Above all else, we need to nourish our true self—what we can call our buddha nature—for so often we make the fatal mistake of identifying with our confusion, and then using it to judge and condemn ourselves, which feeds the lack of self-love that so many of us suffer from today.
How vital it is…
This image is from day day one of the Bhutan Photography Expedition I am co-leading with my wife over the next fortnight. We have a great group of who are curious and enthusiastic travellers as well as photographers. This image is from a small nunnery who generously allowed us to photography their afternoon meditation and chanting. My Bhutan Site is www.bhutanheartland.com
Thank you, itonaim: brother, spiritual guide, untamed mind.
(Source: mianoti)
more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense;
more knowledge but less judgement;
more medicines but less healthiness.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble in crossing the street to meet the new neighbours.
We have built more computers to hold more information,
to produce more copies than ever,
but we have less communication;
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It is a time when there is much in the window
But nothing in the room.
The Paradox of Our Age by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act upon them?
Kokuzo Bosatsu (Akasagarbha) (絹本著色虚空蔵菩薩像), kenpon choshoku kokuzo bosatsuzo). Hanging scroll, 132.0 cm x 84.4 cm. Color on silk. 12th century. Courtesy of artemisdreaming.
Bodhisattva of Wisdom & Memory
Kokūzō is especially important to Japan’s Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyō 密教). Kokūzō symbolizes the “vast and boundless” Buddha wisdom that permeates the universe. Believers pray to Kokūzō to grant them wisdom on their quest toward enlightenment. In Japan, people also pray to Kokūzō to improve their memory, technical skills, and artistic talents.
(Source: wikipedia)
Focus your awareness lightly on the out breath. When you breathe out, just flow out with the out breath. Each time you breathe out, you are letting go and releasing all your grasping. Imagine your breath dissolving into the all-pervading expanse of truth.
Each time you breathe out, and before you breathe in again, you will find that there is a natural gap, as your grasping dissolves.
Rest in that gap, in that open space. And when, naturally, you breathe in, don’t focus especially on the in breath but go on resting your mind in the gap that has opened up.
