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 03 Blessing of the speech, 04 Invoking the lama, 09 Refuge, 10 Bodhichitta, Freedom, zz Patrul Rinpoche, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Feb 20th, 2010
My last post had a quote by Rumi which said “there is one thing in this world which must never be forgotten.” For me this immediately brought up the question, “So what is this one thing?” Often questions like this pop into my head right in the morning. It usually takes me a while to [...]
Posted in Freedom, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Feb 18th, 2010
In my last post I wrote about how this life is a special opportunity to become free of the grip of negative emotions and that it would be a pity to let this opportunity go to waste. In The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche writes about this point: “In the Sufi Master [...]
Posted in Freedom, zz Shantideva, zz Sogyal Rinpoche on Feb 16th, 2010
In the last few days I have been continuing to reflect on negative emotions. What does it really mean that negative emotions take my freedom? How do they manage to do this? I have been asking these same questions for a while now, but I find it helpful to reflect on them again and again [...]
Posted in Bodhicitta, Freedom, zz Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, zz Shantideva on Feb 6th, 2010
My teachers have emphasized that it is much more useful to focus on understanding how ignorance works than to get lost in speculation about how it could have arisen in the first place. In his latest book, Uncommon Happiness, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche gives a wonderful explanation of how ignorance works: “With the support of the [...]
Buddha taught that ignorance is what imprisons us. The Tibetan word for ignorance is ‘marigpa,’ sometimes translated as ‘not seeing,’ whereas ‘rigpa’ means ‘seeing’ or ‘pure awareness’. As I mentioned in one my last posts, the only difference between a Buddha and a sentient beings is this: Buddhas are able to see the world as [...]
Posted in Freedom, zz Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche on Feb 3rd, 2010
The topics of freedom, happiness, and ignorance are turning out to be a fertile ground for my daily reflection. I usually make a post on this blog every other day. On the days in-between, I try to post a quote on Twitter. The maximum number of characters for a Twitter post is 140. It’s a [...]
Posted in Contemplation, Freedom, zz Sogyal Rinpoche, zz Thich Nhat Hanh on Feb 2nd, 2010
A good way to contemplate the natural freedom of the mind, which I wrote about in last two posts, is to reflect on what keeps us from being free. In The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche recounts the Vietnamese master Thich Nhat Hanh’s beautiful description of the Buddha’s enlightenment: Thich Nhat Hanh [...]
Posted in Contemplation, Freedom on Jan 31st, 2010
The word “freedom” is often used in the modern world. In my last post, I brought up the question: “What does freedom truly mean?” When I reflected on this question myself, what came to my mind were things like free time. Having no obligations or commitments. Being free to do what I want to do. [...]
Posted in Contemplation, Freedom on Jan 29th, 2010
Freedom is not only an important theme in the Buddhist teachings but is also a very popular word these days. There are so many ways to think of it. In the modern world freedom is considered to be a fundamental right of every human being. The right of the individual to pursue happiness is mentioned [...]
Powered by Twitter Tools