Article
[…] human heritage (buddha nature), and all the various spiritual practices, meditation, contemplation on such themes as impermanence, suffering, non-self, compassion, emptiness, koan practice (in Zen), the four immeasurables, taking and sending, etc., are concerned, at least in part, with removing the blocks that prevent that direct knowing or with cultivating that direct knowing explicitly […]
Chapter 10 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Events that shatter our illusions about life Ken: One of the first aspects of an event such as the tsunami in Southeast Asia is the suddenness and the unexpectedness of it. If you read any of the accounts, for most people, there was just no warning. There was suddenly a wall of water, I think […]
Chapter 4 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
[…] people interpret them in this way, that what you should be trying to do is control what you feel. For instance, when we get into the four immeasurables, people think, “Oh, I’m meant to be feeling this, and I’m meant to be feeling that.” But that’s not how it works. By experiencing your own […]
Chapter 5 of “Releasing Emotional Reactions”
[…] you from resting in experience. So in a very broad sense, purification practices. All the things on death and impermanence, the five dakinis, karma and the four immeasurables, yidam practice, etc., etc., that all falls into that category. That as some people have described in their experience, you meet feeling, you experience it completely, […]
Chapter 4 of “Chö: Cutting Through Demonic Obsessions”
The three levels of chö Ken: Saraha, one of the great Indian masters about the third century—I like his version. Nagarjuna said the same thing, but not quite as elegantly as Saraha. Saraha said, “People who believe in reality are stupid like cows, but people who believe in emptiness are even stupider.” It’s actually incurable […]
Chapter 4 of “Power and Presence”
[…] what we’re doing here, which is not being glib. It’s on some level, you know that you’re not doing something, or you didn’t get to the four immeasurables retreat. And that’s a very good question. I mean it somehow has to be brought to your attention. Student: But can I ask at another level? […]
Chapter 9 of “37 Practices in Four Parts”
[…] have the two truths. Then you have the three poisons, and the three jewels, and the three realms, all kinds of threes. And then you have four immeasurables, and four elements, and the five skandas. I mean, there’s so many of so many. I used to keep a book of all the lists, beause […]
Chapter 7 of “37 Practices in Four Parts”
[…] would you say is attachment? Student: The one that wants to have him around. Ken: Yeah. In the Theravadan tradition, there’s a wonderful explanation of the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. And it is presented in terms of parenting. Loving-kindness is the wish that your son be healthy and strong, be fully […]
Chapter 2 of “Power and Presence”
[…] isn’t being done to you. You’re actually meeting what’s arising and staying in the experience and implementing intention. So, you say the active aspects of the four immeasurables, the corruption there. Do exactly the same thing with the passive. Be present in the experience of falling out and see what happens. That makes sense […]
Chapter 9 of “Guru, Deity, Protector”
[…] really, really weird text. And I can get just enough out of it to understand that this was some very strange method of working with the four immeasurables using energy transformation techniques. Well, all we have now is the texts. Don’t have any of the instructions. You know, I’d be really interested in that. […]
Chapter 5 of “Guru, Deity, Protector”
[…] Ken: Not the same thing at all. Judith: All right. Ken: I had a group in Orange County many years ago and we were doing the four immeasurables. There was a psychotherapist in the group who was a bit of a feisty character. In the middle of [a talk on] compassion at one of […]
Chapter 4 of “Guru, Deity, Protector”
[…] trait, an ideal, an emotion, doesn’t matter what, and make that your identity. Choose an identity Ken: So one can, if you wish, take one of the immeasurables. Chenrezi for instance is compassion. You can also, if you wish, take an emotion. Hevajra is vajra anger. One could look at Vairocana as pride. Or […]
Chapter 4 of “The Unfettered Mind”
The immovable mind Ken: Today we turn to the matter of action. In case any of you have been following the progression of this retreat, it’s basically going from stillness to action. Certainly in the Taoist and the Buddhist traditions, the view is that action arises from stillness or, if you want to be mystical […]
Chapter 1 of “Guru, Deity, Protector”
[…] sangha, and then what is characteristic of the Vajrayana: guru, yidam and dakinis and protectors. And then following that, we have the ordinary refuge and the four immeasurables. So we’ll do each of those at the beginning of a session practice. It takes a little bit more, but that’s fine. And then we do […]
Chapter 4 of “Practicing the Diamond Sutra”
Due to technical issues, only the first 18 mins of this class were recorded. Ken provided a summary, appended at the end of the transcript. Mind training: suitable under any circumstances Ken: Why are you focused on a Great Path of Awakening or lojong at this point? Student: At this point, because when the slogans […]
