This brings to mind a famous teaching about meditation: “In zazen, leave your front door and your back door open. Let thoughts come and go. Just don’t serve them tea.” When you offer tea to a guest, this will make them feel “at home”. It is an invitation to stay. [Shunryu Suzuki Roshi]
Category: vajrayana
“transcendent reality is filled with light and bliss” (Linda Johnsen on Dolpopa and Zhentong)
In 2015 Linda Johnsen (author of the excellent Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hinduism) wrote a fascinating article for the Yoga Intenational website: “Empty or Full? An Ancient Master Reclaims Buddha’s Teachings”. The “Ancient Master” in question is none other than good old Dolpopa. Here’s a taste: It is impossible to ignore the similarities between Dolpopa’s […]
Meditation and Devotion (Lama Zhang Rinpoche)
“In Tibet these days, some instructions advise that meditation is to remain in equipoise on emptiness. Some say that meditation is to rest in the clarity of mind, and some say that meditation is to abide in bliss. There are so many different instructions on the ways to meditate. But for me, there is no more profound way to meditate than through devotion (mogu; mos gus; མོས་གུས). Yet these days there are few that believe it is possible to be liberated through the power of devotion.”
Lama Zhang Rinpoche (1122–93)
Siddham
Great Compassion Mantra in Siddham: http://www.siddham.org/yuan_english/mantra/emantra_84s_s.pdf Aksharamukha: Script Converter: https://aksharamukha.appspot.com/input/Siddham Proposal to Encode the Siddham Script in ISO/IEC 10646 by Anshuman Pandey: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1zx6t75q The Siddham script (Chi. 悉曇文字 xītán wénzì; Jap. 悉曇 shittan; Kor. 실담 siltam) is a Brahmi-based script historically used for writing Sanskrit in China, Japan, and Korea. It is also known in […]
Kwan Seum Bosal Chanting Part Five: “Misfortune is derived from the mind and is extinguished by the mind”
Introduction Up to this point we have (1) taken refuge in the Triple Gem, (2) called upon the name of Kwan Seum Bosal, (3) recited Kwan Seum Bosal’s mantra for eliminating “karmic obstructions”, and (4) recited the mantra for achieving our “great aspiration” as Bodhisattvas. It’s a hard act to follow! The fifth part of […]
True Words (眞言)
虛空可量風可繫
허공가량풍가계
heo-gong ga yang pung ga gye
sky able measure wind able bind
無能盡說佛功德
무능진설불공덕
mu-neung jin-seol bul gong-deok
powerless explain buddha’s virtue-merit
Kwan Seum Bosal Chanting Part Three: Eliminating Karmic Obstacles
Introduction So, let’s talk about bad karma. Bodhidharma (the founding teacher of Zen in China) taught that When those who search for the Path encounter adversity, they should think to themselves, “In countless ages gone by, I’ve turned from the essential to the trivial and wandered through all manner of existence, often angry without cause […]
Kwan Seum Bosal Chanting Part Two: Reciting the Name of the Bodhisattva
Introduction As the name implies, the core of “Kwan Seum Bosal Chanting” is the actual chanting of the name of the Bodhisattva of Compassion (Kwan Seum Bosal) over and over again. As a general rule, “Kwan Seum Bosal” should be repeated at least 108 times. The practice of reciting the names of various Buddhas and […]
Kwan Seum Bosal Chanting Part One: Homage / Prostrations
NOTE: This is the first of several posts on Kwan Seum Bosal Chanting. Links to all the other posts are at the bottom of this post (in the section on “Sources and Resources”) Introduction Kwanseum Bosal Chanting is a practice that comes from the Korean Buddhist tradition. I don’t know of any closely similar practices […]