Rational Nation USA

  Free “Dalai Lama Compassion Summit” coming October 14 from Lion’s Roar and Tibet House Robert Thurman, Sharon Salzberg, Anne Lamott, Thubten Jinpa, and Rick Hanson headline this month’s 2nd Annual Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit, titled “ The Power of Compassion .” This free online event is an historic investigation of the value held dearest by one of the great spiritual figures of our time, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Produced by Lion’s Roar in partnership with Tibet House US, this five-day free online event brings together 20 renowned spiritual teachers, scientists, activists, and interfaith leaders to share and discuss the Dalai Lama’s message of compassion and how it can better our world, from our individual lives to the health of the planet itself. The event has the personal support and endorsement of His Holiness. “The Dalai Lama is the world’s best-known Buddhist, and yet he has famously said, “My religion is kindness,” reflects Melvin McLeod, Editor-in-Chief of Lion’s Ro...

A person should hurry toward the good and restrain one’s thoughts from the bad. If a person is slow in doing good, one’s mind will find pleasure in wrong. If a person does what is wrong, let one not do it again. Let one not find pleasure in wrong. Painful is the accumulation of bad conduct. If a person does what is good, let one do it again. Let one find joy in it. Happiness is the result of good conduct. Even a wrong-doer sees happiness as long as one’s wrong action does not ripen; but when the wrong action has ripened, then does the wrong-doer see bad. Even a good person sees bad as long as one’s good action does not ripen; but when one’s good action has ripened, then the good person sees the good. Let no one underestimate evil, thinking, “It will not come near me.” Even a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops of water. A fool becomes full of evil even if one gathers it little by little. Let no one underestimate good, thinking, “It will not come near me.” Even a water-pot is fi...

  Awareness is the path of immortality; thoughtlessness is the path of death. Those who are aware do not die. The thoughtless are as if dead already. The wise having clearly understood this, delight in awareness and find joy in the knowledge of the noble ones. These wise ones, meditative, persevering, always using strong effort, attain nirvana, the supreme peace and happiness. If a person is awake, aware, mindful, pure, considerate, self-restrained, and lives according to duty, that person’s glory will increase. By awakening, by awareness, by restraint and control, the wise may make for oneself an island which no flood can overwhelm. Fools follow after vanity, are ignorant and careless. The wise keep awareness as their best treasure. Do not follow after vanity nor after sensual pleasure nor lust. Whoever meditates with awareness obtains great joy. When the wise conquer thoughtlessness by awareness, climbing the terraced heights of wisdom, free from sadness viewing the sad crowd bel...

  Buddhism: The Rise of Mahayana Buddhism The positions advocated by Mahayana [great vehicle] Buddhism, which distinguishes itself from the Theravada and related schools by calling them Hinayana [lesser vehicle], evolved from other of the early Buddhist schools. The Mahayana emerges as a definable movement in the 1st cent. BC, with the appearance of a new class of literature called the Mahayana sutras. The main philosophical tenet of the Mahayana is that all things are empty, or devoid of self-nature (see  sunyata ). Its chief religious ideal is the  bodhisattva , which supplanted the earlier ideal of the arahant, and is distinguished from it by the vow to postpone entry into nirvana (although meriting it) until all other living beings are similarly enlightened and saved. The bodhisattva is an actual religious goal for lay and monastic Buddhists, as well as the name for a class of celestial beings who are worshiped along with the Buddha. The Mahayana developed doctrines o...

  “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. “ – Lord Buddha Lord Buddha Buddhism is based on the teachings and life of Gautama Buddha. The Buddha was born as a privileged Indian Prince, named Siddhartha Gautama. As a young man he was shielded from the suffering and mortality of human life and given all the worldly privileges that his family could offer him. They wished to shield him from suffering because it was foretold that when the young prince came upon suffering he would renounce the world to live the life of an ascetic. However eventually Siddhartha ventured from the Palace into the outside world and for the first time came across death, illness and suffering. This led the Buddha to question his worldly life. Although he had all of life’s material comforts these could no longer sat...

