Buddhist Teachers

"Buddhism, it may be said, finds religious authority not only in texts and institutions, but also in enlightened people. Certainly, those undersood as realized have occupied and important if not always well defined place within the early and developed tradition."

"Sometimes the mind may wonder about practice itself. For example, the mind may wander off into analyzing whether an object was noted effectly, or sequentially, or vividly. The mind may wander off into thinking about how one is going to note an object. Under these circumstances, insight concentration cannot arise."

"Uncertainty about what is wholesome and unwholesome is called skeptical doubt (vicikiccha). It is considered a hindrance to liberation as it hinders the arising of discriminating knowledge. A person who has doubts about the wholesomeness and unwholesomeness of phenomena is unable to abandon what is unwholesome, develop what is wholesome, and escape the cycle of suffering."

"A restless state of mind that wanders away from an object while observing it is a mental state called restlessness (uddhacca). It flies away from the object. Due to restlessness the mind cannot remain very long with an object but often wanders elsewhere."

"Doubt about the fact that insight wholesomeness consists of simply observing the presently arising mental and physical phenomena is also skeptical doubt. This doubt is so subtle that it is rarely detected but is instead mistaken for investigation. This doubt masquerades as analytical knowledge. The commentary on Netti Yuttihāra explains as follows: "Doubt appears in the guise of investigation.""

"Momentary concentration that focuses on mental or physical objects from moment to moment is called nondistraction (avikkhepa), a mental state that is the opposite of restlessness. When momentary concentration becomes strong, the mind seems to penetrate its object every time an object is noted."

"The Vammika Sutta likens skeptical doubt to a fork in the road. Say a traveler who is carrying many valuables arrives at a fork in the road; if he lingers there unable to decide which way to take, robbers may catch and possibly kill him. In the same way, a doubtful meditator who falls prey to wavering and procrastination cannot continue on with practice. He or she will then become a victim of mental defilements and be unable to escape the cycle of suffering. Only when he or she abandons doubt by noting it and uninterruptedly continues the practice can he or she be liberated from the cycle of suffering."

"One who fails to observe mental and physical phenomena every time they arise cannot see them as merely mental and physical phenomena. Furthermore, one does not realize their causality, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, notself, or their immediate disappearance upon arising and their continuous disappearance thereafter. Therefore, one mistakenly identifies these mental and physical phenomena with a personal entity, a person who is either born without any cause or created by a creator. One mistakes them for someone or something permanent and pleasant, everlasting, and unchanging."

"One should keep oneself occupied all the time with wholesome deeds such as: learning, teaching, memorizing, reading, scrutinizing, and chanting the Buddhist scriptures; discharging the daily duties of a monk; discussing the Dhamma, only speaking about the Dhamma; giving or listening to Dhamma talks, and practicing asceticism."

"When one cultivates strong concentration by means of tranquility or insight meditation, the mind is no longer distracted by thoughts and other hindrances. Such pure concentration, continuously focused on an object for either tranquility or insight, is considered mental purification. A mind associated with such concentration is also purified of hindrances due to the power of the concentration."

"Every time one notes an object well it gives rise to delight. As a result of this, practice becomes enjoyable."

"When intensively practicing insight, your first priority should be given to it, with the understanding that insight is the essential cause of liberation. ... You should not interrupt it for a minute or even a second."

"Ignorance immediately knows things in an ordinary, conceptual way. Because ignorance and its accompanying mental states arise first, wrong beliefs ensue. Therefore the texts say, "Ignorance conceals the true nature of obejcts.""

"The insight process flows smoothly if sensual desires do not arise. If they do arise, however, they obstruct the flow of insight. They appear as rivals to insight, as if saying, "It is our turn; stay away insight!""

"Although [Tetsugen] was already married, he was dissatisfied that in the [True Pure Land] sect, people without talent or merit held high rank in the temple hierarchy. Therefore, he went up to Mount Ōbaku and followed [the instruction] of Muan."

"Full of great changes My three and fifty years have been. I commented on the holy writ - a heavy sin That echoes to the skies. Now I will sail on the lake of lotus blooms And break into the skies within the water."

"Those who practice without keeping the precepts set out by the Buddha all represent the False Dharma. The reason for this [is as follows:] Although practices such as chanting the nembutsu, seated meditation, and reciting the sutras are each practiced differently depending on the abilities of the believer, the precepts against taking life, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and the like are absolute, regardless of the sect. Not to keep them is unacceptable. Therefore these precepts are called “absolutes.”"

"Above all, you must constantly train your mind to be loving, compassionate, and filled with Bodhicitta. You must give up eating meat, for it is very wrong to eat the flesh of our parent sentient beings."

