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Archives
- NOT SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES October 9, 2026
- THE CATCH IN THE BARDO = THE WINDS OF KARMA October 9, 2026
- WATERED-DOWN DHARMA October 8, 2026
- THE CONSTANTS October 8, 2026
- GURUS ARE PEOPLE, AND PEOPLE ARE GURUS October 7, 2026
- DOUBT AND CONFIDENCE October 6, 2026
- HAVING SOMEONE TO TALK TO October 5, 2026
- MISTAKING DISTRACTION FOR PURPOSE October 4, 2026
- WE ADOPT A STORY October 3, 2026
- SANITY IS WISDOM October 3, 2026
- SOCIOLOGY AND THE DHARMA October 3, 2026
- LIVING IN OUR BUBBLE October 3, 2026
- FEEDBACK IS VITAL FOR PROGRESS October 3, 2026
- PURE CONSCIOUSNESS IS INNOCENT October 2, 2026
- THE ULTIMATE PSYOPS October 1, 2026
- WAKING UP IS DISTURBING October 1, 2026
- FROM SIGHT TO INSIGHT September 30, 2026
- WE KNOW ABOUT PLATO’S CAVE … BUT DO WE? September 30, 2026
- LOST SOUL, LOST CONSCIOUSNESS September 29, 2026
- RITUALISTIC DHARMA AND REAL DHARMA September 29, 2026
- LOVING LABELS – OTHERS’ LABELS September 28, 2026
- THERE IS NO DHARMA, NO BUDDHISM, NOTHING INTERESTING September 28, 2026
- RETREATS, AND GOING FOR A BUN September 27, 2026
- HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE DREAMING? September 27, 2026
- CLEARING AWAY THE DARK IGNORANCE OF MIND September 26, 2026
- IS THE EXOTIC ESCAPISM? September 26, 2026
- WHY DOES LIFE FEEL LIKE A SCAM? September 26, 2026
- KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT COMPASSION September 25, 2026
- BELIEVING VERSUS KNOWING September 24, 2026
- BORN INTO A WAY OF LIFE September 23, 2026
- COMPASSION ONLY FOR THOSE AFAR September 22, 2026
- ARE WE AWAKE OR DREAMING? September 22, 2026
- DID YOU GET WHAT YOU CAME FOR? September 22, 2026
- REALISING THE REAL TEACHER September 22, 2026
- BELONGING TO AN UNSTABLE TRIBE September 21, 2026
- WORDS ARE NEARLY THE TRUTH September 20, 2026
- THE LESS THE JUDGEMENT, THE MORE THE INSISIGHT September 19, 2026
- IF YOU’RE BONKERS AND YOU KNOW IT, CLAP YOUR HANDS September 19, 2026
- THE DHARMA IS IN LIFE, NOT IN A BOOK September 18, 2026
- THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNISING BLIND ALLEYS September 18, 2026
- SPIRITUALITY ISN’T A PERFORMANCE September 17, 2026
- WHY GO ON ABOUT HAPPINESS? September 17, 2026
- TO WRITE OR NOT TO WRITE? September 16, 2026
- WHY DON’T PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THEY ARE? September 15, 2026
- DO YOU WANT TO BE A BODHISATTVA? September 14, 2026
- WISDOM IS USELESS UNLESS IT IS PRACTISED September 13, 2026
- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? September 13, 2026
- THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING September 12, 2026
- WE ALL HAVE DARK PASTS September 12, 2026
- MOST PEOPLE LIVE IN THE PAST September 11, 2026
Category Archives: Uncategorized
WHAT IS THIS MOMENT, NOW, LIKE?
What Is This Moment, Now, Like? This spontaneous presence. It’s ordinary. It’s special in its ordinariness. I’ve looked and looked, hoping for something more, something interesting, but no – it is looking and seeing awareness that always stays the same. … Continue reading
MEDITATION AND ITS EXPRESSION
Meditation And Its Expression When we just rest, we relax. When relaxed, the mind clears. This clarity makes it easier to be aware of awareness. When aware of awareness, clarity sees nothing but awareness. That is pure, empty awareness: it’s … Continue reading
AS WE MAKE, SO WE BELIEVE
As We Make, So We Believe We are pure awareness trapped in a body because of our previous action, in a make-believe world of the mind and the senses. The senses are, by their very nature, non-conceptual: they just sense. … Continue reading
BUDDHISM FOR THE GRITTY
Buddhism For The Gritty “True Grit” 😉 Gritty: showing courage, resolve, tenacity. Being aware of the unpleasant, and unwaveringly seeing it as it really is; uncompromising. There are many ways to obtain peace of mind – a mind that is … Continue reading
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Tagged BUDDHISM, Buddhism For The Gritty., Buddhism is for everyone., Dzogchen
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WHO, OR WHAT CAN WE TRUST?
Who, Or What Can We Trust? Trust: reliable, consistently good in quality The only quality we can trust is spontaneous presence…now! Spontaneous presence is the quality of consistently pure awareness, free from any contaminations. It is just being awake, although … Continue reading
THE UNIQUENESS OF OUR PATH
The Uniqueness Of Our Path Because of our personal fixations and inclinations, we have to confront a unique karmic obligation, bound by universal law. Our spiritual path (to knowing our absolute nature) is our own relative confusion that obscures that … Continue reading
THE COLLECTIVE EGO IS THE DEVIL!
The Collective Ego Is The Devil! Realising the urgency to practise There is a plethora of complexity 😉 written about spirituality and the dharma, offering lots of advice. But sometimes it may all seem too much; “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard … Continue reading
CONTROLLING THE FLOCK
Controlling The Flock Fear = Panic = Chaos = Confusion = Conflict = More Fear This is how people are controlled Our personal suffering is maintained by joining – and therefore becoming part of – collective confusion. Experience “reaction in … Continue reading
PANORAMIC VISION
Panoramic Vision With immobile body, speech and mind, sit still and quiet, with eyes relaxed but open. We are seeing everything at once, but not focusing on anything. This includes peripheral vision, without moving the head. It’s as if everything … Continue reading
DZOGCHEN FOR THE FRUSTRATED
Dzogchen For The Frustrated Meditation, chanting, prayers and study all focus the mind when the mind doesn’t want to focus. This is why, to help us break out of our scattered mind, we have a disciplined routine. However, for some, … Continue reading
ALL SPIRITUAL OBJECTS ARE “PLACEBOS” = THEY PLEASE
All Spiritual Objects Are “Placebos” = they please ‘placebo’: from the Latin placere, to please The value of an object is the value we put on it: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This could come as a … Continue reading
SHOULD I JUST CONFORM?
Should I Just Conform? If we do not know, then we have to conform to a common standard of confusion. Conform: comply with rules or standards. Antonym: rebel, differ from. In Buddhism, such rebellion is a way of cognising, of … Continue reading
RECOGNISE TO COGNISE
Recognise To Cognise Recognise: to know again, to recall, to remember. Cognise: to know. Recognition is relative reality. Cognition is absolute reality. Once cognition occurs, recognition is no longer needed, until we forget. As we progress, subtle changes occur. We … Continue reading
WE ARE ALL BUDDHAS IN THE MUD
We Are All Buddhas In The Mud Although our true nature is awake and pure, it is obscured by defilements and attitudes. And so, we forget our true nature, putting more value on the defilements and attitudes. We are like … Continue reading
MEDITATION – THE PRACTICE OF PRACTISING NOT PRACTISING
Meditation – The Practice of Practising Not Practising 🙂 How do we do that? Naturally. Isn’t it the case that, at the end of a practice session, we feel a sense of relief, being at peace? Even if we feel, … Continue reading
DO I NEED A SPIRITUAL TEACHER?
Do I Need A Spiritual Teacher? We need inspiration and guidance. The teacher is inspiration and guidance. The teacher is the mirror to our own inspiration and guidance. The outer teacher is someone whose qualities match our own. A recognition … Continue reading
TANTRA/VAJRAYANA: The value – and misunderstanding – of fantasy
Tantra/Vajrayana The value – and misunderstanding – of fantasy The following is from Wikipedia: Esoteric transmission Vajrayana Buddhism is esoteric in the sense that the transmission of certain teachings only occurs directly from teacher to student during an empowerment and cannot … Continue reading
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Tagged conspiracy sites, deities, empowerments, pointing out instruction, Tantra, Vajrayana
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ENLIGHTENING THE LOAD
Enlightening The Load The path to enlightenment is lightening our karmic load, by becoming aware and wiping the slate clean. The opposite of enlightening is keeping in the dark. We have to look in order to see how uncomfortable the … Continue reading
NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS
Nothing Actually Happens Although much is written about spirituality, nothing actually happens. Empty essence merely observes karma playing, creating and going through its routine and, by detached observation, unwinding itself. In our human form, we have learnt enough to survive … Continue reading
UNCERTAIN ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE?
