Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior
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Quotes from Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior
I. "The discovery of basic goodness is not a religious experience, particularly. Rather, it is the realization that we can directly work with reality, the real world that we are in. Experiencing the basic goodness of our lives makes us feel that we are intelligent and decent people and that our world is not a threat. When we feel that our lives are genuine and good, we do not have to deceive ourselves or other people. We can see our shortcomings without feeling guilty or inadequate, and at the same time, we can see our potential for extending goodness to others. We can tell the truth straightforwardly and be absolutely open, but steadfast at the same time. This is the essence of warriorship, or the essence of human bravery."
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II. "Synchronizing mind and body is not a concept or a random technique someone thought up for self improvement. Rather, it is a basic principle of how to be a human being and how to use your sense perceptions, your mind, and your body together. When your mind and body are properly synchronized, then you have a clear perception and you have a sense of being without doubt, being without tremors and the shaking and the shortsightedness of anxiety, which make your behavior totally inaccurate."
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III. "The dawn of the Great Eastern sun is based on actual experience. it is not a concept. you realize that you can uplift yourself [...] Eastern Sun vision is based on appreciating ourselves and appreciating our world, so it is a very gentle approach. Because we appreciate the world, we don't make a mess in it. We take care of our bodies, we take care of our minds, and we take care of our world. The world around us is regarded as very sacred, so we have to constantly serve our world."
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IV. "Our next topic is dealing with darkness. By darkness, we mean and closing ourselves in a familiar World in which we can hide or go to sleep. It is as though we would like to re-enter our mother's womb and hide their forever, so that we could avoid being born. When we are afraid of waking up and afraid of experiencing our own fear, we create a cocoon to Shield ourselves from the vision of the Great Eastern Sun."
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V. “What a warrior renounces is anything in his experience that is a barrier between himself and others. In other words, renunciation is making yourself more available more gentle and open to others. Any hesitation about opening yourself to others is removed. For the sake of others you renounce your privacy."
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VI. "When the warrior has unwavering discipline, he takes joy in the journey enjoy and working with others. Rejoicing takes place throughout the Warrior's life. Why are you always joyful? Because you have witnessed your basic goodness, because you have nothing to hang on to, and because you have experienced the sense of renunciation. Therefore, your mind and body are continually synchronized and always joyful."
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VII. "As long as you feel that discipline comes from outside, there is still a lingering feeling that something is lacking in you. So letting go is connected with letting go of any vestiges of doubt or hesitation or embarrassment about being you as you are. You have to relax with yourself in order to fully realize that discipline is simply the expression of your basic goodness. You have to appreciate yourself, respect yourself, and let go of any doubt and embarrassment so that you can proclaim your goodness and basic sanity for the benefit of others."
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VIII. "We need to find a link between our traditions and our present experience of life. Nowness, where the magic of the present moment, is what joins the wisdom of the past with the present.
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By relaxing the mind, you can connect with that primordial, original ground, which is completely pure and simple. Out of that, through the medium of your perceptions, you can discover magic, or drala. you can actually connect your own intrinsic wisdom with a sense of greater wisdom or vision beyond you. You may think that something extraordinary will happen to you when you discover magic. Something extraordinary does happen. You simply find yourself in the realm of utter reality, complete and thorough reality."
By relaxing the mind, you can connect with that primordial, original ground, which is completely pure and simple. Out of that, through the medium of your perceptions, you can discover magic, or drala. you can actually connect your own intrinsic wisdom with a sense of greater wisdom or vision beyond you. You may think that something extraordinary will happen to you when you discover magic. Something extraordinary does happen. You simply find yourself in the realm of utter reality, complete and thorough reality."
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Extra: "In the [Tibetan] Shambhala tradition there is a principle that man is connected with simplicity, or living in harmony with Heaven and Earth. When human beings combine the freedom of heaven with the practicality of Earth, they can live in a good human society with one another.
