Daily Buddhist Wisdom

Hi!

We have in another thread – The Lankavatara Sutra thread – been speaking of not “having” ourselves, because we always change, according to conditions that are out of our control. Here are some interesting (I think) sutras on the topic:

“What is not yours, put away; putting it away will be good for your welfare.
What are the things that are not yours? Your body is not yours* – put it away. Your feelings come and go; don’t own them, put them away. Perception and the things you perceive are not yours, put them down. The way your brain works and forms ideas is not yours, let it go. Consciousness is a condition that is general; it is not yours, do not own it. Letting go and putting away and not owning will be for your good and welfare.”
- Samyutta Nikaya (from the Pocket Buddha Reader)

And here is an explanation from the same sutra:


“The body, monks, is not a self. The body has evolved out of time immemorial from causes and preconditions that are also without a self. How then could the body, evolving out of something that is not a self, be a self? The same is true of thoughts and ideas that have come into existence by the influence of all beings through time – how could thoughts and ideas be a self? So, too, with feelings and perceptions, which are relative to the body and mind – how could they be a self?”

And:

“This body is not yours, nor does it belong to others. It should be seen as the product of the whole of history. In regard to it the wise person will reflect on the nature of conditioning: If this comes into being, that will arise; if this does not come into being, that will not arise.”


* BTW, I’ve once read an explanation of why our body isn’t really seen as “ours”. It said that the body is really so out of our control: It gets old and wrinkled and finally it gets sick and dies and smoulders into ashes – and we really can’t do anything to stop it, even if we want to. And how can we think we really own something that is so totally beyond our control and that doesn’t obey our will at all in these important matters?

Hi Ignite!

ignite wrote:

... since I know 'passion' in argument, is simply a reflection of the determination of belief of a person, in what they are saying.

Good point, indeed! Thanks Ignite! We also tend to identify closely with our opinions, for some strange reason. That also tend to make us very passionate about them, I think, and therefore often very fragile to any contradictions or "criticisms".

ignite wrote:

That doesn't make them 'right'

Nor 'wrong'. Maybe?

ignite wrote:

For a long time now, I've been considering the bliss that settling in lands more 'conducive' to Buddhism, such as Tibet, parts of India, might be. Is this a pipe-dream? If, to remain a lay Buddhist, I was, is this what's to be expected?

Do you think life would be easier or "better" in a Buddhist country?
Well, maybe that doesn't really matter, anyway, if that's what you really want to do, just "go for it" anyway... (oh, this looks like an advice... and I think I am against giving advice... like Gandalf... so please don't listen to me...)

By the way, here's one of my other fav quotes:

This itself is the whole of the journey, opening your heart to that which is lovely. Because of their feeling for the lovely, beings who are afraid of birth and death, aging and decaying, are freed from their fear. This is the way you must train yourself: I will become a friend and an intimate of the lovely. To do this I must closely observe and embrace all states of mind that are good.
- Samyutta Nikaya

Regards,

Maitri

MeditationMom wrote:

I love this so much. When hungry eat, when tired sleep. That is the Tao and the peaceful way of enlightenment.
And a Koan, when you are a Mom. All of a sudden it is "when it is time for the baby to eat, feed it, when it is time for the baby to sleep, put it to bed, when it is time for the baby to take a walk, take it for a walk etc." If you don't argue with the baby, just like you wouldn't argue with yourself in the previous example, you disappear altogether - in a that good, buddhist way.

That's a really nice analogy! Tanks MeditationMom!:)
I really like that way of seeing things much better that the idea of an "sinful" "horrible" and "dangerous" Ego that must be defeated by all means. A baby! That's nice!

Asiaprod wrote:

A baby;) very deep. Thank you for that Christmas present.

You are very welcome, Asia, though I think MeditationMom is the one to thank here.

