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Meditation Seed Thoughts I twist vines to fashion a hanging curtain, pillow my head on a stone, lie down among cliffs. I’ve made off with my body, far from worldly cares; cleansing my mind, I hold fast to the True Void. -- Priest Doji The worse of the two is he who, when abused, retaliates. One who does not retaliate wins a battle hard to win. --- Samyutta Nikaya Just put thoughts to rest and don’t seek outwardly anymore. When things come up, then give them your attention; just trust what is functional in you at present, and you have nothing to be concerned about. -- Linji One should first establish oneself in what is proper and only then try to instruct others. Doing this, the wise one will not be criticized. -- Dhammapada Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst. -- Lin Yutang Investigate your mind and realize your Buddha-nature - that which never rests nor moves, neither starts nor stops. You will have wasted your lifetime if you don't -- Hui-neng Wonderful it is to train the mind so swiftly moving, seizing whatever it wants. Good is it to have a well-trained mind, for a well-trained mind brings happiness. -- Dhammapada For all of the Freedom IS nothing left to let go Nothing to possess and no rambling to and fro, As there really is no one to either think or so do It's all about Observing the Observer IN/AS you. -- Yogajyotii All existences are like the leaves on the tree: fed by the one root. Origin and end come from the same source, empty; Origin and end alike go back to that. -- Taisen Deshimaru For one who mindfully develops Boundless loving-kindness Seeing the destruction of clinging, The fetters are worn away. -- Itivuttaka And when Man bursts his mortal bounds, is not the Boundless revealed that moment? -- Rabindranath Tagore Alone in mountain vastness, Dozing by the window. No mere talk uncovers Truth: The fragrance of those garden plums! -- Bankei With all his attachments cut, with the heart's pining subdued, calm and serene and happy is he, for he has attained peace of mind. --Samyutta Nikaya Any moment is the best moment and any place, the best place. If only you perceive this wholeheartedly. - Panshan It is Emptying the conditioned modus operandi To Enjoy Awakening of no who or even a why, For the very last line of any statement of Truth Is that Stillness IS the mental Fountain of Youth. -- Yogajyotii Don’t tell me how Difficult the Way. The bird’s path, winding far, Is right before you. Water of the Dokei Gorge, You return to the ocean, I to the mountain. -- Hofuku Seikatsu Good is restraint in the body; good is restraint in speech; good is restraint in thought. Restraint everywhere is good. The monk restrained in every way is freed from all suffering. -- Dhammapada Does one really have to fret About enlightenment? No matter what road I travel, I’m going home. -- Shinsho A person with good eyes, encountering a treacherous, uneven place, would try hard to avoid it. A wise person, in the world of life, should avoid evil deeds. -- Udana Life is a mystery; the more you know it, the more beautiful it is. A moment comes when suddenly you start living it, you start flowing with it. An orgasmic relationship evolves between you and life, but you cannot figure out what it is. That's the beauty of it, that's its infinite depth. -- Osho I was born with a divine jewel, Long since filmed with dust, This morning, wiped clearn, It mirrors streams and Mountains without end. -- Ikuzanchu 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 mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death. -- Dhammapada Is it worth the Understanding is it worth the Bliss Is it worth no Causes of Suffering is it worth this, Is it worth the Freedom ever anew yourself BE Is it worth the Self-Knowledge is it worth to See. -- Yogajyotii All the objects of the senses Interact and yet do not. Interacting brings involvement. Otherwise, each keeps its place. Eye and sights, ear and sounds, Nose and smells, tongue and tastes; Thus with each and every thing, Depending on these roots, The leaves spread forth. -- Shitou Xiqian One who is a master of knowledge, Who has lived the holy life, Is called one gone to the world's end, One who has reached the further shore. -- Itivuttaka People who really have their minds on the Way do not forget work on the fundamental no matter what they are doing. Yet if they still distinguish this work from ordinary activities even as they do them together, they will naturally be concerned about being distracted by activities and forgetting the meditation work. This is because of viewing things as outside the mind. -- Muso One is one's own protector, one is one's own refuge. Therefore, one should control oneself, even as a trader controls a noble steed. -- Dhammapada One should not pursue that which is not necessary in one's life, otherwise one will have to pay a price. One who knows how to preserve happiness will not