Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration 2/28/2006

The Buddha once summarised his entire teachings in one sentence:

"I teach about suffering and the way to end it".

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/27/2006

Kindly let the power of your compassion arise, To quickly stem the flow of blood and tears. Those unrelentingly cruel ones, objects of compassion, Maddened by delusion's evils, wantonly destroy themselves and others; May they achieve the eye of wisdom, knowing what must be done and undone, And abide in the glory of friendship and love. May this heartfelt wish of total freedom for all Tibet, Which has been awaited for a long time, be spontaneously fulfilled; Please grant soon the good fortune to enjoy The happy celebration of spiritual with temporal rule.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/26/2006

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/25/2006

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.

A Wish for All Beings

May all beings be filled with joy and peace. May all beings everywhere, The strong and the weak, The great and the small, The mean and the powerful, The short and the long, the subtle and the gross: May all beings everywhere, Seen and unseen, Dwelling far off or nearby, Being or waiting to become: May all be filled with lasting joy.

Let no one deceive another, Let no one anywhere despise another, Let no one out of anger or resentment Wish suffering on anyone at all. Just as a mother with her own life Protects her child, her only child, from harm, So within yourself let grow A boundless love for all creatures.

James's comment: What a wonderful prayer. I would only add to the list the things that are not beings as well. We must care for and maintain balance with the forests, lakes, mountains, oceans, rivers, etc. just as we care for all beings.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/24/2006

May all beings be filled with joy and peace. May all beings everywhere, The strong and the weak, The great and the small, The mean and the powerful, The short and the long, the subtle and the gross: May all beings everywhere, Seen and unseen, Dwelling far off or nearby, Being or waiting to become: May all be filled with lasting joy. Let no one deceive another,

Let no one anywhere despise another, Let no one out of anger or resentment Wish suffering on anyone at all. Just as a mother with her own life Protects her child, her only child, from harm, So within yourself let grow A boundless love for all creatures.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/23/2006

By the power and the truth of this practice, may all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness. May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow. May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless. And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion, And live believing in the equality of all that lives.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/22/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE TORE-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were never separated
TAR-PEY DE-WA DAMPA-DANG MA DREL-NA CHI-MA- RUNG - From the sublime happiness of release and the happiness of higher rebirths!
MI-DREL-WAR GYUR-CHIG MI DREL-WAR DAG-GI CHA- WO - May they not be separated from these; I myself will make them not be separated from these.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL - Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this.
This prayer (The 4 Immeasurables) is also called The Heart of Enlightenment.

Religious United Nations?

IsraelNN.com, Feb 19, 2006

Tel Aviv, Israel -- Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yonah Metzger, meeting with the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist monk who is the leader of Tibet, suggested that representatives of the world's religions establish a United Nations in Jerusalem, representing religions instead of nations, like the UN currently based in New York.

"Instead of planning for nuclear war and buying tanks and fighter jets, it will invest in peace," Metzger said. He later reported that the Tibetan leader was very excited about the idea and offered to help advance it.

Also at the meeting was Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee (who is on good terms with the Roman Catholic Church), Rabbi Menachem Froman of Tekoa, kadis (Ethiopian rabbis) and various Islamic sheikhs.

James's comment: What a wonderful idea in a world that currently reflects so much religious and political tension, ignorance and anger. This would be a great organization to help promote more peace and understanding between the followers of the many paths. And goodness knows that we need more peace and understanding. We truly do have more in common then not.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/21/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE DUG-NGEL-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were released from suffering!
DUG-NGEL-GYI GYU-DANG DREL-NA CHI-MA-RUNG - And the cause of suffering. May they be released from suffering and its causes!
DREL-WAR GYUR-CHIG DREL-WAR DAG-GI CHA-WO - I myself will release them from suffering and its causes.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL - Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this. [The Limitless Joy Meditation.]

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/20/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE DE-WA-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings had happiness and
DE-WAY GYU-DANG DEN-NA CHI-MA-RUNG - the cause of happiness! May they have happiness and its cause.
DEN-PA GYUR-CHIG DEN-PA DAG-GI CHA-WO - I myself will make them have happiness and its cause.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL - Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this. [The Limitless Compassion Meditation.]

