A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: The Best There Is Inbox
In
order to learn to be truly content here, you have to practice being
truly content here. And that means giving up any notion that there’s
something better just around the next bend.
—Brad Warner, “Goalless Practice”
—Brad Warner, “Goalless Practice”
Friday, March 1, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Freedom from the Mundane
Meditation helps us break free of habitual patterns and unleash the original and creative power of thought.
—Martine Batchelor, “Meditation, Mental Habits, and Creative Imagination”
—Martine Batchelor, “Meditation, Mental Habits, and Creative Imagination”
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: For All Beings
To
try earnestly to develop positive qualities through meditation is the
best activity you can do for yourself; it is also the best you can do
for others.
—An Interview with Matthieu Ricard, “Why Meditate?”
—An Interview with Matthieu Ricard, “Why Meditate?”
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - February 27, 2019 💌
Bearing the unbearable is the deepest root of compassion in the world. When you bear what you think you cannot bear, who you think you are dies. You become compassion. You don't have compassion - you are compassion. True compassion goes beyond empathy to being with the experience of another. You become an instrument of compassion.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: Beyond Bliss
There may be bliss with awakening, because it is actually a by-product of awakening, but it is not awakening itself. As long as we are chasing the byproducts of awakening, we will miss the real thing.
—Adyashanti, “Bliss is a By-Product”
—Adyashanti, “Bliss is a By-Product”
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Start Right Here
Without cultivating love for ourselves, regardless of how much discipline we have, regardless of how serious we are about practice, we will still stay stuck in the subtle mercilessness of the mind, listening to the voice that tells us we are basically and fundamentally unworthy.
—Ezra Bayda, “The Three Things We Fear Most”
—Ezra Bayda, “The Three Things We Fear Most”
Monday, February 25, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: The Power of Our Practice
The
practice of each one of us, however humble and immature it may be, is
seen as something powerful and indispensable for the entire community of
awakened ones.
—Kazuaki Tanahashi, “Fundamentals of Dogen’s Thoughts”
—Kazuaki Tanahashi, “Fundamentals of Dogen’s Thoughts”
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - February 24, 2019 💌
I've often been struck by the poignancy of meeting old people of great wealth and power, and seeing how frightened they are of losing what they have. The greater their clinging, the greater their pain, realizing how little use the accoutrements of power and worldly position are in helping them age with wisdom and peace. In truth, the Ego's attachment to power of any kind is linked inextricably to the fear of losing that power, and thus becomes a source of suffering.
There is a kind of power that does not give rise to fear, however. It is spiritual power, the power of the enlightened mind. As we begin to emphasize Soul power over worldly power, our perception of the alterations brought on by aging changes proportionately.
There is a kind of power that does not give rise to fear, however. It is spiritual power, the power of the enlightened mind. As we begin to emphasize Soul power over worldly power, our perception of the alterations brought on by aging changes proportionately.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: The Virtuous Circle of Patience
The wonderful thing about patience, unlike commodities, is the more we use it, the more we offer it, the more we have.
—Allan Lokos, “Allan Lokos: Patience With Self”
—Allan Lokos, “Allan Lokos: Patience With Self”
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Finding Freedom
Learning to let thinking come and go, we can eventually understand a thought as a thought and a word as a word, and with this understanding we can find a measure of freedom from thoughts and words.
—Norman Fischer, “Beyond Language”
—Norman Fischer, “Beyond Language”
Friday, February 22, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Bridging the Divide
The
reason that remarkable stories of forgiveness take our breath away is
that we instantly feel the liberation in the lifting of boundaries, the
end of separation, of “inside” and “outside.”
— Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker, “The Seventh Zen Precept”
— Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker, “The Seventh Zen Precept”
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