The Treasury of Precious Instructions
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Pravin K. Shah Jaina Education Committee Jain Agam Literature Background Lord Mahavir's Preaching Was Orally Compiled Into Many
Pravin K. Shah Jaina Education Committee Jain Agam Literature Background Lord Mahavir's preaching was orally compiled into many texts (Sutras) by his disciples. Collectively these texts are called Jain canonical or Agam literature. The Agam Sutras show great reverence for all forms of life and strict codes of vegetarianism, asceticism, nonviolence, and opposition to war. Traditionally these sutras were orally pass on from teachers (acharyas or gurus) to the disciples for several centuries. Also, during the course of time many learned acharyas (elder monks) compiled commentaries on the various subjects of the Agam literature. In olden times, the books were hand-written and rare. Also the religious books and scriptures were considered possessions and attachments for ascetics. Therefore Agam sutras were rarely documented and not widely distributed for or by ascetics. During the course of time, it became extremely difficult to keep memorizing the entire Jain literature (Agam sutras and Commentary literature) compiled by the many Ächäryas. Also there occurred a twelve years of famine around 350 BC. It was extremely difficult for the Jain ascetics to survive during this time. Under such circumstances they could not preserve the entire canonical literature. In fact, a significant number of Agam sutras were already forgotten and lost after the famine. Later, when the Jain congregation relaxed the vow of non-possession with regards to religious scriptures for ascetics, they had already forgotten much of the oldest canonical literature such as twelfth Ang-agam known as Drastiwad, which included fourteen Purvas. The rest of agams were polluted with some modifications and errors. -
Chenrezig Practice
1 Chenrezig Practice Collected Notes Bodhi Path Natural Bridge, VA February 2013 These notes are meant for private use only. They cannot be reproduced, distributed or posted on electronic support without prior explicit authorization. Version 1.00 ©Tsony 2013/02 2 About Chenrezig © Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in Heart Treasure of the Enlightened One. ISBN-10: 0877734933 ISBN-13: 978-0877734932 In the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon of enlightened beings, Chenrezig is renowned as the embodiment of the compassion of all the Buddhas, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Avalokiteshvara is the earthly manifestation of the self born, eternal Buddha, Amitabha. He guards this world in the interval between the historical Sakyamuni Buddha, and the next Buddha of the Future Maitreya. Chenrezig made a a vow that he would not rest until he had liberated all the beings in all the realms of suffering. After working diligently at this task for a very long time, he looked out and realized the immense number of miserable beings yet to be saved. Seeing this, he became despondent and his head split into thousands of pieces. Amitabha Buddha put the pieces back together as a body with very many arms and many heads, so that Chenrezig could work with myriad beings all at the same time. Sometimes Chenrezig is visualized with eleven heads, and a thousand arms fanned out around him. Chenrezig may be the most popular of all Buddhist deities, except for Buddha himself -- he is beloved throughout the Buddhist world. He is known by different names in different lands: as Avalokiteshvara in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, as Kuan-yin in China, as Kannon in Japan. -
Radiant Transmission Is an October Gallery Touring Exhibition
RICHARD WILLIAMSON, Vajra-Kilaya, 1992, Height 37cm, Gilt Bronze, Iron and Polychrome Cover: CHEWANG DORJE LAMA (Boudnath, Kathmandu, Nepal), Chemchog Heruka (Mahottara), 2002, Gold and Gouache on Black Cotton Ground, 82cm x 59cm A LONG LOOK HOMEWARD Acknowledgements Photographic Images of Tibet In association with Tibet House Trust The October Gallery extends particular thanks to: Tibet House Trust, UK charity no 1037230 Robert Beer Tibet House, 1 Culworth Street, Zara Fleming London NW8 7AF Mrs Kesang Takla (Representative of the Dalai Lama in tel: 020 77225378, fax: 020 7722 0362 Northern Europe) email: [email protected], The Venerable Chime Rinpoche www.tibet-housetrust.co.uk Anthony Aris Right: Joseph Houseal, Core of Culture GONKAR GYATSO, Sue Byrne, Tibet Foundation Ecdysis II, 2003. Chewang Dorje Lama Photographic Installation Phunsok Tshering Lama (One of Four). Karen Boston The Royal Academy Below: Peacock Productions CHAM: Tibetan Sacred Dance Lamayuru, Ladakh, 2000 The October Gallery gratefully acknowledges the Photograph by Joseph support of the Arts Council England for the financial Houseal, CORE OF CULTURE. assistance that enabled this exhibition to take place. The October Gallery Education Department is supported by JP Morgan Fleming Charities and the Lloyds TSB Foundation. We acknowledge the kind permission to screen the following films: Himalaya - Momentum Films, London Tantra of Gyuto - Mystic Fire Video, New York Radiant Transmission is an October Gallery Touring Exhibition A LONG HOMEWARD, Photograph, Tibet Museum, Dharamsala. Meanwhile, in Nepal, the tantric artistic tradition has continued uninterrupted for over a thousand years and is currently undergoing a renaissance. Exquisite masterpieces of tantric art by outstanding contemporary Newar artists form the main core of this exhibition. -
