The Different Levels of Faith_Dilgo Khysentse Rinpoche

There are different levels of faith. First, clear faith refers to the joy and clarity and change in our perceptions that we experience when we hear about the qualities of the Three Jewels and the lives of the Buddha and the great teachers. Longing faith is experienced when we think about the latter and are filled with a great desire to know more about their qualities and to acquire these ourselves. Confident faith comes through practicing the Dharma, when we acquire complete confidence in the truth of the teachings and the enlightenment of the Buddha. Finally, when faith has become so much a part of ourselves that even if our lives were at risk we could never give it up, it has become irreversible faith. --from The Excellent Path to Enlightenment by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, translated by The Padmakara Translation Group, published by Snow Lion Publications

RESOURCEFULNESS

Building up confidence and joy in your own richness is the essence of generosity. It is the sense of resourcefulness, that you can deal with whatever is available around you and not feel poverty-stricken. Even if you are abandoned in the middle of a desert and you want a pillow, you can find a piece of rock with moss on it that is quite comfortable to put your head on. Then you can lie down and have a good sleep. Having such a sense of resourcefulness and richness seems to be the main point. Practicing that resourcefulness and richness, or generosity, is the way to become mahayanists, practitioners of the great vehicle of Buddhism. >From "Transformation of Bad Circumstances," in TRAINING THE MIND AND CULTIVATING LOVING-KINDNESS, page 64. Shambhala Library Edition.

SACREDNESS AND SUPERSTITION

There is a great deal of difference between sacredness and superstition. Superstition is believing something that you've been told, such as that, if somebody drops a rotten egg on your head, it is bad luck. Superstition has no foundation in basic practice. Sacredness, however, is like the experience when you look at pure gold: you get some transmission of pure goldness because gold IS pure and good. Similarly, when you converse with a person of great wisdom, the conversation doesn't necessarily have to be profound per se -- it could just be "hello" and "good-bye" -- but you experience the basic nature of goodness coming out of that person. From "The Warrior's Way," a sourcebook for Shambhala Training, page 11. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo.

THE PHONE CALL OF NOWNESSThe

The natural process of freeing yourselves from arrogance and cutting off your habitual tendencies is a very drastic measure for a lot of you. You should understand that I have tremendous sympathy for all of you....Habitual tendencies come back all the time. At this very moment, some of you may be thinking: "When I'm done reading this, I should make a phone call," or "When this is over, I should do this and that." Habitual tendencies overcome nowness. That doesn't necessarily mean to say, of course, that you shouldn't make your phone call. You can make your phone call on the basis of nowness, on the level of duty or efficiency -- almost on a military level. But when you mindlessly follow your habitual tendencies, you recruit a lot of cronies to join you and cheer you up, you begin to collect in-groupies, and you begin to collect your own little problems.From" Overcoming Habitual Patterns," in COLLECTED KALAPA ASSEMBLIES, page 263 to 264.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5, 252 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 GimianOcean 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

HABITUAL PATTERNS

Arrogance comes from lack of gentleness. Beyond that, lack of gentleness comes from relying on habitual patterns of behavior.....By clinging to habitual behavior, we are cutting ourselves off from the warrior's world. Habitual patterns are almost like reflexes: when we are shocked, we panic, and when we are attacked, we become defensive. On a more subtle level, we use habitual patterns to hide our self-consciousness. When we feel inadequate, we employ habitual responses to patch up our self-image: we invent excuses to shield our inadequacies from other people. Our standard emotional responses are often reflections of habitual patterns, as are mental fatigue, restlessness, irritation over something we don't like, and many of our desires. We use our habitual patterns to seal ourselves off and to build ourselves up.
From" Overcoming Habitual Patterns," in SHAMBHALA: THE SACRED PATH OF THE WARRIOR, page 120. Dragon Edition.All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.
OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5, 248 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 GimianOcean 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

Beyond Depression

Let us give up depression. Let us literally give up depression. Then we can smile beautifully, utterly, extraordinarily....I know that sometimes the brilliance of going beyond your depression is so terrifying, but nonetheless, you have to do it. Your cowardice will provide bravery at the same time. When you feel so cowardly and afraid, it is equal to when you see a terrible darkness: you see brilliance at the same time. Please come and join us with a smile. You can do it! It has been done, and you are capable of doing so. Thank you. Please ask questions.
Student: Is there some kind of wisdom behind the depression and we get depressed because...Chogyam Trungpa: Not wisdom behind, but wisdom in front. Wisdom is there. R-r-r-right now!
From "Beyond Depression," in GREAT EASTERN SUN: THE WISDOM OF SHAMBHALA, pages 203 to 205. All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission. OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES OF THE WEEK now has 5, 249 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 GimianOcean 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

The Self

The self is simply a vague and convenient concept that we project now here and now there
onto a stream of experiences, and is nothing in or of itself.
- Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

THE MEETING OF TWO MINDS

The role of the spiritual friend or teacher is to take you out for a walk to look at the star of Bethlehem. "Take a look. We are going to go out there. Our trip begins tomorrow..." Then you get a personal experience, which is mutual between you and the spiritual friend, and then you have a goal, the idea that you want to get to the star of Bethlehem, enlightenment. It is a real experience at that point, no myth. It is not an optical illusion at all. There is the star of Bethlehem out there shining, and it is not a matter of conmanship at all. It's a real experience, very real. According to the Zen tradition, it is known as a satori experience. Or it can be called the meeting of two minds. A person has shown you a certain way of handling oneself, one's emotions, disciplines of all kinds. But the main point here is making enlightenment real.
From "The Star of Bethlehem," in THE PATH IS THE GOAL: A BASIC HANDBOOK OF BUDDHIST MEDITATION, pages 40 to 41. Edited by Sherab Chodzin.
The winners in the Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa contest have been selected. Everyone who suggested a quote for the book was included in the draw, which was held during a meeting of discussion group leaders (they drew the names) for a class on meditation that I help to teach on Monday nights.
The following twelve people -- from five different countries and three continents -- won a copy of the book, which will be out next Spring:
Jeff Krouk_J.Crow_, New Ipswich, New Hampshire
John Reacroft, London, England
Matthew DiRodio, Morgantown, Pennsylvania
Roxie Lauer, N. Ferriburgh, Vermont
Deborah Lafferty, Alameda, California
Ilya Slavutskiy, Brooklyn, New York
Marke Slipp, Centreville, Nova Scotia, Canada
Bjarne Timonen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Daniel Nguyen, Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada
Cynthia Schroer, Nashua, New Hampshire
Jaime Gomez, Uxbridge, England
Christopher Hazzard, Victoria, Australia
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all those 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 5, 247 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