Article
Before the 2016 election, I posted a short piece about a Buddhist response to Trump, namely, to forget about being Buddhist and focus instead on being human. In particular, I wrote that our responsibility is to use the skills and capabilities we develop through practice to step out of our own reactivity. Then we have […]
Article
Winter, 1972. Ingrid and I, along with another couple, David and Donna, had rented a small house in the interior of British Columbia. We planned to do a month-long retreat while we waited for spring and for Kalu Rinpoche, our teacher, to visit Vancouver for the first time. It was the usual retreat mess. We […]
Practice Material
May we acquire all the abilities of the ground, path, and fruition. And clear away all disruptions in outlook, practice, and behavior. In the infinite expanse of the wonderful mind of Ever-present Good,
May we take hold of eternal being in the youthful vase body.
Practice Material
When you open and relax,
There is an emptiness that goes beyond true or false.
Here, if you know arising release, natural release and direct release,
You are no different from all the awakened ones.
You are awake and no different from me.
Practice Material
As you grow accustomed to this exchange, and that may take a while, you come to rest in a different way, in a profound acceptance of the pain of the world and the struggles that comprise most people’s lives. In that acceptance, there is a quiet joy, a joy in the wonder of life itself.
Article
Who am I? In the world of social conventions, the answer is a story. Lots of things may go into this story: interests, history, quirks, talents, achievements, background, likes, dislikes, successes and failures. And the story we tell changes according to the circumstances.
Article
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom is not a state; it is a process. It is something you are, not something you have. In freedom, there is a continual releasing of reactive material as it arises in each moment of experience. […]
Practice Material
Treasured teacher, I pray to you.
Grant me energy for belief in self to fall away.
Grant me energy to see through life’s illusions.
Practice Material
Through my awakened intention
When strong aversion arises
In any being in the six states,
May they let it be, without doing anything with it.
As awareness finds its own place,
May they attain the pristine awareness of clarity.
Practice Material
Form is emptiness.
Emptiness is form.
Emptiness is not other than form
Form is not other than emptiness…
Practice Material
The essence of thought is what is, it is taught.
To this meditator who arises as an unceasing play,
Being nothing at all, but arising as anything,
Grant me energy to know that samsara and nirvana are not separate.
Practice Material
May the evil, confusion, and misery in other sentient beings
Come into me; may I experience the pain.
Because I experience that pain, may all sentient beings
Never again experience any misery, evil, or confusion.
Practice Material
Because of your great compassion,
Every being is originally placed in full awakening.
Because of your powerful actions,
You engage and master everything in samsara and nirvana.
Practice Material
What joy!
Samsaric ways are senseless:
they are the seeds of suffering.
Conventional ways are pointless.
Focus on what is sound and true.
Majestic outlook is beyond all fixation.
Majestic practice is no distraction.
Majestic behavior is no action or effort.
The fruition is there when you are free from hope and fear.