Difference Between the Svatantrika Madhyamika and the Prasangika
Handout 07 - Spring 2011 / Bodhicitta Difference between the Svatantrika Madhyamika and the Prasangika Madhyamika tenets As mentioned in the previous handout (Handout 06), even though the main difference between the two Madhyamika (Middle Way) tenets lies in their interpretation of the ultimate truth, there are several other differences, one of which is outlined during the presentation of aspirational and engaging Bodhicitta. The difference that is outlined here arises from the two tenets' different assertions regarding the nature of vows. Svatantrika Madhyamika (Autonomy Middle Way) tenet From the point of view of the Svatantrika (Autonomy School) tenet -- which includes the Yoga Svatantrika and the Sutra Svatantrika tenets -- aspirational Bodhicitta arises even in the continua of Bodhisattvas who have taken and not transgressed the Bodhisattva vow. The reason for this is that, according to this tenet, vows are a mental factor. Vows are the mental factor of 'intention' which is one of the five omnipresent mental factors that is concomitant with every main mind. This means that whenever vows manifest in someone's continuum they manifest in the form of the mental factor of intention. However, this does not mean that every mental factor of intention (even in the continuum of someone who has taken vows) manifests in the form of vows. In the case of the Bodhisattva vow, it refers to the mental factor of intention that is concomitant with Bodhicitta. Thus, when Bodhisattvas newly take the Bodhisattva vow the vow first arises in their continua in the form of the mental factor of intention that is concomitant with Bodhicitta. In other words, during the ritual of taking the Bodhisattva vow the Bodhisattvas initially generate aspirational Bodhicitta. -
Healing and Self-Healing Through White Tara
HEALING AND SELF-HEALING THROUGH WHITE TARA Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche Spring retreat teachings, The Netherlands 1995 Winter retreat vajrayana teachings, US 1996-7 A Jewel Heart Transcript ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Part I of this edition is the transcription of the teachings on White Tara, Healing and selfhealing, that Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche gave during the spring retreat 1995 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Part II are the vajrayana teachings on the practice of White Tara, taught by Rinpoche during the spring of 1995 in Nijmegen, a vajrayana weekend in Ann Arbor 1995, and the winterretreats 1996/97 en 1997/98 in the US. Part II is restricted; what is taught can only be practiced by those who’ve received full initiation in either Avalokiteshvara or in any maha annuttara yoga tantra. (A Tara long-life initiation – which actually is a blessing – is not what is meant here). Because of this restriction, part I has been published separately. The transcript is updated since the 4th edition. In particular it got a number of features that facilitate studying this worthwhile practice. A glossary, a list of literature and an index are provided. Images related to the teachings have been added. References to other literature have been made. Cross-references between the sutrayana- and the vajrayana part may help clarify difficulties. For easy study additional small headings have been made. The teachings of Part I were transcribed by several Jewel Heart friends in the Netherlands. The vajrayana teachings have been transcribed by Hartmut Sagolla. The drawing of Buddha Shakyamuni and those of the mudras were made by Marian van der Horst, those of the life-chakras by Piet Soeters. -
The Nine Yanas
The Nine Yanas By Cortland Dahl In the Nyingma school, the spiritual journey is framed as a progression through nine spiritual approaches, which are typically referred to as "vehicles" or "yanas." The first three yanas include the Buddha’s more accessible teachings, those of the Sutrayana, or Sutra Vehicle. The latter six vehicles contain the teachings of Buddhist tantra and are referred to as the Vajrayana, or Vajra Vehicle. Students of the Nyingma teachings practice these various approaches as a unity. Lower vehicles are not dispensed with in favor of supposedly “higher” teachings, but rather integrated into a more refined and holistic approach to spiritual development. Thus, core teachings like renunciation and compassion are equally important in all nine vehicles, though they may be expressed in more subtle ways. In the Foundational Vehicle, for instance, renunciation involves leaving behind “worldly” activities and taking up the life of a celibate monk or nun, while in the Great Perfection, renunciation means to leave behind all dualistic perception and contrived spiritual effort. Each vehicle contains three distinct components: view, meditation, and conduct. The view refers to a set of philosophical tenets espoused by a particular approach. On a more experiential level, the view prescribes how practitioners of a given vehicle should “see” reality and its relative manifestations. Meditation consists of the practical techniques that allow practitioners to integrate Buddhist principles with their own lives, thus providing a bridge between theory and experience, while conduct spells out the ethical guidelines of each system. The following sections outline the features of each approach. Keep in mind, however, that each vehicle is a world unto itself, with its own unique philosophical views, meditations, and ethical systems. -
Buddhist Ethics in Japan and Tibet: a Comparative Study of the Adoption of Bodhisattva and Pratimoksa Precepts
University of San Diego Digital USD Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship Department of Theology and Religious Studies 1994 Buddhist Ethics in Japan and Tibet: A Comparative Study of the Adoption of Bodhisattva and Pratimoksa Precepts Karma Lekshe Tsomo PhD University of San Diego, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/thrs-faculty Part of the Buddhist Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Digital USD Citation Tsomo, Karma Lekshe PhD, "Buddhist Ethics in Japan and Tibet: A Comparative Study of the Adoption of Bodhisattva and Pratimoksa Precepts" (1994). Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship. 18. https://digital.sandiego.edu/thrs-faculty/18 This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Buddhist Behavioral Codes and the Modern World An Internationa] Symposium Edited by Charles Weihsun Fu and Sandra A. Wawrytko Buddhist Behavioral Codes and the Modern World Recent Titles in Contributions to the Study of Religion Buddhist Behavioral Cross, Crescent, and Sword: The Justification and Limitation of War in Western and Islamic Tradition Codes and the James Turner Johnson and John Kelsay, editors The Star of Return: Judaism after the Holocaust -
Of Mandalas and the Spiritual Imagination
329 Amazing journeys Of mandalas and the spiritual imagination Michael Barnes " N THE STRANGE WORLD OF TANTRIC BUDDHISM the mandala ranks as the I . most exquisite example of a highly sophisticated artistic tradition. Yet these highly intricate cosmograms, multi-coloured maps of the spiritual universe, are not just Buddhist versions of mazes and labyrinths - abstract illustrations of the spiritual path. The mandala does enable a process of personal integration through the practice of meditation which it supports, but the Buddhist path is never anything but paradoxical. To follow this maze is indeed to become 'amazed', not to surmount a capricious world through an act of sublime intuition but to enter into a variety of relationships with images of the Ultimate which stimulate and test the spiritual imagination. This is particularly apparent in a practice which Tibetan Buddhists call dul-tson-kyil-khor, literally the 'mandala of coloured powders'. This practice is part of a complex process of initiation. It includes the memorizing of the texts which specify the structure of the mandala as well as the 'inner teaching' of Buddhism which the mandala serves to illustrate - and, of course, the manual techniques of artistic production. Over a period of some weeks grains of coloured sand or rice are laid with immense care on to a flat surface. The finished object is quite breathtakingly beautiful. But it has no inner strength of its own; a gust of wind can ruin the fragile structure. As if to illustrate the point, no sooner is the mandala finished than it is gathered up with a small scoop into a bag and poured with great ceremony into a nearby river. -
Beyond Mind II: Further Steps to a Metatranspersonal Philosophy and Psychology Elías Capriles University of the Andes
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Volume 25 | Issue 1 Article 3 1-1-2006 Beyond Mind II: Further Steps to a Metatranspersonal Philosophy and Psychology Elías Capriles University of the Andes Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/ijts-transpersonalstudies Part of the Philosophy Commons, Psychology Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Capriles, E. (2006). Capriles, E. (2006). Beyond mind II: Further steps to a metatranspersonal philosophy and psychology. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 25(1), 1–44.. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 25 (1). http://dx.doi.org/ 10.24972/ijts.2006.25.1.1 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals and Newsletters at Digital Commons @ CIIS. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Transpersonal Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CIIS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Beyond Mind II: Further Steps to a Metatranspersonal Philosophy and Psychology Elías Capriles University of The Andes Mérida, Venezuela Some of Wilber’s “holoarchies” are gradations of being, which he views as truth itself; however, being is delusion, and its gradations are gradations of delusion. Wilber’s supposedly universal ontogenetic holoarchy contradicts all Buddhist Paths, whereas his view of phylogeny contradicts Buddhist Tantra and Dzogchen, which claim delusion/being increase throughout the aeon to finally achieve reductio ad absur- dum. Wilber presents spiritual healing as ascent; Grof and Washburn represent it as descent—yet they are all equally off the mark. -
The Mirror 84 January-February 2007
THE MIRROR Newspaper of the International Dzogchen Community JAN/FEB 2007 • Issue No. 84 NEW GAR IN ROMANIA MERIGAR EAST SUMMER RETREAT WITH CHÖGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU RETREAT OF ZHINE AND LHAGTHONG ACCORDING TO ATIYOGA JULY 14-22, 2007 There is a new Gar in Romania called Merigar East. The land is 4.5 hectares and 600 meters from the Black Sea. The Gar is 250 meters from a main road and 2 kilometers from the nearest village called the 23rd of August (the day of liberation in World War II); it is a 5-minute walk to the train station and a 10-minute walk to the beach. There are small, less costly hotels and pensions and five star hotels in tourist towns and small cities near by. There is access by bus, train and airplane. Inexpensive buses go up and down the coast. There is an airport in Costanza, 1/2 hour from the land, and the capital, Bucharest, 200 kilometers away, offers two international airports. At present we have only the land, but it will be developed. As of January 2007 Romania has joined the European Union. Mark your calendar! The Mirror Staff Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in the Tashigar South Gonpa on his birthday N ZEITZ TO BE IN INSTANT PRESENCE IS TO BE BEYOND TIME The Longsal Ati’i Gongpa Ngotrod In this latest retreat, which was through an intellectual analysis of CHÖGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU Retreat at Tashigar South, Argentina transmitted all around the world by these four, but from a deep under- SCHEDULE December 26, 2006 - January 1, 2007 closed video and audio webcast, standing of the real characteristics thanks to the great efforts and work of our human existence. -
The Dōgen Zenji´S 'Gakudō Yōjin-Shū' from a Theravada Perspective
The Dōgen Zenji´s ‘Gakudō Yōjin-shū’ from a Theravada Perspective Ricardo Sasaki Introduction Zen principles and concepts are often taken as mystical statements or poetical observations left for its adepts to use his/her “intuitions” and experience in order to understand them. Zen itself is presented as a teaching beyond scriptures, mysterious, transmitted from heart to heart, and impermeable to logic and reason. “A special transmission outside the teachings, that does not rely on words and letters,” is a well known statement attributed to its mythical founder, Bodhidharma. To know Zen one has to experience it directly, it is said. As Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright said, “The image of Zen as rejecting all forms of ordinary language is reinforced by a wide variety of legendary anecdotes about Zen masters who teach in bizarre nonlinguistic ways, such as silence, “shouting and hitting,” or other unusual behaviors. And when the masters do resort to language, they almost never use ordinary referential discourse. Instead they are thought to “point directly” to Zen awakening by paradoxical speech, nonsequiturs, or single words seemingly out of context. Moreover, a few Zen texts recount sacrilegious acts against the sacred canon itself, outrageous acts in which the Buddhist sutras are burned or ripped to shreds.” 1 Western people from a whole generation eager to free themselves from the religion of their families have searched for a spiritual path in which, they hoped, action could be done without having to be explained by logic. Many have founded in Zen a teaching where they could act and think freely as Zen was supposed to be beyond logic and do not be present in the texts - a path fundamentally based on experience, intuition, and immediate feeling. -
The All-In-One Audiobook
When it comes to meditation, Pema Chödrön is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost teachers. Yet she’s never offered an introductory course on audio—until now. In How THE ALL-IN-ONE AUDIOBOOK to Meditate with Pema Chödrön, the American-born Tibetan Buddhist nun and bestselling author presents her first complete spoken-word course for those new to meditation. In these 12 sitting sessions, Pema Chödrön will help you honestly meet and compassionately relate with your mind as you explore: • The basics of mindfulness awareness practice, from proper posture to learning to settle to breathing and relaxation • Gentleness, patience, and humor—three ingredients for a well-balanced practice • Shamatha (or calm abiding), the art of stabilizing the mind to remain present with whatever arises • Thoughts and emotions as “sheer delight”—instead of obstacles—in meditation “From my own experience and from listening to many people over the years, I’ve tried to offer here what I feel are the essential points of meditation,” explains Pema Chödrön. Now this beloved voice shares with you her accessible approach—simple and down-to-earth while informed by the highest traditions of Tibetan Buddhism—on How to Meditate with Pema Chödrön. Ani Pema Chödrön was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936, in New York City. She attended Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught as an elementary school teacher for many years in both New Mexico and California. While in her mid-thirties, Ani Pema traveled to the French Alps and encountered Lama Chime Rinpoche, with whom she studied for several years.