Just as the radiance of all the stars does not equal a sixteenth part of the moon’s radiance, but the moon’s radiance surpasses them and shines forth, bright and brilliant, even so, whatever grounds there are for making merit productive of a future birth, all these do not equal a sixteenth part of the mind-release of loving-kindness…
Occasional book review, ‘The Handbook of Iconometry’
Short film (18mins) on Awakening: The Five Spiritual Powers (Faith, Energy, Mindfulness, Serenity, and Wisdom), by Mahesi Caplan.
Now the Buddha was a sage who tried to convey a particular teaching that would encourage the realization of ultimate reality. And the teaching of the Buddha sometimes baffles modern humanity because it does seem somewhat strange to our way of thinking; we are used to regarding religion from the point of view of being told something. A sage, or philosopher, or some prophet tells us something, and we either agree with it or not…
‘I suppose very few of us have passed through even a short period of existence without having noticed the different qualities of dreams. There are those that are evanescent; then there are those that possess you and you can’t shake off; and yet others that may be the urge of your life—its guiding star. Nor can the most superficial fail to observe how dreams and life react on one another.’
Happy New Year! Buddhism Now blog 2012 in review. Take a look…
We fall sometimes, in old habits; we slide back; we regress and start yelling or nourishing self-aversion, but if we keep practising, we wake up again and find that we don’t really want to continue with those old habits. It’s an organic process…
Season’s greetings from all at Buddhism Now and Buddhist Publishing Group
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