365 Buddha PA - Jeff Schmidt [24]
So lust breaks through an ill-trained mind.
Even as rain breaks not through a well-thatched house, So lust breaks not through a well-trained mind.
DHAMMAPADA 13-14
271.
Of the divine state of love the near enemy is lust, because, like love, it sees good qualities. It is like a foe lurking near a man. Quickly it finds access. Hence love should be well protected from lust. Ill-will is the distant enemy. From its dissimilarity in nature it is like a man’s foe dwelling in a mountain fastness, and so on. Hence love should be developed secure from ill-will. It is impossible that one should develop love and at the same time get angry.
BUDDHAGHOSA; VISUDDHIMAGGA 318-319
272.
The king said: ‘Nāgasena, is there any one who after death is not reindividualized [reborn]?’
‘Some are so, and some not.’
‘Who are they?’
‘A sinful being is reindividualized, a sinless one is not.’
‘Will you be reindividualized?’
‘If when I die, I die with craving for existence in my heart, yes; but if not, no.’
‘Very good, Nāgasena!’
MILINDAPAÑHA 32
273.
Negligence produces a lot of dirt. As in a house, so in the mind, only a very little dirt collects in a day or two, but if it goes on for many years, it will grow into a vast heap of refuse.
SUTTA NIPĀTA; COMMENTARY TO VERSE 334
274.
Once the sense of self is transcended, its polar opposite—the sense of something standing in contradistinction to a self—is transcended as well. . . . For a person who has attained the goal, experience occurs with no ‘subject’ or ‘object’ superimposed on it, no construing of experience or thing experienced. There is simply the experience in & of itself.
ṬHĀNISSARO BHIKKHU; MIND LIKE FIRE UNBOUND
275.
Because it lacks consciousness, I must admit that a word cannot praise me. Undoubtedly, the cause of my delight is that another is delighted with me.
But what does it matter to me whether another’s delight is in me or someone else? His alone is the pleasure of that delight. Not even a trifling part of it is mine.
ŚĀNTIDEVA; BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 6.94-6.95
276.
Nowhere!
Not in the sky,
Nor in the midst of the sea,
Nor deep in the mountains,
Can you hide from your own mischief.
Not in the sky,
Nor in the midst of the ocean,
Nor deep in the mountains,
Nowhere
Can you hide from your own death.
DHAMMAPADA 127-128
277.
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.
SHUNRYU SUZUKI; ZEN MIND, BEGINNER’S MIND
278.
You have always been one with the Buddha, so do not pretend you can ATTAIN to this oneness by various practices.
HUANG PO; ZEN TEACHING OF HUANG PO
279.
Is true contemplating the same as thinking?
We use thinking as a tool, but the knowing that arises because of its use is above and beyond the process of thinking; it leads to our not being fooled by our thinking any more. You recognize that all thinking is merely the movement of the mind, and also that the knowing is not born and doesn’t die. What do you think all this movement called ‘mind’ comes out of? What we talk about as the mind—all the activity—is just the conventional mind. It’s not the real mind at all. What is real just IS, it’s not arising and it’s not passing away.
AJAHN CHAH; SEEING THE WAY
280.
It is essential that you neither despise nor grasp for either the realm of activity or that of quietude, and that you continue your practice assiduously.
Frequently you may feel that you are getting nowhere with practice in the midst of activity, whereas the quietistic approach brings unexpected results. Yet rest assured that those who use the quietistic approach can never hope to enter into meditation in the midst of activity.
HAKUIN; ZEN MASTER HAKUIN
281.
Due to having many parts there is no unity,
There is not anything without parts.
Further, without one, there is not many.
Also, without existence there is no non-existence.
NĀGĀRJUNA; PRECIOUS GARLAND 71
282.
Turn away from mischief.
Again and again, turn away,
Before