Wisdom of Buddha!

[Tattva]

---

A message from His Holiness The Dalai Lama (January 1, 2001)


Many people seem to be excited about the new millennium, but the new millennium in itself will be nothing special. As we enter into the new millennium things will be the same; there will be nothing unusual. However, if we really want the next millennium to be happier, more peaceful and more harmonious for humankind we will have to make the effort to make it so. This is in our hands, but especially in the hands of the younger generation. We have had many experiences during this century - constructive as well as extremely destructive ones. We must learn from these experiences. We need to approach the next millennium more holistically, with more openness and farsightedness. If we are going to make the right kind of efforts to make the future of the world better, I believe the following matters are of great importance.



While engaging in material progress and taking care of physical well-being, we need to pay equal attention to developing peace of mind and thus taking care of the internal aspect of our being.


Along with education, which generally deals only with academic accomplishments, we need to develop more altruism and a sense of caring and responsibility for others in the minds of the younger generation studying in various educational institutions. This can be done without necessarily involving religion. One could therefore call this 'secular ethics,' as it in fact consists of basic human qualities such as kindness, compassion, sincerity and honesty.


This past century in some ways has been a century of war and bloodshed. It has seen a year-by-year increase in defense spending by most countries in the world. If we are to change this trend we must seriously consider the concept of nonviolence, which is a physical expression of compassion. In order to make nonviolence a reality we must first work on internal disarmament and then proceed to work on external disarmament. By internal disarmament I mean ridding ourselves of all the negative emotions that result in violence. External disarmament will also have to be done gradually, step by step. We must first work on the total abolishment of nuclear weapons and gradually work up to total demilitarization throughout the world. In the process of doing this we also need to work towards stopping the arms trade, which is still very widely practiced because it is so lucrative. When we do all these things, we can then hope to see in the next millennium a year-by-year decrease in the military expenditure of the various nations and a gradual working towards demilitarization.

Human problems will, of course, always remain, but the way to resolve them should be through dialogue and discussion. The next century should be a century of dialogue and discussion rather than one of war and bloodshed.


We need to address the issue of the gap between the rich and the poor, both globally and nationally. This inequality, with some sections of the human community having abundance and others on the same planet going hungry or even dying of starvation, is not only morally wrong but practically also a source of problems. Equally important is the issue of freedom. As long as there is no freedom in many parts of the world there can be no real peace and in a sense no real freedom for the rest of the world.


For the sake of our future generations, we need to take care of our earth and of our environment. Environmental damage is often gradual and not easily apparent, and by the time we become aware of it, it is generally too late. Since most of the major rivers flowing into many parts of southeast Asia originate from the Tibetan plateau, it will not be out of place to mention here the crucial importance of taking care of the environment in that area.


Lastly, one of the greatest challenges today is the population explosion. Unless we are able to tackle this issue effectively we will be confronted with the problem of the natural resources being inadequate for all the human beings on this earth. We need to seriously look into these matters that concern us all if we are to look forward to the future with some hope.

[abuot]

A Zen master urged his students to practice diligently in order to transcend the world of birth and death.

A student asked him, "Sir, please tell us how to transcend the world of birth and death."

He said, "You have to look for the world of no birth and no death."

The student asked, "But where can we find the world of no birth and no death?"

"You look for it right in the world of birth and death."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Buddha Dharma is in the world,
Awakening is not apart from the world.
If you seek enlightenment apart from the world,
It is like seeking rabbit horns."--Hui Neng

[brownprose]

Krsa Gautami and the Mustard Seed

On day, when the rainy season had ended, Krsa Gautami, the wife of a rich man, was plunged deep into grief by the loss of her only son, a baby boy who had died just when he was old enough to run about.
In her grief Krsa carried the dead child to all her neighbors in Kapilavastu, asking them for medicine. Seeing her, the people shook their heads sadly out of pity.

"Poor woman! She has lost her senses from grief. The boy is beyond the help of medicine."
Unable to accept the fact of her son's death, Krsa then wandered through the streets of the city beseeching for help everyone she met.

"Please, sir," she said to a certain man, "give me medicine that will cure my boy!"
The stranger looked at the child's eyes and saw that the boy was dead. "Alas, I have no medicine for your child," he said, "but I know of a physician who can give what you require."

"Pray tell me, sir, where I can find this physician."
"Go, dear woman, to Sakyamuni, the Buddha, just now residing in Banyan Park."

Krsa went in haste to the Nigrodharama; and she was brought by the monks to Buddha.
"Reverend Lord," she cried, "give me the medicine that will cure my boy!"

Lord Buddha, Ocean of Infinite Compassion, looked upon the grief-stricken mother with pity.
"You have done well to come here for medicine, Krsa Gautami. Go into the city and get a handful of mustard seed." And then the Perfect One added: "The mustard seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent, or friend."

"Yes, Lord!" exclaimed Krsa, greatly cheered. "I shall procure the mustard seed at once!"
Poor Krsa then went from house to house with her request; and the people pitied her, saying: "Here is the mustard seed: please take all you want of it."

Then Krsa would ask: "Did a son or daughter, father or mother, die in your family?"
"Alas! The living are few, but the dead are many. Do not remind us of our deepest grief!"

