In general I think that when we are feeling very emotional it is important to be gentle with ourselves and trust our underlying sanity. When it is time to sit in meditation, don’t have some huge project or demand – just sit in order to sit and just be. Continue reading How to meditate with strong emotions
Thinking of the experiences as an offering to Awakening or the Dharma, is to invite its adhistana. The offering is made in the state of meditation. We rest in the spaciousness of letting go of grasping at things as somehow ‘solid’. Continue reading As well as the traditional shrine offerings of incense, candles etc, can we make offerings of our experience?
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
The word Buddha is the presence and the presence is the word – they come together as a complete experience and the most natural expression of what the Buddha is in essence somehow. Continue reading Student’s Question: How can we be re-inspired by the liturgy and reconnect to the Buddha?
Lama Shenpen answers the questions: Do you pray in Buddhism? Who are you praying to? What for? Does it do any good? Does prayer mean you have to believe in something to pray to? Prayer is strongly connected to the idea of (another unpopular word!) ‘Worship’. We talk about worship in Christian tradition. But even the Buddha when he reached enlightenment asked himself, ‘now I’m foremost in the world, and I’m the great enlightened Buddha, what shall I worship, who shall I worship? Continue reading Video: Prayer in Buddhism – Do you pray in Buddhism?
