‘The Buddha addressed Sariputra: “Such a wonderful Law as this is only preached by the buddha-tathagatas on rare occasions, just as the udumbara flower is seen but once in long periods. Sariputra, believe me, all of you; in the Buddha’s teaching no word is false. Sariputra, the meaning of the laws which the buddhas expound […]
I leave for England in two and a half weeks, and I do seem to have compacted the time down before then in my mind, so it feels quite imminent. I am trying to make sure loose ends are taken care of – not least by stockpiling posts on here for the next couple of […]
‘”Emptiness,” understood as the interdependence of all things, functions in meditation to provide the requisite conditions for compassionate generosity. Meditating on interdependence, we develop the realization that we share a collective destiny with others, especially those in our immediate community, but ultimately all living beings. The more we contemplate it, the more we realize in […]
‘To take the unsettles self in hand, under whatever conditions, and return to the mind with which one set out; to pick oneself up again, after the mind changes, weakens, and breaks down, and stiffen the determination; to carry through the oft-reconstructed original vow – isn’t this the true meaning of courage?’ (Novice To Master) […]
I have been able to listen to a lot of dharma talks recently, in addition to my usual amount of reading, and that has been helpful as I work on my material for talks I will give while I am in England. One of these was given by Liên, who I have known since we […]
‘Deshan said to the monks, “As soon as you ask, you have erred. If you don’t ask, you’re also wrong.” A monk came forward and bowed. Deshan struck him. The monk said, “I just bowed. Why did you hit me?” Deshan said, “What use would it be to wait until you opened your mouth?”‘ (Zen’s Chinese […]
‘There is a big difference between regret for having done a harmful action and jumping to the conclusion that we are inherently bad people doomed to do bad things. It is a deeply held Buddhist perspective that there is no such thing as a fixed person, let alone an inherently bad or inadequate person. There […]
