Monthly Archives: January 2017

“Transient are all conditioned things.” When one discerns this with wisdom, one becomes weary of suffering. This is the path to purity.   “Sorrowful are all conditioned things.” When one discerns this with wisdom, one becomes weary of suffering. This … Continue reading →

Bai Juyi (772-846 CE) was an important poet and government official of the Tang Dynasty in China. He once asked a monk for the most essential Dharma instruction, and the monk replied by quoting the Buddha’s summary teaching, “Avoid harm. Do … Continue reading →

Consciousness (mind and mentation) is “the stuff” what we mistake to be subject and object, me and mine, us and things. There is no substantial me, mine, us, things, but only internal representations in our experience. When you see a movie, … Continue reading →

As a river, when full, must flow and reach and fill the distant plain, so what is given here, indeed, will reach and bless the beings there.   As water on a mountain top must soon descend and fill the … Continue reading →

Among all possessions, the Buddha described contentment as the best and most excellent. Always be content! If you know contentment, even if you have nothing else, you own a real treasure. —Arya Nagarjuna, Letter to a Friend

Learn this from the river’s flow in mountain cleft and chasm: the rivulets gush loudly, the great stream moves silently.   Empty things boom loud. The full are ever quiet. The fool is like an empty pot; the sage is … Continue reading →

It is painful to see sentient beings we love not only suffering now, but also continuing to accumulate causes of future suffering. At times like this, it is important to remember that we are not impotent. Whatever good we do … Continue reading →

Those who cultivate compassion can give what is difficult to give; can tolerate patiently what is difficult to tolerate; and can do what is difficult to do. Compassion is the root of all virtue. —Buddha Shakyamuni, Sutra of Lay Morality

I do not say that the attainment of wisdom is all at once. Rather, the attainment of wisdom is after gradual training, gradual action, gradual practice. And how is there the attainment of wisdom after gradual training, gradual action, gradual … Continue reading →

Reverence to the Precious Lama, Quintessence of the Three Bodies, Crown-Jewel of the Pure Lineage, Leader of Sentient Beings, Revealer of the Ultimate Path, the Lord of Refuge, the Regent of the Buddha, of peerless kindness, Incomparable Teacher, Victory Banner … Continue reading →