Home » Posts tagged with "liberation"
Posts tagged with "liberation"
Is ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ Ours Too?
Sep. 23 | What is the meaning, purpose or point of this life, be it long or short? These existential issues are pondered by a dog, who is able to recall several immediate past lives. Is it just to have fun and games, to play and eat? If only it is that simple....
Be Not The Last To Sever The Seed 莫作最后断种人
Sep. 20 | 汝粗得其门， 当传灯化物， 莫作最后断种人也。 – 慧思大师致智者大师之遗教 《佛祖统纪》第六卷 智者大师最后教诲乃 亲自得生阿弥陀佛极乐净土 You, who have just attained this [Dharma] Door, should...
What Are Buddhist Meditative Practices Truly For?
Sep. 17 | Question: What are Buddhist meditative practices for? Can they be for relaxation and the sharpening of mindfulness for work and play? Answer: They are for training, to attain enlightenment, which leads to liberation from the cycle of birth and death....
Our ‘Escape Room’ To Escape From
Aug. 26 | Like it or not, life now is as if a giant escape room puzzle with minor puzzles within to escape from. Such escape is not from rightly due responsibilities, but from saṃsāric (娑婆) existence itself. It is the ultimate escape, for attaining...
Breaking Free Of Rebirth In ‘Thor: Ragnarok’
Aug. 12 | When trapped on the planet Sakaar, there was this conversation… Korg: I’m actually organising another revolution. I don’t know if you’d be interested in something like that. Do you reckon you’d be interested?...
See Your Body’s Impermanence Closely & Quickly
Jul. 10 | With my diligence, carefully I examined the body And saw this as it really is — Both within and without. – Nanda (Thig 84) Because Nanda was so taken up with her physical beauty, the Buddha used his psychic powers to conjure up the vision of an even...
Six Matters You Might Wish To Consider Now
Jul. 4 | As not choosing is also choosing, do consider well to choose well. – Shilashanti [1] First, you might not liberate yourself before this life ends, but you can choose where reborn. [2] Second, you might not care where you will be reborn, but such rebirth...
Heed The Dharma
Jun. 28 | Heedfulness is the path to the Deathless. Heedlessness is the path to death. The heedful die not. The heedless are as if dead already. – The Buddha (Dhammapada Verse 21)
I’m Taking A Ride With My Best Friend
Jun. 6 | It all seems so stupid, it makes me want to give up… – Shame: First half of chorus (Depeche Mode) The classic 1987 Depeche Mode concert anthem, ‘Never Let Me Down Again‘, is about a debatable ‘best friend’, who is taking...
True Practice Is What Matters
May. 31 | Much though he recites the sacred texts, but acts not accordingly, that heedless man is like a cowherd who only counts the cows of others – he does not partake of the blessings of the holy life. Little though he recites the sacred texts, but puts the...
How Much Of Our Blessings Are From Our Ancestors?
May. 30 | The wise are grateful for their ancestors’ good, and never resentful for their mistakes. – Nowanden (Part 1) Is it so, that many generations’ accumulation of merits is needed, for us to be able to learn and practise the Dharma? Although...
‘The Song Of Patience By Hánshān & Shídé’ As Sung By The Bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra & Maitreya 文殊、普贤与弥勒菩萨所唱的《寒山拾得忍耐歌》
May. 16 | The following is a beloved classic teaching on patience (忍辱), called ‘Hánshān Asks Shídé’《寒山问拾得》or ‘Hánshān’s [And] Shídé’s Patience Song’《寒山拾得忍耐歌》, with notes on its meaning. 稽首文殊，寒山之士。南无普贤，拾得定是。 [I]...
Should You Save Others Or Yourself First? 该先度众生还是自己？
Apr. 10 | 泥菩萨过江， 自身难保。 Mud Bodhisattvas [who] cross [the] river, [of] themselves, [they are] difficult [to] protect. – Saying Should one who aspires for Buddhahood strive to deliver others or oneself from the rounds of rebirth first? Well,...
The Buddha’s Words On Loving-Kindness (Karaniya Metta Sutta)
Mar. 27 | [1] He sleeps in comfort. [2] He awakes in comfort. [3] He sees no evil dreams. [4] He is dear to human beings. [5] He is dear to non-human beings. [6] Devas (gods) protect him. [7] Fire, poison, and sword cannot touch him. [8] His mind can concentrate...
