Guys

I m wondering ya....if i do our prayer and offering but that time i m not in good mood....can be after shouting at maid? or just upsetting with kids..... then how?
tho at that time i really really feel wanna do the prayer...
i create bad karma or what?
or better i wait sometime till cool down till the mind bit clear ?

It's like drinking greek coffee.  If you let the sediment settle to the bottom of the cup, you can enjoy a nice cup of greek coffee but if you stir it, it is just "un-drinkable".

So I'd say, when you are a little agitated, it's best to cool down first.

so dharma practice is "quantifiable" ..

by the way we react to things.... by how often we react when faced with  "challenging" situations..

so does this mean we can't bitch about having bad days anymore ?

I suppose if the number of times a negative emotion arises lessens, one is improving and thus quantifiable in that sense. 

What's important? Death may come soon, what should we do so we can rest at ease when it's time to go?

Be prepared. There are those who aren't spiritual but when they realised they are about to die, go about dealing with their will and saying goodbyes to their family, relatives and friends etc.. and when they die, they die peacefully.  For those who are spiritual, they should embrace their teachings to heart - essentially of loving kindness.  Meditate on death and impermanence daily. 

stevet: someone with this problem can be found in this board perhaps we can try the method on him guess who

greasypalm: but at the end of the day, what matters are the results...Rinpoche always stressed on this: "you think your Dharma practice is so good? how many people have you bring into the Dharma?"

which...well come to think of it I still have a long way to go

Positive Results are important and yet by our fixation to positive results, we are creating cravings for it which is negative.  Rinpoche once told me that even if I were to leave a dharma literature to someone who just put it away without reading it, that piece of literature may make its way to someone else who will benefit from it later.  So we must learn how to practice non-attachment.

Joey,
They never replied to my question, but I would imagine they want to choose the best for themselves , and not have too much suffering why else would we want to choose our parents ?  They were advocating they were back to learn a lesson if I recall correctly .

Greasypalm,
If your theory is correct , then if one dies in an area where there are more dogs than human, then human rebirth is virtually very difficult despite one practices ethical discipline .

I don't think thats right, our last thought has a great role to play in our rebirth , and where we leave from our body shows the sorts of rebirth we will be propelled to.

Ah - you did say 'normal schmucks' - so if a normal schmuck practiced well he is no nomal schmuck and yes, at the point of death, the last thought would help.

Yes, we are all interdependent - but not all of us are ready to accept this concept. So a little difficult to get them to see it this way (ie your happiness and my happiness are the same). Until then, I still think it better to give first and take later.  In your case WMW111, I will take from you first and give back later - LOL!

Something totally different but once I came across a group of religious people (non-buddhist) in a  restaurant.  They were making so much noise and I noticed one of their 'holy scriptres' being placed on the restaurant floor under someone's chair.  To me any books let alone holy scriptures merit respect. I don't step on it, walk over it etc... So I turned to the person sitting on the chair directly over the 'holy scripture' and gently mentioned to her that there is a book underneath her chair.  The response was "oh it belongs to the priest'.  So I reminded her that it is their 'holy book' and regardless to whom the book belongs, it should not be sitting on the floor underneath the chair.  Only then did she pick it up and very sheepishly put it in a safe place.   

The first thing I was taught when I came into Buddhism - is to respect my dharma books. Do not put them on the floor or place objects on it and Never read them in the toilet.   These small things are so important in our spiritual development.  If we can't get this right, how can we get to do bigger things correctly?

Just wondering what everything thinks of this comment that I heard yesterday -

"Anything we do for the happiness of this life, can never lead to a good re-birth."

I don't know if it is taken from any of the great Buddhist texts, nevertheless, it's quite a statement isn't it.  I find it profound but have a few small issues with it.  What say you?

I think the context of this is that we should not focus our energy to this life only but to remember there are many future lives to come.  With that in mind, we will be able to conduct ourselves accordingly through collection of merits and purification of negative karma.

from what  I understand, an emanation is a being or an object that has the same nature of the Buddha that emanated it - meaning that it is enlightened although it appears worldy and it exists for a specific purpose. It is somewhat like the Buddha creates another consciousness from the Buddha's own mindstream.

Je Pabongkha has mentioned that they would even emanate as inanimate objects such as bridges and roads in order to benefit others, so to really attempt to answer your question would be mind boggling.

and even if we are emanations, we will never know until the Guru points out that we are and remind us of what we're supposed to do.

Well put Joey.

So when we get stuck in a traffic jam (inanimate), we are tested to the limit on our patience.

As to so many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas - hmmm... I always thought there is only ONE who emanates in so many different forms.

I just got this question from someone they were saying that they read in the 'Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' that one is able to choose one's parents when one is still in bardo.

I'm sure highly realized beings can do it but what about normal schmucks like me ?

Any thoughts on this?

Due to our strong craving for samsaric pleasures and weak practice, we are just not up to it to choose where to take our rebirth.  The very instant we detect "sexual" activity, we get attracted and sucked into it (so it goes, if we are near mating dogs, we will most likely become puppies).

Realistically, yeah we all want to benefit others and develop the bodhi mind.

But if I practice for 10 years ,I'm not happier I won't carry on practice it at all right . one must get full when one eats rice .  The practice benefit oneself too , not in material way , we must get some happiness out of it, else the practice cannot be sustained. If one is happy , easier for one to make others happy also.

The whole idea is everybody wants to be happy (including yours truly) and thus with that in mind, we do what makes others happy first and in return, we become happy.  If our first concern is self, this may lead to grasping which will then lead to unhappiness.  So best to give first then take later.

The practice non-attachment helps.  When we encounter people with strong views, who are unable to accept our point of view, we should just let go and not let our ego take over us.    Dharma theory and dharma practical is so different.  What we learn in dharma - in order to be truly happy, requires practice. 

I think when we have a good knowledge of dharma and we have a genuine motivation to pass on this knowledge and we affect peoples lives positively, we can become very happy and full of ego but at the same time, we have to learn to transform this ego into an "egoless ego".

The old adage - "practice makes perfect" is a good one to follow.
Of course in every action we do we have to live with consequences but like WMW said, generating good motivations helps.
Once you are at ease with your practice, you will find the wisdom to deal with life's many difficult situations (your mind will become alert).
 

If we keep all the 8 verses close to our heart and meditate on them everyday, it then becomes second nature to us and we can very quickly react in a positive manner to counter the afflictive emotions that arises.

Definitely.
Whether it is fun or not is all in the mind. 
Hence if you deem the arduous journey fun, it will be fun.
I think one's motivation is very important. 
Lacking good motivation makes the practice very difficult and cannot be fun.
So I'd say, start practising by generating good motivations.