burden himself unnecessarily. -- Yan Hui And if you lead others to your Home in this way The fickle finger of Karma will see that you pay, For there are way too many of the false prophets That advocate the easy way only for the profits. -- Yogajyotii Destroying pride -- man becomes endearing; Destroying anger -- man gets rid of sorrow; Destroying desire -- man acquires peace; Destroying greed -- man achieves happiness. -- Satya Sai Baba He who knows Self as the enjoyer of The honey from the flowers of the senses, Ever present within, ruler of time, Goes beyond fear. For this Self is Supreme! -- Upanishads All things in the world come from being. And being comes from non-being. -- Lao-Tzu Evening mountains veiled in somber mist, One path entering, the wooded hill: The monk has gone off, locking his pine door. From a bamboo pipe a lonely trickle of water flows. - Ishikawa Jozan Good is virtue until life's end, good is faith that is steadfast, good is the acquisition of wisdom, and good is the avoidance of evil. -- Dhammapada Your mind that each moment shines with the light of nondiscrimination, wherever it may be, this is the true Samantabhadra. Your mind in each moment that frees itself from its shackles, everywhere knows emancipation. -- Lin chi Good are friends when need arises; good is contentment with just what one has; good is merit when life is at an end, and good is the abandoning of all suffering. -- Dhammapada All Wise Sages Teach to have an Empty mind As do all Sacred Texts of Wisdom that we find, So let go conditioned notions before they breed So why reinvent the wheel you must take heed. -- Yogajyotii The spiritual journey is one of continuous learning and purification. When you know this, you become humble. -- S. Rinpoche Wash the mud off your hands use some lotion Take off your mask get into to True devotion, Though it may feel good to play the game well Your Real destination is simply a Home in Hell. -- Yogajyotii Madness, the way they Gallop off to foreign shores! Turning to the One Mind, I find my Buddhahood, Above self and others, Beyond coming and going. This will remain when All else is gone. -- Tanzan If for company you find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, you should, overcoming all impediments, keep his company joyously and mindfully. -- Dhammapada Waking me up To the spring that’s come Water trickles down The valley and long Crag-bound ice now Cracks open, slides free. -- Saigyo Throroughly understanding the Dhamma and freed from longing through insight, the wise one rid of all desire is calm as a pool unstirred by water. -- Itivuttaka Learn to let go. That is the key to happiness. -- Buddha So what is your Dream of a conditioned past You know it's all in your head and can't last, Is the Present too Painful clinging to memory Let go of the nostalgia it's just so temporary. -- Yogajyotii Study the teachings of the pine tree, the bamboo and the plum blossom. The pine is evergreen, firmly rooted, and venerable. The bamboo is strong, resilient, unbreakable. The plum blossom is hardy, fragrant and elegant. -- Morihei Ueshiba Delight in heedfulness! Guard well your thoughts! Draw yourself out of this bog of evil, even as an elephant draws himself out of the mud. -- Dhammapada Nature's way is to diminish excess and replenish deficiency to ensure a balance. Society should abide by nature's way to ensure social harmony. -- Lao Zi The myriad differences resolved by sitting, all doors opened. In this still place I follow my nature, be what it may. From the one hundred flowers I wander freely; the soaring cliff my hall of meditation -- Reizan So we must diligently gather all Vital Information Yet discern it well and live as our presentation, Silent mind let go sense orientation foster Will BE anew Eternal Infinite Present Moment Still. -- Yogajyotii Any sensual bliss in the world, any heavenly bliss, isn't worth one sixteenth-sixteenth of the bliss of the ending of craving. -- Udana Whatever you do, don't shut off your pain; accept your pain and remain vulnerable. However desperate you become, accept your pain as it is, because it is in fact trying to hand you a priceless gift: the chance of discovering, through spiritual practice, what lies behind sorrow. -- Sogyal Rinpoche The past is dead memory, and the future is nonexistent. The present moment is not between the future and the past, but the constant dimension outside of time. -- Ramesh Balsekar All we must do is create a little shift from the spinning world we have in our head to right here right now. The intensity and ability to be right here right now is that we must develop. -- Joko Those who awaken never rest in one place. Like swans, they rise and leave the lake. On the air they rise and fly an invisible course. Their food is knowledge. They live on emptiness. They have seen how to break free. Who can follow them ? -- Buddha Get out of your head just make the mind Rest Join in the Stillness all else