Monthly Archives: November 2012

Victory

If you wish to defeat an opponent, make yourself perfect in all good qualities. Thus, your opponent will be mortified, and you shall improve in virtue. —Sakya Pandita, A Precious Treasury

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Great Delusion

Those who have great realization of delusion are Buddhas. Those who are greatly deluded about realization are sentient beings. —Dogen Zenji, Shobogenzo  We are all foolish beings (prithagjnana= lacking wisdom). The sincere mind is the true understanding that even though … Continue reading

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The Best

The foremost wealth is charity. The greatest happiness is peace of mind, Experience is the most beautiful ornament. Friends without attachments are the best company. —Sakya Pandita, A Precious Treasury

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In the Presence of the Light

Some persons understand Pure Land practice as a dispensation for inferior beings who cannot tread the more excellent and difficult Holy Path of the Sages, whether in its Theravada or Mahayana iterations.   On the contrary, the arduous Path of the … Continue reading

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Emotions

The appetite of those led by emotions is twice that of the wise; their deceitfulness is fourfold; their shame sixfold; and their passions eight times as great. —Arya Nagarjuna, The Staff of Wisdom

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The Excellence of Others

Those who are disturbed at seeing the excellence of others will not understand even a little truth. Such persons destroy their own merit. —Arya Nagarjuna, The Staff of Wisdom

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Serene Trust

As I think of the great ocean of serene trust in the Vow of Buddha Amideva, I find it makes no distinction between the noble and the humble, between monastic and lay. It does not distinguish between male and female, … Continue reading

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The Philosopher and the Boatman

The Three Wheels of the Dharma are the three periods of the Buddha’s teaching, in which He emphasized various aspects. The First Wheel (in which He presented the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path) are focused on cause … Continue reading

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Giving Thanks

The season for the massive slaughter of turkeys has arrived once again. Between 250 and 300 million turkeys are raised for slaughter every year in the U.S. alone. And that is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg: in the … Continue reading

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Essential and Auxiliary

There are some who say, “The statement that by recitation of the Holy Name of Amideva one may be born in the Pure Land is an example of a temporally displaced intention. Rebirth may refer to a birth many lifetimes … Continue reading

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