Even were all gods and demigods to rise up against me as my enemies, they could not drag me and cast me into the blazing fire of the eternal hells. Yet this powerful enemy, my afflictions, can fling me instantly where even mighty Mount Meru would be crushed into dust upon contact.

-- Shantideva

A loving relationship between husband and wife can also become a catalyst for our Dharma practice. The caring that is shared between husband and wife is a kind of respect for life, a cherishing of life. Starting with this feeling of caring and loving, one should gradually extend it to the surrounding environment. In a story I have previously mentioned, there is a couple who is deeply in love. They have great love and respect each other. Because they have so much love for each other, even when the husband comes out to water flowers in the garden, he is emanating joy, and caring for the flowers with love. This is an example of how one can extend love and caring to a wider surrounding.

~17th Gyalwang Karmapa's Teachings -- “Living The Dharma”(1)

http://the17thkarmapa.blogspot.sg/2012/07/17th-gyalwang-karmapas-teachings-living.html

Whatever sensory experiences we go through, if we go through them with mindfulness and awareness, there is no limit to how far we can go. The limit is mindfulness and awareness. Even if we don’t enjoy the experience, that itself becomes a trip. The nonenjoyment becomes a cause of suffering. That’s why, if we don’t practice mindfulness and awareness, asceticism just becomes pain rather than a cause for liberation. That’s why Buddha said to forget about asceticism. That’s what Buddha did. He left asceticism, became very mindful in every step, and achieved enlightenment.

-- 7th Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

How could millions of blind men, with no one to lead them and not knowing the path, arrive at the city? In the same way, without wisdom, the five blind perfections, having no leader, cannot touch enlightenment.

-- Dignāga

There will come teachers who act as if they are me, though they are not. They will claim to be my tulkus, but dismantle my tradition. They deceive many with teachings of demonic and unknown entities. Nonhuman forces prop them up and promote their celebrity. Such teachers of erroneous paths cause the Dharma to decline. They don't practice (Dharma), but only talk and only intensify desire. They contradict what they teach and what they do, and indulge in corrupt activities. Without gaining any confidence, they are zealous to teach others. They lack any intention of benefiting others, but focus on self-interest. They lack moral discipline. Dharma will be left just as a shadow.

-- Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche

Painting about Tibetans

It is quite normal for us to look for answers when we are at a critical juncture in our lives. Time and time again, we seek answers with the wrong attitude. Instead of searching somewhere else for answers, we should look within to find our own capacities and to identify the destructive forces hidden inside us, because external conditions are simply not as important.

-- Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche

学佛需要掌握知识，因为学佛需要知识的工具。如果说：不学也能开悟，等于说，盲人照样可以看到美丽的景色。学佛的目的不是为了获得一身华丽的知识外衣，而掩盖不具正信灵魂的僵尸。

学佛首先要具备坚定不移的正信。在私利驱动下烧高香拜佛是唯利不净信，不弃邪见，不改恶行而表面上装作有信是欺诈信，安乐时不信，面临危机时‘抱佛脚’是投机取巧信，有利则信，无利不信是商人信，受邪见邪说的影响而动摇是不坚信，不具正信而半信半疑是无诚信。学佛是学做菩萨，学做佛。菩萨是无私利众，具有大慈大悲心的大英雄。所以佛殿称作“大雄宝殿”。佛不是虚构的创世造物主，也不是掌握生死大权的上帝。

佛是除尽一切世俗自私恶习，心灵呈现纯净光明的最高觉悟者。佛法指出的是一条人心变得高尚善良，充满光明粒子的光明大道。学佛就是走进这条佛菩萨走的大道。佛法的核心只有两条：即平等对待一切众生的大慈悲心和破除一切错见的大智慧。八万四千法，法法不离这二法。学佛的根本就是培养慈爱怜悯的慈悲心和开发自己心中潜在的聪明智慧 — 佛光。

-- 多识仁波切

What we call life is threatened by various things, just like a candle flickering in the wind. Life is as transient as bubbles in water. The distinction between life and death is only that of an inhalation and an exhalation. That we actually wake up every day should be a source of wonderment!

