Nonduality"
Nonduality.com Home Page

Click here to go to the next issue

Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nondual Highlights each day

#1787 - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - Editor: Jerry


Daily Dharma

"It is said in Atisha's biography that every day he saw a woman who was
at times crying and at others laughing. Finally he asked her, 'Why is it
that for no apparent reason you sometimes cry and sometimes laugh? Are
you in any way mentally distressed?

'No. I am not. You people are and so I cry.'

'Why?'

'The Tathagata essence, one's own mind, has been a Buddha from
beginningless time. By not knowing this, great complications follow from
such a small base of error for hundreds of thousands of sentient beings.
Although their own minds are Buddha, they are in such great confusion.
Not being able to bear the suffering of so many beings, I cry. And
then, I laugh because when this small basis of error is known - when one
knows one's own mind - one is freed. Enjoying the fact that sentient
beings can so easily be released from suffering, I laugh, knowing they
are ready to be liberated.'


~Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche


From the book, "Tantric Practice of Nyingma," translated by Jeffrey
Hopkins, published by Snow Lion.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0937938149/angelinc


Daily Dharma

"Kind speech means that when you see sentient beings you arouse the mind
of compassion and offer words of loving care. It is contrary to cruel or
violent speech.

In the secular world, there is the custom of asking after someone's
health. In Buddhism there is the phrase, 'Please treasure yourself,' and
the respectful address to seniors, 'May I ask how you are?' It is kind
speech to speak to sentient beings as you would to a baby.

If kind speech is offered, little by little virtue will grow...You
should be willing to practice it for this entire present life; do not
give up, world after world, life after life. Kind speech is the basis
for reconciling rulers and subduing enemies.

Those who hear kind speech from you have a delighted expression and a
joyful mind. Those who hear of your kind speech will be deeply
touched---they will never forget it.

You should know that kind speech arises from kind mind, and kind mind
from the seed of compassionate mind. You should ponder the fact that
kind speech is not just praising the merit of others; it has the power
to turn the destiny of the nation."

~Dogen

"The power to turn the destiny of the nation..." Can you imagine what
would happen if politicians started saying to each other, "Please
treasure yourself?" ,^))

Quote from the BuddhistL Academic Discussion Forum


Daily Dharma

"Happy in the morning
I open my cottage door;
A clear breeze blowing
Comes straight in.
The first sun
Lights the leafy trees;
The shadows it casts
Are crystal clear.
Serene,
In accord with my heart,
Everything merges
In one harmony.
Gain and loss
Are not my concern;
This way is enough
To the end of my days."


~Wen-siang


From the book, "Sleepless Nights, Verses For The Wakeful," translated by
Thomas Cleary, published by North Atlantic Books.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556432003/angelinc

 


from This American Life

"Everything I identified as being ME, my ambition, my interest in things, my sense of humor, the inflection in my voice -- I mean the quality of my speech even changed -- in the time that I was without a lot of the (testosterone). So, yes, the introduction of testosterone returned EVERYTHING.

There were things that I find offensive about my own personality that were disconnected then, and it was nice to be without them: envy, the desire to judge. I approached people with a humility that I had never displayed before. I grew up in a culture, like all of us, that divides the soul from the body, and that that is your singleness, that is your uniqueness, and nothing can touch that.

And then I go through this experience where I have small amounts of a bodily chemical removed and then re-introduced, and it changes everything I know as my self. And it violates the sanctity of that understanding that who you are exists independent of any other forces in the universe. And that's humbling. And it's terrifying. ...

When you have no testosterone you have no desire. And when you have no desire you don't have any content in your mind. You don't think about anything. ... It's not that I was behaving (differently), it's that I was not behaving at all. When I was awake, literally sitting in bed and staring at the wall with neither interest nor disinterest for three, four hours at a time. If you had a camera in the room you would have thought I was comatose.

I would go out. I would buy some groceries early in the morning and that would be it. My day had no content. I had no interest in even watching tv, much less reading the newspaper or a book. Food; I didn't want my food to taste good or interesting, and when you're blessed with that lack of desire you could eat a loaf of Wonder bread with mayonnaise and that would be your day."

The above quote gets A LOT better as the speaker goes into depth about how he freshly saw and perceived that which came to his attention. After listening to this audio you might think that Buddhism and all spiritual practices could be called ways of managing the influence of testosterone.

In case you haven't yet, take 15 minutes and listen to the radio show mentioned by Gloria in the previous highlights. Here's the info:

"This American Life" on Public Radio International (PRI)

Testosterone

http://207.70.82.73/pages/descriptions/02/220.html

It's an hour long show, but the first 15 minutes would be of particular interest to the nondually inclined.


Petros Truth

"Sentient beings are not other than Buddha, and Buddha is not other than
sentient beings. When mind unmanifest takes on the form of sentient beings,
it has experienced no limitation. When mind again becomes Buddha, it has not
increased itself."

-- Huang Po


Daily Dharma

"And those who have no mental vigilance,
Though they may hear the teachings, ponder them or meditate,
With minds like water seeping from a leaking jug,
Their learning will not settle in their memories."

~Sāntideva


From the book, "365 Buddha: Daily Meditations," published by
Penguin Putnam.

top of page