Train Yourself Toward Compassion

Train Yourself Toward Compassion


With mindfulness, we see that the heart is the ground from which our speech grows.

We learn to restrain our speech in moments of anger, hostility, or confusion, and over time, to train the heart to more frequently incline towards wholesome states such as love, kindness and empathy.


—Beth Roth, “Right Speech Reconsidered”

Benefits of a Spacious Mind

Benefits of a Spacious Mind


The spacious mind has room for everything.

It is like the space in a room, which is never harmed by what goes in

and out of it.


—Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”

Your Calm Mind Helps Others

Your Calm Mind Helps Others


Your body reflects your mind. When you feel love for all beings, it shows

on your face. Seeing your honest, relaxed face, others will gravitate

toward you and enjoy being around you.


—Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “11 Benefits of Loving-Friendliness Meditation”

Opening Our Hearts Amidst Difficulty

Opening Our Hearts Amidst Difficulty


Meditation and dharma practice give us straightforward and powerful

trainings to balance our mind and open our hearts amidst all difficulties,

using mindfulness, loving-kindness, equanimity, and compassion.


—Jack Kornfield, “Truth and Reconciliation Begins with Us”

May Pieces of Love Ever Cling to You

May Pieces of Love Ever Cling to You
_
2020
_

Reminded of the concepts of fair market value

As applied to fungible commodities, he felt an

Expansive, new hope unfold within. Rightly so.
_


The hope was borne to his mind and heart on

Strong, supple wings that were as light as the

Whisper of lovely, patterned, polychromatic,

Butterfly wings, as they, so softly, passed the

Space in front of ears, softly beating in the

Fine, gentle ways that butterfly wings do.
_

Gross, organic commodities like precious

Metals and uncut gems have market value

Based on karat fineness and carat weight.
_

Each of them can be cut and divided, but

Still retain apportioned parts of its whole,

Man-made market value, but only to a

Finite point at which all the parts of the

Whole are gone, divided up and sold off.
_

Which brings me to the hope in my heart

And mind. For you see, love also bears

The ugly saw marks, cuts, and the loud,

Lurching, hammer-blows that its essence

Bears every time someone tries to divide

Its indivisibility, and reapportion its being

From wholeness to their silly ideas of

Dreamt-up, constituent, fungible parts;

Each part with its own fractional values.
_

But those foolish ideas about how love can

Always be split up, divided and apportioned

Off, piecemeal are, just so, artlessly dumb.
_

Even when riven apart, love will never break!

Even over lifetimes, it will grow more whole,

And its beauty will only serve to inspire good.
_

So, I wish you all who feel that love can be

Commodified like precious metals and gems:

Bought, sold, traded, increased or diminished,

Here’s a final loving wish for you to carry in

Your hearts and minds:

May Pieces of Love Ever Cling to You.
_

What Does a Mindful Life Look Like?

What Does a Mindful Life Look Like?


To be mindful means to remember to let go of compulsive reactivity and

realize a nonreactive way of life.


—Stephen Batchelor, “The Art of Solitude”

Toward the Pinnacle of Our Potential

Toward the Pinnacle of Our Potential


Bodhicitta is not some “thing” you either have or don’t have, or something that you need to acquire …

Its purpose is a test of what we can become—the greatest unfolding of our human potential.


—Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, “Nurturing the Intelligent Heart”

Begin with Your Mind

Begin with Your Mind


If our mind becomes wholesome, then our vocal and physical activities

will become sources of peace and benefit for ourselves and others.


—Tulku Thondup, “Don’t Get Stuck in Neutral”

Letting Go of Emotional Patterns

Letting Go of Emotional Patterns


All mental and emotional patterns eventually fall apart and dissolve in the light of awareness.


—Hanuman Goleman, “Checking My Inner World”

Lonesome Hearts Rejoice

Lonesome Hearts Rejoice
_

2020
_


Days without number blur;

Quiet thoughts hardly held.
_

Seasons race too, ages pass;

And ‘meant to dos,’ undone.
_

Remembrances show flaws;

Incredulity scratches an itch.
_

That which is sought anew;

Keeping her heart’s secrets.
_

He’s sorry. He didn’t know;

She forgave him anyway.
_

Eyes closed to make a wish;

She’d never tell a soul.
_

Smiles start behind eyes;

And her glow is beheld.
_

Why women always choose;

To use multifaceted teardrops.
_

Bold, chances for happiness;

Lonesome hearts rejoice.
_

Reaching Our Greatest Capacity for Love

Reaching Our Greatest Capacity for Love


As people become more whole and are freed from certain basic fears (of

abandonment, of unworthiness, of engulfment), new possibilities may

open up for the expression of embodied love.


—Jorge Ferrer, “What’s the Opposite of Jealousy?”

How to Ripen Wisdom

How to Ripen Wisdom


Wisdom, which includes skillful action, arises when we can hold our

views lightly and continue to question the basic assumptions that

underlie our truths.


—Brandon Dean Lamson, “Meeting Violence with Kindness”

Change Can Be a Gift

Change Can Be a Gift


It is only because of change that suffering can end.


—Sallie Tisdale, “Washing Out Emptiness”

6. Haiku and Poetry for Seekers of Buddhist Refuge

The Mind of Absolute Trust


The Great Way isn’t difficult
for those who are unattached to their preferences.

Let go of longing and aversion,
and everything will be perfectly clear.

When you cling to a hairsbreadth of distinction,
heaven and earth are set apart.

If you want to realize the truth,
don’t be for or against.

The struggle between good and evil
is the primal disease of the mind.

Not grasping the deeper meaning,
you just trouble your mind’s serenity.

As vast as infinite space,
it is perfect and lacks nothing.

But because you select and reject,
you can’t perceive its true nature.

Don’t get entangled in the world;
don’t lose yourself in emptiness.

Be at peace in the oneness of things,
and all errors will disappear by themselves.
_


If you don’t live the Tao,
you fall into assertion or denial.

Asserting that the world is real,
you are blind to its deeper reality;
denying that the world is real,
you are blind to the selflessness of all things.

The more you think about these matters,
the farther you are from the truth.

Step aside from all thinking,
and there is nowhere you can’t go.

Returning to the root, you find the meaning;
chasing appearances, you lose their source.

At the moment of profound insight,
you transcend both appearance and emptiness.

Don’t keep searching for the truth;
just let go of your opinions.
_


For the mind in harmony with the Tao,
all selfishness disappears.

With not even a trace of self-doubt,
you can trust the universe completely.

All at once you are free,
with nothing left to hold onto.

All is empty, brilliant,
perfect in its own being.

In the world of things as they are,
there is no self, no non-self.

If you want to describe its essence,
the best you can say is “Not-two.”

In this “Not-two” nothing is separate,
And nothing in the world is excluded.

The enlightened of all times and places
have entered into this truth.

In it there is no gain or loss;
one instant is ten thousand years.

There is no here, no there;
infinity is right before your eyes.


Jianzhi Sengcan (Chien-chih Seng-ts'an) (529 (?) - 606) is known as the Third Chinese Patriarch of Chán (Mahayana) Buddhism, after Bodhidharma, and the thirtieth Patriarch after Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha.

Sengcan is best known as the putative author of the famous Chán poem, “Xinxin Ming.”
School: Chan (Mahayana) Buddhism
Books: “The Book of Nothing: A Song of Enlightenment”