Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[forestofemptiness]

I wasn't aware, but evidently Master Sheng Yen has a commentary:

 

Faith In Mind: A Commentary on Seng Ts'an's Classic 

 

13 hours ago, virtue said:

 

I haven't read any commentaries, but I quickly looked up some resources:

 

https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/fm/fm.htm

https://terebess.hu/english/hsin.html

 

In the last link you may have to look around to find some commentaries that aren't mentioned on the front page.

 

[C T]

In some sense, the _spiritual path_ is more than the mere acknowledgement of the presence and power of emotional ebbs & flows; at some point, the practitioner will be obliged to integrate this presence and power into his or her being in order to discover a sanity that had somehow lapsed. Without that gradual recollection, mastery of the self, aka the end of victimhood (aka tossing in the whirlpool of gross & subtle reactionary tendencies) will continue to elude. 

 

 

 

The illusion of an individuated (“self”) existence falsely amplifies the experience of emotion and disease, giving them an appearance of importance that they just do not hold in reality, and all the while, Nature, in her benign grandeur, looks on impassively as we struggle with our ceaseless wanting, not wanting or indifference. -- Paramito Ladakh

Edited October 26, 2020 by C T

[C T]

 

[C T]

 

[C T]

~ Chamtrul Rinpoche ~ 

 

Never underestimate the long-term consequences of your actions. For as long as the mind has the obscuration of grasping at an inherently existing “me”, then there will be karma. No matter how far on the path one is, no matter how realised one is, no matter how many miraculous powers one has attained, for as long as there is even a subtle trace of this obscuration, karma is there. This is why the master Padmasambhava skilfully proclaimed, “Though my realization is higher than the sky, even so, my observance of karma is finer than grains of flour.”

[C T]

~ Yuval Noah Harari ~ 

 

“According to Buddhism, the root of suffering is neither the feeling of pain nor of sadness nor even of meaninglessness. Rather, the real root of suffering is this never-ending and pointless pursuit of ephemeral feelings, which causes us to be in a constant state of tension, restlessness and dissatisfaction. Due to this pursuit, the mind is never satisfied.

 

Even when experiencing pleasure, it is not content, because it fears this feeling might soon disappear, and craves that this feeling should stay and intensify. People are liberated from suffering not when they experience this or that fleeting pleasure, but rather when they understand the impermanent nature of all their feelings, and stop craving them. This is the aim of Buddhist meditation practices.

 

In meditation, you are supposed to closely observe your mind and body, witness the ceaseless arising and passing of all your feelings, and realize how pointless it is to pursue them. When the pursuit stops, the mind becomes very relaxed, clear and satisfied. All kinds of feelings go on arising and passing – joy, anger, boredom, lust – but once you stop craving particular feelings, you can just accept them for what they are. You live in the present moment instead of fantasizing about what might have been.

 

The resulting serenity is so profound that those who spend their lives in the frenzied pursuit of pleasant feelings can hardly imagine it. It is like a man standing for decades on the seashore, embracing certain ‘good’ waves and trying to prevent them from disintegrating, while simultaneously pushing back ‘bad’ waves to prevent them from getting near him. Day in, day out, the man stands on the beach, driving himself crazy with this fruitless exercise. Eventually, he sits down on the sand and just allows the waves to come and go as they please. How peaceful!”

 

 

Mr Harari ~ https://www.ynharari.com/about/

 

[blue eyed snake]

thank you, that was the needed message for today

[manitou]

Acceptance is the key.

[C T]

~ SHANTIDEVA ~

 

Those who wish to crush the many sorrows of existence,

Who wish to quell the pain of living beings,

Who wish to have experience of a myriad joys

Should never turn away from Bodhichitta.

 

Should Bodhichitta come to birth

In those who suffer, chained in prisons of samsara,

In that instant they are called the children of the Blissful One,

Revered by all the world, by gods and humankind.

 

For like the supreme substance of the alchemists,

It takes our impure flesh and makes of it

The body of a Buddha, jewel beyond all price.

Such is Bodhicitta.

 

Let us grasp it firmly!

[C T]

[steve]

On 12/2/2020 at 6:46 PM, manitou said:

Acceptance is the key.

 

Lately my word has been openness

[manitou]

On 12/10/2020 at 3:35 PM, steve said:

 

Lately my word has been openness

 

LOL.  Acceptance makes it more like a fun roller coaster ride.

