Spend time doing things which touch, move or expand your heart in this way. It may be simple things like watching the cat rolling and stretching in the sun, it may be watching a bird soaring high in the sky, it may be listening to certain pieces of music, Continue reading Training ourselves to appreciate simple pleasures that expand the heart
Dear All I hope you are all coping well in the difficult circumstances we all find ourselves in. We at the Hermitage are better off than most as there are four of us here together and we have plenty of space to move around in. It must be very taxing for those cooped up in small houses together with multiple family members all day for … Continue reading A message from Lama Shenpen to her students practising during this difficult time
Training the Mind – Cultivating Compassion: Lama Shenpen begins her year of teaching on love and compassion, on Saturday 4th April at 9.30am – drawing from this classic Tibetan text on mind training. Many of you will know it from the commentary by Trungpa Rinpoche. Continue reading Lama Shenpen Live Teaching Sat 4th April
We need to discover what is real – there is a path that leads to discovery of what’s real. Samsara is hard! But if you are on the path there is a sense that even the suffering is somehow a sign of deepening understanding. Without the suffering we might think it was all going to be easy. The suffering tells us that it’s not easy and that we need patience and determination. We need to slow down, relax and reflect gently. Continue reading What is Real? The Path to Truth & Lasting Happiness
Reflect on the poignancy of impermanence and on the inevitability of death. Let the significance of that really strike to your heart and reflect on what is most important in life in the light of that fact. Notice how this thought heightens your awareness and how it could be used to intensify your heart wish for clarity and confidence in relation to the path of awakening Continue reading How the Inevitability of Change & Impermanence Heightens Our Clarity/Awareness
Sharing Lama Shenpen’s advice on doing a home retreat from her booklet about practising at home. During this difficult and uncertain time of the coronavirus pandemic, many of Lama Shenpen’s students are using this time at home for retreat purposes. Continue reading Setting Up a Retreat at Home
Samsara always was, is and will be uncertain and as long as we cling to it we will be trapped in fear even if we temporarily feel secure sometimes… let the crisis galvanise us into realising it’s true that death can come at any time and be as ready for it as we can with a heart full of love, compassion and confidence in our true nature. Continue reading A Conversation About Buddhist Practice During the Coronavirus Crisis
