Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/30/2005

If you don't disturb yourself, like a broken gong does not vibrate, then you have achieved nirvana. Irritability no longer exists for you.
~Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/29/2005

All fear violence, all are afraid of death. Seeing the similarity to oneself, one should not use violence or have it used.
~Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/28/2005

If there is no wound on one's hand, one can handle poison. Poison has no effect where there is no wound. There is no evil for the non- doer.
~Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/27/2005

One should avoid evil like a merchant with much goods and only a small escort avoids a dangerous road, and like a man who loves life avoids poison.
~Gautama Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/26/2005

Do not think lightly of evil that not the least consequence will come of it. A whole waterpot will fill up from dripping drops of water. A fool fills himself with evil, just a little at a time.
~Gautama Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/25/2005

Be urgent in good; hold your thoughts off evil. When one is slack in doing good the mind delights in evil.
~Gautama Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/24/2005

Though one were to live a hundred years without wisdom and with a mind unstilled by meditation, the life of a single day is better if one is wise and practices meditation.

~Shakyamuni Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/23/2005

Better than a thousand pointless words is one word saying to the point, which upon hearing one finds peace.
~Shakyamuni Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/22/2005

The Secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

~Shakyamuni Buddha

A Buddhist Christmas Story

A Christmas Story from the Lotus Sutra
One time a young man inherited 4 farms form his father. He also married his childhood sweetheart. He celebrated his good fortune by building a great house with servants and many rooms.
As the children were born the man bought many toys. He filled the children's rooms with toys of many colors and sizes. The children loved to play for hours in their nursery.
One day a fire broke our in the house. The father shout, "Run everybody." Naturally he expected his children to run out of the house with them. But they didn't follow the mother and father outside to safety. The parents called and called to the children, but they did not want to leave their wonderful toys. A neighbor who had come to help out with the fire suggested that they lure the children outside with more new toys. "But we don't have any," said the father. "We'll just make them up," suggested the tear faced mother as the flames grew hotter and hotter.
"Come on out," shouted the father and mother together. "We have horses, carts, jumping frogs, mechanical dolls, bows and even a monkey."
The children left the burning house and their beloved toys to see the new ones and thus were saved. When the smoke cleared from their eyes they saw the house destroyed. They also noticed that there were really no new toys to be seen at all. For the first time in their lives they knew what it was to have nothing and be very grateful indeed.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/21/2005

Those who really seek the path to enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. They then proceed with strong determination.
~Shakyamuni Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/20/2005

The no-mind not-thinks no-thoughts about no-things.
~Shakyamuni Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/19/2005

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
~Shakyamuni Buddha

Tenacity & A Strong Will to Live ...

An interesting story from Yahoo News ...

Radish in intensive care after murder attempt
Thu Nov 17,11:18 AM ET
A giant white radish that won the hearts of a Japanese town by valiantly growing through the urban asphalt was in intensive care at a town hall in western Japan on Thursday after being slashed by an unknown assailant.

The "daikon" radish, shaped like a giant carrot, first made the news months ago when it was noticed poking up through asphalt along a roadside in the town of Aioi, population 33,289.

This week local residents, who had nicknamed the vegetable "Gutsy Radish," were shocked -- and in some cases moved to tears -- when they found it had been decapitated.

TV talk shows seized on the attempted murder of the popular vegetable and a day later, the top half of the radish was found near the site where it had been growing.

A town official said Thursday the top of the severed radish had been placed in water to try to keep it alive and possibly get it to flower.

Asked why the radish -- more often found on Japanese dinner tables as a garnish, pickle or in "oden" stew -- had so many fans, town spokesman Jiro Matsuo said: "People discouraged by tough times were cheered by its tenacity and strong will to live."

The little radish that could ...

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/18/2005

Wisdom is often times nearer when we stoop, than when we soar.
~William Wordsworth

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/17/2005

If you seek, how is that different from pursuing sound and form? If you don't seek, how are you different from earth, wood or stone? You must seek without seeking.

~Fo-Yan

Meditate on This: Buddhist Tradition Thickens Parts of the Brain

Meditation alters brain patterns in ways that are likely permanent, scientists have known. But a new study shows key parts of the brain actually get thicker through the practice.
Brain imaging of regular working folks who meditate regularly revealed increased thickness in cortical regions related to sensory, auditory and visual perception, as well as internal perception -- the automatic monitoring of heart rate or breathing, for example.
The study also indicates that regular meditation may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex.
"What is most fascinating to me is the suggestion that meditation practice can change anyone's gray matter," said study team member Jeremy Gray, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale. "The study participants were people with jobs and families. They just meditated on average 40 minutes each day, you don't have to be a monk."
The research was led by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital. It is detailed in the November issue of the journal NeuroReport.
The study involved a small number of people, just 20. All had extensive training in Buddhist Insight meditation. But the researchers say the results are significant.
Most of the brain regions identified to be changed through meditation were found in the right hemisphere, which is essential for sustaining attention. And attention is the focus of the meditation.
Other forms of yoga and meditation likely have a similar impact on brain structure, the researchers speculate, but each tradition probably has a slightly different pattern of cortical thickening based on the specific mental exercises involved.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/16/2005

Let us dig our gardens and not be elsewhere: Let us take long walks in the open air... Let us bathe in the rivers and lakes... Let us indulge in games... Let us be more simple: simple and true in our minds above all. Let us be ourselves.

