[…] I’m a little apprehensive about this, I don’t mind saying, given the number of monsters that were born yesterday—you start off by developing a profound feeling of faith, devotion, in the guru. And you think of mind and guru’s becoming one. And in that, you assume the identity of your yidam. Student: That’s what […]

[…] was very helpful and worked with people and helped people in many many ways. But there was something about that that really didn’t suit her. Devotion and faith Ken: What I’m encouraging you to do here is to weigh everything with your own experience. We are going to be talking about faith. We’re going […]

[…] in many traditions of Buddhism. He’s written a number of books, and one of them—which I think is not his best book, it’s quite uneven—is called The Faith To Doubt. And he starts it off by noting the way doubt is viewed. In the Tibetan tradition—as most of you probably know—doubt is viewed as […]

[…] do it independently. In the way that I’ve been approaching this is really encouraging people to find the depth of inspiration, the depth of commitment, courage and faith as we were talking about it. Actually go to the edge. In some of the interviews, when people come in and say, “You know, I have […]

[…] present, it naturally takes expression as compassion. Now, one of the reasons I’ve been referring you more than a few times to emotions and whether devotion or faith or compassion, etc., and actually making those part of your practice. Even the practice of sitting like holding those feelings in one’s heart as one sits […]

[…] is usually presented is in terms of attention and the mind focusing on the breath, and there’s very little said—quite frequently—about feelings of joy, loving kindness, compassion, faith, devotion, longing that come up. Instead things like anger, pride, jealously, greed are always regarded as bad, and the approach that many people come to develop […]

[…] a lot of different factors, not the least of which is the tradition in which one is training. Soto Zen particularly, the posture is the repository of faith in that tradition, so you just surrender to the posture completely. This doesn’t always have good results. The story is told of the Japanese man who […]

[…] which we come to know actually, all of the ways in which we hang on and protect the sense of I. In other traditions, it comes through faith and devotion. That by placing your trust and faith in a teacher sometimes; in the Dharma itself; in a certain way of doing things, and trusting […]

[…] actually agreed very much on what the outcome should be, but they all had a very, very different way of getting to it, in terms of their faith, and their belief, and their ethical codes, and things like that. So some would say, “Well, because of X, Y and Z, this is what we […]

[…] work. Student: This? [holding up book] Ken: Yeah [laughter]. And my aim was to … I couldn’t find anything comparable from the Theravadan tradition, which had the faith in the heart, or faith in the mind in Chinese. And you have the Genjokoan from Japanese. All the other stuff, dzogchen, mahamudra sources and things […]

[…] that, it was some weird combination. And they were having this huge argument and he just sat there. And it was all about what do you have faith in etc., etc. And finally the moderator turned to Deshimaru and said, “What do you have faith in?” And he said “My own mind.” [Laughs] And […]

[…] of trying to understand it, but actually letting ourselves feel it. And I think it arises, and this goes back somewhat to the discussion we had on faith. I think you’ll find that three kinds of faith arise here. That is, on the one hand, it makes sense. On another level, there’s actually a […]

[…] person. You sure? Cara? Cara: I could take all day. Um, I think that this exercise—or not this exercise, but the whole trusting—is sort of synonymous with faith. Ken: Yeah. Cara: Obviously. Ken: At the moment that you lean back, you make the decision. There you are. There’s that person whom you know or […]

[…] words. Leslie: How did I say it? Ken: “I’m following the instructions.” [Laughs] Leslie: Okay. How can I say it without using “I”? Ken: You’re putting your faith in that following the instructions you’re going to survive. Not necessarily [laughs]. Two Sufi stories Ken: Okay. The Time, the Place and the People. All right […]

[…] the third disciple. This is rank heresy, and from a man who does not even speak our language correctly, and is not a priest ordained in our faith,’ muttered the priests. And he could make no headway. The Story of Fire. Tales of the Dervishes, Idries Shah. p. 31 So, not infrequently you find […]