From cgimian at suchns.com Wed May 3 22:30:39 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Wed May 3 22:30:48 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Value in Being Simple Minded Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060503232458.03262848@pop3.suchns.com> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 3, 2006 VALUE IN BEING SIMPLE MINDED We are continually concerned about the state of our sanity, the state of our mind, and we question how many trips we are laying on our world or ourselves -- being too heavy or too light handed. When all those questions are coming through, sometimes even though the motivation and the situation might be right, and even though our understanding might be right, at the same time, our preoccupations, the particular process of these trips, begin to drive us into complete madness. We would like to split hairs, constantly questioning the question of the question of the question of the question, constantly again and again and again. Then we don't find any room to actually allow ourselves to practice, to sit and develop any discipline at all. So there is some value in the simple-mindedness of students or we could almost say their uneducatedness -- not having too much vocabulary to describe their experience. At the same time, an earth-bound quality provides a lot of room and space to understand the teachings to the fullest, very precisely, very directly, on a real, direct and very straightforward level. From Talk Three of "The Line of the Trungpas," unpublished seminar, Karme Choling, Vermont, December, 1975. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,186 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. 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 Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.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 go to OceanofDharma.com or to the Chogyam Trungpa website at ChogyamTrungpa.com From cgimian at suchns.com Sat May 6 17:35:09 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Sat May 6 17:35:20 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Mishaps and Clear Vision Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060506125841.033fa548@pop3.suchns.com> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 6, 2006 MISHAPS AND CLEAR VISION Chogyam Trungpa: [The first Trungpa was a student of Trungmase.] Trungmase's approach was not to have a completely clear vision to begin with, but to take advantage of situations first, and then to have clear vision. Student: What do you mean? Chogyam Trungpa: First, there has to be a mishap. Then that IS the new situation. On top of the mishap, there is clear vision.You begin to evolve and involve yourself beyond the mishaps, and you begin to expand beyond the original situation....To begin with, clear vision doesn't have any ground. It is not based on a concept or a chain reaction of some kind. Take our situation here (the meditation center where Chogyam Trungpa was teaching): we had a mishap here that was based on existing chain reactions, which led to this place being founded by a group of people. Everything operates on the basis of mistakes of all kinds. We begin to use that as the ground and to operate within that, and then we begin to correct the mistakes and evolve further. From Talk Three of "The Line of the Trungpas," unpublished seminar, Karme Choling, Vermont, December, 1975. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,208 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. 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 go to OceanofDharma.com or to the Chogyam Trungpa website at ChogyamTrungpa.com From cgimian at suchns.com Tue May 9 07:53:56 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Tue May 9 07:54:23 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Group Sanity Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060508213003.02584e90@pop3.suchns.com> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 9, 2006 GROUP SANITY Chogyam Trungpa [in response to a question]: Do you understand the meaning of the word "sangha"? Student: No, but I was waiting for you to pause before I asked. Chogyam Trungpa: It is group spirit and group sanity, which is transmitted constantly. [In terms of students trying to relate to a single teacher,] relating to the sangha means that things are not stuck in a bottle neck situation anymore. The Kagyu tradition, which is my tradition, always works with that concept of sangha, or community, as group spirit, group sanity. And that's what we are doing here, too, in our community. Sangha is group sanity as opposed to group encounter. Student: As opposed to groupies? Chogyam Trungpa: Exactly. From Talk Three of "The Line of the Trungpas," unpublished seminar, Karme Choling, Vermont, December, 1975. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,229 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. 