RESTORING A SANCTUARY
A documentary on the impact of the recent earthquakes on Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling monastery and Nagi Gompa in Nepal. These monasteries have served thousands of local and international students of all types over many decades.
article from Levekunst art of life
KAILASH
Introducing Michael Ash, artist and visionary, with a photo exhibition and poetry from his journey to Mount Kailash, the most important pilgrimage site on Earth.
THE LOTUS LAKE IN NORTHERN INDIA
In the old Tibetan manuscript from the 12th century, we find this story about Tso Pema, the Lotus Lake, and why the tantric master Padmasambhava allowed himself to be burned alive and then transformed the blazing fire into a lake.
THE FLAVOR OF FOREVER
Okay let me pretend, let me begin, Let me again separate without and within, In an attempt to speak the truth let me become a liar,
Lets once again try to define the flavor of forever.
OUR SACRED WORLD
To see, to hear, to smell, to taste, and touch is the sacred mandala of the five elements. To look into something very closely is to discover infinite, open space. Not only around the things but the things themselves are endless.
EMOTION UNVEILED
Emotions have the potential for manifesting wisdom, strength, sensitivity and connectedness. A gift commonly bypassed as our energy is caged by personal storylines, avoidance and self-centeredness. In simple openness and a loving embrace, self-centered emotions and suffering are unveiled as living grace.
RAT DEN – A TRUE STORY
At first she was horrified, doing her best to keep them out by stuffing an old blanket into the crevice beneath the door so that they couldn’t get into her bedroom. But they easily chewed and clawed their way through whatever barrier she put there, until finally she gave up fighting them.
PAINTER MONICA RITON
When I paint it is easy in the beginning, then there is often a period of struggle. Suddenly a flow comes and its so easy, sometimes even like someone else is painting. To me there is parallels with painting and meditation, says the Swedish painter Monica Riton.
PADMASAMBHAVA’S LIBERATING CHANT
When chanting Padmasambhava’s sacred invocation, it is said that at first dualistic mind needs to approach the awakened state with the graceful bow of inner surrender. In this way the chant is a tool for awakening through song.
SWEET WHISPERINGS IN MUD
The black crow lay broken. The body open. The insides of a once warm breast, spilled now, upon tarred street, and exposed to city dust.
THE OUTSTANDING ART OF TIBETAN BUTTER SCULPTURE
In our every living moment, the torma ultimately means the space within which every experience unfold and the wakeful knowing that experiences. These are not two, subject and object, but an indivisible unity. The torma offering is to transcend this duality. ~Erik Pema Kunsang.
A FORCE FOR GOOD: THE DALAI LAMA’S VISION FOR OUR WORLD
LEVEKUNST art of life is proud to share an excerpt from A Force for Good. An important book of visions for the world, personally given by the Dalai Lama to Daniel Goleman. The publication today coincides with the auspicious 80th birthday celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Enjoy!
THE BUDDHA
The truth he transcended, And with it worldliness he ended, The garden of virtue he well tended, And became so alive that we seemed dead. He saw of what he was made, Or rather in truth “unmade”
MOUNTAIN LION RETREAT
The night was pitch-black, the empty sky littered with countless stars. I lay silently in bed, my mind churning with thoughts. I was at the end of three-year retreat in solitude, meditating alone in a cabin in the woods.
HAPPINESS IS TO WALK WITH BARE FEET
I tread with natural caution and gentleness for every blade of grass, every piece of creation. I don’t always recall the name of a place I have been, but I have connected with its soil and rocks, left my footprints.
HOMESICK / HOMESEEK
For those who search blindfolded and find nothing, and for those who are given a chance to find an answer without searching. For those who look for a new place because they cannot fulfill their energy, and for those who look for a place where life would be more pleasant. For those who build houses and feel living in them is like living in a waiting-room in a bus stop.
HORSE SWEAT & HUMAN TEARS
There is nothing like setting the stage for self work like having the Rocky Mountains in the background, a bold stormy sky above, a large expansive field, and a horse that wants nothing to do with you.
SUFFERING IN SAMSARA
Dearest Ones, We have so many personas, We live in the private world, Of Dharma, The expression of Wisdom, We share, The offering of those that, Know how to share the wisdom
SLAPPING IS A SMALL KILLING
Holy anger is a mixture of taking pride in being violent, a distorted version of the brave heart, which intoxicate and entices us to feel: my wrath is just, I’m rightfully allowed, I just have to put things straight, by blowing up, losing my temper, and telling the awful truth, about how wrong you are.
THE FIRST AND LAST YOGA
It was a hot day coinciding with passion. Walking with an eager step like feet that have wings. Walking flying. Walking anticipating. Walking to the moment, soon to meet the guide.
THE MAGICAL FROG OF AMAZONAS
Kambo is said to cure panema, a disturbance in ones energetic system. It has been translated as sadness, lack of luck, bad aura. Kambo medicine found it’s way via Brazilian urban communities into the western world, where a growing number of people enjoy it’s benefits.