Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Four Noble Truths:
1. The Truth of suffering
2. The Truth of the cause of suffering.
3. The Truth of the cessation of suffering.
4. The Truth of the means of cessation of suffering.
The Other Four Noble Truths:
1. The Truth of Well-Being.
2. The Truth of the cause of Well-Being.
3. The Truth of the cultivation of Well-Being.
4. The Truth of the means of cultivation of Well-Being.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Understanding
Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh
We may be motivated by the desire to make others happy.
But without understanding (prajna),
the more we do,
the more problems we create.
Unless our love is made of understanding,
it is not True Love.
Mindfulness makes our minds Buddha-Minds,
And makes our love Buddha-Love.
We may be motivated by the desire to make others happy.
But without understanding (prajna),
the more we do,
the more problems we create.
Unless our love is made of understanding,
it is not True Love.
Mindfulness makes our minds Buddha-Minds,
And makes our love Buddha-Love.
Conditioned/Unconditioned
Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh
When we form a Mental Formation
There is an object
(I am angry at something)
And there is a subject:
Our Mind.
Because mental formations
are created in our minds.
They become "us."
Subject and Object are One (InterBeing)
(When I hate someone,
I hate myself.
I hate the Universe.)
When we form a Mental Formation
There is an object
(I am angry at something)
And there is a subject:
Our Mind.
Because mental formations
are created in our minds.
They become "us."
Subject and Object are One (InterBeing)
(When I hate someone,
I hate myself.
I hate the Universe.)
The Empty Eightfold Path
Adapted from "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh
Right View. All views are wrong.
Right Thought. All thoughts are wrong.
Right Speech. All speech is wrong.
Right Action. All actions are wrong.
Right Livelihood. All works are wrong.
Right Effort. All effort is wrong.
Right Mindfulness. All mindfulness is wrong.
Right Concentration. All concentration is wrong.
Right View is the absence of all views.
Right Thought is the absence of all thought.
Right Speech is the absence of all speech.
Right Action is the absence of all action.
Right Livelihood is the absence of all work.
Right Effort is the absence of all effort.
Right Mindfulness is the absence of all mindfulness.
Right Concentration is the absence of all concentration.
Practicing the Path is Doing, not Judging.
Living in the moment (dhamma)
Not in the dualistic mind.
Our learned behaviors are delusional.
It is better to do NOTHING
Then to rely on a delusion!
Don't TRY.
Just BE. Now.
Don't just let go,
LET BE.
Right View. All views are wrong.
Right Thought. All thoughts are wrong.
Right Speech. All speech is wrong.
Right Action. All actions are wrong.
Right Livelihood. All works are wrong.
Right Effort. All effort is wrong.
Right Mindfulness. All mindfulness is wrong.
Right Concentration. All concentration is wrong.
Right View is the absence of all views.
Right Thought is the absence of all thought.
Right Speech is the absence of all speech.
Right Action is the absence of all action.
Right Livelihood is the absence of all work.
Right Effort is the absence of all effort.
Right Mindfulness is the absence of all mindfulness.
Right Concentration is the absence of all concentration.
Practicing the Path is Doing, not Judging.
Living in the moment (dhamma)
Not in the dualistic mind.
Our learned behaviors are delusional.
It is better to do NOTHING
Then to rely on a delusion!
Don't TRY.
Just BE. Now.
Don't just let go,
LET BE.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Realizing Well Being
Recognizing joy is just as vital as
Recognizing suffering
Watering the seeds of joy is just as vital as
Starving the seeds of suffering
Being mindful of suffering,
We need also be mindful of job.
For joy is in the moment
Suffering is outside the moment.
Be mindful of suffering and its passing
And be mindful of joy in every moment.
Even within suffering, there is joy.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Recognizing suffering
Watering the seeds of joy is just as vital as
Starving the seeds of suffering
Being mindful of suffering,
We need also be mindful of job.
For joy is in the moment
Suffering is outside the moment.
Be mindful of suffering and its passing
And be mindful of joy in every moment.
Even within suffering, there is joy.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
The Five Hindrances (nivarana)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Four Establishments of Mindfulness
1. The body in the body.
2. The feelings in the feelings.
3. The mind in the mind.
4. Objects in the mind.
2. The feelings in the feelings.
3. The mind in the mind.
4. Objects in the mind.
Moral Discipline
Monks still experience suffering from attachments. But being renunciants, they have fewer objects of attachment. Thus it is simpler to recognize them. It is the recognition that brings wisdom. Laymen with their busy, complex lives, have a much more difficult time being mindful of their attachments.
Morality for morality's sake, or for another goal: to be perceived as "good"; or to earn something like grace, is delusional. Morality gives one the opportunity to step back, and see attachments for what they are, and give rise to wisdom.
Morality for morality's sake, or for another goal: to be perceived as "good"; or to earn something like grace, is delusional. Morality gives one the opportunity to step back, and see attachments for what they are, and give rise to wisdom.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Free
Those who have freed themselves of greed, anger, and ignorance will not be the victims of their greed, anger, and ignorance.
-Kesaputilla Sutra
-Kesaputilla Sutra
Eliminate the Mind of Greed
It is through practicing the moral precepts that one keeps his mind in control; by way of the moral precepts, one develops the capacity in the discipline of meditation; and finally by way of meditation, one opens the ultimate insight.
