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buddha_seal (3K) Dharma Snippets



wabi_sabi_14 (201K)
Let thoughts drop away.

All we have is this moment; use it well.

Shine as brightly as you can!


Seth Zuiho Segall. "Shine As Brightly As You Can,"
The Existential Buddhist: dharma without dogma [blog]
Each Day In Life is Training
Training For Myself
Though Failure is Possible
Living Each Moment
Equal to Anything
Ready for Everything
I am Alive—I am This Moment
My Future Is Here and Now
For if I Cannot Endure Today
When and Where Will I?

(Words for Each Day) Soen Ozeki


study9_8 (328K)
study6_11 (271K) Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

Jack Kornfield. The Buddha's Little Instruction Book, p. 79.
Years of meditation, studying and reflection have led me to believe that the Buddha Siddhattha Gotama was what I can only call a humanist and skeptic of the first order. He had no time for the religion of his day or the eternally inconclusive debate as to whether or not there is a creator God. His question wasn't why are we here, but here we are - now what?

Stephen Schettini Web site Welcome page (viewed 9/4/2013)
tanzaku_03 (97K)
tanzaku_17 (122K) Practicing mindfulness, concentration and insight, walking the Noble Eightfold Path as the path of happiness in the present moment, has become only a very small part of Buddhism as it is practiced today. We did not inherit the most precious parts of the spiritual heritage that Siddhartha left. Our Buddhism has become corrupted, unable to play its original role. We need to put all our heart into renewing Buddhism, so that it can continue to play its role in generating peace for individuals, families, countries and societies. By only practicing devotional Buddhism, bowing our heads amidst incense all day long, we will not able to do that-and not be worthy to be called descendants of the Buddha-the Great Conqueror of Afflictions.

Thich Nhất Hạnh. Vesak Message 2013
直心是道場

A straightforward mind is the place of practice (dojo)

The straightforward mind is the place of enlightenment (bodhimaṇḍa)

Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, Chapter 4.
wabi_sabi_17 (297K)
kokoro_02 (114K) 心如止水
Mind like water

Refers to a state of mind that mirrors water's flowing, reflective, and adaptive qualities.
Every day, priests minutely examine the Law
And endlessly chant complicated sutras.
Before doing that, though, they should learn
How to read the love letters sent by the wind
and rain, the snow and moon.


Ikkyū Sōjun 一休宗純, 1394-1481.
Mizuhiki_02 (73K)
butsu_02 (124K) Found your hope then, on the ground under your feet.

Wendell Berry. Leavings, Sabbaths VI, p. 91-93.
In meditation, don't expect anything. Just sit back and see what happens. Treat the whole thing as an experiment. Take an active interest in the test itself, but don't get distracted by your expectations about the results. For that matter, don't be anxious for any results whatsoever.

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.
See: Mindfulness in Plain English.
Chapter 4.
Maniwa_Nobuzo_wa (201K)
wabi_sabi_11 (151K) "The Buddha could accomplish the enlightened mind because its very nature was already there. That is why buddhahood—enlightenment—is possible. If there were no such nature or potential, it would be impossible".

Dalai Lama. Imagine All the People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life As It Could Be, p. 120
You may have seen people praying to an image as if it had special power. Perhaps they're wishing for the well-being of their family, for material prosperity, or to recover from illness. But this way of practicing faith only leads to a dead end. Buddha images should serve as inspirations to cultivate the infinite loving kindness latent in the buddha within us.

Itō Shinjō 伊藤真乗. Shinjo Reflections, p. 125.
wabi_sabi_10 (27K)
wabi_sabi_16 (137K) Truth rather than god,
Meditation rather than prayer,
Awakening rather than salvation,
and
Universal Life rather than individual soul.


Steve Sampson, Mindfully Gay,
posted Wednesday, January 02, 2013
If words have five marks they are not ill-spoken but well-spoken, laudable and praised by the wise. What five? They are spoken at the right time, they are true, they are spoken with gentleness, they are to the point and they are spoken with love.

Anguttara Nikaya 5:198, Vaca Sutta
wabi_sabi_09 (98K)
wabi_sabi_01 (228K) This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, 1935- . Kindness, Clarity, and Insight.
日々是好日

Every day is a good day.

