Practice
Notes, sayings and images on Tao and Buddhist practice, most of them from Man of Tao.
23 essays, 243 notes, 38 quotes, 7 pictures and 3 links, 2013–2017.
Essays23
- Jigme Lingpa on Sickness
But see them as the signs of the waning of your bad karmas, and rejoice over them.
- Light on Pranayama
Pranayama (Chinese Qi Gong, Tibetan Cha Lung) is a series of practices focused on the breath. These practices have become increasingly popular over the past decade or two, but unfortunately…
- Introduction to Mind Training
In meditation practice, as you sit with a good posture, you pay attention to your breath. When you breathe, you are utterly there, properly there.
- Motivation
Once the right motivation is in place, everything is possible. When the motivation is not there, even simple things become hard. Motivation is not something that other people can give us…
- On Spiritual Development
Which is more important: to attain enlightenment, or to attain enlightenment before you attain enlightenment; to make a million dollars, or to enjoy your life in your effort, little by…
- Demystifying Buddhism — Part 1 — Prelude
If you give me 5 minutes of your time, I’ll use reason and facts to dispel five crucial myths about Buddhism and show you its nothing but common sense
- The Song of Gyalwa Gotsangpa on How to Practice with Illness
When illness manifests physically, It is the maturation of previously having beaten others Now ripening. The illness itself must be taken as the path. When an illness appears, feel joyful.
- On Causality and the Time of Our Death
In regards to this topic, there is an interesting test we can do using conventional survey methodology. First you can ask the respondent, or yourself: “do you think you are going to die”…
- What are Thoughts?
Thoughts are as much things as a hybrid car is. They are interdependent and as much the product of causes and condition and as much material as a Toyota Prius is. Emotions and all the…
- Proteins are Neat: how to reduce the symptoms of your flu?
When you feel that you are down with something, you tend to have the idea “now I don’t feel so good” and “this is not so good” and “I have to fix this somehow”. While it’s certainly…
- Basic Guidelines
In public places your attention is pulled away from what’s important and useful as a bee is attracted to flowers you travel the sea of delusions like a sailing boat without a sail with…
- On Non-Sensical Talk
People mostly think about non-sensical things and so send up talking about equally non-sensical things. This is true to most people and most things that they talk about. It is not to say…
- The Path to Equanimity Goes Through Concentration and Renunciation
Concentration is the base for renunciation. Renunciation is wanting to be free from dukkha and the origin of dukkha. To wish the others to be free from dukkha, one must wish oneself to be…
- When I’m not High…
- I concentrate better - I can get more actual things done - I don’t get weird heart palpitations from walking the stairs - I feel less need to indulge in various things - I can sit down to…
- Loss is a situation where we have the expectation of a certain result, but end up with…
Loss is a situation where we have the expectation of a certain result, but end up with something we feel is inferior. So when we say that someone’s death is a loss, then clearly we had some…
- There is really no such thing as having a flu, is there? When you feel hot or tired or…
There is really no such thing as having a flu, is there? When you feel hot or tired or lethargy or whatever, then of course there is the tendency to label it. Label it what you like, it’s…
- Vajrasattva Purification
“The negative karma I have accumulated from beginningless time is as extensive as the ocean. Although I know that each negative action leads to countless eons of suffering, it seems that I…
- On Progress and Motivation
The way I grew up, I learned to look serious and tough. So at some stage I had to learn to smile and also I had to learn to appreciate to see others smile.
- Idle Talk
While it’s obvious that we can’t keep getting pissed off, kill people, and such, this is not necessarily true with idle talk. I found the thought of not engaging in any idle talk alien, and…
- Thoughts on Causality and the Nature of Reality
There is space and the nature of that space is unknown and can’t be discussed. But it’s very real. Even the capacity of the Ego is able to experience this space at any time, only the idea…
- On Learning vs. Action
Learning something and changing your actions are two aspects of the same process.
- The Man of Tao
The ancients said, therefore: “The man of Tao Remains unknown Perfect virtue Produces nothing ‘No-Self’ Is ‘True-Self’. ” [xvii.
- What is Happiness (not)?
For hundreds of years the word “happy” meant “lucky”. In finnish the word onni (happiness) is still also used for its original meaning (luck).
Notes, quotes and more291
- big view, small expectation
- the sense of desiring gets projected in to a lot of different things.
- Simple Life, Simple Surrounding
- On Emptiness
- try not to make closing move faster than you can exhale without feeling any pressure or lightness in the head. try not to move faster than you inhale without feeling any pressure or lightness in the head. Keep your closing moves in sync…
- when you cut down on busyness and aggression, and try to make room for boredom and compassion, it’s like breaking an addiction.
