - Fen Yang… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 27 Jun 2008
“I gave way to delight, as mystics have for centuries when they peeked through the curtains and discovered that this world- so manifestly real was actually a tiny stage set constructed by the mind. We discover abruptly that everything we accept as reality is just social fabrications. - Timothy Leary, 1966… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 26 Jun 2008
So is it possible to see the limitations of thought and give it its right place, and therefore giving the right place to thought brings about clarity - right? We mean by right place - the art of that intelligence which comes through investigation, through exploration, that art - the very meaning of that word is to put everything where it belongs, put everything in our life where it belongs, and to find out where it belongs you need tremendous intelligence. - J. Krishnamurti… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 25 Jun 2008
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 24 Jun 2008
When asked the question, what is consciousness? we become conscious of consciousness. And most of us take this consciousness of consciousness to be what consciousness is. This is not true. - Julian Jaynes… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 23 Jun 2008
Having found no self that is not other, The seeker must find that there is no other that is not self, So that in the absence of both other and self, There may be known the perfect peace, Of the presence of absolute absence. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 22 Jun 2008
But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 21 Jun 2008
Wise men don’t judge: they seek to understand. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 20 Jun 2008
Reality alone exists - and that we are. All the rest is only a dream, a dream of the One Mind, which is our mind without the ‘our’. Is it so hard to accept? Is it so difficult to assimilate and to live? - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 19 Jun 2008
In this world the wise one holds onto confidence and wisdom. Those are the greatest treasures; all other riches are pushed aside. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 18 Jun 2008
Fear, desire, affectivity are manifestations of the pseudo-entity which constitutes pseudo-bondage. It is the entity, rather than the manifestations thereof, which has to be eliminated. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 17 Jun 2008
With four qualities the wise, intelligent, worthy person goes about not uprooted, not lifeless, not blameworthy, not censured by the wise. What four? With Good Conduct of body, speech and mind, and with gratitude…. [Link]
Thought for Mon, 16 Jun 2008
A wonderful painting is the result of the feeling in your fingers. If you have the feeling of the thickness of the ink in your brush, the painting is already there before you paint. When you dip your brush into the ink you already know the result of your drawing, or else you cannot paint. So before you do something, “being” is there, the result is there. Even though you look as if you were sitting quietly, all your activity, past and present, is included, and the result of your sitting is also already there. - D.T. Suzuki… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 15 Jun 2008
Go to the Awakened Masters - and leave all your baggage behind. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 14 Jun 2008
To comprehend and to understand God above all similitudes, as He is in Himself, is to be God with God, without intermediary, and without any otherness that can become a hindrance or an intermediary. Whosoever wishes to understand this must have died to himself, and must live in God, and must turn his gaze to the eternal light in the ground of his spirit, where the Hidden Truth reveals Itself without means. - Ruysbroek. … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 13 Jun 2008
Living should be perpetual and universal benediction. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 12 Jun 2008
One must know that one is not in order to be able to understand that we are. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 11 Jun 2008
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 10 Jun 2008
And just as men depend upon A boat for traversing the sea, So does the mental body need The matter-body for occurrence. And as the boat depends upon The men for traversing the sea, So does the matter-body need The mental body for occurrence. Depending each upon the other The boat and men go on the sea. And so do mind and matter both Depend the one upon the other. ‘Visuddhimagga’ (XVIII, 36) … [Link]
Thought for Mon, 09 Jun 2008
With the Utterly Sincere Mind (shijoshin), one believes that he/she will be born in the Pure Land through the practice of the nembutsu because such was Amida Buddha’s promise and vow. … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 08 Jun 2008
What do you have to do? Pack your bags, Go to the station without them, Catch the train, And leave your self behind. - Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 07 Jun 2008
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. - The Beatles… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 06 Jun 2008
Reality alone exists - and that we are. All the rest is only a dream, a dream of the One Mind, which is our mind without the ‘our’. Is it so hard to accept? Is it so difficult to assimilate and to live? - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 05 Jun 2008
There I was, poised in space, a disembodied eye, invisible, incorporeal, seeing but not seen. - R. Gordon Wasson, 1957… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 04 Jun 2008
He whose in-flowing thoughts are dried up, who is unattached to food, whose dwelling place is an empty and image-less release - the way of such a person is hard to follow, like the path of birds through the sky. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 03 Jun 2008
Your constant utilization of thought to give continuity to your separate self is ‘you’. There is nothing there inside you other than that. - U.G. Krishnamurti … [Link]
Thought for Mon, 02 Jun 2008
Ask yourself this; 'Are you a human being having a spiritual experience, or a spiritual being having a human experience? - Wayne Dyer, PhD… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 01 Jun 2008
Through awareness and perseverance you can break this cycle of birth and death and find yourself elevated to the highest. Therefore, awareness leads you forward, while lack of awareness leads you nowhere. (Awareness, v21)… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 31 May 2008
By becoming attached to names and forms, not realising that they have no more basis than the activities of the mind itself, error rises and the way to emancipation is blocked. -Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 30 May 2008
What we appear to be is a fleeting shadow, a distorted and fragmentary reflection of what we all are when we no longer assume that we are that phenomenal appearance. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 29 May 2008
