Dharma Gems

Discuss and learn about the traditional Mahayana scriptures, without assuming that any one school ‘owns’ the only correct interpretation.
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Kris
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Re: Dharma Gems

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  • The definition of the Mahayana is that it is the method of obtaining the result of complete omniscience.
Sonam Tsemo
The profound path of the master.
-- Virūpa, Vajra Lines
Kris
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Re: Dharma Gems

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Āryaprajñāpāramitāsaṃcayagātha:
/gzod nas dag pas sems can skye bar la ' gyur/
Pure from the beginning, where can the mind itself arise?
The profound path of the master.
-- Virūpa, Vajra Lines
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Losal Samten
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Re: Dharma Gems

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Uniting Outer and Inner Solitude by Paltrul Rinpoche

  • These delightful mountain solitudes
    Are like the family estate to the supreme guide’s heirs,
    And, as the best of protectors himself has said,
    To rely on solitude is indeed the pinnacle of joys!

    Forests, hermitages, and isolated dwelling places—
    These are the outer solitude of the Victor’s heirs.
    Avoiding selfishness and fainthearted fears—
    This is the bodhisattvas’ internal isolation.

    Keeping, therefore, to outer forms of solitude,
    Tame the inner afflictions through tranquillity and insight
    And aspire to the supreme conduct of Samantabhadra—
    Possessing such good fortune one is truly the Buddha’s heir.

    With sweetly cascading mountain streams,
    Rocky mountain shelters ascending to heaven,
    And gently falling dewdrops of whitest moonlight,
    This mountain retreat surpasses even the deva realm.

    The dance of the slender trees does not stir the passions,
    And sweet birdsong brings neither attachment nor aversion,
    Enveloped in nonconceptuality’s gentle, cooling shade—
    Such youthful companionship is surely better than a silent void!

    Undisturbed by noisy chatter, that thorn in meditation’s side,
    Alone in this excellent place of unattended solitude,
    The old monkey of the mind has nowhere left to roam
    And, settling down within, finds satisfaction.

    Under the bright, oppressive sunlight of busy, bustling crowds,
    Our faults and unhelpful thoughts eclipse the constellations,
    But when embraced by threefold solitude’s cooling nectar beams,
    Such faults can easily be overcome through proper antidotes.

    When it is undisturbed by rippling thoughts of sadness,
    The pool-like surface of the mind is still, unmoving,
    And faith and compassion’s reflections readily arise.
    In such constancy, what need is there for a companion?

    If the mirror of mind is wiped clean, time and again,
    And uncluttered with objects or circumstances,
    Study, reflection, and meditation present a clear impression.
    What is there to prevent the dawn of Dharma’s light?

    Hunger, thirst, cold, and the like—all forms of physical affliction—
    Together with sadness, fear, and all such mental suffering,
    Can, through the teachings, enhance the purifying path
    And, unburdened by avoidance or indulgence, adorn the mind!
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
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Losal Samten
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Re: Dharma Gems

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On the Merit of the Buddha's Body - Khenchen Abbey

  • It is said that ten times the merit of all sentient beings is equivalent to the merit that is the cause of producing one pore of the Buddha’s body. One hundred times the merit that is able to produce all the pores of the Buddha’s body will produce one of the minor marks of enlightened perfection.

    One thousand times the merit that produces all the eighty minor marks of enlightened perfection produces one of the thirty-two major marks of enlightened perfection. Among the thirty-two major marks of enlightened perfection, twenty-nine of them can individually be produced by one thousand times the merit that produces all the eighty minor marks of enlightened perfection.

    Now, ten thousand times the merit that produces each of the other twenty-nine major marks of enlightened perfection will produce the curl of hair located between the eyebrows of the Buddha. One hundred thousand times the merit that produces the curl of hair will produce the ushnisha [the protuberance at the top of the Buddha’s head]. Ten million times the merit needed to produce the ushnisha will produce the “conch of Dharma.” The conch of Dharma seems to signify the Buddha’s voice.
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dharma Gems

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4 Just as earth’s essence can be turned into pure gold
by cleaning away the stains of rust,
even those who have limited intelligence can become
more learned if they listen a lot to wise sayings.

5 No one but someone with great analytical wisdom
can distinguish right from wrong.
Is there any use for stones other than
a jewel that grants all your wishes?

