CTR Quote of the Week

According to the Buddhist tradition, the spiritual path is the process of cutting through our confusion, of uncovering the awakened state of mind. When the

Walking the spiritual path properly is a very subtle process; it is not something to jump into naively. There are numerous sidetracks which lead to

A commentary on the slogan: When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi. In our ordinary life, our

We follow the example of the Buddha, who presented the teachings to the Indians of his time in a universal fashion. It is much more

Tradition does not mean dressing up in robes and playing exotic music or having dakinis dancing around us, or anything like that. Tradition is being

Becoming a warrior means that you are building a world that does not allow you to indulge in your confusion, which is the setting-sun concept

The reservoir of trust is a bank of richness from which the warrior can always draw conclusions. We begin to feel that we are dealing

Fearlessness is like a reservoir of trust. This trust arises from the experience of basic goodness. When we feel basically good, rather than degraded or

Trust is being willing to take a chance, knowing that what goes up must come down, as they say. When a warrior has that kind

In the Buddhist tradition, supplication is not asking something of some divine principle that exists somewhere else–upstairs in the loft. Instead, supplication is the fundamental

In the ordinary, usual world that we live in, there is always a charnel ground of some kind — where we try to catch each

Because the practice of buddhadharma exists within our own state of being, our own world, it is very powerful. The teachings speak our own language,

The beginning point of buddha nature seems to be the development of maitri, which could be translated as “love,” “kindness,” or “a friendly attitude.” Having

Buddha nature is not regarded as a peaceful state of mind or, for that matter, as a disturbed one either. It is a state of

Really, you can afford to be what you are! You may think that you’re alone and nobody’s with you. But that in itself is good

Ordinary suffering is very genteel in a sense and very friendly. You are just suffering for the sake of suffering. There is confusion because of

An example of the suffering of suffering is that you have a bankruptcy, and on top of that, you are arrested by the police. You

The question of basic pain, or cosmic suffering, is not so much one of physical pain, but it is more like a basic ache, basic

Basically, the nature of samsara, or confusion altogether, is suffering. Samsara is a gigantic bag of confusion, lust, and aggression. We know that in America

If we want to present unconditional confidence to others, to help others appreciate this quality in themselves, we don’t have to be pedantic or heavy-handed.

The ordinary sense of confidence is confidence about something, which is conditional or qualified. But in this case, gentleness and softness give rise to an

Our opinions and attitudes about  ourselves are very important. We cannot ignore the slightest tendency to feel wretched, inadequate, or fundamentally distrustful of ourselves. Those

The world is moving so fast, there is no time to prove, but whatever we learn, we must bring it and cook it and eat it