[…] on how precious this opportunity is as a special case of the teachings of impermanence and death. And I think that’s a fair reading. The role of faith in practice Ken: This evening I want to focus on another theme in this chapter, and that’s what some people translate as confidence, some translate as […]

[…] the path of devotion. In the Tibetan tradition we have several words: we have devotion, which in Tibetan is mos gus (pron. mo gu), and we have faith. The Tibetan for that is dad pa (pron. depa). And we also have the English word, belief. The first distinction I want to make very clear […]

[…] mahamudra and dzogchen. That’s the Essence of Dharma, Tilopa’s Six Words of Advice, Vajra Song [Recognizing Mind as the Guru], Wisdom Experience [of Ever-present Good]. Magic of Faith is basically a guru yoga practice. Then you have a yidam practice which is associated with Avalokiteshvara, Chenrezi. And then two or three texts about how […]

Confidence Ken: If there aren’t any questions, then I’ll tell stories. Yes? Student: Could you go over the faith of confidence again? Ken: Okay. Essentially, confident faith is described as the feeling of solidity that comes from a rational appreciation. That is, you study the stuff, you think about it—it makes sense. So you […]

[…] academic to me because if you have willingness to engage something that is painful, even though you don’t know where it’s going to lead, then how does faith enter into that sense that you’re talking about? Ken: Just say the sentence of the question again please, would you? Gary: I’m not sure I can […]

[…] to hold this aspect of one’s experience with the degree of reverence, appreciation. And it is also somewhat important that you feel some confidence or trust or faith in it. In the Tibetan tradition, three kinds of faith are described. The usual order is progressing from clear, open appreciation to rational faith. I think […]

[…] we believe there is a bottom. That’s why we fear falling. We believe there is a bottom. Well, I’m not going to ask you take this on faith. You’ll have to find this out for yourself: there is no bottom. But you have to find that out for yourself. I’m sorry, I can talk […]

[…] and say, just ask me any question about Buddhism, and they’d say, “Well, what are the three jewels?” I don’t know. Ask me another. Impermanence, compassion and faith are most important Ken: I even went to a Tibetan teacher and said, “I don’t know anything anymore. I don’t know what buddha nature is. I […]

[…] just for the first time thinking, “Can I really let go?” I mean is this really possible? What you’re saying? And wanting to take this leap of faith to go there. And yet… Ken: Well, the question is not, “Can I really let go of this?” The question is actually, “Can I really experience […]

[…] month, a few times a week. It’s really wonderful when you see a client start to know when they come in and really have this kind of faith in what they’re doing. We had done a session, and she came in for her next session, absolutely furious, completely angry. She had been going on […]

[…] this evening is relate these three kinds of suffering to the three poisons, and also to some material that we’ve worked with earlier: the three kinds of faith. You may recall the chapter on relating to a spiritual teacher. There was faith which is rational appreciation. There is faith which was coming from longing, […]

[…] because of my comments, you can connect this with elements of your own experience. This is what’s important here. At first, meditation on impermanence makes you develop faith. p. 57 Student: Makes you develop what? Ken: Faith. And I wanted to say a word here. Faith, for me, is the willingness to open to […]

[…] prejudice or preference. So there’s no judgment, you’re just there with the other person. And I could talk for a long, long time about those. Devotion or faith Ken: The fifth is devotion or faith. Actually, maybe you can make two there, they’re slightly different. A friend and colleague of mine, Sharon Salzberg, wrote […]

[…] human, in the country where the dharma exists, with one’s senses and intelligence intact, without karmic compulsions to commit evil deeds, is the person able to have faith in the three jewels.” Well, this is simply a logical sequence. No dharma, or no buddha … Oh, sorry, this is that one. The basis is […]

[…] do is to focus on the guru practice, or the yidam practice whichever speaks to you most powerfully. Within the framework of guru practice, there is the faith of confidence, the faith of longing, and the faith of clear, open appreciation. These are very intertwined, but in my conversations with you, I also know […]