Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/31/2007

Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/30/2007

Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/29/2007

The 7 factors of enlightenment: mindfullness, investigation of mental objects, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration and equanimity.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/28/2007

If we are too busy, if we are carried away every day by our projects, our uncertainty, our craving, how can we have the time to stop and look deeply into the situation-our own situation, the situation of our beloved one, the situation of our family and of our community, and the situation of our nation and of the other nations?

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration 1/27/2007

Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves. The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/26/2007

The Seven Factors of Awakening are mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, diligence, joy, ease, concentration, and letting go.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/25/2007

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/24/2007

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/23/2007

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/22/2007

Our own life is the instrument with which we experiment with the truth.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/21/2007

After one has been in a lowly position, one knows how dangerous it is to climb to a high place, Once one has been in the dark, one knows how revealing it is to go into the light. Having maintained quietude, one knows how tiring compulsive activity is. Having nurtured silence, one knows how disturbing much talk is.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/20/2007

When the rich and well-established, who should be generous, are instead spiteful and cruel, they make their behavior wretched and base in spite of their wealth and position. When the intellectually brilliant, who should be reserved, instead show off, they are ignorant and foolish in their weakness in spite of their brilliance.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/19/2007

Those who have come to an impasse should examine their original intentions; those who have succeeded should note where they are heading.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/18/2007

Think about food on a full stomach and you find you don't care about taste. Think of lust after making love, and you find you don't care about sex. Therefore, if people always reflect on the regret they will feel afterward to forestall folly at the moment, they will be stable and will not err in action.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/17/2007

Conceit and arrogance are acquired states of mind. Conquer acquired states of mind, and basic sanity can unfold. Passion and willfulness are part of false consciousness; erase false consciousness, and true consciousness will appear.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/16/2007

A grub in filth is dirty, but it changes into a cicada and sips dew in the autumn breeze. Rotting plants have no luster, but they turn into foxfire and glow in the summer moonlight. So we know that purity emerges from impurity, and light is born from darkness.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/15/2007

Don't be too severe in criticizing people's faults; consider how much they can bear. Don't be too lofty in enjoining virtue, so people may be able to follow.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/14/2007

There is a true Buddha in family life; there is a real Tao in everyday activities. If people can be sincere and harmonious, promoting communication with a cheerful demeanor and friendly words, that is much better than formal meditation practice.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/13/2007

Those who live simply are often pure, while those who live luxuriously may be slavish and servile. It seems that the will is clarified by plainness, while conduct is ruined by indulgence.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/12/2007

Blessings often give rise to injury, so be careful when things are going your way. Success may be achieved after failure, so don't just give up when you've been disappointed.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/11/2007

Late at night, when everyone is quiet, sit alone and gaze into the mind; then you notice illusion ending and reality appearing. You gain a great sense of potential in this every time. Once you have noticed reality appearing yet find that illusion is hard to escape, you also find yourself greatly humbled.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/10/2007

When you are constantly hearing offensive words and always have some irritating matter in mind, only then do you have a whetstone for character development. If you hear only what pleases you, and deal only with what thrills you, then you are burying your life in deadly poison.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/9/2007

People are considered pure of heart when they do not approach power and pomp; but those who can be near without being affected are the purest of all. People are considered high- minded when they do not know how to plot and contrive; but those who know how yet do not do so are the highest of all.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration 1/8/2007

When you are but slightly involved in the world, the effect the world has on you is also slight. When you are deeply enmeshed in affairs, you machinations also deepen. So for enlightened people simplicity is better than refinement, and freedom is better than punctiliousness.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/7/2007

"It isn't the things that happen to us in our lives that cause us to suffer, it's how we relate to the things that happen to us that causes us to suffer."

~Pema Chödrön

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/6/2007

Consciousness and perception range from shallow to deep. As for profound perceptions, they are pure through the ages. They are the basis to influence and cultivate mind from the first generation of the aspiration for enlightenment until the achievement of buddhahood without falling back.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/5/2007

The essence of mind is formless; This itself is the subtle body of reality. The essence of mind is inherently empty; This itself is the infinite body of space.

~Ta-chu (8th cent)

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/4/2006

Know the essence of mind. Its intrinsic essence is pure clarity. It is essentially the same as a Buddha. Know the functions of the mind. Its functions produce the treasure of teachings. When its activity is always silent, myriad illusions become suchness. Constantly be aware, without stopping. When the aware mind is present, it senses the formlessness of things. Constantly see your body as empty and quiet, inside and outside communing sameness. Plunge the body into the realm of reality, where there has never been any obstruction. Keep to unity without shifting. With constant presence, whether active or still, the student can see the Buddha nature clearly.

~Tao-hsin (580-651)

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/3/2007

To know that the one good is balance and yet not to reach balance, to know all phenomena are mind and yet not to understand mind; this is confusion. To know the matter of birth and death is serious and yet not to realize birthlessness, to know impermanence is swift and yet not to realize there is fundamentally no speed; this is confusion.

~Records of the Lanka

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/2/2007

The eternal is not born nor does it die. We confound appearance with Reality. Appearance carries its end in itself. What is it that appears anew? If you cannot find it, Surrender unreservedly to the Substratum of appearances; Then Reality will be what remains.

~Ramana Maharshi

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/1/2007

When one comes to the Essence of Being The shining Wisdom of Reality Illumines all like the cloudless sky.

~Milarepa