The illusion and the Reality

Those who think the unreal is,and think the Real is not, they shall never reach the Truth, safe on the path of right thought.

But those who know the Real is, and know the unreal is not, they shall indeed reach the Truth, safe on the path of right thought.

The Dhammapada

Financial tips from the Buddha

Sometimes the Buddha even went into details about saving money and spending it, as, for instance, when he told the young man Sigala that he should spend one fourth of his income on his daily expenses, invest half in his business and put aside one fourth for any emergency.

Walpola Rahula - What the Buddha taught

There are two kinds of minds

With the two types of views there are two kinds of minds. As human beings, we all have what we could call ordinary minds - the mind that you’ve always assumed you’ve had. It’s calculating mind, a discriminating mind, a fragmented mind. It’s the mind of ordinary consciousness, the mind of self and other. We generally think of it as ‘my mind’.
     But there’s another mind that is unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned. Unlike ‘your mind’, it’s unbound, for there is nothing beyond it. To this Mind, there is no ‘other mind’.
     This Mind is nothing other than the Whole. It’s simply thus, the fabric of the world itself - the ongoing arising and falling away that are matter, energy, and events.
     This Mind is self-evident - it’s always switched on, so to speak. We can - and, in fact, we do - see It in every moment. If we would only refrain from stirring our minds and let our conceptualizing die down, like the ripples on a pond after the stirring wind has ceased, we would realize - we would know   - Mind directly.
     All we ever find is the arising and ceasing of the world as it has come to be now. When you snap your fingers it’s already gone. All that persists is thus. Thus is not an object of mind but Mind Itself. There is only this eternal arising and ceasing - but there’s no thing that comes or goes. This is our actual experience from moment to moment. If we would just see, just rely on perception alone, we’d see the ongoing arising and ceasing of the world as it has come to be now - and all our confusion about the nature of existence would vanish instantly.

Steve Hagen - Buddhism plain and simple