6 Thus those who wish to be learned
should hold on to precious gems of wise sayings,
and, whether they be large or small,
wear them as jewels that beautify the mind.
Paṇchen Chökyi Nyima (1883–1937), in his Treatise on Earth
Last edited by Nicholas Weeks on Mon Jun 04, 2018 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dharma Gems

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Don’t be too biased; be evenhanded to friends and enemies.
1. A Garland of Essential Advice on Societal Values
by Dromtönpa (1005–64)
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Nicholas Weeks
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5 Rays of sun do not penetrate a cave facing north;
that is the genuine nature of things. Nevertheless,
because light can shine into cavities facing other directions
I decided to produce something to clear away enveloping darkness.

6 Setting aside religion, progress even
in ordinary affairs depends on merit.
So worship the holy, give generously to the poor, and so on
to amass the great collection that is increased by good deeds.

7 Because you are not clairvoyant it is difficult to sift through
all advice and counsel. Categorize the importance of situations
by analyzing place, time, occasion, and whether friend, enemy, or neutral party.
Doing that and then taking action is the height of manliness.
A Pearl Garland of Advice
by The Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–82)

These last three gems are from a new translation by Beth Newman:

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=28602
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dharma Gems

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The 'wisdom being Mañjuśrī' is fundamental bodhicitta. Great, primal wisdom contemplates equality, and compassion concerns itself with the welfare of transient beings.
Vimalamitra
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dharma Gems

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Good, good! Those without the faculty
of faith, those who are weary or sluggish in mind, those who have not
accumulated efforts, those whose vigor recedes, those who are satisfied with
meager virtues, those imbued with only one root of goodness, those
unskilled in carrying out practical vows , those who are not in the care of
spiritual benefactors, those who are not minded by the buddhas, cannot
know this true nature, this principle, this sphere, this abode - they are
unable to know, to fathom, to penetrate, to believe, to conceive, to know
exactly, or to attain.
Manjushri praises Sudhana in Avatamsaka Sutra
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Losal Samten
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Re: Dharma Gems

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  • Don’t burden others with your expectations. Understanding their limitations can inspire compassion instead of disappointment, ensuring beneficial and workable relationships. Remember that you have only a short time together. Be grateful for each day you share.
~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
如傑優婆塞
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Re: Dharma Gems

Post by 如傑優婆塞 »

“One person, mendicants, arises in the world for the welfare and happiness of the people, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans. What one person? The Realized One, the Perfected One, the Fully Awakened Buddha. This is the one person, mendicants, who arises in the world for the welfare and happiness of the people, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.” AN

'A person who wishes to attain Buddha-wisdom must not be small and clinging. Can a person who takes a single step forward and the rests completely hope to see the jeweled city of Enlightenment?' ’On Encouraging Those with a Connection to Buddhism’ (J: Kan en no sho; 勸緣疏)
Nicholas Weeks
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5. This difficult Dharma, extensive and profound,
Is like a monarch—difficult to please;
Yet if pleased, it likewise will bestow
The riches of sublime qualities.

6. The purest, priceless jewel will not delight
The eyes of those who cannot see its worth.
This Dharma is the same for those who lack discernment.
But for those who are their opposites, each will bring commensurate delight.
Excerpt From Padmakara translation, chapter 1 of Mahayanasutralamkara
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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明安 Myoan
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Tulku Thondup wrote:If you keep focusing your mind one-pointedly on the presence of Buddha Chenrezig — or on some particular aspect of him, such as his loving-kindness or his eyes looking lovingly at us — then before long a powerful feeling of devotional energy is certain to emerge in your mindstream. Once that happens, a heat of joy and bliss will arise in every part of your mind and body because of a mental and physical suppleness such as you have never felt before. If you have already experienced this, it will augment the experience.

When this experience happens, you should allow the blissful heat generated by the development of loving-kindness to increase without grasping at or being attached to it. Then the precious bodhichitta unstained by the obscurations of defiled concepts will awaken in you. In the minds of those who follow the path of devotion, these enlightening effects will miraculously manifest before their own eyes.
~
Namu Amida Butsu
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dharma Gems

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66
The sun high up in the sky is the eye
for every wandering being down below.
Bodhicitta on high shows lowly wandering beings
what is to be done and what is to be avoided.
Khunu Rinpoche
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如傑優婆塞
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Re: Dharma Gems

Post by 如傑優婆塞 »

In the Mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtra,
Without abandoning this body,
The superpowers [buddhahood] are attained.
Freely wandering in the realm of great space,
The mystery of the body is realised.

