This is a page where anyone can add a Buddhist quote that has a heart felt meaning.
Tibetan Buddhism in the Jonang Tradition
Website Updates by Email
Upcoming Events
Jun
23
Sun
10:30 am
Green Tara Practice for peace and prosperity @ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Green Tara Practice for peace an…
@ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Jun 23 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
This practice is open to the Atlanta community. Green Tara practice at 10:30 am Sunday is Open to all! Khenpo Choejor is NOT leading the [...]
Jun
30
Sun
10:30 am
Green Tara Practice for peace and prosperity @ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Green Tara Practice for peace an…
@ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Jun 30 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
This practice is open to the Atlanta community. Green Tara practice at 10:30 am Sunday is Open to all! Khenpo Choejor is NOT leading the [...]
Jul
7
Sun
10:30 am
Green Tara Practice for peace and prosperity @ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Green Tara Practice for peace an…
@ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Jul 7 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
This practice is open to the Atlanta community. Green Tara practice at 10:30 am Sunday is Open to all! Khenpo Choejor is NOT leading the [...]
Jul
14
Sun
10:30 am
Green Tara Practice for peace and prosperity @ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Green Tara Practice for peace an…
@ Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Jul 14 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
This practice is open to the Atlanta community. Green Tara practice at 10:30 am Sunday is Open to all! Khenpo Choejor is NOT leading the [...]
Jul
19
Fri
7:30 pm
Day1 of the 21 Taras @ Atlanta Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Day1 of the 21 Taras<!…
@ Atlanta Dorje Ling Buddhist Center
Jul 19 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
This summer we will be fortunate to have a visit from Khenpo Rinpoche Ngawang. Everyone is welcome to come for the teachings on the 21 [...]
Make a donation
Recent Comments
- Jack on Rare Kalachakra & Kurukulla Empowerments
- Eric on Rare Kalachakra & Kurukulla Empowerments
- Thomas Pratt on Dakinis´ Day
- Reverend Christian Paul on New Teachings for February
- teresa on New Teachings for February
Return to top of page
Copyright © 2011 Dorje Ling Buddhist Centers
The nature of phenomena is nondual
but each one, in its own state,
is beyond the limits of the mind.
fist sentence of the “Cuckoo of the State of Presence”
by Garab Dorje
translated by Vairochana
Unattached to anything,
I roam the mountains freely.
No matter who may ridicule,
There’s no regret in my mind.
- from “The Tale of Drolchok’s Mind” by Kunga Drolchok
translated by Cyrus Stearns in http://www.jonangfoundation.org/
Hatred never ceases by hatred; hatred ceases only by love–this is an eternal truth. Buddha Shakyamuni
Dhammapada
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Buddha Shakyamuni
Metta Sutra
Great rishis with the five superknowledges
Can fly far and wide through the sky,
Yet they will never reach a place
Where they might live and never die.
Asvaghosa
Letter of Consolation
Through giving shoes and conveyances,
Through serving the feeble,
And through providing teachers with transport
You will attain the skill to create magical emanations.
Arya Nagarjuna
Precious Garland of Advice for a King (Ratnavali), verse 295
Oh,, Just to think from beginning-less time……
To me this is a great centering statement focusing on all that has happened in the past to bring me to the cushion today.
George, you don’t need unhappy mind!!
- a lama friend of Ven. Geo. Churinoff
Fear there is not for him whose mind is not burning with desires, and which, having risen above likes and dislikes, is serene. He is awakened.
Buddha Shakyamuni
Dhammapada
“Oh,, Just to think from beginning-less time……”
Jack, thanks for posting those sublime words, the first line of our practice text. It gives me a wonderful feeling and reminds me of what we’re here for. See you Sunday? Much love, Suzanne
As the bee collects nectar and departs
without harming the flower or its color or scent,
thus should a sage dwell on the earth.
Buddha Shakyamuni
Dhammapala
May my love be with footless creatures;
with two footed creatures, may there be my love.
