31 July, 2013

Dhammapada wisdom

Photo credit: dollsofindia.com

There is no fire like greed,
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger of heart,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.

Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.

Look within. Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.

Dhammapada, Words of the Buddha

30 July, 2013

Heart Advice for Difficult Times

Via google.images

“We are like children building a sand castle. We embellish it with beautiful shells, bits of driftwood, and pieces of colored glass. The castle is ours, off limits to others. We’re willing to attack if others threaten to hurt it. Yet despite all our attachment, we know that the tide will inevitably come in and sweep the sand castle away. The trick is to enjoy it fully but without clinging, and when the time comes, let it dissolve back into the sea.”

 Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

29 July, 2013

Secrets...

Photo not credited

If you could get rid
Of yourself just once,
The secret of secrets
Would open to you.
The face of the unknown,
Hidden beyond the universe
Would appear on the
Mirror of your perception.

Rumi

27 July, 2013

Blessed Rumi wisdom

If ten lamps are in one place,
each differs in form from another;
yet you can't distinguish whose radiance is whose
... when you focus on the light.

In the field of spirit there is no division;
no individuals exist.
Sweet is the oneness of the Friend with His friends.

Catch hold of spirit.
Help this headstrong self disintegrate;
that beneath it you may discover unity,
like a buried treasure.

Rumi

26 July, 2013

Yogananda pearls

All spiritual progress is a return, 
simply, to one's original state, 
which forever was, and forever will be, 
for through all eternity it is that which simply IS.

Paramahansa Yogananda

Light and shadow

Keep your face to the sunshine and you 
cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do. 

Helen Keller

25 July, 2013

Lao Tzu

The valley spirit never dies;
It is the woman, primal mother.
Her gateway is the root of heaven and Earth.
It is like a veil barely seen.
Use it; it will never fail.

Lao Tsu
Tao te Ching

24 July, 2013

The Alchemist: a quote

“This is what we call love. When you are loved, 
you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, 
there's no need at all to understand 
what's happening, because everything happens 
within you.”

Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

23 July, 2013

Global Wealth Inequality - The Richest 300 people

We interrupt what is usually a poetic and reflective page to reflect on a video that everyone should visit. It helps to put things into perspective and why we have an urgent needs to shift our world view and what it is that we support.

Global Wealth Inequality - The Richest 300 people

22 July, 2013

On walking...

Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Bring the Earth your love and happiness.
The Earth will be safe
when we feel safe in ourselves.

 Thich Nhat Hahn

Mindfulness: Thich Nhat Hanh

“The most precious gift we can
offer anyone is our attention. When
mindfulness embraces those we
love, they will bloom like flowers.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

21 July, 2013

On Light and Darkness

Light is incredibly generous, but also gentle. 
When you attend to the way the dawn comes, 
you learn how light can coax the dark. 
The first fingers of light appear on the horizon, 
and ever so deftly and gradually, they pull the
 mantle of darkness away from the world. 
Quietly before you is the mystery
 of a new dawn, the new day. 

 John O’Donohue

Tao Te Ching - Reflection

Photographer uncredited & unknown

Carrying body and soul 
and embracing the one, 
Can you avoid separation? 

Attending fully and becoming supple, 
Can you be as a newborn babe? 

Washing and cleansing the primal vision, 
Can you be without stain? 
Loving all men and ruling the country, 
Can you be without cleverness? 

Opening and closing the gates of heaven, 
Can you play the role of woman? 
Understanding and being open to all things, 
Are you able to do nothing? 

Giving birth and nourishing, 
Bearing yet not possessing, 
Working yet not taking credit, 
Leading yet not dominating, 
This is the Primal Virtue.

~Lao Tsu
Tao te Ching

20 July, 2013

Sufism on Impermanence and Heart

No sadness lasts forever, nor any felicity
Nor any state of poverty or one of luxury.
If you are the owner of a heart that is content
Then you and the owner of the world are equivalent.

Imam Al-Shafi‘ee

19 July, 2013

Best Birthday Gift

HH The Dalai Lama: most precious Tenzin Gyatso-la

Life is...

Please visit the OBWU website:

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it. 

Mother Teresa

18 July, 2013

Silent Yet Thunderous by Julian Colgan

In between an ultimate reality and a plain reality,
neither is ideal; for what is plain
must be seen as ultimate,
and what is ultimate is what is seemingly plain.

