The Perfection of Effort

Effort is crucial in the beginning for generating a strong will. We all have the Buddha nature and thus already have within us the substances through which, when we meet with the proper conditions, we can turn into a fully enlightened being having all beneficial attributes and devoid of all faults. The very root of failure in our lives is to think, "Oh, how useless and powerless I am!" It is important to have a strong force of mind thinking, "I can do it," this not being mixed with pride or any other afflictive emotion.

Moderate effort over a long period of time is important, no matter what you are trying to do. One brings failure on oneself by working extremely hard at the beginning, attempting to do too much, and then giving it all up after a short time. A constant stream of moderate effort is needed. Similarly, when meditating, you need to be skillful by having frequent, short sessions; it is more important that the session be of good quality than that it be long.

-His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Kindness, Clarity, and Insight

"I think, therefore..."

Centuries of Aristotle, Plato, and Descartes have bulldozed the way open to the decay of the body. The majority of our planetary culture has been indoctrinated to perceive both Nature and the body through the lenses of a mechanistic vision of reality; Descartes’ "cogito ergo sum" ("I think therefore I am") identifies our selves only as a function of thinking, thereby turning the physical world into a barren wasteland. We have chosen to follow Kant along the road of "progress" and science rather than sitting around the campfire with Gary Snyder and riding with Black Elk in the Prairies.

-Daniele Bolelli, On the Warrior's Path, Second Edition: Philosophy, Fighting, and Martial Arts Mythology

Safety vs. Liberty

"...when no risk is taken there is no freedom. It is thus that, in an industrial society, the plethora of laws made for our personal safety convert the land into a nursery..."

-Alan Watts, Tao: The Watercourse Way

Relative Bodhichitta

Relative Bodhichitta is practiced on the basis of the ordinary, conceptual mind and is perfectly possible to accomplish, even for a beginner, provided he looks within himself and practices properly. When this relative Bodhichitta has been perfected, moreover, absolute Bodhichitta, the wisdom of Vipashyana, the realization of no-self, arises by itself.

We can think of relative Bodhichitta as having two aspects: that of emptiness and that of compassion. To possess both compassion and an understanding of emptiness is like having wheels on one’s car. If all four are present, the car is roadworthy; but if a wheel is missing, it is impossible to go anywhere. Meditation on emptiness without compassion is not the Mahayana path; meditation on compassion where the aspect of emptiness is lacking is not the path either. We need both emptiness and compassion together.

-Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (Padmakara Translation Group), Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the Seven-Point Mind Training

Self-Conformity

Real life, [early Taoists] argued, the life of the true person, followed the creative natural path, rather than the predetermined values of any group. For those willing to conform to the natural way, rather than the conceptions and preconceptions of others, true freedom — that is, self-conformity — was possible. And even more: This tendency toward self-conformity was inherent in all people. Left essentially to its own devices, the larger society could, like a pond or a forest, attain its own balance and maintain its own systems of effective functioning — without outside help.

-Brandon Toropov and Chad Hansen, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism

Hell of a Question

A Zen master was asked by a Samurai whether there was hell in sooth as taught in the Scriptures. "I must ask you," replied he, "before I give you an answer. For what purpose is your question? What business have you, a Samurai, with a thing of that sort? Why do you bother yourself about such an idle question? Surely you neglect your duty and are engaged in such a fruitless research. Does this not amount to your stealing the annual salary from your lord?" The Samurai, offended not a little with these rebukes, stared at the master, ready to draw his sword at another insult. Then the teacher said smilingly: "Now you are in Hell. Don't you see?"

-Kaiten Nukariya, The Religion of the Samurai

Unconditional Love

Attachment and love are similar in that both of them draw us to the other person. But in fact, these two emotions are quite different. When we’re attached we’re drawn to someone because he or she meets our needs. In addition, there are lots of strings attached to our affection that we may or may not realize are there. For example, I “love” you because you make me feel good. I “love” you as long as you do things that I approve of. I “love” you because you’re mine. You’re my spouse or my child or my parent or my friend. With attachment, we go up and down like a yo-yo, depending on how the other person treats us. We obsess, “What do they think of me? Do they love me? Have I offended them? How can I become what they want me to be so that they love me even more?” It’s not very peaceful, is it? We’re definitely stirred up.

On the other hand, the love we’re generating on the Dharma path is unconditional. We simply want other to have happiness and the causes of happiness without any strings attached, without any expectations of what these people will do for us or how good they’ll make us feel.

-Thubten Chodron, Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Living with Wisdom and Compassion

The Sword that Preserves Life

"Swordmasters like Yagyu Munenori spoke of there being two different kinds of swords. They called one sword - and by extension the swordsman who wielded it - satsujinken, merely a weapon for killing, and serving no greater purpose  a 'sword that takes life'. The katsujinken, though, was a 'sword that preserved life,' promoting dignity and a love for mankind. The use of the katsujinken was in the killing of the worst enemy of all, that of one's own ego."

-Dave Lowry, Bokken: Art of the Japanese Sword

We Are All the Same

We are all human beings, and from this point of view, we are the same. We all want happiness and we do not want suffering. If we consider this point, we will find that there are no differences between people of different faiths, races, colors, or cultures. We all have this common wish for happiness.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists

Cultivate a Compassionate Mind

The fundamental teaching of the Buddha is that we should view others as being more important than we are. Of course, you cannot completely ignore yourself. But neither can you neglect the welfare of other people and other sentient beings, particularly when there is a clash of interest between your own welfare and the welfare of other people. At such a time you should consider other people’s welfare as more important than your own personal well-being. Compare yourself to the rest of sentient beings. All other sentient beings are countless, while you are just one person. Your suffering and happiness may be very important, but it is just the suffering and happiness of one individual, whereas the happiness and suffering of all other sentient beings is immeasurable and countless. So, it is the way of the wise to sacrifice one for the benefit of the majority and it is the way of the foolish to sacrifice the majority on behalf of just one single individual. Even from the point of view of your personal well-being, you must cultivate a compassionate mind — that is that source of happiness in your life.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Stages of Meditation

The Glory of Work

"As for glory, the only glory in war is doing your duty as a samurai. And that same glory can be found by diligently performing your work when you are doing something like inspecting a castle."

-from the novel "Jade Palace Vendetta" by Dale Furutani

Dreams on the Warrior's Path

"To be truly walking on the warrior’s path, we have to bring our minds back to the time when we were not ashamed of our dreams; when reality had not yet frustrated our ambitions; when our desire was still too strong to be repressed, and our spirit refused to surrender in resignation; when we were not yet doctors, businessmen, or lawyers, but still wanted to be heroes, leaders, bodhisattvas."

-Daniele Bolelli, On the Warrior's Path, Second Edition: Philosophy, Fighting, and Martial Arts Mythology