é™æ€è¯ Readings For Silent Reflection
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“Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally comes to realise that nothing really belongs to them.”
- Paulo Coelho
It is possible to find ease and grace in the world of change; it is possible to trust the mind of non-clinging and so find our liberation within the world of impermanence. One means of reducing clinging is to see the transient nature of what we cling to. This insight can either show us the futility of trying to find lasting happiness in what is impermanent, or it can encourage us to examine deeply why we cling. -
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“Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting” .....
- Richard Paul Evans, The Gift
Change is a central feature of life. It can be exhilarating, frightening, exhausting, or relieving. It can spark sadness or happiness, resistance or grasping.
Insight into Impermanence is central to Buddhist practice.
Buddhist practice points us toward becoming equanimous in the midst of change and wiser in how we respond to what comes and goes. In fact, Buddhism could be seen as one extended meditation on transience as a means to freedom. The Buddha’s last words were: “All conditioned things are impermanent. Strive on with diligence.” -
追求身体上的�康，
更�追求心�上的�康；
追求事业上的�康，
更�追求信仰上的�康。~星雲大師Better for you to seek mental than physical health.
Better for you to seek right faith than business success.
~~by Venerable Master Hsing Yun
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观念�能转，命�就难改～
é¼“åŠ±å¤§å®¶å¯¹ä½›æ³•å¤šé—»è–°ä¹ ï¼�
星雲說� �微妙法
文�星雲大師 -
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Not to do evil, to cultivate good, to purity one's mind, this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
- Dhammapada, vs. 183
The mind cannot be purified if we do not thoroughly investigate it. When we try to analyse the mind it seems to escape us, we cannot grasp it.
The mind is variable, it changes very rapidly. At one moment there is a mind with attachment, at another moment a mind with generosity, at another moment a mind with anger. At each moment there is a different mind. Through the Buddhist teachings we learn that in reality the mind is different from what we mean by the word "mind" in conventional language. What we call mind are in reality different fleeting moments of consciousness succeeding one another very rapidly. -
Is it me who will be reborn or is the being in the next existence someone else? Before we attempt to answer this question, we need to understand more clearly the nature of the “me” around which the question revolves.
- A Little Exercise ....
Please compare the baby you were in your first year of life with the person you are now: Is it the same person or not? “Certainly not,” you will say. Okay, now take yourself at the age of five and at present. At five you could speak, but that small boy or girl was someone quite different, wasn’t it? What about at ten years? At that age some of your present character traits may have already been apparent, but your interests and aptitudes were still very childish. So let’s consider you at twenty. The person you were at twenty and the person you are now: Are they the same person or not? It’s getting hard to say. But you’ll probably think the two aren’t the same. Compare last month and now. What about yesterday? An hour ago? In fact, when you started to read this essay you were not exactly the same “I” that you are now. From moment to moment we are not the same, yet neither are we entirely different. This is exactly what rebirth means: The being of the last existence, the being of this life, and the one due to arise in the future—they aren’t quite the same, but also not entirely different.
The ancient commentators illustrate the rebirth process with the simile of a seal. The seal and its impression are not the same thing, but also not completely different. Rather, they are connected by the cause-and-effect relation. Nothing is carried over, but a causal influence acts. Similarly, the past life is not the same as the present one, yet they are not utterly distinct, for they are linked by direct causal influence.
In Buddhism a “person,” the “I,” has only relative reality; it does not belong to the category of ultimate truth. The notion of “self” can sometimes be so clear, strong, and convincing; but if we turn the spotlight of our awareness on it, suddenly it steps back, disperses and dissolves, and relocates elsewhere. -
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