Here's a treat: a full three-week retreat's worth of Dharma-talks on the topic of Samantabhadra, via Tarchin Hearn. A friend who recently returned from this retreat—which was held in New Zealand—sent me a link. I've been enjoying them greatly, so thought I'd share the wealth, so to speak. In Dzogchen, Samantabhadra is a representation of our true nature, the Primordial Buddha: the innate wisdom …
Buddhism
Verses
Fifty Verses For twenty-seven years I've carried around a stack of fifty-one 4×6" notecards, bound together with a small piece of white rope, tied off neatly in a shoe-lace style bow. The card on the top (now a bit tattered) reads "The Fifty Verses on the Manifestation of Consciousness, by Thich Nhat Hanh." And each of the remaining fifty cards hosts one of the fifty verses, carefully …
Practice Notes: Magic Trick
Imagine ... taking your son or daughter, or niece or nephew, or younger brother or sister to a magic show. One of the acts performed by the magician is the well-known "sawing a lady in half." You and your child-friend watch as the magician opens the coffin-like wooden box, and helps his lovely assistant to lie down in it—with only her head and her feet protruding, on opposite ends. With The …
A Grin Without A Cat
The following excerpt is drawn from Ajahn Brahm's Kindfulness, the chapter titled "A Grin without a Cat." ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ In Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Alice is startled to see the Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a nearby tree and grinning from ear to ear. Like all the strange creatures in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat has the eloquence of a politician. Not only does the …
Light & Mirror
Krishna saw his own self — as the Infinite — In the throng of lovely gopis. They experienced in Krishna, O wonder, Their own self — but as the Absolute. And when, in play, he stole their veils, He wished to see himself in Truth's naked ray. Âtmâ and Mâyâ: light and mirror. God is Love and He loves His image. ~ Frithjof Schuon Playful Reflection In searching for an online version …
Return Of The Geese
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. ~ William Blake Returning to writing from a previous time can be an interesting exercise, and tends to clearly highlight which essays, poems, etc. have an evergreen quality—some kind of value that does not diminish with the passing of time—and which ones, not so much. Here's a piece that, imo, falls …