Sayings of past spiritual teachers!

[Vajrahridaya]

Edited October 29, 2009 by Vajrahridaya

[C T]

[Eric23]

I found this a few years ago somewhere on Tribe.net Have not researched the author, don't know anything about her.

 

 

Give up the world; give up self; finally, give up God.

Find god in rhododendrons and rocks,

passers-by, your cat.

Pare your beliefs, your absolutes.

Make it simple; make it clean.

No carry-on luggage allowed.

Examine all you have

with a loving and critical eye, then

throw away some more.

Repeat. Repeat.

Keep this and only this:

what your heart beats loudly for

what feels heavy and full in your gut.

There will only be one or two

things you will keep,

and they will fit lightly

in your pocket.

 

~ Sheri Hostetler ~

[Zhuo Ming-Dao]

One of them , a Zen Buddhist poem, I like most , is :

 

I do not have any kinds of minds, why do I need to have any kinds of ways (to achieve Enlightenment).

( 我無一切心, 何用一切法 )

 

Such kind of Zen's ability to reach Tao's deepest core at one stroke, skipping all those trivial , steps and layers, contrary to modern people's clumsiness , showing us how talented an intuition once the Chinese possessed .

 

To get closer to the original, I would translate this as, "I am without a single division of mind; what purpose is there in even a single division of the Dharma?"

 

I chose division, but I prefer the original Chinese "cut." I could not think of a clean way of using the word cut as is, without otherwise altering the exact pattern of the quote. If you don't mind loosing the literal translation, you could say, "My mind is totally uncut, so why would I cut up the Dharma?"

 

Altogether, it is a very cool quote!

 

Here is another Zen quote:

 

"The way the self arrays itself is the form of the entire world. See each

thing in this entire world as a moment of time.

Things do not hinder one another, just as moments do not hinder one

another. The way-seeking mind arises in this moment. A way-seeking moment

arises in this mind. It is the same with practice and with attaining the way.

Thus the self setting itself out in array sees itself. This is the

understanding that the self is time."

 

-Dogen Zenji from the essay Being Time (Uji)

[Vajrahridaya]

Edited October 29, 2009 by Vajrahridaya

[bindo]

Something to Ponder

Watch your thoughts,

they become your words.

Watch your words,

they become your actions.

Watch your actions,

they become your habits.

Watch your habits,

they become your character.

Watch your character,

it becomes your destiny.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23.7

[Vajrahridaya]

Something to Ponder

Watch your thoughts,

they become your words.

Watch your words,

they become your actions.

Watch your actions,

they become your habits.

Watch your habits,

they become your character.

Watch your character,

it becomes your destiny.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23.7

 

Yes! A reminder of how deep the Bible can be!

[Vajrahridaya]

Taking life seriously does not mean spending our whole lives meditating as if we were living in the Himalaya Mountains or in the old days in Tibet. In the modern world, we have to work to earn our living, but we should not get entangled in a nine-to-five existence, where we live without any view of the deeper meaning of life.

 

Our task is to strike a balance, to find a middle way, to learn not to overextend ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations, but to simplify our lives more and more. The key to finding a happy balance in modern life is simplicity. - Sogyal Rinpoche

 

In my opinion... seeing the complex in the simple is seeing the simple in the complex.

[Aetherous]

Yes! A reminder of how deep the Bible can be!

 

I love it.

 

My two favorite books of the Bible are Ecclesiastes and James. I would submit a simple quote, but they are pretty dense with good stuff.

[Vajrahridaya]

I love it.

 

My two favorite books of the Bible are Ecclesiastes and James. I would submit a simple quote, but they are pretty dense with good stuff.

 

I do so agree. I've got 4 translations of the Bible. Which is interesting to see how different of a feeling one can get from each one.

 

Quite so.

[Sunya]

Edited November 1, 2009 by mikaelz

[Vajrahridaya]

[Vajrahridaya]

What need is there to say more?

The childish work for their own benefit,

The buddhas work for the benefit of others.

Just look at the difference between them.

 

If I do not exchange my happiness

For the suffering of others,

I shall not attain the state of buddhahood

And even in samsara I shall have no real joy.

SHANTIDEVA

 

If you notice, the selfish are contracted, never really there with you, always looking for a way out, never really engaging, never looking you or life in the eye.

 

Enjoying life is a great gift... Only those that see that we are all here together, sharing the same beautiful Earth, interconnected, co-creating our mutual home, have real joy.

[Chang]

"Any fool can know. The point is to understand."

 

Albert Einstein