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 go to OceanofDharma.com or to the Chogyam Trungpa website at ChogyamTrungpa.com From cgimian at suchns.com Fri May 12 07:52:08 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Fri May 12 07:52:22 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: A Minute to Be Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060512083808.024bf708@pop3.suchns.com> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 12, 2006 [As Mother's Day approaches, a suggestion for a good gift to give oneself or others.] A MINUTE TO BE Give yourself a break....Just enjoy the day, your normal existence. Allow yourself to sit in your home or take a drive into the mountains. Park your car somewhere; just sit; just be. It sounds very simplistic, but it has a lot of magic. You begin to pick up on clouds, sunshine and weather, the mountains, your past, your chatter with your grandmother and your grandfather, your own mother, your own father. You begin to pick up on a lot of things. Just let them pass like the chatter of a brook as it hits the rocks. We have to give ourselves some time to be....We have to learn to be kinder to ourselves, much more kind. Smile a lot, although nobody is watching you smile. Listen to your own brook, echoing yourself. You can to a good job. In the sitting practice of meditation, when you begin to be still, hundreds of thousands, millions, and billions of thoughts will go through your mind. But they just pass through, and only the worthy ones leave their fish eggs behind. We have to leave ourselves some time to be. You're not going to see the Shambhala vision, you're not even going to survive, by not leaving yourself a minute to be, a minute to smile....Please give yourself a good time. From "Blamelessness: How to Love Yourself" in GREAT EASTERN SUN: THE WISDOM OF SHAMBHALA, pages 122-123. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,243 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. 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 go to OceanofDharma.com or to the Chogyam Trungpa website at ChogyamTrungpa.com From cgimian at suchns.com Mon May 15 11:00:17 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Mon May 15 11:07:22 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Feminine Energy Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060515115002.03c35e98@206.47.199.40> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 15, 2006 FEMININE ENERGY It may be interesting to discuss the basic idea of energy, or the principle of energy. Basic energy is called sunyata, the energy of sunyata. And from this energy of sunyata, or of emptiness or voidness, rises the active energy, which is called the dakini, or the feminine, principle of energy. The dakini energy is all pervading energy within our state of mind. Often this energy manifests as either destructive or positive. Thus, the dakini principle of energy also seems to describe the source of chaos in the world, whether there may be war, or famine, or the confusion in people's minds. Everything is caused by this dakini principle of energy, including positive aspects of situations as well. That is say, there should be an intuitive understanding of how this principle, as the symbolic aspect of mind, can be used in the world so that a person is able to use it and live with it as a kind of inspiration. From "Challenge from a Wise Demoness," an unpublished talk by Chogyam Trungpa, given in 1970 as part of a seminar on the 100,000 Songs of Milarepa, at Karme-Choling, Vermont. Edited by Lisa Teitlebaum and Robin Kornman. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,253 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 From cgimian at suchns.com Wed May 17 19:36:32 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Thu May 18 05:45:55 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: A Subtle Twist of Mind Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060517203044.016581c8@206.47.199.40> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 18, 2006 A SUBTLE TWIST OF MIND Little things cause a shift in our attention, no matter how small or little they might be. But in the end, things tend to get exaggerated immensely. So suffering comes from such little twists that take place in our life. That first little hint of dislike for somebody or that first hint of attraction for somebody eventually escalates and could bring on a much more immense scale of emotional drama or psychodrama. Everything starts from a minute scale at the beginning and then expands. It begins to swell, so to speak, and expand in that way until it becomes very large -- immeasurably large in a lot of cases. We experience ourselves that way. Within that frame of reference, that subtle shift of attention seems to be the important cause of suffering in our life. Such shifts of attention make emotions as they are: aggression, passion, ignorance, and all the rest of them. They are seemingly very heavy-handed and large scale and crude. But they have their origin in a subtle twist that takes place in our mind constantly, all the time. From "The Origins of Suffering," in the 1975 Hinayana-Mahayana Seminary Transcripts. page 57. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,268 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 From cgimian at suchns.com Mon May 22 09:50:54 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Mon May 22 09:52:25 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: The Victorious One Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060522103735.03513c88@206.47.199.40> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 22, 2006 [Today is Victoria Day in Canada, celebrating the Queen's birthday. Therefore, we offer a quote about Victory. See below for Victoria Day contest.] THE VICTORIOUS ONE We are always going to work, from the beginning to the end, for the sake of sentient beings. And we are always going to be the leader of the six realms: the realm of hell, the hungry ghost realm, the animal