Buddhist Wisdom

[ajay0]

As soon as one desire is satisfied, we generate another. The object is secondary; the fact is that we seek to maintain the state of craving continually, because this very craving produces in us a pleasurable sensation that we wish to prolong. ~ S.N.Goenka


Aversions and cravings can never be wholesome. They will always make you tense and unhappy. ~ S.N.Goenka


Craving becomes a habit that we cannot break, an addiction. And just as an addict gradually develops tolerance towards his chosen drug and requires ever larger doses in order to achieve intoxication, our cravings steadily become stronger the more we seek to fulfill them. In this way we can never come to the end of craving. And so long as we crave, we can never be happy. ~ S.N.Goenka


It is impossible to commit an unwholesome action—to insult, kill, steal, or rape without generating great agitation in the mind, great craving and aversion. This moment of craving or aversion brings unhappiness now, and more in the future. ~ S.N.Goenka

 

[ajay0]

By observing every sensation with equanimity, we gradually weaken and destroy the tendencies of craving and aversion. When the conditioned responses of a certain type are eradicated, one is free of that type of suffering. And when all conditioned responses have been eradicated one after another, the mind is totally liberated.~ S.N.Goenka


When the mind is calm and balanced, whatever decision you make will be a good one. When the mind is unbalanced, any decision you make will be a reaction. You must learn to change the pattern of life from negative reaction to positive action. ~ S.N.Goenka


The highest quality of the mind is equanimity based on full awareness of reality. ~ S.N.Goenka

 

[ajay0]

All phenomena of samsara and nirvana are your own mind. ~ Padmasambhava


Samsara is mind turned outwardly, lost in its projections. Nirvana is mind turned inwardly, recognizing its nature. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche


Samsara arises out of ignorance and is characterized by suffering.~ Chogyam Trungpa


“The world of ignorance and suffering – called samsara in Sanskrit – is not a fundamental condition of existence but a mental universe based on our mistaken conception of reality.”— Matthieu Ricard


Take your stand on the ultimate practice of the heart essence — samsara and nirvana are the display of awareness. Without distraction, without meditation, in a state of natural relaxation, constantly remain in the pure, all-penetrating nakedness of ultimate reality. ~ Dudjom Rinpoche


“We choose ignorance because we can. We choose awareness because we can. Samsara and nirvana are simply different points of view based on the choices we make in how to examine and understand our experience.

There’s nothing magical about nirvana and nothing bad or wrong about samsara. If you’re determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so, and that the opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available.” ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

 

[ajay0]

“Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom. You don’t have to be swept away by your feeling. You can respond with wisdom and kindness rather than habit and reactivity.” ~ Henepola Gunaratana


The need to distinguish clearly between a first stage of observation and a second stage of taking action is, according to the Buddha, an essential feature of his way of teaching. The simple reason for this approach is that only the preliminary step of calmly assessing a situation without immediately reacting enables one to undertake the appropriate action. ~ Bhikku Analayo

 

[ajay0]

In general, 'Buddha' means 'Awakened One', someone who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and sees things as they really are. A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions. ~ Geshe Kelsang Gyatso


“The mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable. The mind of the ignorant person is conditioned and fixed.” ~ Ajahn Sumedho


“With mindfulness we have the choice of responding with compassion to the pain of craving, anger, fear and confusion. Without mindfulness we are stuck in the reactive pattern and identification that will inevitably create more suffering and confusion.” ~ Noah Levine

 

[ajay0]

Whether we're in retreat or out in the world, we should try to develop the quality of awareness as much as possible. ~Tenzin Palmo


The first thing is to learn how to quiet the mind, relax the mind, and bring the awareness to the front so that we are conscious of what we're doing when we're doing it without all the commentary. ~ Tenzin Palmo


Either we're aware and present, or we're not. There is no half way. ~ Tenzin Palmo


It's very important to realize that every person that you meet, everything that you do, with the right attitude and a little awareness and skillful means - we can transform everything - all our joys and sorrows. ~ Tenzin Palmo

