Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration 2/28/2006

The Buddha once summarised his entire teachings in one sentence:

"I teach about suffering and the way to end it".

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/27/2006

Kindly let the power of your compassion arise, To quickly stem the flow of blood and tears. Those unrelentingly cruel ones, objects of compassion, Maddened by delusion's evils, wantonly destroy themselves and others; May they achieve the eye of wisdom, knowing what must be done and undone, And abide in the glory of friendship and love. May this heartfelt wish of total freedom for all Tibet, Which has been awaited for a long time, be spontaneously fulfilled; Please grant soon the good fortune to enjoy The happy celebration of spiritual with temporal rule.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/26/2006

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~Buddha

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/25/2006

Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/24/2006

May all beings be filled with joy and peace. May all beings everywhere, The strong and the weak, The great and the small, The mean and the powerful, The short and the long, the subtle and the gross: May all beings everywhere, Seen and unseen, Dwelling far off or nearby, Being or waiting to become: May all be filled with lasting joy. Let no one deceive another,

Let no one anywhere despise another, Let no one out of anger or resentment Wish suffering on anyone at all. Just as a mother with her own life Protects her child, her only child, from harm, So within yourself let grow A boundless love for all creatures.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/23/2006

By the power and the truth of this practice, may all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness. May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow. May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless. And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion, And live believing in the equality of all that lives.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/22/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE TORE-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were never separated
TAR-PEY DE-WA DAMPA-DANG MA DREL-NA CHI-MA- RUNG - From the sublime happiness of release and the happiness of higher rebirths!
MI-DREL-WAR GYUR-CHIG MI DREL-WAR DAG-GI CHA- WO - May they not be separated from these; I myself will make them not be separated from these.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL - Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this.
This prayer (The 4 Immeasurables) is also called The Heart of Enlightenment.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/21/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE DUG-NGEL-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were released from suffering!
DUG-NGEL-GYI GYU-DANG DREL-NA CHI-MA-RUNG - And the cause of suffering. May they be released from suffering and its causes!
DREL-WAR GYUR-CHIG DREL-WAR DAG-GI CHA-WO - I myself will release them from suffering and its causes.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL - Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this. [The Limitless Joy Meditation.]

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/20/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE DE-WA-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings had happiness and
DE-WAY GYU-DANG DEN-NA CHI-MA-RUNG - the cause of happiness! May they have happiness and its cause.
DEN-PA GYUR-CHIG DEN-PA DAG-GI CHA-WO - I myself will make them have happiness and its cause.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL - Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this. [The Limitless Compassion Meditation.]

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/19/2006

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

SEM-CHEN TAM-CHE NYE-RING CHA-DANG-DANG - How wonderful it would be if all beings were in Equanimity.
DREL-WAI TANG-NYOM LA-NE-NA CHI-MA-RUNG - Free from attachment and hatred which keeps some beings close and others far!
NE-PA GYUR-CHIG, NE-PA DAG-GI CHA-WO - May they be in equanimity; I myself will make them be in equanimity.
DE-TAR CHE NU-PAR LAMA-LHA JIN-GYI LAB-TU-SOL Please, Guru Deities, bless me to be able to do this. [The Limitless Love Meditation.]

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/18/2006

OM MANI PADME HUM [Recite this mantra hundreds of times -- usually 108x, 111x or multiples. ]
May all the diseases, which sadden the minds of sentient beings, resulting from karma and temporary conditions such as harm due to spirits, from illnesses and the elements, not occur in the realms of the world.May whatever sufferings there are due to life- threatening diseases that, like a butcher leading a being to slaughter separate body from mind in a mere instant, not occur in the realms of the world.May all embodied beings not be harmed by acute, chronic, and other kinds [of illness] such as infectious diseases of which names the mere sound terrifies beings, as if they had been placed [directly] into the mouth of Yama, Lord of Death.May all embodied beings not be harmed by the 80,000 classes of malicious interferers, the 360 evil spirits that harm suddenly, the 424 diseases, and so on.May whatever sufferings there be due to disturbances of the four elements that deprive body and mind of every pleasure, be totally pacified, and may body and mind enjoy radiance and power and be endowed with long life, good health, and well-being.By the compassion of the Gurus and the Triple Gem, the power of the dakinis, Dharma protectors and guardians, and by the strength of the infallibility of karma and its results, may these many dedications and prayers be fulfilled as soon as they are made.

