Tuesday 31 March 2009

Four Thoughts That Turn The Mind


As I was researching Milarepa's (a Tibetan saint) life story today, I came across this article:

http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/buddhism/dha/dha02.php

It talks about four thoughts that turn the mind to enlightenment. And as I read it, I thought, "Wow, this is like rediscovering the Four Noble Truths. The statements here outline a schema of belief that, if held and thoroughly experienced, would bring about an experience of enlightenment."

I will quote the summary of the four thoughts from Lama Ganga's teaching, and leave you to read the rest from the link:

"We have seen that the first thought is to appreciate that obtaining a precious human birth is not easy. The second is to recognize that because this precious human birth is impermanent we should practice as soon and quickly as possible. Third is karma and its result, knowing that if we act positively through body, speech, and mind we experience happiness, and if we act negatively we experience suffering. Fourth, we understand that the nature of samsara is suffering. These are sometimes called the four thoughts that turn the mind to Dharma, or the four ordinary foundations. They are the basis or foundation of all Dharma practice."

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