[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Nonaction Is the Source of All Action

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 31, 2008 

NONACTION IS THE SOURCE OF ALL ACTION

Real peace is nonaction; that is the source of all action. We have to learn how to be a rock in order to be a tree or a flower or wind or lightning or a typhoon. We have to be still; then we go beyond that. Therefore sitting practice is very important. (In meditation) we are not particularly training ourselves to destroy or conquer the world. We are trying to relate to the world in the same way that we relate to the birth of our first child or, for that matter, to our own orgasm -- which happens, I hope, when we make love. Anything active that happens has some relationship to that very stillness. That stillness is not vacant or deadly; it is fully of energy, automatically.

Thanks to  Todd Amodeo for suggesting this quote from "What Is the Heart of the Buddha?" in THE HEART OF THE BUDDHA, page 9.  And apologies to Barry Gruessner, who suggested the last quote, for calling him Bruce.

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,561 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Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Meditation as Part of Daily Life

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 28, 2008 

MEDITATION AS PART OF DAILY LIFE

Chogyam Trungpa: Meditation practices have nothing to do with the value of the techniques as such, but are based on simplicity as a whole.  They (students) shouldn't regard the technique as magical power at all.  I should warn everybody that meditation has no magical power as such, but everybody has to work on themselves.  Having used the technique diligently, from that point, people begin to develop.  There is simplicity in the technique; they don't have to strive for it.  The technique becomes part of themselves, (the) same as drinking a cup of tea, that becomes very close to it.  So the technique should be referred to as part of the daily life situation, rather than medicine or a sedative as such.

Student: But what does meditation develop?

CT: Becoming sane and becoming skillful in dealing with your daily life.

S: OK, but how does it happen?

CT: Well, it just happens!

Thanks to Bruce Gruessner for suggesting and transcribing this quote from an interview in 1971 in Montreal. The interview is posted on The Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, at
http://www.chronicleproject.com/chroniclesradio_dispatches/2008_07_17.html

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,551 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: A Jolly Good Life

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 24, 2008 

A JOLLY GOOD LIFE

Confidence is there. It is a fact. It is the case. But surprisingly, nobody noticed it before. So telling people about this state of being is simply telling the truth. You don't have to make up anything at all. This unconditional confidence manifests in our lives as appreciation: the appreciation of our intelligence, our sympathy towards self and others, the appreciation of good food and drink, appreciation for our meditation practice. Appreciating the details of life begins to open up our life so that it is no longer purely a struggle but a jolly good life. So the real way to share our understanding with others is to cheer ourselves up to begin with.

From "Unconditional Confidence," in CONQUERING FEAR, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications, Fall 2009.

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,532 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: The Sun Is about to Rise

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 21, 2008 

THE SUN IS ABOUT TO RISE

The Great Eastern Sun is the sun that is fully risen in your life. It is the sun of wakefulness, the sun of human dignity. It is Great because it represents upliftedness and the qualities of openness and gentleness. You have an uplifted sense of posture or place in your world, which we call having good head and shoulders. It is East because you have a smile on your face. East is the concept of dawn. When you look to the East, first thing in the morning, you see light coming from the East, even before the sun rises. So East is the smile you have when you wake up. The sun is about to rise. Fresh air is coming with the dawn. So the sun is East and it is Great.

From "Facing Yourself," in CONQUERING FEAR, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications, Fall 2009.


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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,521 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Eating with Awareness

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 17, 2008 

EATING WITH AWARENESS

When you eat with awareness, you find that there is more space, more beauty. You begin to watch yourself, to see yourself, and you notice how clumsy you are or how accurate you are. You notice the way you pick up your fork and knife, and the way you put the food in your mouth. When you practice awareness, everything becomes majestic and good. You begin to see that you have been leading a different kind of life in the past. You had the essence of mindfulness already, but you hadn't discovered it. So when you make an effort to eat mindfully..., you find that life is worth much more than you had expected.

From "Introduction to Practice," in the 1979 Seminary Transcripts, pages 4 to 5.

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,513 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Freedom from Habitual Tendencies

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 11, 2008 

FREEDOM FROM HABITUAL TENDENCIES

There are all kinds of habitual tendencies that are connected with holding on to what we are. People get divorced because they think they might find a better mate. People change restaurants because they think they might get cheaper and better food. The habitual patterns of ego work that way. The notion of enlightenment is a sense of freedom from those patterns. And the way to attain that freedom is by means of the sitting practice of meditation. In sitting practice, we look at our minds, and we maintain good posture. When we combine body and mind that way, we find ourselves emulating the Buddha -- the way to be properly. Then we begin to develop sympathy toward ourselves, rather than just holding on.

From "Manifesting Enlightenment," in THE HEART OF THE BUDDHA, pages 212 to 213.

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,483 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Perception and Perceiver

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 7, 2008 

PERCEPTION AND PERCEIVER

The feminine principle is the perception of colors, directions, time. Thus it is the manifestation of the colorful aspect of the world. Without it, there is no perceiver of this. The perceiver is the masculine principle. In this framework, the masculine principle is not regarded as the master dominating the scene. Moreover, we are not saying that the feminine principle belongs to women and the masculine principle to men. Wherever there is a perceiver, that is the masculine principle; wherever there is a perception, that is the feminine principle.

From "Femininity," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Six, page 565.

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,459 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Feminine Inspiration

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 4, 2008 

FEMININE INSPIRATION

Feminine inspiration projects a world which it can regard as workable and friendly since it is its own creation.....An aspect of feminine inspiration is regarding what you have created as sacred. You have created Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism -- it is your production. Since it is fully yours, respect it, work with it. These teachings did not come from somewhere else; your own openness gave birth to them. Moreover, you gave birth to pleasure and pain. You built Paris, London, New York City. You produced the president of the United States. These things are the product of feminine inspiration.

From "Femininity," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Six, page 564.

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,457 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >

[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Peak Experience

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December 1, 2008 

PEAK EXPERIENCE

At the very moment of enlightenment, the Buddha experienced hosts of maras, or obstacles, attacking him with aggression and trying to seduce him with beautiful girls. That is a peak point, or (what is called) a moment of bardo experience. The point is that once we have achieved some higher state, a so-called higher state or more profound state of something, the negative aspect, or the mara aspect, is also going to be there -- equally, exactly the same. And they both become more subtle. The subtleties of awakeness are exactly the same as the subtleties of sleepiness or confusion. Such subtleties continue all the time, side by side. Therefore, samsara and nirvana are like two sides of a coin. They occur together in one situation, simultaneously. Such bardo experiences happen all the time with us. We don't have to have a peak experience or a dramatic experience -- in ordinary everyday situations as well, we are not quite certain whether we are learning something or whether we are missing something. There is that particular point of doubt.

From "The Bardo of Birth," in TRANSCENDING MADNESS: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SIX BARDOS, page 77.


Of interest to readers:
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, prominent Buddhist teacher and the author of What Makes You Not a Buddhist, taught a public seminar to an audience of 550 this past weekend in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Rinpoche commented on teachings on the bardos, using Transcending Madness: The Experience of the Six Bardos, Chogyam Trungpa's book on the bardo states and the six realms.  For a review of the weekend and links to an interview with Dzongsar Khyentse RInpoche, go to:

         http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/

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

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 6,438 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
TO UNSUBSCRIBE: < http://lists.shambhala.com/mailman/listinfo/dharmaocean>,
         < mailto:dharmaocean-request@lists.shambhala.com?subject=unsubscribe >