[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Lots to Gain and Nothing to Lose

[Carolyn Gimian]

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

October 11, 2005

[See below for a special offer from Shambhala Publications]

LOTS TO GAIN AND NOTHING TO LOSE

Shunyata literally means "openness" or emptiness." Shunyata is basically 
understanding nonexistence. When you begin realizing nonexistence, then you 
can afford to be more compassionate, more giving. A problem is usually that 
we would like to hold on to our territory and fixate on that particular 
ground. Once we begin to fixate on that ground, we have no way to give. 
Understanding shunyata means that we begin to realize that there is no 
ground to get, that we are ultimately free, nonaggressive, open. We realize 
that we are actually nonexistent ourselves. We are not--no, rather. Then we 
can give. We have lots to gain and nothing to lose at that point. It is 
very basic.

 From TRAINING THE MIND AND CULTIVATING LOVING-KINDNESS, edited by Judith 
Lief, pages 13-14.


Offer to Ocean of Dharma Readers: Shambhala Publications is announcing NO 
TIME TO LOSE, a new book by Pema Chodron. Pema studied with Chogyam 
Trungpa, and her books are an inspiration for many Buddhist practitioners. 
The folks at Shambhala thought that Ocean of Dharma readers would be 
interested in this new title:

In her new book, Pema Chödrön presents the traditional spiritual program 
that guides her own life. No Time to Lose offers an in-depth commentary on 
The Way of the Bodhisattva, an essential Buddhist text written in the 
eighth century by the Indian sage Shantideva. Drawing on examples from 
everyday life, Ani Pema’s fresh and accessible commentary shows us how this 
timeless spiritual path is open and available to all of us. In No Time to 
Lose, she goes beyond inspiring readers to showing them exactly how they 
can each become a “bodhisattva warrior” in the midst of their everyday lives.

For a limited time, when you purchase No Time to Lose through Shambhala 
you’ll receive a free 77-minute CD by Pema Chödrön entitled Practicing 
Peace in Times of War. In this wonderful talk, Pema Chödrön discusses how 
to implement lessons from The Way of the Bodhisattva to create effective 
social change. This CD is available as a special gift only to those of you 
who purchase this book directly from Shambhala Publications.

The regular price for this new book is $24.95. But if you purchase it from 
the Shambhala Publications website
(http://www.shambhala.com/html/new/specialOffers/index.cfm), you'll receive 
a 20% discount -- making the price for this 592 page book and limited 
edition CD only $19.96.We hope you'll take advantage of this special offer 
and hope you enjoy Ani Pema's latest book.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by 
permission.
Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE 
WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn at shambhala.com.

OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 3,522 subscribers.

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 at http://chogyamtrungpa.com
OR go to http://oceanofdharma.com