"Of course the void is nothingness. By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void...

"Until you realise the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly.

"Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void.

"In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principal has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness."

Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

"Quanto mais observamos a nossa mente e vemos o que ela faz por nós e para nós, mais estaremos inclinados a cuidar bem dela e tratá-la com respeito. Um dos maiores erros que podemos cometer é não nos darmos conta da importância da mente. A mente tem a capacidade de criar para nós o bem e também o mal, e apenas quando formos capazes de permanecer felizes e equânimes não importando que condições estejam surgindo, somente então poderemos dizer que temos um pouco de controle. Até que isso ocorra, estaremos descontrolados e os nossos pensamentos é que estarão no controle."

Ayya Khema

"Qualquer dukkha que tenhamos, pequeno, médio ou grande, contínuo ou intermitente, tudo isso é criado pela própria mente. Nós somos os criadores de tudo aquilo que nos ocorre, formando nosso próprio destino, ninguém mais está envolvido. Cada um está desempenhando o seu próprio papel, é um acaso que estejamos próximos de algumas pessoas e distantes em outras ocasiões. Mas tudo aquilo que fizermos, tudo é criado pelos nossos momentos mentais."

Ayya Khema

"No mundo em que vivemos, podemos encontrar pessoas, animais, a natureza e objetos feitos pelo homem. Dentro de tudo isso, se quisermos ter controle sobre alguma coisa, a única coisa sobre a qual poderemos exercer alguma influência é o nosso próprio coração e mente. Se realmente quisermos ser alguém, poderíamos tentar ser aquela pessoa rara, aquela que tem controle sobre o seu próprio coração e mente. Ser alguém assim não somente é muito raro, mas também traz consigo os mais benéficos resultados. Esse tipo de pessoa não cai na armadilha das impurezas. Embora as impurezas não estejam ainda desenraizadas, ela não irá cometer o erro de exibi-las e envolver-se com elas."

Ayya Khema

"All negative disharmonious conditions are sublime siddhis"

--Mahasiddha Virupa

विगलितपशुभावो भैरवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्।
सकलकरणचक्रेश्वर्यधिष्ठानकायः॥
विकसितनयनः सन्निर्विकल्पे निषण्णः।
भवडिमरसपूर्णो भैरवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्॥

vigalitapaśubhāvo bhairavo 'haṃ śivo 'ham|
sakalakaraṇacakreśvaryadhiṣṭhānakāyaḥ||
vikasitanayanaḥ sann nirvikalpe niṣaṇṇaḥ|
bhavaḍimarasapūrṇo bhairavo 'haṃ śivo 'ham||


With the bondage [or the modes of duality] dissolved, I am Bhairava! I am Shiva. While I have my eyes fully opened as my body is the basis for the governing deities of all the sensory faculties, I am situated in the absolute absorption [without thoughts]. I am replete while savoring the drama of the world, as I am Bhairava, I am Shiva.

"Abandon fluent essence; let us go to the true goal, assimilation to Him; let us know the Master, let us love the Father; let us obey his call; let us run towards the heat, fleeing the cold; become fire; let's go through the fire. We have the free way for the ascent: the Father guides us, after having opened the roads of fire"

Proclus

Full of strange things is the world of yoga in which manifold images appear.
There is a moment when we are drawn into a luminous world of reality.
Do not be proud or deceived by it;
Such a vision is yet provisional.
Away with all images;
The great samadhi of void is to be our companion.

Kūkai

"What is initiation? It is the beginning of the experience of meditation and concentration, of penetration into the nature of the reality of all phenomena. Initiation leads us into the mandala of a deity and into the totality of the experience of that deity. It is an antidote to the dissatisfied, samsaric, fanatical, dualistic mind. During initiation we should completely let go of our preconceptions and fixed ideas of who we are, of our limited self-image. Instead, we need to identify with the wisdom-mind of the deity, which is our own perfect potential."

Lama Yeshe

"The origin of all demons is in mind itself.

When awareness holds on and embraces any outer object, it is in the hold of a demon."

Maching Labdron

"This doctrine [of karma, that there is a law of moral cause and effect at work in the world] lies at the heart of his teaching, and forms the essence of the Triple Refuge. Put briefly, it states that action is real, effective, and the result of one's own choice. If one chooses to act skillfully and works to develop that skill, one's actions can lead to happiness, not only on the ordinary sensory level, but also on a level that transcends all the dimensions of time and the present."

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

A monk offering diverse alcoholic beverages to Chaturbhuja Mahakala and Kakamukha Mahakala.

Samyutta Nikaya 15.9
A Stick
Dandasutta

At Sāvatthī.

