Daily Buddhist Verses

• An Eternal Now

  21 Jan 12, 23:20

  Those who meditate on a single phenomenon and thus understand
  That all phenomena are like an illusion and a mirage,
  Ungraspable, hollow, false, and not solid,
  Will soon proceed to the heart of enlightenment.
  
  ~ The Sutra Requested by Sky Treasure
  
  
  Through one, you will know all.
  Through one, you will see all.
  
  ~ The Sutra of the King of Meditative Concentration

• An Eternal Now

  21 Jan 12, 23:26

  Both traditions agree that the unity of perfect meditative stability and knowledge is to rest right within profound knowledge's seeing that is without seeing anything and to do so in a way that is without someone who rests and something to be rested in.
  
  ...
  
  In brief, the very quintessence of all meditative concentrations of both the sutras and the tantras of the great vehicle is to see, through supreme knowledge in a way that is without seeing, that no phenomenon whatsoever abides as anything, such as existence or non-existence, and to undistractedly and nonconceptually rest in this very seeing.
  
  ~ Pawo Rinpoche
  
  
  Once all specifically characterized and generally characterized phenomena are established as nonexistent [through knowledge], this knowledge itself is without appearance, luminous, and not established as any nature whatsoever. thus, all flaws, such as dullness and agitation, are eliminated. In this interval, consciousness is without any thought, does not apprehend anything, and has left behind all mindfulness and mental engagement. For as long as neither characteristics nor the enemies and robbers of thoughts arise, consciousness should rest in such a [state].
  
  ~ Atisa
  
  
  The Thus-Gone Ones do not see a mind
  That involves the aspect of a realization and what is to be realized.
  Wherever there is a realizer and what is to be realized,
  There is no enlightenment.
  
  ...
  
  So-called entities are conceptions.
  Lack of conceptions is emptiness.
  Wherever conceptions appear,
  How could there be emptiness?
  
  ...
  
  Those whose minds are not moved,
  Not even by a flicker of thought about "complete voidness,"
  Have crossed the horrifying ocean of existence
  That is agitated by the snakes of the afflictions.
  
  ~ Nagarjuna
  
  
  
  One may wonder, "What is seeing the ultimate?" It means that all phenomena are not seen.
  
  ~ Buddha
  
  
  One may wonder, "What are the prerequisites for superior insight?" They are relying on a genuine teacher, making every effort in extensive studies, and appropriate reflection.
  
  ~ Kamasila's Stages of Meditation

• An Eternal Now

  22 Jan 12, 12:25

  Mirages

  Namdrol said:

  The suffering of chasing mirages never ends. The only way to end it is simply to stop.
  likewise, the suffering of intellectual pursuits never ends. The only way to end it is simply to stop.
  The suffering of accepting and rejecting never ends.The only way to end it is simply to stop.
  likewise, the suffering of proof and rebuttal never ends. The only way to end it is simply to stop.

• Bmax25

  22 Jan 12, 21:59

  Hello Eternal Now and all Dharma friends, wish you all a Happy New Year.

  A 112-year-old nun who is one of the two oldest currently living in Taiwan, proclaimed that her secret to a long life was simply to practice Buddhism. She is from the central area of Taiwan’s Nantou County.
  Liu Ching-huan was brought to Taiwan from China’s Sichuan Province, where she was born, when the late President Chiang Kai-shek’s forces pushed her along with many others out of the province. In 1965 at a young age, she was ordained at a Buddhist temple in the county’s Puli Township.
  Liu who has devoted her life to the teachings of Buddhism still enjoys reading the religious classics related to the religion.
  Liu told the Nantou Magistrate Lee Chao-ching that chanting “Nam Amitofo” is the secret to a long life.
  Currently in the Nantou County, there are 13 men and 29 women equalling a total of 42 centenarians. Majority of the living individual practice Buddhism and 14 of them will be celebrating their 100th birthday this year, Jung-sen said.
  

• An Eternal Now

  23 Jan 12, 18:15

  What you are talking about is called "clarity". The mind can take it's own awareness as an object.Indeed, in all Mahamudra and Dzogchen meditation, this is precisely what is taken as the object. You may not be able to "get rid" of this clarity, but you will never find it or be able to say "This is it, this is not it". This clarity is also dependently originated since the mind is dependently originated. There is no awareness or clarity seperate from the mind. The characteristic of the mind is clarity. The essence of the mind is emptiness. These two are non-dual, and that is the nature of the mind i.e. inseperable clarity and emptiness.

