Daily Buddhist Verses

• An Eternal Now

  6 Jul 07, 16:26

  "The Buddha’s message was simple but profound. Neither a life of self-indulgence nor one of self-mortification can bring happiness. Only a middle path, avoiding these two extremes, leads to peace of mind, wisdom, & complete liberation from the dissatisfactions of life.”
  
  ~Bhante Gunaratana
  Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness
• An Eternal Now

  6 Jul 07, 20:15

  Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate your self.
  
  Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest.
  
  - Dogen
• An Eternal Now

  8 Jul 07, 21:06

  This is by our forummer, Longchen:
  
  Dear Friends,
  
  If you want to experience non-duality, you must completely let go. That means you must not argue with yourself and you must not run away from any sensation, thoughts or feeling that is being felt at that moment.
  
  You must not give yourself excuse to be not what you are at that moment. You must not reason yourself away from the situation that you are in at that particular moment.
  
  If this persist long enough, something 'magical' will be percieved...
• cycle

  9 Jul 07, 14:04

  "'Stress should be known. The cause by which stress comes into play should be known. The diversity in stress should be known. The result of stress should be known. The cessation of stress should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of stress should be known.' Thus it has been said. Why was it said?
  
  "Birth is stress, aging is stress, death is stress; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stress; association with what is not loved is stress, separation from what is loved is stress, not getting what is wanted is stress. In short, the five aggregates for sustenance are stress.
  
  "And what is the cause by which stress comes into play? Craving is the cause by which stress comes into play.
  "And what is the diversity in stress? There is major stress and minor, slowly fading and quickly fading. This is called diversity in stress.
  "And what is the result of stress? There are some cases in which a person overcome with pain, his mind exhausted, grieves, mourns, laments, beats his br east, & becomes bewildered. Or one overcome with pain, his mind exhausted, comes to search outside, 'Who knows a way or two to stop this pain?' I tell you, monks, that stress results in either bewildment or in search.
  
  "And what is the cessation of stress? From the cessation of craving is the cessation of stress; and just this noble eightfold path is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. "
  
  ~AN VI.63
  
• cycle

  10 Jul 07, 14:01

  The Mangala Sutta states, "Support for one's parents, assistance to one's wife and children, consistency in one's work: This is the highest protection." When you have a family, do not forget your responsibility, then happiness will follow you. When you work in a society, do not forget to be a upright person, then you will be accepted by the society. Remember not to give up on yourself, not to blame life and not to waste your resources. Everyone has his own stories and his own paths. Whatever it is, do not blame life for giving us a heavy burden. Being strong is an encouragement to oneself.
  
  ~ Ven. Shi Fazhao, Vaidurya Vol.44
• An Eternal Now

  11 Jul 07, 12:00

  Questioner: In certain situations in life I feel blocked by a fear which prevents me from acting. How can I be free from this obstacle?
  
  Jean Klein: First free yourself from the word, the concept, 'fear'. It is loaded with memory. Face only the perception. Accept the sensation
  completely. When the personality who judges and controls is completely absent, when there is no longer a psychological relationship with the
  sensation, it is really welcomed and unfolds. Only in welcoming without a welcomer can there be real transformation.
  
  We are in essence one with all existence; when we truly observe ourselves there is ultimately no observer, only observation - awareness.
• An Eternal Now

  11 Jul 07, 12:41

  The world exists only when we think about it; creation stories are for children. In reality the world is created every moment. ~ Jean Klein
• cycle

  11 Jul 07, 13:01

  As if struck by a sword,
  as if his head were on fire,
  a monk should live the wandering life
  - mindful -
  for the abandoning of sensual passion.
  
  ~ Thag I.39
• cycle

  12 Jul 07, 13:22

  For problems with matters of the hearts, deal it with reasoning; for family problems, deal it with ethnical principles; and even if it is a huge problematic incident, we should use time to dissolve and dilute it. If it is really a unfortunate case of no way out, then one has to face it, accept it: to be able to face and accept the problem, one is already solving the problem. Since it is being solved, then there is no need to worry about it anymore; it's time to let it go.
  
  Do not keep on thinking: "How?" When its time to sleep, sleep; time to eat, eat. Live life as it is.
  
  ~ Zen Master Shen Yan, Ru he du guo ku ri zi.
• cycle

  12 Jul 07, 13:40

  Three types of discernment:
  discernment that comes from listening (sutamaya-panna),
  discernment that comes from thinking (cintamaya-panna),
  discernment that comes from developing (bhavanamaya-panna).
  
  ~ DN 33
• cycle

  13 Jul 07, 09:29

  When one's awareness is dedicated
  to renunciation, seclusion,
  non-afflictiveness, the ending of clinging,
  the ending of craving, & non-deludedness,
  seeing the arising of the sense media,
  the mind is rightly released.
  For that monk, rightly released,
  his heart at peace,
  there's nothing to be done,
  nothing to add
  to what's done.
  As a single mass of rock
  isn't moved by the wind,
  even so all forms, flavours, sounds,
  aromas, contacts, ideas desirable & not,
  have no effect on one who is Such.
  The mind
  ----still, totally released----
  focuses on
  their passing away.
  
