12 posts tagged “buddhism”

Just came back from two weeks in Spain. What I thought was going to be a relaxed holiday turned out to be not so relaxed. I attended a meditation course, and we had program every day for two weeks - including weekends. But we had fun too - even if it was hot, lots and lots of people everywhere and we didn't get to see much of Spain. There were  3500-4000 Buddhists from 54 countries gathered in one place - a place called Karma Guen not far from Malaga in southern Spain.
this is where I spent most of my time in Spain:

Karma Guen

I went to visit my nephew last night, and as usual he made me laugh. He's 11 now and we have a lot in common actually. Yesterday he told me about his new version of paper, rock, scissor which is very popular here these days. 

His new version is God, Devil and Buddha. Fold your hands for God, point index finger and little finger in the air for the Devil, and make a ohm gesture (make a circle with your middle finger and thumb - other finger stretched) for Buddha. The rules? who takes who?

God obviously takes the devil because he is good, and the Devil is bad. The Devil takes Buddha since Buddha was a human being. And Buddha is really smart, so he takes God because he has realized that God doesn't exist.

*lmao* I love that boy..

Master-Eido.15

I've wanted to organize and gather my Buddhist links in a post for a while. I have some links on my computer at home, and some at work.

It's been a while since I used some of these links, and gathering them here will hopefully remind me of these sites again so I'll use them more. I used to read them almost every day for a while, and I learned so much. And now that I have started meditating again, I need to read more to also get an understanding for what I do, and why I do the things I do. And perhaps you guys will benefit from these links to? maybe you find something you'll find interesting?

So - here goes. This is the first post with Buddhist resources online.

1. It's only fair to start with "beginner's Buddhism". This is a great place to start reading about Buddhism, but I bet you'll find interesting stuff there even if you've been reading about or practiced Buddhism for a while. You'll find articles like "what's buddhism", how to meditate and the four noble truths. But you'll also find articles on the major schools of Buddhism, like Vajrajana, Theravada, Zen etc.
2. Shambala Publications. Shambala is the biggest publisher of Buddhist books in English, and a LOT of the books I have bought are from Shambala Publications. Here you get news of new releases, and the possibility to order new and old books.
3. Buddhanet. A great site where you can find email adresses, web adresses, and other ways of contacting your local Buddhist community at the world Buddhist directory. There are also podcasts of Dharma talks, music and meditation directions.  
4. Diamond Way Buddhism. It is of Karma Kagyu lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, and the Buddhism I practice. There I get my news on my teachers, streaming events (some of the talks my teachers do are shown via the internet live). Probably the page I use the most. It also contain podcasts of talks by Lama Ole about Meditation, Love and relationships, Karma, death and rebirth etc. in English.
5. Tricycle is a great Buddhist magazine that comes out four times a year. Great articles from all schools of Buddhism. You can also order back issues here. To get full access to all articles you must subscribe, but you can read a lot of articles without subscribing too.
6. DharmaNet is also a great page with LOTS of information. It has an extensive list of links, and one of my favorites is one they call Academic study resources. Hours and hours of interesting reading!

I think I'll stop there for now, but I'll probably post at least one more post with Buddhist links. Oh - I almost forgot! the picture for this post is a William waite artwork, and you can see more of his art here.

This weekend have been really good - heavy, but good. Saturday there was a retreat at my Sangha. First meditation for a  couple of hours, then a meeting, more meditation for a couple of hours and lastly a small party.
Then today I went there again: meditating for about an hour, then a workshop on doing Buddhist lectures and teachings, then listening to three lectures of ten minutes each, one lecture of 40 minutes and one lecture of an hour and a half. And rounding off the day with two more rounds of meditation.

After all that I feel kind of lightheaded. A lot of energy input, and not enough output.

What's funny is that it seems like I'm an "either or" person. Either I do the whole shabang, or nothing at all. A couple of weeks ago I hadn't been to the Sangha for almost 6 months, Now I've been there 4 or five times in 2 weeks. I'ts crazy! My back aches after all the meditation, I'm lightheaded and feel kind of silly really. I bet I would be great entertainment if we had a party tonight.. But I'm kind of glad we didn't. I feel I need to be by myself for a couple of days to digest all the impressions made this weekend.

I'm really happy I'm back in the saddle, it seems like the people there are happy to have me back, I get to spend more time with my sister and suddenly I have all these plans. I'm going to Trondheim in the beginning of December to attend a lecture one of my friends is having there, and we're planning to go to Spain in May/June for initiations, lectures and meeting Karmapa again. Since Karmapa will come to Europe again, we'll probably try to meet him at least twice during his visit. Last year I went to Kassel in Germany, and to London to get initiations and to get Karmapa's blessings. It was so much fun! I've become really inspired to continue my meditation. To finish it. To start with the real thing, and if I manage to continue the pace I'm at now, I'll be able to begin the long and demanding meditations after Christmas. It's a prgram of four different meditations, and to finish them I'll probably use years and years. But this is what I want - it's what I need. And it felt good to come to this conclusion.

Instructions;
1.  Grab the nearest book.

1. Open the book to page 123.
2. Find the fifth sentence.
3. Post the text of the next three sentences on your blog along with these instructions

The book is "The Great Seal - Limitless space and joy" By Lama Ole Nydahl

"The Great Seal works without coercion. It builds on a concious, nonjudgemental way of letting impressions pass. The experiencer recognizes itself through effortlessly remaining in what is."

I have two books on my desk at work that I read between customers. This is one of them - the other is a book called "Clinker and sails" and is a collection of articles about boatbuilding and ship archaeology. I didn't do the meme with the archaeology book even if it was the one on top - it's in Norwegian, and I couldn't be bothered to translate. None of these books are available on Amazon... ;)

By the power and the truth of this practice,

may all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness,

May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow,

May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless,

And may all live in equanimity,

without too much attachment and too much aversion,

And live believing in the equality of all that lives.

“Believe nothing.
No matter where you read it,
Or who said it,
Even if I have said it,
Unless it agrees with your own reason
And your own common sense.”

Buddha

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and

I've been reading some Buddhism-texts this evening, and it has really calmed my mind in some ways. I've missed studying, and was thinking I'd start studies on my own. And I'd like to study Buddhist texts and ideas. In that way I can gain knowledge, and also get inspiration to continue meditating.
I read a chapter in the book "The Tibetan book of living and dying", and came over the concept "Nothing is permanent". I have of course heard this before, and I have been meditating on it many times, and I still think this is one of the most mindblowing concepts in Buddhism so far in my studies. Not a single cell in my body is the same ones that made my body 7 years ago. Given time, even a diamond will change and eventually disappear. To me this is a very relaxing thought. Faced with impermanence I realize I'm just human, and as such I will inevitably die some day. This acceptance opens my heart and makes me more receptive of spirituality, and even deeper acceptance (does this make any sense at all??)

Do everything with a mind that lets go.
Do not expect any praise or reward
If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely, you will know
complete peace and freedom
your struggles with the world
will have come to an end.

The mind, the Buddha, living creatures - these are not three different things.

—Avatamasaka Sutra

This sort of summed up what I have been thinking of lately...