Tag: Buddhism

Quote ~ Nhat Hanh

~ A Pondering Mind

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” – Nhat Hanh

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind. -Buddha

~ A Pondering Mind ~ 2 Comments

“An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.” – Buddha

Source: An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is a flash of lightning in the sky. Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain. – Buddha

~ A Pondering Mind ~ 3 Comments

“This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is a flash of lightning in the sky. Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.” -Buddha

Source: This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is a flash of lightning in the sky. Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.

Doubt

~ A Pondering Mind ~ 4 Comments

“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills. ”

–Buddha

Freedom

~ A Pondering Mind ~ 9 Comments

Letting go gives us freedom,
and freedom is the only
condition for happiness. If, in
our heart, we still cling to
anything – anger, anxiety, or
possessions – we cannot be free.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Mind

~ A Pondering Mind

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn
for the past, not to worry about the future, not to anticipate
the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

— Buddha

Mind is like the wood or stone from which… – Bodhidharma

~ A Pondering Mind

Mind is like the wood or stone from which a person carves an image. If he carves a dragon or a tiger, and seeing it fears it, he is like a stupid person creating a picture of hell and then afraid to face it. If he does not fear it, then his unnecessary thoughts will vanish. Part of the mind produces sight, sound, taste, odor and sensibility, and from them raises greed, anger and ignorance with all their accompanying likes and dislikes.

-Bodhidharma

In Recent Generations, Many Have Come to Regard… – Foyan

~ A Pondering Mind

In recent generations, many have come to regard question and answer dialogues as the style of the Zen school. They do not understand what the ancients were all about; they only pursue trivia, and do not come back to the essentials. How strange!

People in older times asked questions on account of confusion, so they were seeking actual realization through their questioning; when they got a single saying or half a phrase, they would take it seriously and examine it until they penetrated it. They were not like people nowadays who pose questions at random and answer with whatever comes out of their mouths, making laughingstocks of themselves.

-Foyan

Sitting in Solitude

~ A Pondering Mind

For many years
I have dug in the ground,
Seeking the blue skies
Time after time
Gaining only obstructions
In my heart one night
In the midst of the darkness
I kicked up a piece of tile.
Just letting go
I realized the already empty bones
Are struck into bits.

– Muso Soseki