"Koho Kenichi (1241-1316) was one of the most renowned Zen prelates of his era, his era, not least because of his Japanese origin. As son of , he began his religious career in the esoteric Buddhist school. In 1256 he was admitted into the Tofukuji by Enni Ben'en. Four years later he met Gottan Funei, who had just moved there from China. As instructed by his teacher Enni Ben'en, Koho followed Gottan Funei to Kamakura. On Ichio Ingo's recommendation he came under the care of Koho Kennichi. He was calm and self-willed and preferred to live in seclusion. For this reason he spent many years in a remote area until his appointment as leading priest of the Jomyoji in 1300 and later of the Manjuji in Kamakura. In 1314 Mugaku Sogen entrusted him with the leadership of the great Kenchoji."

"All my life I taught Zen to the people - Nine and seventy years. He who sees not things as they are Will never know Zen."

"Although Zen teachers—immigrants as well as native born—could now readily be found in Japan, some of the more serious students still felt it necessary to travel to China to get the training they wanted. One of these was Enni Ben’en, also known by the posthumous name, Shoichi Kokushi—Shoichi, the National Teacher."

"There are many great masters and very great realized beings in India and there have been many great realized beings in Tibet also, but they are not saying, “I'm realized, therefore I can do anything; I can eat meat and drink alcohol.” It's nothing like that. It should not be like that. According to the Kagyupa school, we have to see what the great masters of the past, the past lamas of Kagyupas, did and said about eating meat. The Drikung Shakpa [sp?] , master of Drikungpa, said like this, “My students, whomever are eating or using meat and calling it tsokhor or tsok, then these people are completely deserting me and going against the dharma.” I can't explain each of these things, but he said that anybody that is using meat and saying it is something good, this is completely against the dharma and against me and they completely have nothing to do with dharma. He said it very, very strongly. Other great masters also said this."

"Although one can sympathize with lay persons trying to break their attachment to a diet featuring meat, it is something else again to extend those sympathies to monks, priests, and teachers. What business have these latter to propound the Dharma when they possess neither the perception nor compassion to see the connection between meat eating and the killing of harmless animals, and when they lack the self-discipline to put Buddhist compassion before the pleasures of their palates? What right have they to wear the Buddha's robes when they won't or can't honor the bodhisattvic vows they recite daily to liberate all beings?"

"Every individual who eats flesh food, whether an animal is killed expressly for him or not, is supporting the trade of slaughtering and contributing to the violent deaths of harmless animals."

"Anyone familiar with the numerous accounts of the Buddha's extraordinary compassion and reverence for living beings … could never believe that he would be indifferent to the sufferings of domestic animals caused by their slaughter for food."

"Ultimately the case for shunning animal flesh does not rest on what the Buddha allegedly said or didn't say. What it does rest on is our innate moral goodness, compassion, and pity which, when liberated, lead us to value all forms of life. It is obvious, then, that wilfully to take life, or through the eating of meat indirectly to cause others to kill, runs counter to the deepest instincts of human beings."

"The stresses the ideal of the , who out of boundless compassion dedicates oneself to helping others. A Zen master, when asked where he would go after he died, replied, "To hell, for that's where help is needed most.""

"To put the flesh of an animal into one's belly makes one an accessory after the fact of its slaughter, simply because if cows, pigs, sheep, fowl, and fish, to mention the most common, were not eaten they would not be killed."

"Do not try to search outside yourself, which [only] leads to the suffering of saṃsāra. Maintain the same state of mind in every moment of thought, in every phase of mental activity."

"People who practice mental concentration may inhibit the True Mind within themselves by being dependent on sensory perceptions, coarse states of mind, and restricted breathing. Before achieving mental purity, [such people may undertake] the constant practices of concentrating the mind and viewing the mind. Although they do so during all their activities, [such people] cannot achieve [mental] clarity and purity, nor illumine that mind which is the sources of all dharmas."

"That which is known as "meditation" is the act of sustaining an object of meditation and specific subjective aspects by repeatedly focusing your mind upon a virtuous object of meditation. The purpose of this is as follows. From beginningless time you have been under the control of your mind; your mind has not been under your control. Furthermore, your mind tended to be obscured by the afflictions and so forth. Thus meditation aims to bring this mind, which gives rise to all faults and flaws, under control and then it aims to make it servicable. Servicability means that you can direct your mind as you wish toward a virtuous object of meditation."

