God is not an external deity but
the inner intelligence within you that
mirrors the wisdom of the cosmos.
- Deepak Chopra
the inner intelligence within you that
mirrors the wisdom of the cosmos.
- Deepak Chopra
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All the great Buddhist teachers will agree that our motivation is not only to reduce our suffering, but to eliminate suffering. We must go beyond the idea that we can simply adjust the dials. - Tashi Nyima
Giving (whether cash or physical help) to individuals—human and animal—is the most satisfying and heartwarming experience, because afterward I see a life made a tiny bit happier. I think Bill Gates understands this secret. His money goes to improving individual lives, not to building monuments. Just to remind myself again of the secret: Bricks and mortar crumble; give support to the people, and they will build the supports they need. Caregivers can create a hospital in a tent. It’s not zoos that are needed to protect animals who are suffering from poachers and overcrowding, but guards who will protect their habitats so the animals can stay at home and be wild. - Bokara Legendre, Buddhist philanthropist
We often say that a Buddhist altar is a mirror. It is not a place where we come to worship and external separate entity from whom we ask blessings. Similarly, the teachers and masters are reflections of our own fully manifest Buddha nature. - Tashi Nyima
There's a common phrase: 'perception is reality'. Not true though we almost always act is if our perception is true, real and accurate. Here's some writing I've been reflecting upon over the last few days concerning the instability of human perception. This insight comes from Tibetan Buddhist monk Tashi Nyima who says that we bring "habitual" perceptions "from our own experiences, some from our families, from general culture, and from the media. therefore, we are predisposed to see things in a particular ways. For example, there are many people who have never met a single Muslim, yet have very strong opinions about them."
It seems to me that it is an exercise in skill and maturity to question our perceptions about all sorts of things, events, and people. That can lead to a more open, spacious, tolerant way of living. Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, a Tibetan monk and practitioner of traditional Tibetan medicine who earned renown working for some 20 years as the personal physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, has died in Dharamsala, northern India, at the age of 93.
Dr. Yeshi Dhonden was born on 15 May 1927 to a poor family in the village of Namro in central Tibet’s Lhoga District. He entered monastic life when he was six years old and, from the age of 11, studied at Chagpori Tibetan Medical Institute in Lhasa under Khyenrab Norbu, passing his exams with distinction at the age of 20. In 1959, Yeshi Dhonden accompanied the Dalai Lama when he fled the Chinese invasion of Tibet. In India, Yeshi Dhonden was instrumental in the founding of the Tibetan Medical and Astro-science Institute (Men-Tsee Khang) in Dharamsala. From 1961–80, Yeshi Dhonden served as personal physician to the Dalai Lama, and also held office as both director and principal of Men-Tsee Khang until 1979. He continued to practice medicine from a small private clinic he established in Dharamsala in 1969 until his retirement earlier this year. Traditional Tibetan medicine employs a complex approach to diagnosing illness, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and treating ailments through the application of behavioral and dietary modification, naturally sourced medicines composed of herbs and minerals, and physical therapies such as acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, and blood-letting. It also emphasizes Buddhist spiritual practices, including meditation and prayer. During his years as a physician, Dhonden relied primarily on his own senses to ascertain the health of vital organs and diagnose his patients’ ailments. “I don’t go for tests like X-ray and all. I trust myself. I just test the pulse and the urine,” he once explained, noting that the color, bubble formations, sediment, and smell of urine samples were all taken into account when making a diagnosis. (source: www.buddhistdoor. net) Blaming others is not only dishonest, it turns us into permanent victims. if others are the cause of our suffering, then it really does not matter what we do. If this is our view, we have lost all control and given it to others. - Tashi Nyima
It is easier to do the right thing when we know what the right thing to do is. We can't rely on instinct to find the Way. We need guidance. - Han Shan
We must recognize that if we place our hopes, desires and aspirations for happiness on the body, we will be frustrated and defeated. The mortality rate is one hundred percent; it does not end well for anyone. - Tashi Nyima
A core teaching of the Buddha is impermanence, meaning that everything about you and your life is constantly changing. If if you're in a tough, challenging place, that's good news because impermanence can remind you to hang in there and wait for it to shift. If you're in a great place, that's good news because impermanence can remind you to enjoy it for all it's worth. Here's how author Sylvia Boorstein describes impermanence:
"Everything has a life cycle, with beauty in every part of it, and the passing of any part of it evokes a response, either of relief or nostalgia. Eighteen-year-olds are usually glad to be finished with adolescence and off to whatever they’ll do next. A woman in a class I was teaching recently said her daughter, at that point anticipating her marriage a week hence, was sad that all the excitement of planning and imagining would soon be over forever. An elderly man who once took a seniors’ yoga class I was teaching thanked me after the class but said he would not be coming back. 'It is too hard for me,” he said. “But I would like to tell you that I was a member of the 1918 Olympic rowing team.' " |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
September 2024
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