Hello

Introduce yourself to others at Dharma Wheel.
Post Reply
ndytskr
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 16, 2013 6:57 pm
Location: North Manchester England United Kingdom
Contact:

Hello

Post by ndytskr »

Hello everyone from Manchester in the UK.

As part of my Seven Star Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu Clubs annual visit to Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre in Scotland UK(http://www.samyeling.org/) last week, I became interested in Buddhism. We gave a Kung Fu display and Lion Dance to all the staff and visitors and we were blessed by Abbot, Ven. Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, after he gave a talk to our group.

I am somewhat confused at all the information I am trying to look through. Is there a particular book (like a Handbook) I could start reading to learn what I should be doing?

I am interested in Tibetan Buddhism (if that is different to any others) and I do plan to attend here (http://www.dechen.org/index.html) once I have a good grounding.

Could anyone help please? :shrug:
Thank you

Andy
lawrence
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:09 am

Re: Hello

Post by lawrence »

Gassho,
You might start by simply watching your thoughts and how they flow in and out of conscious awareness. No book needed for that. Experience calmness then confuse yourself with ideas, HaHa
Lawrence
Punya
Posts: 1437
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:50 pm

Re: Hello

Post by Punya »

Hi ndytskr and welcome. :smile:

The closest thing to a handbook for Tibetan buddhism is probably Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche (I'm sure others will disagree) but it might not be the place for a beginner to start.

There's some introductory books discussed here http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... troductory .
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
~Chatral Rinpoche
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21906
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Hello

Post by Grigoris »

Given your encounter was with the Karma Kagyu lineage you may wish to read The Jewel Ornament of Liberation by Gampopa.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
ndytskr
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 16, 2013 6:57 pm
Location: North Manchester England United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Hello

Post by ndytskr »

Thank you gregkavarnos, punya and Lawrence great tips
Punya
Posts: 1437
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:50 pm

Re: Hello

Post by Punya »

I'm more Nyingma than Kagyu (these are Tibetan traditions BTW), but I always find the books by Kagyu master Thrangu Rinpoche to be really clear and helpful too.
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
~Chatral Rinpoche
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 5251
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:23 pm
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Re: Hello

Post by DNS »

Welcome to Dharma Wheel!

:guns:
User avatar
lobster
Posts: 1001
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 9:06 pm
Contact:

Re: Hello

Post by lobster »

hi :hug:
lawrence
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:09 am

Re: Hello

Post by lawrence »

Punya wrote:I'm more Nyingma than Kagyu (these are Tibetan traditions BTW), but I always find the books by Kagyu master Thrangu Rinpoche to be really clear and helpful too.
I'll second that. His "An Ocean of the Ultimate Meaning" is quite good
"The Compass of Zen" by Master Seung Sahn is also quite good.
Gassho
Lawrence
User avatar
Luke
Posts: 1999
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:04 pm
Location: Europe

Re: Hello

Post by Luke »

Hello Ndytskr,

Welcome to Dharma Wheel!

A book for beginners you might enjoy is "Mind at Ease: Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation" by Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Ease-Self- ... nd+at+ease

Despite its fancy title, it's not really about advanced mahamudra stuff. It's mostly about basic ideas in Tibetan Buddhism and it contains some meditations which you can try on your own. I found the book very enjoyable, but I don't know what other people think about it.
philji
Posts: 881
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 2:26 pm

Re: Hello

Post by philji »

Hi ,
Great to see you had a inspiring time at Samye Ling...you are probably confused enough already with all the advice...but since you went to Samye Ling, you may find a series of video teachings on You Tube by Ken Holmes helpful... ken is a long time student of Akong Rinpoche from Samye Ling, a great teacher himself and has also translated many books from Tibetan to English.
He has a You Tube channel called Khenpoken which you can subscribe to and there are some excellent and very easy to understand teachings available there.
I would begin with his videos on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.....
Here is video 1.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9P68AU0j3pQ
Bon voyage.
User avatar
Luke
Posts: 1999
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:04 pm
Location: Europe

Re: Hello

Post by Luke »

And here's a short book by the Dalai Lama about the classic Tibetan Buddhist foundational text "A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment" which you might find helpful.

http://www.fodian.net/english/itp.pdf
Post Reply

Return to “Introductions”