If you seek enlightenment, train yourself for death.

The fact that Europeans — or many Europeans — are Christians does not mean that Christian morality is the national morality. Perhaps the traditional confusion surrounding this explains much of our ruin. It is not through Christianity that one must approach Europe, but in a direct way, without any intermediary. The European Christian is not necessarily, and by the mere fact of being Christian, a patriot. Christians have always been identified with Europe, and they could not seriously imagine the existence of a national European idea except through the Church. In Europe, there has been religious patriotism and monarchical patriotism, but not a direct patriotism, not a popular patriotism arising from the masses and directed toward them. No, comrades, national morality, the national idea as a duty(the filial one!), neither equates to religious morality nor opposes it. It is simply distinct, and it applies to all Europeans by the simple fact of being so, and nothing else besides that.

Thereupon, magically influenced by the Buddha, the venerable Sariputra had this thought: "If the buddha-field is pure only to the extent that the mind of the bodhisattva is pure, then, when Sakyamuni Buddha was engaged in the career of the bodhisattva, his mind must have been impure. Otherwise, how could this buddha-field appear to be so impure?"

The Buddha, knowing telepathically the thought of venerable Sariputra, said to him, "What do you think, Sariputra? Is it because the sun and moon are impure that those blind from birth do not see them?"

Sariputra replied, "No, Lord. It is not so. The fault lies with those blind from birth, and not with the sun and moon."

The Buddha declared, "In the same way, Sariputra, the fact that some living beings do not behold the splendid display of virtues of the buddha-field of the Tathagata is due to their own ignorance. It is not the fault of the Tathagata. Sariputra, the buddha-field of the Tathagata is pure, but you do not see it."

Then the Brahma Sikhin said to the venerable Sariputra, "Reverend Sariputra, do not say that the buddha-field of the Tathagata is impure. Reverend Sariputra, the buddha-field of the Tathagata is pure. I see the splendid expanse of the buddha-field of the Lord Sakyamuni as equal to the splendor of, for example, the abodes of the highest deities."

Then the venerable Sariputra said to the Brahma Sikhin, "As for me, O Brahma, I see this great earth, with its highs and lows, its thorns, its precipices, its peaks, and its abysses, as if it were entirely filled with ordure."

Brahma Sikhin replied, "The fact that you see such a buddha-field as this as if it were so impure, reverend Sariputra, is a sure sign that there are highs and lows in your mind and that your positive thought in regard to the buddha-gnosis is not pure either. Reverend Sariputra, those whose minds are impartial toward all living beings and whose positive thoughts toward the buddha-gnosis are pure see this buddha-field as perfectly pure."

The threefold world does not announce, "I am the threefold world." Rather it's you, followers of the Way, who do so, this person here in front of my eyes who in marvelous fashion shines his torch on the ten thousand things and sizes up the world -- it's he who assigns names to the threefold world.

Everything can be solved now, today.

Your body-mind has a store of natural intuitive wisdom. It will take charge & handle everything that could possibly come up, if you let go & let it do the job.

All that gets in its way is obsessive thinking (about the past, the future, even the present!)

The senses are intrinsically brilliant & clear, as open & ungraspable as space.

A person can spontaneously enter the state of true Suchness (Tathata). In ancient Zen, such spontaneous enlightenment was highly regarded.

While you are in this state of Suchness, you feel no interest in describing it. Once you're out of it again, there is no confidence in even making the attempt.

What is the state of Suchness like? It is highly alert. It is joyful. It is relaxed. It is devoid of dullness, emotional conflicts and worked out ideas.

All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which is without beginning, is unborn and indestructible.

—Huang Po

6.3

“He gives that gift as purified because of ten features. What are they?

1. The bodhisattva’s generosity does not provide for inappropriate pleasures.2. The bodhisattva’s generosity does not inflict harm on sentient beings.
2. The bodhisattva’s generosity does not come from intimidation or fear.
3. The bodhisattva’s generosity does not discourage renunciation.
4. The bodhisattva’s generosity is not superficial.
5. The bodhisattva’s generosity does not discriminate between sentient beings.
6. The bodhisattva’s generosity is not a gesture of flattery.
7. The bodhisattva’s generosity is not a gesture of animosity.
8. The bodhisattva’s generosity is not a means to acquire land.
9. The bodhisattva’s generosity does not involve denigrating sentient beings, thinking that they are unworthy recipients.

These, Śāriputra, are the ten features by means of which the bodhisattva gives that purified gift.

When you receive goods or honors, be grateful for them and keep them without arrogance, knowing that where there is pride, there is anger and folly, but where there is humility, there is wisdom and joy. The Noble Ones say that if pride were to reach the clouds, it would inevitably fall. From pride arise many evils that can destroy mind, body, honor and wealth. Keep your knowledge and honor without pride, and humbly ask to learn what you do not know.

Some people have the guts to claim the romans and greeks had no clue on Impermanence or Co-dependent Arising.

Its always those who never read roman poetry:

"And since I am carried by this great sea, and I have set full sails to the winds:
Nothing in the whole world remains fixed.
All things flow, and every shape is fashioned as it wanders.
Time itself slips away in perpetual motion,
Like a river, for neither a river nor fleeting time can stand still.
Just as wave is driven by wave, and one pushes another,
So do moments flee, one after the other,
And they are always new. What was before has passed;
What has not been comes into being, and all moments are transformed."

"All things are changed, nothing perishes: the spirit wanders,
From here to there, and from there to here; it inhabits whatever bodies it pleases—
From animals into human bodies, and from humans into animals.
It never perishes at any time.
Just as soft wax is easily molded into new shapes,
It neither remains as it was nor retains its original form,
Yet it is still the same. So too, I teach that the soul
Is always the same but migrates into different forms."