"The mind is simply that which conceives and remembers countless thoughts. If the current of thoughts is virtuous, you have tamed the mind; if it is negative, you have not...."

~Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche "Taming the mind and making it positive needs perseverance. Never think, 'The Buddha is fully enlightened, and Chenrezi is the very embodiment of compassion; but how could an ordinary person like me ever help others?' "

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

"In Buddha dharma, as we know, first, you learn, you listen, then you study and you learn about it. Then you go away and you think about it and you question it...."

~Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo "Buddhism is not about blind faith. You question it. Any doubts you have, you ask. Any hesitations, you get it clarified until you understand what’s being said. Then we put it into practice...."

~Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

"It is not enough to wish from time to time that you could be free of samsara. That idea must pervade your stream of thinking, day and night...."

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche "A prisoner locked in jail thinks all the time about different ways of getting free - how he might climb over the walls, ask powerful people to intervene, or raise money to bribe someone...."

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

I want to share something that I experienced yesterday, in the hopes that it might help someone else. (Actually there are 2 things, but I'll do them in separate threads)

This one is about PTSD. 🧵 Beginning in my late 20s, novocaine stopped working well for me. I had several fillings done or replaced and a crown done, all without being fully numbed. It happened with several dentists, some of whom I knew to be outstanding, so it wasn't them, it was me.

🌷 A Miracle Story 🌷

When they pulled the Demon Tooth today it hurt like hell. Wasn't all the way numb. The surgeon said when a tooth is already that painful they can't get it all the way numb. And then the numbing agent wore off within 10 mins, leaving me in severe pain.

1/5 I normally don't take anything stronger than Tylenol, but it was so bad I decided to fill the script for pain meds. It was an agonizing drive to the pharmacy. While I waited I sent an update to my Lama. I didn't hear back, but within 15 mins the pain completely stopped.

2/5

"None of your assumptions about who you are, who you make-believe you are, or the labels you attach to yourself is the real ‘you’; it’s all guesswork."

~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche "And it is this very guesswork – assumption, make-believe, labelling and so on – that creates the illusion of samsara. Although the world around you and the beings within it ‘appear’, none of it ‘exists’; it’s all a fabricated illusion."

~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

"If you wish to eradicate your afflictions, you must follow your teacher and study for a long time. Otherwise, studying for only a few days will not have any significant effect."

~ Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche "...Some people today are not willing to study or reflect on the Dharma, but they are enthusiastic about meditation. They believe meditating all day with their eyes shut is the ultimate practice. I do not think much of this."

~ Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche

"Patrick Stewart's Birthday Bathrobe"

A play in 4 Acts

Act 1: Prologue Act 2: Interlude

Every day Trump & Republicans are moving us deeper into an authoritarian state.

Every day more vulnerable people become targets.

Every day we're losing ground on progress we've made in human rights, women's rights, civil rights.

Every day the hatred increases.
1/ Things that shocked us last year are not as shocking today.

We're becoming accustomed to the constant chaos & negativity.

We're used to the nonstop fighting & bickering.

We're forgetting what it was like before the horror show began.
2/