nothing but a Pest, Just BE your Silence letting it reign AS Divine For it is your very True Nature that is the Sign. -- Yogajyotii In this world, good it is to serve one's mother, good it is to serve one's father, good it is to serve the monks, and good it is to serve the holy ones. -- Dhammapada Unfettered at last, a traveling monk, I pass the old Zen barrier. Mine is a traceless stream-and-cloud life. Of those mountains, which shall be my home? -- Manan To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to purify one's mind - this is the teaching of the Buddhas. -- Dhammapada Meditation is nothing but a device to make you aware of your real self - which is not created by you, which need not be created by you, which you already are. You are born with it. You are it. It needs to be discovered. -- Osho Though night after night The moon is stream reflected, Try to find where it has touched, Point even to a shadow. -- Takuan Truth is hidden in the subtle nature of the heart of everything, although it is invisible. One cannot see it from inside and neither from the surface. One can only live and experience it. -- Heart Sutra One who, while himself seeking happiness, does not oppress with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will find happiness hereafter. -- Dhammapada Grab the Golden Ring get off a merry go round Listen to the Silence and Hear Eternal Sound, Look into the Void everything's there so to See So IN/AS What-IS Awakening we can only BE. -- Yogajyotii Down to the stream to watch the jade flow or back to the cliff to sit on a boulder. Mind like a lone cloud clinging to nothing; what do I need in the faraway world? -- Han shan Whose mind is like rock, steady, unmoved, dispassionate for things that spark passion, unangered by things that spark anger: When one's mind is developed like this, from where can there come suffering & stress? -- Udana Everywhere you look The mountains are covered With mist and blooming cherry trees. -- Ryokan The past should not be followed after and the future not desired; what is past is dead and gone and the future is yet to come. -- Majjhima Nikaya Leave your innumerable knowings and seeings and understandings, and go to that greatness of space. When you come to that vastness, there is no speck of buddhism in your heart, and when there is no speck of knowledge about you, you will have the true sight of buddhas and patriarchs. -- Bukko Do not believe anything because it is said by an authority, or if it is said to come from angels, or from Gods, or from an inspired source. Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart and mind and body and found it to be true. Work out your own path, through diligence." -- Guatama Buddha Few people believe their inherent mind is Buddha. Most will not take this seriously, and therefore are cramped. They are wrapped up in illusions, cravings, resentments, and other afflictions, all because they love the cave of ignorance. -- Fenyang Should a person commit evil, let him not do it again and again. Let him not find pleasure therein, for painful is the accumulation of evil. -- Dhammapada The teaching of the mind ground is the basis of Zen study. The mind ground is the great awareness of being as is. -- Fayan Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live as hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things. -- Dhammapada I explain to you matters pertaining to enlightenment, but don’t try to keep your mind on them. Just turn to the ocean of your own essence. And develop practical accord with its nature. -- Yangshan As conditioned notions arise continue the spin Of this and that clutter a game we can not win, Seems so very real as we are always beguiled Unbeknownst to us that we've become defiled. -- Yogajyotii Better it is to live one day virtuous and meditative than to live a hundred years immoral and uncontrolled. -- Dhammapada It is most urgent that you seek real, true perception so you can be free in the world and not confused by ordinary teachers. It is best to have no obsessions. Just don’t be contrived. Simply be normal. You impulsively seek elsewhere, looking to others for your own hands and feet. This is already mistaken. -- Linji I have love for the footless, for the bipeds too I have love; I have love for those with four feet, for the many-footed I have love. -- Anguttara Nikaya With all it's ups and downs it just seems to go Impermanence is here today gone tomorrow, Walking around in a circle you always return But you don't Remember so you just re-burn. -- Yogajyotii He who believes that he has choice of decision and action continues to be miserable. -- Ramesh Balsekar Everywhere turn around freely, Not following conditions, Not falling into classification. Facing everything, Let go and attain stability. So it is said that the earth lifts Up the mountain without Knowing the mountain’s Stark steepness. A rock contains jade without Knowing the jade’s flawlessness. This is