Emptiness (poem)

All reality truly is
Empty of inherent existence,
Separate and permanent.
Awakening to this realization of
The Self Nature of true reality
Bodhisattvas return to help
All sentient beings who cling
Needlessly to the world,
Narcotized by the vain grasping
Of worldliness known as
Reality as it is supposed to be.
Rare is the one awakened to
Self Nature True Mind,
The Bodhi Mind That realizes
Buddhist Emptiness is
Neither mysterious nor unique.

---

The `No-Self' Nature of People and Things: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/singer.htm
Madhyamika: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Madhyamika
Ordinary Mind, Original Nature and Self Nature: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/ordinary-mind-original-nature-and-self.html
Pure Mind is True Mind: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2006/01/pure-mind-is-true-mind-true-mind-is.html
Emptiness as Everything and Nothing: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/emptiness-as-everything-and-nothing-poem.html

Ordinary Mind, Original Nature and Self Nature True Mind

What is ordinary mind?
Ordinary mind is the mind
you were born with, subject
to cause and effect, which
is called Monkey Mind,
due to it swinging from
thought to thought mindlessly.

What is original nature?
The basic goodness everyone is
born with, yet is hidden
by the action of Monkey Mind.
Original nature is Self Nature,
which can be uncovered through
meditation and Buddha Remembrance.

What is Self Nature True Mind?
Self Nature is original nature,
and True Mind is buddha-mind.
Thus True Mind is awakened
to its original nature.

The Pure Land Is The Original True Mind

As we recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha" we each create and adorn our own Land of Ultimate Bliss. We each accomplish our own Land of Ultimate Bliss which is certainly not hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here. Now, the Land of Ultimate Bliss really is hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands away; and yet it doesn't go beyond the very thought we are having right now. Since it's right in our hearts, we say it's not hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here. The Land of Ultimate Bliss is the original true heart, the true mind, of every one of us. If you obtain this heart, you will be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you don't understand your own original true heart, you will not. Amitabha Buddha and living beings are not distinct--that's why I say the Land of Ultimate Bliss is not so far away. In one thought, turn the light within. Know that originally you are the Buddha, and your original Buddhahood is just the Land of Ultimate Bliss. -- from The Song of Mindfulness of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, by Hsuan Hua, http://www.gbm-online.com/dharma/song.html

The Land of Ultimate Bliss is the Pure Land of Bliss.

Though the Pure Land is many thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here, it is at the same time very close to each one of us.

It begins by awakening to your own original true mind, realizing that, as Dharma Master Thich Thien Tam writes, "to recite is Buddha, to recite is Mind". -- http://www.geocities.com/amitabha48vows/bwf72.htm

How does one awaken to the true mind?

Through the method known as "Buddha Recitation-essence".

When devotees who practise with unwavering faith in the Pure Land of Bliss, also come to "deeply realize that the Pure Land and Amida Buddha are all in the True Mind, manifested by the pure virtues of the True Mind."

Pure Mind is True Mind / True Mind is Pure Mind (poem)

the true mind is the pure mind,
from which bliss arises naturally
after decades of active meditation.

with harmlessness and spontaneity
its fruits, flavored by diligent mindfulness,
the devotee might briefly savor such purity
during meditation before returning to face the world
filled with equanimity and compassion,
having pierced the delusions of mindlessness,
ready to spread the joy of the well-examined life.

as these fruits arise out of mindful contemplation,
the one-pointed mind awakens to this subtle truth:
the pure mind is the true mind.

True Heart, True Mind (poem)

the true heart can taste
the difference between love and hate,
yet the boundless compassion
of the awakened
transcends this difference,
and the boundless wisdom
of the enlightened
sees love and hate for what they are:
manifestations of passion,
delusions rooted in desire.

the true mind knows all of this,
and thus so do I...
even so... but then...
and then again...
always do I return to thee,
smiling and laughing,
sharing the love that arises
from the innocence we create together.

Transcending Concern for the World Beyond

The person who tells a lie,
who transgresses in this one thing,
transcending concern for the world beyond:
there's no evil
he might not do.

-Dhammapada, 176, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

The footnote on Verse 176 refers to "the principle of truthfulness." It also points to another verse in Iti 1:25 which further amplifies the above quote:


This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "For the person who transgresses in one thing, I tell you, there is no evil deed that is not to be done. Which one thing? This: telling a deliberate lie."

The person who lies,
who transgress in this one thing,
transcending concern for the world beyond:
there's no evil
he might not do.


Indeed, sincerity helps the truthteller, more than it does the liar.

For it is the depth of one's sincerity that determines the truth.

Reference:
Dhammapada 176: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/dhp/tb0/dhp-13-tb0.html

Footnote for Dhammapada 176: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/dhp/tb0/index.html#n176


Iti 1:25: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/iti/tb0/iti1.html#iti-025