Watching or controlling

There is a difference between watching the mind and controlling the mind. Watching the mind with a gentle, open attitude allows the mind to settle down and come to rest. Trying to control the mind, or trying to control the way one's spiritual practice will unfold, just stirs up more agitation and suffering.

-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness"

Thich Nhat Hanh

Tibet The Story Of A Tragedy

Taneda Santôka (December 3, 1882 - October 11, 1940)

"Westerners like to conquer mountains;
Asians like to contemplate them.
As for me, I like to taste the mountains."

Santoka

Release of Discernment

Defiled by passion, the mind is not released. Defiled by ignorance, discernment does not develop. Thus from the fading of passion is there release of awareness. From the fading of ignorance is there release of discernment.

-Anguttara Nikaya

TENZIN PALMO

CAVE IN THE SNOW:
TENZIM PALMO’S QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT.
By Vicki MacKenzie. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998.

“ I like to sit and meditate.
There is nothing else that I like to do.”

Tenzin Palmo, née Diane Perry, tells her story of dedication and discipline through the writing of Vicki MacKenzie. A young and frisky Chogyam Trungpa was her first meditation teacher during his early days in England as she searched for the path and its beginning. After saving arduously, Tenzin Palmo had the 90 Pounds that were required for a passage to India. While quite indirect, and on nothing more than a banana boat, Tenzin reached the Indian subcontinent and found her guru, Khamtrul Rinpoche. Completely devoted to him, Tenzin was kept from receiving the teachings that were routinely offered men. Ordained as a nun, the situation did not improve. The book in fact outlines her struggles as a woman within yet another strongly traditional maschilist culture. However, while she had always felt a sort of discomfort as a woman she found in that discomfort the root of her practice. Tenzin Palmo’s bodhisattva vow not only promised to continually return into other lifetimes for the benefit of other sentient beings, but it included the vow that she would do so as a female.

What enabled Tenzin Palmo to fully assume and utilize her position as doubly foreign was her eventual long retreat in the “cave in the snow” that would be her home for a number of years of solitary retreat. And, even though this retreat was interrupted abruptly by bureaucratic interference (the announcement of an expired visa), Tenzin took it as yet another auspicious moment to test her practice. The cave brought her a more intense contemplation of the women who had preceded her in the quest for and along the path. When she left the cave, short of her intended retreat period, she did so in the company of the dakinis and female bodhisattvas, the women of wisdom who laboured to bring love and equanimity into the world. A-Yu Khadro, the Kwan Yin and, finally, Tibet’s own protector, Tara all kept Tenzin company. But it was Yeshe Tsogyel who was to inspire her much more fully and emphasize Tenzin Palmo’s vow to be reborn as a woman in her future lives. Tenzin’s return to the outside s world was achieved through a friend’s invitation to Assisi, home of the bodhisattva St. Francis. There she began to teach meditation, and there her vision for establishing a center for women took shape.

All in all, this is a book about the arduous parallel path presented to women even in Buddhist practice. Though perhaps not as difficult today in the West, the notion of womanhood as rebirth within a lesser realm persists enough for Tenzin Palmo’s experience to be of extreme value.

PADMASAMBHAVA

Pointing the Staff at the Old Man

Richard Arture...commentary on "Pointing the Staff at the Old Man"

"This emptiness is not made of anything and is clear and cognizant."

Refuge Photo

Found this photo of my refuge vows on the internet...to the left is also Tere Miller.

Anger

Shun anger, let go of pride,
Break out of every shackle.
Whoever is not tied to possessions,
Clinging neither to body nor mind,
Is never in bondage

[...]

Where there is anger, apply loving kindness.
Where there is evil, offer good.
Where there is stinginess, be generous.
Where there are lies, be truthful.

from The Dhammapada, translated by Ananda Maitreya

Sutra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings

THE FIRST REALIZATION is the awareness that the world is impermanent. All political regimes are subject to fall; all things composed of the four elements are empty and contain the seeds of suffering. Human beings are composed of five skandhas, aggregates, and are without a separate self. They are always in the process of change - constantly being born and constantly dying. They are empty of self, without sovereignty. The mind is the source of all confusion, and the body is the forest of all impure actions. If we meditate on these facts, we can gradually be released from samsara, the round of birth and death.

from the booklet on the Eight Realizations translated and commented by Thich Nhat Hanh

Green Tara

Green Tara (Dölma) embodies the female wisdom activity of the mind and is basically an emanation of the air-element (Amoghasiddhi Buddha). In some lower tantras of the fire-element (Buddha Amithaba). She is also called 'Mother of All Buddhas' and has many peaceful and wrathful emanation forms. Results of the Green Tara meditation are e.g. quick thinking and according wisdom-reaction, generousity, magical perfection, fearlessness and spontaneity to reach a quick karmic completion. Her attributes are lightblue upala-flowers (paeonias). She is adorned with jewels and precious cloth, sitting on a white moon-disk. Her right leg is outside the lotus flower, which symbolizes her continous activity, alertness and her determination for quick active help. Her hands are in the gesture of granting protection and freeing from fears. Her short mantra is OM TARE TUTARE TURE SVAHA.and her seed-syllable is dTAM. She was a main meditation deity of Ven. Kalu Rinpoche.