- Getting in to heated debates about the higher vehicles (yanas) may be an indication of skipped work on the lower yanas.
- It seems that there are three kinds of topics practitioners get in to discussions about. One is practice, which probably is better off not discussed. Then there is the lineage, which is more about one sharing something with the other and…
- The Vajra Master Said
- The moon had a red halo surrounding it after the initiation. One said “it’s some kind of reflection” to which the other replied “isn’t it all a reflection”. Such was the guru’s blessing on that night.
- “Like bangles on a young maid’s wrist; With many there are constant fights; With even two there will be rivalry: So I must remain alone.”
- “Once you have stemmed the continuous flow of exhausting tasks, idle chatter, and thoughts and can rely on being free from these three faults (physical, verbal, and mental) related to concentration, make a firm resolve to devote yourself…”
- The 35 Buddhas
- “The Vajrayana, or diamond vehicle, is powerful because it is derived from the tranquility and readiness of the Hinayana, and the purity and soft heart of the Mahayana.”
- “In the old days the sages treated disease by preventing illness before it began, just as a good government or emperor was able to take the necessary steps to avert war. Treating an illness after it has begun is like suppressing revolt…”
- Shantideva Aryadeva Nagarjuna Dharmakirti Vhasubandu
- what sense is there in using your time for but practicing dharma and doing good for other when in the end I will die anyway and all the wealth the sensory pleasures I’ve accumulated for my own interest will fade away like my rotting corpse…
- “When starved or sick, my body and mind go weak. All this I perceive quite clearly, but somehow I am not in it, I feel myself as if floating over it, aloof and detached.”
- “They have disciplined their body, speech, and mind by eradicating distractions with the wrong kinds of objects, and have thus brought their senses under control.”
- when you are doing nothing, doing the minimum is a cause for doing more. when you are doing more, doing the minimum is a cause for doing nothing.
- Nagas
- From the HRI in my heart…
- Your body could be hot and you could feel tired and your nose could be runny, but your concentration could still be good, your meditation could be good and you could still recite a lot of mantra. So what’s the problem then?
- I felt a lot worse on the morning after two joints than after a night spent in the bus with a flu.
- Bring Guru’s blessing to all!
- two noble goals
- Not so long ago it was not out of the ordinary to use a computer to download an entire website or print a 1,000 pages at once. Given that’s the case, nothing suggests we would not look back to our current way of engaging with computers, in…
- if you think you are doing well, then that has a lot to do with good actions in the past lives. So better keep acting good so in the future lifetimes too…
- Cartoon, 25 August 2014
- First you bring the mess to your practice and then you bring your practice to your mess.
- We’ve learn to think that there is a god and then there is all this worshipping we’re doing towards that god. If you would want to start to dissect it somehow, that would not be the correct way.
- like sweet nectar
- By pushing things on to people, we stop things from coming in
- more worldly responsibilities leads to less time and attention for Dharma.
- giku - i shapkyu - u drengbu - e naro - o
- “Concerning dullness, there are six kinds: dullness due to location, due to companionship, due to time, due to food, due to posture, and due to meditation.”
- “To try to utilise disturbing emotions as path while not having turned away from clinging to solid reality is like a fly becoming stuck in honey.”
- Vajrasattva 100 Syllable Mantra
- “What have we achieved so far with our self-centred mind? Particularly for the longer term?”
- “As suffering myself and others are equally trying to avoid it. As happiness myself and others are equally trying to achieve it.”
- how to propagate effectively to the propagators?
- if you put your effort to your own happiness, then it’s very small minded approach. That same effort could benefit all beings.
- “others are also avoiding suffering and seeking happiness”
- “Where is that I that wants to avoid suffering and find happiness?”
- The five spiritual ways
- “all beings are equally suffering from pervasive suffering - they all need help equally”
- Meditation on Love for All Living Beings
- stop giving suffering the value it doesn’t have.
- the buddhist definition of love & compassion
- “the dearer or closer the feeling we have for living beings, the stronger our compassion will grow. the deeper we are able to see the suffering living beings experience, the stronger our compassion will grow.”
- “become familiar with how to cultivate the awakened mind”
- It’s better to start practicing love and compassion with those people that are right in front of you.
- love is our wish for others to be happy, compassion is our wish for others to avoid suffering.
- “the wish alone is not enough”
- “to cultivate the awakened mind is to build these two aspirations”
- Two Mental Factors
- when everything is important, nothing is when nothing is important, everything is
- While it is within our nature to be awakened, it is not within our nature to want it. We have to cultivate it.
- “who do you thought it was that needed to be happy?”
