Lama Shenpen on our connection to others: “Our living connection with other beings is mysterious. We cannot find any boundary to our awareness and yet another being is another being to be loved and responded to. They are not just our imagination. So that living connection or boundary between one being and another is deeply mysterious and wonderful. It is the source of all joy … Continue reading Our Mysterious Connection With Others
There are five precepts that all Buddhists are committed to keeping. These are to not kill, not steal, not lie and not commit sexual misconduct or take intoxicants.
In the training for the Mahayanagana, students examine these precepts and consider the nuances – what do they actually mean in practice? What happens if we find ourselves acting contrary to these precepts either in spirit or in practice? There is much to consider. These days there is a lot of anxiety in the Buddhist world, as in other areas of modern life about abusive behaviour and how to safeguard the vulnerable by adhering to firm moral principles. We have been working on such a policy within our Sangha along lines laid out by the government and charity law. How best to safeguard the vulnerable, which could be any one of us in fact.
As we in the Shrimalagana (the inner body of the Awakened Heart Sangha) consider this we realize that however careful we are with our rules of engagement in actual fact the only safeguard is our sangha ethos and for all of us to embody it. If we all take care about how we are communicating and connecting to each other, then we will not make mistakes that leave people feeling abandoned and abused. Mistakes will happen.
We all tend to project onto each other and misunderstand each others behaviour and intentions. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) helps us to learn how to meet our own needs and be able to speak from a genuine and honest position which enables others to more readily understand and connect to us on a level that is meaningful and mutually supportive. We all have a responsibility to learn how to communicate in this manner and this way we will all be able to play our part in safeguarding the vulnerable.
So how literally are we to take the way sexual misconduct is presented in the traditional texts?
Continue reading “Article: Keeping The Precepts – Sexual Misconduct & Buddhism”
I feel particularly joyful at receiving the news on October 11th that the two Karmapas met up in France to get to know each other on a personal basis and they have issued a statement of their intention to work together from now on for the sake of the precious Karma Kagyu tradition. As you know I have felt the split between the two … Continue reading The Two Karmapas
Yes, it is interesting that the words openness, clarity and sensitivity mean something straight off don’t they? You say to someone that you meditate or practice awareness and they might think you’re a bit odd. But if you say I try to be open, clear and sensitive people will think, well that’s good, even if they think you’re not much good at it! Continue reading Intuitively relating to the words Openness, Clarity & Sensitivity
Lama Shenpen advises a student who is questioning the practice of repeating a prayer over and over: “Always do the practice that comes most strongly from one’s heart, the practice that one has most confidence in.” Continue reading Follow your Heart
Lama Shenpen teaching in 2017 on the tradition of Yogic Songs and singing, that’s particularly associated with the ‘Singing Yogin’ Milarepa, and with Lama’s teacher Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamsto Rinpoche. She explains the importance and value of songs for transmitting teachings, and the significance of learning yogic songs ‘by heart’. The Awakened Heart Sangha through Khenpo Rinpoche’s advice and blessing, continues this yogic singing tradition. He … Continue reading Video: Teaching on Yogic Songs
Lama Tashi Mannox’s Dharma Art work shop at The Hermitage in June, was a great success in all sorts of ways. I enjoyed talking to Lama Tashi in depth about what creativity means in terms of Buddha Nature and how to translate the English idea of creativity in Tibetan. They don’t seem to have one word for all that creativity means for us in English. … Continue reading Article: Dharma Art – What is Creativity in Dharma Terms?
Lama Shenpen explains the Buddhist concept of Chitta in this short video made earlier this year. In Buddhism, the chitta, the heart-mind is one, but in the West there is a gulf between the two. We have to really work at connecting them together to understand the full meaning of chitta and Bodhichitta. Lama Shenpen explains how important this is, because if chitta is translated … Continue reading Video: Meaning of Chitta – The Heart-Mind
Lama Shenpen answers a meditation student’s question on the effect of the prayers on the people who have died, especially in view of the karma and its results. “…I even find it convincing that because our hearts are all one what we wish and feel about others can directly affect them.” Continue reading Heart Connections with the Deceased
Tibetan Buddhism talks about our connections (Tibetan: Tendrel) with each other as being lasting and meaningful and that they can continue between lives. “This is actually pointing to something extremely profound that one can only come to understand gradually as one comes to understand the full implications of emptiness or openness. What it means is that you cannot separate things off from each other and so there is no way we can ever escape our connections.” Continue reading Connections Outside Time & Space
