Wisdom for Today
Teachings from the world of Buddhism and beyond, updated each weekday
Of course we can always imagine more perfect conditions, how it should be ideally, how everyone should behave. But it is not our task to create an ideal. It’s our task to see how it is, and to learn from the world as it is. For the awakening of the heart, conditions are always good enough. — Ajahn Sumedho. 3 December 2021
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- No matter what kind of thought arises, simply recognize that in essence it is always intangible, ungraspable; then no matter what kind of thought arises, it will subside and you will no longer be overcome by it. — Thrangu Rinpoche. 2 December 2021
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- When we are interacting with people, we must be humble, bearing in mind that we are inferior, and others are superior. I may have some strengths, but I have far more shortcomings. Although others may have some shortcomings, their virtues are plentiful. This is what Confucius said: “Whenever three people are walking together, I am sure to find teachers among them.” — Master Huijing. 1 December 2021
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- The Buddha taught that greed, anger, and misunderstanding are the causes that give rise to suffering. If we ourselves are not yet acquainted with greed, anger, and misunderstanding, then there is no way we can believe this. When we know ourselves what greed, anger and delusion are like, and that whenever they arise in the mind, they produce suffering like a fire burning us, then we can believe it on the basis of our own experience. — Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. 30 November 2021
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- Compassion is the radicalism of our time. — His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. 29 November 2021
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- Compassion means letting go of your self-identity, letting go of proving that identity all the time. Compassion means you work in the way the wind works, the sun works, or the air works. Take, for example, how the air assumes the shape of the room. The air does not say, “I will give you this breathing space provided you breathe the way I want.” Everyone enjoys the benefit of being able to breathe in the air. It is the same way with the sun: the sun does not stop shining when there are clouds in the sky. — Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche. 26 November 2021
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- May even my enemies hear Dhamma at the right time, from those who speak on acceptance, praising acquiescence; and may they follow that path! For then they’d surely wish no harm upon myself or others. Having arrived at ultimate peace, they’d look after creatures firm and frail. For irrigators guide the water, and fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters carve timber—but the astute tame themselves. — Aṅgulimāla Sutta. 25 November 2021
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- True beauty belongs to everyone. Nobody has the right to make it his or her own private possession. The sun shines on everyone, the air is for all to breathe, and the roads are open for both you and me. Consider the early riser who sees the sunrise first and shouts, “The sun is rising!” But if he then believes that the sunrise is his exclusive property, and tries to collect a “sunrise fee” from other people, wouldn’t he be considered totally overbearing? – Master Jingzong. 23 November 2020
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- We cannot live in the past; it is gone. Nor can we live in the future; it is forever beyond our grasp. We can live only in the present. If we are unaware of our present actions, we are condemned to repeating the mistakes of the past and can never succeed in attaining our dreams for the future. — S. N. Goenka. 22 November 2021
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- From a forsaken heap discarded on the highway, a lotus might blossom, fragrant and delightful. So too, among the forsaken, a disciple of the perfect Buddha outshines with their wisdom the blind ordinary folk. — The Dhammapada. 19 November 2021
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- One should live with few possessions And dwell with one’s back turned To the things that cause grasping. Be as a wanderer in foreign lands Taking food as it is found Like the birds in migration. — Atiśa. 18 November 2021
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- Inscribed with the brush of Mount Sumeru and the ink of the seas, Heaven-and-Earth itself is our sutra. All phenomena are encompassed in a single point therein, and the six sense objects are all included within its covers. — Kūkai. 17 November 2021
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- Just as the great water of the ocean Is immeasurable and unpolluted, In that way, the sight of the Buddha Dispels the thirst of the world. — Toh 44-45: The Stem Array, [1.94]. 16 November 2021
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- In the high bare limbs of twisted trees, the moon slowly awakens to the soul’s darkest season: inevitable autumn. — Ikkyu Sojun. 15 November 2021
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- I am not, I will not be. I have not, I will not have. This frightens all children, And kills fear in the wise. ― Nāgārjuna, 12 November 2021
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- Borne by the air, a plane can take us quickly to where we could never go on foot. Borne by our devotion, the blessings of the teacher bring us swiftly to realization. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. 11 November 2021
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- As for you, who have a precious human life for the moment and have received instructions from a spiritual master, the embodiment of all the buddhas of the three times, think with joy and enthusiasm of traveling the great path of the supreme Dharma and getting ever closer to the ultimate goal: enlightenment and liberation. – Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol. 10 November 2021
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- Upholding the recitation of the Buddha’s Name is a great teaching, as it can transform an ordinary being’s mind to a Buddha’s mind instantly. — Master Yinguang. 9 November 2021
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- Dharma Practitioners and the Autumn Landscape: Your face emanates kindness. Your actions exude courtesy and goodwill. You take on responsibilities with ungrudging grace. You are a genuine practitioner reminiscent of all the good things that autumn represents. – Venerable Pomnyun Sunim. 8 November 2021
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- When seeing, hearing, or sensing something and considering it as the only thing that can bring comfort and advantage to self, one is always inclined to get caught in it and rule out everything else as inferior. Caught in one’s view and considering all other views as inferior—this attitude is considered by the wise as bondage, as the absence of freedom. A good practitioner is never too quick to believe what is seen, heard, and sensed, including rules and rites. — Paramatthaka Sutta
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- A cup fell to the ground With a sound clearly heard. As space was pulverised, The mad mind came to a stop. — Master Xu Yun. 4 November 2021
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- Taming the mind takes time. Through good and bad moods, through periods of peacefulness and klesha attacks, we train in being present. Day by day, month by month, year by year, we become better able to keep a rule of life, better able to lead the life of a bodhisattva who can hear the cries of the world and extend a hand. — Pema Chödron. 3 November 2021
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- Peace is the art of etiquette; talking softly is the mark of civilization; smiling is the sunshine of relationships; trust is the friend of success. This is the protocol for modern people. — Master Hsing Yun. 2 November 2021
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- Suppose there was a person in need of a snake. And while wandering in search of a snake they’d see a big snake, and grasp it by the coil or the tail. But that snake would twist back and bite them on the hand or the arm or limb, resulting in death or deadly pain. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the snake. In the same way, a foolish person memorizes the teaching … and those teachings lead to their lasting harm and suffering. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the teachings. — The Buddha. 1 November 2021
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- There is no greater inspiration, no greater courage, than the intention to lead all beings to the perfect freedom and complete well-being of recognizing their true nature. Whether you accomplish this intention isn’t important. The intention alone has such power that as you work with it, your mind will become stronger; your mental afflictions will diminish; you’ll be more skillful in helping other beings; and in so doing, you’ll create the causes and conditions for your own well-being. – Mingyur Rinpoche. 29 October 2021
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- The Bodhisattva liberates sentient beings, Leading them to realize that dharmas are illusory. Beings are no different from illusions. Once illusion is understood, there are no beings. Sentient beings, countries, And all dharmas in the three periods of time, Are, without exception, No more than illusions. — Avataṃsaka Sūtra. 28 October 2021
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- To think that you will be happy by becoming something else is delusion. Becoming something else just exchanges one form of suffering for another form of suffering. But when you are content with who you are now, junior or senior, married or single, rich or poor, then you are free of suffering. — Ajahn Brahm. 27 October 2021
