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Showing posts from December 26, 2010

Take a Stroll in Your Mind

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If time is circular, is this a New Year or is it recycled? Walk the forest of your mind where your perceptions live wild or carefully cultivated. Is it a pleasant stroll, peaceful with the sun shining? The Buddhadharma helps us become like good forestry managers, pruning out sick perceptions, which have taken over by blocking our inner light of wisdom. ~Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ ""Geh spazieren im Wald Deines Geistes, wo Deine Wahrnehmungen wild oder sorgfältig kultiviert leben. Ist es ein angenehmer Bummel, ist er friedlich, während die Sonne scheint? Das Buddhadharma hilft uns wie gute Förster zu werden und die kranken Wahrnehmungen herauszuschneiden, die Überhand nahmen, indem sie unser inneres Licht der Weisheit verdunkelten." - Domo Geshe Rinpoche ---

Joyful Thinking: free podcast

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Want to bring in the New Year with a new attitude? Listen to the last free podcast of 2010, JOYFUL THINKING. The secret to joyful thinking is closer than you may think. Come and learn the key to real joy and why joy is essential to a spiritual process aimed at achieving the perfected state. You don’t have to become dry and serious in order to be spiritual. The first 8 podcasts will expire Jan 1st 2011... http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/domo-geshe-rinpoche-teachings/id387058479

The Buddhist and the Angry Flight Attendant

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At last! Prepared in mind as well as on paper for teachings beginning tomorrow... winter retreat in New Mexico .. Great Manjushri! A dear student related a story of a difficult encounter on a plane with the flight attendant. This was my answer. Do a quick analysis. ‘when I asked the airline attendant for a pillow she wounded me with unspoken anger, for no reason at all ….grrrr. I have done nothing to harm her. Why is she harming me and making me upset? Grrrr r…..But wait…..grrrrrrr, now seems like a good time to apply the mind training aphorism number three! There could be an opportunity to transform this issue….grrrrr….into my enlightenment preparation process! Even though it seems incongruous, what she just did was the fault of my arch enemy, self-cherishing!’ Meanwhile, the attendant is still right there in your face, go on thinking, ‘This attendant is a sentient being, that’s for certain! In previous times when she was not the airline attendant and I was not the

Prisoners of Compassion and Medicine Buddha

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Blue Medicine Buddha – Sangye Menla – King of Doctors, was the in charge of medical knowledge to be disseminated as a spiritually facilitated process so people could stop worrying about their health and start worrying about existential problem of the unawakened state. ~Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ "Der blaue Medizinbuddha - Sangye Menla -, der König der Ärzte, war verantwortlich für die Verbreitung medizinischen Wissens in Form eines spirituellen Prozesses, damit die Menschen damit aufhören konnten sich über ihre Gesundheit Sorgen zu machen und sich stattdessen über das existenzielle Problem des unerwachten Zustands zu sorgen." - Domo Geshe Rinpoche ---" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Le Buddha Bleu de Médecine -Sangye Menla- le Roi des Docteurs, était celui en charge de répandre toute la connaissance médicale en la vulgarisant de façon à ce que les gens puissent arrêter de s'inquieter de leur santé et commencent plutôt à s'inquieter des problémes existen

Tibetan Buddhist Art and Modern Art Buddhas

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The Hermitage- Buddhist events, retreats as well as my personal house in the Wisconsin countryside. Consecrated land dedicated for Buddhist activities and meditation. Norbu Retreat House, located a few minutes from the Hermitage on 65 wooded acres will be ready spring of 2011. Tibetan Buddhist art is meant to be standardized with traditional proportions and coloring. They are meditation references that relate to the qualities and 32 marks of the Buddha and uplift the mind. I can appreciate some of the modern art Buddhas but really... so many do not depict serenity, wisdom and peace. Instead they show the fa ce of the artist... sensual, distorted, suspicious, druggy looking eyes... blech!! ~~~~ ""Tibetische buddhistische Kunst soll einem Standard entsprechen und traditionelle Proportionen und Farben haben. Diese sind Hinweise für die Meditation, die sich auf die Qualitäten und 32 Zeichen eines Buddha beziehen und den Geist erheben. Einige der Buddhas in der modernen

