TOUR TO A MUSEUM
Slow down, it’s an old room
Mind your breath as you pass by
Else, intense dust may hide in air
And you may never know how long it has been!
FLESHY TERRITORY
I currently live in Boudha, a town on the edge of the Kathmandu Valley. It’s small, dusty and cramped, with dozens of monasteries wedged between… Read More »FLESHY TERRITORY
GUIDE FOR PEACEFUL RESISTANCE
This is a time for skillful and effective action, informed by meditation practice, inspired by compassion. With the rise of the far right movements emphasizing racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, and more, for me, sitting on the cushion, though always vital, is no longer enough.
BRINGING MINDFULNESS BACK TO ITS BUDDHIST ROOTS
During five weeks in Nepal, mindfulness teacher Rikke Braren Lauritzen tested the waters at a traditional nunnery and discovered that it is possible to fuse a spiritual path which draws on both the old wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings and the modern scientific-based interventions used in the Mindful School program, to support the new generation of young monastics living in the 21st Century.
THE MOVEMENT THAT IS IN US
Presenting Hsuan-Hsia Hung, in a performance fusion of dance and poetic insights. Her dancing is healing, strength, grace, energy, spiritual depth and creativity.
DISAGREEMENT AS PRACTICE
Every disagreement – even the tiniest quibble about how to correctly squeeze a tube of toothpaste – is a display of contradictory perspectives that, by definition, cannot co-exist in the very dimension in which they collide.
STANDING ROCK
On behalf of the indigenous people at Standing Rock, a member of the Yaqui tribe in the Southwestern part of United States has yesterday requested help to pacify the situation in North Dakota. In full regalia he made his prayer for a peaceful solution before the Buddhist master and benevolent sorcerer Chokling Rinpoche, and a group of 5000 people from all over the world.
SURESHVARA – THE SECOND KING OF SHAMBHALA
Determined that none who are born shall linger in the bonds of suffering,
He is the protector of all children and carries a child in the crook of his right arm.
He is the compassion of the Buddha,
Inseparable from every form of life,
The final liberator of all who suffer all the tortures of hell.
MADASI – RAP IN DEVOTION
Enjoy Yeshen’s music and poetry. Here is an opportunity to rap along – from your heart straight to Padmasambhava’s.
ALLOWING DISSOLUTION
We know if we work hard enough, life will eventually come to blossoming fruition. But lately I’m realizing that is just not true. Or at least it is only half the story. The other half of the story is dissolution: the way things fall apart.
MEETING YANGSI KHYENTSE RINPOCHE
According to Tibetan Buddhists, when a great master reincarnates, though he still retains the level of realization he attained in his previous life, he needs to go through the process of remembering it through formal instruction in this life so as better at teaching others.
I LOST ME!!
Losing it with deception, clouding my own false perception, believing my self-created occupation, Lost myself!! and I still don’t have a reason.
THE DISARMAMENT OF BEING REAL
Authenticity gives you courage. It comes from an honest place where there is no fear, only truth. It is this core focus that brings contentment sensations, a genuine sense of peace! You no longer feel fear or envy – You have the courage to make the right decisions. You become truly happy for those who are around you, because you know you are living life as authentically as possible. You are being real!
FORMS ARE EMPTY, EMPTINESS IS FORM
When the self is seen to have no placement, no identity, and no enduring quality at all, the mind is sometimes elevated to Mind, and the error of a greater Self can occur. But if the self has no true reality, how can it be a place or thing from which, and in which thoughts, perceptions, and feelings occur?
THOUSAND YEAR OLD OAK TREES
Can a seed ever be sad When it’s been blown off far into the desert I think not Because it remembers The mighty woods it… Read More »THOUSAND YEAR OLD OAK TREES
THE POWER OF SIMPLICITY
No one was more observant, aware and dynamically present than the Maharshi. He missed nothing. From the tremendous power of his inner stillness and outer simplicity, he was far more present and vitally alive than most could ever imagine.
THE FRIENDLY DEATH
Death is a daily experience but we may be unaware of that. We die and come back to our daily life again and again until we stop breathing and a whole new experience begins. There is no need to feel afraid of our death because she helps give meaning to life. No need to fight death because every moment we breathe is an opportunity to be better, to improve our lives.
WHAT I LEARN FROM LIVING WITH THE NUNS
Life as a nun is for some looked upon as a very bad destiny, as the poor soul must be just miserable living under such humble conditions, not having her own property, a partner, a close family, let alone a career and status! From the normal worldly outside perspective it is not at all attractive nor interesting. But they could not be more wrong.
PRAISE TO THE KARMA DAKINI
Behind the snowy prospects of your eyes, ranging like mountains with onyx studs at their peaks, lies only everything, space and light mingling and stretching, blowing, glowing away to an event horizon where I hover and vanish. There lies my true home, my yearning for it beyond measure.
BLUE TO REMIND US
In the midst of a happy life are we likely to stop and ask ourselves; what is this all about?’ But when sorrows blight our existence nothing is more natural than that we should step back and question our existence. We need not shun our mind or our emotions, because, in time, they can become our greatest motivators and our staunchest allies.
WE GIVE – WE RECEIVE
Most of the time people have a hard time giving away things to others which they themselves really like. Yes, we buy a present for someone and then we give that away. But something that you have bought for yourself often has more attachments to it and therefore is harder to give away. But in essence, it is just energy and energy needs to flow to be healthy.