how truly to leave home. -- Hongzhi Zhengjue At death a person abandons what he construes as mine. Realizing this, the wise shouldn't incline to be devoted to mine. -- Sutta Nipata Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too self-full to seekother than itself. -- Kahlil Gibran An ancient worthy said, "If you want to know the meaning of enlightened nature, you must watch the causal relations of time and season; when the time has arrived, the truth is manifest of itself." -- Daio Think not lightly of evil, saying, "It will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil. -- Dhammapada You can not step that step for a second time So just repeat your misery thinking it's sublime, Yet the beat goes on as the song never ends Your mind is a jukebox you'll find your friends. -- Yogajyotii In everyone it towers like A mile high wall, Flashing a great precious light In everyone’s presence. One thought ten thousand years, Ten thousand years one thought, Eating when hungry, Sleeping when tired, Who worries about the Alternation of light and dark, The change of the seasons? -- Daio Though one may conquer a thousand times a thousand men in battle, yet he indeed is the noblest victor who conquers himself. -- Dhammapada Life is a flow, it never stops, so do not stop anywhere, go on. The experience of today is valid only for today... tomorrow will be a new day where all has to be started again. -- Dharmati What is the Dream but mere reflected Dream Asleep or Sleeping it's not what it may seem, The Dream without is the same dream within It is just projected out then reflected back in. -- Yogajyotii Everything is the original law; Every day the morning sun Clears the sky, In every mind there is no Separate mind. In every place the pure wind Circles the earth. If you can understand in this way, Then there is no need for Buddha To appear in this world Or for Bodhidharma to come From the west. - Daio Even when obstacles crowd in, the path to Nibbana can be won by those who establish mindfulness and bring to perfection equipoise. -- Samyutta Nikaya See for yourself. Directly transcend the principles and activities of the buddhas and patriarchs. Go through the forest of thorns. Transcend the barriers of potential described by ancestral teachers. Pass through the silver mountain and iron wall. Then for the first time you will realize there is a transcendent fundamental endowment; you can sit, helping people solve their sticking points and untie their bonds. -- Shoitsu Calm is his thought, calm his speech, and calm his deed, who, truly knowing, is wholly freed, perfectly tranquil and wise. -- Dhammapada Zen is not conception or perception; If you establish an idea, You turn away from the source. The way is beyond cultivated effects; If you set up accomplishment, You lose the essence. -- Shoitsu Don't let Dogma get in the way of your Karma Don't let Karma get in the way of your Dharma, For the bottom line is all that can really be said Is that your Dharma IS your very Karma instead. -- Yogajyotii The good renounce (attachment for) everything. The virtuous do not prattle with a yearning for pleasures. The wise show no elation or depression when touched by happiness or sorrow. -- Dhammapada Sitting meditation is a method of great liberation; all teachings flow forth from this, myriad practices are mastered this way. -- Daikaku Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame. -- Dhammapada A name is just a shadow of reality. People often make life more difficult for themselves in the quest for status and gain. Only by abandoning name and merit will one find the true treasure of life. -- Xu You When suddenly mind and environment are both forgotten there is the ability to penetrate freely earth, mountains and rivers. The whole substance of the real body of the king of Dharma is manifest. People these days face it without knowing it. -- Daio When the Buddha teaches others he does so out of compassion, because the Tathagata is wholly freed from both favour and aversion. -- Samyutta Nikaya Humans are egocentric; one thinks that the "self" is "me," thereby differentiating oneself from others and comparing oneself with others, thus bringing about sorrow. Actually humans are but one of the constituents in the immensity of Nature. Think about it... -- Zen Only in the absolute absence of all conceptualization is to be found the perfect peace of Absolute Presence. The only true meditation is the constant impersonal witnessing of all that takes place in one's life as mere movements in the universal Consciousness. -- Ramesh Balsekar So our so called Reality is merely Hollywood You have played your part as best you could, The problem is that it's just one time Showing In the next Film the stage props are not going. -- Yogajyotii Sages use the mind deliberately, Based on its essence. With the support of the spirit, They finish what they begin. Thus they sleep without dreams And wake without troubles. -- Huainanzi