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"In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing."

Antonio Porchia, Voices

!!! FIRE !!!

There's no fire like passion,
No seizure like anger,
No snare like delusion,
No river like craving.
 
-Dhammapada, 18, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

NO DESIRE

There is pleasure when a sore is scratched, But to be without sores is more pleasurable still. Just so, there are pleasures in worldly desires, But to be without desires is more pleasurable still.
 
-Nagarjuna, "Precious Garland"

This Fleeting World

Fleeting is this world

Growth and decay its very nature

Things spring to being and again they cease

Happy the marvel of them and the peace.

-Nidana Vagga

GRIST FOR THE MILL

View all problems as challenges. Look upon negativities that arise as opportunities to learn and to grow. Don't run from them, condemn yourself, or bury your burden in saintly silence. You have a problem? Great. More grist for the mill. Rejoice, dive in, and investigate.

-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, "Mindfulness in Plain English"

THE USELESSNESS OF RITUALS

Kutadanta accused the Buddha: "I am told that you teach the law of life and the way, yet you tear down religion. Your followers despise rituals and abandon sacrifices. But reverence for the gods can only be shown through sacrifices. The very nature of religion is that of worship and sacrifice. "The Buddha replied: "Greater than the massacring of bullocks is the sacrifice of self. He who offers up his evil desires will see the uselessness of slaughtering animals at the altar. Blood has no power to cleanse, but the giving up of harmful actions will make the heart whole. Better than worshiping gods is following the ways of goodness."
-Digha Nikaya

A WELL-KNOWN MONK

A wandering monk walked barefoot everywhere he went, to the point that the soles of his feet eventually became quite thick and leathery. And because he ate very little, he gradually became very frail. Several days often passed between opportunities to brush his teeth, so he usually had bad breath. Therefore, throughout the region, he came to be known as the super-calloused fragile mystic plagued with halitosis.

ATTACHMENT IS...

Attachment is the mind stuck to an object.
-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, The Door to Satisfaction

ESSENCE OF MIND

Who would have thought that all things are the manifestation of the Essence of Mind!
-The Sutra of Hui Neng

AS A BUDDHIST MONK

As a Buddhist monk my concern extends to all members of the human family and, indeed, to all sentient beings who suffer. I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their own happiness or satisfaction.
 
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Oslo, December 1989

THE TRUTH INDEED

The truth indeed has never been preached by the Buddha, seeing that one has to realize it within oneself.
-Lamkara Sutra

RIGHT SPEECH

Speak harshly to no one, or the words will be thrown right back at you. Contentious talk is painful, for you get struck by rods in return.
-Dhammapada, 10, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

BOUNDARIES

There's but little breath left on the boundary of this life and next. Not knowing if I'll be here next morning, why try to trick death with life-schemes for a permanent future?
-Milarepa, "Drinking The Mountain Stream"

THE "I WANT" IMPULSE

The impulse "I want" and the impulse "I'll have" --lose them! That is where most people get stuck--without those, you can use your eyes to guide you through this suffering state.
-Sutta Nipata

Mouthing Vacuuous Phrases

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Something something something something.
Nothing nothing nothing nothing.

Work - Work - Work & More Work

Job delight is my right;
My career reflects my holy light.

Reason, Season or Lifetime...

One reason, two reasons, however many,
One season, two seasons, three seasons or more,
However many lifetimes.

CaPow

Like A...

... Fluttering flibbertigibbet mouthing vacuuous phrases.

Purely Coincidental

Todays "Daily Buddhist Wisdom"
As I was saying...

We are not compelled to meditate by some outside agent, by other people, or by God. Rather, just as we are responsible for our own suffering, so are we solely responsible for our own cure. We have created the situation in which we find ourselves, and it is up to us to create the circumstances for our release.
-Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Wisdom Energy"