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/19/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE NYE-RING CHA-DANG-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all beings were in Equanimity.
DREL-WAI TANG-NYOM LA-NE-NA CHI-MA-RUNG - Free from attachment and hatred which keeps some beings close and others far!
NE-PA GYUR-CHIG, NE-PA DAG-GI CHA-WO - May they be in equanimity; I myself will make them be in equanimity.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this. [The Limitless Love Meditation.]

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/18/2006

OM MANI PADME HUM [Recite this mantra hundreds of times -- usually 108x, 111x or multiples. ]
May all the diseases, which sadden the minds of sentient beings, resulting from karma and temporary conditions such as harm due to spirits, from illnesses and the elements, not occur in the realms of the world.May whatever sufferings there are due to life- threatening diseases that, like a butcher leading a being to slaughter separate body from mind in a mere instant, not occur in the realms of the world.May all embodied beings not be harmed by acute, chronic, and other kinds [of illness] such as infectious diseases of which names the mere sound terrifies beings, as if they had been placed [directly] into the mouth of Yama, Lord of Death.May all embodied beings not be harmed by the 80,000 classes of malicious interferers, the 360 evil spirits that harm suddenly, the 424 diseases, and so on.May whatever sufferings there be due to disturbances of the four elements that deprive body and mind of every pleasure, be totally pacified, and may body and mind enjoy radiance and power and be endowed with long life, good health, and well-being.By the compassion of the Gurus and the Triple Gem, the power of the dakinis, Dharma protectors and guardians, and by the strength of the infallibility of karma and its results, may these many dedications and prayers be fulfilled as soon as they are made.

Eight Thoughts of a Great Person

Through the power of the compassionate Truth of the Supreme Refuges and through the root of virtuous action, and through pure noble meditation, may I alone, by my own efforts, dispel the sufferings, whatever they may be, of all beings, who pervade space.

Through the excellence of virtuous activity in this world and beyond it, may I fulfill the hopes and desires of beings just as they conceive them.

May my body, flesh, blood, skin, and all the rest of me benefit all sentient beings in appropriate ways.

May the sufferings of all beings, who all have been my mothers, dissolve into me; may my happiness and virtue be obtained by them.

As long as the world remains, may there not arise in my mind, even for an instant, the thought of harming others.

May I exert myself diligently in benefiting beings, not letting up for even a moment because of sadness or fatigue or anything similar.

May I be able to give effortlessly whatever enjoyment is desired to all beings who are thirsty and hungry and needy and poor.

May I take upon myself the great burdens, the difficult- to-bear sufferings of beings in hell and others, and may they be liberated.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/16/2006

Khyabje Dudjom's Best Wishes

DZAM LING CHI DANG YUL KHAM DI DAG TU,NED MUG TSHON SOK DUG NGAL MIG MI DRAG,CHÖ DAN SO NAM PAL JOR GONG DU PHEL ,TAG TU TASHI DE LEG PHUN TSHOG SHOG

At this very instance, for all people and nations of Earth,Let not even the words "disease," 'famine,""war" and "suffering" be heard,But may virtue, merit, wealth and plenty increase,And auspiciousness and well-being ever abound.

Having Fun with "Satan"

That's right! The Christian, Uber Anti-God plays for (and is from) Slovakia!! I was watching the Olympic hockey match between Russia and Slovakia when I noticed that one of the players had the name "Satan" on his jersey! So I decided to look into this further and found his NHL club team card:

LOOK!! He even wears a red jersey! I'm waiting now to hear from Pat Robertson that Satan is alive and well and living in Slovakia and that we need to boycott everything from Slovakia and call for his assassination.

So I think hockey is just what "Satan" does in his free time when he wants to "cool off" and "let off a little steam." I've heard, however, that he likes to "blow smoke and hot air" up the asses of his team mates. Hehe.

Anyway,

-Peace to all beings including Satan-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/15/2006

A Buddhist Grace: Dedicating Food Before Eating

Tounpa lamay sanjay rinpochay,Cheupa* lamay tamchu rinpochay,Drenpa lamay gendoun rinpochay,Chapni* kounchok sum la chu pa bul.

