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Via Daily Dharma: Listen Closely

A useful technique for developing inner silence is recognizing the space between thoughts. Attend closely with sharp mindfulness when one thought ends and before another begins—there! That is silent awareness!

—Ajahn Brahm, “Stepping towards Enlightenment”

Via Daily Dharma: The Paradox of Practice

The weird thing is that the only way one really gets any of the most important benefits of meditation practice is by giving up on the notion that there are any benefits to meditation practice.

—Brad Warner, “Goalless Practice”

Via Daily Dharma: Wise Mindfulness

In the Buddhist path to nibbana, mindfulness is not about becoming a happier, better person. It’s not about “happiness” at all—at least not if “happiness” is understood as the fulfillment of desire. Mindfulness is, rather, about wisdom rooted in insight, renunciation, and unqualified self-surrender.

—C.W. Huntington, Jr., “Are You Looking to Buddhism When You Should Be Looking to Therapy?”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - March 11, 2018

Our human forms are composed of and surrounded by an infinite myriad of forms, all in constant motion, from the subatomic to the cosmic in scale. This is the lila, the enchanted dance of existence, the divine interplay of consciousness and energy. Amid this divine play we seek fulfillment, perfection, flow, freedom, enlightenment, Oneness.

The dominant quality of form is change, because all forms are in time. That’s another way of saying we don’t know what will happen from one instant to the next. Or, as one of my guru brothers are fond of saying, “Don’t be surprised to be surprised!” For instance, I didn’t anticipate I’d be living in a wheelchair today. The way to live with change is to be completely present in the moment (remember, Be Here Now).

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Find Your Refuge

A spiritual practice can be an island, a place where opening to uncertainty and doubt can lead us to a refuge of truth.

—Joan Halifax, “The Lucky Dark”

Via Daily Dharma: Relax and Let Be

When the thinking mind takes a break for even a few seconds, a kind of relaxed awareness replaces the usual stream of thoughts. We need to encourage this and not fill this space with anything else; just let it be.

—Tsultrim Allione, “Feeding Your Demons”

Via Daily Dharma: Embrace Impermanence with Mindfulness

When the winds of change reach hurricane force, our inner refuge of mindfulness, concentration, and discernment is the only thing that will keep us from getting blown away.

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “What We’ve Been Practicing For”

Via Daily Dharma: Creating Your Karma

With your reaction to each experience, you create the karma that will color your future. It is up to you whether this new karma is positive or negative. You simply have to pay attention at the right moment.

—Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche, “The Power of the Third Moment”

Olympic Ice Skater Adam Rippon on Being a Hero for LGBTQ Youth

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - March 7, 2018

Over the years we develop strong habits of perceiving the universe, and we come to be very secure within these habits. We selectively perceive our environment in ways that reinforce them. This collection of habits is what we call ego. But meditation breaks the ego down. As we begin to see through it we can become confused as to what reality is. What once seemed absolute now begins to seem relative.

When this happens, some people get confused; others fear they may be going insane. The best strategy for dealing with this disorientation is to note it and let it be. The path to freedom is through detachment from your old habits of ego.

Slowly you will arrive at a new and more profound integration of your experience in a more evolved structure of the universe. That is, you will flow beyond the boundaries of your ego until ultimately you merge into the universe. Until then you must break through old structures, develop broader structures, break through those, and develop still broader structures.

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Independence Is No Longer an Option

In an increasingly interconnected and transparent world, no form of Buddhism can afford to be an island.

—Stephen Batchelor, “Lessons of History”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - March 4, 2018

People often say to me, “I would really like to do sadhana, but…I’m a teacher now. If I could only finish being a teacher, I could do sadhana.”

BALONEY! You’re either doing sadhana or you’re not. Sadhana is a full time thing that you do because there is nothing else to do. You do it whether you’re teaching, or sitting in a monastery…whether you’re lying in bed, going to the toilet, making love, eating…EVERYTHING is part of waking up. Everything is done without attachment. Another way of saying it is: It’s all done as consecrated action….it’s all dedicated…it’s all sacred.

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: The Mind Can, Should, and Must Be Fixed

From a Buddhist perspective, even if all material problems could be solved, suffering would remain. The world is unfixable, said Buddha. Happiness depends, ultimately, only on the mind; it is the mind that can, should, and must be fixed.

—Linda Heuman, “Who’s Got Good News?”

Via 12 of 22 Daily Dharma: Right Concentration

Concentration is “right” when it demonstrates the feasibility of training the mind, when it supports the investigation of impermanence, when it erodes selfish preoccupation, and when it reveals the benefits of surrender. It is not “right” when it is seen as an end in itself and when it is used to avoid painful truths.

—Mark Epstein, “Meditation’s Secret Ingredient”

Via Daily Dharma: Diligence Begets Discovery

All the qualities that the great masters found, we can attain as well. It all depends on our own efforts, our diligence, our deeper knowing, and our correct motivation.

—Ogyen Trinley Dorje, “Calm Abiding”

Via Daily Dharma: Anything but Static

The more I sit, the more I simply see things. I see that life, my life, is an ongoing process.

—Connie Hillard, “Making Time”

Via Daily Dharma: Accepting Groundlessness

Our lives are gradual paths of groundlessness. When we can accept that people and things are always shifting and changing, our hearts can open.

—Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, “The Hunger for Home”

Via Daily Dharma: Live Life in Full

Death is all around us, everywhere. For the most part—following the lead of our culture—we avoid it. But if we do open our hearts to this fact of our lives, it can be a great help to us. It can teach us how to live.

—Larry Rosenberg, “Only the Practice of Dharma Can Help Us at the Time of Death”