  ~ AN VI.55
  
  
• cycle

  13 Jul 07, 09:58

  Then Ven. Migajala went to the Blessed One and on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: "'A person living alone" thus it is said. To what extent, lord, is one a person living alone, and to what extent is one a person living with a companion?"
  
  " Migajala, there are forms cognizable via the eye---agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing---and a monk relishes them, welcomes them, & remains fastened to them. As he relishes them, weclomes them, & remains fastened to them, delight arises. There being delight, he is impassioned. Being impassioned, he is fettered. A monk joined with the fetter of delight is said to be living with a companion.
  [Similarly with sounds, aromas, flavors, tactile sensations, & ideas.]
  
  "A person living in this way---even if he frequents isolated forest & wilderness dwellings, with an unpopulated atmosphere, lying far from humanity, appropriate for seclusion---is still said to be living with a companion. Why is that? Because craving is his companion, and it has not been abandoned by hm. Thus he is said to be living with a companion.
  
  "Now, there are forms cognizable via the eye---agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing---and a monk does not relish them, welcome them, or remain fastened to them, delight ceases. There being no delight, he is not impassioned. Being not impassioned, he is not fettered. A monk disjoined from the fetter of delight is said to be living alone.
  [Similarly with sounds, aromas, flavors,etc]
  
  "A person living in this way---even if he lives near a village, associating with monks & nuns, with male & female lay followers, with kings & royal ministers, with sectarians & their disciples---is still said to be living alone. A person living alone is said to be a monk. Why is that? Because craving is his companion, and it has been abandoned by him.Thus he is said to be living alone."
  
  ~ SN XXXV.63
• cycle

  18 Jul 07, 08:22

  There are three categories of patience. First, tolerate the injuries of physical and verbal abuse. Patience is a virtue. With patience, we have a quiet and pure mind: thus, it would be easier to attain deep concentration and achievement. When we successfully practice patience, we will gain the greatest good fortune. Second, we would do well to be patient with variations of the natural elements, hot and cold, summer and winter, hunger and thrist, as well as natural disasters.
  
  Third, be patient in the arduous course of our practice. Before attaining the joy of cultivation and before our cultivation become strong, we will encounter many obstacles. However, once we get through this phase, we attain happiness. Why? Because we are on he right path. This is like travelling on an expressway. Before we can get on it, we keep circling and driving around trying to find the entrance. This is very frustrating because there are many cars in our way and we cannot drive fast. We have to remain patient. Once we get on the expressway, it is much more pleasant because traffic moves smoother and faster with no hindrances. Our practice of Buddhism is like this.
  
  ~ Ven. Master Chin Kung, Buddhism:[i] The Wisdom of Compassion and [/i]Awakening
• cycle

  18 Jul 07, 08:24

  All natural laws of the universe attribute their success to patience.
  
  ~ Diamond Sutra
• cycle

  19 Jul 07, 07:47

  When we are able to believe then our conditions have matured. There is a saying "the Buddha is unable to help those who have no affinity with him". What is affinity? It is being able to believe. Even a Buddha cannot help someone whose conditions have not yet matured. However, when they have matured, the person will have belief. Then the Buddha can help. Religions are different from Buddhism in that once the believers have faith, they are saved, whereas, the belief in Buddhism, means that we believe in the benefits of Buddhism and accept one of the many methods.
  
  ~ Ven. Master Chin Kung, Buddhism: The Wisdom of Compassion and Awakening
• cycle

  20 Jul 07, 08:00

  We want to learn the Buddhadharma, want to receive the real benefits from it, then we must learn to have faith, to strengthen faith. If we cannot arouse in us the pure belief in the Triple Gems, then we do not have affinity with Buddhadharma.
  " The Dharma is most profound, without belief how to understand? "
  
  ~ Ven.Ying Sun, Xue Fo San Yao
• cycle

  20 Jul 07, 08:12

  There are different conditions and reasons for wanting to learn the Buddhadharma, some are due to faith[belief], some due to compassion, some due to wisdom. However, to really enter the doors of the Buddhadharma, ' belief' is the most important. In the complete process of Dharma learning( belief, understand, practise, attain), belief is also the foremost, top of the list.
  
  ~ Ven.Ying Sun, Xue Fo San Yao
• An Eternal Now

  21 Jul 07, 01:28

  Mindfulness & Alertness
  
  "And how is a monk possessed of mindfulness and alertness? When going forward and returning, he acts with alertness. When looking toward and looking away... when bending and extending his limbs... when carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe, and his bowl... when eating, drinking, chewing, and tasting... when urinating and defecating... when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and remaining silent, he acts with alertness. This is how a monk is possessed of mindfulness and alertness.
  
  ~ The Buddha
  
  http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.11.0.than.html
• An Eternal Now

  21 Jul 07, 01:32

  The Buddha's answer to the monk:
  
  ..."'Your question should not be phrased in this way: Where do these four great elements — the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, and the wind property — cease without remainder? Instead, it should be phrased like this:
  
  Where do water, earth, fire, & wind
  have no footing?
  Where are long & short,
  coarse & fine,
  fair & foul,
  name & form
  brought to an end?
  