Buddhahood Immediately and in This Body (J: Sokushin jōbutsu gi; 卽身成佛義)

The Dharmakāya Buddha in samādhi has always been possessed by the mind,
The Two Truths of the absolute and provisional are both eternally abiding,
The [sounds of the] birds and animals, and plants an trees all are sound of the Dharmakāya's preaching,
And Sukhāvatī and Tuṣita are originally in one's own mind.

A Poem in Reflection on My Fortieth Birthday (J: Chūju kankyō no shi narabi ni jo; 中壽感興詩幷序)
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dharma Gems

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1. It is not existent nor nonexistent, not the same nor different;
Not produced nor destroyed, it will not diminish
Nor increase; it cannot be purified
Yet becomes perfectly pure—these are the characteristics of the ultimate.
2. The belief in a self does not constitute a self as such,
And nor do the aggregates which abide in evil; their characteristics are not the same.
Nor is there a self that is other than these two. It is produced erroneously.
Freedom, therefore, is a simple error coming to an end.
3. How is it that beings rely on a mere delusion
And do not realize the continuous nature of suffering?
Unaware, although they are aware, they suffer, although there is no suffering;
The nature of phenomena does not exist as such.
Excerpt From: Padmakara Translation of Sutralamkara - A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle, Thatness chapter.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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明安 Myoan
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Re: Dharma Gems

Post by 明安 Myoan »

Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche’s Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta wrote:That which benefits lower sentient beings is bodhicitta.
That which benefits middling sentient beings is bodhicitta.
That which benefits sublime sentient beings is bodhicitta.
Isn’t bodhicitta of benefit to all?

If you want to look, look with bodhicitta.
If you want to eat, eat with bodhicitta.
If you want to speak, speak with bodhicitta.
If you want to examine, examine with bodhicitta.

If you desire happiness for transmigratory beings equaling the sky,
Then cherish bodhicitta.

If you desire to benefit transmigratory beings equaling the sky,
Then cherish bodhicitta.

Bodhicitta eliminates pain.
Bodhicitta destroys harm.
Bodhicitta eliminates unhappiness.
Bodhicitta dispels fear.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dharma Gems

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Buddha Padmanetra advises bodhisattvas who wish to visit Śākyamuni's realm:
[1.23-24] "Among the beings of that [Saha] realm desire, anger,
and dullness are rife. They have no regard for mendicants and no regard
for brahmins. They have no concern for their fathers, no concern for their
mothers. Numerous are their wishes that run counter to the Dharma. They are
spiteful, savage, and malicious. They are impudent and haughty, easily carried
away, and full of craving. They are lazy, unkind, and evil. They are tied down by
envy and miserliness and suffer from an abundance of afflictions. It is among
such beings that that thus-gone one teaches the Dharma.”

“Blessed One,” replied the bodhisattvas, “teaching the Dharma among such
sentient beings is a tremendous feat displayed by [Śākyamuni] that thus-gone one.”
“Yes, it is,” the Blessed One agreed. “Noble children, teaching the Dharma
among such sentient beings is indeed a tremendous feat displayed by that thus-gone
one. Moreover, noble children, [F.6.b] when sentient beings within such a
world of rampant afflictions give rise to just a single virtuous mind state then
they also display a tremendous feat. Why? Well, what would be amazing about
finding pure beings in pure worlds? On the other hand, it is indeed a wonder
when anyone in a world of rampant afflictions is able, ever so briefly, to
engender faith, or go for refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, or purely
observe discipline. However, it is an even greater wonder if, even for just a
moment, they can attain a mind free from desire. Still, the greatest wonder of all
is if they can briefly develop compassion and give rise to the mind of unexcelled
and complete awakening.”
Ratnamegha-Jewel Cloud Sutra
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Losal Samten
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Re: Dharma Gems