Spontaneity is being present in the present. Spontaneity by-passes the processes of the conceptual (aspect of) mind. Re-integration with Nature, which we are, is the recovery of spontaneity. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 28 May 2008
To experience love, we must go inside. When you experience real love you get into a state which is beyond words. You are filled with a joy that goes beyond all emotions. True love is the love of the inner Self. - Swami Muktananda… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 27 May 2008
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 26 May 2008
There I was, poised in space, a disembodied eye, invisible, incorporeal, seeing but not seen. - R. Gordon Wasson, 1957… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 25 May 2008
In order to be effective truth must penetrate like an arrow - and that is likely to hurt. ‘Posthumous Pieces’ by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 24 May 2008
The Five Precepts are: 1. Abstain from taking life, 2. Abstain from taking that which is not given, 3. Abstain from misconduct done in lust, 4. Abstain from lying, 5. Abstain from all forms of intoxication. … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 23 May 2008
This is the way of peace: “Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” - Peace Pilgrim… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 22 May 2008
The belief in an external world independent of the perceiving subject is the basis of all natural science. Since, however, sense perception only gives information of this external world or of “physical reality” indirectly, we can only grasp the latter by speculative means. It follows from this that our notions of physical reality can never be final. We must always be ready to change these notions - that is to say, the axiomatic basis of physics - in order to do justice to perceived facts in the most perfect way logically. -Einstein … [Link]
Thought for Wed, 21 May 2008
Shan-tao’s definition of the “Right Practices. (shogyo) is as follows: 1) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly read and recite the Meditation Sutra, the Amida Sutra, and the Sutra of Immeasurable Life; 2) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly contemplate the splendid view of Amida and the landscape in that Land; 3) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly prostrate oneself before Amida Buddha; 4) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly utter the name of Amida Buddha; and 5) when giving praises and offerings is in order, to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly praise and make offerings to Amida…. [Link]
Thought for Tue, 20 May 2008
We imagine that waking-life is real and that dream-life is unreal, but there does not seem to be any evidence for this belief. Chuang Tzu, in the third century B.C., put it in an amusing way; having dreamed that he was a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, he stated that he was now wondering whether he was then a man dreaming he was a butterfly or whether he was now a butterfly dreaming he was a man. - Wei Wu Wei “Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon”… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 19 May 2008
Whoever makes love grow boundless, and sets his mind for seeing the end of birth, his fetters are worn thin. If he loves even a single being, Good will follow. But the Noble One with compassionate heart for all mankind, generates abounding good. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 18 May 2008
The Profound Mind (jinshin) is simply the heart that deeply believes, which entails profound thought and introspection as well as the unquestioning trust that Amida will indeed save one through actual birth. … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 17 May 2008
The Five Precepts are: 1. Abstain from taking life, 2. Abstain from taking that which is not given, 3. Abstain from misconduct done in lust, 4. Abstain from lying, 5. Abstain from all forms of intoxication. … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 16 May 2008
In Buddhism, it is said that those who commit any of five grievous sins (gogyakuzai) invariably fall into the hells of incessant suffering. These five offences are: 1) killing one’s father, 2) killing one’s mother, 3) killing an arhat [a well accomplished monk or nun] 4) injuring a buddha, 5) causing disunity among the community of followers…. [Link]
Thought for Thu, 15 May 2008
A wonderful painting is the result of the feeling in your fingers. If you have the feeling of the thickness of the ink in your brush, the painting is already there before you paint. When you dip your brush into the ink you already know the result of your drawing, or else you cannot paint. So before you do something, “being” is there, the result is there. Even though you look as if you were sitting quietly, all your activity, past and present, is included, and the result of your sitting is also already there. - D.T. Suzuki… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 14 May 2008
How many of the ways (disciplines, exercises, practices) recommended as helpful, or even necessary, for the attainment of Satori are not in fact consequences of that state erroneously suggested as means? - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 13 May 2008
Having found no self that is not other, The seeker must find that there is no other that is not self, So that in the absence of both other and self, There may be known the perfect peace, Of the presence of absolute absence. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 12 May 2008
It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went. - Thoreau … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 11 May 2008
The belief in an external world independent of the perceiving subject is the basis of all natural science. Since, however, sense perception only gives information of this external world or of “physical reality” indirectly, we can only grasp the latter by speculative means. It follows from this that our notions of physical reality can never be final. We must always be ready to change these notions - that is to say, the axiomatic basis of physics - in order to do justice to perceived facts in the most perfect way logically. -Einstein … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 10 May 2008
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. -Chuang Tzu… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 09 May 2008
In order to see birds its is necessary to become a part of the silence. - Robert Lynd… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 08 May 2008
All understanding begins with our not accepting the world as it appears. - Alan C. Kay… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 07 May 2008
The only real service we can render to that which we perceive and interpret in phenomenal existence as ‘others’ is by awakening to universal consciousness ourselves. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 06 May 2008
The wise ones, ever meditative and steadfastly persevering, alone experience Nirvana, the incomparable freedom from bondage. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 05 May 2008