  ” Confused by thoughts, we experience duality in life. Unencumbered by ideas, the enlightened see the one Reality.” – Hui Neng

by  Milarepa English version by Garma C. C. Chang Original Language Tibetan Oh, my Guru! The Exemplar of the View, Practice, and Action, Pray vouchsafe me your grace, and enable me To be absorbed in the realm of Self-nature! For the View, Practice, Action, and Accomplishment There are three Key-points you should know: All the manifestation, the Universe itself, is contained in the mind; The nature of Mind is the realm of illumination Which can neither be conceived nor touched. These are the Key-points of the View. Errant thoughts are liberated in the Dharmakaya; The awareness, the illumination, is always blissful; Meditate in a manner of non-doing and non-effort. These are the Key-points of Practice. In the action of naturalness The Ten Virtues spontaneously grow; All the Ten Vices are thus purified. By corrections or remedies The Illuminating Void is ne'er disturbed. These are the Key-points of Action. There is no Nirvana to attain beyond; There is no Samsara here to renounce; Tru...

  To change your life now and prepare for the inevitable, says Pamela Ayo Yetunde, regularly contemplate these five home truths. I first encountered the five remembrances when I was a chaplaincy student at the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. Diana Lion, one of the teachers, handed us an altar card with five statements from the  Upajjhatthana Sutta . Here they are in their blunt simplicity and undeniability: I am of the nature to age. I am of the nature to become ill. I am of the nature to die. I will be separated and parted from all that is dear to me. I am the heir to my actions. While at Sati, and later as a volunteer at the Zen Hospice Project (now Zen Caregiving Project), I reflected silently on each line, feeling the emotions that arose with each statement while trying to remain as still as possible with the agitation. Reflecting on the five remembrances is a fact check, and this helped me become more authentic with people who were in their last days of living. Authenti...

  Buddhism, or Buddhadharma, is Buddha’s teachings and the inner experiences or realizations of these teachings. Buddha Dharma Buddhadharma does not stay in one place but moves from one country to another. Just as gold is precious and rare, so Buddhadharma is precious and very hard to find. Buddha taught how to examine our mind and see which states produce misery and confusion and which states produce health and happiness. He taught how to overcome the compulsively non-virtuous minds that confine us to states of discontent and misery, and how to cultivate the virtuous minds that liberate us from pain and lead us to the bliss of full enlightenment. By learning Buddhadharma, we will have the opportunity to gain the happiness we seek and to fulfil all our temporary and ultimate wishes.Buddhism, or Buddhadharma, is Buddha’s teachings and the inner experiences or realizations of these teachings. Buddha gave eighty-four thousand teachings. All these teachings and the inner realizations o...

  Buddha would be green—I am green too Buddha  was born as his mother leaned against a tree for support. He attained enlightenment seated beneath a tree, and passed away as trees stood witness overhead. Therefore, were Buddha to return to our world, he would certainly be connected to the campaign to protect the environment. Speaking for myself, I have no hesitation in supporting initiatives that are related to protecting the environment because threats to our environment are a question of our survival. This beautiful blue planet is our only home. It provides a habitat for unique and diverse communities. Taking care of our planet is to look after our own home. We can no longer keep exploiting the resources of this earth—the trees, the water, and the minerals—without any care for coming generations. It is common sense that we cannot survive if we keep working against nature. We must learn to live in harmony with nature. If we compare damage to the environment to war and violence...

  This blue planet of ours is a beautiful habitat. Its life is our life; its future our future. Indeed, the earth is acts like a mother to us all. Like children, we are dependent on her. Our world is deeply interdependent, both in terms our economies and the problkems like climate change that challenge us all. When we see photographs of the earth from space, we see no boundaries between us, just this beautiful blue planet. This is no longer a time to think only of "my nation" or "my continent" alone. There is a real need for a greater sense of global responsibility based on the oneness of humanity. His Holiness the Dalai Lama Source: THE VISION OF THE DALAI LAMA ...  LION'SROAR.COM Please check out:  The 14th Dalai Lama’s Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1989.                                         ...

  We have to learn that we are all brothers and sisters and live on one earth and under the same sun. Unless we all work together, no solution can be found. Therefore, our key responsibility is to commit ourselves to the ethical principals of universal responsibility beyond profit and religion, and to place the well being-being of all sentient beings and future generation above our own egoism. His  Holiness the Dalai Lama

  Giving a convoluted twist to the meaning of Natural Selection! Bravo Trumpublican republicans. Cross Posted At Cannibus Corner Chat Room .