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.
In The Heart of Lo Gekar, the ancient story is re-imagined from a woman’s point of view. In the hours after the battle ends, our heroine senses something more than conquest. She senses that the battle is not yet over. We follow her up the mountain trail where we see her find the demon’s heart, cast aside yet still beating, on the mountainside where the gompa will eventually rise.
There can be no doubt that our digital age has extraordinary and beneficial advantages but nothing in the material world comes to us without a price. What is the price of digital technology? Can we offset the dangers by being more aware or are we all inextricably caught up in this seemingly unstoppable electronic tide?
Scientists studying memories have found that memories are a most creative affair, morphing over time and with each recalling, until they bear little resemblance to an actual event. Like everything else, memories are impermanent, making the very idea of them a bit self-oxymoronic.
Chanting creates a bridge between the understanding of the head and the understanding of the heart. It brings body, speech and mind together in one flowing gesture. It is a joyful thing to do, which naturally brings forth your dignity; effortlessly you sit straight up, you concentrate, you relax and go through the words without any hesitation.
I’ve spent these early adult years pursuing a listless nostalgia for a wholeness I couldn’t remember how to articulate. Being in the presence of the Dalai Lama reminded me that I never needed to look further than my own mother, who has shown me selfless love from the beginning.
Many ancient Asian meditation practices have come to the West since the early 60’s. But are they of benefit in this modern day and age? We have lost our groundedness and centeredness due to being more in our heads, we constantly ask why, how, who, what, when? And therefore we are always analyzing and over thinking things.
How does one respond compassionately to the negative confusion that drives men to assault women — meaning, how can victims of assault respond in a way that mitigates negativity rather than perpetuates it? Given that the issue is systemic, it seems that angry, irritated, traumatized, or violent reactions are the only avenue available to us in face to face encounter.
In 2016 I was fortunate enough to visit several power places of Padmasambhava, spending some weeks in retreat at one, and doing meditation and puja at others. I will share some of my experiences in the hope of encouraging others to visit these holy sites which confer blessings even though one lacks faith or even interest.
Lowell Cook, poet and author based in Nepal writes on how it is to be part of a major transmission of knowledge in the Vajrayana tradition. It was a unique and historic event with Dharma students gathering from all corners of the world to receive the empowerments.
A profound praise of Mother Nature and the benefits of facing the mind in solitude, by Longchenpa – the mystic poet of Tibet.
This year, I find myself away from home on Christmas Eve for the first time. It’s not as if I’ll be missing out on much. Things will play out as they always have. In the morning, my dad and three sisters will walk our new puppy to go get coffee. Last year, we walked our other dog, Charger, but he died in April.
Do not say anything, do not ask anything. Just be. Words lose its meaning when uttered to express inner most pure experience. Transmission and blessings takes place from mind to mind. With arms wide open accept teachings as they come respect, love and learn. There is nothing material that leaves here, no self is transferred from one place to another.
I took the Red Elm tree as medicine, the inner dried bark of which is used as a remedy for a number of ailments for thousands of years by the north American natives and is in use in Traditional Chinese Medicine. From years of agonizing pain an unable to walk more than 20 meters, 95% of my pain is now gone.
The war in Syria is not Syria’s problem. It is everyone’s problem. Fear, hatred and greed collude to create wars; to pretend as if those same shadows don’t loiter within my own heart and mind is to do a gross injustice to those who suffer on their account.
Trust is one of the basic qualities or life skills we need to learn and embody if we want to shift from living a life based on defense mechanisms and survival strategies to an open and authentic way of being and relating. We need trust to open up and surrender to a broader life perspective, to say Yes to moment-to-moment fresh experiencing of life as it is.
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
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.
Presenting Hsuan-Hsia Hung, in a performance fusion of dance and poetic insights. Her dancing is healing, strength, grace, energy, spiritual depth and creativity.
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.
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.