Making enlightenment a priority.
My friend Joseph Goldstein, the Insight Meditation teacher, and I were eating breakfast together in Boston's Copley Square recently--discussing our writing projects, our pilgrimages, and our late Asian gurus. Then we fell upon the inevitable subject of what we will be doing on the millennial eve.
Cultures use many different calendars. While Jews are marking the year 5760, for my Tibetan friends, it is the Earth Rabbit Year, the 2126th year of their reckoning. Therefore, I doubt that everything in our world will change overnight as the apocalypticists predict,...
Whether elaborate or spartan, what a true home altar really needs is attention and faith.
Q: I would like to create a home shrine. What are the essentials of a true Buddhist altar? Tibetans often have amazing altars in their temples and homes, but I would like to have something simpler, so I'm looking for the basics.
A: I love altar practice. My home shrine helps focus my spiritual practice and create sacred space, and my meditation seat in front of the altar invites me to daily practice. Not that you need an altar or other kinds of props for following the path of awakening, but altars are a beautiful,...
What happens when you withdraw from the world and concentrate on spiritual practice?
Q. I heard you were in meditation retreat for six years. What is the purpose of Buddhist retreat and what was it like?
A. A retreat is like an extended Sabbath, a holy time dedicated to spirit and reflection. In the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, a Sabbath was built into each week to provide a regularly scheduled time for people to let go of work and ordinary concerns and turn their hearts and minds toward spiritual matters. Many Buddhist cultures do the same: in southeast Asia, for example, the days...
In a selection from his new book, Surya Das shows just how practical it is to view everything as a blessing.
All Buddhist teachers, and I am no exception, point out that all of our happiness as well as all of our despair arise from the mind. When we search for happiness and an end to suffering, the only place to look is within the mind itself. We each contain within ourselves all that we need for personal joy, bliss, wisdom, equanimity, and peace. There is no reason to look to externals or anywhere else. When one truly embraces this thought, there is nothing to fear. We are truly free.
Until...
How would Buddha love? By seeing everything as fundamentally like himself
If one's thoughts towards spirituality were of the same intensity as those towards love, one would become a Buddha in this very body, in this very life."
--from the Love Poems of the Sixth Dalai Lama
Valentine's Day is one of my favorite American holidays. The fact that this heart-centered if over-commercialized day falls around the same time as Tibetan New Year reminds me to make new year's resolutions relating to those I love and renew my commitment to cultivating goodness of heart. These resolutions usually...
What we seek, we are. We are all Buddhas by nature, temporarily obscured by adventitious emotions and illusions. We only have to awaken to that fact. All that we seek is available within. And not just within ourselves but within each other, each relationship, and encounter, each moment. Let’s exploit our own innate natural resources for a change, and give our exterior resources a rest. This would truly be Mindful Environmentalism and planetary stewardship. This world is my body, all beings my heart-mind.
“The foolish...
Martha M. asks: My life, at times, seems to be more and more stressful. How can I reduce stress and tension on a daily basis?
Lama Surya Das: Vietnamenese Zen master and peace activist Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the greatest spiritual teachers today. I highly recommend his book “Mindful Movements: Ten Exercises for Well-Being” as a simple, accessible and practice-able Mindfulness Yoga practice you can do every day, in ten easy steps, to help slow down, enhance attentive awareness,...
30 Mar 2011 |
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“Abou Ben Adhem”Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,And saw, within the moonlight in his room,Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,An Angel writing in a book of gold:Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,And to the Presence in the room he said,“What writest thou?” The Vision raised its head,And with a look made of all sweet accordAnswered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,But cheerily still; and said,...
There has been a lot of news and speculation lately regarding the Dalai Lama’s recent announcement to retire, as well as questions of succession (usually accomplished by rebirth, not by appointment or voting), and Tibet-China relations. It is worth noting that His Holiness is retiring as Political Head of Tibet-in-exile, not as Spiritual Head, compassionate conscience of the world (Bodhisattva), and religious leader.
For more insight, I recommend reading this article by Pico Iyer, a well known international...
May the road rise to meet you,May the wind be always at your back.May the sun shine warm upon your face,The rains fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet again,May God hold you in the palm of his hand.May God be with you and bless you:May you see your children’s children.May you be poor in misfortune,Rich in blessings.May you know nothing but happinessFrom this day forward.May the road rise up to meet youMay the wind be always at your backMay the warm rays of sun fall upon your homeAnd may the hand of a friend always be near.May green be the grass you walk on,May blue be the skies above...
