Wednesday
Dharma Teachings, Sakyong and FamilyCreating a Sustainable Internal Environment
Spikes, photo courtesy of Julie Einstein
When the Buddha was on the verge of realizing enlightenment, he was attacked by the daughters of Mara. Mara is the seductive quality of mind that continually tricks us into thinking that the endless circle of samsara contains some kind of essence or fulfillment. There are many kinds of maras, but we generally talk about four.
The first mara is called skandha mara. The five skandhas—form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness—bind things into appearances that are seemingly real. As a result of this process, we think the self is real, when it’s actually only a pile of elements. The mind that considers itself solid pulls the environment together and tries to make it solid, too. This is the mara of becoming.
Click here to continue reading the August dharma teachings offering from www.Sakyong.com
Aug 6, 2009
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It’s confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations
19:00 20 November 2008 by Stephen Battersby
Matter is built on flaky foundations. Physicists have now confirmed that the apparently substantial stuff is actually no more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16095-its-confirmed-matter-is-merely-vacuum-fluctuations.html