Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness toward all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality.
Chakdud Tulku Rinpoche.
Photo by Steph.
Mountain sounds carry a chill wisdom,
an upwelling spring whispers subtle tales,
pine breezes stir the fire beneath my tea,
bamboo shadows soak deep into my robe.
I grind my ink: clouds scraping across the crags
copy out a verse: birds settling on branches
as the world rolls right on by
its every turn tracing out non-action.
Shih-Shu.
Photo by David McMeekin.
Contrary to what some people might believe, there is nothing wrong with having pleasures and enjoyments. What is wrong is the confused way we grasp onto these pleasures, turning them from a source of happiness into a source of pain and dissatisfaction.
Lama Thubten Yeshe.
Photo by Julian Macedo.
The cells of our body are dying, the neurons in our brain are decaying, even the expressions on our face are always changing, depending on our mood. What we call our basic character is only a “mindstream,” nothing more. Today we feel good because things are going well; tomorrow we feel the opposite. Where did that good feeling go?
What could be more unpredictable than our thoughts and emotions: Do you have any idea what you are going to think or feel next? The mind, in fact, is as empty, as impermanent, and as transient as a dream. Look at a thought: It comes, it stays, and it goes. The past is past, the future not yet risen, and even the present thought, as we experience it, becomes the past.
The only thing we really have is nowness, is now.
Sogyal Rinpoche.
Photo by Sopon Supamangmee.
The basic principles and precepts of all true religions are very pure. What you see as impure is simply the inability of those who adhere to them.
Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche.
Photo by NatiLady.
It is a simple fact: whatever you resist will persist. If you are resisting suffering, you suffer more. If you are resisting confusion, you remain confused. If you are looking for peace, you find yourself constantly disturbed. If you are seeking after clarity, you are in a muddle. If you do not want to be angry, you are going to walk around angry. If you do not mind being angry, you will never be bothered about anger, because you will not be holding on to it. Having no opinion for or against, just being open to whatever comes, you are free.
Dennis Genpo Merzel.
Photo by Holly Troschuk.
If we remain clinging to this life even for one day, we are misusing our time. In this way, we can waste months and years on end. Because we don’t know when our lives will finish, we should remain mindful and well prepared. Then, even if we die tonight, we will do so without regret. If we die tonight, the purpose of being well prepared is borne out; if we don’t die tonight, there is no harm in being well prepared, because it will still benefit us.
But when we leave the world of humans, we do so without a protector or supporter and the total responsibility falls on us. We only have our own intelligence to rely on at that time, so we must expend our own effort in order to protect ourselves. As the Buddha said, “I have shown you the path to liberation; know that liberation depends on you.” We must put strenuous effort into gaining freedom from the lower migrations, liberation from samsara, freedom from conventional existence and solitary salvation.
The body is compared to a guest house; it is a place to stay for just a short time and not permanently. At present, the guest of consciousness is staying in the guest house of the body, like renting a place to stay. When the day comes for consciousness to leave, the guest house of the body must be left behind. Not being attached to friends, the body, wealth and possessions is the practice of the Bodhisattvas.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Photo by Asako Yasunaga.
A man’s joys are always transient, and since men devote themselves to pleasure, seeking after happiness, they undergo birth and decay.
The Buddha.
Photo by Anthony Asael.
Once, during a retreat conducted by Zen Master Bankei, where many students from all over gathered to learn, one of them was caught stealing red-handed. The matter was promptly reported to Bankei, followed by the request to expel the thief. However, Bankei ignored the suggestion. A while later, the same student was again caught stealing. To the shock of the others, Bankei continued to disregard the crime. This led the students to petition for his dismissal, without which they would leave the retreat together.
After reading the petition, Bankei calmly addressed his students. ‘You are wise brothers. You know what is right and what is not right. You may go somewhere else to study if you wish, but this poor brother does not even know right from wrong. Who will teach him if I do not? I am going to keep him here even if all the rest of you leave.’ Upon hearing that, the thief wept in total remorse.
Speech Paul Reps.
Photo by Florent Chevalier.
These days people don’t search for the Truth. People study simply in order to find knowledge necessary to make a living, raise families and look after themselves, that’s all. To them, being smart is more important than being wise!
Ajahn Chah.
Photo by Vincent James Pia.
Often we see other sentient beings as hassles: “This mosquito is disturbing me. Those politicians are corrupt. Why can’t my colleagues do their work correctly?” and so on. But when we see sentient beings as being more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel, our perspective completely changes. For example, when we look at a fly buzzing around, we train ourselves to think, “My enlightenment depends on that fly.” This isn’t fanciful thinking because, in fact, our enlightenment does depend on that fly. If that fly isn’t included in our bodhicitta, then we don’t have bodhicitta, and we won’t receive the wonderful results of generating bodhicitta—the tremendous purification and creation of positive potential.
Imagine training your mind so that when you look at every single living being, you think, “My enlightenment depends on that being. The drunk who just got on the bus—my enlightenment depends on him. The soldier in Iraq—my enlightenment depends on him. My brothers and sisters, the teller at the bank, the janitor at my workplace, the president of the United States, the suicide bombers in the Middle East, the slug in my garden, my eighth-grade boyfriend, the babysitter when I was a kid—my enlightenment depends on each of them.” All sentient beings are actually that precious to us.
Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron.
Photo by Claudia L.
If one conceives of ‘self’, then one must also conceive of ‘other’. Attachment and aversion arise as a result of these two conceptions-
of self and other. As a result of relationships accompanied by feelings of attachment and aversion, all faults are generated. It should be understood that the root of all those faults is this view- that the transitory aggregation called I and mine has an inherent existence.
Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen.
Photo by Frank Hansen.
The experience of nirvana is beyond the scope of human concepts, including our reified ideas of existence and nonexistence.
B. Alan Wallace.
Photo by skinnyturtle692.
barefoot in the grass
grasping at no attachments
embracing great change
My teacher often likens meditation practice to a river flowing through our life. In the early stages, like a mountain spring, our practice is fleeting and undeveloped. There may be a fair few leaps and crashes before we settle into a more regular rhythm. Little by little our practice continues to grow and mature until eventually it becomes like a vast river, attracting everything else to it, no longer a small trickle in our life, but the most compelling force of it. The river may still encounter obstacles, but they are of little consequence. It will simply flow over or around them, having developed a smooth, calm, but unstoppable momentum.
David Michie.
Photo by Nigel Killeen.