Just as the dawn is the forerunner, the vanguard of the rising sun, so too, possession of virtue is the forerunner, the vanguard of the rising of the Noble Eightfold Path. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 04 May 2008
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. -Chuang Tzu… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 03 May 2008
Reality is all-encompassing: the absolute nature is one. Although we may feel separate from the original uncreated reality - whether we call it ‘God,’ 'peak experience,' or ‘enlightened mind’ - through awareness we can contact this essential part of ourselves. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 02 May 2008
If you were to destroy in mankind the belief in immortality, not only love but every living force maintaining the life of the world would at once be dried up. - Dostoevsky… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 01 May 2008
A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. ‘What are you?’ I cried to them as they drifted by. ‘I am a bubble, of course’ nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed. But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, ‘We are this stream’, and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 30 Apr 2008
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 29 Apr 2008
There seem to two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their ego something other than it is, i.e. holy, happy, unselfish (as though you could make a fish unfish), and those who understand that all such attempts are just gesticulation and play-acting, that there is only one thing that can be done, which is to disidentify themselves with the ego, by realizing its unreality, and by becoming aware of their eternal identity with pure being. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 28 Apr 2008
The fifth step of the Eightfold Path is Right Livelihood, meaning to abstain from all evil living and all manner of ill-gotten gain or means of livelihood…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 27 Apr 2008
I teach that the multitudinousness of objects have no reality in themselves but are only seen of the mind and, therefore, are of the nature of maya and a dream. …It is true that in one sense they are seen and discriminated by the senses as individualized objects; but in another sense, because of the absence of any characteristic marks of self-nature, they are not seen but are only imagined. In one sense they are graspable, but in another sense, they are not graspable. -Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 26 Apr 2008
There is no beginning to practice nor end to enlightenment; There is no beginning to enlightenment nor end to practice. - Dogen… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 25 Apr 2008
Turn your mind away from things which are not permanent. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 24 Apr 2008
Only the curious will learn, only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning. The Quest quotient has always excited me more than the intelligence quotient. - Eugene S. Wilson… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 23 Apr 2008
From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere… If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good. - Dr. Seuss, One Fish two fish red fish blue fish, 1960… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 22 Apr 2008
What is your trouble? Mistaken identity. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 21 Apr 2008
There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth — not going all the way, and not starting. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 20 Apr 2008
On hearing the Teachings, the wise become perfectly purified, like a lake: deep, clear, and still. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 19 Apr 2008
A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 18 Apr 2008
His form has passed away, he has become a mirror: naught is there but the image of another’s face. . - Jalaluddin Rumi … [Link]
Thought for Thu, 17 Apr 2008
By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 16 Apr 2008
Let go of the past! Let go of the future! Let go of the present and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With your mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 15 Apr 2008
If you find a good companion, who is following the same spiritual path, travel together, overcoming obstacles as they arise.. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 14 Apr 2008
Honen Shonin taught people that it was enough to simply recite Nembutsu. He firmly believed that true Buddhism should be able to be practiced easily anywhere and at any time…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 13 Apr 2008
Let go of the past! Let go of the future! Let go of the present and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With your mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 12 Apr 2008
These teachings are like a raft, to be abandoned once you have crossed the flood. Since you should abandon even good states of mind generated by these teachings, How much more so should you abandon bad states of mind! Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness. Conquer the miser with generosity. Conquer the liar with truth. -The Dhammapada… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 11 Apr 2008
We ourselves are not an illusory part of Reality; rather are we Reality itself illusorily conceived. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 10 Apr 2008
Truth is that which lies in a dimension beyond the reach of thought. Whole-mind has no ‘thoughts’, thoughts are split-mind. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 09 Apr 2008
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. -Chuang Tzu… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 08 Apr 2008
What is your trouble? Mistaken identity. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 07 Apr 2008
There is no mystery whatever - only inability to perceive the obvious. ‘All Else is Bondage; Non-Volitional Living’ - Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 06 Apr 2008
It is our earth, not yours or mine or his. We are meant to live on it, helping each other, not destroying each other. - J. Krishnamurti… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 05 Apr 2008
Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away. Aitken Roshi … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 04 Apr 2008
Whosoever has heard the law of virtue and vice is as one who has eyes and carries a lamp, seeing everything and will become completely wise. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 03 Apr 2008
Whoever thinks as, from, or on behalf of, an entity which he believes himself to be, the more so if he tries to work on himself, by, with, or for such an entity - which is only a concept in mind - has not yet begun to understand what it is all about. - ‘Posthumous Pieces’ by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 02 Apr 2008
“All conditioned things are impermanent” - When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 01 Apr 2008
