Meditation with Cherry-Blossom

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arrived at the finished,
unfrightened, unblemished, free
of craving, he has cut away
the arrows of becoming.
This physical heap is his last.

Free from craving,
ungrasping,
astute in ｅxpression,
knowing the combination of sounds---
which comes first & which after.
He’s called a
last-body
greatly discerning
great man.

-Dhammapada

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anything that acts as an antidote to self-grasping is Dharma practice.

Whereas, even though we may engage in a great variety of practices

that may appear to be spiritual,

if they do not act to destroy our self-grasping,

they are not Dharma practice.

-Gomo Tulku, "Becoming a Child of the Buddhas"

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a single slab of rock
Won't budge in the wind,
So the wise are not moved
By praise,
By blame.

Like a deep lake,
Clear, unruffled, & calm;
So the wise become clear,
Calm,
On hearing words of the Dhamma.

-Dhammapada, 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A monk asked,

“The mountains, the rivers, and the great earth-from

where did all of these things come forth?”

Tiantai said, “From where did this question come forth?”

-Zen’s Chinese Heritage

 

 

 

 

 

 

And those who have no mental vigilance,
Though they may hear the teachings, ponder them or meditate,
With minds like water seeping from a leaking jug,
Their learning will not settle in their memories.

-Sântideva, "Bodhicaryâvatâra"

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is really nothing you must be and there is nothing you must do.

There is really nothing you must have and there is nothing you must know.

There is really nothing you must become.

However, it helps to understand that fire burns,

and when it rains, the earth gets wet.

-Zen saying

 

 

 

 

 

 

But when, having gone
to the Buddha, Dhamma,
& Sangha for refuge,
you see with right discernment
the four noble truths--
stress,
the cause of stress,
the transcending of stress,
& the noble eightfold path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
that's the secure refuge,
that, the supreme refuge,
having gone to which,
you gain release
from all suffering & stress.

-Dhammapada, 13

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Let alone seven years, monks,

whoever practices on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness

for six, five, four, three, two years, one year, or one month,

can also expect one of two fruits-either the highest understanding

in this very life or can attain the fruit of no-return.

“Let alone a month, monks,

whoever practices the Four Establishments of Mindfulness one week

can also expect one of two fruits-either the highest understanding

in this very life or the fruit of no-return.”

-Adapted from Satipatthana-sutta

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I am not one’s servant.” So said the Buddha.

“With what I have gained I wander about in all the world,

without being subservient to anyone:

therefore, it thou like, rain, O sky!”

-adapted from the Sutta-nipata

 

 

 

 

 

 

A person of wisdom should be truthful,

without arrogance, without deceit, not slanderous and not hateful.

The wise person should go beyond the evil of greed and miserliness.

Do not get excited by what is old,

do not be contented with what is new.

Do not grieve for what is lost or be controlled by desire.

-Sutta-nipata

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘There is no spot, O king, where Nirvâna is situate,

and yet Nirvâna is,

and he who orders his life right will,

by careful attention, realize Nirvâna.

Just as fire exists,

and yet there is no place where fire (by itself) is stored up.

But if a man rubs two sticks together the fire comes;

just so, O king, Nirvâna exists,

though there is no spot where it is stored up.

And he who orders his life aright will,

by careful attention, realize Nirvâna.’

-Milindapanha

 

 

 

 

 

 

…You can confront the prospect of your own death and try to analyze it and,

in so doing, try to minimize some of the inevitable sufferings it causes.

Neither way can you actually overcome it.

However, as a Buddhist,

I view death as a normal process of life…Knowing that I cannot escape it,

I see no point in worrying about it.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

 

 

 

 

 

 

An accomplished person does not by a philosophical view,

or by thinking become arrogant, for he is not of that sort;

not by holy works, nor by tradition is he to be led,

he is not led into any of the resting places of the mind.

-adapted from the Sutta-nipata

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sicilian Romance

by Ernesto Cortazar