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 […]
Spartacus, Sunshine and Epiphany Read Post »
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
Big Doubt and Groundlessness Read Post »
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
Sleep … the Final Frontier! Read Post »
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
Parenting Mindfully Reminders Read Post »
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
What Would a Buddha Do? Read Post »
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
Devotion Ripens the Heart Read Post »
Mahamudra meditation instruction is often presented in terms of two-fold advice – the common, and the uncommon. These could be said to be the general and the detailed or specific instructions. The common or general instructions seem intended to be the base or background upon which all the uncommon or detailed instructions build. For me
Reflections on Tilopa – Mahamudra Pith Instructions Read Post »
How difficult indeed it seems to be to differentiate between fearlessly expressing one’s point of view, and indulging in pride, ill-will and ignorance. How easy it seems to be in retrospect (often a retrospect of many years) to see how thoroughly imbued with ‘concerns of the self’, (actions designed to support my illusory sense of
Difficult To Differentiate … Read Post »
The more you practice, the more it happens. Things in the ‘outside’ world start reflecting your inner world. Auspicious Co-Incidence. Dependent Origination. Sitting meditating yesterday, eyes half open, facing out the window. In my meditation, Dakinis swirling like a snow storm, a whirlwind of Enlightened energy. Right then, at that point, outside the window, a
Dakinis of Coincidence Read Post »