Should a seeker not find a companion who is better or equal, let him resolutely pursue a solitary course; there is no fellowship with the fool. -- Dhammapada Let the wise one watch Over the mind, So hard to perceive, so artful, Alighting where it wishes; A watchfully protected mind Will bring happiness. -- Buddha in the Dhammapada The natural world has its own law governing life and death. There is no need for a ruler to usurp nature's role and decide the fate of the people. He who tries to usurp nature's role cannot avoid bringing injury to himself. -- Tsai chih Of all the fragrances -- sandal, tagara, blue lotus and jasmine -- the fragrance of virtue is the sweetest. -- Dhammapada Surely it is spring For the fragrance of flowers Circulated by the mountain breeze Spreads throughout The peaks and valleys -- Dogen What I point out to you is only that you shouldn’t allow yourselves to be confused by others. Act when you need to, without further hesitation or doubt. People today can’t do this -- What is their affliction? Their affliction is in their lack of self-confidence. If you do not spontaneously trust yourself sufficiently, you will be in a frantic state, pursuing all sorts of objects and being changed by those objects, unable to be independent. -- Linji The fool thinks he has won a battle when he bullies with harsh speech, but knowing how to be forbearing alone makes one victorious. -- Samyutta Nikaya The teaching of Being-As-Is Has been intimated by the enlightened; Now that you have gotten it, You should keep it well. It is like looking into a precious mirror, Form and reflection beholding each other: You are not it; It is you. -- Tung-shan BEing is only Absolute when all else is not Much Work to let go conditionings are a lot, Nothing new in these notions just added on So just drop back off return the Two to One. -- Yogajyotii Outside my window, plum blossoms, just on the verge of unfurling, contain the spring. The clear moon is held in the cuplike petals of the beautiful flower I pick and twirl. - Dogen Arise! Do not be heedless! Lead a righteous life. The righteous live happily both in this world and the next. -- Dhammapada Inwardly strive to develop The capacity of mindfulness; Outwardly spread the virtue Of uncontentiousness. Shed the world of dust To seek emancipation. -- Kuei-shan Ling-yu Though being well-to-do, not to support father and mother who are old and past their youth -- this is a cause of one's downfall. -- Sutta Nipata The emptiness of the sea allows waves to rise; the emptiness of the moutain valley makes the voice echo; the emptiness of the heart makes the Buddha. When you empty the heart, things appear as in a mirror, shining there without differences between them. -- Bukko How the Ego manufactured to be mistaken For the very Observer Observed as shaken, Just a simple plating matter fools gold alone Can never really BE the Philosopher's Stone. -- Yogajyotii It is not that there is nothing there, because it has always been there. This truth is originally present in everyone. All the buddhas and enlightening beings may be called people pointing out a treasure. Fundamentally, it is not a thing; you don’t need to know or understand it; you don’t need to affirm or deny it. Just stop dualism; stop suppositions of being and non-being, of neither being nor non-being. - Pai-chang Huai-hai The wise are controlled in bodily action, controlled in speech and controlled in thought. They are truly well-controlled. -- Dhammapada Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement. -- Buddha Confused by thoughts, We experience duality in life. Unencumbered by ideas, The enlightened see the one Reality. -- Hui-neng With good will for the entire cosmos, cultivate a limitless heart: Above, below, & all around, unobstructed, without hostility or hate. -- Sutta Nipata There is no end to the opening up that is possible for a human being. Eventually we see that we are the limitless, boundless ground of the universe. Our job for the rest of our life is to open up into that immensity and to express it. -- Joko Silence is the great revelation. -- Lao Tzu In all persons, all creatures, the Self is the innermost essence. And it is identical with Brahman: our real Self is not different from the ultimate Reality called God. -- The Upanishads The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose. -- Kahlil Gibran So take a good look at you what do you See Just a conditioned prisoner who can't get Free, Weak and weary you can't find your strength As you ponder Fate what will you do at length. -- Yogajyotii When you stop doing to Achieve being, This very effort Fills you with doing. -- Seng-t’san Silent in body, silent in speech, silent in mind, without defilement, blessed with silence is the sage. He is truly washed of evil. -- Itivuttaka The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is incomprehensible. -- Albert Einstein To realize Mind, Begin by looking For the source