In Part I of this two-part talk, Zach explores the path of Karma Yoga to love and liberation. We can take inspiration from Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva, and the Bhagavad Gita, the ancient path of selfless service is a sure way to love and compassion to all sentient beings.
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Quotes from the episode:
“Were one asked to characterize the life of religion in the broadest and most general terms possible, one might say that it consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto.”
― William James
“Karma is not punishment; it’s the consequences that we’re temporarily stuck with. We can undo it by following the path.”
― Trungpa Rinpoche
5.3
If, with mindfulness’ rope,
The elephant of mind is tethered all around,
Our fears will come to nothing,
Every virtue will drop into our hands.
7.42
If my acts are wholesome, mirroring my mind,
Then no matter where I turn my steps,
Respect and honor will be paid to me,
The fruit and recompense of merit.
7.43
But if, in search of happiness, my works are evil,
Then no matter where I turn my steps,
The knives of misery will cut me down—
The wage and retribution of a sinful life.
― Shantideva
“You are going to die; and when you do, you will take nothing with you but your state of mind.”
― Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
“I have been given this existence, these years on this Earth, to accept what has come into my lifetime — wars, loves, trucks, betrayals, kindness. I must take them. I must find a way to live in this world. You can’t refuse it. And along with the difficult is the radiant, the beautiful, the intimacy with which each one of us enters the life of all of us and figures out, what is our conversation? What is my responsibility? What must be suffered? What can be changed? How can I meet this in a way which both lets me open my eyes the next day and also, perhaps, if I’m lucky, can be of service?”
― Jane Hirshfield
Do you think peace requires an end to war?
Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from
your boss, your spouse, yourself? …
Do you think peace will come some other place than here?
Some other time than Now?
In some other heart than yours?
Peace is this moment without judgment.
That is all. This moment in the Heart-space
where everything that is is welcome.
Peace is this moment without thinking
that it should be some other way,
that you should feel some other thing,
that your life should unfold according to your plans.
Peace is this moment without judgment,
this moment in the heart-space where
everything that is is welcome.
– Dorothy Hunt, Peace is This Moment Without Judgment
