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SCHOLAR ISLAND |
BUDDHISM
"Meanwhile, for those of us still on the scene, the Buddha indicates a middle way or, as he is said to have said, "as the ocean has only one flavor, the flavor of salt, so has my doctrine only one flavor the flavor of emancipation from sorrow," which comes from" thirst" or desire. The rest of what he teaches is our old friend ethics, familiar to all and ignored by most. Easterner and Westerner alike."Gore Vidal foreword to
Thailand Seven Days in the Kingdom
William Warren
"It is our contention that the rediscovery of Asian philosophy, particularly of the Buddhist tradition, is a second renaissance in the cultural history of the West, with the potential to be equally important as the discovery of Greek thought in the European renaissance. (Asian philosophy) never became a purely abstract occupation. It was tied to specific disciplined methods for knowing different methods of meditation."
Francisco Varela
The Embodied Mind
Avoid what is evil; do what is good; purify the mind this is the teaching of the Awakened One."
The Pali Canon (500 250 B.C.)
" for increasingly I feel that men of perception throughout the world today are turning their eyes toward Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy, particularly those branches of it which continue to flourish and retain their vitality in the present age, in search of answers to the fundamental questions of human life."
Daisaku Ikeda
Buddhism the First Millennium
"Renounce the craving for the past, renounce the craving for the future, renounce the craving of what is in between, and cross to the opposite shore."
-Buddha
"No thought, no reflection, no analysis,
No cultivation, no intention;
Let it settle itself"
(Six Precepts of Tilopa)
"If it (the Truth) is already manifest, what's the use of meditation? And if it is hidden, one is just measuring darkness. Mantras and tantras, meditation and concentration,
They are all a cause of self-deception,
Do not defile in contemplation thought that is pure in its own nature,
But abide in the bliss of yourself and cease those torments.
Whatever you see, that is it,
In front, behind, in all the ten direction.
Even today let your master make an end of delusion!
The nature of the sky is originally clear,
But by gazing and gazing the sight becomes obscured."
Saraha (10th Century)
"Buddhism was not a doctrine for a privileged elite; it was a religion for "the people" for "the many (bahujana)." In practice, it appealed mostly to the upper classes and to intellectuals, but in principle it was open to anybody, and nobody, whatever his or her caste, was excluded. For the first time in history, somebody had envisaged a religious program that was not confined to a single group, but was intended for the whole of humanity. This was no esoteric truth, like that preached by the sages of the Upanishads. It was out in the open, in the towns, the new cities and along the trade routes. Whenever they heard the Dhamma, people started to throng into the Sangha, which became a force to be reckoned with in the Ganges plain. The members of the new Order were known as "The Ordained Followers of the Teacher from Sakka," but they called themselves simply the Union of Bikkus (Bikkhu-Sangha). People who joined found that they had "woken up" to whole regions of their humanity which had hitherto lain dormant; a new social and religious reality had come into being."
Karen Armstrong
Buddha
"The most influential of all India's philosophers, the Buddha (who died around 483 BC), did not claim to be a god and was not interested in being the head of a sect. In northern India, he was absorbed into religious life by being looked on as the ninth of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, and most ordinary laymen regarded his teachings as one of many faiths, not mutually exclusive, all being worthy of respect. Buddha did not attack other religions, nor was he persecuted. Goodwill, compassion and friendliness to all living beings was his message: 'Just as a mother, as long as she lives, cares for her only child, so should a man feel all-embracing love to all human beings. He should feel boundless love to all the world above, below and across, unrestrained, without enmity. Standing, walking, sitting or lying down.....he should be firm in the mindfulness of love. For this is what men call the Sublime Mood.' Buddha's respect for disagreement was such that he did not require a vow of obedience even from monks, who had to be unanimous before taking a decision."
Theorodre Zeldin
An Intimate History of Humanity
"When I attained Absolute Perfect Enlightenment, I attained absolutely nothing. That is why it is called Absolute Perfect Enlightenment."
Buddha (Diamond Sutra)
Let all beings be happy! Weak or strong, of high, middle, or low estate, small or great, visible or invisible, near or far away, alive or still to be born-may they all be entirely happy! Let nobody lie to anybody or despise any single being anywhere. May nobody wish harm to any single creature, out of anger or hatred! Let us cherish all creatures, as a mother her only child! May our loving thoughts fill the whole world, above, below, across-Without limit; a boundless goodwill toward the whole world, unrestricted, free of hatred and enmity!"
(From the Pali Canon)
"If a man commits a meritorious deed, let him perform it again and again; let him develop a longing for doing good; happiness is the outcome of the accumulation of merit. Even the wrongdoer finds some happiness as long as the (fruit of) his misdeed does not mature; but when it does mature, then he sees its evil results. Even the doer of good deeds knows evil (days) so long as his merit has not matured; but when his merit has fully matured, then he sees the happy results of his meritorious deeds."
-Buddha
"Remember me as one who has woken up."
Buddha
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Book: "The Complete Guide to Buddhist America" edited by Don Morreale
Book: "An End To Suffering: The Buddha in the World" by Pankaj Mishra
Book: "Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs" by Steve Hagen
Book: "The Search For The Buddha: The Men Who Discovered India's Lost Religion" by Charles Allen
Book: "The Feminine Face of Buddhism" by Gill Farrer-Halls
Book: "The British Discovery of Buddhism" by Philip C. Almond
Book: " The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture" by Stephen Batchelor
Book: "A Buddhist Critique of the Christian Concept of God" by Gunapala Dharmasiri
Book: Christianity and the World Religions" by Hans Kung
Book: "Buddhism" by Bernard Faure
Book: "Buddhism: The Religion of No-Religion" by Alan Watts
Book: "Buddhism" by Karen Armstrong
""The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: a new translation of Samyutta Nilkaya"
Book: "The Buddha Speaks" by A. Bancroft
Book: "Why Buddhism? Westerners in Search of Wisdom" by Vicki MacKenzie
Book: "Sermons of A Buddhist Abbot: The Classic of American Buddhism" by Soyen Shaku
Book: "Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America." by Charles S. Prebish
Book: "Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being"
Book: "Stages of Meditation" by the Dalai Lama
Book: "Adventures With the Buddha: A Personal Buddhism Reader" by Jeffery Paine
Book: "Introduction To The Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madnyamakavatara"
Book: "The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to its History and Teachings." by Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Book: "Buddhism: Origins, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places" by Malcolm David Eckel
Book: "The Buddha's Victory" by Sangharakshita
Book: " Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire" by I. Mabbett et al
Book: "THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF PURE LAND BUDDHISM; A Study and Translation of Gyonen's Jodo Homon Genrusho" by Mark L. Blum
Book: "The Search For The Buddha: The Men Who Discovered India's Lost Religion" by Charles Allen
Book: "The Great Image: The Life Story of Vaiochana the Translator" compled by Yudra Nyingo et al.
Book: "Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors" by David Snellgrove
Book: "Four Illusions: Candrakirti's Advice for Travelers on the Bodhisattva Path"
Book: "The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet" by M. Ricard & T.X. Thuan
www.namgyal.org/blessing.html.
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