Shan-tao’s definition of the “Right Practices. (shogyo) is as follows: 1) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly read and recite the Meditation Sutra, the Amida Sutra, and the Sutra of Immeasurable Life; 2) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly contemplate the splendid view of Amida and the landscape in that Land; 3) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly prostrate oneself before Amida Buddha; 4) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly utter the name of Amida Buddha; and 5) when giving praises and offerings is in order, to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly praise and make offerings to Amida…. [Link]
Thought for Mon, 31 Mar 2008
The fourth step of the Eightfold Path is Right Conduct, meaning to keep the five precepts of not taking life, not taking that which is not given, not committing sexual misconduct, not lying, and abstaining from all forms of intoxication…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 30 Mar 2008
Reality is all-encompassing: the absolute nature is one. Although we may feel separate from the original uncreated reality - whether we call it ‘God,’ 'peak experience,' or ‘enlightened mind’ - through awareness we can contact this essential part of ourselves. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 29 Mar 2008
A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. ‘What are you?’ I cried to them as they drifted by. ‘I am a bubble, of course’ nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed. But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, ‘We are this stream’, and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 28 Mar 2008
In Buddhism, it is said that those who commit any of five grievous sins (gogyakuzai) invariably fall into the hells of incessant suffering. These five offences are: 1) killing one’s father, 2) killing one’s mother, 3) killing an arhat [a well accomplished monk or nun] 4) injuring a buddha, 5) causing disunity among the community of followers…. [Link]
Thought for Thu, 27 Mar 2008
Spontaneity is being present in the present. Spontaneity by-passes the processes of the conceptual (aspect of) mind. Re-integration with Nature, which we are, is the recovery of spontaneity. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 26 Mar 2008
If only I could throw away the urge to trace my patterns in your heart, I could really see you. - David Brandon (Zen in the Art of Helping)… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 25 Mar 2008
On the phenomenal plane we seek pleasure and the avoidance of pain. On the noumenal plane we know the absence of both - which is Bliss. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 24 Mar 2008
All such notions as causation, succession, atoms, primary elements…are all figments of the imagination and manifestations of the mind. -Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 23 Mar 2008
Buddha: One is the way to gain, the other is the way to Nirvana, knowing this fact, students of the Buddha should not take pleasure in being honored, but, should practice detachment. … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 22 Mar 2008
There I was, poised in space, a disembodied eye, invisible, incorporeal, seeing but not seen. - R. Gordon Wasson, 1957… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 21 Mar 2008
In this life, you will achieve benefit from any Buddhist practices you choose. Jodo Shu practice can bring rebirth in the Pure Land and enlightenment, and is easy for anyone to follow. … [Link]
Thought for Thu, 20 Mar 2008
In Jodo Shu, there are three different times to recite the nembutsu. The first type of recitation is done in our everyday life, and is called “Jinjo Gyogi.” It is considered a daily nembutsu. The second type of nembutsu is called “Betsuji Nembutsu” and takes place only on a pre-determined date and time. The third type is called “Rinju Gyogi.” It is chanted on one’s deathbed just before the believer is welcomed into the Pure Land (Jodo). … [Link]
Thought for Wed, 19 Mar 2008
The Four modes of practice (shishu) This term refers to the four modes of religious practice advocated by Shan-tao in his Hymns in Praise of Birth (Wang-sheng-li-tsan ). The first is reverence shown to Amida Buddha and bodhisattvas in the Pure Land in the form of prostrations before their images and other similar acts of honor. The second is exclusive practice, which means wholehearted and exclusive recitations and meditation on Amida Buddha alone. The third is uninterrupted practice, especially as regards the recitation of the Nembutsu. The fourth is the long-term practice. That is, that one pursue this kind of practice throughout the whole of one’s life. These four modes of practice are discussed by Honen in Chapter Nine of the Senchakushu…. [Link]
Thought for Tue, 18 Mar 2008
One must know that one is not in order to be able to understand that we are. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 17 Mar 2008
Having found no self that is not other, The seeker must find that there is no other that is not self, So that in the absence of both other and self, There may be known the perfect peace, Of the presence of absolute absence. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 16 Mar 2008
One must know that one is not in order to be able to understand that we are. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 15 Mar 2008
In Buddhism, there is a teaching called the “three bodies” (sanjin), also called the “three properties” or the “three enlightened properties”. These are the three kinds of form that a buddha may manifest as: 1) the Dharma Body (dharmakaya or hosshin) is the form in which a buddha transcends physical being and is identical with the undifferentiated unity of being or Suchness (Skt. tathata, Jp. shinnyo); 2) the Bliss or Reward Body (sambhogakaya or hojin) is obtained as the “reward” for having completed the bodhisattva practice of aiding other beings to end their suffering and having penetrated the depth of the Buddha’s wisdom. Unlike the Dharma Body, which is immaterial, the Bliss Body is conceived of as an actual body, although one that is still transcendent and imperceptible to common people; 3) the Manifested Body (nirmanakaya or ojin) is the physical form in which the Buddha appears in this world in order to guide sentient beings. It is considered that the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is nirmanakaya. Honen believed that Amida is sambhogakaya…. [Link]
Thought for Fri, 14 Mar 2008
Keep it simple; as simple as posible, but no simpler. - Albert Einstein… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 13 Mar 2008
By defilement of mind, beings are defiled; by purification of mind, beings are purified…. [Link]
Thought for Wed, 12 Mar 2008
For this has been said: - 'As with the assembly of parts. The word “chariot” is countenanced, So, When the khandhas are present, ‘A being’ is said in common usage' (Kindred Sayings I, 135). … [Link]
Thought for Tue, 11 Mar 2008
Past and Future are a duality of which Present is the reality. The now-moment alone is eternal and real. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 10 Mar 2008
Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride. - Sutta Nipata… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 09 Mar 2008