Asiaprod wrote:

Maitri, do you happen to have come across a Buddhist quote that would appear to reflect/relate to the christmas spirit.
<open to all>

There are several, actually. What about these?:

Giving

A person who gives freely is loved by all. It’s hard to understand, but it is by giving that we gain strength. But there is a proper time and a proper way to give, and the person who understands this is strong and wise. By giving with a feeling of reverence for life, envy and anger are banished. A path to happiness is found. Like one who plants a sapling and in due course receives shade, flowers and fruits, so the results of giving bring joy. The way there is through continuous acts of kindness so that the heart is strengthened by compassion and giving.
(Majjhima Nikaya)

Love

A mother, even at the risk of her own life, protects her child, her only child. In the same way should you cultivate love without measure toward all beings. You should cultivate toward the whole world – above, below, around – a heart of love unstinted, unmixed with any sense of differing or opposing interests. You should maintain this mindfulness all the time you are awake. Such a state of heart is the best in the world.
(Majjhima Nikaya)

Compassion

”Compassion is truth, and it is not a delusion. If someone asks, ‘What is the source of all good roots?’ the answer is ‘compassion’.
...

Those who do good are true thinkers, and true thought is compassion…
Compassion is the Enlightened Being. Good people, compassion is the way of truth.
The way of truth is the Enlightened Being, and the Enlightened Being is compassion…
Good people, compassion is the inconceivable realm of all buddhas, and the inconceivable realm of all buddhas is compassion. One who knows compassion is an Enlightened Being.
Compassion is the Buddha nature of all sentient beings.”

(the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, quoted freely from “Describing the Indescribable: A Commentary on the Diamond Sutra” by Master Hsing Yun.)

Loving-kindness

Of all the ways you can think of, none has a sixteenth part of the value of loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is a freedom of the heart which takes in all the ways. It is luminous, shining, blazing forth.
Just as the stars have not a sixteenth part of the moon’s brilliance, which absorbs them all in its shining light, so loving-kindness absorbs all the other ways with its lustrous splendour.
Just as when the rainy season ends and the sun rises up into the clear and cloudless sky, banishing all the dark in its radiant light, and just as at the end of a black night the morning star shines out in glory, so none of the ways you can use to further your spiritual progress has a sixteenth part of the value of loving-kindness. For it absorbs them all, its luminosity shining forth.
(Itivuttaka Sutta)

Merry Christmas!





Maitri

Asiaprod wrote:

Indeed yes, thank you both:)
Nice quotes Maitri, thanks.

You're welcome, Asiaprod!:)

Here's another interesting one that I've come across lately:

Passing wonders

"There are people who suffer but do not understand why. They don’t know how the suffering arose or when it will end or how to get to that end.
They have not understood that grasping is one of the causes of suffering. People grasp at circumstances, they attach themselves. But often this results in a new misery. They grasp things out of ignorance because they are confused and muddled, and thus they wander endlessly on. If they could stop acting on impulse, could walk toward knowledge, and could let go of grasping, they would not go on suffering.

Contact, the point where the senses meet the object, is enthralling for some people. It is so exciting and gripping that they are washed by tides of desire and drift along a pointless road. But whether the sensation is pleasant or unpleasant or merely neutral, it should always be remembered that it’s a fragile experience and one should see its beginning and end. That is the way to help one to loosen one’s grasp.

All the delightful things of the world – sweet sounds, lovely forms, all the pleasant tastes and touches and thoughts – these are all agreed to bring happiness if they are not grasped and possessed.
But if you regard them merely as pleasures for your own use and satisfaction and do not see them as passing wonders, they will bring suffering.
Be aware of this paradox, for if you are blind to the way things are you will not be able to make out anything, even though you might be right on top of it.

The teaching about the way things are is not a way to enlightenment for someone who is still filled with desires or who still longs to be this or that. But those who understand it will become beings of distinction, dispersing all the forces of confusion."

- Sutta Nipata
(quoted from “The Pocket Buddha Reader”, ed. Anne Bancroft.)


I especially like this part:

All the delightful things of the world – sweet sounds, lovely forms, all the pleasant tastes and touches and thoughts – these are all agreed to bring happiness if they are not grasped and possessed.
But if you regard them merely as pleasures for your own use and satisfaction and do not see them as passing wonders, they will bring suffering.

This quote doesn't deny that things of the world are delightful and can bring happiness but it states that when they are "grasped and possessed" they bring suffering.
I also like the idea of seeing things as "passing wonders".