3 Letters to Buddhist Beginner

From the Kwan Um School of Zen
http://www.kwanumzen.org/about-zen/three-letters-to-a-beginner/

18 Rules for Living

18 Rules for Living by HH Dalai Lama
from http://amolife.com/

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs:
~ Respect for self
~ Respect for others
~ Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get

Basic Buddhist stuff

http://www.integralzen.org/zen.htm

If we could see the miracle in a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. - Buddha

What is Buddha? | Meditationguru

What is Buddha? | Meditationguru:
Buddha is your real nature, it is your presence. To live in past and future is to live illusions. As long as you are in the present moment you are a Buddha.

'via Blog this'

Quote from the Dalai Lama

Buddhism doesn’t require beliefs. It requires practice.

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/08/why-everything-you-believe-about-buddhism-is-wrong-karen-maezen-miller/

Zen Stories

ZEN STORIES
one of my favorite Zen stories is "Muddy Road"
http://www.markings.bc.ca/spirit/zen.html

The Illustrated Dhammapada

http://www.buddhanet.net/dhammapada/

[Zen Story]

Two monks were once travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. Coming around the bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
"Come on, girl," said the first monk. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
The second monk did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he said. "It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there," the first monk said. "Are you still carrying her?"

Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R's:
   1. Respect for self
   2. Respect for others
   3. Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Oprah Talks to Thich Nhat Hanh

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks-to-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/2
Oprah: Are most monks enlightened, or seeking enlightenment?

Nhat Hanh: Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive—that you can touch the miracle of being alive—then that is a kind of enlightenment. Many people are alive but don't touch the miracle of being alive.

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks-to-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/2#ixzz1URMMveNL

Eating a Tangerine

http://www.buddhist-canon.com/PUBLIC/XIUZHENG/eat.htm

Amma

http://www.amma.org/index.html
Once a press reporter asked Amma how was it possible for her to embrace each and every one in the same loving way, even if they were diseased or unpleasant. Amma replied, “ When a bee hovers over a garden of varied flowers, what it beholds is not the difference between the flowers but the honey within them. Similarly Amma sees the same Supreme Self in each and every one.”