#HH Dalai Lama

[alicemccombs]

[gregdotorg]

This is a holiday card sent by His Holiness The Dalai Lama to Marion Thorpe, former Countess of Harewood, during an unspecified Christmas season, probably around the time her son the 8th Earl of Harewood made a four-hour documentary about Tibetan Buddhist monastic practice in the late 1970s.

images: julien's auctions

[onenakedfarmer]

Playing

Philip Glass KUNDUN Music from the Original Soundtrack

Michael Riesman

[radical-revolution]

Willingness To Change

Many people who approach the practice of Buddhism are willing to sacrifice one or two hours of their day in order to perform some ritual practice or engage in meditation. Time is relatively easy to give up, even though their life may be very busy. But, they are not willing to change anything of their personality - they are not willing to forgo anything of their negative character. With this type of approach to Buddhism, it hardly matters how much meditation we do, our practice remains merely a hobby or a sport. It does not touch our lives. In order actually to overcome our problems, we have to be willing to change - namely to change our personality. We need to renounce and rid ourselves of those negative aspects of it that are causing us so much trouble.

The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra

~ HH THE 14TH DALAI LAMA

[mahayanapilgrim]

"If we taught every child to meditate we could achieve world peace within a generation."

~ HH Tenzin Gyatso, the XIV Dalai Lama

[mountain-sage]

"When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace."

— HH Dalai Lama

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

my favorite pic of HH so far!  :: [thanks RigDzin Dharma Foundation ]

* * * * *

A Mongolian boy born in the US has been named as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism by the Dalai Lama. The faith’s spiritual leader has been pictured with the eight-year-old boy taking part in a ceremony in Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh – where the Dalai Lama, 87, lives in exile – recognising him as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, according to The Times. Mongolian media reports suggest the child is one of a pair of twin boys named Aguidai and Achiltai Altannar, sons of Altannar Chinchuluun and Monkhnasan Narmandakh, a university mathematics professor and a national resources conglomerate executive, respectively.

[Independent UK]

[nohaynat]

hidden behind the Dalai Lama’s tongue

it was the media again. a viral stream of pictures that gave us content to nib on for a while: contagious – HH the Dalai Lama teased a kid in his own style, sticking his tongue out in the a way a (Tibetan) grandparent would tease their grandchild, and the world stuck their eyes out pointing their projecting fingers at an institutional leader. 

yes, we all want to bring down institutions when they install more harm than good. but the Dalai Lama, do “you” really know the man “you” are talking about? it is not unreasonable to cringe at what could seem an abuse of a “spiritual master” to a “student”. this type of abuses happen across the board, in all institutions, religions, and spiritual traditions, sadly. it has also happened within buddhism, and it hurts to learn about it each time around: it hurts because there is an immeasurable, simmering, potential of transformation that the practice and philosophy of buddhism could bring to us, humankind, and yet, we fall down into the old pit, old rut, old patterns... c’mon, we could’ve stayed in drugs, sex, and rock&roll for that! so let's come out of the old pit.

when sticking his tongue out, HH brought buddhism to the spotlight: not a bad thing at all. he also brought the discussion of institutional abuse to the spotlight: not a bad thing at all. he woke up the feminist intercultural chats of anyone who wants to see a real transformation in the world of politics, economics, and climate decline: not a bad thing at all. he stretched dialogues and strengthened bonds: not a bad thing at all. 

as i write this, the first international buddhist conference has just ended. it was the largest meeting of its type, with people with a plethora of inspiring backgrounds and stories, from cave meditators, to wandering yogis, political figures, scholarly accomplished geshes, and practitioners whose path we would wish to emulate; people looking with deep honesty and interest into the nature of mind, life, joy, meaning, mingled together for a couple of days – this is behind the Dalai Lama’s tongue.

as i write this, another, the most, the greatest, the unsurpassed event is taking place. a Nyingma accomplished lineage holder, Gyatrul Rinpoche (1925-2023), has died in California (US). Rinpoche is now manifesting one of the rarest realisations: rainbow body – the body, after death, not only does not decompose, but shrinks to the size of an 8 year old, through days of the meditative state known as Tukdam. it has been 14 days since he died, he is there, and people can visit the place for prayers. his “sea burial” has been postponed from April 20th until May 30th because of his meditation. this is the first time we, in the west, witness the phenomenon... rainbow body... that this is happening now simply shows how alive the teachings are. buddhism is my dharma, it is not, and need not, be everyone’s. but if buddhism is alive, all spiritual paths are. they are true. they are here. they are ours: liberation is our soul’s right and hidden behind the Dalai Lama’s tongue lies our spirit, ready to be awakened. 

ps. the “world” demands the Dalai Lama to “adapt” to our projections. is it that what we really wish for? or would we rather transform our minds to start seeing a glimpse of the purity of the world that stands before the Dalai Lama’s gaze? open question.

[metissagesanguemisto]

“I call on the next generation of young women to be the mothers of the Compassionate Revolution that this century so desperately needs. You have a special role to play in creating a better world. It is often thought that women are more empathic and sensitive, and more receptive to the feelings of others. These are qualities that are embodied by mothers. In this sense, women are models of humanity.” ~ HH. 14TH DALAI LAMA . . #women #womensday #8march https://www.instagram.com/p/CphYuwiNM-H/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[delightedjourney9]

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Reading

SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE INDIAN BUDDHIST CLASSICS VOL I - THE PHYSICAL WORLD

Conceived and Introduced by HH the XIVth Dalai Lama

Edited by Thupten Jinpa

Translated by Ian Coghlan

[jadeseadragon]

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."

~ HH, the Dalai Lama

❤️

[radical-revolution]

“Negative thoughts and emotions are what obstruct our most basic aspiration—to be happy and to avoid suffering. When we act under their influence, we become oblivious to the impact our actions have on others: they are thus the cause of our destructive behavior both toward others and to ourselves.”

― HH the XIV Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium

[mahayanapilgrim]

Pray for HH The Dalai Lama

HH The Dalai Lama has gone to USA for medical treatment. All the wellwishers of Dalai Lama are hereby requested to pray & recite for him the mantra of Medicine Buddha:

TAYATA OM BHEKANDZE

BHEKANDZE MAHA BHEKANDZE

RANDZA SAMUNGATE SOHA

[everyendeavor]

[beinactasinthought]

I was raised Roman Catholic. While I’m not dogmatic, I try to live my life with the kindness I was raised with; in mind and in practice. It’s a huge part of why I choose this blog’s name: Be in act, as in thought. If you think about good, you must do good. If you think about giving people a chance, give people a chance.

In the end it comes down to the classic: try to leave the world better than you found it.

Sometimes you’re going to fail at it. And that’s okay. Kindness itself is effort. It’s not always easy, but it’s always worth it.

As a lover of quotes, I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite ones, may they help give you the strength and renewed energy to love, be kind and face the day:

“All that we are in the result of what we have thought.”

- Buddha

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”

- Dalai Lama

“Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.”

- St. Francis of Assisi (note: the ‘poverty’ referenced here is not oppressed or forced onto an individual but self-choosen; a self-sacrifice to reject materialism and greed. So, not an advocation of oppression but of an individual’s self-sacrifice.)

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

- (attributed to) Edmund Burke

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“ The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the worlds problems.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

“Either help, or do no harm.”

- Hippocratic Oath (a variant translation, oft attributed to Hippocrates)

“but some people CAN’T change” and “some people WON’T change”

I don’t care. The argument for being kind and charitable to other people is not for the sake of changing them, being kind and charitable is for the sake of preserving goodness in this world and within myself.