Category: Article

Article, Lama Shenpen Teaching

Introducing the Power of Pranidhanas – the power of our wishes and intentions

This power of making pranidhanas – the power of our intention and our resolve, is important for us to understand right from the start of the path because it’s is the same power we use when we decide we are going to do anything at all, such as meditate every day, or follow the path to Awakening. This power of our resolve is a power inherent to our awareness and something we have immediate access to. Continue reading Introducing the Power of Pranidhanas – the power of our wishes and intentions

Loshi
Article, Lama Shenpen Teaching

Why Reflection on Death Is Our Dearest Friend

The Buddha’s path means giving up attachment to all we are holding on to. It means giving up our cherished views about ourselves and the world. This can be as scary as death itself. It is easy to have doubts, thinking that maybe the whole idea of Enlightenment or Awakening is a pipe dream or a fantasy. Deep reflection on death, however, can help us cut through this kind of doubt. Continue reading Why Reflection on Death Is Our Dearest Friend

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milarepa yogic songs
Article, Lama Shenpen Teaching

Feature: Teaching on How to Use Yogic Songs as Dharma Practice

We have a booklet of Yogic Songs and at the end of each day we choose one of the songs to sing together and in this way keep our connection with the tradition of Yogic songs of realisation. As we sing them again and again we find we are learning them by heart, almost effortlessly, and they are a wonderful expression of our shared experience and culture. The words are profound and inspiring and as soon as we hear the melody somehow their meaning comes to mind. Continue reading Feature: Teaching on How to Use Yogic Songs as Dharma Practice

Loshi
Article, Lama Shenpen Quote

Article: What does it mean to ‘take Refuge’?

In order to perform the action of going for Refuge, we need something to direct our action towards. We need something to set in the place of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha at centre of the mandala of sacred space that we are creating. The custom is to use a Buddha image to represent the Buddha and a text of the teachings to represent the Dharma. The Sangha is present in the person who is going to give the Refuge and any other practitioners present at the ceremony. Continue reading Article: What does it mean to ‘take Refuge’?

Loshi
Article, Lama Shenpen Teaching

Article: What is Adhistana? How do we connect and open to Openness, Clarity & Sensitivity?

The Mahayana Buddhist tradition teaches that the three inseparable qualities of Openness, Clarity and Sensitivity are actually the nature of the Universe itself. It is true, up to a point, that we have only our own Openness, Clarity and Sensitivity to rely on, but actually our Buddha Nature is not some kind of isolated entity separate from the Universe and everyone else’s Buddha Nature. Continue reading Article: What is Adhistana? How do we connect and open to Openness, Clarity & Sensitivity?

Loshi
Article, Lama Shenpen Teaching

Article: Mantra and Meditation Practice

Uttering the words, especially if you do it with openness and conviction, links or tunes you into the power and presence of the lineage. The lineage is the power line through which the truth comes to us. It is important to recognise that the mantra recitation practice is not about ‘doing’ anything. It is more a matter of linking and relaxing into a power that is already there.” Continue reading Article: Mantra and Meditation Practice

Loshi
Tibetan Buddhist meditation
Article, Lama Shenpen Teaching

Article: Five Uses of the Term Self in Buddhism

The question is whether ‘self’ has any meaning in Buddhism, since it speaks so much of ‘not-self’, which is a realization of the emptiness of the notion of self as we normally understand it. There could be an infinite number of layers to our sense of self, each of which would be a different kind of self. The coherent self that is the knower, the actor, the controller of a being is like the kernal of its associated personality, which supports and is supported by it. It is like a hard central core, which changes, depending on how deep into its nature one has gone. Each level of insight causes a collapse into a deeper, subtler, and more strongly held sense of self. Each level of insight brings one closer to what that self is in itself. Continue reading Article: Five Uses of the Term Self in Buddhism

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