~Robert Linssen

"Inquire Within" Featured on MeditateNYC Blog

BigHappyBuddha was featured on Meditate NYC's Blog (New York City) recently for one of our online retail store's most popular t-shirts, "Inquire Within". You can check out the post and blog here.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/15/2005

Reconciliation is to understand both sides; to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side, and then go to the other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side.

~Thich Nhat Hahn

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/14/2005

Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes, it obstructs your vision.

~Hsi-Tang

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/13/2005

Clear mind is like the full moon in the sky. Sometimes clouds come and cover it, but the moon is always behind them. Clouds go away, then the moon shines brightly. So don't worry about clear mind: it is always there. When thinking comes, behind it is clear mind. When thinking goes, there is only clear mind. Thinking comes and goes, comes and goes, You must not be attached to the coming or the going.

~Zen Master Seung Sahn

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/12/2005

We're all in this together - by ourselves.

~Lily Tomlin

Buddhist Master Rinpoche makes quiet arrival in Frisco

BY ANDREW TOLVE
summit daily news

FRISCO - When Ringu Tulku Rinpoche was a young child, the Buddhist Master was forced to flee the Chinese cultural revolution in Tibet. He and his family embarked on a perilous two-year journey, one that would lead the exiles away from the Himalayan high country toward safety in India.

Rinpoche was only three years old at the time.

This is hardly the type of traumatic adolescence that most people (including those in Summit) can reflect upon. But then again, nothing about Rinpoche's life has been ordinary, even the years before his exile in the 1950s.

As an infant, Rinpoche had been extremely sick, so much so that his uncle took him to see the local lama. When Rinpoche recovered to good health, the lama ordained that the child should become a monk. In the years that followed in India, Rinpoche studied with Buddhist teachers of the highest order. He received his formal education at Namgyal Institute of Tibetology and, upon graduation, began a 17-year tenure as professor of Tibetology in Sikkim.

More recently, the Buddhist Master has taught around the globe, offering advice at more than 50 universities in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia and Asia. In addition, he has published numerous books on Buddhism (both for children and adults) and has served as a teacher for many Western students, including Michael Gregory, founder of the Summit Dharma Center.

In June, after 50 years of exile, Rinpoche finally returned to his home of Rigul, Tibet.

I asked Rinpoche several questions in anticipation of his talk in Frisco tonight.



QIt seems that the search for a sense of home brings a lot of locals to Summit. How did returning to Tibet after so many years away change your perception of home?

A"My home is where my heart is and my heart is where there are people I love. So I feel at home in Tibet as well as in Summit County."



QWhat is it about Buddhism that makes it resonate with people of the Western Culture?

A"Buddhism teaches you to be in touch with your inner most nature. I think therefore it resonates with people of East as well as West. The cultures and traditions are not a barrier to it."



QHow do you view our local activities, sports like skiing or snowboarding? What positive influence can they have in people's lives? Have they had any in yours?

A"I only did frozen yak dung snowboarding when I was a child in Tibet. I remember the joy and excitement. I think it keeps people fit and happy. Isn't that good enough?"



Andrew Tolve can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 13629, or at atolve@summitdaily.com

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/11/2005

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

~Dogen

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/10/2005

If you live the sacred and despise the ordinary, you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion.

~Lin-Chi

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/9/2005

The mind, the Buddha, living creatures - these are not three different things.

~Avatamasaka Sutra

My new Sun Coral beginning to open!

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/8/2005

People in the West are always getting ready to live.

~Chinese Proverb

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/7/2005

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

~Shunryu Suzuki

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/6/2005

Since everything is but an apparition, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter.

~Longchenpa(14th century Tibet)

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/5/2005

Thus we see that the all-important thing is not killing or giving life, drinking or not drinking, living in the town or the country, being lucky or unlucky, winning or losing. It is how we win, how we lose, how we live or die; finally, how we choose. We walk, and our religion is shown (even to the dullest and most insensitive person), in how we walk. Living in this world means choosing, and the way we choose to walk is infallibly and perfectly expressed in the walk itself.

~R. H. Blyth

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/4/2005

Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes, it obstructs your vision.

~Hsi-Tang

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/3/2005

View all problems as challenges. Look upon negativities that arise as opportunities to learn and to grow. Don't run from them, condemn yourself, or bury your burden in saintly silence. You have a problem? Great. More grist for the mill. Rejoice, dive in, and investigate.

~Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

A Simple Maxim

"Reality is merely an agreement."

~George Robinson

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/2/2005

The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change so that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger but in wisdom, understanding and love.

~Jennifer Edwards

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/1/2005

So, the tendency of our childish nature is to take small things too seriously and get easily offended, whereas when we are confronted with situations which have long-term consequences, we tend to take things less seriously.

~His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama