"Om Shanti, Shanti, Peace. …It’s good to find refuge, something to rely on, solace, beyond this saha world, so tenuous, so bubbly, so fickle, like a dewdrop. Finding something reliable. In Buddhism we call it ‘taking refuge’, finding a port in the storm of samsara, of confusion and delusion. Something to rely on – the higher power, the inner power. We have our higher power in Buddhism too – don’t think we don’t – Awareness – with a capital A+. Awareness, cosmic consciousness, beyond mere thoughts. We can find this within. Just Being. Peace. Harmony. Inclusiveness. ...
"Who do we think we are, how long ago did we form up that opinion?… Who do we think we are and what are we stuck with? Maybe we could check the ‘screen,’ reboot, and refresh. I’m sure there are some commands on here that could re-enlighten. Look into the Dzogchen tradition – Erik Schmidt has Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche talking about re-enlightenment. Buddha-nature is already perfect and pure from the beginning, but we need to be re-enlightened. Not just wait for enlightenment. Maybe we can notice our frozen-ness, our habits, our dazed-ness – just staring at the ‘screen.’ We’re...
Thoughts on "Wisdom"
Wisdom can be cultivated, and it can be found within us. Wisdom must be developed if we are to have any significant chance of surviving and flourishing as a race. How to develop it? What is wisdom? Wisdom is knowing reality, just as it is. It includes a higher form of objective judgment coupled with profound discernment, based on an illumined and lucid state of consciousness latent within us all. Tibetan Buddhist teachings tell us that wisdom is developed through three traditional forms of wisdom practices, or phases of true higher education: learning, reflection, and experience,...
MUDITA: AN OLYMPIC PRACTICE IN THE BUDDHAFIELDby Lama Surya Das
As an athletic legend in my own mind, I often enjoy watching the various Olympics and other great sporting spectacles, aside from attendant political and social concerns including human rights and the mental health and wellbeing of the rigorously disciplined competitors. I love seeing the youthful athletes rejoicing enthusiastically in the pure joy of hard-earned accomplishment. And often I wonder: If we could practice our spiritual disciplines anywhere near as devotedly and as much as these youthful master athlete-yogis, both...
We honor the spirit of Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh with his moving poetry.
The moment I dieI will try to come back to youas quickly as possible.I promise it will not take long.Isn’t it trueI am already with youas I die each moment?I come back to youin every moment.Just look,feel my presence.If you want to cry,please cry,And Knowthat I will cry with you.The tears you shedwill heal us both.Your tears and mine.The earth I tread this morningtranscends history.Spring and Winter are both present in the moment.The young leaf and the old leaf are really one.My feet touch deathlessness,And my feet...
Welcome to Flight 2022
We are prepared to take off into the New Year.
Please make sure your attitude is secured
and locked in an upright position.
All self-destructive thoughts should be turned off at this time.
All negativity, hurt and discouragement should be put away.
Should we lose altitude under pressure during the flight, reach up and pull down a prayer.Once your faith is activated
you can assist other passengers.
There will be NO BAGGAGE allowed on this flight.
We are cleared for take-off.Happy New Year 💝
~...
EVERY BREATH A PRAYER: Thoughts on prayer by an American lama, with love, prayerful blessings and healing thoughts.
Happy holydays! May every day be a good one, just being alive as the sun dawns.
Every morning I wake and take a moment to appreciate the lovely view from my bedroom window. And every day, as I take in the stillness and beauty of my little pond and surrounding woods, I wonder: who made all of this? Wordless gratitude fills my heart and mind, body and soul each day as I begin my morning ritual, and I sense the sacred Presence transcendent over all of us yet immanent in each...
A good question is better than an easy answer.
Artwork by: Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903), "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?"
"Even death is nothing to fearFor those who have lived wisely."~ The Buddha
They say everyone dies, and all things shall pass away. All is impermanent, fleeting, ungraspable. And yet, who shall truly live? What is our true life meant to be? And what does that even mean? This is my question for you, Dear Seekers and pilgrims in life. How to live and be(come) who and what we genuinely are and aspire towards? How to become the mensches we...
The brilliance and perception of a beautiful, young mind.
Below is the poem the first National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman read at the inauguration of our 46th President, Joseph R. Biden on January 20, 2020
When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast, we’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it, somehow we do it, somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed...
"When you go out and see the empty streets,
the empty stadiums,
the empty train platforms,
don’t say to yourself,
“It looks like the end of the world.”
What you’re seeing is love in action.
What you’re seeing,
in that negative space,
is how much we do care for each other,
for our grandparents,
our parents,
our brothers and sisters,
protecting people we will never meet.
People will lose jobs over this.
Some will lose their businesses.
And some will lose their lives.
All the more reason to take a moment,
when you’re out on your walk,
or on your way to the store,
or...