A thousand regions

Stupa, Shambhala Mountain Center

Direct your eye right inward, and you'll find
A thousand regions in your mind
Yet undiscovered. Travel them and be
Expert in home-cosmography.

Thoreau, Walden

BUDDHA GARDEN

Photo by C. Barber

The Prayer for
Swift Accomplishment of All Wishes

Eh Ma Ho
In the pollen bed on a stalk of a lake-born lotus,
Divine being of the spontaneous five wisdom bodies,
Self-arising great Pema together with your consort
and rows of Dakinis massing like clouds, we supplicate you.
Bless us with the swift accomplishment of all our wishes.

By our recalling your presence,
Please completely exhaust the fully matured results of negative acts
—disease, disasters, obstructions, war, and poverty.
We beseech you from our hearts, Lord of Oddiyana.
Bless us with the swift accomplishment of all our wishes.

Well-practiced in faith, ethics, and generosity,
In liberating the mind stream through hearing,
In acknowledging shame, considering others,
and in wisdom--these seven riches of enlightened beings
and all accumulated necessities having entered the mind stream of all beings,
Please ensure all the world to be happy and joyful.
Bless us with the swift accomplishments of all our wishes.

In all life-threatening situations where we are harassed
By ghosts, evil-doers, and negative spirits,
By fear of fire, flood, vicious animals, and dangers on the road,
Whatever unwanted suffering and illness appears,
We have no refuge or hope other than you.
Please look upon us with compassion, Guru, Lord of Oddiyana.
Bless us with the swift accomplishment of all our wishes.


MAY ALL BEINGS BENEFIT!

The Prayer for Swift Accomplishment of All Wishes is a treasure composed by Guru Rinpoche and discovered by Jigme Linpa. It was transmitted instantly and without hesitation, for the benefit of all suffering beings, by the Venerable Lama Lodu Rinpoche of Kagyu Droden Kunchab in San Francisco, from his memory and out of great necessity, on the occasion of the shocking and frightful attack upon the United States by unknown terrorists, September 11, 2001. It was translated by Rinpoche's devoted disciple, Jinpa Tharchin, on the next day.

http://www.rinpoche.com/swift.html

Stroke of Luck

A stroke of luck
No mind, never mind
Clarity and unknowing.

THE STRESS INDUSTRY

When you see with discernment,
'All fabrications are inconstant'--
you grow disenchanted with stress.
This is the path to purity.

When you see with discernment,
'All fabrications are stressful'--
you grow disenchanted with stress.
This is the path to purity.

When you see with discernment,
'All phenomena are not-self'--
you grow disenchanted with stress.
This is the path
to purity.

-Dhammapada, 20, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

This way or that

The Middle Way

Meditation is a special kind of dance in which we commit ourselves
wholeheartedly to the practice of deconstructing the
materialistic view of reality. The challenge is simultaneously to
hold on and to let go; it is to see clearly what we are doing and at
the same time see through it. To do this, it’s important to cultivate
a feeling for the Middle Way. This is the balance point. The
Middle Way is not just halfway between two extremes—it’s not
a 50-50 kind of thing. It’s more like saying [holds the bell striker
vertically and moves the lower end to the left] existence is over
here and nonexistence is over here [moves the lower end to the
right]. The Middle Way is the hinge-point at the top where the
two pivot, rather than the lower end of the striker just being
halfway along its arc. It’s actually the source from which the two
emanate. This is just one way of describing it.
Some people may be familiar with Tibetan practice, others
more familiar with Theraµvada and vipassanaµ practice.
The questions often arise: “How do we mesh the two? Can we?
Should we?” If we are looking to align the different methodologies,
We can get really tangled up and confused, because this one says do
this and the other one says do that. I therefore encourage everyone
to recognize that every technique, every form of expression
is just a convention that we’re picking up and using for a single
goal: to transcend suffering and to be liberated. That’s what any
technique points us toward.


