THE BUDDHA’S ENLlGHTENMENT

Photo: uncredited

Enlightenment for Gautama [the Buddha] felt as though a prison which had confined him for thousands of lifetimes had broken open. Ignorance had been the jailkeeper. Because of ignorance, his mind had been obscured, just like the moon and stars hidden by the storm clouds. Clouded by endless waves of deluded thoughts, the mind had falsely divided reality into subject and object, self and others, existence and non-existence, birth and death, and from these discriminations arose wrong views—the prisons of feelings, craving, grasping, and becoming. The suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death only made the prison walls thicker. The only thing to do was to seize the jailkeeper and see his true face. The jailkeeper was ignorance. . . . Once the jailkeeper was gone, the jail would disappear and never be rebuilt again.

THICH NHAT HANH

Interdependence...

In today’s highly interdependent world, individuals and nations can no longer resolve many of their problems by themselves. We need one another. We must therefore develop a sense of universal responsibility . . . It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members, and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.

HH THE DALAI LAMA

Roots...

“As a tree with strong uninjured roots, though cut down, 

grows up again, so, when deep craving is not rooted out, 

suffering arises again and again.” 

Dhammapada

On devotion...

From the blossoming lotus of devotion, 

at the center of my being,

Rise up, O compassionate master, 

my only refuge!

I am plagued by past actions

 and turbulent emotions:

To protect me in my misfortune

Remain as the jewel-ornament 

on the crown of my head, 

the mandala of great bliss,

Arousing all my mindfulness 

and awareness,

l pray!

Jigme Lingpa

Anger vs Happiness

“For every minute you are angry, 

you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Realization...

                                                  Image credit: www.nisyaspiritualhealer.com

“Just understand that birth-and-death is itself nirvana. There is nothing such as birth and death to be avoided; there is nothing such as nirvana to be sought. Only when you realize this are you free from birth and death.”

Dogen

"Moon in a Dewdrop"

Peace...

“Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. 

Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender 

of  attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.” 

Bhagavad Gita

Joy...

“When a man knows the solitude of silence, 

and feels the joy of quietness, he is then free from fear 

and he feels the joy of the Dharma. ” 

Buddha

ON BODHICITTA...

The Compassionate Heart of the Enlightened Mind

It is the supreme elixir

That overcomes the sovereignty of death.

It is the inexhaustible treasure

That eliminates poverty in the world.

It is the supreme medicine

That quells the world’s disease.

It is the tree that shelters all beings

Wandering and tired on the path
of conditioned existence.

It is the universal bridge

That leads to freedom from
unhappy states of birth.

It is the dawning moon of the mind

That dispels the torment of
disturbing conceptions.

It is the great sun that finally removes

The misty ignorance of the world.

SHANTIDEVA

Tao...

“The Tao does not act

yet it is the root of all action.

The Tao does not move

yet it is the source of all creation.”

Lao Tzu

Blake...

“To see the world in a grain of sand,

and heaven in a wild flower.

To hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

and eternity in an hour. 

We are led to believe a lie,

when we see with, not through, the eye,

which was born in a night, to die in a night,

while the soul slept in beams of light.”

William Blake

Dhammapada Wisdom

 

  “They, the enlightened, intent on jhana, delighting in stilling 

& renunciation, self-awakened & mindful: even the devas view 

them with envy.” 

Dhammapada, 

(translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu).

Mind...

The root of all phenomena is your mind.

If unexamined, it rushes after experiences, 

ingenious in the games of deception.

If you look right into it, it is free of any ground

or origin, In essence free of any coming, 

staying or going.

JAMYANG KHYENTSE CHÖKYI LODRÖ