Tricycle Daily Dharma November 30, 2012

Great Compassion The virtues of great compassion are infinite; they could be expounded upon forever without exhausting them, but it boils down to this: Whoever has great compassion can extinguish all obstructions caused by past actions and can fulfill all virtues; no principle cannot be understood, no path cannot be practiced, no knowledge not attained, no virtue not developed. - Zen Master Torei, "Great Compassion"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 29, 2012

Freedom of Heart Sometimes suffering comes through clinging to certain emotional pain or certain stories; sometimes through not recognizing emptiness, the evanescence of life, that nothing can be claimed as I or mine. The point of dharma practice is to pay attention to where there is suffering, see the clinging and identification, and release it to find a freedom of heart. - Jack Kornfield, "The Sure Heart’s Release"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 28, 2012

A Radical Challenge The Buddha presented a radical challenge to the way we see the world, both the world that was seen two millennia ago and the world that is seen today. What he taught is not different, it is not an alternative, it is the opposite. That the path that we think will lead us to happiness leads instead to sorrow. That what we believe is true is instead false. That what we imagine to be real is unreal. A certain value lies in remembering that challenge from time to time. - Donald S. Lopez, "The Scientific Buddha"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 27, 2012

An Honest, Enlightened Society Enlightened society is not an idealized environment. It's an environment that actually accepts the imperfections of humanity and encourages you to open your heart and mind and work with other people and situations as they are. Enlightened society is one in which, as you make friends with yourself, your communication with other people gets clearer, more direct, more honest. - Pema Chödrön, "No Place to Hide"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 26, 2012

The Necessity of Love There is no denying that consideration of others is worthwhile. There is no denying that our happiness is inextricably bound up with the happiness of others. There is no denying that if society suffers, we ourselves suffer. Nor is there any denying that the more our hearts and minds are afflicted with ill-will, the more miserable we become. Thus we can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion. - H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Consider Yourself a Tourist"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 25, 2012

Shedding Self-Protective Clinging Too often Buddhist 'nonattachment' is misconstrued as 'non-loving.' The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to 'renounce' our families or community, but to shed habits of self-protective clinging that prevent us from loving them more unconditionally, powerfully, enjoyably. - Lama John Makransky, "Family Practice"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 24, 2012

Chores in a New Light Cleaning the bathroom or chopping the onions is no less important than sitting in deep meditation. Grasping this and acting on it is called waking up. - Janet Jiryu Abels, "Participate Fully"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 23, 2012

Spiritual Consumerism Spiritual experience and goods can certainly reinforce a consuming mind, too, and it is no surprise to see this happening in a consumer culture. Marketers are successfully targeting spiritual consumers as a market niche and figuring out exactly what fulfills their self-centered yearnings. How many of these products are necessary for spiritual enlightenment? Probably not one. - Stephanie Kaza, "Ego in the Shopping Cart"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving! The Buddha encouraged us to think of the good things done for us by our parents, by our teachers, friends, whomever; and to do this intentionally, to cultivate it, rather than just letting it happen accidentally. - Ajahn Sumedho, "The Gift of Gratitude"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 21, 2012

The Foundation of Generosity Gratitude, the simple and profound feeling of being thankful, is the foundation of all generosity. I am generous when I believe that right now, right here, in this form and this place, I am myself being given what I need. Generosity requires that we relinquish something, and this is impossible if we are not glad for what we have. - Sallie Jiko Tisdale, "As If There is Nothing to Lose"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 17, 2012

Complete Practice When people talk about practicing the buddhadharma, I think they sometimes fail to realize that the buddhadharma is a comprehensive religious system. It doesn’t just mean sitting on your meditation cushion and focusing on your breath. Buddhism is a practice for your whole life. - Charles Prebish, "Pursuing an American Buddhism"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 16, 2012

Our Fundamental Goodness I’ve found that pointing people to their fundamental goodness will awaken it. It’s more skillful than pointing to the negative. We are so loyal to our suffering and to seeing ourselves as damaged that it’s very easy to use spiritual practice to reinforce our self-judgment. That doesn’t help people become liberated. - Jack Kornfield, "The Wise Heart"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 15, 2012

The Real Meaning of Mindfulness When mindfulness is equated with bare attention, it can easily lead to the misconception that the cultivation of mindfulness has nothing to do with ethics or with the cultivation of wholesome states of mind and the attenuation of unwholesome states. Nothing could be further from the truth. - B. Alan Wallace, "A Mindful Balance"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 14, 2012

