From the Wizard of Oz

https://insig.ht/3Vfk7CoDuSb

"You've always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself"

- Glinda the Good Witch

🌞💕

I am going back to 5 yrs old while listening to my little red and gold radion and my icon artist said “Bob Marley quote about strength is, "You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have.

Cheers to inner strength!

💕☕🐩

The Great Vow ~ a translation by Thich Nhat Hanh

The awakened way is unsurpassable; I vow to embody it.

However innumerable beings are, I vow to meet them with kindness and interest. However inexhaustible the states of suffering are, I vow to touch them with patience and love. However immeasurable the Dharmas are, I vow to explore them deeply. However incomparable the mystery of interbeing, I vow to surrender to it freely.

–Thich Nhat Hanh, translation and interpretation

-- provided by Drew to our Sangha on Mar 12, 2023

Pensée de la semaine - Ricard - Dharma benefits - karma

La bonne chère, la danse, le chant et les autres plaisirs sensoriels ne nous satisfont jamais totalement. [...] D'abord, ces plaisirs ne comblent pas à la fois le corps et de l'esprit. Ensuite, ils dépendent de circonstances extérieures dont nous n'avons jamais le contrôle absolu, et ne sont donc pas toujours accessibles sur-le-champ, pas plus qu'ils ne sont disponibles partout et chaque fois qu'on les désire. [...] À bien y réfléchir, les plaisirs sont causes de grandes frustrations et de souffrances répétées. [...] En revanche, le bonheur procuré par le Dharma est tout différent. Il imprègne le corps et l'esprit à tout moment et en toute circonstances. [...] Aucun ennemi ni aucun événement ne peuvent nous le ravir, et ses bienfaits s'étendent jusque dans nos vies futures. En cela, il représente un but ultime à réaliser.

ASANGA (sixth century)
Asanga, extrait du gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod, rassemblé et édité par Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas, 1813-1899), Shechen Publications, Inde, 1999, vol.3, p. 458-9.

https://www.matthieuricard.org/pensees/38

Good food, dancing, singing and other sensory pleasures never fully satisfy us. [...] First, these pleasures do not satisfy both body and mind. Second, they depend on external circumstances over which we never have absolute control, and are therefore not always immediately accessible, nor are they available everywhere and whenever we want them. [...] Come to think of it, pleasures are the cause of great frustration and repeated suffering. [...] On the other hand, the happiness procured by the Dharma is quite different. It permeates body and mind at all times and in all circumstances. [...] No enemy or event can snatch it from us, and its benefits extend even into our future lives. In this, it represents an ultimate goal to be achieved.

"The most noble forms of human consciousness are embodied in four areas: metta, karuna, mudit and uppekha (equanimity)..."see Christopher Titmus' essay, 'Practicing with Passion', Fall, 1991 in Turning Wheel, pp19-20 .. orignally published as 'A passion for the Dharma'