[C T]

 

“Old layman, your actions and behavior are in subtle accord with the Path, but you have not been able to get the burst of power. If in your daily activities responding to circumstances you do not stray from your past footsteps, though you haven’t gotten the burst of power, still, on the last day of your life, the King of Death will have to fold his hands and submit.”

 

~ Master Ta Hui, in a letter to Chang Yang-shu ~ 

 

 

 

[C T]

 

 

Syllables of the Kalachakra Mantra

The Tantra of Kalachakra (Tib: dus-kyi ‘khor-lo) – ‘the wheel of time’ – is an extremely esoteric Buddhist system of teachings, which deals with the outer cosmology of the universe, the inner cosmology of the ‘subtle body’, and the ‘alternative’ practice of the deity Kalachakra. The ten interlocking and stacked syllables of Kalachakra’s mantra (Om-Ham-Ksha-Ma-La-Va-Ra-Ya-Sva-Ha) are commonly known as the ‘all powerful ten’, and are written in an early Indian script known as Lantsa. The ten syllables stand upon four planetary discs, which rest upon a multicoloured lotus. The lowest of these four discs is the white disc of the moon. Above this is the red disc of the sun, then the blue-black disc of the eclipse planet Rahu, and at the top is the golden-orange disc of Kalagni – ‘the great fire at the end of time’. The main interlocking syllables are composed of the mantra’s seven consonant syllables, which arise from vertical staves or ‘legs’ in seven different colours. The lowest Ya syllable is black (air), then ascend the red Ra (fire), white Va (water), and yellow La (earth). The fifth red stave of the Ma syllable terminates in an oval four-colour sequence, which represents Mt Meru – the cosmic mountain at the centre of our universe. The sixth green Ksha syllable represents the great lotus at the summit of Mt Meru and the heavens of the form gods. The crowning blue Ham syllable represents the four formless god realms. Above the seven stacked consonants are the symbols of a crescent moon, a solar disc, and a dissolving point of flame – symbolising the three main median nerves (nadi) of the subtle body, and the three component sounds of the syllables Ham and Om. To the left and right of the seven stacked consonants are the blue syllable E and the golden syllable Vam. Their combined sound, Evam – meaning ‘thus it is’ – represent the union of blue Kalachakra with his yellow consort Vishvamata.

[C T]

~ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche ~ 

 

Good practitioners can purify their gross internal and external earth elements. When they do this, the internal earth elements of the gross nerve channels and veins become lighter and lighter, purer and purer, and as they become insubstantial, indestructible, and luminous, the distinction between the conceptions of external and internal earth elements diminishes until they have become purified into the same substanceless light essence.

 

Padmasambhava attained this state. Because it has an indestructible vajra nature and cannot be penetrated by any circumstances, according to the Vajrayana system, this is called Vajra Wisdom Body.

 

Good practitioners can purify their gross internal and external air elements. When they do this, the internal air elements become lighter and lighter, purer and purer, and as they become unobstructed and clear, the distinction between the conceptions of external and internal air elements diminishes until they have become purified into the same enchanting sound.

 

Some great saints in ancient times attained this state. The pure clarity of their sound was not impaired by the cracks and scratching of gross elements’ vibrations and nothing could obstruct its tone, which pervades everywhere. This is called Vajra Wisdom Song.

 

Good practitioners can diminish the dualism of their inner subject substance mind and outer object substance phenomena. When they do this, the subtle elements become more and more vast, more and more limitless, and as they become boundless and profound, the distinction between the dualistic conception of outer and inner space elements diminishes until they have become purified into the same infinite expanse.

 

Then everything is without beginning and without end. This is Samantabhadra, whose wisdom heart is the source of measureless and limitless knowledge, unconquered and undeceived by the illusion of dualism. This is called Vajra Wisdom Heart.

Edited December 26, 2020 by C T
grammar

[C T]

~ Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche ~ 

 

Emotional obscurations are just extraneous veils that never penetrate or spoil the primordially perfect and unchanging buddha-nature. It simply rests naturally as it is. When we look without dualistic clinging at the buddha-nature, we will be liberated.

[C T]

~ Tsarchen Losel Gyatso ~ 

 

In mistaken perception

of a rope as a snake,

terror can make you flee.

For a person with belief

and devotion, it’s said,

the tooth of a dog

became a heap of relics.

In what’s only

been given just a name,

just a label, not even

an atom is established

by own-essence.

The nature of amazing,

profound interdependence,

nothing appearing as anything,

is realized there.

Small-minded persons,

who accept as true

the baseless gossip

people speak at crossroads,

risk revealing their own

and many other people’s faults

with a song of groundless,

nervous alarm.

