Kenneth F. Thornton II

MAY ALL BEINGS BE WELL

May all beings be safe.
May all beings know good health.
May all beings find peace of mind.
May all beings be well, both physically and mentally.

May the suffering of the world grow lighter.
May all beings be held in compassion.
Medicine Buddha.

5 hours ago | [YT] | 76

Kenneth F. Thornton II

LET THE MIND WANDER WITH AWARENESS
— inspired by Saraha

The point is not to force the mind silent.

Thoughts will move on their own —
conditioning, memory, fear, imagination, habit.

The practice is to let the thoughts move without immediately reacting to them.

To watch with awareness instead of becoming lost inside every passing thought.

Let the mind wander like wind across an open sky.Just don’t mistake every passing cloud for who you are.

And in simply observing the movement of the mind without fighting it,
a quiet kind of peace begins to appear.
Like flowing with a river instead of drowning against the current.

Saraha was an Indian Buddhist mystic and wandering poet believed to have lived around the 8th century. Considered one of the great Mahasiddhas of the Mahamudra tradition, his teachings pointed away from rigid spiritual performance and toward direct awareness, natural mind, and freedom from unconscious attachment to thought.

4 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 222

Kenneth F. Thornton II

IN THE BEGINNING I TOOK THE TEACHER AS THE TEACHER ~ Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol


“In the beginning, I took the teacher as the teacher,
In the middle, I took the scriptures as the teacher,
In the end, I took my own mind as the teacher.”
~ Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol

IN THE BEGINNING,
I knew very little about the Dharma beyond a few words and passing ideas. So I trusted the teacher and took a leap into something I could not yet fully understand, believing the path might lead somewhere beyond confusion and suffering.

IN THE MIDDLE,
when I could no longer sit near the teacher, I leaned on the scriptures and reflected deeply on what had been given. The teachings became like footprints left along the trail, reminders to return again and again to awareness, compassion, and mindfulness.

IN THE END,
through quietly watching my own thoughts, reactions, attachments, and moments of clarity, I began to understand what the teacher was pointing toward all along. The mind itself became the classroom, and awareness became the teacher.
Inspired by Shabkar

Shabkar was a 19th-century Tibetan wandering yogi, poet, and meditation practitioner known for his simple, heartfelt teachings rooted in direct experience rather than religious formality. His writings often reflected solitude, compassion, reflection, and the gradual discovery that the deepest teachings eventually have to be lived from within rather than merely studied from the outside.

6 days ago | [YT] | 254

Kenneth F. Thornton II

THE RURU DEER
The Buddha's past life as a deer

In one of his past lives, the Buddha was born as a beautiful golden deer named Ruru who lived quietly beside a river deep in the forest.

Ruru Deer was gentle and wise, and unlike ordinary deer, he could speak with human understanding.

One night during a storm, a man fell into the river and was swept away by the current. He cried out in terror.

Hearing him, the Ruru Deer leapt into the dangerous waters and carried the drowning man safely to shore on his back.

The man was overwhelmed with gratitude.

Before leaving, the deer said: “I ask only one thing. Do not tell anyone where I live. Men hunt what they desire.”

The man promised.

But later, the king of the land dreamed of a magnificent golden deer and became obsessed with finding it. He offered riches to anyone who revealed its location.

Tempted by reward, the man betrayed the deer and led the king’s hunters into the forest.

When the king finally found the Ruru Deer, he raised his bow.

But the deer calmly stepped forward and spoke:

“Great King, I saved the life of the man standing beside you. For wealth, he has traded gratitude for betrayal.”

The king was stunned that such a noble creature existed.

Ashamed, the man lowered his head.

The king threw down his bow and declared the deer protected forever. He also ordered that no animals in the forest be harmed again.

But the most important moment comes next:

The Ruru Deer did not ask for revenge.

Instead, he forgave the man who betrayed him

1 week ago | [YT] | 243

Kenneth F. Thornton II

QUICK! Let us practice before old age ravages our physical and intellectual faculties.

Your body, too, is actually on loan to you for the time being … Had you better not use it to practice the Dharma while you can?

~ Padmasambhava


Do not wait until life finally becomes quiet to begin paying attention.

There will always be another problem, another bill, another distraction, another reason to postpone what truly matters.

Some people spend their whole lives preparing to live deeply, but never actually arrive there.

Practice while your mind can still reflect clearly. Practice while your body can still walk, breathe, stretch, and sit beneath the sky. Practice while your memory still holds together. While your heart can still be moved. While you still have the strength to change.

Because one day, without asking permission, old age begins taking things back.

Not as punishment. Just as the way of life.

There is no perfect moment waiting ahead where everything is solved and the world finally becomes calm. This moment — imperfect, unfinished, human — is the moment you were given.

~ Inspired by Padmasambhava

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 360

Kenneth F. Thornton II

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! 🪷
A mother does not count the cost of love.

She gives her sleep, her strength, her youth, and pieces of her own life quietly, without asking to be repaid.

In the end, most mothers want only one thing:

For their child to be safe…
to find peace…
and to smile honestly in this difficult world.

That is unconditional love.

Happy Mother’s Day.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 184

Kenneth F. Thornton II

MAY ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE PRAYER ~Shantideva

May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of my merits

May no living creatures suffer,
Commit evil or ever fall ill
May no one be afraid or belittled
With a mind weighed down by depression

May the blind see forms
And the deaf hear sounds
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored in finding repose

May the naked find clothing
The hungry find food
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks

May the poor find wealth
Those weak with sorrow find joy
May the forlorn find hope
Constant happiness and prosperity

May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests
May all medicines be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit

May all who are sick or ill
Quickly be freed from their ailments
Whatever diseases there are in the world
May they never occur again

May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed
May the powerless find power
And may people think of benefitting each other.

For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world.

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 304

Kenneth F. Thornton II

IN SOLITUDE I FOUND THE PATH
Milarepa

In solitude, I found the path.
In simplicity, I realized the truth.
Far from the noise of the world,
the mind reveals its own nature.
The one you seek as a companion
has always been your own awareness.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 228

Kenneth F. Thornton II

WHEN ATTACHMENT FADES,
FEAR FADES WITH IT. — SHANTIDEVA

1 month ago | [YT] | 231

Kenneth F. Thornton II

THE ROOT OF SUFFERING AND HAPPINESS
— Shantideva

All those who suffer in the world
do so because of their desire
for their own happiness.

All those who are happy in the world
are so because of their desire
for the happiness of others.

1 month ago | [YT] | 194