Study & Experiment
Whenever we study the Dharma or do any Dharma practice, the most important thing is to have a pure motivation. If we have a pure motivation, whatever we do with our body, speech, and mind will turn out well. But if our motivation is not pure, then even if what we do with our body, speech, and mind seems good from the outside, it will actually not turn out well in the end. Just starting to read in this server shows that you want to learn about the Dharma and to practice it; it demonstrates that you have some faith and devotion. This is a good motivation, but it is important to have a truly vast motivation-the motivation of bodhichitta. Sometimes our motivation is influenced by our afflictions, and if that is the case, then we should get rid of such a motivation. Sometimes our motivation is not in any way afflicted or negative, but it is possible that it is just a wish to help ourselves. There is nothing terribly wrong about that sort of motivation, but it is very limited, and so this also is a motivation that we should give up. Instead we should have the motivation to bring benefit to all of our former mothers and to all the sentient beings of all six realms of samsara who are as limitless as space. It is for their benefit that we practice the Dharma. It is for their benefit that we need to study the Dharma, so please read these teachings with the pure motivation of bodhichitta. This is the best reason to practice the Dharma.
~by Khenchen Thrangu in Vivid Awareness: The Mind Instructions of Khenpo Gangshar
Discourses of the Buddha
A collection of the Buddha's sutras
that come out of the Plum Village tradition.
Mahayana Buddhism
Tiep Hien
Tiep means "being in touch with" and "continuing."
Hien means "realizing" and "making it here and now."
The Order of Interbeing was founded by and continues to be inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet, and peace activist.
Emotional Healing
Strengthening Our Mindfulness Practice
The two series below "The Sixteen Breathing Exercises" and the more elaborated "Exercises from the Four Foundations of Mindfulness" continue the journey on the path to well-being through strengthening our mindfulness "muscle" to build a strong, calm, and wise mind.
The Sixteen Breathing Exercises
These exercises are taken from the Anapanasati Sutra on mindful breathing. There are sixteen exercises in all.
Exercises from the Four Foundations of Mindfulness
The teachings contained in this The Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness are fundamental to the practice of meditation, and constitute the foundation of all mindfulness practice.
Each instant, put your heart into it again.
Each moment, remind yourself again.
Each second, check yourself again.
Night and day, make your resolve again.
In the morning, commit yourself again.
Each meditation session, examine mind minutely.
Never be apart from dharma, not even accidentally.
Continually, do not forget.
~Patrul Rinpoche
Practices of a Bodhisattva
The Way of the Enightened Hero (Bodhisattva) is the cultivation of Bodhicitta through study, practice, and training the mind (Lojong).
The Wheel of Analytical Meditation That Thoroughly Purifies Mental Activity
An Investigation of the Mind
Yungdrung Bön
The accumulations are completed in the base.
The obscurations in the path are purified.
The fruit of Buddhahood is actualized.
Finding a True Refuge
The questions below lead us through the journey on the path to well-being through introducing us to many of the ideas, practices, and core teachings of the Buddhas. Please explore them and their many guided meditations at your own pace.
What is a buddha?
What is the life story of the Buddha?
What are the four wheels of Bon?
What is our basic human goodness?
What does it mean to take refuge?
What are the five precepts?
What are the four immeasurables?
What are the three dharma seals?
What are the four mind turnings?
What does it mean to meditate on impermanence? (Guided Meditation)
What are the two truths?
What are the six paramitas?
What are the seven factors of awakening?
What is shamatha/zhine meditation?
How can I practice Shamatha/Zhine?
What is lungta?
What are the five aggregates?
What are the five powers?
What are the three doors of liberation?
What are the three bodies of the Buddha?
The Path of the Beach Bum
A beach bum, or kusulu in Tibetan, is someone who leads a very simple, uncomplicated life and does things easily and without much effort. Similarly, in the resting meditation of a beach bum, we do not go through a lot of effort to do the meditation. It is not examining anything thoroughly, it is not studying; we just rest simply in equipoise just as it is. This is extremely important.
Dream Yoga
Dream yoga is a practice of working with dream and sleep that is common to both the monastic, yogic, and shamanistic traditions of Tibet. “Yoga” means to yoke, or unite. In this sense, Dream yoga is designed to integrate one’s experience of day and night, conscious mind with unconscious mind, and mundane ego with transcendent wisdom.