June 27th, 2008
Tokens of satori
The express train is passing by again, numbers fall into letters and I’m three months older.
I really can’t manage any sort of original thought right now, so I think I’m going to try posting quotes from my reading for a while, occasionally with a photograph. Think of it as pocket enlightenment.
Today’s passage is from the Buddhist scriptures:
A person who is pleased when one receives good instruction will sleep peacefully, because one’s mind is thereby cleansed.
A carpenter seeks to make his beam straight; an arrow-maker seeks to make his arrows well-balanced; the digger of an irrigation ditch seeks to make the water run smoothly; so a wise person seeks to control one’s mind so that it will function smoothly and truly.
A great rock is not disturbed by the wind; the mind of a wise person is not disturbed by either honor or abuse.
To conquer oneself is a greater victory than to conquer a thousand in a battle.
To live a single day and hear a good teaching is better than to live a hundred years without knowing such teaching.
…
The world is always burning, burning with the fires of greed, anger and foolishness; one should flee from such dangers as soon as possible.
The world is like a bubble, it is like the gossamer web of a spider, it is like the defilement in a dirty jar, one should constantly protect the purity of one’s mind.
– “The Way of Practical Attainment”, from The Teaching of Buddha
June 27th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Somewhat related, but I first read this a long time ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since:
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” -His Holiness the Dalai Lama