[C T]

~.~

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by C T

[C T]

 

If all we have is a belief or trust in the realm of appearances and imaginings, and no real insight

beyond that, then of course we will eventually be disappointed.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

 

 

 

[C T]

~ Guru Padmasambhava ~ 

 

When you have trained

in the thought-free Nature of Dharmata,

thoughts - the causes of samsara -

grow weaker and more quiet,

while thought-free Wakefulness

becomes spontaneously present.

This Wakefulness is serene,

its domain of experience is utterly pure;

the three Kayas and other enlightened qualities

appear naturally, like rays that shine from the sun.

[C T]

Guru Padmasambhava's BARCHÉ LAMSEL—THE PRAYER THAT REMOVES ALL OBSTACLES FROM THE PATH (English & Tibetan)

 

https://vajrasound.com/barche-lamsel-the-prayer-that-removes-all-obstacles-from-the-path/

 

 

[C T]

No matter how diligent one's practice, its not possible to cause the Uncreated to manifest. 

Practice is simply the act of attuning to that which has been, is, and always will remain Uncreated. 

Thats why (real) sages do not like to talk about attainments, rather, they will simply say they've attained nothing. 

[C T]

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

To stay with reality, resisting the urge to fall back into our usual fantasy realm of ideation,

requires unbroken attention, lion-like courage and boundless compassion.

[C T]

The two types of considerations 

 

UNWISE CONSIDERATIONS

 

Not knowing what is worthy of consideration and what is unworthy of consideration, he considers the unworthy, and not the worthy.

And unwisely he considers thus: “Have I been in the past?

Or, have I not been in the past? What have I been in the past?

How have I been in the past? From what state into what state did I change in the past? Shall I be in the future? Or, shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? From what state into what state shall I change in the future?” And the present also fills him with doubt: “Am I? Or am I not? What am I? How am I? This being, whence has it come? Where will it go?”

 

 

THE SIX VIEWS ABOUT THE SELF

 

And with such unwise considerations, he adopts one or other of six views, and it becomes his conviction and firm belief: “I have a self”; or: “I have no self”; or: “With the self I perceive the self”; or: “With that which is no self, I perceive the self”; This myself which can think and feel, and which, now here, now there, experiences the fruit of good and evil deeds—this my self is permanent, stable, eternal, not subject to change, and will thus eternally remain the same.” (MN 2)

 

If there really existed the self, there would also exist something which belonged to the self. As, however, in truth and reality neither the self nor anything belonging to the self can be found, is it not therefore really an utter fools‘ doctrine to say: “This is the world, this is the self; after death I shall be permanent, persisting, and eternal”? (MN 22)

 

These are called mere views, a thicket of views, a puppet-show of views, a toil of views, a snare of views; and ensnared in the fetter of views, the ignorant worldling will not be freed from rebirth, from decay, from death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair; he will not be freed, I say, from suffering.

 

 

WISE CONSIDERATIONS

 

The learned and noble disciple, however, who has regard for holy men, who knows the teaching of holy men, who is well trained in the noble doctrine, understands what is worthy of consideration and what is unworthy. And knowing this, he considers the worthy and not the unworthy. He wisely considers what suffering is; he wisely considers what the origin of suffering is; he wisely considers what the extinction of suffering is; he wisely considers what the path is that leads to the extinction of suffering. (MN 2)

[manitou]

The learned and noble disciple, however, who has regard for holy men, who knows the teaching of holy men, who is well trained in the noble doctrine, understands what is worthy of consideration and what is unworthy. And knowing this, he considers the worthy and not the unworthy. He wisely considers what suffering is; he wisely considers what the origin of suffering is; he wisely considers what the extinction of suffering is; he wisely considers what the path is that leads to the extinction of suffering. (MN 2)

 

In my view, it equates to when the Nazarene told his disciples to 'keep their eyes up high in the hills'.  It really seems to be a process wherein we retrain our thinking.  When the thinking is higher, free of unnecessary judgment of others and criticism, life changes dramatically.  We're no longer dragging around regrets of yesterday and fears of tomorrow, and we see that the antics of some are just that; antics.  It becomes possible to see the amusing side of life all the time.  I was driving down the street yesterday and was overcome with a wave of joy, just noticing momentarily the beauty of the desert.  I nearly had to pull over.  Knowing that 'I am That', knowing that it's all one big beautiful life and we're just one little part of it.  Sometimes it's overwhelming...