Buddhas don’t save buddhas.
If you use your mind to look for a buddha,
you won’t see the buddha.
As long as you look
for a buddha somewhere else,
you’ll never see that your own mind
is the buddha. And don’t use a
buddha to worship
a buddha.
And don’t use the mind to invoke a buddha.
Buddhas don’t recite sutras.
Buddhas don’t keep precepts.
And buddhas don’t break precepts.
Buddhas don’t keep or break anything.
Buddhas don’t do good or evil.
No weapon that is formed
against thee shall prosper; and
every tongue that shall rise against thee
in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the
heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and their righteousness is of
me, saith the Lord.
the most authentic master I ever encountered
Something in prolonged contact with rouge eventually becomes red, something in prolonged contact with soot eventually becomes black. What I realize as I observe this is the tao of habituation to good and bad.
When you live with good people, what you always hear are good words and what you always see are good actions. Hearing and seeing good words and actions over a long period of time plants good seeds in your mind, so that you spontanteously become accustomed to goodness.
When you live with bad people, what you always hear are bad words and what you always see are bad actions. Hearing and seeing bad words and bad actions over a long period of time plants bad seeds in your mind, so that you naturally become accustomed to badness.
Good and bad people are said to be so by nature, but most become so through habit. Therefore wise people choose their associates carefully.
Entering through practice
refers to the Four Practices — all other
practices are contained within these. What are
the Four Practices? First, the practice of repaying wrongs.
Second, the practice of going along with the causal
nexus. Third, the practice of not seeking
anything. Fourth, the practice of
according with the
Dharma.
What is the practice
of repaying wrongs? When receiving
suffering, a practitioner who cultivates the Path
should think to himself: “During countless ages past
I have abandoned the root and pursued the branches, flowing
into the various states of being, and giving rise to much rancor and
hatred — the transgression, the harm done, has been limitless.
Though I do not transgress now, this suffering is a disaster
left over from former lives — the results of evil deeds
have ripened. This suffering is not something
given by gods or humans.”
You should willingly
endure the suffering without anger
or complaint. The sutra says: “Encountering
suffering, one is not concerned. Why? Because one
is conscious of the basic root.” When this attitude toward
suffering is born, you are in accord with inner truth,
and even as you experience wrongs, you advance
on the Path. Thus it is called “the practice
of repaying wrongs.”
Records of the Teachers and Students of the Lanka
by fbi and fdle your names are known
Once any sentient beings
see the Buddha, it will cause them
to clear away habitual obstructions and
forever abandon devilish actions:
this is the path traveled by
Illumination.