Ven. Hung I: The Eight Realization Sutta Series

For the entire series follow the link The Eight Realization Sutra Series

The First Realization is the awareness that the world is impermanent. The Second Realization is the awareness that more desire brings more suffering. The Third Realization is the awareness that the human mind is always searching outside itself and never feels fulfilled. The Fourth Realization is the awareness that indolence is an obstacle to practice. The Fifth Realization is the awareness that ignorance is the cause of the endless round of birth and death. The Sixth Realization is the awareness that poverty creates hatred and anger. The Seventh Realization is the awareness that the five categories of sensual desire – money, sex, fame, overeating and oversleeping – lead to problems. The Eighth Realization is the awareness that the fire of birth and death is raging, causing endless suffering everywhere.

 

The Best of Sharon Salzberg – Happy Birthday

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Sharon Salzberg, one of the best known Western Buddhist teacher is celebrating her birthday this weekend. As a Buddhist teacher and author, Sharon has served as a spiritual friend to so many, providing guidance in the cultivation of loving-kindness, faith, and happiness. Lion’s Roar is honoring Sharon by sharing her biography, her teachings, numerous quotes, and books. Read on for more.

 

Giving up, giving in, just plain giving — Sharon Salzberg says that’s the truly transformative experience. Generosity opens our heart, frees us from attachment and is the basis of all good qualities. It’s the foundation of the Buddhist path. 

The Four Layers of Consciousness

Cosmic ConsciousnessAbhidharma, Buddhism’s map of the mind, is sometimes treated as a topic of merely intellectual interest. In fact, says Thich Nhat Hanh, identifying the different elements of consciousness, and understanding how they interact, is essential to our practice of meditation.

Thich Nhat Hanh, renowned Zen Master and poet, shares the importance of the Four Layers of Consciousnesses (mind consciousness, sense consciousness, store consciousness, and manas) in simple terms.

The Vietnamese Zen Master Thuong Chieu said, “When we understand how our mind works, our practice becomes easy.” To understand our minds, we need to understand our consciousness.

Read on

The Book of Joy |The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tuto

The Book of Joy – Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Two great spiritual masters share their own hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity.
 
According to Goodreads.com, the occasion was a big birthday. And it inspired two close friends to get together in Dharamsala for a talk about something very important to them. The friends were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The subject was joy. Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet.

Available on Amazon , Barnes&Nobles and other booksellers.

 

Gems on Peace

A Selection of Inspirational Quotes

 

“Change in the world comes from individuals, from the inner peace in individual hearts. Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.”

~ H.H. Dalai Lama

“Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways.”

~ H.H. Dalai Lama

People kill and are killed because they cling too tightly to their own beliefs and ideologies. When we believe that ours is the only faith [or view] that contains the truth, violence and suffering will surely be the result.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Understanding and love are the two most important teachings of the Buddha. If we do not make the effort to be open, to understand the suffering of other people, we will not be able to love them and to live in harmony with them. We should also try to understand and protect the lives of animals, plants, and minerals and live in harmony with them. If we cannot understand, we cannot love.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

in the moment

“Falling in love with the Earth – We need to re-establish true communication–true communion–with ourselves, with the Earth, and with one another as children of the same mother. We need more than new technology to protect the planet. We need real community and co-operation.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only love can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

~ Dr. Martin Luther King

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

~ Desmond Tutu

“The very first step in nonviolence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, loving kindness.”

~ Gandhi

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response.  In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

~ Victor Frankl