“Mendicants, transmigration has no known beginning. No first point is found of sentient beings roaming and transmigrating, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. Suppose a stick was tossed up in the air. Sometimes it’d fall on its bottom, sometimes the middle, and sometimes the end. It’s the same for sentient beings roaming and transmigrating, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. Sometimes they go from this world to the other world, and sometimes they come from the other world to this world.

Why is that? Transmigration has no known beginning. … This is quite enough for you to become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed regarding all conditions.”

“Sense of humor seems to come from all-pervading joy, joy
which has room to expand into a completely open situation because it is not involved with the battle between "this" and "that". Joy develops into the panoramic situation of seeing or feeling the whole ground, the open ground. This open situa- tion has no hint of limitation, of imposed solemnity. And if you do try to treat life as a "serious business," if you try to impose solemnity upon life as though everything is a big deal, then it is funny. Why such a big deal?”

Chogyam Trungpa

"These things never happened, but are always" - Sallust, Of Gods and of the World

'The devout followers of the non-Buddhist teachings observe the five precepts and the ten good precepts, practice the kind of meditation that is still accompanied by outflows, and, ascending to the worlds of form and formlessness, believe they have attained nirvana when they reach the highest of the heavens. But although they make their way upward bit by bit like an inchworm, they fall back from the heaven where there is neither thought nor no thought, and descend instead into the three evil paths. Not a single one succeeds in remaining on the level of the heavens, though they believe that once having attained that level they will never descend from it. Each approves and practices the doctrines taught by his teacher and firmly abides by them. Thus some of them bathe three times a day in the Ganges even on cold winter days, while others pull out the hairs on their head, fling themselves against rocks, expose themselves to fire, burn their bodies, or go about stark naked. Again there are those who believe they can gain good fortune by sacrificing many horses, or who burn grasses and trees, or make obeisance to every tree they encounter.

'Erroneous teachings such as these are too numerous to be counted. Their adherents pay as much respect and honour to the teachers who propound them as the heavenly deities pay to the lord Shakra (Indra), or the court ministers pay to the ruler of the empire. But not a single person who adheres to these ninety-five types of higher or lower non-Buddhist teachings ever escapes from the cycle of birth and death. Those who follow teachers of the better sort will, after two or three rebirths, fall into the evil paths, while those who follow evil teachers will fall into the evil paths in their very next rebirth.

'And yet the main point of these non-Buddhist teachings constitutes an important means of entry into Buddhism. Some of them state, “A thousand years from now, the Buddha will appear in the world,” while others state, “A hundred years from now, the Buddha will appear in the world.” The Nirvana Sutra remarks, “All of the non-Buddhist noscriptures and writings in society are themselves Buddhist teachings, not non-Buddhist teachings.” And in the Lotus Sutra it is written, “Before the multitude they seem possessed of the three poisons or manifest the signs of distorted views. My disciples in this manner use expedient means to save living beings.”'

Nichiren, The Opening of the Eyes

"In what object does one take refuge? You should take refuge in the Three Jewels.

Who can bring an end to birth and death? It is exclusively the omniscient Buddha who is free from all defects and who has perfected all virtues. Therefore, only the Dharma he has taught and the sangha who uphold his doctrine are able to bring an end to the cycle of birth and death of self and others. Since these are the sole objects of refuge, you should take refuge in them.

In general, there are many people who consider the teachings of the truly and perfectly enlightened one as no more than the words of a fortuneteller, and who, when pressed, go to spirits for refuge. It is difficult for such people to have refuge.

What kind of person takes refuge? The one who possesses interest, devotion, and faith, and who thinks of the virtues of the Three Jewels.

One should possess these three particular attitudes:

Since samsara is without beginning and end, I must turn away from it this very moment!
The gods of the non-Buddhists and so forth are not my objects of refuge!
The omniscient state of buddhahood alone is my true object of refuge!

This is how the special taking refuge takes place.
When taking refuge, mere lip service is useless. This is like empty muttering. It is uncertain where it will lead you.
What is the manner in which one takes refuge? You should take refuge with respectful body, speech, and mind. You should take refuge with three thoughts: fear of the lower realms and samsara, trust in the blessings of the Three Jewels, and steadfast faith and compassion.
The person who believes that this life is perfect and that the next one will also be perfect will simply die while still about to practice the Dharma. That is not enough.

In this context, you should know the rituals of taking refuge.
With what particular attitude does one take refuge? You should take refuge with a sense of responsibility for the welfare of others. You should take refuge with this attitude, as you will not attain the true and complete enlightenment simply by renouncing samsara and desiring the result of nirvana:

In order to free all sentient beings from the miseries of samsara, I will take refuge until I and all the sentient beings of the three realms have achieved supreme enlightenment!"

Padmasambhāva

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