Reflections on how to live a meaningful life inspired by "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" by Sogyal Rinpoche and teachings from other Buddhist masters
Posted in Meditation, Sacred Music, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Aug 11th, 2011
I just posted another guest post at whatmeditationreallyis.com: ” Every morning when I check my email I begin my day with reading an inspirational message called Rigpa Glimpse of the Day. (You can sign-up for free here.) A few days ago (to be exact on July 22) the message was about how we can inspire [...]
Posted in Contemplation, Freedom, Karma, Turning Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Jul 22nd, 2011
My brother’s Au pair had a cold when I visited a few days ago. A day later I had one, too! Sigh! A vivid reminder, how we human beings share our happiness and suffering in this life with each other. Granted, having ice cream and hot chocolate for desert surely didn’t strengthen my immune system. [...]
Posted in Buddhism, Eight samsaric dharmas, Meditation, Samsara, zz HH Dalai Lama, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Mar 22nd, 2011
I am currently instructing an introductory meditation course for the Rigpa online course program in the United States. This term we changed to a new course called “What Meditation Really Is”. It not only includes teachings on meditation but also presents an introduction to the general basic principles of the Buddhist teachings. In the first [...]
Posted in Meditation, zz Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Mar 10th, 2011
Please enjoy my guest post at the What Meditation Really Is blog. Here is how it starts off: At first glance, this might sound like a strange question, but actually there are meditation instructions that use these examples! I recently listened to a collection of teachings called “What Meditation Really Is” by Sogyal Rinpoche. In [...]
Posted in zz Sogyal Rinpoche, zz Tertön Sogyal on Mar 7th, 2011
A few days ago I finished reading Matteo Pistono’s just published book “In the Shadow of the Buddha”. I found it an extremely captivating read! It weaves together several fascinating stories. One is Matteo’s personal spiritual journey. He gives an inspiring account of studying with his teachers in Tibet and India, as well as in [...]
Posted in Devotion, Western Buddhism, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Feb 17th, 2011
I thought I had said anything I wanted to say about authentic teachers in my first two posts on this topic, but in the last week I had some more “after thoughts”! A question kept coming into my mind: What gives me a heartfelt feeling and conviction that a teacher is authentic? The answer that [...]
Posted in Buddhism, Western Buddhism, zz Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Jan 28th, 2011
On the spiritual path, we need teachers we can trust, and who will guide us correctly and not leads us into deeper confusion. So what is the main criteria for a qualified teacher? How can we tell whether the teacher is a trustworthy, good person and not someone who is interested in their personal gain? [...]
Posted in Buddhism, Western Buddhism, zz Dudjom Rinpoche, zz Patrul Rinpoche, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Jan 22nd, 2011
How do you know if a teacher is trustworthy and genuine? This is a question I have reflected on quite a lot in the last few months. I thought this would be a good theme to conclude the series of posts on the essence of Buddhism that I have been writing over the last few [...]
Posted in Buddhism, zz Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Jan 14th, 2011
In my last post I asked: What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? And I wondered whether these were actually good questions to ask. Life is. We are here! The world around us is here! So, what is the point of asking? I suggested that it might be better to ask “How [...]
Posted in Bodhicitta, Buddhism, zz Rumi, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Dec 19th, 2010
I am between topics at the moment. Just finished a few posts on karma and want to write about what an authentic spiritual teacher is next. But the first post in this series is not quite finished and I want to give myself more time to reflect on it. So I decided to just write [...]
Posted in Buddhism, zz HH Dalai Lama, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Oct 29th, 2010
Today I am going to conclude my series of posts on the “Essence of Buddhist Practice” which is encapsulated in the three noble principles which are, for example, presented in chapter five of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. I actually think there is a general principle behind the framework of these three noble [...]
Posted in Bodhicitta, Buddha nature, Buddhism, zz Buddha, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Oct 22nd, 2010
In the last two post I have been reflecting on what essential elements my practice needs to have in order to be authentic and to bring lasting benefit and transformation. The three elements that are considered to be indispensable are called the “Three Noble Principles”: to begin with the right motivation, understand and apply the [...]
Posted in Buddhism, Contemplation, zz HH Dalai Lama, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Oct 15th, 2010
Over the last few years I have realized more and more how stressed and wound up I am. That was a really good insight. It helped me understand, why my mind is wild and agitated and that it is expected if my energy all stirred and wound up. My problem is that even though I [...]
Posted in Buddhism, zz Longchenpa, zz Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Oct 4th, 2010
The Buddhist teachings and practice are very rich and I often do not have time to practice as much as is ideally recommended. I have been introduced to many practices and often get overwhelmed when I try to do them all. I end up rushing through my practice and at the end of day I [...]
Posted in Buddha, Buddha nature, Buddhism, zz HH Dalai Lama, zz Sogyal Rinpoche, zz Tsoknyi Rinpoche on Sep 14th, 2010
Since the aim of Buddhist practice is to attain enlightenment, it might be good to ask: What is enlightenment? Enlightenment is a very misunderstood and misused word in the modern world. Often it is talked about as some far out special experience. But actually, as I understand it, the heart of enlightenment is just about [...]
Posted in 09 Refuge, Buddha, Buddhism, zz Buddha, zz Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Sep 6th, 2010
My wife just started teaching an online course introducing Buddhism. We had a few conversations about it which inspired me to reflect on this topic myself and start a new thread on this blog. The Buddhist teachings are very vast and profound and I often get lost in their richness. It is easy to forget [...]
Powered by Twitter Tools