Enlightenment

It is better to practice

/ Debra / 2 Comments

 

Cover of "Atisha's Lamp for the Path to E...

Cover via Amazon

 

 

 

Dromtönpa once saw a monk doing circumambulations and intuitively knew he was doing them for a worldly motive. He remarked, “It’s good to do circumambulations, but it would be better to practice.” Later he saw the same monk making prostrations. “Prostrations are good,” he said, “but it would be better to practice.” After some time, the monk began to do meditation and Dromtönpa again remarked that doing retreats was laudable, but it would be even better to practice. Finally the monk, who by this time was thoroughly perplexed, inquired what he meant by the word practice. Dromtönpa answered that it meant letting go of our preoccupation with this life and developing true love and compassion. ~ Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, edited and translated by Ruth Sonam, pages 30-31

 

 

As human beings we are all the same

/ Debra

As human beings, we are all the same. We have this marvelous intelligence, which sometimes creates problems for us, but when influenced by warm-heartedness can be very constructive. In this context, we need to appreciate the value of having moral principles. ~ His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama

Who is our friend? Who is our enemy?

/ Debra

In meditation, imagine that in front of you are three persons—an enemy, a friend, and a neutral person. At that time, in our minds we have (1) a sense of closeness for one of them, thinking, “This is my friend”; (2) a sense of dislike even when imagining the enemy; and (3) a sense of ignoring the neutral person. Now, we have to think about the reasons why we generate these feelings—the reasons being that temporarily one of them helped us whereas the other temporarily harmed us, and the third did neither. However, when we think in terms of the long course of beginningless rebirth, none of us could decide that someone who has helped or harmed us in this life has been doing so for all lifetimes.

When you contemplate this way, eventually you arrive at a point where a strong generation of desire or hatred appears to you to be just senseless. Gradually, such a bias weakens, and you decide that one-sided classification of persons as friends and enemies has been a mistake. ~  His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama, The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace, page 166
page 166.

A very wonderful offer…

/ Debra / 2 Comments

Sofan Chan of ‘The Art of Happiness Gallery’ has offered TBLC use of her paintings (credit will always be given)…and I think this the most wonderful offer! Click on the link above and I think you will agree with me. Thank you Sofan and I apologize for the delay…Summer has been hectic this year. 🙂

Here ‘s her bio from her site:

“Sofan Chan – Painter 
I was born and spent my formative years in Hong Kong, a place of great cultural diversity. I studied advanced western painting techniques at the fine art institute of Chicago in the USA, before finally settling with my husband Rochman in Australia.

My paintings have an easily recognisable, unique style filled with filled with vibrant, happy colours and flowing lines. My original oil paintings and limited edition prints are now proudly displayed in a wide variety of collections around the world.

Painting is a form of meditation for me. When I am truly in tune with what I am painting, the inspiration begins to flow, and the paint takes on a life of it’s own and effortlessly appears onto the canvas.”

Later in the coming week…lovely art will accompany some posts. 🙂 ~ Debra