Each organ of the body being a producer of 
sentiments and a director of perception,
what was once immense beyond recognition
with enough time reduced itself to a tiny moment of being.

Once the life of everything, now a thought in someone's mind.
Working towards harmonization, the path
is already perfectly adjusted
because of your recognition of a path even existing.

A soon to be royal king, leave behind the
excess of extremes and trim all that attaches itself
to your steadily growing bodhi mind.

No final absolute perception of the eternity of mindfulness,
be brave and plunge into the recurring stream of blissful generosity
towards the animals, insects and encouraging life forms
which are all opportunities to practice living compassion.

A future Buddha or a past Buddha, you can be a Buddha now
by eliciting and extracting the infinity that is in the moment.
Liberal like the sound of a bird,
enlightenment is in listening to what is listening.
Hearing an echo, the primordial mind emerges to never be heard.

Silent yet thunderous, both extremes of the path
are resolved by never forgetting the mind that never forgets.

By Julian Colgan (Copyright)

Awake to Buddhahood

17 July, 2013

Rumi quote

"O great one,
Journey from self to Self
and find the mine of gold.
Leave behind what is sour and bitter –
move toward what is sweet.
Be like the thousand different fruits
that grow from briny soil."
Rumi

16 July, 2013

The Dhammapada: Flowers by Julian Colgan (Repost of a beautiful Doha)

Appreciating and glorifying 
the flower like teachings of the Buddha,
choose the Path that transcends every other path
and do not be afraid to look
past the highs and lows of the Gods,
for the Gods of Life and Death
are not Fully Realized.
Being considerate of the flowery pleasures
that can be attained in and outside of the body,
emerge victorious from such pleasures,
for it is Mara in disguise.

Asleep to the Fully Realized
state of Buddhahood,
the death of harmony and unity
is the natural consequence of mistaking
the pursuit of pleasure as the goal of Life itself.
As expert as a bee, the wise
sip the nectar that is found in abundance
in the practice of observing the opening and closing
of the Flower of the Buddha's Immortal Heart.
Paying no mind to the deeds of others,
focus on one's own Flowery Essence.

Filled with the fragrance of the Accomplished Ones,
those who practice what they preach
are assured of attracting many bee like companions.
Garlanding one's Buddha Nature
around the string of good deeds,
lead others into their Flowery Essence
by being as Open and Receptive as the Blossoming Flower of one's Dharma.
More fragrant than the incense of this world,
the Smell of Buddhahood
reaches High in the Sky,
permeating Itself in All Directions of the World's Mind.

Whoever is a True Flower of the Buddha
shines with the Purity of a New Born Lotus,
bringing relief to all who Gaze at Its Inward and Outward Beauty.

By Julian Colgan (Copyright)
Awake to Buddhahood
Emptinessofmind.blogspot.ca/


15 July, 2013

About thorns and blossoms...Karma Ranjung

Image credit:

Unease is like a thorn on a rose's stem.
As a bulb flowers and blossoms, thorns can be seen to arise into the collective.
The more the growth the more thorns emerge from the present but unnoticed.
Reducing them one by one the blossoming flower's beauty becomes more clear until there is no other focus but that of the rise and fall moment to moment of each blossom.

Karma Ranjung (Copyright)


14 July, 2013

The Eternal Tao


Empty the self completely;
Embrace perfect peace.
The world will rise and move;
Watch it return to rest.
All the flourishing things
Will return to their source.

This return is peaceful;
It is the flow of nature,
An eternal decay and renewal.
Accepting this brings enlightenment,
Ignoring this brings misery.

With an open mind, you will be openhearted.
Being openhearted, you will act royally.
Being royal, you will attain the divine.
Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.
Being at one with the Tao is eternal.
And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.

-- Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - Chapter 16

13 July, 2013

Lao Tzu on Heart

“My teachings are easy to understand
and easy to put into practice.
Yet your intellect will never grasp them,
and if you try to practice them, you'll fail.

My teachings are older than the world.
How can you grasp their meaning?

If you want to know me,
Look inside your heart.” 

 Lao Tzu 

On Now !

 
There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. 
One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, 
so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live. 

HH The Dalai Lama of Tibet

12 July, 2013

On the here and now...

Credit to brilliant unknown artist

"People who are rooted in the
here and now, who are not
defeated by their limitations, who
don’t compare themselves to
others, who confidently advance
along their chosen path—such
people are happy, such people
are truly great."

~ Daisaku Ikeda ~

11 July, 2013

On Hope...

