True mind...

Photo credit: www.layoutsparks.com

"Subhuti asked the Buddha: "The highest, most awakened mind that you have attained: is that mind the unattainable?" "Yes, Subhuti. With regard to that highest and most awakened mind, I have not attained anything. That mind is everywhere equally.
It cannot be attained or grasped, but it can be realized. It is realized through the practice of all good actions when they are done in the spirit of no self and no object of self."”

Prajnaparamita

Supplication...

Grant your blessings so that my mind
may be one with the Dharma.

Grant your blessings so that Dharma
may progress along the path.

Grant your blessings so that the path
may clarify confusion.

Grant your blessings so that
confusion may dawn as wisdom.

GAMPOPA

On Compassion...

How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life, you will have been all of these.

George Washington Carver

On Joy....

“Then what is the relationship between something that you do and the state of joy? You will enjoy any activity in which you are fully present, any activity that is not just a means to an end. It isn’t the action you perform that you really enjoy, but the deep sense of aliveness that flows into”

Eckhart Tolle

Five...

“Cut through five, let go of five, & develop five about all.
A monk gone past five attachments is said to have crossed the flood.
Practice jhana, monk, and don't be heedless.
Don't take your mind roaming in sensual strands.
Don't swallow--heedless-- the ball of iron aflame.
Don't burn & complain: 'This is pain.'”

Dhammpada

(translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.)

Advice...

Credit: Pexels

“Keep away from people who try to 

belittle your ambitions. Small people 

always do that, but the really great make 

you feel that you, too, can become great.” 

Mark Twain

Dhammapada...

“Whoever, with a rod, harasses an innocent man, unarmed, quickly falls into any of ten things: harsh pains, devastation, a broken body, grave illness, mental derangement, trouble with the government, violent slander, relatives lost, property dissolved, houses burned down. At the break-up of the body this one with no disconcernment, reappears in hell.”

Dhammapada, 

translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

10 September 2014 - SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 2

It is with real joy that I can inform you that premier airline Bangkok Airways have approved a special award of 10 free air tickets for teaching staff and English students to be selected shortly for a flight to and from Suvarnabhumi airport. The purpose of the trip is to recognize the top English students at Bangkeangwittaya school and to also educate them on an important part of the Thai economy: air travel, tourism and the role of English in a broader international economy.

A special coverage of this first ever event will be published in conjunction with the trip later this month.

As a regular delighted passenger of Bangkok Airways I sincerely wish to express my admiration for this noble gesture of helping an important school in the area celebrate success and hard work. In particular I thank Khun Voratouch, Business Development Manager of Bangkok Airways for his interest in the school and in this project. Pictures and commentary to follow.

More pearls of wisdom...

"Every religion on the planet, and there are so many more than you are even aware of, has the potential of absolute thriving. But when you think that you must prove that you have the only one that is right—and you use your condemnation to push against the others—your condemnation separates you from your own Connection that, before your condemnation, you were finding in your own religion."

Abraham (Esther Hicks)

Compassion in Action...

5 September 2014 - SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

This has been an extremely fortunate period. A wonderful and kind US friend (who requested to remain anonymous) has provided the largest private contribution thus far to help to support students at Bankeangwittaya school, Sukhotai. I will refer to him as “Skipper” (English Expression for Ship Captain or a leader)

In particular he has provided the school with 24 one year scholarships for talented students whose families face severe economic hardships in order to allow them to complete their high school education. Please see also Project Pramudita tab.

In addition he has made a very generous contribution to the school orchestra which allows students with a love of music to cultivate their passion. The school band has more students than instruments and this will allow Orchestra Director Suranit to expand his ability to accommodate more students and improve the existing equipment.

And last but not least a further contribution has been made to support English learning activities for the next semester. Photographs related to all of the resulting school activities will be posted.

We are all, staff and our supporters, deeply grateful for your faith in all of us and for your altruism that has always been your hallmark. This impact will be truly extraordinary. The school has extended an invitation for you to visit and we hope that this may happen at your convenience. In the meantime we respect your wish for privacy and assure you that you are very much in our hearts.

We dedicate all these merits to the complete fulfillment of all your wishes. May the school’s activities flourish. May all students realize their dreams and their fullest potential.

Thank you dear Skipper!

SARVA MANGALAM!

Flashes

Myriad images:

faces, moments, feelings rise and die,

Landscapes, colours, pictures fleeting by.

Valley of the mind, meadow of the heart,

Endless waves in motion, the senses part

All that shimmers is but a dream,

From which we've yet to wean

Retreating from this endless show

Is the only place there is to know

It is here, it is now, it is clear

The freedom path to which to steer

Therein all is peace, bliss, complete

No shifting sands beneath our feet

Impossible to grasp, recount or define

is the true being of our Eternal Mind.

Somwang (Book of Poems)

Copyright

An open mind...

"If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything;

 it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are 

many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few."

SUZUKI-ROSHI

Pearls of wisdom...

Photo uncredited

A dream is a manifestation. Just like what you live is a manifestation,

 but a dream is quicker and easier to achieve, 

and not so troublesome if there's something you don't want.

Abraham

Esther Hicks