Whoever among men who walk the Earth has seen these Mysteries is blessed, but whoever in uninitiated and has not received his share of the rite, he will not have the same lot as the others, once he is dead and dwells in the mould where the sun goes down. - Homer, Hymn to Demeter… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 08 Mar 2008
The eighth step of the Eightfold Path is Right Concentration, meaning to foster dispassion and detachment from the things of the world…. [Link]
Thought for Fri, 07 Mar 2008
But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 06 Mar 2008
It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions. - T.H. Huxley… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 05 Mar 2008
A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. ‘What are you?’ I cried to them as they drifted by. ‘I am a bubble, of course’ nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed. But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, ‘We are this stream’, and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 04 Mar 2008
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 03 Mar 2008
He, who by good deeds covers the evil he has done, illuminates this world like the moon freed from clouds. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 02 Mar 2008
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. -Chuang Tzu… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 01 Mar 2008
War can only be understood and put an end to if you and all those who are concerned very deeply with the survival of man, feel that you are utterly responsible for killing others. What will make you change? - J. Krishnamurti… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 29 Feb 2008
Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away. Aitken Roshi … [Link]
Thought for Thu, 28 Feb 2008
Kuyo is the practice by which Dharmakara perfects his “humble and dynamic role as student”. The humbler he became, the more Buddhas he discovers. The more Buddhas he discovered, the humbler he became, eventually losing all attachment to his own ideas and opinions…. [Link]
Thought for Wed, 27 Feb 2008
One must know that one is not in order to be able to understand that we are. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 26 Feb 2008
In Buddhism, there is a teaching called the “three bodies” (sanjin), also called the “three properties” or the “three enlightened properties”. These are the three kinds of form that a buddha may manifest as: 1) the Dharma Body (dharmakaya or hosshin) is the form in which a buddha transcends physical being and is identical with the undifferentiated unity of being or Suchness (Skt. tathata, Jp. shinnyo); 2) the Bliss or Reward Body (sambhogakaya or hojin) is obtained as the “reward” for having completed the bodhisattva practice of aiding other beings to end their suffering and having penetrated the depth of the Buddha’s wisdom. Unlike the Dharma Body, which is immaterial, the Bliss Body is conceived of as an actual body, although one that is still transcendent and imperceptible to common people; 3) the Manifested Body (nirmanakaya or ojin) is the physical form in which the Buddha appears in this world in order to guide sentient beings. It is considered that the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is nirmanakaya. Honen believed that Amida is sambhogakaya…. [Link]
Thought for Mon, 25 Feb 2008
Jodo Shu is a path that anyone can follow to achieve release from the cycle of rebirth, but it is only one path. The Buddha said that there are 84,000 dharma doors. Jodo Shu offers advantages over other Buddhist paths in our modern world, as the path is simple and not time-consuming. All of us have many demands on our time, and paths that require retreat, chanting in a foreign language, or many hours a day in contemplation or meditation are difficult to practice and still be in the world with demands of family, work, and society. … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 24 Feb 2008
When asked the question, what is consciousness? we become conscious of consciousness. And most of us take this consciousness of consciousness to be what consciousness is. This is not true. - Julian Jaynes… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 23 Feb 2008
Reality alone exists - and that we are. All the rest is only a dream, a dream of the One Mind, which is our mind without the ‘our’. Is it so hard to accept? Is it so difficult to assimilate and to live? - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 22 Feb 2008
“I gave way to delight, as mystics have for centuries when they peeked through the curtains and discovered that this world- so manifestly real was actually a tiny stage set constructed by the mind. We discover abruptly that everything we accept as reality is just social fabrications. - Timothy Leary, 1966… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 21 Feb 2008
Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. - Albert Einstein… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 20 Feb 2008
We are required to cease looking at objects as events apart from ourselves, And to know them at their source - which is our perceiving of them. Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 19 Feb 2008
There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth — not going all the way, and not starting. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Mon, 18 Feb 2008
Reality is all-encompassing: the absolute nature is one. Although we may feel separate from the original uncreated reality - whether we call it ‘God,’ 'peak experience,' or ‘enlightened mind’ - through awareness we can contact this essential part of ourselves. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 17 Feb 2008
Shan-tao’s definition of the “Right Practices. (shogyo) is as follows: 1) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly read and recite the Meditation Sutra, the Amida Sutra, and the Sutra of Immeasurable Life; 2) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly contemplate the splendid view of Amida and the landscape in that Land; 3) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly prostrate oneself before Amida Buddha; 4) to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly utter the name of Amida Buddha; and 5) when giving praises and offerings is in order, to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly praise and make offerings to Amida…. [Link]
Thought for Sat, 16 Feb 2008
To comprehend and to understand God above all similitudes, as He is in Himself, is to be God with God, without intermediary, and without any otherness that can become a hindrance or an intermediary. Whosoever wishes to understand this must have died to himself, and must live in God, and must turn his gaze to the eternal light in the ground of his spirit, where the Hidden Truth reveals Itself without means. - Ruysbroek. … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 15 Feb 2008
Having found no self that is not other, The seeker must find that there is no other that is not self, So that in the absence of both other and self, There may be known the perfect peace, Of the presence of absolute absence. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 14 Feb 2008