May my love be with four footed creatures;
with many-footed creatures may there be my love.
Buddha Shakyamuni Khandha Paritta Sutra
If you can’t change something why get upset.
If you can change something why waste your time being upset.
My own interpretation of 1 of Shantideva’s
many quotable stanzas.
Be aware of bodily anger and control your body.
Let go of the body’s wrongs
and practice virtue with your body.
Be aware of the tongue’s anger and control your tongue.
Let go of the tongue’s wrongs
and practice virtue with your tongue.
Be aware of the mind’s anger and control your mind.
Let go of the mind’s wrongs
and practice virtue with your mind.
The wise who control their body,
who control their tongue,
the wise who control their mind are truly well controlled.
Buddha Shakyamuni
Dhammapada
May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering
May all beings never be separated from the supreme joy that is beyond all sorrow
May all beings abide in equanimity free from attachment and hatred.
–The Four Immeasurables prayer
Metta embraces all beings
Karuna embraces all those who suffer
Mudita embraces the prosperous
Upekkha embraces the good, bad, loved and unloved, pleasant and unpleasant,
— Buddhaghosa, The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)
Compassion and love are not mere luxuries. As the source both of inner and external peace, they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species.
–His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
Whoever meditates with awareness obtains great joy.
When the wise conquer thoughtlessness by awareness,
climbing the terraced heights of wisdom,
free from sorrow they gaze upon the sad crowd below,
like one on the mountain peak
gazes upon those standing on the plain.
Aware among the thoughtless, awake among the sleepy,
the wise one advances, like a racehorse leaves behind the slow.
–Buddha Shakyamuni Dhammapada
“Like a racehorse leaves the slow”… doesn’t sound like a Mahayana teaching, does it….
Just as a grammarian first has students
Read a model of the alphabet,
So Buddha taught trainees
The doctrines that they could bear.
To some he taught doctrines based on duality
to turn them away from ill-deeds and
for the sake of their achievement of spiritual merit;
To others, doctrines based on non-duality;
That some find profoundly frightening.
–Arya Nagarjuna
Precious Garland of Advice for a King (Ratnavali)
I agree that all vehicles are necessary and welcome, even on a Mahayana site, because they all came from the Buddha. And it’s not that the line was Hinayana – Pali suttas are wonderful. On the contrary, it’s just that that particular line, about leaving behind the slow, struck me as shockingly, diametrically contrary to Mahayana, which one rarely sees in Hinayana. But if it came from the Buddha, it would not have had that meaning and, as the next post, suggests, had a different purpose.
Rushing headlong, missing what is essential,
bringing on one new bond after another,
some are intent only on what’s seen & heard–
like moths flying into the flame.
-Buddha Shakyamuni
Adhipataka Sutta
Only practice leads to one’s own realization, and only through one’s own realization can one ultimately help others, manifesting the capacities to be able to guide them to attain that same state themselves. To be able to help others one must therefore begin by helping oneself, however contradictory that may sound. Just as in counting to a million one must begin counting at the number one, so to benefit society, one must begin by working on oneself.
–Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
The Crystal and the Way of Light–Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen
Gain arises for a well-instructed noble disciple. He reflects, ‘Gain has arisen for me. It is inconstant, stressful, & subject to change.’ He discerns it as it actually is.
Loss arises…Status arises…Disgrace arises…Censure arises…Praise arises…Pleasure arises…
Pain arises. He reflects, ‘Pain has arisen for me. It is inconstant, stressful, & subject to change.’ He discerns it as it actually is.
His mind does not remain consumed with the gain. His mind does not remain consumed with the loss…with the status…the disgrace…the censure…the praise…the pleasure. His mind does not remain consumed with the pain.
He is released from suffering and stress.
–Shakyamuni Buddha Lokavipatti Sutta
No matter where you stay-—be it a busy place or a solitary retreat—
The only things that you need to conquer are mind’s five poisons
And your own true enemies, the eight worldly concerns, nothing else;
Whether it is by avoiding, transforming, taking them as the path or looking into their very essence;
Whichever method is best suited to your own capacity.
