Haiku
An Autumn morning Reveals her splendour; Birds play at flight. Chodpa
Vajrayana
Online Kagyu Study Group
I have been thinking recently about setting up a Online Dharma Study Group, and wondered if anyone out there was interested. Perhaps I could briefly describe what would be involved, and also some background to how it might be organised? The group study would centre around a Yahoo e-group, like those such as DWBN-chat, which
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Mahayana
Compassion, Judging and Wisdom
Some reflections on Compassion, judging the correctness of actions, and Wisdom – in response to a discussion on a Buddhist list about a particular collective action that had taken place there. I’ve been reflecting quite a lot the last few days on these discussions on the list. Two themes which seem to have recurred in
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General Buddhism
Spartacus, Sunshine and Epiphany
Driving in my car, with Aram Khachaturian’s ‘Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia’ playing on the radio. Just as the music swelled into the almost orgasmic crescendo, I rounded the bend in the road, and in a moment the dark clouds separated, great shafts of golden sunlight pierced the sky, and a tremendous effulgence engulfed one
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Zen
Big Doubt and Groundlessness
After a particularly strong meditation experience this weekend, I was reflecting on one aspect of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism. In meditation, my sense of all dharmas being Empty was clearer than is often the case. There was nothing I could latch onto, nothing that I could hold in my mind which didn’t melt away as
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General Buddhism
Sleep … the Final Frontier!
Captain Kirk may have been right as far as exploration of the ‘outer realms’ was concerned, but for my ‘inner exploration’ I’ve no doubt whatsoever what the hardest aspect of practice is, and which has remained stubbornly resistant to transformation … Sleep, or rather … the lack of it! No other aspect of life has
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General Buddhism
Parenting Mindfully Reminders
Somebody sent me this wonderful list of Mindfulness reminders for Parents – unfortunately, I don’t know where this list originated from …. 1. Take time to practise mindfulness around your children to help them grow up feeling noticed, heard, and understood. 2. Wake up to the abundance of special moments in the most ordinary of
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General Buddhism
What Would a Buddha Do?
In response to: What would Buddha actually do in case, He was in my shoes? In case Buddha was in my shoes, He would look like a common person, totally “normal”. One couldn’t realize Him from the outside as being an Awakened One. One thing that springs to mind here is dependent origination. Beings or
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Vajrayana
Devotion Ripens the Heart
I was just reflecting on how devotion really opens one’s heart up to the blessings of the Buddhas and Gurus. I added some materials to my teachers website last night, and the words of Shangpa Rinpoche’s reflections and prayers really touched my heart deeply. Though I wasn’t present at the celebration when he spoke the
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