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The Rebirth Treatise of Vasubandhu on the merits of the Pure Land, of Amitābha, and of his retinue of bodhisattvas.
Seventeen Merits of the Pure Land:
1. That world surpasses the ways of the three worlds.
2. It is broad and limitless, like space.
3. Wholesome roots which transcend saṃsāra produce great compassion of the right path.
4. It is filled with pure light, like a mirror, or the sun or moon.
5. It has the qualities of precious jewels, and is complete with sublime glories.
6. Its undefiled lights are vigorous and bright, purifying the world.
7. The grasses there have jewel-like qualities and when touched produce an ecstatic experience like touching soft cloth.
8. There are ten million kinds of jewel flowers, covering all things; from the towers there one has an unimpeded view of the trees which emit lights and the jewel-railings which surround the trees, the colors of all blending together; Indra’s net covers the entire sky with bells at every knot ringing out the sound of the true dharma.
9. Glorious flower-robes rain down, perfuming all things.
10. The Buddha’s wisdom shines forth like the sun, eliminating the world’s delusions, darkness, and ignorance.
11. The sacred words heard here are subtle, and no matter how faint are heard everywhere.
12. Amitāyus abides there as the dharmarāja.
13. Bodhisattvas are born there.
14. The bodhisattvas enjoy the “flavor of the buddhadharma and nourish themselves on dhyāna and samādhi.“
15. Their enjoyment is unbroken.
16. All born there are equal: no one is born there as a woman, having defective sense organs, or as a member of the lineages of the two lower vehicles (śravakayāna and pratyekabuddhayāna).
17. All that is wished for is fulfilled.

Eight Merits of the Buddha:
18. The king is adorned with innumerable jewels and sits on a lotus throne.
19. His marks shine to the distance of an arm’s length.
20. His voice is heard everywhere in the Pure Land.
21. He makes no discriminations.
22. The bodhisattvas are born from the sea of his wisdom.
23. He stands exalted and unsurpassed.
24. The bodhisattvas “pay homage, surround, and adore him.
25. He is available to all.

Four Merits of the Bodhisattvas:
26. The wheel of the dharma is constantly turned by the bodhisattvas.
27. The beneficial light of the Pure Land penetrates everywhere.
28. The offerings and praises are made without discrimination.
29. The bodhisattvas seek rebirth in worlds lacking the buddha and dharma jewels.
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
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Losal Samten
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Re: Dharma Gems

Post by Losal Samten »

Paltrul on Mahayana Practice, from A Brief Guide to the Stages of Meditating on the General Themes of the Ornament to the Prajñāpāramitā
Moreover, I also wish to address fortunate individuals of future generations who might feel a desire to train unerringly in the path laid out in Mahāyāna texts.

Even while at the stage of ordinary beings, such individuals should rely upon the introductory mind-training techniques presented in such texts as the Bodhicaryāvatāra and the graded path (lam rim) teachings. Through these, they should rectify their characters, transforming them from inflexible and rigid to supple like leather and straight and true as an arrow.

Then, relying on texts such as the glorious protector Ārya Nāgārjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, they should eliminate any conceptual projections that involve clinging to extremes with regard to the profound view. They should eradicate even the slightest concepts in which there is fixation upon reality and come to a definitive understanding of the view beyond conceptual constructs.

Not content with this alone, they should look into the profound teachings of the final turning and the flawless scriptural tradition of the buddha’s regent and his followers, so that their minds turn towards the unsurpassable conduct of Samantabhadra.

They should not rush themselves with talk of ‘just a single lifetime,’ as if drying wet hide by putting it straight in the fire. Instead, they should refer to the unimaginably vast, ocean-like activity of the bodhisattvas. Their deeds, which are based on the gateway to inconceivable liberation, measured according to the extent of space and of sentient beings, are as limitless as the universe.

As it is said:

Let my bodhisattva acts be beyond measure!
Let my enlightened qualities be measureless too!
Keeping to this immeasurable activity,
May I accomplish all the miraculous powers of enlightenment!


In this way, they might develop an interest in, and aspiration towards, this flawless tradition of the victorious ones and their heirs, in which the framework is provided by this great highway of the mother of the buddhas, profound and vast. How wonderful that would be!

The path of the great vehicle is profound and vast.
The key is to blend profound and vast without conflict,
Whoever realizes this approach to the profound and vast
Will be cared for by this Mother of the victorious ones.


The result of practising by means of this special contemplation and application will be the dharmakāya together with its enlightened activity.
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
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