Tag Archives: Dharma

Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism

Milarepa’s Dharma Song

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Via: Great Middle Way

Posted on  by Tashi Nyima

Superior beings need the Dharma.

Without it, they are like lofty eagles

𑁋even though perched on the highest mountain tops,

they exist only to service their pride.

Average beings have need of the Dharma.

Without it, they are like snarling tigers

𑁋though possessing great power and courage,

they are obsessed only with their hunger.

OṂ ĀḤ GURU HASAVAJRA SARVASIDDHI HŪṂ

Inferior beings need the Dharma.

Without it, they are like sturdy mules

𑁋though they grasp countless possessions,

no wisdom or merit do they carry.

Beautiful beings have need of the Dharma.

Without it, they smile vacant and lovely,

always caring about appearances.

In time their illusory beauty fades.

OṂ ĀḤ GURU HASAVAJRA SARVASIDDHI HŪṂ

Older beings have need of the Dharma.

Without it, they are like old leaning trees.

Younger beings have need of the Dharma.

Without it, they are like a charging bull.

All children have need of the Dharma.

Without it, they will meet wrong views.

Every being has need of the Dharma.

Without it, we are blossomless trees.

OṂ ĀḤ GURU HASAVAJRA SARVASIDDHI HŪṂ

Those who want to live with meaning

should practice the Buddha’s teaching.

OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ

Buddhism, My Poetry, Poetry

Morning Zendo

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Contentment comfortably is the greatest luxury.

A mansion is not needed to rest your eyes.

Keep clean where you abide.

I am rich in spirit; In my lines you hear it.

Health is wealth; so build the self.

But do not attach to life; as we are all sent death.

Use your home as a Zendo of peace.

Everything you have is everything that you need.

Illusions of riches soon we lose with attrition.

Meditation on the dharma; the life has been given.

I am no teacher; so I’ll just have a seat.

Loving the poetry; in my Zendo retreat.

Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Zen

It Can Be Done! The Great Middle Way

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Abandon wrongdoing. It can be done. If there were no likelihood, I would not ask you to do it.

But since it is possible and brings about blessings and happiness, I do ask you to abandon wrongdoing.

Cultivate doing good. It can be done. If it brought deprivation and sorrow, I would not ask you to do it.

But since it brings blessings and happiness, I do ask you: Cultivate doing good.

—Buddha Shakyamuni, Angutara Nikaya

Source: It Can Be Done!

Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Zen

Let´s not fool ourselves; The Great Middle Way

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The Buddha gives this instruction in the Griha Vinaya (Rules for Householders, Dharmika Sutra, Kshudraka Agama):

Let him not destroy, or cause to be destroyed,
any life at all, or sanction the acts of those who do so.
Let him refrain even from hurting any creature,
both those that are strong and those that tremble in the world.

If we fail to understand the universality of this injunction, the Buddha clarifies (Kshudraka Agama):

Whether they be creatures of the land or air,
whoever harms here any living being,
who has no compassion for all that live,
let such a one be known as depraved.

And in the Anguttara Agama:

I am a friend of the footless,
I am a friend of all bipeds,
I am a friend of those with four feet,
I am a friend of the many-footed.
…
May all creatures, all breathing things,
all beings one and all, without exception,
experience good fortune only.
May they not fall into any harm.

Should we intend to skirt the First Precept by claiming innocence of the deed if others do the killing for us, He adds (Kshudraka Agama):

One should not kill any living being,
nor cause it to be killed,
nor should one incite any other to kill.
Do never injure any being,
whether strong or weak, in this entire universe!

Source: Let´s not fool ourselves

Buddhism, Zen

Change Your Emotions; GreatMiddleWay

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To manifest any given emotional state, we develop a pattern:

We focus our attention on a specific feeling (pleasant or unpleasant) and magnify it

We generate a supporting discursive thought process and identify with it

We assume a compatible breath pattern and physical posture

If you want to change your emotional state, change your focus, your self-talk, your breath, and your posture.

Source: Change Your Emotions

Buddhism, Zen

Causes & Conditions; GreatMiddleWay

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images: The Dharma teaches that the manifestation of a consequence requires the confluence of multiple causes and conditions. Wrong views, afflicted emotions (attachment, aversion, and indifference), and the habits and tendencies that impel us to act in ways that are unskillful or undesirable constitute the fundamental causes of unbeneficial actions. The conditions that favor such conducts include material circumstances, similarly-inclined company, and situations.

If we desire to avoid those habitual tendencies, it is essential that we avoid conducive conditions for its manifestation. A well-known example is that of a person with alcoholic tendencies, who must avoid proximity and access to alcohol (material circumstances), persons with similar conducts (company), and those events in which this behavior is normative (situations).

We can successfully apply this strategy to all unskillful tendencies, identifying and avoiding the triggers that favor the repetition of any conduct we may wish to eliminate.

& Conditions

Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Zen

Projections via GreatMiddleWay

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Consciousness (mind and mentation) is “the stuff” what we mistake to be subject and object, me and mine, us and things. There is no substantial me, mine, us, things, but only internal representations in our experience.

When you see a movie, the actors and the scenery are not there in the theater. They are images on film, projected on a screen. These images look like various persons and things, but they are all “made” of the same stuff: light and shadow.

In the same way, our every experience is only in and of consciousness, taking the form of (transforming into) subject and object, self and beings, phenomena and their characteristics. Our experience is never extra-mental. It is always internal.

Source: Projections