- beyond knowing how well you’ve done
- Peace is peace. With desire and hate Peace becomes ignorance. Ignorance becomes desire and hate.
- The Three Methods
- “to cultivate the mind of altruism that wishes all beings to free from suffering.”
- “your meditation is on the difference between a friend and an enemy.”
- expectation, dissapointment
- Give Up Harsh Words!
- Never tell em how they are wrong. Never say how you are right.
- a drug is a drug when it’s used as a drug, regardless of its medicinal capabilities.
- “Who blazes forth light rays by a thousand stars”
- birth is a death sentence
- “…and may all beings, without exceptions, be established in that state.”
- A lot of the bullshit seems to be related with money. So the less you need it, the better.
- In the layman’s terms, “somebody basically screws you”, and you just go “ok I need to meditate more”
- The funny thing seems to be that I don’t even like intoxicants.
- This “not getting high everyday” stuff is pretty cool. Sweaty, but pretty cool.
- When I’m high, I want to do stupid things like watch TV or crappy youtube videos.
- Withdrawal Symptoms
- of course I grave for it
- Practice is positive sum. Winning is zero sum.
- I am everything and everything is I.
- you can have achievement with no progress or progress without achievement.
- it’s possible that not everyone do everything because of you.
- Daily substance use seems to have a lot to do with not accepting things as they appear.
- I was maximizing all the while. But I was supposed to minimize.
- if it makes you feel worried and physically unwell, it’s probably better not to do it.
- So instead of learning to just sit with what appears and see right through it, one keeps reaching for the fix in the hope of that. But instead the whole makeup becomes even more complicated.
- there is definitely no reason to maximise the time with a substance, but to minimise it.
- Alternated states of mind experiences in relation to following desires might be interesting. But they are just that.
- The desire does not have to be a problem. You make it a problem by chasing it. The more you chase, the more you have a problem.
- What you eat and everything else you do makes up the contents of your mind.
- Learning to feel like everyone’s Mother.
- If you’re not practicing, you’re stuck is samsara
- I think it’s very hard to focus on anything at all, unless we realise the transience of our life. The fact that death will come certainly, and sometimes suddenly.
- a thing, a meaning generality, conception
- A thought is a thing of its own, and not an accurate reflection of another thing.
- First mind moves but body is still. Then body moves but mind is still.
- generalities, and specific generalities…
- meaning generality, like any other thing, is made of other things.
- not discriminating = not eliminating
- regardless of the time of writing, a text makes sense only when it makes sense. Teaching is only as good as it is useful for the practitioner.
- the conceptual mind never observes its object directly.
- the meaning generality is always there in conceptual thought.
- when the conceptual mind has an object, there is no possibility to see that thing in another way than conceptually.
- 674,45
- Practice until you don’t know you’re practicing anymore. But first practice until all you know has become practice.
- You take away the center point, all relativity will go.
- figure out what you want and what others want, and then just match it.
- you start to look at nature closer and closer. Look at it from every possible angle. But also you just look.
- 673,30
- “To go one mile to the west means to go back one mile to the east.”
- precise analysis for yourself, general examination for other.
- Renouncing samsara is to want others to be free from it. If you don’t want to be free from it yourself, it’s not possible to want others to be free from it.
- Subtle breath
- actions are within the nature of man. if all of those actions are good, imagine the results.
- Don’t fool yourself by setting the causes for A now and think that B will happen later.
- One of the contributing causes to the resulting intelligence we’re experiencing.
- 643 / 12
- one by one, moment by moment.
- When you do something for a long time, you naturally become good at it. Imagine if you do the right things for a long time.
- 642/8
- All love for others arise from love for oneself. All love for others is love for oneself.
- When everything is a practice then death is too.
- As much as we’re the mother of everything that will ever come to be after us, everything before was the mother of us. Like a child grows in the mother’s womb, we grew out of those causes and conditions that preceded us.
- doing things completely, without doing them for the sake of any particular agenda. doing them moment-by-moment, because you are there doing them.
- It’s enough to be bit by the ant just once, to avoid its path for good. Same is with any of our other negative mental states.
- Theistic religions fail to provide the language to deal with the world.
- “Why be unhappy about something if it can be remedied? And what is the use of being unhappy about something if it cannot be remedied?”
- Death comes certainly Sometimes suddenly So better enjoy While we still have a chance Maybe if we learn to live completely We might be able to die completely too
- “Dharma is a living thing”
- Good is perfect Bad is perfect Perfect is perfect
- if you can’t give up other things, how can you give up I? if you can’t give up things when you are living, how can you do it when you’re dying?
- If you take it all in, you become one with all. If you push everything away, you are all alone.
