Saturday, December 25, 2010

Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage

It is important to note that we should make sure that our meditation suits our mind. If we feel comfortable doing analytical meditation on the various topics in a progressive way, we should go ahead with it. If, on the other hand, we find it difficult and it is not compatible with our mind, we should meditate on whatever topic we like.
If we enjoy meditation on emptiness, we should go ahead with this. If it suits us and we derive pleasure from meditating principally on the altruistic intention, we can emphasize this. At some point if we find that we cannot really get into whatever analytical meditation we have been doing, but doing prostrations, chanting mantra, visualizing a meditation deity, or reciting aspirational prayers brings peace and pleasure to our mind, we should do that practice.
--from Decision Points by Geshe Jampa Tegchok
Transforming Adversity into Joy and Courage: An Explanation of the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas



  • Taking Buddhist Tourism to a New Level: The Monk for a Month ... - Fred's qualifications are that he has been a Buddhist for over 30 years, he has been to many retreats at Wat Rampoeng, read many books on Buddhism, and has learned from Thai teachers including Luangpau Charoen of Wat Amphawan outside of ...

  • My Top 10 Books On Buddhism - I'm often asked about what books on Buddhism would recommend, so I decided I'd jot down my favorite Top 10 books on Buddhism. Turning the Mind Into An Ally – Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche – I feel like this is probably the best book for ...


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Generate a Neutral State of Mind

When we focus our attention on the passage of breath, we break the usually continuous flow of thoughts of attachment, hostility and so forth, whatever they might be. This causes such thoughts to subside for the moment. Thus, by occupying the mind with our breath, we cleanse it of all positive and negative conceptual thoughts and thus remain in a neutral state of mind unspecified as either constructive or destructive. This is the meaning of the line in the root text, "Thoroughly clean out your state of awareness." This unspecified or neutral state of mind, cleaned out of all positive and negative conceptual thoughts, is the most conducive one to work with. Because an unspecified state of mind like this is unburdened and supple, it is relatively easy to generate it into a constructive state.
--from The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra by H.H. the Dalai Lama
The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra

  • Taking Buddhist Tourism to a New Level: The Monk for a Month ... - Fred's qualifications are that he has been a Buddhist for over 30 years, he has been to many retreats at Wat Rampoeng, read many books on Buddhism, and has learned from Thai teachers including Luangpau Charoen of Wat Amphawan outside of ...

  • My Top 10 Books On Buddhism - I'm often asked about what books on Buddhism would recommend, so I decided I'd jot down my favorite Top 10 books on Buddhism. Turning the Mind Into An Ally – Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche – I feel like this is probably the best book for ...


  • Online Bookstores by specialization. Bookshop Blog - Looking for a list of Online Bookstores? We provide a list of online bookstores organized by their specialty. If you'd like to be added to the list of online bookstores then simply fill in the form at the bottom of this page. Italy Libreria Atlantide, in print and out contact via email only.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Buddhist State of Mind

Taking the reins is the key to happiness
The state of mind of a Buddhist practitioner should be stable, and should not be subject to too many conflicting events. Such a person will feel both joy and pain, but neither will be too weak or too intense. Stability is developed through discipline. The heart and mind become more full of energy, more resolute, and therefore less susceptible to being blown about by outside events.
Deep within the human being abides the wisdom that can support him or her in the face of negative situations. In this way, events no longer throw him because he is holding the reins. Similarly, when something good happens it is also possible to rein it in. Taking the reins is the key to happiness. In Tibet we have a saying: "If you are beside yourself with joy, tears are not far behind." This shows how relative what we call joy and pain are.
--from The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace: The Essential Life and Teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace: The Essential Life and Teachings

  • Enlighten Up » My Top 10 Books On Buddhism - I'm often asked about what books on Buddhism I would recommend, so I decided I'd jot down my favorite Top 10 books on Buddhism. Turning the Mind Into An Ally – Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche – I feel like this is probably the best book for ...


  • Online Bookstores by specialization. Bookshop Blog - Looking for a list of Online Bookstores? We provide a list of online bookstores organized by their specialty. If you'd like to be added to the list of online bookstores then simply fill in the form at the bottom of this page. Italy Libreria Atlantide, in print and out contact via email only.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Cultivating Memory and Joyful Effort

This foundational practice is engaged upon awaking in the morning. It further cultivates strong intention and also strengthens the capacity to remember the events of the night.
Begin by reviewing the night. The Tibetan term for this preparation is literally "remembering." Did you dream? Were you aware that you were in a dream? If you dreamt but did not attain lucidity, you should reflect, "I dreamt but did not recognize the dream as a dream. But it was a dream." Resolve that next time you enter a dream you will become aware of its true nature while still in the dream.
If you find it difficult to remember dreams, it can be helpful, throughout the day and particularly before sleep, to generate a strong intention to remember dreams. You can also record dreams in a notepad or with a tape recorder, as this will reinforce the habit of treating your dreams as something valuable. The very act of preparing the notebook or recorder at night serves to support the intention to recall the dream upon waking. It is not difficult for anyone to remember dreams once the intention to do so is generated and sustained, even over just a few days.
If you did have a lucid dream, feel joy at the accomplishment. Develop happiness relative to the practice and resolve to continue to develop the lucidity the following night. Keep building intention, using both successes and failures as occasions to develop ever stronger intent to accomplish the practice. And know that even your intention is a dream. -- from The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep

MT3RW9742TME

Our Subtle Consciousness

On some occasions, people faint. Even when your breath temporarily stops, during that moment, there is a reduced level of consciousness. Consciousness is most reduced late in the course of dying. Even after all physical functions cease, we believe that the "I," or "self," still exists. Similarly, just at the beginning of life, there must be a subtle form of consciousness to account for the emergence of consciousness in the individual.
We must explore further the point at which consciousness enters into a physical location. At conception, the moment when and the site where consciousness interacts with the fertilized egg is something to be discovered, although there are some reference to this in the texts.... The Buddhist scriptures do deal with it, but I am interested to see what science has to say about this. During this period we believe that without the subtle consciousness, there would be a life beginning without consciousness. If that were the case then no one could ever recollect experiences from their past life. It is also in terms of Buddhist beliefs relating to this topic that Buddhism expounds its theory of cosmology: how the universe began and how it later degenerates.
Based on this metaphysical reasoning and other arguments, and based on the testimony of individuals who are able to recollect their experiences in past lives very vividly, Buddhists make this claim. I am a practitioner, so based on my own limited experiences, and the experiences of my friends, I cannot say with one hundred percent certainty that there is a subtle consciousness.
Scientists don't posit consciousness in the same sense that Buddhists do. At the moment of conception, however, there has to be something that prevents the sperm and egg from simply rotting, and causes it to grow into a human body. When does that occur? Why does that occur?
--from Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brainscience and Buddhism
Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brainscience and Buddhism


MT3RW9742TME

Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Deeper Meaning of Refuge

What is meant by going for refuge is that you are seeking refuge from some fear. All the objects [Buddha, lama, guru, etc.] in front of you are what is known as the causal refuge, because they serve as the cause for bringing about the resultant refuge within you. You should entrust yourself to these objects from the depth of your heart, and you should see the objects as protectors. The resultant state of your own future realizations, becoming an arya being and attaining buddhahood--which depends on your own actualization of the path--is called the resultant refuge. Someone in difficulty seeking the assistance of a high official is analogous to someone seeking refuge in the causal refuge.
But depending upon others' protection forever is not a courageous way of life; therefore, one has to try to achieve a state where one is no longer dependent upon such a refuge, and this is likened to taking refuge in the resultant buddha, dharma, and sangha. That is the process of taking refuge by a person of high faculty and courage. This practice should be done not for the sake of oneself alone but rather for the sake of all other sentient beings. When you cultivate such an aspiration focused toward the achievement of the omniscient state, it is very much like the generation of the bodhichitta mind.
--from The Union of Bliss and Emptiness: Teachings on the Practice of Guru Yoga by the Dalai Lama, translated by Thupten Jinpa
The Union of Bliss and Emptiness: Teachings on the Practice of Guru Yoga

Life is Just a Dream

Many of the methods of practicing Dharma that are learned during waking can, upon development of dream awareness, be applied in the dream condition. In fact, one may develop these practices more easily and speedily within the Dream State if one has the capacity to dream lucidly. There are even some books that say that if a person applies a practice within a dream, the practice is nine times more effective than when it is applied during the waking hours.
The dream condition is unreal. When we discover this for ourselves within the dream, the immense power of this realization can eliminate obstacles related to conditioned vision. For this reason, dream practice is very important for liberating us from habits. We need this powerful assistance in particular because the emotional attachments, conditioning, and ego enhancement which compose our normal life have been strengthened over our many, many years.
In a real sense, all the visions that we see in our lifetime are like the images of a dream. If we examine them well, the big dream of life and the smaller dreams of one night are not very different. If we truly see the essential nature of both, we will find that there really is no difference between them. If we can finally liberate ourselves from the chains of emotions, attachments, and ego by this realization, we have the possibility of ultimately becoming enlightened.
--from Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light, Revised by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light, Revised