The Noble Eightfold Path: Right Views, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration…. [Link]
Thought for Wed, 13 Feb 2008
No matter what one does, whether one’s deeds serve virtue or vice, nothing lacks importance. All actions bear a kind of fruit. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 12 Feb 2008
This is the way of peace: “Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” - Peace Pilgrim… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 11 Feb 2008
I have only one object in writing books: to demonstrate that there could not be anyone to do it. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 10 Feb 2008
A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for? Robert Browning… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 09 Feb 2008
In the noble eightfold path, what is Right Action? Not to kill, not to steal, and not to engage in sexual misconduct…. [Link]
Thought for Fri, 08 Feb 2008
There is no objective world independent of the observer. - Deepak Chopra… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 07 Feb 2008
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 06 Feb 2008
Once you are living your life in awareness, it will be as though you stand high above others, witnessing their suffering, while you do not suffer at all. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 05 Feb 2008
When you give a shilling to a beggar - do you realize that you are giving it to yourself? When you help a lame dog over a stile - do you realize that you yourself are being helped? When you kick a man when he is down - do you realize that you are kicking yourself? Give him another kick - if you deserve it! - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 04 Feb 2008
We have only to eliminate the ego-notion by succeeding in the difficult task of understanding that it does not exist except as a notion. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 03 Feb 2008
Honen Shonin taught people that it was enough to simply recite Nembutsu. He firmly believed that true Buddhism should be able to be practiced easily anywhere and at any time…. [Link]
Thought for Sat, 02 Feb 2008
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 01 Feb 2008
We are such stuff as dreams are made on. - Shakespeare… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 31 Jan 2008
Reality is all-encompassing: the absolute nature is one. Although we may feel separate from the original uncreated reality - whether we call it ‘God,’ 'peak experience,' or ‘enlightened mind’ - through awareness we can contact this essential part of ourselves. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 30 Jan 2008
When you reach the highest form of samadhi, you realize there are hundreds more beyond that. - Patanjali, 400 B.C…. [Link]
Thought for Tue, 29 Jan 2008
We are such stuff as dreams are made on. - Shakespeare… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 28 Jan 2008
With four qualities the wise, intelligent, worthy person goes about not uprooted, not lifeless, not blameworthy, not censured by the wise. What four? With Good Conduct of body, speech and mind, and with gratitude…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 27 Jan 2008
Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth. - Sutta Nipata … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 26 Jan 2008
Honen Shonin taught people that it was enough to simply recite Nembutsu. He firmly believed that true Buddhism should be able to be practiced easily anywhere and at any time…. [Link]
Thought for Fri, 25 Jan 2008
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 24 Jan 2008
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 23 Jan 2008
“I gave way to delight, as mystics have for centuries when they peeked through the curtains and discovered that this world- so manifestly real was actually a tiny stage set constructed by the mind. We discover abruptly that everything we accept as reality is just social fabrications. - Timothy Leary, 1966… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 22 Jan 2008
Whoever thinks as, from, or on behalf of, an entity which he believes himself to be, the more so if he tries to work on himself, by, with, or for such an entity - which is only a concept in mind - has not yet begun to understand what it is all about. - ‘Posthumous Pieces’ by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 21 Jan 2008
The doors of the Immortal are open. Let them who can hear respond with faith…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 20 Jan 2008
The qualities we possess should never be a matter for satisfaction, but the qualities we have discarded. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 19 Jan 2008
To comprehend and to understand God above all similitudes, as He is in Himself, is to be God with God, without intermediary, and without any otherness that can become a hindrance or an intermediary. Whosoever wishes to understand this must have died to himself, and must live in God, and must turn his gaze to the eternal light in the ground of his spirit, where the Hidden Truth reveals Itself without means. - Ruysbroek. … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 18 Jan 2008
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 17 Jan 2008
The Fates lead those who will; those who won’t, they drag. - Senecca … [Link]
Thought for Wed, 16 Jan 2008
As long as there is a ‘you’ doing or not-doing, thinking or not-thinking, ‘meditating’ or ‘not-meditating’ you are no closer to home than the day you were born. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 15 Jan 2008
Buddha: One who acts on truth is happy, in this world and beyond. … [Link]
Thought for Mon, 14 Jan 2008
This is the way of peace: “Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” - Peace Pilgrim… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 13 Jan 2008
In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true, either is true, or becomes true. - John Lilly… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 12 Jan 2008
Living should be perpetual and universal benediction. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 11 Jan 2008
The fundamental idea of Buddhism is to pass beyond the world of opposites, a world built up by intellectual distinctions and emotional defilements. - D.T. Suzuki… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 10 Jan 2008
Recitation of the nembutsu, “Namu Amida Butsu”, is the one practice which Amida Buddha promised as the unfailing means for salvation and Birth in the Pure Land. … [Link]
Thought for Wed, 09 Jan 2008
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 08 Jan 2008
Even the intellectual understanding of the inexistence of our ‘selves’ is a rare and bitter attainment which few even attempt. And that is only the elimination round which qualifies us for access to Reality… Intellectual understanding should be not indispensable to a ‘simple’ mind, but, with our conditioning, it would seem to be an almost inevitable preliminary. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 07 Jan 2008
