Better's Today

The Sutra on aspirations of sentient beings

vutran | May 22, 2020, 10:51 a.m.

If one is unable to manage such a great deed as fulfilling the aspirations of sentient beings, and always holding them to be dear and precious, even though he may seek the Dharma everywhere, his practice will definitely not be rewarded with success.

There is a story that illustrates this in the sutra: Once upon a time, there were a father and a son who were in possession of a wish- fulfilling gem. One day, while they were on a journey, the father became tired and wanted to take a short nap. Before laying down, he said to his son: “Take good care of the wish-granting gem, and during my nap, be sure not to give it to anyone.” Soon after, the father closed his eyes and fell asleep. A short while later, a band of thieves came walking up the road. Seeing the child sitting there holding the wish-fulfilling gem, they demanded that he give it to them. The child replied: “I cannot give it to you because just before my father fell asleep, he told me not to give the wish-fulfilling gem to anyone.” One of the thieves reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of candy and held one of the sweet morsels out to the boy. “The shiny stone that you are holding is useless to you, but these candies are sweet and you can eat as many as you like right now. Come on, let’s make a trade.” The child looked longingly at the bag of candy in the thieves’ hand and after only a moment of hesitation, handed over the wish- fulfilling gem in exchange for the bag of candy. When the father woke up, and heard that the son had traded the wish-fulfilling gem of all the magical properties for a simple bag of candy, he was very upset and disappointed.

Dharma practice is the same: once you have abandoned its essential principal, even if you receive some minor sense of happiness, you will never realize its greatest benefits. For example, if you judge one sentient being as inferior and another as unattractive, if you feel anger or resentment towards them, then you have abandoned the Bodhicitta mind and your so- called spiritual practice will bring very little, if any, true merit.

— Kenpo Sodargye

Garry Keller on expertise

vutran | May 22, 2020, 10:48 a.m.

"Elite performers actively seek out teachers, coaches and engage in supervised trainings. The trainings that help moving from "E" to "P", amateurs do not have that practice."

— Garry Keller

Shantideva on Transcendent

vutran | May 22, 2020, 10:46 a.m.

“Transcendent patience does not come to be, when harm is absent.”

— Shantideva

Garry Keller on the choice of between author and victim

vutran | May 22, 2020, 10:45 a.m.

"When life happens, you can be either the author of your life or the victim of it. Those are your only two choices— accountable or unaccountable. This may sound harsh, but it’s true. Every day we choose one approach or the other, and the consequences follow us forever."

— Garry Keller

Bronnie Ware on belittling friends

vutran | May 22, 2020, 10:44 a.m.

"If a friend is making you feel small, end the friendship. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been friends for years, or if you don’t have that many friends, or if you have to see them all the time. Nothing is more damaging to your sense of self worth than surrounding yourself with people who pick away at you. Feeling lonely is better than feeling small."

— Bronnie Ware in The Top Five Regrets of the Dying

Garry Keller on natural ceiling of achievement

vutran | May 20, 2020, 6:33 a.m.

"Highly productive people don’t accept the limitations of their natural approach as the final word on their success. When they hit a ceiling of achievement, they look for new models and systems, better ways to do things to push them through. They pause ?ust long enough to examine their options, they pick the best one, and then they’re right back at it. Ask an “E” to cut some firewood and the Entrepreneurial person would likely shoulder an axe and head straight for the woods. On the other hand, the Purposeful person might ask, “Where can I get a chainsaw?” With a “P”mindset, you can achieve breakthroughs and accomplish things far beyond your natural abilities. You must simply be willing to do whatever it takes"

— Garry Keller