Lonnie R.:The Dharma teaches us that we should try to see things as they are without judgment. I have always had trouble with this because I am a very judgmental person. Can you give me some advice on how to see things without judgment.
Lama Surya Das: First, let me say, since we’re alone here and what happens on the Internet stays on the Internet, as they say.
I can personally empathize with you and understand that it’s difficult to be free of judgment, especially self-judgment. Those inner voices (from the past, mostly) just don’t seem to stop! But that’s where meditation...
America is the symbol of the free world. If it gets demoralized, it’s the end of the free world. So be strong and decisive.
HH the Dalai Lama, 2010
09 Oct 2010 |
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See the video above for additional pointers on how to stay motivated in your meditation practice.
Haineux: I want to get myself to sit down and meditate every day, but I’m having a tough time with the motivation. I guess I’m afraid of meditation — maybe that I’ll spend the time beating myself up, or doing it wrong.
Lama Surya Das: It sounds like you are already familiar with the harsh inner critic, and meditation is just one more thing for that inner voice (from the past, no doubt) to pick on. What if you spend any time at all alone? Does that inner...
Jeff L.: Hey Lama, What do I do when I realize here is infinite possibility? What road do I take? The choices are nearly making me insane!!!
Lama Surya Das: Insane is as insane does. So be cool. Stay calm. Listen up, for a moment.
Infinite possibilities implies freedom to choose, and to be responsible for ones choices, intentions, and their results in terms of karmic outcome. I have a feeling that you might need to focus a little bit, collect your energies and learn to calm down. Try to breathe, relax, center, focus and smile. Then do it again, and even again. (Three’s a sacred number.)
Now:...
07 Oct 2010 |
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@bill_gerlach: What’s the best way to find a teacher in a tradition that interests you, especially if location is an obstacle?
@LamaSuryaDas: You can start by asking yourself “What kind of teacher? What kind of practice are you looking for?”
To hear the full response, watch the video above.
Submitted by @Bill_Gerlach via Twitter on September 19th, 2010.
Alissa C.: What are the best resources to use when starting the journey of learning the Buddhist way? Reading has been my sole educator but I feel as though I need more. What do you recommend? Any books you recommend (not to worry I am in the process of reading all of yours ;)
Lama Surya Das: Reading is fine, to begin with. There’s plenty to learn and be inspired by. In fact there’s a whole new movement or wing of Buddhism which I lovingly call Bookstore Buddhism, which often but not always includes soft chairs and cappuccino or chai while immersing oneself in sacred texts.
However,...
06 Oct 2010 |
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”I am always very happy and thrilled to see young people doing positive things together. This gives me such a great hope for tomorrow and the future. Of course philosophically speaking, we always say, ‘Tomorrow never comes, we live in the present;’ but practically speaking, we have to have a vision for tomorrow or some kind of hope for tomorrow, otherwise living in the present for majority of us can be very difficult, unless we are greatly enlightened beings. Even spiritual lineages like ours have to think of “succession planning,” something I just learned from...
Lisa M.: One of my recurring struggles is with loneliness, and understanding that it relates to greed, I would love to discuss some ideas to help open my understanding of this emotion. Thank you for everything you do.
Lama Surya Das: We are all alone together. That’s the secret. One might do well to reflect upon this and see if it’s not true, and furthermore endeavor to unfold various levels of meaning. Are you really alone, cherie?
Another secret is that the small, limited, ego self is inevitably lonely and alone, alienated and disconnected, anxious and insecure— to varying...
29 Sep 2010 |
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Jaclyn B.: I am currently studying Buddhism and early Christian literature (not in the official canon) in parallel and I am finding more and more consistency between the two. What are your thoughts on the relationship between them?
Submitted by Jaclyn B. via Facebook on September 7th, 2010
Jacqueline J: How do you teach compassion to children? Can it be taught?
Lama Surya Das: Yes, compassion can certainly be taught. How to teach it to children is a subset of that issue. Besides the fact that many would say that children are naturally empathic, which is the essence of compassion— feeling with others— some would go even further and postulate that children are psychic, or intuitive at least (and thus closely attuned to and connected with others near to them) until we drum it out of them through socialization and the like, with all the emphasis on conforming, left-brained...
