thoughts by some om-boys

"It takes courage to go beyond self-importance and see who we really are--but this is our path.  The point of all Buddhist teachings--formal or informal--is to reduce self-importance and make room for the truth.  This process begins with self-reflection."--Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

huang po says…Men are afraid to forget their minds, fearing to fall through the Void with nothing to stay their fall. They do not know that the Void is not really void, but the realm of the real Dharma.

Thoughts from Ajahn Chah: 

• No one and nothing can free you but your own understanding.

•  A madman and an arahant both smile, but the arahant knows why; while the madman doesn’t. 

• A clever person watches others, but he watches with wisdom, not with ignorance. If one watches with wisdom, once can learn much.  But if one watches with ignorance, one can only find faults. 

• The real problem with people nowadays is that they know but still don’t do.  It’s another matter if they don’t do because they don’t know,but if they already know and still don’t do, then what’s the problem? 

• Outward scriptural study is not important. Of course, the Dhamma books are correct, but they are not right.  They cannot give you right understanding.

• To see the word "anger" in print is not the same as experiencing anger.  Only experiencing for yourself can give you true faith. 

If you love somebody
you lead them to enlightenment —
you don’t draw them into
your own defilements.

- Ajahn Sumedho
Page xviii - The Pilgrim Kamanita