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Extra: If we apply the perspective of Heaven, Earth, and man to the situation in the world today, we begin to see that there is a connection between the social and the natural, or environmental, problems that we are facing. When human beings lose their connection to Nature, to Heaven and Earth, then they do not know how to nurture their environment or how to rule their world — which is the same thing. Human beings destroy their ecology at the same time that they destroy one another. From that perspective, healing our society goes hand-in-hand with healing our personal, elemental connection with the phenomenal world."
Extra: If we apply the perspective of Heaven, Earth, and man to the situation in the world today, we begin to see that there is a connection between the social and the natural, or environmental, problems that we are facing. When human beings lose their connection to Nature, to Heaven and Earth, then they do not know how to nurture their environment or how to rule their world — which is the same thing. Human beings destroy their ecology at the same time that they destroy one another. From that perspective, healing our society goes hand-in-hand with healing our personal, elemental connection with the phenomenal world."
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IX"The phenomenal world that all human beings experience is fickle and flexible and also a merciless. You often wonder whether you can ride on that fickle and merciless situation or whether it is going to ride on you. To use an analogy, either you are riding on the donkey or the donkey is riding on you. Ordinarily, in your experience of the world it is questionable who is riding on whom. The more you struggle to gain the upper hand, the more speed and aggression you manufacture to overcome your obstacles, the more you become subject to the phenomenal world. The real challenge is to transcend the Duality altogether. It is possible to contact energy that is beyond dualism, Beyond aggression—energy that is neither for you nor against you. That is the energy of drala."
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"A society is destroyed from the inside, not from an attack by outsiders. We may imagine the enemy coming with spears and machine guns to kill us, massacre us. In reality, the only thing that can destroy us is within ourselves. If we have too much arrogance, we will destroy our gentleness. And if we destroyed gentleness, then we destroy the possibility of being awake, and we cannot use our intuitive openness to extend ourselves in situations properly. Instead, we generate tremendous aggression. Aggression desecrates the ground altogether."
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According to the Shambhala teachings, however, we have to recognize that our individual experience of sanity is inherently linked to our vision for a good human society. The point of warriorship is to become a gentle human being who can make a genuine contribution to this world. The warrior's journey is based on discovering what is intrinsically good about human existence and how to share the basic nature of goodness with others. There is a natural order and harmony in this world, which we can discover. But we cannot just study that order scientifically or measure it mathematically. We have to feel it— in our bones, in our hearts, in our minds. from that perspective, healing our society goes hand-in-hand with healing our personal, elemental connection with the phenomenal world."
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X. "Living in accordance with natural hierarchy is not just a matter of following a series of rigid rules or structuring your days with lifeless commandments or codes of conduct. The world has a natural order and power and richness that can teach you how to conduct your life artfully, with kindness to others and care for yourself. The discovery of natural hierarchy has to be a personal experience — magic is something you must experience for yourself. then you will never be tempted to cheat your neighbors or your friends. you will be inspired to serve your world, to surrender yourself completely."
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XI. " the kingdom that you are ruling is your own life: it is a householder's kingdom. The notion of kingdom here is that your life is wealthy and good. The real meaning of wealth is knowing how to create goldlike situations in your life. That is to say, you may only have twenty dollars in bank account, but you can still manifest richness in your world."
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XII. "At this stage, the Warrior's journey is based on resting in the state of warriorship, rather than struggling to take the next step. The warrior experiences a sense of relaxing in his achievement, which is not based on ego-centered concerned but on resting in unconditional confidence, free from aggression. So the journey becomes like a flower unfolding — it is a natural process of expansion."
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XIII. "The master warrior is very humble, extremely humble. His humbleness comes from working with others. When you work with others, you realize the need to be patient, to give space and time to others to develop their own understanding of goodness and of warriorship. If you are frantic and try to push basic goodness onto others, the nothing happens except further chaos. Knowing that, you become extremely humble patient with others. You let things assume their own shape, their own time. So patience is extending gentleness and faith to others all the time. You never lose faith in their basic goodness, and their ability to actualize nowness and sacredness, in their ability to become warriors in the world."