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Kindle Notes & Highlights
The first paramita is generosity, the journey of learning how to give. When we feel inadequate and unworthy, we hoard things.
It is like the sun in that it shines on everyone without discrimination. It is like a mirror in that it is willing to reflect anything without accepting or rejecting.
the real transformation takes place when we let go of our attachment and give away what we think we can’t.
we just sit alone with ourselves doing nothing but being aware of our out-breath and noticing our thoughts, our minds become stiller. Therefore, we begin to notice everything more.
introduced to the notion of egolessness. All ego really is, is our opinions, which we take to be solid, real, and
The way to stop the war is to stop hating the enemy.
It starts with seeing our opinions of ourselves and of others as simply our take on reality and not making them a reason to increase the negativity on the planet.
The less our speech and actions are clouded by opinion, the more they will communicate,
Cultivating a mind that does not grasp at right and wrong, you will find a fresh state of being. The ultimate cessation of suffering comes from that.
This place of the squeeze is the very point in our meditation and in our lives where we can really learn something. The point where we are not able to take it or leave it, where we are caught between a rock and a hard place, caught with both the upliftedness of our ideas and the rawness of what’s happening in front of our eyes—that is indeed a very fruitful place.
We could experiment with not getting tossed around by right and wrong and with learning to relax with groundlessness.
As Milarepa sang to the monsters he found in his cave, “It is wonderful you demons came today. You must come again tomorrow. From time to time, we should converse.” We start by working with the monsters in our mind. Then we develop the wisdom and compassion to communicate sanely with the threats and fears of our daily life.
We can use difficult situations—poison—as fuel for waking up.
The three poisons are passion (this includes craving or addiction), aggression, and ignorance (which includes denial or the tendency to shut down and close out).
We can use everything that happens to us as the means for waking up. We can use everything that occurs—whether it’s our conflicting emotions and thoughts or our seemingly outer situation—to show us where we are asleep and how we can wake up completely, utterly, without reservations.
a hospital emergency room. That could be the image for our working basis, which is grounded in some honesty about how the human realm functions. It smells, it bleeds, it is full of unpredictability, but at the same time, it is self-radiant wisdom, good food, that which nourishes us, that which is beneficial and pure.
Chaos is part of our home ground. Instead of looking for something higher or purer, work with it just as it is.
We don’t experience the world fully unless we are willing to give everything away. Samaya means not holding anything back, not preparing our escape route, not looking for alternatives, not thinking that there is ample time to do things later.
The things we see all the time can pop us out of the painful cycle of samsara.
We don’t experience the world fully unless we are willing to give everything away.
I decided to see what would happen without my input—even if it meant that everything would fall apart. Sometimes you just have to let everything fall apart.
My experience is that by practicing without “shoulds,” we gradually discover our wakefulness and our confidence. Gradually, without any agenda except to be honest and kind, we assume responsibility for being here in this unpredictable world, in this unique moment, in this precious human body.
The dharma can heal our wounds, our very ancient wounds that come not from original sin but from a misunderstanding so old that we can no longer see it. The instruction is to relate compassionately with where we find ourselves and to begin to see our predicament as workable.
So one sometimes reads, “The path is the goal.” This path has one very distinct characteristic: it is not prefabricated. It doesn’t already exist.
What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now.
“There is a river flowing now very fast,” they said. “It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.”
the Hopi Elders advise us to “push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.” Once there, we’ll be able to see our companions in the river and “celebrate.”
Lighten up and relax. Offer chaos a cup of tea.
