Saturday, May 31, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: Liberated from Conventionality

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

May 31, 2008

(This quote is being sent from the road, while at a college/university graduation ceremony. Apologies for any problems with formatting.)

LIBERATED FROM CONVENTIONALITY

Giving birth to bodhichitta in one's heart, buddha in one's heart brings freedom. That is the notion of freedom in Buddhism altogether. We are talking about freedom from the constriction of our own capabilities. It is as if we were extraordinary children, possessing all sorts of genius, and we were being undermined by the society around us, which was dying to make us normal people. Whenever we would show any mark of genius, our parents would get embarrassed.
They would try to put the lid on our pot, saying, "Charles, don't say those things. Just be an ordinary person." That is what actually happens to us, with or without our parents. I don't particularly want to blame our parents; we have also been doing this to ourselves. When we see something extraordinary, we are afraid to say so; we are afraid to express ourselves or to relate with such situations. So we put lids on ourselves -- on our potential, our capabilities. But in Buddhism we are liberated from that kind of conventionality.

>From OCEAN OF DHARMA: THE EVERYDAY WISDOM OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 282.

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Larger Scale Thinking


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

May 28, 2008

LARGER SCALE THINKING

Compassion is the ultimate attitude of wealth: an anti-poverty attitude, a war on want. It contains all sorts of heroic, juicy, positive, visionary, expansive qualities. And it implies larger scale thinking, a freer and more expansive way of relating to oneself and the world. This is precisely why the second part of the Buddhist path, or yana, is called the "Mahayana," the Great Vehicle." It is the attitude that one has been born fundamentally rich rather than that one must become rich. Without this kind of confidence, meditation cannot be transferred into action at all.

From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, page 99.

For photos, stories about the 16th Karmapa and reports on the visit of the 17th: http://www.chronicleproject.com/stories_99.html or http://www.karmapavisit.org 

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,786 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Administrative Notice


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTICE

A message was sent to the list last night, which was inadvertently allowed to go through to all of the subscribers to Ocean of Dharma. This won't happen again! You have NOT been removed from the list nor has your e-mail address been shared with anyone else on the list.

In general, if you want to subscribe or unsubscribe from this list or send an administrative message, it's preferable to write directly to the moderator, Carolyn Gimian. If you write to the list, you are asking to have your message posted to everyone on it. The moderator culls these administrative posts before they go out. However, she failed to prevent the one last night from going through.

Sincere apologies to all the subscribers, from me, the moderator. If you have further questions about this, please contact me as indicated below.

Thank you. Carolyn Gimian

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Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Monday, May 26, 2008

[OceanofDharma] (no subject)

pls remove me from mailing list thanks

Saturday, May 24, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: The Brilliant Sunshine of Kindness


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

[Ogyen Trinley Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, arrives in Boulder, Colorado today, where he will give teachings to several thousand students. In honor of his first visit to America, this is offered: ]

May 24, 2008

THE BRILLIANT SUNSHINE OF KINDNESS

I am thankful for the splendor and magnificence of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. His manifestation and existence are so fortunate and powerful for us in this dark age. The propagation of the Kagyu dharma, the lineage to which I belong, is always within his empire. The brilliant sunshine of His Holiness's kindness, as well as that of Khyentse Rinpoche and Dudjom Rinpoche, [two other lineage holders with whom Chogyam Trungpa had a strong connection], has encouraged me in continuing my teaching in the Western world. Through their kindness they have acknowledged my transformation from a pebble to gold, and they have given me further responsibility as a lineage holder, vajracarya and vidyadhara, in the modern world, so that I can teach continuously and further the dharma of the Practice Lineages....With the blessings of the lineage, and because of my unyielding vow, there is obviously no choice.

From "Foreword" in THE RAIN OF WISDOM: The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning, page xii.


For photos, stories about the 16th Karmapa and reports on the visit of the 17th: http://www.chronicleproject.com/stories_99.html or go to http://karmapavisit.org

 
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,792 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Thursday, May 22, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Environmental Generosity


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

May 22, 2008

ENVIRONMENTAL GENEROSITY

Compassion has nothing to do with achievement at all. It is spacious and very generous. When a person develops real compassion, he or she is uncertain whether he is being generous to others or to himself, because compassion is environmental generosity, without direction, without "for me" and without "for them." It is filled with joy, spontaneously existing joy, constant joy in the sense of trust, in the sense that joy contains tremendous wealth, richness.