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune - without the words,
And never stops at all'

Emily Dickinson

10 July, 2013

Blessed Rumi wisdom

If ten lamps are in one place,
each differs in form from another;
yet you can't distinguish whose radiance is whose
... when you focus on the light.

In the field of spirit there is no division;
no individuals exist.
Sweet is the oneness of the Friend with His friends.

Catch hold of spirit.
Help this headstrong self disintegrate;
that beneath it you may discover unity,
like a buried treasure.

Rumi~

09 July, 2013

Dhammapada - Age by Julian colgan


When confronted with the dualism of youth and old age,
why pass one's phenomenal existence in
the merriment and happiness that is born of ignorance.

When the world is set ablaze with the fires of suffering,
why pass one's phenomenal existence in
the darkness of repeated birth and death
when one can spend it pursuing the light of Nirvana.

The physicality of one's body
is as real as any painted depiction of Reality,
giving only a rough outline of what dwells within one's body.

Spending one's time on thoughts
that are just as unreal as a self,
one's body slowly withers away
till there is no external covering and no self
to fill the void that once occupied one's body.

What is known as the network of the senses
is like a well built house
in that the conceptions which uphold
the various levels of the senses
eventually loses all of its glamorized strength,
thus causing one's well built house to collapse
before one knows that it is in the process of collapsing.

Goodness, unlike the externalized goods of Samsara,
does not need to be reborn
since goodness is one of the major qualities of a Buddha.

Without reflection upon the governing principals of Life,
many grow physically but do not grow mentally,
for the mind is seen as a tool
and not so much as a necessity.

Reflecting upon one's numerous lives
spent in Samsara's net,
and having found no self
within this house of a body,
one's house shall never be built up again,
for once the beams of illusion are cracked in half,
all of one's accumulated negative merit will run for shelter elsewhere.

Like worn out bows, the minds of those who
do not enter into the other stream of Nirvana
fall to the wayside, having no one to call their own.

By Julian Colgan (Copyright)
Awake to Buddhahood
emptinessofmind.blogspot.ca/

08 July, 2013

Bhagavad Gita Quote


"Arjuna: O Krishna, the stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, violent, trying to control it is like trying to tame the wind. Sri Krishna: It is true that the mind is restless and difficult to control. But it can be conquered, Arjuna, through regular practice and detachment. Those who lack self-control will find it difficult to progress in meditation; but those who are self-controlled, striving earnestly through the right means, will attain the goal." 

- Bhagavad Gita 6:33-36

07 July, 2013

Beauty...

Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
But you are life and you are the veil.
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.

Kahlil Gibran

05 July, 2013

The Road Not Taken by R. Frost



Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost

04 July, 2013

More Tao Te Ching pearls...

The highest good is like water. 
Water give life to the ten thousand 
things and does not strive. 
It flows in places men reject 
and so is like the Tao. 

In dwelling, be close to the land. 
In meditation, go deep in the heart. 
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. 
In speech, be true. 
In ruling, be just. 
In daily life, be competent. 
In action, be aware of the time 
and the season.
No fight: No blame.

Lao Tsu
Tao Te Ching

03 July, 2013

Bodhidharma

Credit: www.dedroidify.com 

When your mind doesn’t stir inside, 
the world doesn’t arise outside. 
When the world and the mind are both transparent, 
this is true vision. 
And such understanding is true understanding.

Bodhidharma

02 July, 2013

On silence...


Silence is the great teacher, and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it. There is no substitute for the creative inspiration, knowledge, and stability that come from knowing how to contact your core of inner silence.
Deepak Chopra

Wei Wu Wei: a reflection

"My inner awareness is unmoving, spacious, 
clear and free. My outer world is filled with 
passing apparitions; an ever-moving web of 
interconnectedness. 
Together, beyond concepts, my inner and outer 
worlds are a seamless unity of mysterious brilliance."

 Wei Wu Wei

01 July, 2013

On peace and happiness...

Credit: www.digitalthangkas

To obtain real peace and happiness in this world
 one has simply to follow the path of ahimsa 
– nonviolence – which naturally is common 
to all the religions of the world. 
If we do not like to experience any pain 
or suffering of any kind, how can we expect 
any other creature – whether big or small -
to feel otherwise? 
There is no better prayer or worship 
we can offer to Lord Buddha than being thoughtful, 
kind, compassionate and abstaining from taking the life 
of any fellow human being, animal, bird, fish or insect.

Chatral Rinpoche