Take A Moment As an experiment, the next time you are doing an errand, stuck in traffic, or standing in line at the supermarket, instead of being preoccupied with where you’re going or what needs to be done, take a moment to simply send loving wishes to all those around you. Often, there is an immediate and very remarkable shift as we feel more connected and more present. - Joseph Goldstein, "Triumph of the Heart"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 13, 2012

Frustration as Insight An exasperating lack of concentration, devotion, or inspiration might be just what you need to make the extra effort to tune in to your practice fully. Alternatively, of course, it may topple you in the other direction and stop you practicing altogether—a temptation you must resist at all costs. Always remember, though, that frustration with your spiritual path is often an indication that you are becoming a genuine dharma practitioner. - Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, "Tortoise Steps"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 12, 2012

Being In Touch You cannot achieve enlightenment by locking yourself in your room. Transformation is possible only when you are in touch. - Thich Nhat Hanh, "The Fertile Soil of Sangha"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 11, 2012

A Life Informed by Death If we really faced our fear of death, our lives would ultimately be lighter and more joyful. I don't propose death awareness to depress us. It enhances our ability to live more fully. - Larry Rosenberg, "Only the Practice of Dharma Can Help Us at the Time of Death"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 10, 2012

The Reverence of Attention You come to learn, you’re asking to be taught, and what you give is your attention. That can include asking skeptical questions, intellectual questions, any kind of questions. Devotion and reverence don’t necessarily depend on bows and accolades. - Lama Surya Das, "Old Wine, New Bottles"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 9, 2012

The Meaning of Dharma First, one must get to know oneself. Then, having become familiar with oneself, one can live one’s life more deeply. Living one’s life more deeply is the meaning of dharma. - Ogyen Trinley Dorje, "Intelligence & Investigation"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 7, 2012

Simply Listening 'Simply listening' seems to be better for whomever I’m talking with. They feel fully heard without being judged. Better connections tend to flow naturally. The irony is, when we don’t need things to be better than they are, they tend to end up that way. - Marshall Glickman, "Talk Like a Buddha"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 6, 2012

Election Day Voting is a manifestation of the law of interdependence: Each of our actions, no matter how small, affects the whole cosmos. Our votes count. - Susan Moon, "Ten Practices to Change the World"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 5, 2012

Politics on the Path One way to read the injunction for Right Conduct, an essential part of the Eightfold Path, is to see it as calling us—as citizens—to translate the dharma into specific acts of social responsibility. In a democratic republic, that surely means voting for those initiatives that we believe will reduce suffering and violence, ignorance and hatred—and the very divisions fueled by politics itself. - Charles Johnson, "Accepting the Invitation"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 4, 2012

Feeling Our Dependency If we let ourselves feel more and more, paradoxically, we get less controlling and less reactive. As long as we think we shouldn’t feel something, as long as we are afraid of feeling vulnerable, our defenses will kick in to try to get life under control, to manipulate ourselves or other people. But instead of either controlling or sequestering our feelings, we can learn to both contain and feel them fully. That containment allows us to feel vulnerable or hurt without immediately erupting into anger; it allows us to feel neediness without clinging to the other person. We acknowledge our dependency. - Barry Magin, "No Gain"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 3, 2012

The Energy of Practice I used to think that to become free you had to practice like a samurai warrior, but now I understand that you have to practice like a devoted mother of a newborn child. It takes the same energy but has a completely different quality. It's compassion and presence rather than having to defeat the enemy in battle. - Jack Kornfield, "The Question"

DAILY BUDDHIST WISDOM ~ Extra

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	To be attached to one's own happiness is a barrier to the true and perfect path. To cherish others is the source of every admirable quality. - Tsongkhapa, "The Splendor of an Autumn Moon"

DAILY BUDDHIST WISDOM ~ 11/2/2012

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Buddhas teachings are so simple and straightforward. If you find them complicated, it is only because you have made them so. You may think, I have a Ph.D. and have amassed all this knowledge, yet I still cant figure out how to begin practicing Dharma. The remedy is to take a good look at your own mind. - Lama Thubten Yeshe, in "Wisdom Energy"

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 2, 2012

Nothing Happens Without a Cause Nothing happens without a cause. Things are the way they are not because of chance or the will of a deity but because people have acted in particular ways and generated particular consequences. The world we inhabit is the product of our actions, which are themselves reflections of our minds. - Andrew Olendzki, "Medicine for the World"