One should not pry into the faults of others, what they've done and left undone. Consider instead what you yourself have done and left undone. - Dhammapada
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People today do not want to have meritorious achievements. Instead, they become opportunists and try to rely on their good luck to achieve something without hard work.
- Hsing Yun If we continue to think that everything will remain just as it is, then we will be just like rich people still discussing their business projects on their deathbeds! - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Long before the phrase entered our vocabulary, the Buddha stressed the vital importance of spiritual social distancing. He strongly urged us to journey through life with one or two good spiritual companions, people who raise our spiritual vibration. On the flip side, he said if you can't find such people, then walk alone. Here is the Buddha's wisdom on walking and wandering alone if you can't find someone who will support or increase your vibration:
For a sociable person there are allurements; on the heels of allurement, this pain. Seeing allurement's drawback, wander alone like a rhinoceros. Free from longing, finding no pleasure in the world's sport, love, or sensual bliss, abstaining from adornment, speaking the truth, wander alone like a rhinoceros. If you gain a mature companion, a fellow traveler, right-living & wise, overcoming all dangers go with them, gratified, mindful. If you don't gain a mature companion, a fellow traveler, right-living & wise, wander alone like a king renouncing his kingdom, like the elephant in the Matanga wilds, his herd. We praise companionship—yes! Those on a par, or better, should be chosen as friends. If they're not to be found, living faultlessly, wander alone like a rhinoceros. - Khaggavisana Sutta: A Rhinoceros Note that the Buddha dos endorse companionship but it must be the right kind: "those on par or better" than yourself. The most serious form of imbalance, which is characteristic of Western societies, exists as an over-emphasis on activity and striving. A person who grows up in these societies finds that the pattern of attitude and expectation inclines him to focus his attention and energy on outward striving and action rather than on states of passivity or receptiveness.
- Joan Cooper To be a kinder, gentler and more compassionate human, reflect and act on this wisdom from Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. "Recognize when the needs of others are greater than your own. The Sefer Chasidim offer an example: 'A man walking on a narrow road comes across another man carrying a heavy load, walking in the opposite direction. Even if he has arrived first, the man without the load should step onto thee shoulder of the road, even it is is muddy, so that the other man can pass by.' "
Applied to modern living this could mean:
The Buddha encouraged us to think of the good things done for us by our parents, by our teachers, friends, whomever; and to do that intentionally, to cultivate it, rather than just letting it happen accidentally. - Ajahn Sumedho
I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand but because joy is what the Earth gives me daily and I wish to return the gift. - Robin Wall Kimmerer
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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
June 2020
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