- Right is mind Left is mind Being is mind
- you can’t know all the possible obstacles, so it does not make sense to try to cover every angle before getting started.
- external is made of internal.
- The student looks for the teacher. Teacher looks for the student.
- 64,800
- Repulsion and pity to entire samsara. Pity even to the part that makes me angry. Repulsion even to the part that I desire.
- 587, 210
- with one division all divisions arise
- 535,210
- When excited, return to basics.
- We think that it’s the same I that’s doing those things. Because there is that kind of thought about doing.
- When you play chess, it’s common to lose just because you thought you are going to lose. Often it turns out that in one of the three dimensions; buttons, time, moves you could be winning, but as a result of strong attachment to winning…
- Basically existence means constantly changing
- Be the action. At that point nothing else exists.
- It doesn’t matter what you want to do. You feel like you want to do it because it is within the nature of mind to feel. So whatever you do, you can do it naturally.
- The mind can engage in one activity only at any given time. For that time, the mind is that action. The mind only exist because the activity exist.
- “The sage does not act, and so is not defeated. He does not grasp and therefore does not lose.”
- Those old Masters who went to india to learn new things, they didn’t have the impact they did because of holding some kind of a one-sided view.
- walk without reaching towards a destination eat without aiming to satisfy your hunger
- When we say “I’m in San Francisco” or “I’m playing football”, it is the noun that represents being or existence.
- It is within the mind’s nature to be active, you don’t have to do anything particular, you don’t have to think per se.
- 490,160
- How come is it that a death of a great person is a loss?
- It’s a bit like a guy who would like to build a house if he had such an idea. But because the idea is not clear, he keeps hitting his thumb with the hammer. That whole story is clearly absurd. That is our current situation.
- Why make a big deal about walking a circle since we don’t make such a big deal about blood flowing either.
- Why would I want to limit the possibilities of self to what seems to be a set of emotional attachments?
- 480,100
- 50,760, 300
- “Feeling arises through four causes; natural condition, training, mental dispositions and personalities.”
- Mental factors represent the content of the mind.
- nature conceals nature.
- Not that there is anyone to feel it, but there is clearly a favorable feeling with that red knob.
- “Regarding a child as a guest means that you appreciate him or her as a friend, a human guest, not a pet, not just “my son” or “my daughter” but a friend who also has his or her own independent intelligence. Ideally, you should be honored…”
- There are these wonderful tools called the mental factors. We just don’t use then well.
- there is definitely no time to waste
- Watch out what you aspire for.
- “You have these tools, these mental factors. Use them well.”
- At the moment when the cut appears and we are bleeding, yes, everything to that point is pre-destined. But it doesn’t mean we have to bleed to death. We have a chance to effect outcomes in that way. Not the one already in effect, but…
- What is the result we are looking for? What are the causes we think lead to that result?
- Why do we establish such a limited view about ourselves? Or does that really matter at all. That limiting story is definitely there, imagine what you are without it
- become friendly with everything
- become friendly with that which you fear and the fear itself.
- If you can’t be friendly with what you call your fear, how can you be friendly with yourself?
- yes, things appear as a result of causes and conditions. That means we can’t change what is happening right now, but it also means we can change the next.
- The most important thing is to know the most important thing
- there is not much more security in fight than there is in flight
- clarity to insanity
- it seems that at the level of thought self-preservance plays out as fantasies about money and sex
- The associations you make And the ones you keep They go with you
- I have the utmost respect for those who are truly unaffected by their desires and fears.
- masters of fantasies fantasise fantasies until all turns to one
- the dream starts to feel like a dream
- with misconduct there is no proper conduct
- Grosser the unreal Subtler the real
- when you start with dichotomy everything stops working Achilles knew this already
- Mind is thought Thought is pure Buddha nature It has the possibility of suffering And the possibility of happiness Everything
- The mind moves from moment to moment Like a tree Swaying in the wind Naturally Always returning To its center All
- basically if you believe that you were created by a concept, then you’ll definitely be stuck within thinking yourself as a concept
- What’s really going in is far more mind boggling and marvelous than any sci-fi can ever be.
- Why limit yourself to a concept?
- 42120
- Joy of insight
- One day practice, one step forward One day no practice, two steps back
- n = afflictive emotions = illness
- The more there are enlightenment The less there is rebirth in samsara
- There is no knower Beyond the knowing
- Death is the strongest of the propensities within birth
- Pain is a thing and therefore can only exist within the mind.