of your thoughts. Whether asleep or working, Standing or sitting, Intensely ask yourself, What is my mind? -- Bassui Tokusho Let a man guard himself against irritability in thought; let him be controlled in mind. Abandoning mental misconduct, let him practice good conduct in thought. -- Dhammapada What does the hand Taste or the ear See When we make the Two One we are Free, Consciousness can not really be perceived Just a distinction we ourselves so conceive. -- Yogajyotii It is nonsense to insist that we cannot achieve enlightenment without learned and pious teachers. Because wisdom is innate, we can all enlighten ourselves. -- Hui-neng Let a man guard himself against irritability in speech; let him be controlled in speech. Abandoning verbal misconduct, let him practice good conduct in speech. -- Dhammapada Standing on a cliff, Among the pines and oaks; Spring has come Clothed in mist. -- Ryokan Those to whom the Dhamma is clear are not led into other doctrines; perfectly enlightened with perfect knowledge, they walk evenly over the uneven. -- Samyutta Nikaya The state of self-realization, as we call it, is not attaining something new or reaching some goal which is far away, but simply being that which you always are and which you always have been. -- Ramana Maharshi Birds in the sky and fish in water Dart and leave no track behind. And none can trace the path by which The sages journeyed to the Self. -- Sri Murugunar The wind blows through my tiny hermitage; not one thing is in the room. Outside, a thousand cedars. On the wall, several poems are written. Now the kettle is covered with dust, and no smoke rises from the rice steamer. Who is pounding at my moonlit gate? Only an old man from East Village. -- Ryokan Some may call it Consciousness but it's not so 'Cause there's no this or that or a place to go, And there is the Identity of the very Ego plus So there can't be Awakening for all the fuss. -- Yogajyotii Language and words are merely symbols with which to express the truth. But to mistake words for the truth is just as laughable as to mistake the finger for the moon. -- Huineng We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring. Will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time. -- T. S. Eliot Get yourself Free from all conditioned notions It's not the mind but the contents in motions, They just lay in wait for the opportunity to flair But they can't take hold if they are not there. -- Yogajyotii Looking for God is like seeking a path in a field of snow; if there is no path and you are looking for one, walk across it and there is your path. --Thomas Merton Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know. --Shakespeare Silence speaks with eloquence. -- R. Reiley I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. -- Kahlil Gibran When everyone recognizes beauty as beautiful there is already ugliness; When everyone recognizes goodness as good, there is already evil. To "be" and "not to be" arise mutually; Difficult and easy are mutually realized; Long and short are mutually contrasted; High and long are mutually posited; Before and after are in mutual sequence. -- Lao Tzu When you make the two one, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the male and the female into a single one then you shall enter the Kingdom. -- Jesus False imagination teaches that such things as light and shade, long and short, black and white, are different and are to be discriminated; but they are not independent of each other; they are only different aspects of the same thing; they are terms of relation, not of reality. Conditions of existence are not of a mutually exclusive character; in essence things are not two but one. -- Lankavatara Sutra Thus, those who say that they would have right without its correlate, wrong; good government without its correlate, misrule; do not apprehend the great principles of the universe, nor the nature of all creation. One might as well talk of the existence of Heaven without that of the Earth, or of the negative principle without the positive - which is clearly impossible. Yet people keep on discussing it without stop; such people must be either fools or knaves. -- Chuang Tzu: Distinctions are there because of your trained eyes. Distinction is a learned thing. Distinction is not there in existence. Distinction is projected by you. Distinction is given by you to the world - it is not there. It is your eyes' trick, your eyes playing a trick on you. Once the Self-mind is seen, discrimination stops. -- Osho Nature itself does not seem to know - or care - about the man-made opposites or about this world of opposites. Nature seems perfectly satisfied and happy to produce a world of infinite, rapturous variety that knows nothing about anything pretty or ugly, ethical or unethical. As Thoreau has said, nature never apologizes, never sees the need of it... -- Ramesh Balsekar Because of barriers of knowledge, barriers of state, and barriers of