No matter how much one has practiced meditation and cultivated insight, unless one is free from greed he will be bound to fall into the path of Maras and disturb others also. One who has not realized Enlightenment himself but speaks as if he had, and misleads others, is of this ilk. Therefore, to teach the practice of meditation, it is essential first to teach how to eliminate the mind of greed.
-Surangama Sutra
No matter how much one has practiced meditation and cultivated insight, unless one is free from greed he will be bound to fall into the path of Maras and disturb others also. One who has not realized Enlightenment himself but speaks as if he had, and misleads others, is of this ilk. Therefore, to teach the practice of meditation, it is essential first to teach how to eliminate the mind of greed.
-Surangama Sutra
Tri-siksa
The Noble Eightfold Path, The Three Pillars, and the Three Defilements.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Emptiness: Sunyata
Because all things are interconnected, they are not really "empty", they are infinite.
As a rainbow is connected to sun and rain.
As the moon's reflection is connected to water and moon.
All things are devoid of independent self.
Thus they are empty.
Being composed of a combination
Of innumerable causes and conditions
All things are interconnected
Thus they are infinite.
The infinite combinations of elemets
Create infinite forms
Thus everything is thusness: tathata.
Tathata is Sunyata, Sunyata is Tathata.
As a rainbow is connected to sun and rain.
As the moon's reflection is connected to water and moon.
All things are devoid of independent self.
Thus they are empty.
Being composed of a combination
Of innumerable causes and conditions
All things are interconnected
Thus they are infinite.
The infinite combinations of elemets
Create infinite forms
Thus everything is thusness: tathata.
Tathata is Sunyata, Sunyata is Tathata.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Consciousness
There is no independent, separate consciousness.
Consciousness arises out of conditions.
Without conditions, there is no consciousness.
Eye and visual forms = visual consciousness.
Ear and sounds = auditory consciousness.
Nose and odors = olfactory consciousness.
Tongue and tastes = gustatory consciousness.
Body and tangible objects = tactile consciousness.
Mind and ideas/thoughts = mental consciousness.
There is no Thinker behind the Thought.
Thought itself is the Thinker.
If you remove the Thought,
there is no Thinker.
Consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception, and mental formation (samskara) and can not exist independently of them.
"I" "self" and "ego" are just names.
-Waipola Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"
Consciousness arises out of conditions.
Without conditions, there is no consciousness.
Eye and visual forms = visual consciousness.
Ear and sounds = auditory consciousness.
Nose and odors = olfactory consciousness.
Tongue and tastes = gustatory consciousness.
Body and tangible objects = tactile consciousness.
Mind and ideas/thoughts = mental consciousness.
There is no Thinker behind the Thought.
Thought itself is the Thinker.
If you remove the Thought,
there is no Thinker.
Consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception, and mental formation (samskara) and can not exist independently of them.
"I" "self" and "ego" are just names.
-Waipola Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"
Just be
There can be no justification for Ego.
Not justice, logic, goodness, correctness.
It is all a delusion to justify the Ego.
Which does not exist.
So how to be?
Don't think. Just be.
Compassionate. Always.
Not justice, logic, goodness, correctness.
It is all a delusion to justify the Ego.
Which does not exist.
So how to be?
Don't think. Just be.
Compassionate. Always.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Dhammapada
(03) The ignorant person who knows that he is ignorant is still wise; the ignorant one who thinks that he is wise is indeed a fool.
(76) If one meets a person who points out his faults and scolds him, he should associate with such a wise person as though he were the revealer of great treasure.
(103) Better than conquering a thousand in battle is to conquer oneself.
(221) Discard anger, abandon pride, and leave fetters.
(76) If one meets a person who points out his faults and scolds him, he should associate with such a wise person as though he were the revealer of great treasure.
(103) Better than conquering a thousand in battle is to conquer oneself.
(221) Discard anger, abandon pride, and leave fetters.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Seeds
Seeds will not grow when planted in the sky; planted in dirt and manure, they sprout forth vigorously. All defilements are seeds that rouse the mind that aspires to to attain Buddhahood.
-Vimalakirti Sutra
-Vimalakirti Sutra
Skillful Means
Skillful means without wisdom is bondage; skillful means with wisdom is liberation. Though the body may be in the world of delusion and diseased, if one gives tirelessly and abundantly, that is called skillful means. The body cannot be separated from the disease; if the disease and the body are seen as neither new or old, that is wisdom. Though the body ma be diseased, if one does not forsake the world and does not intend to enter nirvana, that is skillful means. A sick person should not adhere too closely to the though of controlling the mind. But this does not mean that the control of the mind is not necessary. Too much stress on control is putting too much importance on the virtues, but to neglect control is being foolish. The bodhisattva way is free from the two extremes; it is the Middle Path.
Vimalakirti Sutra
Vimalakirti Sutra
True Meditation
"Sariputra, sitting is not necessarily true meditation. When one is totally free from the notion of body and mind, this is true meditation. True meditation is the state in which the mind is quiet and unmoving while being engaged in various activities. True meditation is following the way of the sages while living a common ordinary life. Listen to various non-Buddhist doctrines yet not being confused and practicing the way to Enlightenment is true meditation. Attaining nirvana without severing defilement is true meditation. This is the kind of meditation that the World-Honored One acknowledges."
-Vimalakiri Sutra
-Vimalakiri Sutra
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)