Uncertain About Your Practice? About your path, philosophy, or even yourself? It doesn’t matter what we do, it’s all about that which is aware of practice, path, philosophy and self. Uncertainty can strangle commitment; we become tied in knots and … Continue reading
CUTTING THROUGH CHAIN REACTIONS
Cutting Through Chain Reactions Chain reactions occur in within the body, speech and mind. We observe chain reactions in eating food, our actions, what we say, our emotions and our circling thoughts created by previous circling thoughts. ‘Chain’ is a … Continue reading
CONTRIVED SPIRITUAL BEHAVIOUR
Contrived Spiritual Behaviour Spiritual groups develop contrived behaviour. This seems to come from an idea that people follow; a formula of what they think being ‘spiritual’ is. Our greatest problem here is converting theories into genuine experience – and that … Continue reading
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Tagged Contrived SPIRITUAL Behaviour, emptiness, genuine compassion, Spiritual groups.
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WHERE DO WE START? WHERE DO I START?
Where Do We Start? Where Do I Start? Where do we start? We begin by knowing why we meditate, and then we meditate, starting with shamata, twice a day 20-40 minutes. Shamata is focused meditation. (for details, type in search: … Continue reading
WE REALLY DO KNOW
We Really Do Know We all have Common Sense Common sense: good sense, sensibleness, native intelligence, wit, sound judgement, level-headedness, prudence, discernment, acumen, sharpness, canniness, astuteness, shrewdness, judiciousness, wisdom, insight, intuition, perceptiveness, perspicacity, vision, understanding, intelligence, powers of reasoning; practicality, … Continue reading
RECOGNISING NON-DUALITY, UNLIMITED COMPASSION AND SHUNYATA
Recognising Non-duality, Unlimited Compassion And Shunyata Simple. Be aware of awareness, and do not modify. In the moment of pure recognition, there is nothing else; it is therefore non-dual. If there is nothing else, that is emptiness; shunyata. This is … Continue reading
BORROWING FROM THE MASTERS
Borrowing From The Masters …a bit of fun! Over the past few days, a couple of people have discussed Hieronymus Bosch as I mentioned that I was interested in his work. Throughout our lives, certain individuals influence us, as they represent something … Continue reading
THE DHARMA HAS TO ADJUST TO MODERN TIMES
The Dharma Has To Be Adjusted for Modern Times There is an influence on humans now that was not illustrated in ancient text, and that is modern technology. In every walk of life, this has a profound effect on us. … Continue reading
THE PURPOSE OF MEDITATION
The Purpose Of Meditation Being mindful of wandering mind. Meditation demons lie in ambush to distract. These demons are the mind’s attractions, aversions and past experiences. The essence of mind is pure awareness, untouched by impurities. This essence is free … Continue reading
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Tagged meditation - a refining process., The Purpose Of Meditation
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OUR ‘SET POINT’ OF SPIRITUALITY
Our ‘Set Point’ of Spirituality Our set point is the level at which we ‘set’ or fix our standard. It is a level at which we ‘work’. It is our yana. We usually talk about the two aspects of enlightenment: … Continue reading
TRAINING IN TAMING THE MIND
Training in Taming the Mind Some things aren’t easy to explain…they have to be experienced The Dharma, if not practised, is…I was going to say “pointless”, but there is a point to not practising. Not training has its consequences. If … Continue reading
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Tagged Dzogchen, Padmasabhava's Dakini Teaching., Training in Taming the Mind.
