Tag: philosophy

Nothing clutters the mind like a fit of rage. A single and brief angry impulse and the spirit, transformed, completely loses control and concentration. Let it disconnect, cool down, shortcut the action… Buddhists say that a single moment of anger destroys everything that has been accumulated of virtue by a being throughout his multiple existences. In any case, what is certain is that full mental functioning requires calmness and the cold blood of a snake.

As it is said in the Mahaparinirvana sutra, there is no higher perception than that of impermanence. By contemplating death,—and near death,—the being drives the lowly dimension out of himself, isolates himself from worldly desires, and precludes the manifestation of pride. Becoming aware of the impermanence of everything on this earth, the ignorance characteristic of the lower human model becomes impossible. Death does not surprise the one who prepares for it and considers each day as the possible last. The perception of impermanence makes the futile unmistakable and prevents the being from moving away from the essential.

The Eastern tradition emphasizes the need for a spiritual master. As if there were a lot of them… But it is remarkable in the Orientals the living notion that there is a component of knowledge that cannot be transmitted through books, that is, something apprehensible only through the very rare direct experience or through revelation from master to disciple. What impresses is the true veneration for the ancestors, for the wise, and furthermore for the maintenance of the tradition of, through a few individuals, establishing a link between very distant generations through knowledge passed on individually to handpicked disciples. Not even the mighty time seems strong enough to break the solid chain that the Orientals have established to transmit the enlightenment of dozens of centuries ago.

Tsongkhapa, in English translation:

So the freedoms consist in freedom from the eight unfree states. Among the eight unfree states, the four unfree states of humans are (1) living in a remote and savage land where the four kinds of followers of the Buddha do not go (…)

How unfortunate to find much of the West as “savage land”! Looking around, one finds without much difficulty poisonous snakes crossing Western highways; but followers of the Buddha… However, the advice is quite instructive, and although it is often no easy task to follow it, it is supported by the realization that what generates lasting satisfaction and pride is always difficult.