- when you push yourself with something technical, you get injured when you push yourself with something enduring, you fall ill
- Even sex The most definite of pleasures Ends in agonising pain and horrific fear
- There is intense suffering Following the so-called happiness Like the shadow following a flying eagle
- Things that seem to bring joy End up in a tense obsession All too easy
- “Your task is not to seek love but merely to find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
- we’re here to make things better for everyone
- double compliment
- intellect = wisdom emotion = compassion
- When you criticise the other You criticise yourself. When you praise the other You praise yourself.
- You choose If each moment Is special or not
- 108 years is 39,420 days
- A foot-print is a conventional truth as much as a foot is. Or a tissue box.
- once imagining might as well imagine something pleasent
- 340 x 108 = 36,720
- Use Your Time Well
- intelligence is intelligence
- Love is definitely in the air
- Even money and sex might not go as planned
- All the world’s beauty is found within the mind
- How to make the whole life about spiritual practice.
- Like it or not, you are a limitless being. That seems to be the bottom line.
- heat is movement
- I had a dream that I was in some kind of a facility. I was fishing and fish bite instantly. When I reeled it in, only some pieces of its flash came out. “What am I doing” I asked myself. Then I thought to myself, this is where all the fish…
- I understand how much it hurts when I tell a person what I see is wrong in them. I also understand how limiting that is to myself. More than everything, I understand how hard I have to practice to and that I really can’t afford any…
- If it appears, why resist
- If the other person is not ready for your “favour” then it actually becomes a punishment. So better stick with favours that anyone can understand. Like listening to them, giving them a gift or a compliment or giving them a hug.
- In order for a person to learn something new about themselves, they have to want to learn something new about themselves.
- It is only my own behaviour that I have to change. That’s all.
- Resistance is heat
- some people just want to believe what they believe
- Stillness has many names It is the counterpart of movement Intelligence comes in many forms
- That which appears, appears
- Wanting to change others and following that desire is the most dangerous things.
- Weak does not mean weak Balanced is in balance
- when you say something negative about a person, no matter how small it is, you pave the way for saying more negative things about the person. Once you say a seemingly small negative thing about a person, it’s as easy to say something more…
- Where there is room for anxiety There is room for calm
- 210
- Looking for freedom is the opposite of that which is being looked for When I’m already beyond any concept How can I find something that’s nothing but one
- To change the world Small or big The law of causality is the same
- You can’t change people You can help someone to change When they want to change
- Sex and money
- 10,044
- You can think about taking the trash out. You can talk about taking the trash out. You can take the trash out. When you think about taking the trash out, nothing happens. When you talk about taking the trash out, nothing happens. When you…
- 70
- A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path: Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, Khenmo Trinlay Chodron: Kindle Store
- The prisoner who likes to stay in prison because it’s easy to get drugs
- We very clearly have no idea at all about the time of our death.
- Dual vs Non-dual
- How about running in to this floating in the space?
- how truly special it is to have human birth
- Looking at Other People
- we are all compressed hydrogen
- 35
- Gross and Subtle
- I suffer because I worry. I worry because I suffer.
- Like Radio
- My negative actions live through countless lifetimes
- “Negative karma is certain to bring suffering; it multiplies exponentially; if eradicated, it cannot bring its suffering result; and once created, it never simply disappears.”
- Photograph, 27 November 2013
- om vajra sattva hung
- “Feet like chicken. Body like dragon. Head like tiger.”
- First you have to imagine. Then pretend it. Finally you will do it.
- Urban Zoning
- Everything Starts from Small
- food, sex, food, sex, food, sex, food, sex, food, sex
- “Form is empty. Emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form. Form is not other than emptiness.”
- From Smallest of Seeds to Greatest of Events
- It’s really wonderful how things come together (and go apart).
- No Words
- On Studying
- Q&A
- Talking with People
- “the mother borns from the child”
- “to have self-discipline, you gotta have a self”
- to say that without a story, is a story in itself
- It can become very clear how the subtlest of changes in our actions lead to roaring changes in circumstances.
- Everything is named.
- How to meditate
- “It is not possible to lift one leg without moving all the weight to the other. These two things go automatically together.”
- Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend: With Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche
- Now I understand why sex is mostly better left for a situation where you don’t actually mind if there is a pregnancy.
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So let me get this straight. A publicly listed publisher that has a billion users use their entire ad space to show me… - Take nothing for granted and everything will be fine.
- Washing Dishes
- “Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 per cent Of everything you think, And of everything you do, Is for yourself — And there isn’t one.”
- Volitional Action
- “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
- “One avoids the bite of a tiger by treading carefully”
- Taking Responsibility
- I’m none of that I thought I am Already beyond freedom Beyond happiness anything and everything I could have imagined Or attempt to explain
- “Know the knowers and all will be known”