Tessa Madsen Loewen: Within the Buddhist religion, how does love play a part in human life?
Lama Surya Das: The historical teacher named Gautama Buddha 2500 years ago talked a great deal about love and caring, cherishing others even more than oneself, and loving-kindness (metta) or warmth friendliness. This is one of the major tenets or practices to cultivate and positive qualities to develop on the path of enlightenment. He also advocated and taught about the need for and benefits of parental love, filial love, sibling love, Samaritan-like love, compassionate love, impartial equanimous love,...
Barbara Emson: How do I maintain my spiritual equanimity in the throes of so much suffering and social injustices? If I pay attention to my strong call of social activism, I become angry and bitter and hopeless. It’s a constant pendulum.
Lama Surya Das: When I read or watch the news during these decades I too can feel discouraged and even despondent, but whenever I talk to young people I feel great hope and joy, irrational as that may be.
Our country does seem to be in the throes of struggle and partisan divisiveness while going over the hill, but we can still work for a better world, for us and our children....
GildedMushroom: Must the internal ideal of a Personal Legend or Hero’s Journey be dropped to follow the 8-Fold path to enlightenment?
Lama Surya Das: No, I don’t think so, not entirely. Though there is a certain amount of questionable hubris and ego in this particular formulation— especially around the words ‘personal legend’.
The Noble Eight-fold Path of Enlightenment is open to one and all, from wherever we may be starting, sinners and degenerates included. So why not one with a Personal Legend mentality? The kind of archetypal Hero’s Journey I sense you are thinking...
Liz A.: Thank you for being “out there” and available for those of us with no guide! This past week, I bought a Rudraksha Mala to help with my daily practice. After purchasing it, I discovered it’s defective. It has only 103 beads instead of 108. Is it bad luck or disrespectful to use it anyway OR should I return it (which would be awkward)? To be honest, I’ve always been quite different from any of my “peer” group so don’t really mind that it’s odd too, but I don’t wish to make any mistakes with my learning. Thank you for your time &...
Nielle M: How do doubts lead to enlightenment? For me, doubts contribute to feeling stuck and unsure how to proceed…
Nielle’s question was in reference to the following post:
Korean Zen master Nine Mountains says, “Small doubt, small enlightenment; big doubt, big enlightenment.”
What have your doubts taught you?
Lama Surya Das: First of all, the zen master is referring to an ancient saying about complacency being inimical to conscious evolution, and hinting that curious seekers should have inquiring minds and never stop...
Joy Star: When a person ‘feels’ out of balance, what do you recommend as being the most effective way to restore harmony?
Lama Surya Das: In general, I like to recommend breathing, relaxing, centering and smiling as a little practical four-step process that anyone can easily do, implement and benefit from, anytime and anyplace, pretty much regardless of what’s going on.
This little contemplative yoga exercise engaging body, breath, mind and spirit helps restore balance and harmony. Of course, one could also, having done that and come back to one self a bit— or even...
@gatehealing: When somebody struggles with that authenticity, what do you suggest?
Lama Surya Das: We all struggle, with many things. Buddha himself said that the unenlightened, worldly life is full of dissatisfaction and dysfunction, including looking for what we want in all the wrong places, which is hard and frustrating work. Struggle and questioning, doubt, inquiry and investigation are all part of the true path of authenticity and self-realization, culminating in spiritual freedom, bliss, inner peace and enlightenment. Keeping your sincere questions alive can be more...
@SamsaricWarrior: I am looking to take formal vows. Is this something you can help with or point me to someone who can?
Lama Surya Das: Michael, what kind of vows are we talking about? Vows are usually taken with one’s own spiritual teacher, in the context of a lineage or community and tradition— at least if we’re discussing Buddhist vows and such.
I took my series of different levels of Buddhist vows, from neophyte to lay practitioner, to acolyte, to disciple, to monastic, to lama vows, with my own Tibetan lama masters in their monasteries in the Himalayas, when I studied and apprenticed...
LIFE IS PRECIOUS, HANDLE WITH PRAYER 12 Steps to Morning Meditation : An American Contemplative Exercise
Sit down, breathe and relax.
Relax, settle, center and smile.
Breathe in and out, and again, and once more. Now breathe in and out deeply.
Concentrate on feeling your breathing, relaxing and letting go and letting be. Serenity is yours, now. Take a breath, take a break. Serenity now.
Cultivate mindfulness and alert presence of mind by breath watching, letting everything else go by, come and go. Breathing in, calming and clearing my mind. Breathing out, relaxing and smiling.—
Letting...