realm, the realm of asuras, or jealous gods, the realm of human beings, and the realm of the gods. Following the example of the Buddha, we are going to be the leader of the six realms. I suppose the symbolism here is somewhat mixed together with the medieval symbolism of the king and his subjects, which still continues in the Buddhist tradition....I want you to understand that any principle of holding onto your ego is the complete opposite of the Buddhist tradition. But on the other hand, when you develop full awareness, like the Buddha, one becomes a king automatically. The epithet or title for the Buddha is vijaya, from the word jayanti, meaning "the victorious one," which is the equivalent of kinghood. Basically speaking, being capable of extending love and affection to yourselves is the starting point. From "Entering Mahayana: Sugatagharba" in the 1982 Hinayana Mahayana Transcripts. page 71. VICTORIA DAY CONTEST: Chogyam Trungpa said, on numerous occasions, that the Queen of England is not amused, but that, as Shambhala practitioners, we are always amused. Ocean of Dharma is searching for this quote. Be the first person to tell us where this quotation occurs in print (I can't find it), and you'll receive a free copy of Chogyam Trungpa's recent book, THE SANITY WE ARE BORN WITH: A BUDDHIST APPROACH TO PSYCHOLOGY. Send answers to carolyn@shambhala.com. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,278 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 From cgimian at suchns.com Fri May 26 08:21:04 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Fri May 26 08:21:36 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: We Are Amused Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060526090625.03e558c0@206.47.199.40> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 26, 2006 [Sue Egbert sent in the answer to the Victoria Day contest, which is described below. For more contest comments, also see below. The answer is:] WE ARE AMUSED Humor means a sense of delight, rather than mocking everything. When the setting sun people rule the world, they get more uptight, more tough and tough and tough. Queen Victoria said, "We are not amused." I'm afraid so. But when we rule the world, we are very amused. That's how you stay in your saddle, so to speak, in order to become a permanent ruler, in order to rule a long time. From "Vision of the Great Eastern Sun" in THE 1978 KALAPA ASSEMBLY TRANSCRIPTS, page 106. VICTORIA DAY CONTEST: Chogyam Trungpa said, on numerous occasions, that the Queen of England is not amused, but that, as Shambhala practitioners, we are always amused. Ocean of Dharma is searching for this quote. Be the first person to tell us where this quotation occurs in print (I can't find it), and you'll receive a free copy of Chogyam Trungpa's recent book, THE SANITY WE ARE BORN WITH: A BUDDHIST APPROACH TO PSYCHOLOGY. Send answers to carolyn@shambhala.com. More on the Contest: Since the answer turned out to come from a book that had not been published for a general audience, it wasn't a "fair" contest. Since I couldn't remember where the quote was, I didn't realize that! The closest answer found in a general source came from Paul Mullard who wrote: The first part of the quotation appears in "How to speak the English language and avoid Americanism", which I read on the Chronicleproject.com website a while ago Best wishes Also thanks to David Adolphe who sent a link to discussion of the source of the "We are not amused" quotation: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940415.html And thanks to everyone else who participated. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,293 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 From cgimian at suchns.com Mon May 29 07:38:38 2006 From: cgimian at suchns.com (Carolyn Gimian) Date: Mon May 29 07:38:56 2006 Subject: [OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Abiding in Recollection Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20060528092524.03d5ce90@206.47.199.40> Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week May 29, 2006 [For Memorial Day in the U.S., we offer this quote] ABIDING IN RECOLLECTION The Buddhist scriptures talk about resting or abiding in recollection. The best English equivalent of this is mindfulness. "Recollection" in this case does not mean dwelling on the past but being in the present. That flow that takes place -- you could be with it. Our present state of mind is based on a reference point. Without a reference point, we can't think, we can't eat, we can't sleep, we can't behave. We have to have some reference point as to how to eat, when to stop eating, how to walk, when to stop walking, how to conduct our life -- which way? this way, that way, the other way, some other way altogether. All those choices are guided by a reference point. "This is good to do; therefore I am doing this; this is not good to do, therefore I am doing that." There are choices upon choices taking place constantly. Attending to those choices and their reference points is known as recollection, smriti in Sanskrit. This is not exactly bringing the past to the present, but still in order to be in the present, you need memory, which is an automatic thing. From "Recollecting the Present" in THE PATH IS THE GOAL: A BASIC HANDBOOK OF BUDDHIST MEDITATION, pages 72-73. Edited by Sherab Chodzin. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 4,306 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