Pema Chödrön on Building a Stable Foundation February 9, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Pema Chodron , 1 comment so farWhen we build a house, we start by creating a stable foundation. Just so, when we wish to benefit others, we start by developing warmth or friendship for ourselves. It’s common, however, for people to have a distorted view of this friendliness and warmth. We’ll say, for instance, that we need to take care of ourselves, but how many of us really know how to do this? When clinging to security and comfort, and warding off pain, become the focus of our lives, we don’t end up feeling cared for and we certainly don’t feel motivated to extend ourselves to others. We end up feeling more threatened or irritable, more unable to relax.
- Pema Chödrön from “Unlimited Friendliness” (Winter 2009)
(Almost) Daily Words of Wisdom from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche February 4, 2010
Posted by James Shaheen in : Buddha, Buddhism, Chogyam Trungpa , 2 commentsOne of my favorite newsletters is Carolyn Gimian’s “Ocean of Dharma.” You can sign up for it here and join nearly 10,000 others who receive jewels of wisdom from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche two or three times a week. Here’s today’s, one I particularly liked:
Keep the Moth Out of the Flame
When you are trying to help someone, you have to have humor, self-existing humor, and you have to hold the moth in your hand, but not let it go into the flame. That’s what helping others means. Ladies and gentlemen, we have so much responsibility. A long time ago, people helped one another in this way. Now people just talk, talk talk. They read books, they listen to music, but they never actually help anyone. They never use their bare hands to save a person from going crazy. We have that responsibility. Somebody has to do it. It turns out to be us. We’ve got to do it, and we can do it with a smile, not with a long face.
From “Helping Others,” in Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala, page 180. Order your copy here.
Many thanks to Carolyn!
China’s handpicked Panchen Lama “elected” Vice President of Buddhist group
Posted by Monty McKeever in : China, Dalai Lama, News, Politics, Reincarnation, Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism , add a commentAs reported by phayul.com:
Dharamsala, February 4 – The handpicked “11th Panchen Lama Gaincain Norbu” has been “elected” as one of the 25 vice presidents of the Buddhist Association of China on Wednesday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the eighth national conference of the Buddhist Association of China in Beijing, the 19 year-old appointed by China to replace the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama said he would “uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), adhere to socialism, safeguard national unification, strengthen ethnic unity and improve Buddhist exchanges, on the basis of adherence to the law and love for the nation and Buddhism.”
For the entire article click here.
For more information on Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama click here.
Left image: Gendhun Choekyi Nyima (last photo before going missing in 1995), Right image: Gaincain Norbu
John Bush films to premiere at RMA February 2, 2010
Posted by Monty McKeever in : Art, Events, General , 2 commentsTomorrow night at the Rubin Museum of Art in NYC the filmmaker John Bush (Vajra Sky Over Tibet) will be premiering two new dance films, Absence Presence and Dream On Me, featuring the choreography of Nadine Helstroffer. This screening will include a discussion and Q & A with Bush, Helstroffer, and Buddhist Psychotherapist Michael Vincent Miller, PhD.
For more information click here.
“John Bush sets a benchmark for integrity and compassion in filmmaking.”- National Gallery of Australia
China warns Obama on Dalai Lama meeting
Posted by Philip Ryan in : China, Dalai Lama , 7 commentsIt’s bad enough that U.S. companies went ahead and sold arms to Taiwan (drawing the threat of sanction from an offended China) but now President Obama plans to meet with China’s biggest bête noire, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. (His failure to do so previously raised some eyebrows among Tibet-watchers around the globe.)
Relations between China and the U.S. have seldom been worse. Spats over human rights, the freedom of the internet, and currency control are raising tensions in both Washington and Beijing.
China’s ritual protests over heads of state meeting with the Dalai Lama usually die down fairly quickly with few lasting repercussions.
Finding Silence January 29, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Thich Nhat Hanh , 4 commentsI am busy from early in the morning until late at night. I am rarely alone. Where can I find a time and place to contemplate in silence?
Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence. There are moments when you think you’re silent and all around is silent, but talking is going on all the time inside your head. That’s not silence. The practice is how to find silence in all the activities you do.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, from “The Heart of the Matter” (Winter 2009)
Gelek Rimpoche on the Four Noble Truths January 21, 2010
Posted by Monty McKeever in : Tricycle Online Retreats , 8 commentsTricycle’s first online video retreat is less than two weeks away!
On February 1st at 10am we will be posting the first of eight talks by Gelek Rimpoche on The Four Noble Truths. One new talk will be added each week and will begin with a Q & A session in which Rimpoche will answer the questions posted by participants the previous week. Once these talks go up they will remain accessible indefinitely and the discussions will be ongoing.
The retreat is available only to Sustaining Members so if you have not subscribed or upgraded yet, now is the time!
I look forward to participating and talking with you all.
Click here for more information.
The Joy of Equanimity
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Meditation , 1 comment so farEquanimity is of tremendous importance both in the practice and in everyday life. Generally we get either swept away by pleasant and enticing objects, or worked up into a great state of agitation when confronted by unpleasant, undesirable objects. This wild alternation of contraries is nearly universal among human beings. When we lack the ability to stay balanced and unfaltering, we are easily swept into extremes of craving or aversion.
The scriptures say that when the mind indulges in sensual objects, it becomes agitated. This is the usual state of affairs in the world, as we can observe. In their quest for happiness, people mistake excitement of the mind for real happiness. They never have the chance to experience greater joy that comes with peace and tranquility.
- Sayadaw U Pandita, from “A Perfect Balance” (Winter, 2005)
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Tricycle Pilgrimage to Bhutan January 19, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Travel, Tricycle , 2 commentsTricycle Pilgrimage to Bhutan
Tricycle Foundation is pleased to announce its first annual pilgrimage to Bhutan, beginning in Bangkok on February 24 through March 8, 2010. A maximum of 20 pilgrims accompanied by leading Bhutanese Buddhist teachers will attend a traditional dance festival; visit temples and monasteries where Guru Rinpoche and other Buddhist saints meditated; witness the winter gathering of the endangered Black Necked Crane; and meet dynamic government and non-profit leaders. The $5,000 fee includes a $1,000 tax-deductible donation to Tricycle Foundation and covers all expenses including airfare from Bangkok to Bhutan, visas, board and room, transport, guides, and entrance fees.
For further information and a detailed itinerary, please contact Tricycle Board Member, Judith Brown Meyers, at judithbro@comcast.net
Photo: Judith Brown Meyers
Precious Silence January 15, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Meditation , 3 commentsThose who are fond of retreats—writers, ecstatics, parents with young children—often comment on the silence such time away allows. Silence becomes something present, almost palpable. The task shifts from keeping the world at a safe decible distance to letting more of the world in. Thomas Aquinas said that beauty arrests motion. He meant, I think, that in the presence of something gorgeous or sublime, we stop our nervous natterings, our foot twitchings and restless tongues. Whatever that fretful hunger is, it seems momentarily filled in the presence of beauty. To Aquinas’s wisdom I’d add that silence arrests flight, that in its refuge, the need to flee the chaos of noise diminishes. We let the world creep closer, we drop to our knees, as if to let the heart, like a small animal, get its legs on the ground.
- Barbara Hurd, “On Silence” (Summer 2001)