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A meditation teacher is part of an emergency rescue operation, like when police, paramedics, and rescue workers go in with sirens blaring, red and blue lights flashing, helicopters whirling overhead with search lights - to help people drowning in danger and distress. - Lama Zopa
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There are so many (far too many) incidents where adults are hitting other adults on planes, at sporting events, in malls, at stores. We are a strange species on this planet. In all honesty, I'm more and more comfortable staying away for crowded places, not frightened, but just can't quite appreciate many humans. So when I recently came across this insight from Buddhist author and psychologist Jack Kornfield, PhD, it caught my attention and has given me something to reflect on. Here's his take:
“Some days, I find it a terrible thing to go to the supermarket. I’ll see a two-year-old boy walking alongside his mother or father, and the boy accidentally knocks something over. Immediately the parent turns back, smacks the kid, and yells, “Don’t you dare do that!” And the poor toddler is shaken up and doesn’t understand. “What do they want from me?” he wonders. “I’m just learning to walk. It was an accident.” Right then, this child learns that he’s bad, and he also learns that if you don’t like what happens, you hit somebody else."
“Some days, I find it a terrible thing to go to the supermarket. I’ll see a two-year-old boy walking alongside his mother or father, and the boy accidentally knocks something over. Immediately the parent turns back, smacks the kid, and yells, “Don’t you dare do that!” And the poor toddler is shaken up and doesn’t understand. “What do they want from me?” he wonders. “I’m just learning to walk. It was an accident.” Right then, this child learns that he’s bad, and he also learns that if you don’t like what happens, you hit somebody else."
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Meditation is simply building up good habits of the mind. - Thubten Chodron
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When the mind is harmonized through mantra, a peaceful meditation can easily proceed and endure. - David Frawley
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Because the bamboo plant can survive harsh winters, blistering summers and fierce storms it is an important symbol of enlightenment in Buddhism. Like the bamboo, enlightenment requires persistence, strength, flexibility and adaptability. The presence of bamboo also creates a sense of quiet and peace while providing shelter for human and other beings. It is especially venerated in China, Korea and Japan where the relationship between Buddhism and Bamboo is tightly linked.
For example, many Buddhist temples grow and nurture the plant on their properties. In addition, some temples include the word ‘bamboo’ in their names. Various bamboo species are named after the Buddha such as “Buddha Belly Bamboo”, “Mercy Buddha Bamboo”, and “Arhat Bamboo.” Buddhism has also inspired various wisdom statements around the bamboo plant –
Bend but don’t break. Be flexible yet firmly rooted.
You can lean on a bamboo stick but not on a rope.
Like bamboo, be resilient and bounce back.
The higher the bamboo, the more it bends.
Commit to continuous growth.
For example, many Buddhist temples grow and nurture the plant on their properties. In addition, some temples include the word ‘bamboo’ in their names. Various bamboo species are named after the Buddha such as “Buddha Belly Bamboo”, “Mercy Buddha Bamboo”, and “Arhat Bamboo.” Buddhism has also inspired various wisdom statements around the bamboo plant –
Bend but don’t break. Be flexible yet firmly rooted.
You can lean on a bamboo stick but not on a rope.
Like bamboo, be resilient and bounce back.
The higher the bamboo, the more it bends.
Commit to continuous growth.
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Because there is a lack of contemplation of our inner self and our surrounding, we create a lot of unpleasantness and problems. - Hsing Yun
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Whenever you begin to feel irritated, frustrated or angry, that is the moment to practice the vow of silence. Do not permit your tongue to riot. Silence is the best course of action when your temper flares. Words once spoken cannot be retrieved much like an arrow released from a bow. The popular children's chant - sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me - is false. A more accurate rendition would be - sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can break my heart. Discipline yourself to practice the vow of silence at every moment of indignation, impatience and annoyance.
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We prefer the pain of the known to the pain of the unknown. That’s the difficulty with habituation—even if it is painful, it is comfortable. - Martine Batchelor
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When you are practicing a pose in yoga, can you find the delicate balance between taking the pose to its maximum extent, and taking it beyond that point so that there is too much effort creating wrong tension in the body. - BKS Iyengar
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The world needs another Buddha. You qualify. Here are three simple, straightforward steps for becoming a Buddha.
1. Accept the truth that you have Buddha nature. You are not a sinner in need of salvation but a budding Buddha.
2. Cultivate and grow your inner Buddha. This means engaging in meditation - alone and with a group of spiritual friends. It means reading, studying and learning from the masters. Finally, it means acting like a Buddha by exhibiting awareness, kindness, compassion and sharing wisdom with others.
3. Manifest, fully, your Buddha nature. Become like a mountain. No matter how the mountain is treated it remains. Nature unleashes fury upon mountains - rains, floods, fires. Human's mistreat mountains - they tramp on them, defecate on them, exploit them. Through it all the mountain remains.
Finally, continue to repeat steps one and two until they are no longer necessary and your response to everyone and everything around you is like a mountain: solid, strong, stable.
1. Accept the truth that you have Buddha nature. You are not a sinner in need of salvation but a budding Buddha.
2. Cultivate and grow your inner Buddha. This means engaging in meditation - alone and with a group of spiritual friends. It means reading, studying and learning from the masters. Finally, it means acting like a Buddha by exhibiting awareness, kindness, compassion and sharing wisdom with others.
3. Manifest, fully, your Buddha nature. Become like a mountain. No matter how the mountain is treated it remains. Nature unleashes fury upon mountains - rains, floods, fires. Human's mistreat mountains - they tramp on them, defecate on them, exploit them. Through it all the mountain remains.
Finally, continue to repeat steps one and two until they are no longer necessary and your response to everyone and everything around you is like a mountain: solid, strong, stable.