-- Nāgārjuna

1) 我们并不是在讨论藉由念咒、供香等方法从某处唤起的一个神圣的心，不是这样，佛教徒也不会相信是这样。佛教并不是一个有神论的道，佛教徒不相信一个独立存在于外在，并且决定我们生命的造物主。佛教根本的见地是，你自心的本性就是所谓的本善。你必须自己去发觉它。这就是我们所说的智慧。

-- 宗萨仁波切

2) 智慧並非神秘的、傳說般的能量，它的定義非常簡單：可以看見真相的能力。真相也非神秘的不可觸摸的能量。彌勒菩薩說過，無論佛是否來臨，真相都一直在那裡， ⋯一切無常的事物在佛來之前、來時和走了以後都一直保持無常。

-- 宗萨仁波切

As long as [mind] is not recognised, the wheel of existence turns. When this is understood, the state of Buddha is nothing other than that. There is nothing that can be described as either existing or not existing. May the nature of reality, the true nature of the Buddha mind, be recognised.

-- 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje

Happy Earth Day everyone. Please ponder about the message and act responsibly, Gaia is already sick so better not aggravate the situation further.

Whatever perceptions arise, you should be like a little child going into a beautifully decorated temple; he looks, but grasping does not enter into his perception at all. You leave everything fresh, natural, vivid and unspoiled. When you leave each thing in its own state, then its shape doesn't change, its colour doesn't fade and its glow does not disappear. Whatever appears is unstained by any grasping.

-- His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche

Loving-kindness is like the soil into which we put the seed. Compassion is like the water and the fertiliser which we put in the soil, allowing the plant to grow. Bodhicitta is like the plant itself, like the tree of enlightenment (the bodhi tree). And so, this "bodhi tree" of the bodhisattva attitude is planted in the soil of loving-kindness and watered and fertilised with compassion. Then it grows greater and greater until it finally produces its fruit, which benefits all living beings. This fruit is the three bodies of a Buddha - two form bodies and one formless body.

-- Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo

Those who argue and discuss without understanding the truth are lost amid all the forms of relative knowledge, running here and there and trying to justify their view of the substance of ego. If you realise the self in your inmost consciousness, it will appear in its purity. This is the womb of wonder, which is not the realm of those who live only by reason. Pure in its own nature and free from the categories of finite and infinite. Universal Mind is the undefiled wonder, which is wrongly apprehended by many.

-- Buddha

Gods, Demons, Sages, and Enlightened Kings

We call it Tibetan Buddhism, but it’s really much more. Robin Kornman sees Tibet as the last of the Silk Route cultures, where the great religions of Asia unite in a magical world of Gods, Demons, Sages, and Enlightened Kings.

What could be more different from modern North American culture than the magical cosmology of the Central Asian Silk Route? Yet in the United States and Canada the sacred world view of ancient Tibet has established its most promising foothold.

Buddhism is famous for its rationality and profound, somewhat abstract contemplative practices. But the modern-day practitioner of Tibetan religion finds there are also chants to protective deities-fabulous many-armed beings who inhabit the world of Central Asian mythology.

More reading here: http://www.lionsroar.com/gods-demons-sages-and-enlightened-kings/

1) 如果我们能在经验上，而不只是智识上了解四圣谛，就能开始化解我们对如幻事物的执著。这种解脱，就是我们所称的智慧，而佛教徒尊崇智慧胜于一切。智慧超越道德、慈爱、常识、容忍以及素食主义，它并非人们需要向外寻求的神化灵性，我们要生起智慧，不只是接受它表面的意思，更要分析并思索。

-- 宗萨仁波切

2) 若沒有智慧，所有這些所謂愛、慈悲、非暴力，只會變成一些現象，最後讓你成為一個完全陷於因緣法的人。因此智慧一再被強調，你會發現所有佛教書籍，如果不是從一開始，也會在最後建構智慧的概念。譬如禪修，這個方法最終目的是為了培養智慧，而非只是要達到某一簡單、短暫的覺受。

-- 宗萨仁波切

When drops of water fill a vase, it is not the first drop that fills it, nor the last drop or each drop individually; through the gathering of dependent factors the vase is filled. Likewise, when someone experiences joy and suffering - the effects - this is not due to the first instant of their cause; nor is it due to the last instant of the cause. Joy and pain are felt through coming together of dependent factors. So within this mere appearance I will observe ethical norms.