action, seeing your own Buddha nature is like seeing color at night. As it is said, in the stage of Buddhahood, two kinds of ignorance are stopped: the ignorance of subtle knowledge and the ignorance of extremely subtle knowledge. -- Pai-chang Huai-hai Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse. -- Udana The fool who knows that he is a fool can, for that reason, be a wise man; but the fool who thinks that he is wise is, indeed, called a fool. -- Dhammapada Vast and far-reaching without boundary, secluded and pure, manifesting light, this spirit is without obstruction. Its brightness does not shine out but can be called empty and inherently radiant. -- Hongzhi Zhengjue Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth. -- Dhammapada What really matters is not just the practice of sitting but far more the state of mind you find yourself in after meditation. It is this calm and centered state of mind you should prolong through everything you do. -- Sogyal Rinpoche It is just Life Living Life BEing Life AS it IS Without any motive or Desire of that or this, Mean what you say and say what you mean So keep the baggage light and keep it lean. -- Yogajyotii And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. -- Kahlil Gibran Whenever a thought occurs, Be aware of it, As soon as you are aware of it, It will vanish. If you remain for a long Period forgetful of objects, You will naturally become unified. This it the essential art of zazen. - Dogen Things that are empty make a noise, the full is always quiet. The fool is like a half-filled pot, the wise man is like a deep still pool. -- Sutta Nipata If you think that you have cut off illusory mind, instead of simply clarifying how illusory mind melts, illusory mind will come up again, as though you had cut the stem of a blade of grass and left the root alive. -- Menzan Zuiho One should give up anger, renounce pride, and overcome all fetters. Suffering never befalls him who clings not to mind and body and is detached. -- Dhammapada The true nature is like the immensity of space which contains all things. When you can go and come in all countries equally, when there is nothing especially yours, no within and no without, when you conform to high and conform to low, conform to the square and conform to the round, that is it. -- Bukko All the fish needs to do is get lost in the water. All man needs to do is get lost in the Tao. -- Chuang Tzu It’s about to snow; Clouds fill the lake. Tall buildings and terraces Shimmer and disappear. Now there are mountains; Now there are not. From the rocks flows water clear; You can count the fish. In the deep woods there aren’t any people; Birds call back and forth. -- Su Shih One by one, little by little, moment by moment, a wise man should remove his own impurities, as a smith removes his dross from silver. -- Dhammapada Quietude, gentleness, love of simplicity and non-contention are natural attributes of a sage and are easy to practise but unfortunately most people do not see beyond a sage's appearance and do not notice the treasure which is the essence of his being. -- Tsai Chih Any reality that can be conceived by an individual entity is based on a belief or personal absoluteness in temporality which is a complete misapprehension in itself. The individual human just cannot accept the fact that his individuality and, more importantly, his individuality and, more importantly, his individual volition or free-will is nothing more than an illusion. -- Ramesh Balsekar Think you're alive Dangle Deep your Fears For they are only worthy of so many Tears, You think you are living but you only weep Because your only refuge is a Deep Sleep. -- Yogajyotii Reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names. That which underlines these is reality. It underlines limitations, being itself limitless. It is not bound. It underlines unrealities, itself being real. Reality is that which is. It is as it is. It transcends speech. It is beyond the expressions 'existence, non-existence',etc. -- Sri Ramana Maharshi There isn't any formula or method. You learn to let go by letting go -- by paying attention and doing what one thereby discovers has to be done. -- Aldous Huxley No one is absent and no one is ignorant. This is a gathering of the Buddha-mind that is given to us at birth. When you return home, be mindful of all your daily matters, just the way you are listening to the teachings now. Then you’ll be just living with unborn Buddha-mind. Because of desire, we become stubborn, self-centered, and deluded. This way we move away from Buddha-mind, and become foolish. Originally, no one is deluded. -- Bankei The Final Truth is this no one really knows And just for an example let's take the Rose, Does it know where it's been or will ever go Or whether it's a Rose or what must be so. -- Yogajyotii There is no fire like lust. There is no evil like hate. There is no pain like disharmony. There is no joy like