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Erik Pema Kunsang

Translator of ancient Buddhist scriptures, author, bridge-builder to modern life, Buddhist teacher & meditation instructor. Board of director at 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Founder of Rangjung Yeshe Publications, LEVEKUNST art of life and Bodhi Training. Other LEVEKUNST articles by the same author. Erik's website & retreats.

FINDING YOUR OWN SEAT

Remain for a little while in naturalness. According to you, this could a simple form of quietude, a gentle kindness, a relaxed and curious intelligence, or an awake and yet unattached open state of awareness.

HOW TO GROW A BIGGER HEART

There is such a need for bigger hearts, vast minds, for more tolerance, kindness and attitudes that includes everyone. We have enough racism and so many other way to exclude each other. We all know how painful it is to be the left out, to be the excluded or even the suppressed minority. Sometimes for absolutely no reason.

BARDO OF REALITY

At the onset of the after-death experience, phenomena have no structure and no recognizable features whatsoever, but are a tremendous display, the ultimate acid trip. It’s unlike wide open space on a cloudless day: something happens within that space, called sounds, colors and lights. The sounds are, Tulku Urgyen said, like 100.000 simultaneous thunder cracks, from all directions, above, below, everywhere. The colors are all colors of the rainbow, but much more intense than we normally see in this life. The rays of light are like sharp needles or swords, piercing through everything.

THE ELEVEN INSTRUCTIONS OF GAMPOPA

The Tibetan master Gampopa is famous for being the foremost student of Milarepa, the great yogi. He is unique in that he fused and combined the practice of mind training, which many of you know from the Dalai Lama’s lectures, with realization of the nature of mind. His writing style is very much down to earth, advice for simple living and easy to understand guidelines for making sure that we are on the right track. Some of his advice takes form of small handy lists to memorize, ponder and measure oneself against. 

CLUB NONDUALITÈ

The word root guru has a sacred meaning, that my teachers define in a very specific way: the person who not only tries, but succeeds in bringing about a complete change in your mind to such an extend that the grip of duality is loosened and that the nature of mind is totally laid bare in its naked state and can be accessed whenever remembered for the rest of your life. Perhaps the meditator only finds out many years later who the primary guru was.

CAREFREE DIGNITY

A real practitioner is at ease in any situation, no matter where. Along with being at ease, there is some sense of being happy, but sad at the same time, kind of tender, in the sense of being weary of or disenchanted with samsara. Even if samsara has been left behind, there is still weariness with the entirety of samsara. This tenderness embodies devotion and compassion. This tenderness is what causes one to not turn one’s back to even a single sentient being.

EVERYTHING CONDITIONED IS IMPERMANENT

Most people never question their day-to-day experiences. They accept whatever is felt and perceived as real. Without examining anything we will never penetrate beyond this illusion to see the actual state of affairs. Instead, we will regard everything that is impermanent as being permanent, what is unreal as being real. What an unfortunate, superficial and mistaken way of perceiving things!

CALLING THE GURU FROM AFAR

There is one meditation song in particular that opens up your mind. Practitioners sing it to call upon inspiration in times of need, to understand the hindrances for love and kindness, which are selfishness and basic unknowing, and to see the difference between being open or distracted during meditation. In that opening, we can experience how the awakened state is in actuality. Here is a version with soundtrack and lyrics, so you can sing along.

LONGCHENPA’S BARDO ASPIRATION

The culture we live in is dominated by these ideas, that we are just this human body, and when it ends we are no more. There is however an entirely different perspective, presented by the buddhas in the tantric texts: This present mind that knows and feels lives in the body, but is not of the body. It is unlike any other thing we know in life, because mind is neither something nor nothing. Think about it!

PADMASAMBHAVA’S FOUR TEACHINGS TO THE DAKINI

The single vehicle is the understanding that all teachings are personal advice on how to soften rigid mind-habits, letting go of pointless aims, and then settling into a gentle presence that is both calm and kind. Our attention simply remains for a while in this way, at ease in itself with nothing that needs to be held or cast away. This aware steadiness is often called shamatha, being calm, and it is the basis for all higher or deeper states of authentic insight.

LOTUS OCEAN

He is not a man one can ignore: beautiful with a face like Padmasambhava, a fine little mustache and eyes rolling like a half-wrathful half-passionate god, look into endless inner skies. When he sits on the vajra throne most people feel as if a buddha is sitting in their presence. His serenity and authority are complete.

ART WITHOUT FRAMES

This art is my personal passion, the place where I can loose myself in the space where there never was a person, the ownerless and groundless dimension of life in each single moment. There is no entrance fee and no ticket to the art exhibition in daily life. There is no frame around each picture of this exquisite display.

THE TIBETAN WAY OF MINDFULNESS

An authentic way to combine mindfulness and methods to transform our stream of thinking into being the dance of the awakened state, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche taught me the Tibetan way of mindfulness.

MEDITATION & THOUGHTS

The whole meditation set-up is built on unfounded assumptions, but hey, so is everything else, nothing new there. Here is the difference: In the meditation state you can find out, what is real and not, because you are not occupied with something else.

THE EQUAL NATURE OF ALL THINGS

How authentically human am I? What is the best way to be and live life to its fullest? Are there a few points to check if I am right or wrong in a situation? Whether politician or carpenter, single or in a family. Everyone needs a spiritual guideline and a code to live by. Here is one with four straightforward and deep words.

THE PERFECT MIRROR

Nyoshul Khenpo’s message was to set mind free through being awareness, mindful of whatever happens and not caught up in anything. In this way, the techniques taught in mindfulness on being attentive of body, sensations, mind and reality, become the setting for being free, placing yourself at the mercy of what simply is.

FUNDAMENTALISM IS NOT PEOPLE, IT’S AN ATTITUDE

There is no copyright on the tendency to be close-minded, shutting off reason and empathy. It can unfold within the mind of anyone.
The resulting arrogance, and the aggressive and abusive behavior that the fundamentalist attitude breeds, can be changed by opening our hearts with kindness and freeing our minds through insight.

SUBLIME SOURCE OF GRACE

The background for Tara practice in the Triple Excellence program, written down from the words of recent masters in the Tara lineage and original sources. It is important to know the source to fully trust that the teaching is authentic so one can practice with deeper confidence.