"The Lord Maitreya, whose name means kindliness or compassion, took up the office of Bodhisattva when the Lord Gautama laid it down, and since then He has made many efforts for the promotion of Religion. One of His first steps on assuming office was to take advantage of the tremendous magnetism generated in the world by the presence of the Buddha, to arrange that great Teachers should simultaneously appear in many different parts of the earth; so that within a comparatively short space of time we find not only the Buddha Himself, Shri Shankaracharya and Mahavira in India, but also Mithra in Persia, Laotse and Confucius in China, and Pythagoras in ancient Greece... The Bodhisattva also occupied occasionally the body of Tsong-ka-pa, the great Tibetan religious reformer, and throughout the centuries He has sent forth a stream of His pupils... who founded new sects or threw new light upon the mysteries of religion..."

"Karma is simply the wholeness of a cause, or first action, and its effect, or fruition, which then becomes another cause. In fact, one karmic cause can have many fruitions, all of which can cause thousands more creations. Just as a handful of seed can ripen into a full field of grain, a small amount of karma can generate limitless effects."

"The East has always been very fortunate in being supported with a very strong foundation of Buddha Dharma. ... The downside is that the changes of the modern world, and the East trying to keep up with the economic development—as we call it—process often has distanced laymen from the Buddhist teachings. Livelihood and survival as well as the increase of material belongings has become so very strong, that oftentimes we find the seriousness with which Dharma is practiced is limited to monastic institutions."

"Buddhas bear the same relation to sentient beings as water does to ice. Ice, like stone or brick, cannot flow. But when it melts it flows freely in conformity with its surroundings. So long as one remains in a state of delusion he is like ice. Upon realization he becomes as exquisitely free as water. And remember, there is no ice which does not return to water. So you will understand there is no difference between ordinary beings and Buddhas except for one thing - delusion. When it is dissolved they are identical."

"One has to understand the past role and, profiting by modern experience, design a new role in which development basically oriented to the needs of the people finds major expression."

"Our Buddhist culture taught us from our young days how we should keep in mind our welfare not only in this life but also in the afterlife as well in whatever we think, say or do. Belief in Rebirth and the Karmic Law – Law of Cause and Effect, were two fundamental teachings we were taught to keep in mind. Economics and Politics or any other department of life cannot function without adverse consequences if we resort to unrighteous or wrongful ways. Good ends can be realised only by good means."

"Sarvodaya means the Awakening of All – from an individual Human Personality to Humanity as a whole. This awakening has spiritual, moral, cultural, social, economic and political dimensions. Whatever we do in one of these sectors influences all other sectors."

"Buddha’s first admonition to the bhikkus or monks was to go forth into the world and work for the welfare of the people."

"Now the time has come when science and technology on the one hand and spiritual wisdom on the other have to be synthesised on a global scale to build a nobler, more just and more peaceful global community."

"When we work towards the welfare of all the means we use have to be based on Truth, Non-violence and Selflessness in conformity with Awakening of All."

"Lasting, fulfilling joy arises through the fusion of 'I' and 'You' into a 'We.' When both are in love and become one, everything blossoms, and the couple stands fast for each other and step in for one another. With such surplus, couples or families naturally spread their combined power into the world and gladly include others who want, and can, partake in the growth. With this, every aspect of life becomes a step along the way. And because relationships go so deep and generate such strong feelings, there is no feedback system that better enables a couple to get to know each other, and allows one to develop oneself."

"A generous relationship rarely knows dramas. One is happy when the partner is happy. And one is happy when growing on three levels: on the physical level, which gives love, material things, and protection; on the inner level— through compassion and wisdom—which provides the motivation for development; and on a deep-lying, secret level where both partners enrich themselves with the qualities of the other and increasingly find their center."

"Buddha’s advice helps beings by showing how one may consciously become a source of happiness and love."

"With love, one is also constantly planting the seeds for the success or failure of a partnership, and knowing this, we are especially responsible for the happiness or suffering of those who have opened up to us. The increased intimacy in love relationships leads to an exceptionally fast ripening of both beings’ good and bad impressions in mind."

"A successful partnership thrives because of the willingness of both to place the well-being of the other above their own. When the man makes the woman a queen and she treats him like a king, their noble style dissolves any limits for growth. With this enriching approach, a living, completing love will emerge."

"The 'taking love' leads to feelings of attachment, jealousy, anger, and childish self-absorption, while the 'giving love,' intrinsic in the tenets of Buddhism, encompasses the whole enjoyable realm of love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity."

"If we experience our power of awareness, feel something to be conscious right here and now, know that there is something between and behind the thoughts that perceives and understands, then everything is free play and a gift."

"Generous love, the glue that holds everything together in a healthy relationship, aims for shared happiness through the fulfillment of one’s partner."

"The understanding that truth is not neutral, but is instead blissful, is something only meditators and lovers trust."