For this has been said: - 'As with the assembly of parts. The word “chariot” is countenanced, So, When the khandhas are present, ‘A being’ is said in common usage' (Kindred Sayings I, 135). … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 06 Jan 2008
Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride. - Sutta Nipata… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 05 Jan 2008
Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as are those which a chick which has not broken its way through its shell might form of the outside world. - Buddha … [Link]
Thought for Fri, 04 Jan 2008
Play your part in the comedy, but don’t identify yourself with your role! - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 03 Jan 2008
One side will make you larger; the other side will make you smaller. - Lewis Carrol… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 02 Jan 2008
Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 01 Jan 2008
I have only one object in writing books: to demonstrate that there could not be anyone to do it. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 31 Dec 2007
To comprehend and to understand God above all similitudes, as He is in Himself, is to be God with God, without intermediary, and without any otherness that can become a hindrance or an intermediary. Whosoever wishes to understand this must have died to himself, and must live in God, and must turn his gaze to the eternal light in the ground of his spirit, where the Hidden Truth reveals Itself without means. - Ruysbroek. … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 30 Dec 2007
Fear, desire, affectivity are manifestations of the pseudo-entity which constitutes pseudo-bondage. It is the entity, rather than the manifestations thereof, which has to be eliminated. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 29 Dec 2007
Reality is all-encompassing: the absolute nature is one. Although we may feel separate from the original uncreated reality - whether we call it ‘God,’ 'peak experience,' or ‘enlightened mind’ - through awareness we can contact this essential part of ourselves. - Tarthang Tulku… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 28 Dec 2007
Even the intellectual understanding of the inexistence of our ‘selves’ is a rare and bitter attainment which few even attempt. And that is only the elimination round which qualifies us for access to Reality… Intellectual understanding should be not indispensable to a ‘simple’ mind, but, with our conditioning, it would seem to be an almost inevitable preliminary. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 27 Dec 2007
Play your part in the comedy, but don’t identify yourself with your role! - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 26 Dec 2007
It is necessary to understand that I Am, In order that I may know that I Am Not, So that, at last, I may realize that, I Am Not, therefore I Am. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 25 Dec 2007
Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth. - Sutta Nipata … [Link]
Thought for Mon, 24 Dec 2007
In Buddhism, there is a teaching called the “three bodies” (sanjin), also called the “three properties” or the “three enlightened properties”. These are the three kinds of form that a buddha may manifest as: 1) the Dharma Body (dharmakaya or hosshin) is the form in which a buddha transcends physical being and is identical with the undifferentiated unity of being or Suchness (Skt. tathata, Jp. shinnyo); 2) the Bliss or Reward Body (sambhogakaya or hojin) is obtained as the “reward” for having completed the bodhisattva practice of aiding other beings to end their suffering and having penetrated the depth of the Buddha’s wisdom. Unlike the Dharma Body, which is immaterial, the Bliss Body is conceived of as an actual body, although one that is still transcendent and imperceptible to common people; 3) the Manifested Body (nirmanakaya or ojin) is the physical form in which the Buddha appears in this world in order to guide sentient beings. It is considered that the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is nirmanakaya. Honen believed that Amida is sambhogakaya…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 23 Dec 2007
Ask yourself this; 'Are you a human being having a spiritual experience, or a spiritual being having a human experience? - Wayne Dyer, PhD… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 22 Dec 2007
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 21 Dec 2007
A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for? Robert Browning… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 20 Dec 2007
“All conditioned things are impermanent” - When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 19 Dec 2007
With four qualities the wise, intelligent, worthy person goes about not uprooted, not lifeless, not blameworthy, not censured by the wise. What four? With Good Conduct of body, speech and mind, and with gratitude…. [Link]
Thought for Tue, 18 Dec 2007
Turn your mind away from things which are not permanent. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 17 Dec 2007
The first step of the Eightfold Path is Right Views, which means Knowledge of the Four Noble Truths…. [Link]
Thought for Sun, 16 Dec 2007
“Meditation must not be made into a business.” Acharya Rajneesh 1971 … [Link]
Thought for Sat, 15 Dec 2007
If we clearly apperceive the difference Between direct apprehension in Whole-mind And relative comprehension by reasoning In mind divided into subject-and-object, All the apparent mysteries will disappear. For that will be found to be the key Which unlocks the doors of incomprehension. - ‘Posthumous Pieces’ by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 14 Dec 2007
You are now in control of your life. You see, the ego is never in control. The ego is controlled by wishes for comfort and convenience on the part of the body, by demands of the mind, and by outbursts of the emotions. But the higher nature controls the body and the mind and the emotions. I can say to my body, “Lie down there on that cement floor and go to sleep," and it obeys. I can say to my mind, “Shut out everything else and concentrate on this job before you," and it’s obedient. I can say to my emotions, “Be still, even in the face of this terrible situation," and they are still. It’s a different way of living. The philosopher Thoreau wrote: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps he hears a different drummer. And now you are following a different drummer–the higher nature instead of the lower. - Peace Pilgrim… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 13 Dec 2007
All understanding begins with our not accepting the world as it appears. - Alan C. Kay… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 12 Dec 2007
While the Tathagata, in his teaching, constantly makes use of conceptions and ideas about them, disciples should keep in mind the unreality of all such conceptions and ideas. They should recall that the Tathagata, in making use of them in explaining the Dharma always uses them in the semblance of a raft that is of use only to cross a river. As the raft is of no further use after the river is crossed, it should be discarded. So these arbitrary conceptions of things and about things should be wholly given up as one attains enlightenment. -Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 11 Dec 2007
