Infusing Western Life with Tibetan Buddhist Compassion
When I was 19 years old and living in NYC, I had an inkling to stick out my thumb and go for broke, coast-to-coast. At the time it was all about the open door, a battered map, and my desire to experience . . . and frankly, proving to myself that I actually would/could do … Read more
Not knowing is a good beginning. Awareness of our ignorance helps prepare us for evolving toward awakening. To recognize we have been lost is to attain the trailhead of the Path. *** Acknowledge ignorance to begin navigating beyond it . . . taking first steps toward authentic wisdom. Acceptance brings humility, curiosity and grace, all … Read more
It is said that opposites attract . . . for those who are exposed, and pay attention, they can also teach. *** Shouting can sway emotions, creating turbulence and agitation. Divisive and hateful speech can close minds, creating fear. Harboring grudges – real or imagined – creates resentment and intolerance. Disrespect breeds untrustworthiness. Cherishing possessions … Read more
New Years’ Day plus five. Well-intentioned resolutions beginning to fade? The fact is, we can’t change ingrained habits with just a few days of will-power. Ignorance is stubborn: solid, thick-skinned and often explosively powerful . . . well-equipped to knock us off-balance . . . time after time. *** But here’s the thing: When we … Read more
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
To want nothing but Bodhicitta. What would that be like? *** Restless late on a cold, rainy, windy night, how would it be to want only Bodhicitta? .. Off to the store to buy some groceries, to fill the car with gasoline, or to move projects ahead . . . how would it be to … Read more
Water is round when in a round receptacle and square in a square one, but water as water has no particular shape. It is good to remember this. *** We see things as this and that, we like this and dislike that; always discriminating based on individual perspectives. Then, caught in their entanglements, forming attachments … Read more
Today marks three months since the Pulse killings in Orlando, the event that sparked the writing and sharing of these Dharma Bread Crumbs. As witnesses, we’ve had this time for the horror to sink in, for reactions to arise, the stories to be known and processing to occur . . . For the sense of … Read more
Again there is news of terrorist activity, scores of dead and injured, today not by guns or bombs, but by the driver of a truck. It took place at a Bastille Day event in South France, in which people gathered to celebrate that nation’s freedom and culture. What to say? :: What to do? :: … Read more
Most in the West who study and practice Dharma come from an experiential background of Judeo-Christian beliefs and experiences, all of which are rooted in a firm concept of a divine, creator God. Commonly, direct communication with God occurs through prayer. But what if one no longer — or never has — believes in the … Read more