Only One Way, by Trevor Leggett

Just this this, by Tangen Harada RoshiIt is worth knowing that one can get hypnotized into thinking that there is only one way to do a thing correctly—it’s the Right Way, and there are no other ways.

At All-India Radio, where I worked for a time, I used to see Indian violinists. My father was a professional violinist, one of the best of his generation. He led at the Covent Garden Opera for several years, and for a good time after that for Sir Thomas Beecham. So, I felt I knew something about violin playing. I was watching an Indian violinist in an AIR studio, playing in the orthodox way with the violin tucked under his left chin. It is axiomatic that the instrument must be held firmly in that way. At the very beginning, a pupil is made to hold the instrument like this, and even to take away the supporting left hand. The instrument has to remain sticking out there, held firmly by the pressure of the chin. It has to be absolutely steady, supported between the chin and the bent left arm, because the movements of the left-hand fingers are the fastest precise movements that can be made by humans—sometimes sixteen changes in a second. Unless there is absolute steadiness, it cannot be done. (more…)

Work with Void – free mind by Buddhadasa

We’ve been tweeting this link to a PDF eBook Work with Void-free mind by Buddhadasa and thought you would like to read it too.

Bodhisattva possibly Hua Yen.Previously we spoke of emptiness metaphorically as a special kind of power or force that can look in any direction. We spoke of a certain hermit with fiery eyes. Whatever direction he looked, with his fiery eyes popping out, everything would be burnt to a crisp so that direction was completely cleared. I’d like to use this as a metaphor for understanding emptiness.

The language of legend and myth always has hidden meanings. There’s a certain trick, or purpose, of important scriptures, such as the Ramayana, which shows that people in those days had a rather exalted imagination in their ability to consider and ponder things quite different from the ordinary. (more…)

Try to imagine deathlessness, by Ajahn Sumedho

Photo: Ajahn SumedhoTry to imagine deathlessness, and all you get is some kind of immortal fantasy, a heavenly fantasy where everything is beautiful, you are young forever, and there is no disease. This is a childlike fantasy of paradise. As you trust awareness more, however, the formless, the unbounded, isn’t seen as a state of void ― a kind of unconscious annihilation ― but is where ignorant grasping is no longer your obsession. (more…)

Knowing for ourselves, by Diana St Ruth

Buddha. Burma, photo John AskeIf we are constantly following what others say and think, we never live our own lives; we live other people’s lives; our centre of gravity is somewhere else. The Kalama sutta is classic in pointing this out (see below). The Buddha goes along to this town, Kesaputta, and the people there, the Kalamas, seize the opportunity to ask him about something they’ve been grappling with for a long time: ‘Someone comes and tells us how marvellous his teaching is and how second-rate everyone else’s is. And then someone else comes and says the same—“My teaching is great, the best; everyone else just talks rubbish!”’ So the Kalamas are asking the Buddha how to judge who to believe, and he says, ‘Well, you shouldn’t believe anyone. It’s not a question of believing or not believing what anyone says. If you want to know reality, you have to recognise it. You’re ignoring your own experience of what is happening to you. That’s the difficulty.’ (more…)

Tashi Delek!

Tashi Delek!

Happy Losar!

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Tashi Delek!

Happy Losar!

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Tibetan Year 2137

Year of the Iron Tiger



Tibet the story of a tragedy

Buddhist VideoThis is very moving Buddhist video by Ludovic Segarra, the French film maker.

This Buddhist film contains some old footage of Tibet and goes back to 1938 to the Sheffer mission sent by the German Third Reich.

Composed of exceptional scenes this documentary reports the history of the Tibetan people who, as the commentary says, have been oppressed in silence for forty-five years. watch the video

This life Limitless. Tangen Harada Roshi

Tangen Harada Roshi Bukkoku-ji

This life Limitless, by Tangen Harada Roshi, Bukkoku-ji, Japan

I took the snoring as my meditation subject, by John Aske

Reclining Buddha, Burma. © John AskeThere can be few sounds more maddening than snoring — someone else’s snoring I mean. A few years ago I put up a friend, who was between flats and who had just embarked on a university course. He had the back room and I had the front, where my books were.

Then, one night, an acquaintance appeared at my door, dishevelled and in a broken state, with nowhere to go. I didn’t want to put him up as well, as I had already parcelled out the rooms – all two of them – but I felt sufficiently concerned to do so — an old Hampstead custom. Unfortunately, he smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. And when people do that, they apparently snore very loudly due to damage of the soft palate. (more…)

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