There I was, poised in space, a disembodied eye, invisible, incorporeal, seeing but not seen. - R. Gordon Wasson, 1957… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 10 Dec 2007
What is your trouble? Mistaken identity. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 09 Dec 2007
The practice of meditation is represented by the three monkeys, who cover their eyes, ears and mouths so as to avoid the phenomenal world. The practice of non-meditation is ceasing to be the see-er, hearer or speaker while eyes, ears and mouths are fulfilling their function in daily life. Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 08 Dec 2007
Keep it simple; as simple as posible, but no simpler. - Albert Einstein… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 07 Dec 2007
While the Tathagata, in his teaching, constantly makes use of conceptions and ideas about them, disciples should keep in mind the unreality of all such conceptions and ideas. They should recall that the Tathagata, in making use of them in explaining the Dharma always uses them in the semblance of a raft that is of use only to cross a river. As the raft is of no further use after the river is crossed, it should be discarded. So these arbitrary conceptions of things and about things should be wholly given up as one attains enlightenment. -Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 06 Dec 2007
The only real service we can render to that which we perceive and interpret in phenomenal existence as ‘others’ is by awakening to universal consciousness ourselves. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 05 Dec 2007
Everything cognized is just what is called ‘mind’, And what is called ‘mind’ is just the cognizing of everything. “The Tenth Man” by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 04 Dec 2007
The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana. - Bassui… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 03 Dec 2007
Detachment is a state, it is not a totalisation of achieved indifferences. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 02 Dec 2007
So is it possible to see the limitations of thought and give it its right place, and therefore giving the right place to thought brings about clarity - right? We mean by right place - the art of that intelligence which comes through investigation, through exploration, that art - the very meaning of that word is to put everything where it belongs, put everything in our life where it belongs, and to find out where it belongs you need tremendous intelligence. - J. Krishnamurti… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 01 Dec 2007
If you want to have friends, you must be friendly. If you want to make peace, you must be peaceful. - Peace Pilgrim… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 30 Nov 2007
We ourselves are not an illusory part of Reality; rather are we Reality itself illusorily conceived. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 29 Nov 2007
There is no becoming. ALL IS. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 28 Nov 2007
Impulses of intelligence constantly create the body in new forms every second. - Deepak Chopra… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 27 Nov 2007
Is repetitive action virtuous action? If behaviour and conduct are merely repetitive processes then all human relationships actually cease. If I behave mechanically every day, - repeating a certain code of conduct which I have learnt, which I find profitable, or which is pleasant, repeating that over and over again, - my relationship with you ceases, completely - I have become a machine. - J. Krishnamurti… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 26 Nov 2007
One day Ananda, who had been thinking deeply about things for a while, turned to the Buddha and exclaimed: “Lord, I’ve been thinking- spiritual friendship is at least half of the spiritual life!” The Buddha replied: “Say not so, Ananda, say not so. Spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life!” - Samyutta Nikaya, Verse 2… [Link]
Thought for Sun, 25 Nov 2007
Past and Future are a duality of which Present is the reality. The now-moment alone is eternal and real. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 24 Nov 2007
Living should be perpetual and universal benediction. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 23 Nov 2007
Cultivate a friend whose ways are seven: He gives what is hard to give, does what is hard to do, bears what is hard to bear, he confesses his own secrets and keeps your secrets, in times of trouble he does not forsake you, and he does not forsake you when you are down. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 22 Nov 2007
The only real service we can render to that which we perceive and interpret in phenomenal existence as ‘others’ is by awakening to universal consciousness ourselves. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 21 Nov 2007
The Five Precepts are: 1. Abstain from taking life, 2. Abstain from taking that which is not given, 3. Abstain from misconduct done in lust, 4. Abstain from lying, 5. Abstain from all forms of intoxication. … [Link]
Thought for Tue, 20 Nov 2007
The deep fascination of myths is that they speak directly to deeper levels of our nature and to the subconscious, and give the profound assurance that we are each, in essence, deathless and immortal sparks of Divinity on the long evolutionary journey into higher consciousness. - Sir George Trevelyn… [Link]
Thought for Mon, 19 Nov 2007
“Meditation must not be made into a business.” Acharya Rajneesh 1971 … [Link]
Thought for Sun, 18 Nov 2007
Past and Future are a duality of which Present is the reality. The now-moment alone is eternal and real. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Sat, 17 Nov 2007
Who ranks as the highest? One who does not harm anything. One who never retaliates. One who is always at peace regardless of the other person’s disposition. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Fri, 16 Nov 2007
Whoever makes love grow boundless, and sets his mind for seeing the end of birth, his fetters are worn thin. If he loves even a single being, Good will follow. But the Noble One with compassionate heart for all mankind, generates abounding good. - Buddha… [Link]
Thought for Thu, 15 Nov 2007
Living should be perpetual and universal benediction. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei… [Link]
Thought for Wed, 14 Nov 2007
[on Gandhi] I felt I was in the presence of a noble soul . . . a true disciple of Lord Buddha and a true believer in peace and harmony among all men. - The Dalai Lama… [Link]
Thought for Tue, 13 Nov 2007
The purest doctrines, such as those of Ramana Maharshi, Padma Sambhava, Huang Po and Shen Hui, just teach that it is sufficient by analysis to comprehend that there is no entity which could have effective volition, that an apparent act of volition when in accord with the inevitable can only be a vain gesture and, when in discord, the fluttering of a caged bird against the bars of his cage. When he