 

[Wu Wei]

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways – either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits or by using the challenge to find our inner strength. Thanks to the teachings of Buddha, I have been able to take this second way.” – Dalai Lama

“If we do not know how to take care of ourselves and to love ourselves, we cannot take care of the people we love. Loving oneself is the foundation for loving another person.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha

“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” – Dalai Lama

“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?” – Dogen

 

[ajay0]

“Ordinary human thinking is full of greed, jealousy, and pride. A man seeing another man on the street may immediately think, “He is better looking than I am.” The instant result is envy or shame. A girl seeing another girl may think, “I am prettier than she is.” The instant result is pride.

This sort of comparison is a mental habit, and it leads directly to ill feeling of one sort or another: greed, envy, pride, jealousy, or hatred. It is an unskillful mental state, but we do it all the time.” ~ Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English


Thoughts come to our mind quite unconsciously and most of them are emotional. We are easily carried away by these emotional thoughts. However, once we become conscious of them, their emotional control lessens, and we can work with them skillfully. ~ Bhante Sujatha


The distraction itself can be anything: a sound, a sensation, an emotion, a fantasy, anything at all. Whatever it is, don’t try to repress it. Don’t try to force it out of your mind. There’s no need for that. Just observe it mindfully with bare attention. Examine the distraction wordlessly, and it will pass away by itself.” ~ Henepola Gunaratana


“Truth seekers, as they live their lives, can ask: "Am I really being in harmony with what is happening in the present moment right now?”
~ Bhante Vimalaramsi

 

[ajay0]

Deep concentration has the effect of slowing down the thought process and speeding up the awareness viewing it. The result is the enhanced ability to examine the thought process. Concentration is our microscope for viewing subtle internal states.” ~ Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English


“Concentration and relaxation are considered necessary concomitants to awareness. They are required precursors, handy tools, and beneficial byproducts. But they are not the goal. The goal is insight. " ~ Henepola Gunaratana


“Meditation sharpens your concentration and your thinking power. Then, piece by piece, your own subconscious motives and mechanics become clear to you. Your intuition sharpens. The precision of your thought increases, and gradually you come to a direct knowledge of things as they really are, without prejudice and without illusion.” ~ Henepola Gunaratana

 

[ajay0]

Since pure awareness of nowness is the real buddha,
In openness and contentment
I found the Lama in my heart. ~ Dudjum Rinpoche


Although hundreds or thousands of explanations are given,
There is only one thing to be understood
Know the one thing that liberates everything
Awareness itself, your true nature. ~ Dudjom Rinpoche


Uncontrived Mind - Mind itself is uncontrived, and the enlightened intention of the
buddhas is nothing other than simply resting in that state of uncontrived mind just as it is,
the mind itself just as it is. ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

 

[Wu Wei]

The most precious gift you can give to the one you love is your true presence. - Thich Nhat Hanh, “Love Is Being There”

 

[ajay0]

"Self-discipline, although difficult, and not always easy while combating negative emotions, should be a defensive measure. At least we will be able to prevent the advent of negative conduct dominated by negative emotion. That is ‘shila’, or moral ethics.

Once we develop this by familiarizing ourselves with it, along with mindfulness and conscientiousness, eventually that pattern and way of life will become a part of our own life." ~ Dalai Lama


Mindfulness allows us to watch our thoughts, see how one thought leads to the next, decide if we’re heading down an unhealthy path, and, if so, let go and change directions. ~ Sharon Salzberg


“As you become more mindful of your thoughts and your feelings, you gain a better understanding of yourself and of your habits, and this puts you in a better position to improve yourself and your life.”– Remez Sasson

 

[ajay0]

The greatest problems of humanity are psychological, not material. From birth to death, people are continually under the control of their mental sufferings. ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche


Happiness and suffering come from your own mind, not from outside. Your own mind is the cause of happiness; your own mind is the cause of suffering. To obtain happiness and pacify suffering, you have to work within your own mind. ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche


“The root of our problems is within our mind. It is our unskillful ways of thinking. We have to recognize the right ways of thinking, which bring happiness, and the wrong ways of thinking, which bring suffering. With one way of thinking, we have problems in our life; with another way of thinking, we don't. In other words, happiness and suffering come from our own mind. Our mind creates our life.” ~ Thubten Zopa, Ultimate Healing: The Power of Compassion


Try to eliminate the negative attitudes, which bring suffering, and increase the positive attitudes, which bring happiness. ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche


Mindfulness gives freedom from negative and fixed mindset to positive and growth mindset.” ~ Amit Ray

 

[ajay0]

“A disciplined mind brings happiness.” ~ Buddha (Dhammapada, verse 35)


More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an untrained mind does greater harm. More than your mother, more than your father, more than all your family, a well-trained mind does greater good. ~ Buddha (Dhammapada, verse 38,43)


Hard it is to train the mind, which goes where it likes and does what it wants. But a trained mind brings happiness. ~ Buddha (Dhammapada, verse 35)


Mind agitated, wavering, hard to guard and hard to check,one of wisdom renders straight as arrow-maker a shaft. ~ Buddha (Dhammapada, verse 33)

Treasury of Truth (Dhammapada) Chapter 3, Mind

 

[Wu Wei]

“The more you can free yourself from your internalization of the gaze of others, the more liberated you feel.” - Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “Under Your Skin”

 

[ajay0]

Deeper than our subconscious mind, our karmic scripts, our social programming and even deeper than the undigested emotions from traumatic events, there is an underlying, self-existent wakefulness, which is good and clear. It is fresh and whole. This is what is known as buddha-nature.
~ Pema Khandro


Its impossible to be happy until we recognize that our own minds are the only true source of happiness. But to find this out, we have to let go of blaming others, and blaming circumstances – we must begin relying on mind, working with mind and digging deep to find our buddha-nature.
~ Pema Khandro


Even if we have natural goodness, there is a great deal of confusion and suffering that can still take place. But it comes from being disconnected with our natural state, disassociated from the true power of our wisdom mind.~ Pema Khandro

 

[ajay0]

Aversions and cravings can never be wholesome. They will always make you tense and unhappy. ~ S.N.Goenka


Most of the time our grasping at and craving for worldly pleasure does not give us satisfaction. It leads to more dissatisfaction and to psychologically crazier reactions.~ Lama Thubten Yeshe


If you don’t know your own psychology, you might ignore what’s going on in your mind until it breaks down and you go completely crazy. ~ Lama Thubten Yeshe

 

[ajay0]

The more we abandon ill-will and hatred, the easier it will be to meditate. ~ Ayya Khema


“Even offering three hundred bowls of food three times a day does not match the spiritual merit gained in one moment of love.” ~ Akkineni Nagarjuna.


'I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion.' ~ Dalai Lama


'If you have compassion in your everyday life, you collect the most extensive merit and purify much negative karma in a very short time. Many lifetimes, many eons of negative karma get purified. That helps you realize emptiness. ' ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche

 

[ajay0]

Having basic human ethics is the root of Dharma.
If one does not have even worldly level morality,
It is absolutely impossible to ever uphold
The way of Dharma. ~ Mipham Rinpoche


If a person has self-control, even if he has nothing else,
This suffices for a hundred other good qualities.
This is the root of human values. Without it,
There is no hope for other qualities [to blossom]. ~ Mipham Rinpoche

 

[ajay0]

Pure morality is the natural expression of non-dual awareness. ~ Lama Surya Das


Mindfulness is about love and loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that. All ethics and morality, and a sense of interconnectedness, come out of the act of paying attention. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn


We hear religious people talk a lot about morality. What is morality? Morality is the wisdom that understands the nature of the mind. The mind that understands its own nature automatically becomes moral, or positive; and the actions motivated by such a mind also become positive. That’s what we call morality. The basic nature of the narrow mind is ignorance; therefore the narrow mind is negative. ~ Lama Thubten Yeshe