And there was no house but that some relative, some dear one, had died in it.
Weary and with hope gone, Krsa sat down by the wayside, sorrowfully watching the lights of the city as they flickered up and were extinguished again, And at last the deep shadows of night plunged the world into darkness.

Considering the fate of human beings, that their lives flicker up and are extinguished again, the bereft mother suddenly realized that Buddha, in his compassion, had sent her forth to learn the truth.
"How selfish am I in my grief!" she thought. "Death is universal: yet even in this valley of death there is a Path that leads to Deathlessness [for] him who has surrendered all thought of self!"

Putting away the selfishness of her affection for her child, Krsa Gautami went to the edge of a forest and tenderly laid the dead body in a drift of wildflowers.
"Little son," she said, taking the child by the hand, "I thought that death had happened to you alone; but it is not to you alone, it is common to all people."

There she left him; and when dawn brightened the eastern sky, she returned to the Perfect One.
"Krsa Gautami," said the Tathagata, "did you get a handful of mustard seed from a house in which no one has ever lost kith or kin?"

"That, Lord, is now past and gone," she said. "Grant me support."
"Dear girl, the life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and inseparable from suffering," declared Buddha, "for there is not any means, nor will there ever be, by which those that have been born can avoid dying. All living beings are of such a nature that they must die whether they reach old age or not.

"As early-ripening fruits are in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of dying. Just as the earthen vessels made by the potter end in shards, so is the life of mortals. Both young and old, both those who are foolish and those who are wise - all fall into the power of death, all are subject to death.
Of those who depart from this life, overcome by death, a father cannot save his son, nor relatives their kinsfolk. While relatives are looking on and lamenting, one by one the mortals are carried off like oxen to the slaughter. People die, and their fate after death will be according to their deeds. Such are the terms of the world.

"Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind. On the contrary, his pain will be all the greater, and he will ruin his health. He will make himself sick and pale; but dead bodies cannot be restored by his lamentation.
"Now that you have heard the Tathagata, Krsa, reject grief, do not allow it to enter your mind. Seeing one dead, know for sure: 'I shall never see him again in this existence.' And just as the fire of a burning house is quenched, so does the contemplative wise person scatter grief's power, expertly, swiftly, even as the wind scatters cotton seed.

"He who seeks peace should pull out the arrow lamentations, useless longings, and the self-made pangs of grief. He who has removed this unwholesome arrow and has calmed himself will obtain peace of mind. Verily, he who has conquered grief will always be free from grief - sane and immune - confident, happy, and close to Nirvana, I say."
Then Krsa Gautami won the stage of Entering-the-Stream, and shortly afterwards she became an Arhat [found Nirvana for herself]. She was the first woman to have attained Nirvana under the dispensation of Sakyamuni Buddha.

[sunbeam1983]

The Starfish

An old man was walking along the beach, when he came upon a part of the sand where thousands of
starfish had washed ashore. A little further down the beach he saw a little girl, who was picking up the
starfishone at a time and tossing them back into the ocean. "Oh you silly girl," he exclaimed.
"You can't possibly save all of these starfish.There's too many." The young girl smiled and said, "I know.
But I can save this one, " and she tossed another into the ocean, "and this one", toss, "and this one..."

[Tattva]

nice input guys kep it coming...


feel like goin youtube and hear some good buddhism lecture about happiness?

try this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex5a4...eature=related

if the link wont work, copy and paste it.

[Tattva]

What we are is the result of what we have thought,
is built by our thoughts, is made up of our thoughts.
If one speaks or acts with an impure thought,
suffering follows one,
like the wheel of the cart follows the foot of the ox.

What we are is the result of what we have thought,
is built by our thoughts, is made up of our thoughts.
If one speaks or acts with a pure thought,
happiness follows one,
like a shadow that never leaves.

"They insulted me; they hurt me;
they defeated me; they cheated me."
In those who harbor such thoughts,
hate will never cease.

"They insulted me; they hurt me;
they defeated me; they cheated me."
In those who do not harbor such thoughts,
hate will cease.

For hate is never conquered by hate.
Hate is conquered by love.
This is an eternal law.
Many do not realize that we must all come to an end here;
but those who do realize this, end their quarrels at once.


---------Sayings of the Buddha

[Keldricus]

what a wonderful enlightening thread

[Tattva]

what a wonderful enlightening thread

tnx!!!


up...sayings of the buddha and his followers.

[The_Child]

A buddhist student once asked The Buddha these questions...

Are you a Messiah? Buddha replied; No
Are you A Healer? again the Buddha replied; NO
Are you a Teacher? NO

exasperated the student ask once more, then what are you? The Buddha replied... I AM AWAKE!


Mu.

the safest and best answer we could give in any question posited in our zen class. hehhehe.

[Tattva]

A buddhist student once asked The Buddha these questions...

Are you a Messiah? Buddha replied; No
Are you A Healer? again the Buddha replied; NO
Are you a Teacher? NO

exasperated the student ask once more, then what are you? The Buddha replied... I AM AWAKE!


Mu.

the safest and best answer we could give in any question posited in our zen class. hehhehe.

indeed. One might appear so wise and ignorant w/ this kind of response but either way is correct. hmmm, did i just invented a koan?