Tricycle Daily Dharma July 7, 2013

Distinguishing Genuine Dharma We reassure ourselves that the changes we’ve made in Buddhism are all for the best—that Buddhism has always adapted itself to every culture it enters, and we can trust it to adapt wisely to the West. But this treats Buddhism as if it were a conscious agent—a wise amoebic force that knows how to adapt to its environment in order to survive. Actually, Buddhism isn’t an agent, and it doesn’t adapt. It gets adapted—sometimes by people who know what they’re doing, sometimes by people who don’t. Just because a particular adaptation survives and prevails doesn’t mean that it’s genuine dharma. It may simply appeal to the desires and fears of its target audience. - Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “Lost in Quotation”

Tricycle Daily Dharma July 6, 2013

The Power of Presence Presence has no measurable product except positive feelings, feelings of support, intimacy, and happiness. When we stop being busy and productive and switch to just being still and aware, we ourselves will also feel support, intimacy, and happiness, even if no one else is around. - Jan Chozen Bays, “The Gift of Waiting”

Tricycle Daily Dharma July 5, 2013

A Healthy Dissatisfaction A sense of dissatisfaction is regarded as an essential prerequisite for progress on the Buddhist path. Far from seeking to become somehow 'nonjudgmental,' the meditator is instructed to judge all the objects of ordinary experience as scarred by three marks: impermanence, suffering, and no self. - Donald S. Lopez, “The Scientific Buddha”

Tricycle Daily Dharma July 4, 2013

Happy Interdependence Day As we open and empty ourselves, we come to experience an interconnectedness, the realization that all things are joined and conditioned in an interdependent arising. Each experience and event contains all others. - Jack Kornfield, "No Self or True Self?"

Tricycle Daily Dharma July 3, 2013

Warrior Mind Fear diminishes me, makes me no bigger than that part of me which fears. Fearful, I am too small to contain thought, too small to hold real compassion. Protecting myself, I will hurt others. - Sallie Tisdale, "Warrior Mind"

Tricycle Daily Dharma July 2, 2013

What are you mindful of? If ‘mindfulness’ is to create genuine change in our society, it must involve being mindful of more than just our own need for comfort, good health, or serenity. It must entail being mindful of the social and economic forces that allow some to prosper while others struggle, forces that promote and perpetuate certain behaviors and thought patterns while discouraging or suppressing others. - Richard Eskow, “Buying Wisdom"

Tricycle Daily Dharma July 1, 2013

The Continuity of Thought People are often careless about the thoughts they give rise to, assuming that once they forget about a thought, that thought is finished. This is not true. Once you give rise to a thought, it keeps functioning, and eventually its consequences return to you. - Daehaeng Kun Sunim, "Thinking Big"