Dharma Wheel

edit, The quality of being empty of something is how form can exist.

I read a while back a commentary about this line that stated to some effect:

A rose is not a rose; thats what makes it a rose.

Thats always stuck with me. But I am sure my limited understanding is miles off

If form is empty it must be empty of something. Maybe this something is how the form exists.

Maybe when you understand form to be empty you are just using a concept. So in a way, as soon as you think of this emptiness you have just created a form?

What I found really useful with the Gelug approach is the fourfold negation. It gives me a step by step process to work with and a method to see the mistaken way I apprehend myself. Please forgive my ignorance and feel free to move this post somewhere else but.. The fourfold negation seems like a va...

I am a complete beginner trying to study and meditate on emptiness so please forgive me. My limited understanding is presented from a Gelug view. And the books (and websites mostly Berzin) I have read make it sounds like this presentation of the Madhyamaka is the highest an most complete. Completely...

To tag onto this question: If we have been accumulating negative karma since beginningless time how can it ever be exhausted? No matter how much we purify or experience the results the amount of karma we have created is endless. No amount of eons will exhaust the endless supply of karma.

Thank you all for taking the time to answer my many questions! I have really been enjoying the practices. I have heard different ways of visualizing and was hoping for some clarification. I read on Berzin's wonderful site that the dietys should be visualized as tiny where as other resources recommen...

Whatever practice you decide to do, generate bodhichitta and just enjoy it. It's easy to make things too complicated. So more questions arise...Maybe I should have started this thread in a different forum. Anyhow, several obstacles I have met specifically towards generating bodhichitta. -I feel a b...

Sorry to hijack your thread but...I will be reading Liberation In the Palm of Your Hand starting today and would be interested in exploring it with a partner.

Ok so a couple more questions then I will stop lurking about. So I work 24 hr shifts at my job and some days only have the morning to practice. So my question is about combining vajrasattva with prostrations since I wont have time to do both unless I eliminate an hour of sitting which I would greatl...

Thank you all so much for the responses. All of this is a bit overwhelming and part of me wishes I could back to my simple little sitting practice.

New Hampshire

okay thank you I will check out some of those books and start the practices immediately. I may take some online modules as well to get a feel for that. How important is pronunciation in the vajrasattva? How does one meet a teacher? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks again for all the help.

Yes I am a westerner with a family.I am interested in the preliminary is and could see that taking as long as two years to complete. Can I start the prostrations and vajrasattva mantra straight away? Also is there any benefit in the FPMT over the books mentioned? The online material looks great but ...

I have been practicing by myself for over four years. Mostly sutra studying with a solid sitting practice. Recently I have started to "shop around" a bit and look for a tradition or lineage to help continue my practice. A friend gave me some copies of Lama Yeshe's book and they really struck a chord...

A good idea might be to find a Buddhist teacher at a temple who you have great confidence in, and to ask them if they offer refuge ceremonies. You can take refuge by yourself, but it's a good idea to have a guru to help guide you. :anjali: Thank you, I am looking forward to one day finding a guide....

So thankful to find such a vast amount of Buddhist information! Are there any prerequisites for taking refuge? I ask because I have been practicing for three years by myself and feel as though I am ready to pour my heart into it. Thanks!