About a month ago I switched to always meditating with my eyes open, after pretty much always meditating with my eyes shut for the last 16 years. In the past I’d tried to switch, but found my ability to concentrate greatly impaired, so had reverted to keeping them shut. However, it has been 3 years […]
How wonderful that my wife ‘woke me up’ this morning with the bell of rememberance! Having got little sleep this last few night with my sick toddler, I slipped into an old pattern of ‘wrong speech’ when overtired. How often it seems to be that when I’ve not slept, I revert to more automatic patterns
Seems like we often feel that we need to get into certain circumstances in order for our ‘practice’ to blossom. That we need to change the conditions in our lives to somehow support our practice. That we would be able to somehow do it ‘better’ if things were other than how they are now. But,
Right Where You Are …. Read Post »
Is there any pleasure in life as great as that of offering a stick of incense, or making a prostration? Could anything be so complete, so right, so wonderful in its simplicity and perfection? How amazing that something so simple, so small, could give such fulfilment and pleasure. How incredible, of all life’s pleasures, that
Perfect in its Simplicity Read Post »
Was thinking this morning of a number of classic scenarios which keep on popping up in the spiritual life. They seem to be not just classic aspects of my path, but of other people’s too … so thought I’d share them. You get a few days where everything seems to be ‘coming together’. Meditation is
Spiritual Classics – The Kiss of Death Read Post »
In response to a further question, asking Which qualities of mind do not pertain to Buddha Nature – is not everything an expression of mind, and primordial wisdom? I think I can see why you say this, and feel this way. In one sense it is so … all that appears to arise has the
Qualities of Mind – Buddha Nature Read Post »
In response to a scenario on a List, where a person was confused as to how it is said that mind has no qualities, and yet it is said to have compassion, fearlessness, in-destruction etc. There are a couple of layers in response to this. As a Shentongpa, I cannot help responding from a Kagyu
Qualities of Mind – Shentong and Rangtong Read Post »
How is it that we always think that Peace is to be found by somehow arranging things in a certain way? If we could get things like this or that, and certain things could be put into place, then we’d be at peace? We so often get caught up in thinking that in order to
Peace and Letting Go Read Post »
The Whole of the ‘View, Meditation and Conduct’ or of the ‘Ground, Path and Fruition’ are here in this one Doha or Dharma song. Unbelievably inspirational …. it makes me tingle everyone time I recite it. Faith and Devotion well up in response. It’s so odd how something which maps out the whole of the
The Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra Read Post »
Is Shentong not part of Madhyamaka? This one is a bit tricky, as more or less all the schools claim that their highest view is in fact the highest madhyamaka view. So, the Shentongpas call their highest view in the tenet system ‘Great Madhyamaka’, and yet so do the Rangtongpas call theirs ‘Great Madhyamaka’, and
Madhyamaka and Shentong – Vimalakirti and Manjushri Read Post »