-- Dharmaraksita

The physical body is compared to a reed that grows in the water. The reed appears to be substantial but is actually completely hollow. Likewise, the body appears to be substantial, something important, but really it has no essence. Mind itself is like the empty sky, without attributes of center or edge or colour or shape. To realise the nature of mind, one has to ultimately let go, just completely let go of all striving, of all creative mental activity. Just abandon all of these things which involve dichotomies. Mind is not subject to specifications like "it is this or it is that or it is the other thing". As long as we try to specify what mind is, we will always be lost and will never find its essential nature.

-- His Holiness Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche

DHARMA IS TO BENEFIT BEINGS

Generally, there is a similarity between what we call Dharma practice and how to live our lives in a proper way. In our ordinary lives, separate from the Dharma, if we have many doubts and much confusion, our purpose or our objective is not very clear. If we do not have a clear stance and focus, then we find ourselves lost in confusion, concerns, and thoughts. In this way, life does not go very well.

Dharma practice is similar. First, we must have a very clear understanding. Our purpose, our objective, our view, our stand – we need to understand these unambiguously. Then our Dharma practice can become clear and easy. Otherwise our practice, mired in thoughts, becomes not Dharma practice at all, but rather a religion. It becomes a system. And when this happens, many things come with it: gods, ghosts, good, bad, different kinds of dogma, and other various occurrences. With this, the real practice is lost. In the application of Dharma, there are also views and concepts to a degree, but when we really apply the Dharma in our lives, it is unnecessary to understand much of the philosophy and such. It is certainly good if we understand them, but if we don’t, that is also fine. The main thing is to work for the benefit of beings. And when that happens, we are applying the Dharma to our lives.

~17th Gyalwang Karmapa's Teachings -- “Living The Dharma”(1)

http://the17thkarmapa.blogspot.sg/2012/07/17th-gyalwang-karmapas-teachings-living.html

In order to develop peace of mind we have to practice, but there are some mistaken views about what practice is.

First of all practice isn’t like a job.

Secondly, practice isn’t like homework set by the lama for his students.

The third fault is treating practice as ritual – reciting mantras, visualizing the meditation deity, making the mudras etc.

The point of practice is to transform our minds, so we need to constantly check if this is happening.

~THE SECOND DAY OF GYALWANG KARMAPA’S LINEAGE PRACTICE TEACHINGS

http://the17thkarmapa.blogspot.tw/2012/07/the-second-day-of-gyalwang-karmapas.html

I study my mind and therefore all appearances are my texts.

-- Milarepa

If we understand impermanence and the moment-by-moment nature of our own existence, we can cherish each moment of our lives and use them to the full. Even a person with only five minutes left to live can use those five minutes effectively to become a better person and make their lives meaningful. The message of this contemplation is: While we are alive, it is never too late to change.

~Karmapa: Interdependence and responsibility

http://the17thkarmapa.blogspot.tw/2014/06/interdependence-and-responsibility.html

Open-minded people tend to be interested in Buddhism because Buddha urged people to investigate things -- he didn't just command them to believe.

-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Of the three main objects for which we most often have attachment — food, clothing, and reputation — some persons are bound by their attachment to one, some by their attachment to two, and some by all three of them. Among the three, however, the most difficult one to abandon is desire for reputation. It doesn’t matter if one is a scholar, a well-disciplined monk, a teacher, or a meditator; there are many such persons who desire fame and a good reputation.

-- Pabongka Rinpoche

DALAI LAMA AND THE FUTURE OF TIBET

by Christian Pähler and Lilian Dammnn

German title: STUNDE NULL AUF DEM DACH DER WELT – WAS KOMMT NACH DEM DALAI LAMA

Filmed over five years, and featuring interviews with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the newly elected Prime Minister of Tibet and key Chinese political thinkers, this fascinating film gives in-depth look at the challenges facing Tibet today.