I offer this to the Teacher Higher than any other,I offer this to the Dharma Higher than any other,I offer this to the Sangha Higher than any other,I offer this to the abodes of refuge, The Three Jewels,rare and supreme.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/14/2006

"We habitually erect a barrier called blame that keeps us from communicating genuinely with others, and we fortify it with our concepts of who's right and who's wrong. We do that with the people who are closest to us and we do it with political systems, with all kinds of things that we don't like about our associates or our society. It is a very common, ancient, well-perfected device for trying to feel better. Blame others. Blaming is a way to protect your heart, trying to protect what is soft and open and tender in yourself. Rather than own that pain, we scramble to find some comfortable ground."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/13/2006

"Compassionate action starts with seeing yourself when you start to make yourself right and when you start to make yourself wrong. At that point you could just contemplate the fact that there is a larger alternative to either of those, a more tender, shaky kind of place where you could live."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/12/2006

"There's a reason you can learn from everything: you have basic wisdom, basic intelligence, and basic goodness."

~Pema Chodron

We All Have Blind Spots

Mindfulness practice is the practice of one hundred percent honesty with ourselves. When we watch our own mind and body, we notice certain things that are unpleasant to realize. As we do not like them, we try to reject them. What are the things we do not like? We do not like to detach ourselves from loved ones or to live with unloved ones. We include not only people, places and material things into our likes and dislikes, but opinions, ideas, beliefs and decisions as well. We do not like what naturally happens to us. We do not like, for instance, growing old, becoming sick, becoming weak or showing our age, for we have a great desire to preserve our appearance. We do not like someone pointing out our faults, for we take great pride in ourselves. We do not like someone to be wiser than we are, for we are deluded about ourselves. These are but a few examples of our personal experience of greed, hatred and ignorance.

If we do not have hatred in us we will not be concerned when someone points out our shortcomings. Rather, we will be thankful to the person who draws our attention to our faults. We have to be extremely wise and mindful to thank the person who explicates our faults so we will be able to tread the upward path toward improving ourselves. We all have blind spots. The other person is our mirror for us to see our faults with wisdom. We should consider the person who shows our shortcomings as one who excavates a hidden treasure in us that we were unaware of. It is by knowing the existence of our deficiencies that we can improve ourselves.

James's comment: Before my mindfulness practice I was a very prideful person. Very judgemental and full of hate (mostly for myself as I have learned through meditation). I was constantly feeling the victim and that was a phantom that I was chasing as it slowly lured me into the living hell of a hungry ghost. Nothing satisfied me (even when I "won" an arguement).

I have since been much more able to see myself as no better or worse then anyone or anything else which has allowed me to let go of the insane notion of separateness. Of course I still struggle with such things. However, my mindfulness practice has given me the tools to sit back and watch the endless negative thoughts and see them as attachments to ghosts rather then hard truth to cling to and worship as reality.

Clinging to such views only made me more unhappy since I could not change other people (and the world--now that's pride for ya!) as I felt that I had to accomplish. It allowed me to see that I am not separate from anyone or anything else and I am now much more able to see how my faults and positive traits affect other people. I am the weaknesses I saw in other people and I am also the love and goodness that I saw in other people whom I thought were so much "better then me." I am so very thankful to have found the Dharma. Thank-you for helping me to see some of my "blind spots." And on I walk.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/11/2006

" If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/10/2006

"We feel we're supposed to be better than we are in some way. But with this practice you take yourself completely as you are. Then ironically, taking in pain - breathing it in for yourself and all others in the same boat as you are - heightens your awareness of exactly where you're stuck."

~Pema Chodron

Peace

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

James's comment: Despite all the wonderful and truthful teachings of the Dharma I have found for myself that I can only find the true peace and understanding that these teachings give us through my personal practice.

This is exactly what the Buddha taught. He can only lead us so far with his words and then we must go it alone (so to speak) the rest of the way and experience them for ourselves.

Even while taking refuge in my sangha I must still practice on my own. No one can do the sitting for me.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/9/2006

"We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves."

