A person may not be called a Buddhist, but he can be more Buddhist than a person who is. Buddhism is made of mindfulness, concentration, and insight. If you have these things, you are a Buddhist. If you don’t, you aren’t a Buddhist. - Thich Nhat Hanh
A lot of people think Buddhism is all about sitting in silence and finding inner wisdom. When you start practicing Buddhism, it’s easy to carry that stereotype onto your spiritual path. But any teacher will tell you: At some point on the path, it’s important to balance your practice with cold, hard study.
The Buddha stressed the importance of studying — and even memorizing — Buddhist teachings. - Sam Littlefair For me the act of meditation is the act of clearing and calming my mind. I am not in a monastery. I am a contemporary man living a full life, and Zen is part of my life, not a replacement for it. - Chuck Norris
Put on an ever-smiling countenance.
Do not move furniture and chairs noisily. Do not open doors with violence. Take pleasure in the practice of humility. Always strive to learn from everyone. Speak with moderation, gently. Express yourself with modesty. From Shantideva, Buddhist master connected with Nalanda, an ancient Buddhist University in Northern India. Shantideva lived and wrote in the 8th century and is author of Way of The Bodhisattva from which this list has been compiled. His address was to the male monks studying at Nalanda. Self-attachment or egocentricity means seeing and thinking about things in reverse order, being bound to a rigid way of thinking. It is a sign of an impoverished spirit. - Nichiko Niwano
.This question was asked of Thich Nhat Hanh by Andrea Miller, associate editor of Lion's Roar magazine. Here's how he answered:
Don’t do it anymore. Really? (Andres Miller's surprise response) Yes, yes. If you don’t find it pleasant to sit, don’t sit. You have to learn the correct spirit of sitting. If you make a lot of effort when you sit, you become tense and that creates pain all over your body. Sitting should be pleasant. When you turn on the television in your living room, you can sit for hours without suffering. Yet when you sit for meditation, you suffer. Why? Because you struggle. You want to succeed in your meditation, and so you fight. When you are watching television you don’t fight. You have to learn how to sit without fighting. If you know how to sit like that, sitting is very pleasant.... The problem isn’t to sit or not to sit, but how to sit. How to sit so that you can make the most of it — otherwise you’re wasting your time. In the teachings of the Buddha, ease and joy are elements of enlightenment. In life, there’s a lot of suffering. Why do you have to suffer more practicing Buddhism? You practice Buddhism in order to suffer less, right? The Buddha is a happy person. When the Buddha sits, he sits happily, and when he walks, he walks happily. Why do I want to do it differently from the Buddha? Some people think that one can become a Buddha through meditation. This is wrong. The potential for Buddhahood is withing your own nature. - Sheng Yen
In its deepest sense, ahimsa means the absence of even the urge to kill or harm. Such a compassionate response is said to arise naturally out of a broadly felt connection to other beings. - Stephanie Kaza
Belief in nonviolence and protection of the environment should encourage one to stop supporting businesses that keep animals confined. Those who desire to observe and learn about nature should instead support the numerous alternatives consistent with ahimsa. Rather than going where animals are confined, families can visit a national park, take a boat ride and whale watch, go on a safari or scuba dive. - Ravi Grover
Ahimsa is a Hindu ideal that calls for vegetarianism and being kind to all living beings. - Ravi Grover |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
July 2024
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