Infusing Western Life with Tibetan Buddhist Compassion
Our Ignorance cannot be seen, touched, tasted, smelled, heard, or even thought. But it can be felt. It can be felt as insecurity, fear, hatred, jealousy, grandiosity, greed, cynical self-doubt, arrogance and narrow-mindedness. Unhappiness, too. Having become accustomed to its presence, we don’t find it to be acutely painful. But make no mistake, our Ignorance … Read more
One calendar year is about to morph into the next, a time when people traditionally look for those personal behaviors they’d like to stop doing, and, perhaps, what they’d like to begin. If you’ve been reading these Bread Crumbs or other similar materials, and have been considering Buddhist ideas and notions or engaging in practices, perhaps you’re … Read more
There’s a common notion that Tibetan Buddhism, in its simplest form, is a battle – to the death — between our ‘true’ (i.e., wisest) self and our Ego. Our wisest self-wishes to evolve, blossom and be free . . . the Ego likes things just the way they are, under its control . . . … Read more
Tibetan Buddhism. It’s an ancient curriculum of study, analysis, contemplation, meditation, practice and engagement. Along the way, its primary reason for being is this: to help us better understand how our minds work, and then use what we’ve learned to establish and nourish consistent mental health and well-being. Because of its exotic source, demands for … Read more
I was reading a 1990 interview with James Hillman, the acclaimed psychologist, whose work was greatly inspired by his studies with Carl Jung in the 1950’s. In speaking of ‘New Age’ movements, he remarked, “Meditation, in today’s world, is obscene. To go into a room and sit on the floor and meditate on a straw … Read more
As Kathy and I were watching the National Dog Show the other night, her description of Border Collies piqued my imagination. :: Here is a dog breed developed to gather and control sheep in the hilly border country between Scotland and England. Known for their intense stare or “eye” with which they control their flock. … Read more
Election Day, 2016 “The luminous nature of mind, like the changeless sky, is unaffected by temporary events.” — Bodhisattva Maitreya What Maitreya says is very reassuring, especially if one has the experience to affirm it. *** We are all so familiar with our ordinary mind . . . like breathing we tend to take it … Read more