Tricycle Daily Dharma September 5, 2012 ~ Accessing Joy

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 5, 2012

Accessing Joy

Whether we are paying careful attention to wholesome states when they arise, reflecting on gratitude, or feeling the delight of living with integrity (which the Buddha called 'the bliss of blamelessness'), we can access joy by shifting the focus of our awareness to what uplifts the heart.
 

- James Baraz, "Lighten Up!"

DAILY BUDDHIST WISDOM ~ 9/4/2012

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Having applied himself to what was not his own task, and not having applied himself to what was, having disregarded the goal to grasp at what he held dear, he now envies those who kept after themselves, took themselves to task. - Dhammapada, 16, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 4, 2012 ~ Be Who You Are

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 4, 2012

Be Who You Are

Don’t try to do anything at all except what you’re doing, which will seem like nothing to most observers. Little do they know! Even if what you’re doing is being distracted and hating sitting on your cushion accomplishing nothing—just do that. Don’t try to be anything other than who and what you are.
 

- Brad Warner, "How to Not Waste Time"

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 3, 2012 ~ No-working is True Working

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 3, 2012

No-working is True Working

The idea of naturalness is that no-working is true working. It’s the understanding that things don’t happen due to your own calculation and effort. You don’t sit there thinking, 'All right now, if I’m able to follow the eightfold path and do everything the right way, then I will attain awakening.' That’s your own deluded, ego-based effort. I did this, I am able to do that—the moment you start thinking that way, your ego mind comes into play. Yet when the karmic conditions are right, when your causes and conditions come together, you can progress along the path.
 

- Reverend Patricia Kanaya Usuki, "The Great Compassion"

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 2, 2012 ~ Fundamental Well-Being

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 2, 2012

Fundamental Well-Being

We need to see the primordial potential in all of our experiences in the same way a doctor sees the health and well-being in his patients. If a patient didn’t possess a fundamental well-being, what would be the point of prescribing such antidotes as medicines, exercise, or new diets?
 

- Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, "Free Expression"

DAILY BUDDHIST WISDOM ~ 9/1/2012

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Tibetan lamas often say: "Not seeing is the perfect seeing." Strange words, perhaps, but they have a profound meaning. They describe the advanced meditator's experience of spacious, universal reality, the experience beyond dualism. - Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Introduction to Tantra"

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 1, 2012 ~ Accepting Thoughts

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 1, 2012

Accepting Thoughts

Don’t feel disturbed by the thinking mind. You are not practicing to prevent thinking, but rather to recognize and acknowledge thinking whenever it arises.
 

- Sayadaw U Tejaniya, "Observing Minds Want to Know"