There are eight “Mindful Moment” exercises found in my newest book Buddha Standard Time, one for each chapter. These techniques offer advice and practices to incorporate into your day. They are tools which will allow you to begin to transform your old relationship with time, showing you how to slow down, be present, and embrace time's infinite possibilities. “Mindful Moments” are designed to fit anyone's lifestyle and do not require specific training or extensive time. Below is a sampling of a "Mindful Moment”.
A Breath Break
Sitting in a quiet place—ideally, outdoors in nature,
but...
Tricycle Magazine's Book Club Selection for October 2011
"A wealth of inspiration and practical tips for enjoying the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land of the Buddha, now." -Thich Nhat Hanh, bestselling author of Peace Is Every Step
"For newcomers to Buddhism (and non-Buddhists interested in universal wisdom!) and ‘old hands’ at practice . . . [Das] promises nothing less than a liberated life, freed from angst over the tyranny of time, though the practice of loving presence." -Sylvia Boorstein, author of Happiness Is An Inside Job
Internationally renowned meditation scholar Lama Surya...
Life is about relationship-the relationship we have with ourselves, with each other, with the world, as well as the connection to that which is beyond any of us yet imminent in each of us. When our relationships are good, we feel good; when they are bad, we feel awful. Let's accept it: We need each other. We need to feel connected; we need to feel each other's presence and love."
What is the "Buddhist heart" and how do we awaken it in ourselves? Lama Surya Das, author of the bestselling Awakening the Buddha Within, defines the Buddhist heart as our own inner goodness-our most tender, compassionate,...
Lama Surya Das, author of the bestselling Awakening the Buddha Within, is the most highly trained American lama in the Tibetan tradition. In this elegant, inspiring book, he integrates essential Buddhist practices with a variety of other spiritual philosophies and wisdom traditions, to show you how to create a personalized spiritual practice based on your own individual beliefs, aspirations, and needs. Through reflections on his own life quest, thoughtful essays, and entertaining stories, Surya Das examines the common themes at the heart of any spiritual path, including faith, doubt, love,...
Lama Surya Das, the most highly trained American lama in the Tibetan tradition, presents the definitive book on Western Buddhism for the modern-day spiritual seeker.
The radical and compelling message of Buddhism tells us that each of us has the wisdom, awareness, love, and power of the Buddha within; yet most of us are too often like sleeping Buddhas. In Awakening the Buddha Within, Surya Das shows how we can awaken to who we really are in order to lead a more compassionate, enlightened, and balanced life. It illuminates the guidelines and key principles embodied in the noble...
This week I am conducting our annual invitational Advanced Dzogchen week-long retreat here at the Dzogchen Retreat Center outside Austin, Texas. Of course the atmosphere around both the royal wedding and Bin Laden’s demise gives much fodder for prayer and contemplation. While I have been asked to write about those events “from a Buddhist perspective”, I have refrained so far and will probably continue to do so. However, I will venture to say that the rah-rah and rejoicing witnessed in the United States, in response to the terrorist chief’s demise, seems in bad taste. While I am relieved...
A reincarnated Buddhist master on 'thought-wiping' meditators, choosing a guru, and unconditional happiness.
In the early 1970s, Lama Surya Das tutored a 10-year-old boy, His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, in English at a monastery in Darjeeling, India. The boy was known to be the reincarnation of the 11th Gyalwang Drukpa, part of a lineage that goes back to the early 1000s C.E. His Holiness the 12th now heads India's Drukpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. He also has monasteries and nunneries in Darjeeling, Nepal, and Ladakh, as well as centers in Europe and Mexico.
Reprinted with permission...
Even the Dalai Lama gets angry.
The trick is what you do with it.
Q: What did the Buddha teach about anger, specifically righteous anger? Is any anger acceptable in Buddhism?
A: The Dalai Lama recently answered the question, "Is there a positive form of anger?" by saying that righteous anger is a "defilement" or "afflictive emotion"--a Buddhist term translated from the Sanskrit word klesha--that must be eliminated if one seeks to achieve nirvana. He added that although anger might have some positive effects in terms of survival or moral outrage, he did not accept anger of any kind as a virtuous...
Instead of reacting with rage, Buddhist teacher Lama Surya Das says to take a sacred pause and transform your life.
Excerpted from "Buddha Is As Buddha Does; The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living," Lama Surya Das (HarperSanFrancisco, 2007). Reprinted with permission.
Patience means not retaliating with anger for anger, or harm for harm, and voluntarily bearing up under difficulties in order to progress on the path of spiritual awakening. How do we actually do this? How do we slow down our conditioned, knee-jerk reactions while speeding up and sharpening our conscious, mindful,...