As the 14th Dalai Lama celebrates his 80th birthday many Tibetans, on both sides of the border, are concerned about the future. As religious leader of the Tibetan Buddhists, and political leader of the Tibetan government in exile, he has spent decades travelling the globe to raise awareness of his cause. A symbol of non-violent engagement, tolerance and empathy he holds a Nobel peace prize for his work. But, almost unnoticed by the world’s media he recently resigned from his role as political leader of the Tibetans in exile, handing over to an elected leader.

Live airing tomorrow on PTS Taiwan: http://www.pts.org.tw/ptslive/live/

April 15th, at 10pm (April 15th, at 7:30pm - IST)

April 16th, at 5:30am (April 16th, at 3am - IST)

Once our hearts are open, all existence appears naturally beautiful and harmonious.

-- Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche

Morgan Freeman interviewed His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje in “The Story of God” in a six part series showing on National Geographic Channel every Sunday worldwide now.

Morgan Freeman (ending narration): When you meet someone like His Holiness the Kamarpa, I guess the thing that stands out the most is his humility, the Kamarpa doesn’t give you the impression that, he thinks of himself as greater than you, higher than you or better in any way than you. He’s here like the rest of us on this quest trying to understand why we’re here, seeking to unveil the truth, seeking enlightenment.

I bow to the compassion that is felt toward beings who, after first becoming attached to the self as an “I,” generate desire for entities they regard as “mine,” and who are as powerless as a revolving water wheel.

-- Chandrakirti

Karmapa Khenno

We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds - our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

菩提心的慈愛與大悲必須活生生地在我們心中。因此，光是念誦數百、千遍祈祈文，卻没有把真義放在心上，是完全没有意義的。在佛與菩薩面前立下菩提心的誓願，卻不去持守，就等同欺騙他們，没有比這個更嚴重的過失了。因此，也不要欺騙有情眾生，要時時培養菩提心。

-- 巴楚仁波切

Along with practicing non-violence and ceasing harming others, the Mahayana teachings require us additionally to act to benefit others. This is necessary if we are to live up to the name of Mahayana practitioners that we claim for ourselves. 

His Holiness then related an anecdote, which he emphasized was a true story, of a person who had recently become Buddhist. When this man was driving his car, he was struck by a truck. The truck driver descended from his truck and began berating the man, accusing him of being at fault. The new Buddhist had the thought that he lacked the wisdom of a Buddha, but needed to train himself in the compassion of a Buddha. Therefore, he did not respond verbally to the man’s accusations. After a police officer arrived, the truck driver continued his abusive rant and his false accusations. Suddenly, there was a downpour of heavy rain, and the truck driver moved to return to his truck, but then noticed that the rain was not falling on him, although the driver of the car himself was being drenched by the rain. As he looked about, he saw that the driver, practicing compassion, was holding the umbrella up over his head, exposing himself to the rain. He was at once struck by the incongruity between his own abuse of the driver, and the driver’s kindness to him, and regretted his behavior. The truck driver then admitted to the police officer that he had been at fault.

This shows the power of compassion, and inspires us to practice it even if we may lack the wisdom to do so perfectly.

~Karmapa - 28TH KAGYU MONLAM: DAY THREE

http://the17thkarmapa.blogspot.tw/2012/07/28th-kagyu-monlam-day-three.html

Come, live with the doors of the senses guarded, diligent and mindful, vigilant and mindful, with the ways of the mind well watched, possessed of a mind that is awake and observing.

-- Buddha

1) 现代人参加了成千上百的灌顶，换了成千上百的本尊和上师。他们这样做了三十年，还是回到原来地方，一点效果也没有。他们认为佛教徒在说假，因为做了这么久还没有效果；他们会说修了三十年的财神，还是像三十年前一样穷，为什么？因为他们离开智慧越来越远，从来没有人想作一个真正的自己。

-- 宗萨仁波切

2) 可悲的是来听法的人们 , 并没有真正地掌握到智慧的精要。剃发之类的种种仪式只是得到智慧的方便法门 , 但人们却被仪式冲昏了头 , 而不去真正追寻智慧。当朋友问你“身为佛教徒你都做些什么?”的时候 , 你不去谈论智慧 , 反倒说："身为佛教徒, 我们吃素。"结果素食反而比智慧重要。

-- 宗萨仁波切