This too, as with all the grains of sand of time that have, shall pass.
Wishing the best to all in this difficult time.
Wishing the best to all in this difficult time.
Forwarded from Atisha’s Lamp
The Buddhas appear as Indra, Brahma
and sometimes Maras
To enact the welfare of sentient beings.
Worldly beings cannot comprehend this phenomenon.
They appear as women and perform activities.
They are also present in animal rebirths.
Even though they are unattached, they display attachment.
Even though they are fearless, they display fear.
Even though they are lucid, they display confusion.
Even though they are sane, they display madness.
Even though they are able-bodied, they display disabilities.
By means of various emanations,
they guide sentient beings.
—Buddha Shakyamuni
and sometimes Maras
To enact the welfare of sentient beings.
Worldly beings cannot comprehend this phenomenon.
They appear as women and perform activities.
They are also present in animal rebirths.
Even though they are unattached, they display attachment.
Even though they are fearless, they display fear.
Even though they are lucid, they display confusion.
Even though they are sane, they display madness.
Even though they are able-bodied, they display disabilities.
By means of various emanations,
they guide sentient beings.
—Buddha Shakyamuni
Forwarded from No Beginning
When Marpa, the great Tibetan meditation master and teacher of Milarepa, lost his son he wept bitterly. One of his pupils came up to him and asked: ‘Master, why are you weeping? You teach us that death is an illusion.’
And Marpa said: ‘Death is an illusion. And the death of a child is an even greater illusion.’ But what Marpa was able to show his disciple was that while he could understand the truth about the conditioned nature of everything and the emptiness of forms, he could still be a human being. He could feel what he was feeling; he could open to his grief. He could be completely present to feel that loss. And he could weep openly.
There is nothing incongruous about feeling our feelings, touching our pain, and, at the same time understanding the truth of the way things are. Pain is pain; grief is grief; loss is loss — we can accept those things. Suffering is what we add onto them when we push away.
—Ajahn Medhanandi
And Marpa said: ‘Death is an illusion. And the death of a child is an even greater illusion.’ But what Marpa was able to show his disciple was that while he could understand the truth about the conditioned nature of everything and the emptiness of forms, he could still be a human being. He could feel what he was feeling; he could open to his grief. He could be completely present to feel that loss. And he could weep openly.
There is nothing incongruous about feeling our feelings, touching our pain, and, at the same time understanding the truth of the way things are. Pain is pain; grief is grief; loss is loss — we can accept those things. Suffering is what we add onto them when we push away.
—Ajahn Medhanandi
Forwarded from No Beginning
In fact, essential reality (dharmata) transcends all conceptual fabrications, & the Buddha taught this to his disciples very clearly.
In this way the Buddha taught the path that dissolves all conceptual fabrications and thereby leads to the peace that is free from samsara's suffering.
Suffering comes from taking things to be real—from taking friends & enemies to be real, from taking birth and death to be real, from taking clean & dirty to be real, & from taking happiness & pain in general to be real.
The Buddha taught that the true nature of reality actually transcends all these concepts...& he also taught us how to realize this.
Since putting the Buddha's teachings into practice leads to the complete transcendence of suffering & the perfect awakening of the omniscient enlightened mind, then these teachings are the greatest words ever spoken, and the Buddha himself is the supreme of all who speak.
For these reasons, the Buddha is worthy of our respect & our prostration.
—Khenchen Tsultrim Gyamtso
In this way the Buddha taught the path that dissolves all conceptual fabrications and thereby leads to the peace that is free from samsara's suffering.
Suffering comes from taking things to be real—from taking friends & enemies to be real, from taking birth and death to be real, from taking clean & dirty to be real, & from taking happiness & pain in general to be real.
The Buddha taught that the true nature of reality actually transcends all these concepts...& he also taught us how to realize this.
Since putting the Buddha's teachings into practice leads to the complete transcendence of suffering & the perfect awakening of the omniscient enlightened mind, then these teachings are the greatest words ever spoken, and the Buddha himself is the supreme of all who speak.
For these reasons, the Buddha is worthy of our respect & our prostration.
—Khenchen Tsultrim Gyamtso