  ....................

  Yes, the characteristic of clarity is unique to a sentient being's mind. The mahasiddha Virupa stated that "The mind is like space, the difference [between them] is that the mind is aware."

  ~ Namdrol

• An Eternal Now

  23 Jan 12, 18:16

  Hi Bmax, Happy Chinese New Year :)

• sinweiy

  24 Jan 12, 09:23

  �法自然, 法尔如是 /\
• sinweiy

  24 Jan 12, 22:06

  一个苦者对禅师说：“我放�下一些事，放�下一些人。�禅师说：“没有什么东西是真正放�下的。�苦者说：“�我就��放�下。�禅师让他拿�一个茶�，然�就往里�倒热水，一直倒到水溢出�。苦者被烫到马上�开了手。禅师说：“其实，这个世界上没有什么事是放�下的，痛了，你自然就会放下。。。 /\
• 2009novice

  25 Jan 12, 00:55

  欲为苦本，众祸之根，败德�身，皆有此起

• sinweiy

  26 Jan 12, 16:17

  一切皆�中花水中月 flower in the mirror, moon in the water.
• An Eternal Now

  29 Jan 12, 01:08

  AN 5.25

  PTS: A iii 20

  Anuggahita Sutta: Supported

  translated from the Pali by

  Thanissaro Bhikkhu

  © 2001–2012

  "Monks, when right view is supported by five factors, it has awareness-release as its fruit, awareness-release as its reward; it has discernment-release as its fruit, discernment-release as its reward. Which five?

  "There is the case where right view is supported by virtue, supported by learning, supported by discussion, supported by tranquillity, supported by insight.

  "When supported by these five factors, right view has awareness-release as its fruit, awareness-release as its reward; it has discernment-release as its fruit, discernment-release as its reward."

• An Eternal Now

  29 Jan 12, 01:15

  AN 5.96

  PTS: A iii 120

  Sutadhara Sutta: One Who Retains What He Has Heard

  translated from the Pali by

  Thanissaro Bhikkhu

  © 2002–2012

  "Endowed with five qualities, a monk pursuing mindfulness of breathing will in no long time penetrate the Unprovoked [release]. Which five?

  "He is a person who imposes only a little [on others]: one of few duties & projects, easy to support, easily contented with the requisites of life.

  "He is a person who eats only a little food, committed to not indulging his stomach.

  "He is a person of only a little sloth, committed to wakefulness.

  "He is a person of much learning, who has retained what he heard, has stored what he has heard. Whatever teachings are admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end, that — in their meaning & expression — proclaim the holy life that is entirely complete & pure: those he has listened to often, retained, discussed, accumulated, examined with his mind, and well-penetrated in terms of his views.

  "He reflects on the mind as it is released.[1]

  "Endowed with these five qualities, a monk pursuing mindfulness of breathing will in no long time penetrate the Unprovoked."

  Note

  1.

  When the mind is released from hindrances as it enters concentration, when it is released from the factors of lower levels of concentration as it enters higher levels of concentration, and when it is released from the fetters on reaching Awakening.

• An Eternal Now

  30 Jan 12, 02:28

  "In particular, if you follow those who say that although one realizes emptiness one must cultivate compassion elsewhere, you are similar to someone who claims that although one has water one must seek wetness elsewhere, that although one has fire one must seek warmth elsewhere, or that although one is fanned by the wind one must seek coolness elsewhere. The decisive experience of certainty that samsara and nirvana are supreme emptiness itself is unsurpassable awakened mind -- compassion as the display of samsara and nirvana in their equalness and purity." -- Dudjom Lingpa - "Nang-jang"

• Metta with Mindfulness

  31 Jan 12, 00:29

  If you want your loved ones to be happy, you must learn to understand their sufferings and aspirations. When you understand, you will know how to relieve their sufferings and how to help them fulfill their aspirations. That is true love. If you only want you loved ones to follow your own ideas and you remain ignorant of their needs, it is not truly love. It is only a desire to possess another and attempt to fulfill your own needs, which cannot be fulfilled in that way. - The Buddha [¨*"°•.ღ 海 涛 法 师 法 语 ღ.•°"*¨] 多讲点笑�，以幽默的�度处事，这样�日�会好过一点。 活�一天，就是有�气，就该�惜。 当我哭泣我没有鞋�穿的时候，��现有些人连脚都没有。
• An Eternal Now