The way to know if what we are doing is worthwhile is to ask,
“Does this lead to the end of suffering or does it not?” If it does,
continue. If it does not, we need to switch our attention to what
will. We can simply ask ourselves, “Am I experiencing dukkha?
Is there a feeling of alienation or difficulty?” If there is, it means
that we are clinging or hanging on to something. We need to see
that the heart is attached somewhere and then make the gesture
to loosen up, to let go. Sometimes we don’t notice where the suffering
gets generated. We get so used to doing things in a particular
way that we take it as a standard. But in meditation, we challenge
the status quo. We investigate where there is a feeling of
“dis-ease” and look to see what’s causing it. By stepping back
and scanning the inner domain, it’s possible to find out where
the attachment is and what’s causing it. Ajahn Chah would say,
“If you have an itch on your leg, you don’t scratch your ear.” In
other words, go to where the dukkha is, no matter how subtle it
may be; notice it and let go. That’s how we allow the dukkha to
disperse. This is how we will know whether the practices we are
doing are effective or not.
My suggestions and recommendations on how to understand
ultimate and conventional reality are not anything you need to
believe in. Buddhist teachings are always put out as themes for
us to contemplate. You need to find out for yourself if what I’m
saying makes sense or rings true. Don’t worry if you’re getting
contradicting instructions. Do your best not to spend too much
energy or attention getting everything to match. Otherwise
you’ll just stay confused. The fact is, things in life don’t match.
You can’t align all the loose ends. But you can go to the place
where they come from.

From small boat, great mountain: Theravaµdan Reflections on
The Natural Great Perfection by AMARO BHIKKHU

Available through the Insight Meditation website
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/

The Buddha on Equanimity

As a solid mass of rock
Is not stirred by the wind,
So a sage is not moved
By praise or blame.
As a deep lake
Is clear and undisturbed,
So a sage becomes clear
Upon hearing the Dharma.
Virtuous people always let go,
They don’t prattle about pleasures and desires.
Touched by happiness and then by suffering,
The sage shows no sign of being elated or depressed.

- Dhammapada


Equanimity is characterized as promoting neutrality toward all beings.
Its function is to see equality in beings. It is manifested as the quieting
of resentment and approval. Its proximate cause is seeing ownership
of deeds (karma) thus: “Beings are owners of their deeds.
Whose (if not theirs) is the choice by which they will become happy,
or will get free from suffering, or will not fall away from the success
they have reached?” It succeeds when it makes resentment and approval
subside, and if fails when it produces the equanimity of unknowing.

- Visuddhimagga 9.96


Rahula, develop meditation that is like the earth, for then agreeable
and disagreeable sensory impressions will not take charge of your
mind. Just as when people throw what is clean and unclean on the
earth – feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood – the earth is not horrified,
humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, agreeable and
disagreeable sensory impressions will not take charge of your mind
when you develop meditation like the earth..

- Majjhima-nikaya 62

Medicine Buddha

Entering the Stream

Entering the Stream: An Introduction to The Buddha And His Teachings (Paperback)
by Samuel Bercholz and Sherab Chodzin Kohn (Editors)

now also available as

The Buddha and His Teachings (Paperback)
by Samuel Bercholz (Editor), Sherab Chodzin Kohn (Editor)


Entering the Stream is an anthology of Buddhist teachings. It is divided into four parts, each dealing with an aspect of Buddhism. Part One provides a short history of Buddhism and an introduction to the life of the Buddha. Though not detailed, this section provides a basic introduction that highlights the Buddha’s first sermon on the Four Noble Truths. The history also outlines “the spread of Buddhism” and its historical variants.
Parts Two, Three and Four are representative of the three vehicles: Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Each Part begins with a brief introduction and is followed by chapters written by representatives of a variety of different schools of Buddhism. The chapters are a mixture of teachings by individual teachers on aspects of Buddhism, others are commentaries on sutras, and others still are translations of texts such as “The Heart Sutra” and excerpts from “The Songs of Milarepa”.

A variety of reviews I have read about this anthology categorize it as useful for beginners. Granted, the texts and teachings are basic, in the sense that they are of the most common and known materials. However, I find it useful to have even such basic teachings collected and available for repeated consultation. I don’t think that there can ever be enough readings and commentaries on “The Four Noble Truths”. Each one bears its own gift. Each teacher or reader brings to them his or her experience, and thereby expands their range and horizons.
Another aspect of the anthology that I find useful is in the mix of teachers. Having representatives from various traditions side by side also offers an opportunity to see how each moves alongside the other. The teachings of Ajahn Chah, Chögyam Trungpa, Pema Chödrön, Reginald Ray, Thich Nhat Hanh, Shunryu Suzuki, S.N. Goenka Bhikkhu Mangalo and others form a dharma rainbow that shines through the pages of this wonderful anthology.

The Buddha encourages us to “develop a meditation that is like water”; what better way to do this than to experience change and impermanence by “entering the stream”…