Rev. Danny Fisher

Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings

Ven. Matthieu Ricard’s Opinion Piece in Today’s New York Times

Image via The New York Times.

That’s right! (And it’s tremendously good and very important — don’t miss it.)

A Gift of Dharma for 6.25.11

Photo by YashiWong.

Today’s quote comes from Siddhartha Gautama (circa fifth and/or sixth century B.C.E.) — the historical Buddha and de facto progenitor of the Buddhist religions. This is it:

Faith is the seed, practice the rain,
And wisdom is my yoke and plow.
Modesty’s the pole, mind the strap,
Mindfulness my plowshare and goad.

Body and speech are guarded well,
And food and drink have been restrained.
Truthfulness I use for weeding,
And gentleness urges me on.

Effort is my beast of burden,
Pulling me onward to safety.
On it goes without returning,
Where, having gone, one does not grieve.

This is how I plow my plowing —
The crop it yields is deathlessness!
And when one has plowed this plowing,
One is released from all suffering.

Buddhist Army Chaplain Thomas Dyer Offers Meditation Instruction at Camp Taji in Iraq

Via Buddhist Military Sangha: