Satisfied Buddhist - Domo Geshe Rinpoche

Beyond words is meaning, and beyond meaning are concepts. Concepts are connected to a need, and common to all spiritual paths, I believe, is the need to develop equanimity. To do that, we need a way to understand concepts and that is done through agreement on word usage. There are many dictionary and commonly held meanings in English for the word equanimity. The dilemma of poor communication happens when your meaning and my meaning are very different. In long time Buddhist countries, dharma language became standardized. However, even the different concepts within Buddhism often require a unique view of standard dharma words and terms in order develop new understanding or abilities. The word equanimity comes from a Latin root, which translates to equal mind. It is uncertain whether the ancient scholars were looking at it from a political, religious or social point of view and if there were other meanings for the word equanimity in the original Latin. In that way, this particular meaning...

We begin our discussion on idea in the spirit of the method we use to agree on terminology the way Tibetan Buddhism is taught in Geshe advanced Buddhist studies. If we cannot agree on terms and ideas, it will be more difficult to explain other concepts based on those. I am not using traditional dharma words here ideas those are for explaining the foreign Sanskrit concepts to Tibetan students. Since education in the West is diverse and culture is changing rapidly, it is good to have common ground in English also. We can agree that ideas are modules of mental process; one of your most important techniques for interacting with the world. This word comes from both the Latin and Greek, meaning, “to see.” In that way, it appears to be a way of describing the gathering of information, however, I also think it is not easy to definitively state, “both the Greeks and the Latin say that idea = to see.” We all understand the confusion possible from our own explorations in communication betwe...