We can say, ‘As yet, I do not know for myself, but the Buddha said this … And Bodhidharma said that… Let’s practice together in this way.’ This is fine! Who knows, the student may awaken before the teacher. In Buddhism, there is the saying: Although there might be a hierarchy according to who has entered the temple first, in awakening, there is no hierarchy, there is no line — it is according to our roots and our efforts.’
As long as you do not understand the Way of Buddha, you think that practice is the result of the Way.
When rain falls, the urban alleyways fill with people under umbrellas, with each person walking rather glumly under his or her own. Occasionally there may be two people under an umbrella but the umbrellas of the secular world are so narrow they hardly cover a single person’s shoulders. That reflects how stingy space and urban life have become…
Even if you can only start today, make one wish. If you are hazy about what kind of wish to make, shall I give you a hint? Try making a big wish, to become a ‘living Buddha.’
The Chinese character for ‘Dharma’ is written with the components for ‘water’ and ‘to leave’. This implies that water flows from a high place to a low place.
With regard to religion, we tend to think of it as belief in something outside of ourselves. But please understand and accept that in Buddhism, the person who conveys the teaching as well as the person who hears and listens to the teaching are both you…
It is a sermon not by exhortation, reasoning or threats but by example…
Everything comes from our own hearts and minds, and even though we cannot experience them fully in the real Tantric sense, we can have a glimpse of them. Tantra is not something strange and different; like Buddhahood itself, it is inherent in our own nature…
Buddhism now 