Devotion Pierces My Heart

Practice Material

[…] crown of my head.Help me to meet what is, natural awareness, face to face,And awaken completely in this one life. Alas!Sentient beings like myself, evildoers with bad karma,Have wandered in samsara for time without beginning.Though I continue to suffer endlessly,I do not experience even a moment’s disillusionment.Guru, think of me: look upon me quickly […]

Traditional Tibetan thangka depicting a seated lama in red robes teaching, surrounded by disciples and ornate details.

1. Introduction to the Retreat

Chapter 1 of “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva

[…] body, you’re born into the central country—these are literal translations, I’ll explain this in a minute—you’re sound in body and mind, you weren’t swept away by bad karma—although there’s some karma momentum available to you—you have some propensity for faith or confidence. Now, again these were originally qualities of human existence because you could […]

1. Introduction to the Retreat

24. Taking Joy in Goodness

Chapter 24 of “Then and Now: A Commentary on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation

[…] “Whatever root virtues were established by the limitless, countless, inconceivable Buddhas,” etc., whatever virtuous roots. Now, the reason I’m suggesting that … when we were talking about karma, one of the things that I suggested was that karma can be looked at as a process of evolution. And the metaphor for karma is of […]

24. Taking Joy in Goodness

Forgiveness Is Not Buddhist

Article

[…] contemporary Buddhist thinking disturbs me deeply. Although many may disagree with me, I feel that current interpretations of forgiveness in the Buddhist community undermine the teachings of karma, encourage the cult of victimhood, weaken human relationships, and obfuscate the practice of purification. In contemporary Buddhist settings, forgiveness is interpreted in several ways. One is […]

Woman embracing her own reflection in a mirror.

Opening to Doubt

Chapter 8 of “Stand-Alone Talks

[…] is unbelievably rich. What is important here is the purpose of all of it was to help one individual or another find their direction in life. Beliefs: karma, agnosticism, and atheism Ken: And I’ll just say one more thing about faith and belief. There are some who say you can’t be a Buddhist unless […]

Opening to Doubt

6. Staying Sane in a Crazy World

Chapter 6 of “37 Practices in Four Parts

[…] of American culture. And some of these are really good. I remember visiting a teacher in Toronto who’s a bit of a character, a Tibetan named Lama Karma Thinley. And after I’d finished the three-year retreat, I was back in Ontario. I called Lama Karma Thinley up said, “Can I come and see you?” […]

6. Staying Sane in a Crazy World

5. When the Yidam Takes You Over: The Power of Deity Practice

Chapter 5 of “Guru, Deity, Protector

[…] Nobody ate anything for dinner. Everybody was full. Quench my thirst with the poison of attachment to duality You know one of my favorite teachers is Lama Karma Thinley in Toronto. Wonderful person, a little eccentric, maybe why I like him. He was in California once and a friend of Dan and mine, Michael […]

5. When the Yidam Takes You Over: The Power of Deity Practice

Mahakala and Fear

Chapter 10 of “Stand-Alone Talks

[…] and as I read this, I’ll also explain how to work with each part of it. First sentence: I appear vividly in my deity’s form. Mountain Dharma, Karma Chakmé Now the idea here is: this isn’t some external deity. Each of you has inherently an understanding of what it is to be awake. And […]

Mahakala and Fear

Prayer and Meditation

Chapter 6 of “Stand-Alone Talks

[…] may they be happy,” but then there’s another—I don’t know if it’s a prayer or a saying—where you say, “All beings are the owners of their own karma, and nothing I can do can change that.” So how does that work together? Ken: Very good. This reminds me of an email that one of […]

Prayer and Meditation