#shantideva

[mahayanapilgrim]

"Birds of a feather flock together. No matter what kind of friend you make, no matter how you associate with that person, you will eventually become like that person. That is what bonding is all about."

- Buddha (Udanavarga 25°I)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Thangka Depicting Simhavaktra, Tibet, 18th century:: Painting 39 x 31 cm. (15 ⅜ x 12 ¼ in.)

Source: christies.com

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“Hey you, expecting results without effort! So sensitive! So long-suffering! You, in the clutches of death, acting like an immortal! Hey, sufferer, you are destroying yourself! Now that you have met with the boat of human life, cross over the mighty river of suffering. Fool, there is no time to sleep! It is hard to catch this boat again.”

— Śāntideva, Bodhicaryāvatāra, Crosby & Skilton tr. (7:13-14)

[chicagognosis]

Those who wish to keep the trainings

Must with perfect self-possession guard their minds.

Without this guard upon the mind,

The trainings cannot be preserved.

Wandering where it will, the elephant of mind,

Will bring us down to torment in the hell of Unrelenting Pain.

No worldly beast, however wild and crazed,

Could bring upon us such calamities.

If, with mindfulness’ rope,

The elephant of mind is tethered all around,

Our fears will come to nothing,

Every virtue drop into our hands.

Tigers, lions, elephants, and bears,

Snakes and every hostile foe,

Those who guard the prisoners in hell,

Ghosts and ghouls and every evil wraith,

By simple binding of this mind alone,

All these things are likewise bound.

By simple taming of this mind alone,

All these things are likewise tamed.

For all anxiety and fear,

And pain in boundless quantity,

Their source and wellspring is the mind itself,

As He who spoke the truth declared.

The hellish instruments to torture living beings—

Who invented them for such intent?

Who has forged this burning iron ground;

Whence have all these demon-women sprung?

All are but the offspring of the sinful mind,

This the mighty Sage has said.

Throughout the triple world therefore

There is no greater bane than mind itself.

—Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva: "Vigilant Introspection,” 1-8

1. The mind lives reacting against the impacts that come from the exterior world. One must control these reactions of the mind by means of willpower.

2. If one throws a rock into a lake, then one will see crystalline waves extending from the center to the periphery. The waves become the reaction of the water against the rock.

3. If someone insults us, then we feel anger. This anger is a reaction to the words of the insulter.

4. A pornographic image offends our external senses. The mind then reacts as the lake in the given example, with waves of animal passion that extend from the center to the periphery.

5. We must subdue the senses and command the mind with the mighty whip of willpower.

6. Our mind lives reacting against the impacts of the exterior world.

7. The incessant reactions of the mind deliver pleasure and pain to us.

8. Likes and dislikes are nothing more than the result of the reactions of the subjective mind.

9. It is necessary to control these reactions of the subjective mind in order to pass beyond pleasure and pain.

10. We must become serene and indifferent before praise and slander and before triumph and failure.

11. All the tempests of our existence are nothing more than the result of the reactions of the subjective mind before the impacts that come from the exterior world.

12. A clairvoyant examination permits us to comprehend that the reactions of the mind come from a nuclear center.

13. This nuclear center of the subjective mind is the Guardian of the Threshold of the mind.

14. The Guardian of the Threshold of the mind is similar to the smoke of the flame.

15. The Guardian of the Threshold of the mind is a terrible demonic creature. It lives by reacting against the exterior world with waves of pleasure and pain, with waves of likes and dislikes, and with waves of hatred, envy, greed, slander, selfishness, etc.

16. We have created this guardian on our own, with all the evil of our subjective mind.

17. There is the need to carefully separate the smoke from the flames.

18. It is urgent to deprive ourselves of the Guardian of the Threshold of the mind in order to become liberated from our animal past.

—Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose

[innervoiceartblog]

Shantideva's Prayer

May all Beings everywhere Plagued by sufferings of body and mind Obtain an ocean of Happiness and joy By virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, Commit evil, or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled, With a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms And the deaf hear sounds, May those whose bodies are worn with toil Be restored on finding repose. May the naked find clothing, The hungry find food; May the thirsty find water And delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth, Those weak with sorrow find joy; May the forlorn find hope, Constant happiness, and prosperity. May there be timely rains And bountiful harvests; May all medicines be effective And wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill Quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases there are in the world, May they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid And those bound be freed; May the powerless find power, And may people think of benefiting each other. For as long as space remains, For as long as sentient beings remain, Until then may I too remain To dispel the miseries of the world.

~ This is one of H.H. the Dalai Lama’s favourite prayers, extracted from “A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life” by Shantideva, a Buddhist master from the monastic university of Nalanda, India and composed in the eighth century, BCE.

