Kaṭukassaratā

Don’t recall: Let go of what has passed
Don’t imagine: Let go of what may come
Don’t think: Let go of what is happening now
Don’t examine: Don’t try to figure anything out
Don’t control: Don’t try to make anything happen
Rest: Relax, right now, and rest

It is very simple
to eliminate suffering.
Accept everything with ease,
And let go completely.

----- By Venerable Master Shen Kai

I was recently introduced to the Vietnamese Mahayana concept of "The Fourteen Teachings of Buddha" and I really like the way the Sutras are summarized in them:

1. The greatest enemy in life is the self
2. The greatest ignorance in life is deceit
3. The greatest failure in life is vanity
4. The greatest tragedy in life is jealousy
5. The greatest error in life is to lose oneself
6. The greatest crime in life is disloyalty to parents
7. The greatest pity in life is self-belittlement
8. The greatest pride in life is recovering from failures
9. The greatest bankruptcy in life is hopelessness
10. The greatest wealth in life is health and wisdom
11. The greatest debt in life is affection and love
12. The greatest gift in life is acceptance and forgiveness
13. The greatest weakness in life is lack of awareness
14. The greatest consolation in life is charity

vajrasattva posted an article on it in LJ with the authors interpretations.

I know it's all about perception. And China is really working that right now with this article about China urging the U.S. to see the "true nature" of Dalai Lama. Of course they want the U.S to see the true nature from the same certain viewpoint they are seeing him from. I have never liked what China did to Tibet, but dislike their methods even more. This and other issues last year such as the Panchen Lama being identified and the poor boy disappearing and China putting one of it's own child puppets forward and then informing everyone that no Lama or other living Buddha may reincarnate after they die without permission from China really led up to the recent revolts and demonstrations going on. I don't know what Chinese officials were thinking and why they didn't expect such a response from Tibet. Take an entire Nation of Buddhists and try to undercut their entire belief system...it's not going to go over well. Of course the riots put the Dalai Lama in a very precarious situation. All any of this does is just bring up all the negative human rights violations that China has been known for. Not that they have a history of actually respecting it's people. I thought it was a bad idea to have the olympics in China and I still think it's a bad idea. Never should have happened.


In a less political note....I finally got around to listening to some of the you tube posts from His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. I really enjoyed the one he did on The Dying Process. It seemed appropriate to me. I just finished reading the book "Start Where you are" by Pema Chodron and she talks about the process in there and how to use it to deal with stress and issues in your life. To go ahead and die, to let go completely, and then start again.