Why might someone feel lonely after taking the Refuge or Bodhisattva vow?
We are facing the aloneness of a journey only we can make for ourselves, also an alone-ness where there is nobody looking on and saying we are doing well, we are our own leader and follower – Guru and disciple – we have to do it ourselves, like growing up but on a cosmic scale. Continue reading Why might someone feel lonely after taking the Refuge or Bodhisattva vow?
How to reject samsara but not reject enthusiasm for life
Letting go of delusion is about cultivating enthusiasm for life… You need to keep coming back to look more carefully at what you mean by detachment – is it cutting off connection with life or is it letting go of delusion and attachments that are just the cause of suffering? Continue reading How to reject samsara but not reject enthusiasm for life
What does ‘resting in the nature of mind’ mean? A student asks how can we be sure we’re not resting in ‘ordinary mind’ when we meditate?
Seeing reality accurately is Liberation. So the doubts that trigger enquiry are our best friends on the path – open to them with humility and love – they are bringing us closer and closer to the truth… Continue reading What does ‘resting in the nature of mind’ mean? A student asks how can we be sure we’re not resting in ‘ordinary mind’ when we meditate?
The Pranidhana for Radical Happiness at the Heart of Love & Compassion Teachings
The important thing about the Apramanas practice is to really break through that thinking and dare to wish all beings to be happy and free from suffering, because that is actually what you’re wishing for, and you do wish it to be radical happiness, where they’ve realised what is the cause of suffering and what causes happiness, and they’re just abiding by that, so they’re not going to fall back into suffering… Continue reading The Pranidhana for Radical Happiness at the Heart of Love & Compassion Teachings
Loving Kindness to ourselves – Dharma Practice or Self-help?
You are right to make a distinction between a psychological self-help approach and genuine love and compassion, which emerges through our Dharma practice. The latter can only develop if we let go of our delusions that create samsara. Continue reading Loving Kindness to ourselves – Dharma Practice or Self-help?
How can we experience the unhindered quality of Sensitivity? What if it’s experienced as tension and stuckness?
The feeling of being stuck is due to our habitual view about time and existing through time, but the sensitivity is that sense of being stuck. We don’t lose that inseparable quality of sensitivity and responsiveness that knows it doesn’t have to be like this and wants liberation. Continue reading How can we experience the unhindered quality of Sensitivity? What if it’s experienced as tension and stuckness?
Do we love others because we are all the same, or because of our differences?
Yes, we love others because we are all Buddha by nature and yes, just thinking that could be too simplistic and coarse. That is because the thinking is too simplistic and coarse – not because the thought is false in itself. This is a very important point and applies to almost every situation in life. Just thinking things without it really leading to a deeper experiential understanding doesn’t change much – but often that is where we need to start. Continue reading Do we love others because we are all the same, or because of our differences?
How do we learn to love without attachment?
Just keep going with Dharma practice on all fronts – spiral learning. As we understand suffering better we understand its origin better and its cessation. Then we have a glimpse of Right View which we can then stabilise through the Eight Fold Path. It always comes back to that… Continue reading How do we learn to love without attachment?
Do the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas hear us when we pray? What if we feel nothing is happening or changing?
Since we are inseparable from the Awakened Nature of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and their pranidhanas and adhistana [powerful blessing] pervade the Universe and the hearts of all beings – when we pray there is no way it cannot connect to the mandala of Awakening whether that seems to us to be happening or not. Continue reading Do the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas hear us when we pray? What if we feel nothing is happening or changing?
How does Karma relate to what is happening in the world at the moment?
Karma is indeed a big question – it involves the whole Buddhist cosmological view quite foreign to a modern western way of thinking about life. The world of our experience internally and externally is a reflection of our own past wishes, intentions and deeds of body, speech and mind. To that extent you could say we are choosing our future all the time… Continue reading How does Karma relate to what is happening in the world at the moment?