Death

Death the Leveller

The glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against Fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings:
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crookèd scythe and spade.

Some men with swords may reap the field,
And plant fresh laurels where they kill:
But their strong nerves at last must yield;
They tame but one another still:
Early or late
They stoop to fate,
And must give up their murmuring breath
When they, pale captives, creep to death.

The garlands wither on your brow,
Then boast no more your mighty deeds!
Upon Death's purple altar now
See where the victor-victim bleeds.
Your heads must come
To the cold tomb:
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in their dust.

James Shirley

Education

Husband: "Dear, I must work hard so that one day we will be rich..."

Wife: " But darling we are RICH! We have each others' love, company and care, our children are healthy and well behaved, our friends are genuine and kind... What price can one put on all these blessings? Perhaps one day we may have some extra money, but that's a luxury that is optional"

Husband: "Well I thought that with money we can send our children to the best colleges and Universities.."

Wife: " Oxford and Cambridge may give them a lovely start in life, perhaps a cushy job and much income, but a true education goes beyond that; have we taught them the basic principles of life, the 5 basic Precepts, love, respect, responsibility... if so, they are well educated. Universities may teach them much in facts and literature, but life itself is EDUCATION! No "money" can teach that, only loving parents and friends can be the role models for this. Happiness does NOT depend on a certificate from an Ivy League university, happiness is from how we view life, how we adapt, how we treat each other, NO university can teach that, no curriculum can teach contentment, even we CAN'T by words, BUT ONLY by EXAMPLE".

Kamma our inheritance

"The results of kamma cannot be known by thought, and so should not be speculated about. Thus, thinking, one would come to distraction and distress.

"Therefore, Ananda, do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgments about others."

Showing the Way

It is not surprising to find that, after over 2,600 years, Buddhism—like other religions—is beset by superstition, but this doesn't mean we should just shrug complacently, as if there is nothing we can do about it .

After His Enlightenment, out of compassion, the Buddha set out to counteract ignorance and superstition, which He saw as the root cause of most of humanity's sufferings. He knew that this is not something fixed and immutable, and that man may rise above it and become free or enlightened. This was why He left the peace and tranquillity of the forest and went back to the world; what He had found was not for Himself alone.

Originally, the Buddha's Way was one of Understanding, but today's Buddhism has often little to do with that, and has devolved into a system of Belief. The Buddha tried to show the Way to others, to help them become enlightened, but even with His great wisdom and ability to teach people according to their levels, He couldn't make everyone understand. It is like the old saying: "You can take a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink". He was a Way-pointer, and told, quite clearly, "within yourselves deliverance must be sought; each man his prison makes".

Few people—in any age, it seems—can understand and accept such clear and simple teachings; most are lazy and want someone 'to do it' for them. Slowly, the pristine teachings were adulterated and people began to think of the Buddha as a God—or a cosmic Saviour—who would answer prayers, bestow blessings, save them from danger, sickness and death, etc.; they began to look upon Him as more divine than human.

His Teachings about finding salvation within were ignored as people looked to Him for help, which was something He never taught.

The END of Ego

There is a German proverb which asks an interesting and skillful question:

"Was hilft Laufen, wenn man nicht auf dem rechten Weg ist? "

(What is the use of running, when we are not on the right way?)

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu taught:

"I would like to suggest that the heart of Buddhism is the saying,

'Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.'

There is a passage in the Majjhima-nikaya where someone approached the Buddha and asked him whether he could summarize his teachings in one phrase and, if he could, what it would be. The Buddha replied that he could, and he said,

'Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya.'

'Sabbe dhamma' means 'all things,'

'nalam' means 'should not be',

'abhinivesaya' means 'to be clung to.'

Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.

The Buddha emphasized this point by saying that whoever had heard this core phrase had heard all of Buddhism; whoever had put it into practice had practiced all of Buddhism; and whoever had received the fruits of practicing it had received all the fruits of Buddhism.

--


A flower falls,
even though we love it;
and a weed grows,
even though we do not love it.

Empty

Sunnata/ Emptiness:

"As a doctrinal term it refers, in Theravada, exclusively to the Anatta doctrine, i.e., the unsubstantiality of all phenomena: 'Void is the world... because it is void of a self and anything belonging to a self'."

"This is the central doctrine of Buddhism, without understanding of which a real knowledge of Buddhism is altogether impossible. ..... the Anatta-Doctrine has been clearly and unreservedly taught only by the Buddha... Whosoever has not penetrated this impersonality of all existence, and does not comprehend that in reality there exists only this continually self-consuming process of arising and passing bodily and mental phenomena, and that there is no separate Ego-entity within or without this process, he will not be able to understand Buddhism, i.e. the teaching of the 4 Noble Truths, in the right light."

Buddhadasa teaches that: "We can contemplate dependent co-origination, we can observe impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self in all things; and we can see the illusoriness of feelings. We apply our practice in 'ordinary times' during moments of sense contact, and at the moment of death."

Hippocratic Oath

"One who cares for the sick is fit to do so if he has 5 qualities. What 5?

He can prepare medicine,
he knows what is healing and administers it BUT never administer what is harmful,
he cares for the patient out of love NOT out of desire for gain,
he is unmoved by excrement, urine, vomit and spittle,
and from time to time he can instruct, uplift, gladden and encourage the patient with talk on the Truth."

The Buddha in Anguttara Nikaya
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This Moment

Impermanence teaches us to respect and value every moment,

and all the precious things around us.

To treasure everything in this moment as all is transient.

To be unattached to everything in this moment as ALL is transient.

"They have NO regrets about the Past.

They have NO worries about the Future.

They are at Peace with the Present".

The Lord Buddha describing His Monks.

Treasure everything you have in the Moment,

Because it is ONLY here in the Moment.

Be unattached to everything you have in the Moment,

Because it is ONLY here in the Moment.

Balance these in the Moment and you are on the Middle Path.