NIRVANA. -- Dhammapada In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped. -- Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching Learning through the mind must be united to learning with the body. Learning through practice has existed from the earliest times and is the best way to approach the Buddhist truth. - Dogen One is not wise because one speaks much. He who is peaceable, friendly and fearless is called wise. -- Dhammapada Solitude is happiness for one who is content, who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees. Non-affliction is happiness in the world - harmlessness towards all living beings. -- Udana There is a single, immanent Reality which is at once the source, the substratum and the true nature of everything that is manifested as the universe. This indivisible Reality is directly experienced by every sentient being as the subjective awareness of self, the consciousness of existing and being present. -- Ramesh Balsekar Realizing that thoughts are only temporary appearances, you should let them be as they start and stop, without grasping or rejecting them. It is like images reflected in a mirror; since the mirror is clear and bright, it reflects whatever comes before it, but doesn't keep the images. -- Bankei All our activity is rooted in the eternal nature of *everyday mind*. Most of the time we forget this, but Buddhas are always aware of this fact. If we have the mind that seeks the Way, surely we will enter the Way. This desire for enlightenment must be self generating. It cannot come from others. Enlightenment is the natural activity of *everyday mind*. -- Dogen You have to be strong enough to just let go All those conditioned notions plague you so, You can not take the Low road nor the High It is not in the answer but rather in the why. -- Yogajyotii Ever virtuous and wise, with mind collected, Reflecting on oneself and ever mindful, One crosses the flood so difficult to cross. -- Sutta Nipata At least one thing can never be done by anybody else - that is, to give you the answer to who you are. No, you have to go, you have to dig deep into your own being. Layers and layers of identity, false identity, have to be broken. -- Osho The operations of Heaven and Earth proceed with the most admirable order, yet they never speak. The four seasons observe clear laws, but they do not discuss them. All of nature is regulated by exact principles, but it never explains them. The sage penetrates the mystery of the order of Heaven and Earth and comprehends the principles of nature. Thus the perfect person does nothing, and the great sage originates nothing. That is to say, they merely contemplate the universe. -- Chuang Tzu Let no one deceive another or despise anyone anywhere, or through anger or irritation wish for another to suffer. -- Sutta Nipat In general, meditation has to be done with urgency, but if, after 3 or 5 years the urgency is still maintained forcibly, the tension becomes a wrong one and it is a serious condition. Many lose heart and give up as a result. An ancient has said, "sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, sometimes hot on the trail and sometimes resting at a distance." -- Bukko Cranes in the wilderness, lonely clouds - their destination is uncertain. Where in this world am I to address my deepest thoughts? Forest trees in serried ranks ascend the cliff walls. Like a series of brush strokes, hills and peaks arrayed out to the horizon; my mind brims with Zen clear as water, old bones jut angularly thin as kindling; fame is nothing one can keep for long - a hundred years of light and dark before we reach our end. -- Betsugen Enshi Entangled by the bonds of hate, he who seeks his own happiness by inflicting pain on others, is never delivered from hatred. -- Dhammapada All the work upon yourself is connected with self-remembering and that it cannot proceed successfully without this. And self-remembering is the beginning of awakening. -- P.D. Ouspensky Do not let your Dogma get in the way of your Karma. Do not let your Karma get in the way of your Dharma. Your Dharma is your Karma. -- Yogajyotii In my pot nothing But the wind’s deep moan, For company only a Staff of wisteria vine; Last night we chatted And laughed till all hours The empty sky listened With a cold heart. -- Muso Soseki If by renouncing a lesser happiness one may realize a greater happiness, let the wise one renounce the lesser, having regard for the greater. -- Dhammapada The only thoughts you can find at the top of a mountain are the ones you brought with you. -- R. Pirsig That the self advances to affirm the ten thousand things is delusion. That the ten thousand things advance to affirm the self is enlightenment. -- Dogen Can't find yourself 'cause you are not there So don't Seek too long or hard it's nowhere, You won't get to Eden on that Heaven trail Your mind is too weak and you are too frail. -- Yogajyotii
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