Index

A Precious Human Life

Everyday, Think as you wake up, Today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious Human Life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, To expand my heart out to others, To achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry, or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as i can.

The Dalai Lama

Buddha

The Buddha once summarised his entire teachings in one beautiful sentence: I teach about suffering and the way to end it.

Avatamsaka Sutra

The supreme and endless blessings of Samantabhadra’s deeds, I now universally transfer. May every living being, drowning and adrift, Soon return to the Land of Limitless Light!

Western Buddhism

Choosing your spiritual path

My toughts

Reasoning when selecting a school, guru or master is at most important. Mixing lineages and trying out different techniques at the same time doesn't serve you well and may confuse you. It's clear to me that many westerners try to achieve the path to enlightenment. However, that path should be a steady one, should not be a confusing one and it's lineage should be carefully selected based om what you think and feel. Enlightenment is not something you can reach in a day, a week or a month. It can only be achieved by study, reflection, meditation and adjusting your lifestyle.

Sogyal Rinpoche

Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

The most important thing is not to get trapped in what I see everywhere in the West, a shopping mentality. Shopping around from master to master, teaching to teaching, without any continuity or real, sustained dedication to any one discipline. Nearly all the great spiritual masters of all traditions agree that the essential thing is to master one way, one path to the truth, by following one tradition with all your heart and mind to the end of the spiritual journey, while remaining open and respectful towards the insights of all others.

The modern faddish idea that we can always keep all our options open and so never need commit ourselves to anything is one of the greatest and most dangerous delusions of our culture, and one of the ego's most effective ways of sabotaging our spiritual search.

Ayya Khema

When the Iron Eagle Flies

"Few people are capable of wholehearted commitment, and that is why so few people experience a real transformation through their spiritual practice. It is a matter of giving up our own viewpoints, of letting go of opinions and preconceived ideas, and instead following the Buddha's guidelines. Although this sounds simple, in practice most people find it extremely difficult. Their ingrained viewpoints, based on deductions derived from cultural and social norms, are in the way.

We must also remember that heart and mind need to work together. If we understand something rationally but don't love it, there is no completeness for us, no fulfillment. If we love something but don't understand it, the same applies. If we have a relationship with another person, and we love the person but don't understand him or her, the relationship is incomplete; if we understand that person but don't love him or her, it is equally unfulfilling. How much more so on our spiritual path. We have to understand the meaning of the teaching and also love it. In the beginning our understanding will only be partial, so our love has to be even greater."

Dalai Lama

The Path to Enlightenment

Three qualities enable people to understand the teachings: objectivity, which means an open mind; intelligence, which is the critical faculty to discern the real meaning by checking the teachings of Buddha; and interest and commitment, which means enthusiasm.

Reason well from the beginning and then there will never be any need to look back with confusion and doubt.