Contemplation: The Ornament of Virtue

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

Dare anyone a limit place
On benefits that virtue brings,
Without which virtue clansmen find
No footing in the dispensation?
No Ganges, and no Yamuna,
No Sarabhu, Sarassati,
Or flowing Aciravati,
Or noble River of Mahi,
Is able to wash out the stain
In things that breathe here in the world;
For only virtue's water can
Wash out the stain in living things.
No breezes that come bringing rain,
No balm of yellow sandalwood,
No necklaces beside, or gems,
Or soft effulgence of moonbeams,
Can here avail to calm and soothe
Men's fevers in this world; whereas
This noble, this supremely cool,
Well-guarded virtue quells the flame.
Where is there to be found the scent
That can with virtue's scent compare,
And that is borne against the wind
As easily as with it? Where
Can such another stair be found
That climbs, as virtue does, to heaven?
Or yet another door that gives
Onto the City of Nibbana?
Shine as they may, there are no kings
Adorned with jewelry and pearls
That shine as does a main restrained
Adorned with virtue's ornament.
Virtue entirely does away
With dread of self-blame and the like;
Their virtue to the virtuous
Gives gladness always by its fame.
From this brief sketch it may be known
How virtue brings reward, and how
This root of all good qualities
Robs of its power every fault.

Path of Purification (Visuddhi-Magga) of Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa, trans. Bikkhu Nanamoli p. 10.

Contemplation: Follow the Mindful Path

Review the guidelines for practice, and then take this up as your object of contemplation:

Today's sun is passing, our life is getting older and today, what joyfulness remains, is like a fish living in a teaspoon of water. Now everyone endeavor diligently to rescue the burning intellect; be mindful that life is suffering, empty and transient. Don't be self-indulgent. Follow the mindful path.

"Kokon," as recited at the Tendai Buddhist Institute

Contemplation: The Great Cloud (concluded)

Review the guidelines for practice and take this up as your object of contemplation:

The teaching of the Buddhas
Is always of one flavor
And fulfills the entire world.
Anyone who practices little by little
Obtains the fruit of the path.
O Kashyapa,
The Dharma which the Buddha teaches
Is just like the great cloud which enriches human flowers
With the rain of one flavor,
So that each attains its fruits.
O Kashyapa!
You should know that I reveal the Buddha-path
Using various explanations and illustrations
And that this is my skillful means.
All of the Buddhas are just like this.
I will now teach the highest truth for your sake:
There are no shravakas who attain Nirvana.
What you practice is the bodhisattva-path;
And if you practice step by step,
You will all become Buddhas.

excerpted from The Lotus Sutra, chapter 5, as recited at the Tendai Buddhist Institute.

Contemplation: The Great Cloud, con't.

Review the guidelines for practice and take this up as your object of contemplation:

I always teach the Dharma and nothing else.
Going or coming, sitting or standing,
I never tire of satisfying the world,
Just like the rain which gives nourishment universally.
I tirelessly rain the rain of the Dharma
Equally on those who are noble or humble,
Superior or inferior, who keep or break the precepts,
Who have good or bad conduct, right or wrong views,
Sharp or dull faculties.
According to their power to understand,
All of the sentient beings who hear my teaching
Dwell in the various stages.
The Buddha's equal teaching
Is like the rain of one flavor.
The sentient beings accept it
According to their different capacities,
Just as the grasses and trees
Each differently absorb the rain.

from the Lotus Sutra, chapter six, as recited at the Tendai Buddhist Institute.

Contemplation: The Great Cloud, con't.

Review the guidelines for practice, and take this selection from the Lotus Sutra as your object of contemplation:

The Buddha is exactly like this.
He appears in the world
As a great cloud
Which covers everything universally.
Once appearing in this world
He illuminates and explains
The essence of the teachings
For the sake of sentient beings.
The Great Seer, the Bhagavat, expounds this
To the assembly of all the devas and humans.
I am the Tathagatha, the Best of Humans.
I appear in the world to nourish sentient beings
Just as the great cloud
Moistens all the withered trees.
I cause everyone to be rid of suffering
And attain ease of heart,
Worldly happiness, and the joy of Nirvana.
This Dharma has a single flavor
Of emancipation and Nirvana.
I expound its meaning with the same subtle voice,
Always making the Mahayana the subject of my illustrations.
I see everywhere, and regard all as equal.
I have no feeling of like or dislike;
For me there is no this or that.
Nor do I have either love or hate.
I have no attachments and make no distinctions,
And always teach the Dharma equally to all;
And teach the same thing to one person
As I teach to everyone else.
I always teach the Dharma and nothing else.

from the Lotus Sutra, chapter five, as recited at the Tendai Buddhist Institute.