From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, page 99.

For photos, stories about the 16th Karmapa and reports on the visit of the 17th: http://www.chronicleproject.com/stories_99.html
 
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,801 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Monday, May 19, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Surrendering in Sadness


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

May 19, 2008

SURRENDERING IN SADNESS

In devotion firm as an unchanging mountain
Truly seeing you alone, [my teacher,]  as the Buddha,
Free from conventions of young or old,
In foreign lands, in sadness, with reverence,
I survive by the amrita, [the nectar,] of your blessings.
....
You, my only father guru, have gone far away.
My vajra brothers and sisters have wandered to the ends of the earth.
Only I, Chogyam, the little child, am left.
Still, for the teachings of the profound and brilliant Practice Lineage,
I am willing to surrender my life in sadness.

Excerpt from "The Doha of Sadness," from "The Songs of Chogyam Trungpa" in THE RAIN OF WISDOM: The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning, page 288. Translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee. [Ed note: Vajra brothers and sisters refers to fellow vajrayana students with whom one has a strong link through practice or through having the same teacher.]

For photos, stories about the 16th Karmapa and reports on the visit of the 17th: http://www.chronicleproject.com/stories_99.html
 
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,796 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Thursday, May 15, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Supplication to the Emperor


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

[His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa arrived in North America today. In honor of his first visit to America, this poem, written to the 16th Karmapa, is offered: ]

May 15, 2008

SUPPLICATION TO THE EMPEROR                                                                                
 
You are a rock
You are our foundation
You can cause a landslide
You can shake the earth
You are all the elements
You burn
You quench thirst
You sustain
You are the creator of turbulent fresh air
You sit like a mountain
The world is your throne
The world is helpless
You and your Kagyu lineage
Are the only living monarchs on earth.
 
Inter-cosmopolitan politics
International Ballistic Missile
Internal Revenue Service for rich hippie spiritual shoppers
In the Age of Darkness
Your multiple all-pervasive macro-precision dharma insight is so penetrating:
Amidst a flock of black sheep
A flock of black pigeons
A depressed herd of buffaloes
Shaggy polar bears munching vegetables
Black cloud hovering above polluted cities
Aluminum-rim black leather executive chairs
Nouveau-riche articulation getting into the silk and satin world
Ex-Catholics reentering because of the promise of the Mother Church
Sleepy Jews learning to play the Kabbalah puzzle
Hocus-pocus Hindus trying their best in the Armenian evangelical jinglebell
Tea parties' old den of Theosophy filled with chatter of the new Messiah
Oakwood-paneled meeting halls with deadly pamphlets advertising
    "That" or "This" trip in their elegant language:
This dungeon of dark tunnels where millions are trapped
Comparing their entrapments as better than others'.
 
O Dawn of Karmapa
Are you Avalokiteshvara?
If
Are
Are you
You are
So you
You must be
Come forth                                                                                                             
The Dawn of Karmapa
The only living monarch on earth
Be kind to us
We wait for your lion's roar
Tiger's claw
Gentle smile
Ostentatious display of your presence.
 
You did
You will do
You are doing it
So do it
O Dawn of Karmapa.
 
First Published in FIRST THOUGHT BEST THOUGHT, pages 60 to 61; now in TIMELY RAIN, pages 31-33. Composed September 9, 1974 on the occasion of the first visit of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa.

For photos, stories about the 16th Karmapa and reports on the visit of the 17th: http://www.chronicleproject.com/stories_99.html

 
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,785 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Monday, May 12, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Taking Delight in Our Heritage


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

[His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa and the head of the Kagyu lineage, arrives in North America this week. It is his first visit to the West. Chogyam Trungpa also belonged to this lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He and his community helped to host the three visits of the 16th Karmapa to America in the 1970s and 80s. Many times, Chogyam Trungpa expressed complete devotion and dedication to the Karmapa and the lineage. In honor of the visit of the 17th Karmapa, several quotations and poems by Chogyam Trungpa will be offered in the next two weeks:]

May 12, 2008

TAKING DELIGHT IN OUR HERITAGE

The Practice Lineage of the Kagyu tradition inspires one to become fully involved in a heartfelt connection to the teachings....The Kagyu tradition is said to be the most stubborn and honest in following its heritage. We take delight in our heritage. Doubt, challenge, hesitation -- in brief, any form of second thoughts -- are not regarded as obstacles, but rather as fuel to push us further and cause our devotion and heartfelt longing to blaze, to increase our intense desire to follow the example of our forefathers. So we, as Kagyus, have thrived on the transmissions of our forefathers....As for myself, the older I get, the more of a Kagyu person I become. Aging in this way is wonderful. My thanks and appreciation to the forefathers.

From "Foreword" in THE RAIN OF WISDOM: The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning, pages xi and xii.

For information about the visit of His Holiness the Karmapa to America, go to www.karmapavisit.org.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,776 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Friday, May 9, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: In or Out?


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

[Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa is now available. See information below.]

May 9, 2008

IN OR OUT?

Ideas are not solid, if they are not founded on aggression or dogma. We can have open ideas. There is no problem with that. Ideas are not really founded on solid ground at all. They are just...ideas, which is a very important point. If you completely buy into someone else's idea or version of spirituality, it's like being caught in the jaws of a crocodile. This is one of the problems with many approaches to spirituality: either you are in it or you are not in it. In or out. You can't actually experience the space between the two. That is a problem, and that seems to be a spiritual materialistic trick to use on people: trying to save them from their experience. That approach is based on a hesitation or inability to provide everything legitimately, step by step. If the leaders of a spiritual group feel somewhat inadequate, they may tell potential students, "Buy it or don't buy it." That seems to be too cheap. Spiritual discipline is not based on becoming somebody else. But you become you in your enlightened version. That is the whole point.

From OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 182. This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains many new quotes, as well as some previously published on the Ocean of Dharma list serv. Order your copy now at a 20% discount at http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-536-2.cfm

[Originally from THE MISHAP LINEAGE: THE LINE OF THE TRUNGPAS. Forthcoming from Shambhala Publications.]

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,762 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Monday, May 5, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Licking Honey on a Razor Blade


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

[Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa is now available. See information below.]

May 5, 2008

LICKING HONEY ON A RAZOR BLADE

There is a quality of fearlessness in enlightenment, not regarding the world as an enemy, not feeling that the world is going to attack us if we do not take care of ourselves. Instead, there is tremendous delight in exploring the razor's edge, like a child who happens to pick up a razor blade with honey on it. It starts to lick it; it encounters the sweet taste and the blood dripping off its tongue at the same time. Simultaneous pain and pleasure are worth exploring, from the point of view of the sanity of crazy wisdom. This natural inquisitiveness is the youthful-prince quality of Padamsambhava, a great teacher who helped bring Buddhism to Tibet. It is the epitome of noncaring but at the same time caring so very much -- being eager to learn and eager to explore.

From "Fearlessness," in CRAZY WISDOM, page 115.

*** OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains many new quotes, as well as some previously published on the Ocean of Dharma list serv. Order your copy now at shambhala.com.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,728 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com

Thursday, May 1, 2008

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: A Staircase to Enlightenment


Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

[Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa is now available. See information below.]

May 1, 2008

A STAIRCASE TO ENLIGHTENMENT

In one of the sutras, or discourses by the Buddha, he says that those who practice shamatha meditation, or dwelling in peace, are building a staircase toward enlightenment. To construct such a staircase to enlightenment requires precise measurement and carpentry. The boards have to be completely measured and properly built. The steps must be built properly, the angles must be looked at, and then finally we have to choose certain particular nails that can bear the pressure of people walking on them, and then we hammer them in. So when we talk about shamatha practice, the sitting practice of meditation, we are talking about building a staircase very deliberately, according to the instructions of Buddha. We might ask," A staircase to what? What's it like at the top of the stairs?" It doesn't really matter. It's just a staircase. We are just building a staircase. No promise. No blame. Let us simplify the whole situation. Let us build this particular staircase very simply and directly.

From OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 133. [Unpublished excerpt from Talk Two of Meditation: the Way of the Buddha, July, 1974, Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado.]

*** This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains many new quotes, as well as some previously published on the Ocean of Dharma list serv. Order your copy now at shambhala.com.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5,702 subscribers.

Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com. 

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the following link: http://OceanofDharma.com