Dying is a time when the deeper levels of mind manifest themselves;
daily reflection also opens the door to those states.
You are your own protector; comfort and discomfort are in your own
hands.
Taming the mind brings happiness and not doing so leads to
suffering.
Since our attitudes of permanence and self-cherishing -- held in our
hearts as if they were the center of life -- are what ruin us, the most
fruitful meditators are an impermanence, the emptiness of inherent existence,
and compassion.
Understand that this body, which you sustain at any cost, will
someday desert you.
As long as you have mindfulness, you must do whatever you can to
keep the mind in a virtuous way.
The continuum of this mind is what proceeds to the next lifetime.
When you are capable of abiding forever in the innate mind of clear
light without regressing through the coarser levels, there is no opportunity
for the accumulation of karma.
Afflictive emotions such as lust, hatred, enmity, jealously, and
belligerence do not reside in the very essence of mind but are peripheral to it. When the mind knows its own nature and when
this knowledge is teamed with powerful concentration, it gradually becomes
possible to reduce and finally to overcome the afflictive states that drive the
process of repeated suffering.
Aim in your rebirth to be reborn with a body and in a situation
capable of finishing the remaining spiritual paths.
Always adjust your motivation toward helping others as much as
possible.
Buddhas are teachers of the spiritual path; they do not give
realization like a gift. You have to
practice morality, concentrated meditation, and wisdom on a daily basis.
Physical happiness is just an occasional balance of elements in the
body, not a deep harmony. Understand the temporary for what it is.
What is performed in imitation eventually leads to what is
accomplished in fact.
Obstacles are not external but internal; they are delusions of our
own mind.
The real enemy, the destroyer of our happiness, is within ourselves.
When something unpleasant happens and you get irritated, you are the
loser, since irritation immediately destroys your own mental peace.
Your enemy is your supreme teacher.
The Truth Body is not a form which is visible or accessible to
others but rather is a state actualized.
The Dharma is the complete abandonment of both delusions and
obscurations of the paths.
Until we recognize that suffering is dangerous, we will make no
attempt to get rid of it.
No independent thing exists; everything depends on a cause.
According to the Buddhist point of view, there are sentient beings
who take part in the environment or natural habitat, and the universe
evolves. We accept beginningless
continuity of consciousness.
In order to practice genuine compassion or altruism, we need
tolerance. Without tolerance, it is
impossible to practice. Anger and hatred
are the greatest obstacles to compassion and love. To minimize anger and hatred, tolerance is
the key factor. In order to practice
tolerance, we need an enemy. The enemy
will not want to help us deliberately, but because of our enemy's actions we
get the opportunity to practice tolerance.
Since
death involves the separation of the body and mind, it is important to realize
the nature of the “I” that is set up relative to the collection of physical and
mental aggregates, as well as the nature of those aggregates themselves. The type
of body we possess is an impure entity, produced from the four elements of
earth, water, fire, and wind, subject to pain from even slight causes, and like
an illusion both in the sense of being here one moment and gone the next, and
in the sense of appearing to exist inherently but actually being empty of such
inherent existence. By appearing to be
clean if washed, and appearing blissful, permanent, and under your control, the
body dwells, so to speak, in a city of misconceptions about the nature of
consciousness and its objects.
This
human body is a precious endowment, potent and yet fragile. Simply by virtue of being alive, you are at a
very important juncture, and carry a great responsibility.
In order
to change results you must deal with causes…. Wishful thinking alone does not
produce the result.
It is
helpful to know that at some point all hope for continuing this life will end.
When the
mind pays attention to an object, it does so through the movement of wind, or
energy. The mind rides on wind like a
rider on a horse.
