It’s when we lose the illusion of control—when we’re most vulnerable and exposed—that we can discover the creative potential of our lives. Pema Khandro Rinpoche explains four essential points for understanding what it means to let go, and what is born when we do. We are always experiencing successive births and deaths. We feel the death of loved ones most acutely—there is [...]
Consider This Before Going on a Buddhist Retreat
Christine Skarda has been on retreat for the past twenty-five years. She offers advice on preparing for a successful retreat. Let go of the idea of a perfect retreat place There is no such place! After all, this is samsara, not nirvana. When we think about doing a retreat, we tend to recall famous practitioners and want our retreat to be like theirs: done in perfect [...]
Find Your Heart in Loneliness
Teaching on the Tibetan yogi Milarepa, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche describes the experience of desolateness. Like Milarepa when he meditated in his cave, when we are alone, we may begin a love affair with sadness. The first meeting with oneself, with aloneness, is meeting one’s real ego without clothing—naked ego, assertive, distinct, clear, definite ego. The experience of [...]
9 surprising facts about Henry Miller’s affinity for Buddhism
As someone who spent far too much time hiding in my college’s library, devouring the stories, plays, and letters of Henry Miller, I am flabbergasted now to learn of the depth of Miller’s appreciation of and preoccupation with Buddhism. (Perhaps, given my age, I was focused more then with the more prurient aspects of his work. As Erica Jong once put it, using somewhat faint [...]
The Eight Bardos
According to Tibetan Buddhism, all life and death take place in the gap, or bardo, between one state and another. While the most famous bardo is the one between death and rebirth, there are others that also shape our lives. Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen presents a commentary on Milarepa’s song of realization “The Eight Bardos.” Milarepa's style of teaching is called “direct [...]
Shining in Freedom
When you experience the three realms as self-arisen and self-liberated, says Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso in this commentary on a song by the great yogi Milarepa, you realize their true nature is shining in freedom. Outside the three realms are shining in freedom Inside the wisdom, self-arisen, shines And in between is the confidence of realizing basic being I’ve got no fear [...]
Smile at Fear
Spiritually speaking, I come from an eccentric family. The patriarch of my family was the Indian mahasiddha Tilopa who, while spiritually accomplished, was not motivated by worldly success. He held humble jobs: grinding sesame seeds into oil during the day, and at night, procuring clients for a prostitute. Later in life, having attained the supreme realization of the Vajrayana, [...]
The Eight Flashing Lances
In this commentary on a famed yogi’s spontaneous song of realization, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso explains why Mahamudra practice makes our view, meditation, and action free and unhindered, like a lance flashing free in the open sky. The Eight Flashing Lances is a song of realization sung by Gyalwa Gotsangpa (1189-1258), who was renowned as an emanation of the lord of yogis, [...]
The Mahamudra Lineage
Osel Tendzin on the lineage of Naropa, Marpa & Milarepa. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome. We have undertaken to discuss and practice in the style of the Kagyu lineage of Tibet, which is the lineage of mahamudra. The mahamudra lineage refers to an expression of enlightened mind presented in this world by realized beings, such as the eighty-four siddhas of [...]