Master your words.
Master your thoughts.
Never allow your body to do harm.
Follow these three roads with purity
And you will find yourself upon the one way,
The way of wisdom.
~Buddha
To develop understanding, you have to practice looking at all living beings with the eyes of compassion. When you understand, you love. And when you love, you naturally act in a way that can relieve the suffering of people.
Understanding and love are not two things, but just one. Suppose your son wakes up one morning and sees that it is already quite late. He decides to wake up his younger sister, to give her enough time to eat breakfast before going to school. It happens that she is grouchy and instead of saying, “Thank you for waking me up,” she says, “Shut up! Leave me alone!” and kicks him. He will probably get angry, thinking, “I woke her up nicely. Why did she kick me?” He may want to go to the kitchen and tell you about it, or even kick her back. But then he remembers that during the night his sister coughed a lot, and he realizes that she must be sick. Maybe she has a could, maybe that is why she behaved so meanly. He is not angry anymore. At that moment there is Buddha in him. He understands, he is awake. When you understand, you cannot help but love. You cannot get angry.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
Lotuses are symbols of purity and ‘spontaneous’ generation and hence symbolize divine birth. According to the Lalitavistara, ‘the spirit of the best of men is spotless, like the new lotus in the [muddy] water which does not adhere to it’, and, according to esoteric Buddhism, the heart of the beings is like an unopened lotus: when the virtues of the Buddha develop therein the lotus blossoms. This is why the Buddha sits on a lotus in bloom. In Tantrism, it is the symbol of the feminine principle. The lotuses are usually differentiated by their colour and grouping, in three or five flowers, which may or may not be combined with leaves.
White lotus
This symbolizes Bodhi, the state of total mental purity and spiritual perfection, and the pacification of our nature. It generally has eight petals corresponding to the Noble Eightfold Path of the Good Law. It is the lotus found at the heart of the Garbhadhatu Mandala, being the womb or embryo of the world. It is characteristic of the esoteric sects, and the lotus of the Buddhas.
Red lotus
This symbolizes the original nature of the heart (hrdaya). It is the lotus of love, compassion, passion, activity and all the qualities of the heart. It is the lotus of Avalokitesvara. Continue reading
Buddha used to be a turtle in one of his previous lifetimes
A story that is often depicted in Buddhist art is the one where the Buddha in a previous life is a Bodhisattva-turtle (that is: a turtle who has vowed to save all sentient beings).
A group of merchants were sailing, when a storm hit. The giant Bodhisattva-turtle saw the ship wreck and saved the merchants by letting them climb on his back. He brought them safely to land. Tired from the long swim and heavy load he fell asleep on the sand.
The merchants were hungry and thirsty and after the ordeal were still not sure of their lives. They discussed amongst themselves how to find food. One of them said that they should kill and eat the turtle.
The Bodhisattva-turtle heard this and out of compassion for the merchants, decided to stay put and be eaten.
The Jatakas
Jatakas are stories of previous lifetimes of the Buddha
I never forget the day my little turtle came to see me at the lake, after my prayer. It was a miracle. After one hour of visit, Little Turtle would not swim a way from me…
Sometimes we worry too much about eating. We enjoy eating way too much, as though we are born only to eat, without thinking about the welfare of animals – big or little…We hardly take time to contemplate on animals’ lives. As though we do not care one bit about their safety. I think we are too selfish. We think too much about ourselves, we think too much about delicious food… We complain non-stop when someone said bad things to us, speak unpleasant words to us, but we never complain about how we, ourselves, treating others. That is not LOVE
May each day be blessed
With all sorts of wonderful things;
Like the comfort of love and the joy of hope
And the warmth that having a good friend brings
May your tomorrows be carefree;
Free from worries and fears
May each moment be magical
Lasting through the years
May this day find you well
As you cross my mind
And may you know that you’re
An important person in my life
~The Poetry Pad
See that golden hue
Burning in the west
My dreams are with that color
My dreams are the sun
The sun always sets
But never seems to rise
That sun carries my dreams
Slowly out of my reach
I watch it slide away
Leaving me behind
The color disappears
My dreams are with that sun
Whenever the sun sets
It rises in another place
A place blessed by that light
My dreams are hidden in that light
At my window seat
I watch the sun take it all away
My dreams are with the sun
My dreams are the sun
Poem title: My Dreams Are the Sun
~Written by Dawn Michelle
Never take someone for granted,
Hold every person close to your heart
because you might wake up one day
and realize that you’ve lost a diamond
while you were too busy collecting stones…
We all have the seeds of love in us.
We can develop this wonderful source of energy,
nurturing the unconditional love
that does not expect anything in return.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
ព្រះត្រៃបិដក ប្រែថា កញ្រ្ចែង ឬ ល្អី ៣ សម្រាប់ដាក់ផ្ទុកពាក្យពេចន៍នៃព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធ
The Tipitaka or Pali canon, is the collection of primary Pali language texts which form the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism. The three divisions of the Tipitaka are: Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, Abhidhamma Pitaka.
វចនានុក្រមសម្តេចសង្ឃ ជួន ណាត
Desktop version
Listen to Khmer literature and Dhamma talk by His Holiness Jotannano Chuon Nath, Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia Buddhism.
Should anyone wish to ridicule me and make me an object of jest and scorn why should I possibly care if I have dedicated myself to others?
Let them do as they wish with me so long as it does not harm them. May no one who encounters me ever have an insignificant contact.
Regardless whether those whom I meet respond towards me with anger or faith, may the mere fact of our meeting contribute to the fulfilment of their wishes.
May the slander, harm and all forms of abuse that anyone should direct towards me act as a cause of their enlightenment.
As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not shaken by blame and praise. As a deep lake is clear and calm, so the wise become tranquil after they listened to the truth…
Good people walk on regardless of what happens to them. Good people do not babble on about their desires. Whether touched by happiness or by sorrow, the wise never appear elated or depressed. ~The Dhammapada
