"Huike Thinking" by Shi Ke (10th century).
Today’s quote is from Dazu Huike (487-593), the twenty-ninth patriarch of Ch’an Buddhism. This is it (as translated by John McRae):
Originally deluded, one calls the mani-pearl a potsherd
Suddenly one is awakened—and it is [recognized] as a pearl
Ignorance and wisdom are identical, not different.
This from the Associated Press:
The United States returned seven sculptures from the great Angkorian era on Thursday that had been smuggled out of Cambodia.
Cambodian Buddhist monks blessed the artifacts during a handover ceremony at the port of Sihanoukville, said John Johnson, a U.S. embassy spokesman.
The sandstone sculptures were recovered by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during an 2008 raid in Los Angeles. They arrived in Cambodia aboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy on Tuesday, Johnson said.
The Mercy docked at the seaport for a 13-day mission to provide free medical care to Cambodians.
Johnson said the artifacts include two heads of the Buddha, a bas-relief and an engraved plinth. The items date from 1000 to 1500 when the kings of Angkor ruled over an extensive empire and produced some of the world’s most magnificent temples, including the famed Angkor Wat complex.
Sad news from the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center…
On the auspicious day of Medicine Buddha, June 19, 2010 at 8:07pm, our most beloved teacher and one of the great scholars and masters in Nyingmapa Buddhism, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche passed into parinirvana peacefully and beautifully. All stages of meditation were perfectly demonstrated according to the teachings of the Buddha and Guru Padmasambhava, and as Khenchen Rinpoche himself taught for so many years. He entered fearlessly without any emotion or attachment, joyfully and with confidence at his home, Arya Palo Ling, in the presence of his beloved brother, Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, and Jomo Lorraine, and during the sangha’s practice of Vajrasattva in the glorious Copper-colored Temple at Palden Padma Samye Ling monastery. Surrounded by every lush spring quality of gentle breezes, birds singing, flowers blooming, and deer playing in the meadows, he remains in thugdam meditation.
Read the rest here.
The Associated Press has the story.