–Kyabje Chatral Sangye Rinpoche
Compassionate Action
Toward wise beings with dharma eyes
And toward beginners on the path as well,
Recognize them as your spiritual teachers.
When seeing any sentient being,
View them as your parent, your child, or your grandchild.
–Atisha
A Bodhisattva’s Jewel Garland
“Each of us in our own way can try to spread compassion into people’s hearts. Western civilizations these days place great importance on filling the human “brain” with knowledge, but no one seems to care about filling the human “heart” with compassion. This is what the real role of religion is.” – His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Respectfully attend an authentic guru.
Live with close Dharma friends.
Keep your vows without hypocrisy.
When you hear harsh words, cultivate patience.
When you have food and money, practice generosity.
While your illusory body is healthy, do prostrations and circumanbulations.
Meditate while your intelligence is clear.
— Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol
Whatever adversities there may be, and whatever sorrows and fears come into the world, they are all from embracing the self.
–Shantideva
Entering the Path to Enlightenment
(Bodhisattvacaryavatara)
Your mind is much stronger than your fists ever could be.
St.Maitri
Even offering three hundred bowls of food three times a day does not match even a portion of the spiritual merit gained in one moment of unconditional love.
–Arya Nagarjuna
Precious Garland of Advice for a King (Ratnavali)
Always keep a smiling face and a loving mind, and speak truthfully without malice.
–Advice from Atisha’s Heart
Dwelling in universal love and deep devotion to the teachings of the Awakened One, a monk attains the peaceful state of bliss of cessation of all conditioned things.
–Buddha Shakyamuni
Dhammapada
When you realize with wisdom,
“All conditioned things are impermanent,”
you grow disenchanted with stress.
This is the path to purification.
–Buddha Shakyamuni
Dhammapada
…. in tantric (or esoteric) Buddhism, the essential training is to see and experience all the phenomena as pure lands, Buddha bodies, teachings, and enlightened thoughts. If we perfect such training, there will come a time when the whole universe will arise as the qualities of the Buddha.
by Tulku Thondup
A society of hard and inflexible minds is a society that is incapable of nurturing the flowers of love and compassion. This is the source of the dark age. We tend to question our goodness and our wisdom. When we question these things, we begin to use seemingly more convenient ways to deal with our problems. We are less ready to use love and compassion, more ready to use aggression. So we have to continuously remind ourselves of basic goodness.
–Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche Turning the Mind into an Ally
Although mind is clear, one needs a Lama;
Although a lamp burns brightly, it still needs oil;
Although Mind is self-evident, it needs recognition:
That is the teaching on the Three Needs.
Lama Drugpa Kunley
By dividing wealth into four parts,
True friendships are bound;
One part should be enjoyed;
Two parts invested in business;
And the fourth set aside for times of need
–Buddha Shakyamuni
Sigalovada Sutta
Young man, be aware of these four enemies disguised as friends: the taker, the talker, the flatterer, and the reckless companion.
The taker can be identified by four things: by only taking, asking for a lot while giving little, performing duty out of fear, and offering service in order to gain something.
The talker can be identified by four things: by reminding of past generosity, promising future generosity, mouthing empty words of kindness, and protesting personal misfortune when called on to help.
The flatterer can be identified by four things: by supporting both bad and good behavior indiscriminately, praising you to your face, and putting you down behind your back.
The reckless companion can be identified by four things: by habitually accompanying you in drinking, roaming around at night, partying, and gambling.
That is what the Buddha said.
Summing up in verse, the sublime teacher said:
The friend who is all take,
The friend of empty words,
The friend full of flattery,
And the reckless friend;
These four are not friends, but enemies;
The wise understand this
And keep them at a distance
As they would a dangerous path.