Yunmen Wenyan 雲門文偃 (Unmon), 862 or 864-949 CE. Blue Cliff Record 碧巖錄, case 6

[With the mind awakened, every day is indeed a good day. It's all in your mental attitude.]
every_day_good_day (142K)
wabi_sabi_12 (190K) 佛法在世间
不离世间觉
离世觅菩提
恰如求兔角

Buddhism is in the world;
It is not realized apart from the world.
Seeking enlightenment apart from the world
Is like looking for horns on a hare.


Daijian Huineng 大鑒惠能, 638-713 CE.
Platform Sutra 六祖壇經, Chapter 3: Prajna.
Buddhism is a religion for human beings, and the regard for human concerns is very much at the root of this religion. In the various sutras and sastras, the Buddha said repeatedly that he, too, was a member of the community, in order to emphasize that he was not a god. The Vimalakirti Sutra states: "The Buddha realm is found among sentient beings. Apart from sentient beings, there is no Buddha. Apart from the multitude of beings, there is no path to Truth." The Sixth Patriarch also taught that, "The Dharma is in the world; to understand the world is to understand the Dharma. Seeking enlightenment apart from the world is like seeking horns on a rabbit." To achieve Buddhahood, we must train and cultivate ourselves in this human world of ours. There is simply no other way to attain Buddhahood.

Hsing Yun 星雲大師, 1927- . The Fundamental Concepts of Humanistic Buddhism.
Kusanagi_Harmony (85K)
wabi_sabi_17 (301K) 菩提只向心覓
何勞向外求玄

Wisdom is only found by observing mind,
Why waste effort seeking metaphysical ideas?

Daijian Huineng 大鑒惠能, 638-713 CE.
Platform Sutra 六祖壇經, Chapter 3: Questions and Answers
心即是佛
佛即是心
心外无佛
佛外无心

Mind is the Buddha,
Buddha is also the mind.
There is no Buddha outside the mind.
There is no mind outside the Buddha.

Bodhidharma 菩提達摩 (?)
Bloodstream Sermon 血脈論
busshin (57K)
wabi_sabi_07 (204K) Do not go by revelation;
Do not go by tradition;
Do not go by hearsay;
Do not go on the authority of sacred texts;
Do not go on the grounds of pure logic;
Do not go by a view that seems rational;
Do not go by reflecting on mere appearances;
Do not go along with a considered view
because you agree with it;
Do not go along on the grounds
that the person is competent;
Do not go along because [thinking]
'the recluse is our teacher'.

Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; and when undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them...

Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These are wholesome; these things are not blameworthy; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, having undertaken them, abide in them.

Kalama Sutra, Angutarra Nikaya, Tipitaka 3.65
When the Buddha was eighty years old and was about to die, he told his disciples they should take refuge in the island of self (attadipa). Because if they go back to themselves and look deeply, they will touch the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha in themselves. This still remains a very important practice for all of us. Every time you feel lost, alienated, cut off from life, or from the world, every time you feel despair, anger, or instability, you have to know how to practice going home. Mindful breathing is the vehicle that you use to go back to your true home where you meet the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Mindful breathing brings you home--it generates the energy of mindfulness in you. Mindfulness is the substance of a Buddha.

Thich Nhất Hạnh. Going Home, Part 4
Issen_tsuki (180K)
wabi_sabi_08 (89K) Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddassa.

Buddham saranam gacchami
Dhammam saranam gacchami
Sangham saranam gacchami

Dutiyampi Buddham saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi Dhammam saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi Sangham saranam gacchami

Tatiyampi Buddham saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi Dhammam saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi Sangham saranam gacchami


Honour to him the blessed one, the worthy one, the fully enlightened one.

I go to the Buddha as my refuge
I go to the Dhamma as my refuge
I go to the Sangha as my refuge

For the second time,
I go to the Buddha as my refuge
For the second time,
I go to the Dhamma as my refuge
For the second time,
I go to the Sangha as my refuge

For the third time,
I go to the Buddha as my refuge
For the third time,
I go to the Dhamma as my refuge
For the third time,
I go to the Sangha as my refuge


Vandana (Homage) and Tisarana (The Three Refuges)
Buddhism