Awareness, that ephemeral conscious entity which everybody feels but rarely grasps, is not something that ceases when the body dies. A clear mind, based on knowledge and insight, makes us fearless and reduces the anxiety.
Nepal, the fragile beauty of this moment, celebration and mourning dance of what is and what is not, and what is yet to be.
Sometimes, that’s all it takes: A gentle open mind, so simple. To disarm resistance and even ill-will, to thaw this heart of mine.
The cornerstone of my spiritual life can be summed up with one word: gratitude. Without gratitude, no matter how “spiritual” I might look or act, my heart is closed and cold, and there is no room for the mystery of the divine.
The voice is the voice of the awakened state and by singing it you grow closer to being what you fundamentally are. Herein lies a tremendous inspiration and blessing. This is the religion for our times, which transcends cultural limitations.
It is from here as well that the Buddha’s teachings flow to the rest of the planet, the wonderful teachings on respecting all living beings, on uncovering our humanity and finding the deepest insight possible, the awakened state that is the nature of our minds.
Every little human being is unique and wonderful. A child is a mystery in the flesh. A mandala of isness. A rare flower, only one of its kind, fragile and full of promise, to be cared for with tenderness and respect. As an equal.
Suddenly his heart filled with an anxiety so terrible he felt as if someone had turned off the power. Everything he had been thinking of up to that point, what he had prized and planned, suddenly lost its meaning.
I’ve always sought, that this prayer ask for an attitude, which I found so characteristic and fundamental in Buddhism. And some years ago I was struck, when I found a very similar advice in the famous Bodhicaryavatara by 8th century Indian Buddhist master Shantideva of Nalanda Monastic University.
The vision of Shambhala is not a vision of something seen, but rather a way of seeing and perceiving and acting in the context of the phenomenal world. The Kingdom of Shambhala is an innate and spontaneous longing to realize the freedom of the awakened state within the context of our existing social life.
In this way, photography is part of my spiritual practice, not spiritual in a special way, but in a very ordinary way, just simply being with whatever is. My teacher speaks about meditation not as meditating on something but being with. I find this to be an incredibly helpful instruction.
I sit in the darkness, my son nursing in my lap, my daughter lying beside me under a pile of warm blankets, holding my hand. The room is still as I sing the familiar lullaby lyrics I sing every night. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
It’s spring here in France, and flower trees have started to bloom. Spring blossoms, a perennial source of metaphor, conjure up associations with new growth. According to a well-received tradition, they might also present a parable for transmission of spiritual realization.
Each step can turn into an act of giving, making room for compassionate awareness. This is how to make trekking into a sacred journey, this is a walking meditation. A sense of humor should be brought along as well.
There would never be any disruptions to mental stability if extended difficult situations and ways of coping with them were included in the general education curriculum before young people become warped and twisted by general expectations and the search for permanent happiness and safety.
Imagine a simple stalk with a small white flower at its peak. Held up by two gentle fingers. Gazed upon by a being of the heart. His two eyes merges with that little flower. He is not judging or evaluating that flower, he simply sees the flower, as the wonder it is.
Once upon a time in India, I met a man they now call Mountain Man. He looked like a little elf, with kind, loving eyes, a funny hat, living alone in a clay hut. People described him as unpretentious, with no craving for honor or gain, transformed from the core by his deeds and life.
Darkness retreat is for the yogi who come to a point in life of readiness to go beyond the normal pattern of experience that is shaped by habitual concepts of the known. The darkness is merciless, the open sphere of experience is the playground for confusion or liberation.
This was fate, for several past lives ago, the Reverend Lo had, out of sheer curiosity, played hooky from his relentless line of virtuous incarnations and had ended up as the Little Ha-to be’s long ago German husband.
Stop and appreciate your open heart. Just a few seconds. A breeze touches your skin, tones of music, a bite to eat, witness it. Recognize the uniqueness of the moment.
Habits and lifestyle change has made it more and more clear that self-control is a poor strategy in lifestyle change in the long run, because it is as if part of the body must be in a permanent state of effort to control another part.