  "'And the answer to that is:
  
  Consciousness without feature,1
  without end,
  luminous all around:
  Here water, earth, fire, & wind
  have no footing.
  Here long & short
  coarse & fine
  fair & foul
  name & form
  are all brought to an end.
  With the cessation of [the activity of] consciousness
  each is here brought to an end.'"
  
  http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.11.0.than.html#t-1
• Shipo_kyo

  22 Jul 07, 04:41

  Requesting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts
  
  MAYAM BHANTE TISARANENA
  SAHA PANCASILANI YACAMA
  DUTIYAMPI MAYAM BHANTE
  TAITIYAMPI MAYAM BHANTE
  
  The Preliminary Passage For Revering
  
  NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO
  ARAHATO SAMMASAMBUDDHASSA X 03
  
  The Three Refuges
  
  BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  DUTIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  DUTIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  DUTIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  TATIAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  TATIAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  TATIAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
  
  Requesting the Protection
  
  VIPATTIPATIBAHAYA
  SABBASAMPATTISDDHIYA
  SABBADUKKHAVINASYA
  PARITTAM BRUTHA MANGALAM
  VIPATTIPATIBAHAYA
  SABBASAMPATTISDDHIYA
  SABBADUKKHAVINASYA
  PARITTAM BRUTHA MANGALAM
  VIPATTIPATIBAHAYA
  SABBASAMPATTISDDHIYA
  SABBADUKKHAVINASYA
  PARITTAM BRUTHA MANGALAM
  
• cycle

  24 Jul 07, 08:09

  Abandoning divisive speech he abstain from divisive speech. What he has heard here he doesn't tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he doesn't tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconcilling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord.
  
  ~ AN X.99
• cycle

  24 Jul 07, 08:24

  [1] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, unendearing & disagreeable to others, he doesn't say them.
  
  [2] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, unendearing & disagreeable to others, he doesn't say them.
  
  [3] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, but unendearing & disagreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them.
  
  [4] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, but endearing & agreeable to others, he doesn't say them.
  
  [5] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, but endearing & agreeable to others, he doesn't say them.
  
  [6] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, bebeficial, and endearing & agreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them. Why is that? Because the Tathagata has sympathy for living beings.
  
  ~ MN 58
  
• cycle

  25 Jul 07, 07:32

  Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty [i.e., a royal court proceeding], if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, "I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward.
  
  ~ AN X.176
• An Eternal Now

  25 Jul 07, 19:34

  Even if I completely accept that ultimately time is an illusion, what difference is that going to make in my life? I still have to live in a world that is completely dominated by time.
  
  Intellectual agreement is just another belief and won't make much difference to your life. To realize this truth, you need to live it. When every cell of your body is so present that it feels vibrant with life, and when you can feel that life every moment as the joy of Being, then it can be said that you are free of time.
  
  But I still have to pay the bills tomorrow, and I am still going to grow old and die just like everybody else. So how can I ever say that I am free of time?
  
  Tomorrow's bills are not the problem. The dissolution of the physical body is not a problem. Loss of Now is the problem, or rather: the core delusion that turns a mere situation, event, or emotion into a personal problem and into suffering. Loss of Now is loss of Being.
  
  To be free of time is to be free of the psychological need of past for your identity and future for your fulfillment. It represents the most profound transformation of consciousness that you can imagine. In some rare cases, this shift in consciousness happens dramatically and radically, once and for all. When it does, it usually comes about through total surrender in the midst of intense suffering. Most people, however, have to work at it.
  
  When you have had your first few glimpses of the timeless state of consciousness, you begin to move back and 'forth between the dimensions of time and presence. First you become aware of just how rarely your attention is truly in the Now. But to know that you are not present is a great success: that knowing is presence - even if initially it only lasts for a couple of seconds of clock time before it is lost again. Then, with increasing frequency, you choose to have the focus of your consciousness in the present moment rather than in the past or future, and whenever you realize that you had lost the Now, you are able to stay- in it not just for a couple of seconds, but for longer periods as perceived from the external perspective of clock time. So before you are firmly established in the state of presence, which is to say before you are
  fully conscious, you shift back and forth for a while between consciousness and unconsciousness, between the state of presence and the state of mind identification. You lose the Now, and you return to it, again and again. Eventually, presence becomes your predominant state.
  
  For most people, presence is experienced either never at all or only accidentally and briefly on rare occasions without being recognized for what it is. Most humans alternate not between consciousness and unconsciousness but only between different levels of unconsciousness.
  
  ~ "The Power of Now", 4. MIND STRATEGIES FOR AVOIDING THE NOW
• cycle

  26 Jul 07, 15:49

  There was once a man and he had two hundred and fifty heads of cattle. He used to herd his cattle to pastures for feeding. One day a tiger caught and ate of one of his cows. The man thus thought to himself: I've lost one cow, my herd of cattle is not complete anymore. For what do I need these cows?
  So he chased his cattle over a cliff, killing all of them.
  
  ~ A Parable from sutra: Bai Yu Jing.