Search found 799 matches
- Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:25 pm
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1951
Re: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
Would be interesting to know from which tradition viewpoint he's speaking. Maybe from the Gelug Kagyu tradition of mahamudra? In the link to the "Mahamudra and The Four Noble Truths", there is a section where he mentions the different Traditions of Mahamudra, Here, we shall speak in general about m...
- Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:28 pm
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1951
Re: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
The white light is the clarity, the prism is the mental activity, the refracted light are appearances. This is my understanding. Thanks. Something to mull over. I decided to email Dr. Berzin himself about this question. He actually wrote back, and we've had a couple of brief back-and-forths. He did...
- Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:34 pm
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1951
Re: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
Maybe a more specific question is whether "clarity" can legitimately be understood as "the mental activity of making appearances arise" ? I believe that clarity is the basis from which appearances arise. Like a prism refracting light into mutiple colours. I like that analogy. If I understand you, t...
- Sat Aug 22, 2020 7:21 pm
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1951
Re: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
I think Berzin's comment occludes rather than clarifies. I can see why one might say that. That wasn't the case for me. The idea of unity of clarity and emptiness is a very common theme in Mahamudra. It helps us to avoid reifying the "experience" of clarity. Agreed. I guess what I'm poking at is, I...
- Sat Aug 22, 2020 4:03 pm
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1951
Re: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
Sounds about right to me. It sounds right to me as well. As I said, maybe it's just the way the commentary is worded that I find different and clarifying. It's such a clear explanation of clarity vs awareness. I think for a long time I've tended to somewhat conflate those terms. This text very clea...
- Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:08 am
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Searching english version of "Certainty of the Diamond Mind"
- Replies: 3
- Views: 413
Re: Re:Searching english version of "Certainty of the Diamond Mind"
To be clear, I am looking for an english version of the text "The Certainty of the Diamond Mind" by Jampel Pawo. It is certainly a classic within the Drukpa kagyu lineage, maybe a restricted text? Greetings. I personally don't know of an english translation, but you can always try contacting Daniel...
- Fri Aug 21, 2020 1:50 am
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1951
Question on a commentary of the Mahamudra Prayer
Greetings all. I've been wanting to pose this question for a long time. Finally got around to revisiting the text and commentary. Probably more commonly known as the Aspiration Prayer for Mahamudra, there is a commentary of the text by Beru Khyentse, with suplimentary commentary by Alexander Berzin ...
- Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:04 am
- Forum: Academic Discussion
- Topic: Brill's Buddhism Encyclopedia
- Replies: 6
- Views: 849
Re: Brill's Buddhism Encyclopedia
Anyone have experience with this? Is it worth the steep price? No experience with it, but you can access the online version for a fee to see if you would like it invest in a hardcopy. https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopedia-of-buddhism There is a fee scale: Full access to Brill O...
- Fri Nov 01, 2019 12:50 am
- Forum: Zen
- Topic: Zen Community Round Table Sub-Forum Status
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2104
Re: Zen Community Round Table Sub-Forum Status
As the moderator at the time who championed the ZCRT, I'm of the opinion it should be removed. The original intent was to let the Zen community have more voice in structuring its subforum and how it should evolve. It never served it's intended purpose. Former ZFI folks eventually preferred a separat...
- Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:53 pm
- Forum: Pure Land
- Topic: Stepping Down
- Replies: 15
- Views: 2402
Re: Stepping Down
Always appreciated working with you as admin when I as a mod. Thank you for herding us cats and dealing with all the behind-the-scenes drama that comes with the job description. May your life be more peaceful, as you set sail from the DW port! :smile: https://www.thenational.ae/image/policy:1.871198...
- Wed Apr 03, 2019 12:46 am
- Forum: Zen
- Topic: Piercing the empty sky
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1752
Re: Piercing the empty sky
Continuing a theme from the OP... A monk asked, "Master, of what house is the tune you sing? To whose style of Chan do you succeed?" The master said, "When I was staying with Huangbo I questioned him three times and was hit three times." The monk hesitated. The master gave a shout and then struck hi...
- Wed Apr 03, 2019 12:09 am
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
- Replies: 11
- Views: 4808
Re: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
Why is Ocean of Certainty restricted whereas Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā and Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance are not? I thought it might be because Ocean is written as a manual for masters, with scripted pointing-out instructions and teacher-student dialogue, but Clarifying the Natural State has th...
- Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:39 am
- Forum: Lounge
- Topic: As It Is, Vol 2 paperback availability?
- Replies: 0
- Views: 335
As It Is, Vol 2 paperback availability?
Does anyone know what's going on with the print version of As It Is, Vol 2? It seems to be out of stock or very expensive--and getting more expensive almost every day (currently on Amazon it's $134 USD). I'm guessing it's out of print. Hopefully a new printing is own the way. I sent email to Erik a ...
- Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:54 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Nonbuddhists taking the bodhisattva vow
- Replies: 11
- Views: 1709
Re: Nonbuddhists taking the bodhisattva vow
Usually in the empowerment there is a part where one takes a refuge and also creates the motivation to help all sentient beings. I am pretty sure it was present there as I myself have not seen an empowerment without this part. But Buddha knows. The only two things participants were asked to recite ...
- Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:47 am
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Nonbuddhists taking the bodhisattva vow
- Replies: 11
- Views: 1709
Re: Nonbuddhists taking the bodhisattva vow
Thanks you all for the responses so far, especially Sādhaka. (The dissolution ceremony this afternoon was beautiful. All present got a little bag of mandala sand afterward, then the monks took the remainer across the street to scatter it in the bay.) The Medicine Buddha empowerment was interesting b...
- Sun Mar 17, 2019 8:42 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Nonbuddhists taking the bodhisattva vow
- Replies: 11
- Views: 1709
Nonbuddhists taking the bodhisattva vow
The monks from Gaden Shartse have been in my local town for several days of teaching and creating a Medicine Buddha sand mandala. It's been a lovely week of events. The mandala dissolution ceremony is this afternoon. Last night, a Medicine Buddha empowerment was given. It was open for anyone to atte...
- Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:14 pm
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
- Replies: 11
- Views: 4808
Re: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
How does some one get Elizabeth Callahans translation of ocean of certainty, I got it right after it was printed by going to Seattle and getting it , but. After if one wrote to the publisher they would just ignore any letters. It's a highly restricted text. There is very little mention of it on the...
- Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:23 pm
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
- Replies: 11
- Views: 4808
Re: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
Is it nicer than the Traleg version? I have that one. In my opinion, yes. I have all three versions now, and this will be my go-to translation moving forward. It has a lot of support material in the appendices, and it also has a modern translation of Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance . Basically...
- Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:27 am
- Forum: Mahamudra
- Topic: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
- Replies: 11
- Views: 4808
Re: Upcoming translation of Moonbeams of Mahamudra (2019)
Indeed it is. I got my copy on the 12th. Haven't had a chance to spend any time with it yet, but from a quick perusal, it looks to be an instant classic, and will be considered the definitive translation for a long time to come. 

- Wed Mar 13, 2019 7:24 am
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: We are a Kali Yuga culture
- Replies: 211
- Views: 23891
Re: We are a Kali Yuga culture
For those who are data nerds ;) : https://ourworldindata.org/war-and-peace This entry presents an empirical perspective on war and peace. We also published a data visualization history of human violence here on OurWorldInData.org which presents empirical data showing that we are now living in the mo...