[commonplacebuddhism]

[nicksalius]

Un sentiero antico quanto il mondo - Jack Kornfield

La via della meditazione è un percorso equilibrato che predilige sempre il giusto mezzo, inteso come una sorta di tracciato intermedio che si sviluppa gradualmente. Il fine è cogliere l’insieme quanto l’essenza di ogni manifestazione. La via mediana ti consente dunque di partecipare, ma senza identificarti. La realtà non è bianco o nero, ma un succedersi continuo di entrambi. Cos’è davvero il…

[brother-hermes]

How Struggle & Growth Go Together

Struggle is a part of the human experience. It's inescapable. Why not allow all of the things we go through to become a living part of our spiritual practice. Rock with me and click the link to journey within.

“Care about others at all times. If you cannot help others, do no harm. This is the essential meaning of the practice of morality.” -Dalai Lama It’s easy to be spiritually disciplined when everything in life is going good. However, service to a loving God who has given us a wonderful life isn’t much of a sacrifice. In times like these it’s easy to lay our foundation in scripture and live like…

[dolona]

All the suffering there is in this world arises from wishing our self to be happy. All the happiness there is in this world, arises from wishing others to be happy.

Shantideva

[buddhismnow]

Morning meditation — What I Wish.

Morning meditation — What I Wish. https://wp.me/pFy3u-6xP

‘I cannot accomplish what I wish, by becoming upset, and my wholesome qualities only disintegrate.’ Acharya Shantideva On our Twitter account, Buddhism Now @Buddhism_Now, most mornings we post a ‘morning meditation’ like the one above. On the net, of course, it’s morning, afternoon, evening, or nighttime 😀 somewhere. Click here to read more Morning Meditation posts. Click here to read more…

[thepeaceblog]

Where could I possibly find the leather

To cover with leather the whole surface of the earth?

But with leather just on the soles of my shoes,

It's the same as having covered the entire earth's surface.

☸️Shantideva☸️

[mahayanapilgrim]

Kuntu Zangpo is the Primordial Buddha. The name Kuntu Zangpo means "that which is most excellent and present in all places." Thus our ancient texts refer to Kuntu Zangpo as being "Self-Awareness", "True Self" and

"Source of the Self".

This Primordial Buddha has never had to attain enlightenment and liberation from Samsara because He has been fully and perfectly enlightened from the very beginning.

He has never even entered into the delusions of Samsara in the first place. He has nothing to attain or realize; He simply is what He is from the very beginning and never otherwise.

[roboticchibitan]

Embroidering "if there is a remedy, what is the use of frustration? If there is not a remedy, then what is the use if frustration?" again (this time with smaller lines and letters) to give to my teacher at the temple cuz I'm really grateful for his teachings.

Temple was so empty today there was only five of us there (usually there's 15-20 people) for some reason so we had a casual teaching. Next week we celebrate Tibetan new year! I'm hoping to have this done in time to give to him as a new year's gift. We'll see how that goes.

I considered embroidering it in Tibetan because Geshe-la is a Tibetan refugee but I was afraid of unknowingly making a spelling mistake or something. I'm trying to learn Tibetan though so maybe later I'll be able to do it justice!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[Red Pine (translator) :: Bill Porter (author)]

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SHANTIDEVA'S PRAYER Buddhist Traditional Prayer (translated by the Dalai Lama)

May I become at all times, both now and forever A protector of those without protection A guide for those who have lost their way A ship for those with oceans to cross A bridge for those with rivers to cross A sanctuary for those in danger A lamp for those without light A place of refuge for those who lack shelter And a servant to all in need For as long as space endures, And for as long as living beings remain, Until then may I, too, abide To dispel the misery of the world.

--Shantideva

Shantideva was an 8th century Indian Buddhist monk. There are many forms of this prayer by Shantideva

[Zen Taoism Buddhism Thich Nhat Hanh Dalai lama]

[kadampalife]

One nice way to meditate on rejoicing

When you are dreaming at night, do you miss your waking world? Do you even remember it? We are so invested in this life and all its details whenever we are awake, but it goes away every night and we don’t even notice. We are invested instead in our dream world and dream self. When we die, this waking world and waking self will go away forever. And we won’t even notice then, either. We will…

[itsabuddhafullife]

From bodhichitta in intention

Great results arise for those still turning in the wheel of life;

Yet merit does not rise from it in ceaseless streams

As is the case with active bodhichitta

-Shantideva

[healingdigest]

To put a spin on a JFK quote, 'Ask not what the world can do for you, but what can you do for the world?' Even St. Francis of Assisi said, "for it is in giving that we receive." Make today about learning to observe the gifts you bring to the world and how you can share them.