Memory is a Fiction

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Memory is a not very useful fiction because at best it is a fuzzy photo of an event, and at worst, a fantasy that does not touch the experience of the past. That is what we want, an authentic connection to our past. Memory does not offer this and in addition, robs us of the opportunity to experience the present. ~Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~ ""Die Erinnerung ist eine nicht sehr nützliche Fiktion, weil sie bestenfalls ein unscharfes Foto eines Ereignisses ist und schlimmstenfalls eine Phantasievorstellung, die das vergangene Erlebnis nicht einmal berührt. Aber was wir wollen ist eine authentische Verbindung mit der Vergangenheit. Die Erinnerung bietet uns das nicht und beraubt uns außerdem der Möglichkeit die Gegenwart zu erleben." - Domo Geshe Rinpoche ---"

Blessings on the Wind Return

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The heartbeat of original mind is yours! The prayer flags outside my window are flapping... I fancy that they are receiving the blessing that they sent that-a-way, which went full around the earth; returning to bless the blessor! ~Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ ""Die Gebetsfahnen vor meinem Fenster flattern... ich stelle mir vor, dass sie die Segnungen wieder ... erhalten, die sie ausgesandt haben und die um die ganze Erde gingen; sie kehren zurück, um die Segnenden zu segnen!" - Domo Geshe Rinpoche ---

Who We Are Not

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The heart knows; how kind it is, waiting for the mind to awaken. ~DGR ~~~ Within the vast path of healing purification, we gradually become aware of how strongly we are enmeshed in an existential dilemma. The Buddhas core teachings of the four noble truths, and understanding dependent arising shake us out of complacency, making us fresh and clean again. These wonderful ideas stimulate new viewpoints in us, not so much helping us learn who we are, but who we are not. ~Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ ""Innerhalb des großen Pfads heilender Reinigung wird uns allmählich bewusst, wie stark wir in ein existenzielles Dilemma verstrickt sind. Die Kernlehren des Buddhas über die vier edlen Wahrheiten und das Verständnis abhängigen Entstehens rütteln uns aus unserer Gleichgültigkeit auf und lassen uns wieder frisch und rein werden. Diese wunderbaren Ideen regen neue Sichtweisen in uns an und helfen uns nicht so sehr dabei zu lernen wer wir sind, sondern eher, wer wir nicht sin

A Lively FB Discussion on the Reality of Dark Matter

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A recent question I posed on facebook. Many responded in a lively discussion. My responses are named, and others not, for their privacy. I thank all for their comments. Is the universal dark matter, which is described by theoretical physics, empty, illusory or possessing the characteristics of a non existent phenomenon? "Ist die universelle dunkle Materie, die durch die theoretische Physik beschrieben wird, leer, illusorisch, oder besitzt sie die Merkmale ei ... nes nicht existenten Phänomens?" - DGR --- very empty I think maybe it has the characteristics of a non existent phenomenon Rinpoche: non existent phenomena are like the child of a barren woman or the horns of a hare. They do not exist They say it is matter which does not reflect light. I would say it is both illusory and empty (but does it matter?) But it has an energy associated with it we both exist an do not exist...it's pretty amazing... so it must be illusory? Rinpoche: then it cannot be an non existe

Wrinkles, Jesus in Tibet and other musings

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Don't feel bad when discovering a new wrinkle! We Buddhists pray for long life; this is a good sign of the success of our prayer! ~Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ ""Fühl Dich nicht schlecht, wenn Du eine neue Falte entdeckst! Wir Buddhisten beten um ein langes Leben; dies ist ein gutes Anzeichen dafür, dass unsere ... Gebete erfolgreich sind!" - Domo Geshe Rinpoche --- Daylight still comes late, nearly 7:30AM. The snow on the roof of the huge old oat granary glows with a lavender blue cast like the sky and snow on the old oak tree outside my window. I see the roof of the dharma hall from my chair... blessed be.. A number of people over the years have informed me that Jesus went to Tibet to study Buddhism during his "lost years." That is interesting, as Buddhism arrived in Tibet 700 years later...