There’s a warmth to Sharon Salzberg, both in person and in her writing, Read the rest

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The Hidden Spirituality of Men is a book that attempts to define/re-define masculinity and what it means to be a man Read the rest

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From the elephant’s autumn 05 issue

Conjure up a beautiful old house from India or the Middle East. The image that arises is of a home surrounding a wonderful inner courtyard. A feeling of expansion pervades the entire dwelling.

In such homes, there is a deliberate intent to create beauty and openness in the center of the space. When empty space is enclosed by walls, and thus given form, a thread of awareness manifests, and the space becomes imbued with the same quality of life that enlivens a living being. The recognition Read the rest

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This is a great book for those needing help in taking that deep breath and really connecting with themselves and others; in other words, it’s a great book for everybody.  Read the rest

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Via Tony Duff, an American Buddhist translator: A couple of years ago, I posted a few songs of the First Karmapa to [the Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist community]. They turned out to be popular.

The songs were taken from Read the rest

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Barack Obama: La audacia de la esperanza: Reflexiones sobre cómo restaurar el sueño americano

Mi voto latino

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Thich Nhat Hanh’s prose is as elegant as his poetry.  The World We Have is his latest book; Read the rest

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Got this recently from my friends at Milk Lake, a Buddhist retreat center in Canada somewheres. While it discusses a sale they’re having, the proceeds go to support their little center, a good cause, so I thought it might be fun to share with a wider community:

Dear Friends,

Our lush green meadows and lawns are now covered with golden leaves,  and the October breezes are blowing everything around in circles!  The wind chimes are playing their sweet melodies reminding us that this is the season of change!  Particularly this is the time to practice our wonderful [meditation] practices, which are so uplifting and brilliant.  We are…practicing here at Milklake; and preparing a lot more Fragrant Juniper Incense. Read the rest

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Barack Obama: The Audacity of HOPE

My Latino vote

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The Dhamma Brothers: East meets West in the Deep South Read the rest

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When things fall apart and Read the rest

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“The Buddha taught that to wake up from the dream of bewilderment and suffering, we first need to sit still and take a deep breath.  Peaceful abiding is that deep breath, a way to strip away the chaos of bewilderment and find some basic sanity.  But peaceful abiding is only Read the rest

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It’s the Buddhist equivalent of James Carville and Mary Matalin falling in love on the campaign trail and getting married—two Buddhist translation superstars falling in love and getting married while helping the crazy wisdom sage guru Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche.

May it be of benefit—it’s an urgent time for their work.

Dear Friends,

We would like to share with you our good news: We got married on

October 25, in a very small and unelaborate ceremony. Khenpo Rinpoche

gave us a wonderful blessing--one of the things he said was Read the rest

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Courtesy my pops, who just joined facebook, I saw this article, about the Dalai Lama. Excerpt:

Chinese rule is handing down a “death sentence” to Tibetans, the Dalai Lama said Sunday, ahead of a meeting to decide Tibet’s future approach to Beijing.

The region’s exiled leader is on a week-long visit to Japan for talks on spirituality, just as a new round of talks between his envoys and Chinese officials was set to begin, and days after he said he had lost hope of any productive dialogue with Beijing.

“Tibetans are being handed down a death sentence. This ancient nation, with an ancient cultural heritage is dying,” he told a group of reporters.

“Today, the situation is almost like a military occupation in the entire Tibetan area.

“It is like we’re under martial law. Fear, terror and lots of political education are causing a lot of grievance,” he added.

The 73-year old Nobel Peace laureate said he was “semi-retiring” Read the rest

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“I don’t think it hurts my faith if you or anyone else questions it…you want it to be questioned because then you dig deeper…” ~ Huckabee.

There’s no question that religion based on compassion is a powerful force for good. There’s also no question that religion tends to exacerbate our tribalism tendencies. A thoughtful, open-minded conversation led by Huckabee with Maher—in which the two seem to be thinking of two very different things when they say ‘religion.’

Video: Read the rest

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Here’s an excerpt of a talk about competition (as it applies to how we live our daily lives) from a Buddhist perspective from one of the foremost Buddhist teachers in the world, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche—fluent in English, raised in America, son of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (a pioneer of Buddhist in the Western world) and an accomplished sportsman in his own right.

For the rest, go to Sakyong Mipham’s lovely web site (link at bottom), where you’ll find quotes, articles, videos, books, schedule: 

Easy Come, Easy Go

I’ve always loved sports—horseback riding, golf, running. I once asked my father, Chogyam Trungpa, what he thought about football, since it’s a sport that didn’t exist in Tibet. He answered, “They’ve been winning and losing the same game for a hundred years.” Read the rest

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Don’t be a Bum [my title]: an Ocean of Dharma email quote of the week.

Okay, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche wasn’t exactly talking about deadheads or often-troubled homeless nomads…this was back in 1968, when many of his young Buddhist students wanted to ‘get back to the land,’ renounce the corrupted, material world, live a currency-less life and live beneath the active strata of conventional society. If you like the below, subscribe—it’s free—and you’ll get a little enlightenment in your inbox from time to time. ~ elephantjournaldotcom ed-in-chief, Waylon Lewis.

WE LIVE AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS

We may try to be a spiritually inclined person who does not care about money. We want to be free of worldly concerns. However, trying to lead life completely free from money or materialism lacks clarity and real feeling. Particularly Read the rest

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So, what does your sexy bod have to do with Buddhism? Everything and nothing, according to Dr. Reggie Ray, the innovative and unorthodox Buddhist leader/Naropa professor. Ray recommends a strict diet of getting into your body, not out of it, to experience spiritual growth. Read the rest

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I grew up reading the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa, the “crazy wisdom” meditation master who pioneered the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism into modern, Western terms…which was great. I developed a framework in my mind and heart that oriented me toward trying to do good, and sitting down on a meditation cushion instead of spinning out on my still-frequent Big Ego Attacks. The side-effect, however Read the rest

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