Eight Thoughts of a Great Person

Through the power of the compassionate Truth of the Supreme Refuges and through the root of virtuous action, and through pure noble meditation, may I alone, by my own efforts, dispel the sufferings, whatever they may be, of all beings, who pervade space.

Through the excellence of virtuous activity in this world and beyond it, may I fulfill the hopes and desires of beings just as they conceive them.

May my body, flesh, blood, skin, and all the rest of me benefit all sentient beings in appropriate ways.

May the sufferings of all beings, who all have been my mothers, dissolve into me; may my happiness and virtue be obtained by them.

As long as the world remains, may there not arise in my mind, even for an instant, the thought of harming others.

May I exert myself diligently in benefiting beings, not letting up for even a moment because of sadness or fatigue or anything similar.

May I be able to give effortlessly whatever enjoyment is desired to all beings who are thirsty and hungry and needy and poor.

May I take upon myself the great burdens, the difficult- to-bear sufferings of beings in hell and others, and may they be liberated.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/16/2006

Khyabje Dudjom's Best Wishes

DZAM LING CHI DANG YUL KHAM DI DAG TU,NED MUG TSHON SOK DUG NGAL MIG MI DRAG,CHÖ DAN SO NAM PAL JOR GONG DU PHEL ,TAG TU TASHI DE LEG PHUN TSHOG SHOG

At this very instance, for all people and nations of Earth,Let not even the words "disease," 'famine,""war" and "suffering" be heard,But may virtue, merit, wealth and plenty increase,And auspiciousness and well-being ever abound.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/15/2006

A Buddhist Grace: Dedicating Food Before Eating

Tounpa lamay sanjay rinpochay,Cheupa* lamay tamchu rinpochay,Drenpa lamay gendoun rinpochay,Chapni* kounchok sum la chu pa bul.

I offer this to the Teacher Higher than any other,I offer this to the Dharma Higher than any other,I offer this to the Sangha Higher than any other,I offer this to the abodes of refuge, The Three Jewels,rare and supreme.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/14/2006

"We habitually erect a barrier called blame that keeps us from communicating genuinely with others, and we fortify it with our concepts of who's right and who's wrong. We do that with the people who are closest to us and we do it with political systems, with all kinds of things that we don't like about our associates or our society. It is a very common, ancient, well-perfected device for trying to feel better. Blame others. Blaming is a way to protect your heart, trying to protect what is soft and open and tender in yourself. Rather than own that pain, we scramble to find some comfortable ground."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/13/2006

"Compassionate action starts with seeing yourself when you start to make yourself right and when you start to make yourself wrong. At that point you could just contemplate the fact that there is a larger alternative to either of those, a more tender, shaky kind of place where you could live."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/12/2006

"There's a reason you can learn from everything: you have basic wisdom, basic intelligence, and basic goodness."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/11/2006

" If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/10/2006

"We feel we're supposed to be better than we are in some way. But with this practice you take yourself completely as you are. Then ironically, taking in pain - breathing it in for yourself and all others in the same boat as you are - heightens your awareness of exactly where you're stuck."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/9/2006

"We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/8/2006

"When we start out on a spiritual path we often have ideals we think we're supposed to live up to."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/7/2006

"The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new."

~Pema Chodron

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/6/2006

"The Buddhist view holds that such states are afflictive because they distort our perception of reality and they create an inner disequilibrium."

Daniel Goleman

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/5/2006

"Right now, I'm following the Buddhist principle: Smile as abuse is hurled your way and this too shall pass."

Aishwarya Rai

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/4/2006

"Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life."

Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/3/2006

"Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule."

The Dhammapada

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/2/2006

"Life is dear to all. Comparing others with oneself, one should neither kill nor cause to kill."

The Dhammapada

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 2/1/2006

Buddhism and Democracy

20. I, for one, truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. As a Buddhist monk, I try to develop compassion myself - not just from a religious point of view, but from a humanitarian one as well. To encourage myself in this altruistic attitude, I sometimes find it helpful to imagine myself, a single individual, on one side and on the other a huge gathering of all other human beings. Then I ask myself, 'Whose interests are more important?' To me it is then quite clear that, however important I may feel, I am only one, while others form the majority.

His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama