Life 41 (Oct 21 - Jan 22)

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Reflecting Goodness

The greatest gift we give each other, is that we become a mirror of goodness.

When we see the goodness in others, we call it forward.

- Tara Brach, “Tara Brach on Overcoming Divisions”

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/trustin ... -308285249

[winston]

Turn On Your Light

If delusion is walking around in a darkened room, wisdom is turning on the light.

People and things, and the room itself, are all the same, but now we can see them clearly.

- Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, “Pocket Paramis: Wisdom”

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Why should we not fear or resent the vicissitudes of life?

Sankranti (Transmigration of the Sun) festival should be regarded as the day on which man turns one’s vision towards the Divine.

Man's life may be compared to a stalk of sugarcane. Like the cane, which is hard and has many knots, life is full of difficulties. But these difficulties have to be overcome to enjoy the bliss of the Divine, just as the sugarcane has to be crushed and its juice converted into jaggery, to enjoy the permanent sweetness of jaggery.

Bliss can be achieved only by overcoming trials and tribulations. Gold cannot be made into an attractive jewel without it being subjected to the process of melting in a crucible and being beaten into the required shape.

Only by going through the vicissitudes of life with forbearance can you become attractive jewels.

You should not allow yourselves to be overwhelmed by difficulties. Develop self-confidence and have firm faith in the Divine.

- Divine Discourse, Jan 15, 1992.

Man cannot choose for himself only joy or only sorrow, and hence one must
cultivate the attitude of equanimity towards joy and sorrow.

Source: radiosai.org

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Help Yourself Help Others

To help others is to help oneself.

It may also be said that to help oneself is to help others, since real, effective help is not possible as long as we ourselves are deluded and filled with greed and hatred.

- Francis Dojun Cook, “Bodhicitta’s Ripple Effect”

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What is the rich harvest we should reap by cultivating our hearts?

When intense desire and anger (kama and krodha) are rising in hot flames from the heart, how can the cool rays of shanti (peace), satya (truth), ahimsa (non-violence) and prema (love) emanate therefrom?

This human birth is a rare chance! Use it for spreading joy, not grief.

Of course, it is natural for man to resent, to grow angry. But you should not allow anger free and furious scope.

You know that first you have to plough the land and feed it with water, then sow the seed, pluck out weeds, guard the crop by a fence from cattle and goats, and wait patiently for harvest time.

So also, the heart has to be ploughed by means of virtues fed with the water of Divine love, before the seeds of Divine Name are sown; later, the weeds have to be destroyed.

It is best to prevent the cattle of unsteadiness and doubt, by putting up the fence of Discipline; then, the Name of the Divine will flower into meditation and the rich harvest of knowledge can be reaped.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 29, 1965.

Cultivate your heart to raise a harvest of Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

The Power of Ritual

The primary benefit of ritual, is that it slows us down in a world that is moving at warp speed.

Rituals invite us to be quiet and still.

And they teach us that we are connected through time and place.

- Barbara Becker, “Honoring the Water Children”

[winston]

What should be the basis of our devotion?

Dedication of all activity to the Divine and surrendering to His Will, is called Bhakti Marga (path of devotion).

Bhakti has to be built on conviction, not on blind unreasoning belief. That‘s why the role of intelligence is emphasized.

Intelligence is a special gift from the Divine to man; it confers the power of discrimination between right and wrong.

Peace or happiness depends on the choice of the right means and this is a matter to be decided by intelligence.

Prosperity too depends on the intelligent exploitation of resources available, human and other.

The wavering 'intelligence' of man, that has lost its one-pointedness and purity is responsible for all the conflicts and quarrels that are prevalent today.

So pray to the Divine to grant you the capacity to think straight and right, and to stick to the correct decision once decided on, without being affected by egoism, greed or hatred.

Pray for a balanced mind unaffected by prejudices and passions.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 17, 1973.

There is no scriptures superior to devotion. Divine love encompasses all sacred acts.

Source: radiosai.org

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An Unbroken Sequence

A stable, solid body is a mental image superimposed onto a stream of events in the same way that a spinning propeller is seen as a circle.

The constant succession of discrete acts of cognition or feeling, appears as a monolithic event, just as the rapid change of frames in a film appears as a smooth continuum.

- The Dalai Lama and Thubten Chodron, “An Unbroken Sequence”

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What are the three basic duties in life, which if we get right, will help us cross the ocean of life?

Man has to pay attention to three basic duties in his quest for happiness:-
(1) He should forget what he has to forget, namely, the world around him and its tantalising pleasures.
(2) He has to reach where he has to reach, namely, the goal of the Divine, the Presence of the Almighty and
(3) He has to give up what he has to give up, namely, material desires and pursuits.

The prayer, "Lead me from untruth to truth, lead me from darkness to light, lead me from death to immortality" summarizes these aspirations very nicely.

Strive to move away from untruth towards truth; attempt to acquire knowledge of yourself and of the origin of all Selves and thus shed your fundamental ignorance.

Move away from thoughts and anxieties about this body which is subject to decay and death and become aware of the Immortal Soul, which you really are.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 17, 1973.

Unless you attain motherhood, you cannot plumb the depths of maternal affection; unless you become Divine, you cannot know the supreme ecstasy of the Divine.

Source: radiosai.org

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Nothing to Add

We talk about giving up and developing, renouncing and cultivating.

But when the fruit of practice is realized, there is nothing to add and nothing to remove.

- Ajahn Chah, “Meeting the Dharma Alone”