~Pema Chodron

Neither Self Nor Other

In the face of reality’s illumination
There is neither self nor other,
No duality, no division-void of identity
And yet neither voidNor not void,
There’s no perceiver at all.
Eh Ma! Until a mountain yogi
Has realized well the meaning of this,
He should not disparage cause and result!

-Drinking the Mountain Stream: Songs of Tibet’s Beloved Saint,
Milarepa

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/8/2006

"When we start out on a spiritual path we often have ideals we think we're supposed to live up to."

~Pema Chodron

Do Not Cling to Truth Either

"The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new."

~Pema Chodron

James's comment: I think that too often we as "Buddhists" cling to the idea of being a "Buddhist" rather then just being and sitting in the clear light of universal truth.

We sometimes also get hung up in the trappings of "Buddhism." We think that we are close to enlightenment or that we are advancing because we "do" all the "right things." We light incense, we bow to a Buddha statue, we ring a bell, chant mantras, shave our heads and wear the right robes.

However, these things are simply fingers pointing to the moon and not the moon itself as the Buddha taught.

Being too caught up in these symbols of the dharma we begin to become so entangled up in them that we can easily forget that there are many other fingers that are capable of pointing to the moon as well. The five fingers on ones hand are like different religions that all point to the same universal condition or truth. Taken by themselves they appear to be seperate and different but when we look deeper we see that they all blend down into the same hand of ultimate truth. Without the thumb for example we can not have a full hand or full truth in our example.

The thumb is no better or no less then the other fingers.

It is important to look outside "Buddhism" to appreciate other shades of the same, interdependant truth so that we might eliminate any feelings of seperateness from other people and their faithes.

I hope I made sense and didn't just get entangled in too many words which is something I need to avoid as one of my last posts taught me.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/7/2006

"The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new."

~Pema Chodron

Transforming Problems Into Happiness

Leave the mind in its natural, undisturbed state. Don't follow thoughts of "This is a problem, that is a problem!" Without labeling difficulties as problems, leave your mind in its natural state. In this way, you will stop seeing miserable conditions as problems.

"-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "Transforming Problems Into Happiness"

James's comment: This is a great teaching. When ever I have just seen problems as normal events (no better, no less then any other event) I have been more able to let them slip from the grip of attachment. This helps me address these "problems" with less panic and fear and move on.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/6/2006

"The Buddhist view holds that such states are afflictive because they distort our perception of reality and they create an inner disequilibrium."

Daniel Goleman

Don't Use Pointless Words

Better than a thousand pointless words is one saying to the point on hearing which one finds peace.

~Shakyamuni Buddha

James's comment: A great reminder that one can not find liberation from spouting off a bunch of flowery, philosophical speech.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/5/2006

"Right now, I'm following the Buddhist principle: Smile as abuse is hurled your way and this too shall pass."

Aishwarya Rai

Western Doctors Embracing Meditation

Boston, Massachusetts (USA) -- Regular meditation may increase smarts and stave off aging, according to an ongoing study. The research is one in a string of studies that suggest some time spent getting in tune with the flow of one's breathing can complement a regimen of pills, diet, and exercise. Meditation is being prescribed for stress, anxiety, infertility, skin diseases, and other ailments.

Many medical professionals in the West remain skeptical or are against the use of meditation for therapy.

But some are beginning to endorse its benefits, said neuroscientist Sara Lazar, who leads the research at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Our hope is that by providing concrete evidence of [meditation's] benefits, more people will at least try it and see if it is beneficial for them," she said in an email interview. Lazar presented a paper on the research during a visit of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, to the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience last November in Washington, D.C.

-Peace to all beings-

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/4/2006

"Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life."

Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/3/2006

"Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule."

The Dhammapada

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/2/2006

"Life is dear to all. Comparing others with oneself, one should neither kill nor cause to kill."

The Dhammapada

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/1/2006

Buddhism and Democracy

20. I, for one, truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. As a Buddhist monk, I try to develop compassion myself - not just from a religious point of view, but from a humanitarian one as well. To encourage myself in this altruistic attitude, I sometimes find it helpful to imagine myself, a single individual, on one side and on the other a huge gathering of all other human beings. Then I ask myself, 'Whose interests are more important?' To me it is then quite clear that, however important I may feel, I am only one, while others form the majority.

His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama