It seems that for many people the word ‘Faith’ is problematic. Formany people, the reason why is become of the negative connotationsthat they have with that term. For some, that is based on badexperiences they had with previous religious affiliations, or contactwith those of other religions. For some, it is because they wish thisreligion of […]
Faith and Emptiness Read Post »
Do not lose the view in the conduct; If you lose the view in the conduct, you will neverhave the chance to be liberated. Do not lose the conduct in the view; If you lose the conduct in the view, you stray into black diffusion. Padmasambhava This seems to be an ongoing theme for me,
Reflections on Padmasambhava – View and Conduct Read Post »
Don’t do anything whatsoever with the mind — Abide in an authentic, natural state. One’s own mind, unwavering, is reality. The key is to meditate like this without wavering; Experience the Great [reality] beyond extremes. In a pellucid ocean, Bubbles arise and dissolve again. Just so, thoughts are no different from ultimate reality. So don’t
Niguma: Mahamudra as Spontaneous Liberation Read Post »
How tempting it is for the mind to grasp onto what is directly perceived, and to ossify it into necessarily rigid and falsifying concepts. The raft of skilful use of conceptual understanding is a tricky one to ride, and one which seems to hold much potential for misuse. The Buddha described the Dharma as being
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 »
Hi, I just wanted to add one thing to your very beautiful email, which detailed why people act the way that they do, and the various ways in which you can work with the situation you find yourself in. Your present is a reflection of your past mind The teachings say that what we experience
Wicked People and Buddhist View Read Post »
As I’m substantially in agreement with you, with only differing emphasis (due to perhaps wishing to emphasise a different aspect of view and method), then I’ll only briefly comment on a couple of points ….. So my point here was that in fact there is not much difference between saying specifically “my body” or generally
Mantras, Relative and Ultimate Truth – Emptiness of Forms Read Post »
I must confess that I didn’t see what you were getting at in your first mail. It’s a very interesting distinction. Can I comment on it using a conventional Kagyu approach, and see where it leads? When we put a possessive adverb like “my”, “our”, etc. in front obviously (or maybe, not so obviously, sorry
Mantras, Relative and Ultimate Truth – Possessing Things Read Post »
Ah! one more reflection regarding visualisations and mantras *operating* at a relative level … something which I think if very important from a point of view of practice … In my limited understanding, both visualizations and mantras do operate on relative level. When you say ‘they operate’ it sounds like ‘they’ are doing the ‘operating’
Mantras, Relative and Ultimate Truth – Appearance and Emptiness Read Post »
In response to the notion that: whenever we use words, we already operate on relative level 🙂 Words are just fingers pointing to experiential meaning in both cases. I’d entirely agree with you in the sense that the word itself, i.e. the concept, can only be a relative truth, from the two truths perspective of
Mantras and Sambhogakaya Read Post »
