One of the things I like best of buddhism is that it requires nothing but that you practice. Mind you, there are practitioners who will cheerfully (and sometimes rudely) tell you otherwise, but that’s their issue and perspective to deal with, not yours. The practice is about teaching yourself to be here, now, in this […]
This item, posted to a virtual Sangha, resonates very deeply. Reposting here for my own remembrance and learning as well as for the friends in the Dharma that I know visit here. May it bring the same to you as it does me. The speaker whose words you are about to read is H.H. N’Gak […]
The Four Noble Truths are: 1) All life is suffering 2) All suffering is caused by clinging 3) All clinging may be released 4) There is a method by which released may be accomplished As I sit here and contemplate what I would say about this fourth, many things occur. First, the notion that much […]
The Four Noble Truths are: 1) All life is suffering 2) All suffering is caused by clinging 3) All clinging may be released 4) There is a method by which released may be accomplished Of the four, this third seems to me the more difficult to embrace and truly assimilate into life. Initially, I had […]
The Four Noble Truths are: 1) All life is suffering 2) All suffering is caused by clinging 3) All clinging may be released 4) There is a method by which released may be accomplished I had set this aside for a time to work on repair of a relationship that had been foundering upon the […]
The Four Noble Truths are: 1) All life is suffering 2) All suffering is caused by clinging 3) All clinging may be released 4) There is a method by which released may be accomplished It is a hugely daunting task to even think to try and talk about these four, primarily because, as foundational tenets, […]
The nature of this world and all within it is impermanence; all things arise, then pass. The cycle of unending impermanence brings with it suffering, as humans are wont to want things to be permanent and they cannot be so. We want our loved ones to remain with us and us with them. We want […]
There are a lot of misunderstandings floating around in the world as to what ‘kamma’ (more popularly known as ‘karma’) actually is, means, and the role that karma plays in one’s life. The word ‘karma’ means something very simple — action. But the concept of karma runs a bit deeper — essentially, it posits that […]
There are about a metric ton of folks attributed with ‘first’ saying that “The only thing in life that doesn’t change is that all things change.” So it is always very fascinating to me that most humans seem to work very hard to deny what is generally accepted as a fundamental aspect and truth about […]
I remember when I first met my root lama. It was at a teaching upon the Four Thoughts (Ngondo). He had asked us to give him examples of analogies of precious human birth. The explanation he had used was that of a blind turtle in a planetary ocean (no land) who only surfaced every 1,000 […]