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WE LIVE IN HELL, AND HELL IS A MYTH
We Live In Hell, And Hell Is A Myth Hell: a place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are … Continue reading
CULT MENTALITY
Cult Mentality (cult: to cultivate worship) Everyone has the right to see ‘it’ another way. The Buddha’s teaching are perfect…people aren’t. Sometimes it’s useful to refer to other traditions when explaining something as this can help expand our understanding; we … Continue reading
BUDDHISM – A DIVINE COMEDY
Buddhism – A Divine Comedy Dante’s Inferno – The Divine Comedy A poem by the 14th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri One might think Dante Alighieri was Buddhist! The Divine Comedy is a poem of a symbolic journey through the … Continue reading
WHO HAS BECOME ENLIGHTENED LATELY?
Who Has Become Enlightened Lately? Who has become enlightened lately? I have no idea. Is enlightenment possible? I have no idea. Will we become enlightened at death, or just after? I have no idea. So what are we doing? Remaining … Continue reading
EXOTIC CAN CREATE CONFUSION
Exotic Can Create Confusion I love Tibetan Buddhism; it’s profound, logical and enlightening (in the senses of understanding). It takes everything apart and leaves you with nothing! It is very colourful, and full of imagery in the form of deities; … Continue reading
RIGHT TEACHER, RIGHT TEACHING, RIGHT SUPPORT
Right Teacher, Right Teaching, Right Support Where do we start ? Right Student – Right Teacher How do we find the right teacher, the right teachings and the right dharma centre? It all depends on what we are looking for. … Continue reading
WE ARE CONTROLLED BY HOPES AND FEARS
We Are Controlled By Hopes and Fears As we are controlled by our own hopes and fears, we are also controlled by others’ hopes and fears and so we control others by our hopes and fears. It’s a conscious – … Continue reading
SUBTLE DOUBTS ABOUT SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Subtle Doubts about Spiritual Practice We may doubt whether we are doing a practice right, or even doing the right practice. “Well, there are so many teachings, and so much detail, and others act so ‘holy’, I can’t be doing … Continue reading
HOW DO WE MAKE DECISIONS?
How Do We Make Decisions? There are many elements to our decision making. Much is to do with the power of suggestion from outside sources, through words and action. We fall into others’ patterning by our choice; we may identify … Continue reading
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
Religion and Spirituality It can be confusing. Preconceptions fill our mind so no spontaneity can take place. Knowing spontaneous presence is the magic! Ideas, notions, presuppositions, assumptions, prejudgements, expectations…beliefs are mental bias. This is the reason why, in order to … Continue reading
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Tagged Buddhism is not a belief system, or is it?, Religion and Spirituality.
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WHEN WE REALISE WE ARE ALL MAD
When We Realise We Are All Mad When we realise we are all mad, life starts to make sense 🙂 “I’m not mad, I’m just like everyone else!” 🙂 🙂 😀 When we realise that we are obsessing with our … Continue reading
HOW DO WE TEST THE GURU-TEACHER?
How Do We Test The Guru-Teacher? We can only know God by being God. We can only know a Buddha by being a Buddha. We can only know the teacher by being the teacher. The outer teacher reveals the inner … Continue reading
WANTING TO HEAR AND NOT WANTING TO HEAR
Wanting To Hear and Not Wanting To Hear As a student, I know how this feels! It all depends on who is explaining; Spirituality is not about being a fanatic. There are some things in spirituality that are a bit… … Continue reading
THE SECRET OF JOY
The Secret of Joy Where is the joy? It’s in the acceptance and understanding of whatever the moment presents. The moment now may not present joy but there is still joy in the acceptance and understanding of whatever the moment … Continue reading
THE QUALITY OF THE PRESENT MOMENT
The Quality Of The Present Moment The quality of the present moment was created by the quality of the previous moment. The quality of the future moment will be created by the quality of the present moment. That’s karma for … Continue reading
LIVING A GENERIC LIFE
Living A Generic Life Generic: a characteristic of, or relating to, a class or group of things; not specific. We can say “Blue” when the colour is actually “Ultramarine.” Ultramarine: a brilliant deep blue pigment (more to the red spectrum) … Continue reading
DON’T FAKE IT
Don’t Fake It ..and get trapped in the process Sometimes (often) we are taught in a way that makes us feel that we are never good enough. That we don’t know enough, and that we should keep coming back for … Continue reading