  31 Jan 12, 13:20

  Though the knowing part manifests individually without ceasing [mkhyen pa'i cha ma 'gag par so sor gsal kyang] since compassion is present as the wisdom of vidy� [thugs rje rig pa'i ye shes su bzhugs pas], the aspect of action and agent [bya ba dang byed pa'i rnam] appearing as [du snang ba] an object and a subject [yul yul can] does not exist. - Kongtrul, translation by Namdrol
• Dawnfirstlight

  5 Feb 12, 19:16

  

  AWAKENING is not a matter of intelligence. Many intelligent people are deep in illusion. But rather, AWAKENING happens when one has an insatiable thirst to know THE TRUTH.

• sinweiy

  7 Feb 12, 09:02

  慧能：“��善，���，这是一念�生的境界，就是你的本��目。� /\
• An Eternal Now

  10 Feb 12, 12:55

  They penetrate the subtle truth As the tip of a hair with an arrow Who see the five aggregates as alien And do not regard them as self. Those who see conditioned things As alien and not as self Have pierced right through the subtle truth As the tip of a hair with an arrow. - Maha Mogallana (Thag. 1160-61)
• An Eternal Now

  10 Feb 12, 13:21

  Buddha: With mindfulness of the body established, Controlled over contact's sixfold base, A bhikkhu who is always concentrated Can know Nibbana for himself ... Just as a mountain made of solid rock Stands firm and unshakable, Even so, when delusion is destroyed, A bhikkhu, like a mountain, is not perturbed.
• An Eternal Now

  10 Feb 12, 13:28

  Mogallana: "In what way, Lord, can it be briefly explained how a monk becomes liberated by the elimination of craving: how he becomes one who has reached the final end, the final security from bondage, the final holy life, the final consummation, and is foremost among devas and humans?" Buddha: "Here, Mogallana, a monk has learned this: 'Nothing is fit to be clung to!' When a monk has learnt that nothing is fit to be clung to, he directly knows everything; by directly knowing everything, he fully comprehends everything; when he fully comprehends everything, whatever feeling he experiences, be it pleasant, painful, or neutral, he abides contemplating impermanence in these feelings, contemplating dispassion, contemplating cessation, contemplating relinquishment. When thus abiding, he does not cling to anything in the world; without clinging he is not agitated; and without agitation he personally attains the complete extinction of defilements. He knows: 'Rebirth has ceased, the holy life has been lived, the task has been done, there is no more of this or that state.'"
• An Eternal Now

  10 Feb 12, 19:49

  Buddha to Maha Kassapa: "You should train yourself thus, Kassapa: 'A keen sense of shame and fear of wrongdoing (hiri-ottappa) shall be present in me towards seniors, novices, and those of middle status in the Order.

  'Whatever teaching I hear that is conducive to something wholesome, I shall listen with an attentive ear, examining it, reflecting on it, absorbing it with all my heart.

  'Mindfulness of the body linked with gladness shall not be neglected by me!' Thus should you train yourself."

• Amila

  16 Feb 12, 13:53

  Try the new Buddhist Shrine room for your android .... :) 

   

  https://market.android.com/details?id=com.buddhist.shrine

• An Eternal Now

  18 Feb 12, 22:15

  
  I think we can begin to understand the dhamma analytically, by listening to the teachings and then reflecting upon them. But this is just a beginning which has to be developed further and integrated with ethical conduct (sÄ«la) and meditative composure (samÄ�dhi). There are three levels of discernment (paññÄ�): discernment obtained through hearing (sutamayÄ� paññÄ�), discernment obtained through reflection (cintÄ�mayÄ� paññÄ�), and discernment obtained through meditative development (bhÄ�vanÄ�mayÄ� paññÄ�). The first two comprise theoretical levels of discernment where one hears the teachings and reflects on them. This reflection is the beginning of internalizing the meaning of what has been heard. But for discernment to be liberating the process of internalization must deepen through meditative development. This level is direct experiential discernment.

  - Geoff

• An Eternal Now

  19 Feb 12, 12:36

  "With going the boundless sky goes, with coming the entire earth comes. This is everyday mind."

  ~ Zen Master Dogen

• An Eternal Now

  21 Feb 12, 21:08

  Though one should live a hundred years As a lazy, sluggish person, Better it is to live a single day Firmly arousing one's energy. - Buddha, Dhp. 112