–Buddha Shakyamuni
Sigalovada Sutta
He who does not practice the Dharma appropriate to his mental continuum
And pursues the highest vehicle
Is like a small child mounting a wild horse;
It is very important to practice what is appropriate to ones mental continuum.
–Wonton Rinchen Gangpa
quoted in “Seven Point Mind Training”
(Chenga Lodro Gyaltsen)
All fears
And all the immeasurable miseries
Are facilitated by the mind.
–Shantideva
Bodhisattvacaryavatara
The skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas
You have indeed proclaimed,
But any clinging to them too
You countered later on ….
In order to relinquish all views,
O protector, you declared entities to be empty,
But that too is an imputation,
O protector—you did not hold that this is really so.
You assert neither empty nor nonempty,
Nor are you pleased with both.
There is no dispute about this–
It is the approach of your great speech.
–Arya Nagarjuna
In Praise of The One Beyond Praises
(Stutyatitastava)
Ordinary beings have cognitive obscurations, so they cannot see spiritual phenomena…. If there is no belief in spiritual appearances, then one cannot create positive phenomena, because no matter what religion is followed, positive phenomena originally come from believing in spirituality…. All the divine messages of the Koran, the Vedas, the Bible, and the Buddhist scriptures…cannot be canceled just because they are not perceived with obscured senses. Even if ordinary beings cannot perceive what is taught by sublime beings, they still need to revere these teachings, never dismissing what they cannot see.
If they dismiss what is imperceptible to them, it can cause darkness, because they are dismissing the light that shows them where to go.
–Kyabje Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar
Contradictions in perspective among those
Seeing the profound do not occur,I think,
But they speak differently due to perceiving
Different trainees and needs.
-Jetsun Taranatha
Twenty-one Differences Regarding the Profound Meaning
…discovering … ambiguity is called “discovering the seed syllable.” Ambiguity is called a “seed syllable” when it becomes a starting point rather than a source of problems…. This experience of ambiguity is a personal experience rather than an analytical experience.
–Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Journey without Goal
So blue is the ocean,
Infinite is the mind.
So bright the heavens
Luminous is the mind.
Expanse of heaven
Meets with deep blue ocean.
Union at horizon
Takes me beyond breath.
–Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Mind Beyond Death
If the root of a tree is medicine, then the fruit will be medicinal.
If the root is poison, there will be no doubt about the fruit.
Meritorious and unmeritorious qualities follow upon ones attitude and intention;
They are not derived from physical practices in themselves.
–Kunkhyen Jigme Lingpa
Quintessence of the Three Paths
Ignorance is the leader
in the attainment of unskillful qualities,
followed by
lack of conscience and
lack of concern.
In an unknowledgeable person, immersed in ignorance, wrong view arises.
In one of wrong view, wrong resolve arises.
In one of wrong resolve, wrong speech….
In one of wrong speech, wrong action….
In one of wrong action, wrong livlihood….
In one of wrong livelihoood, wrong effort….
In one of wrong effort, wrong mindfulness….
In one of wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration arises.
–Buddha Shakyamuni
Samyutta Nikaya
The birds they sing
at the break of day
“Start again,”
I seem to hear them say.
Do not dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be….
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
–Leonard Cohen (ordained Zen monk)
Anthem
How can there be rejoicing,
how can there be joy,
when there is such fierce burning?
Why do those who live
in the midst
of such darkness
not search for a lamp?
–Buddha Shakyamuni
“Impermanence,” Udanavarga
Whenever I catch sight of others, thinking–
“It is through them,
That I will reach awakening,”
I’ll look with sincerity and love.
–Shantideva,
Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life
Wisdom is your reflection that is me and my reflection that is each and all of you.
Even if you are not a blogger you can apply the the 8 fold path your vocation. Andrew did a great job explaining how he applies Buddha’s teachings to blogging online.
http://www.blogherald.com/2009/12/27/blogging-is-better-with-buddha/
Meditation is training the mind through observation.