#buddhism

[yoga-onion]

- A message from 23 nights temple -

“Doing the same thing can be blamed by one side and praised by the other. If you care about every single opinion of others, you will never get on with your life.”

-二十三夜堂からのメッセージ-

”同じことをしても、片方からは非難され、もう片方からは賞賛される。いちいち気にしていたら、この世は渡れません。”

[a-path-by-the-moon]

[ksjanes]

Words of Tibetan Buddhist master Dilgo Khyentse.

"The everyday practice is simple to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions, and to all people, experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself."

[songs-of-the-east]

Kalmykia Europe's only Buddhist Republic

Kalmykia is an autonomous republic located in the steppes of western Russia formed while Lenin was the leader of the USSR. The republic was created for the national-self determination of the Kalmyk people, Europe's only indigenous Buddhist population.

Kalmyks are mainly descendants of Oirats from Dzungaria who migrated through the steppes and first inhabited the Volga region in western Russia, but as a group they've also mixed with ethnic Russian peasants, Don Cossacks, North Caucasian people, and Kazakhs.

Due to internal strife among different clans in Kalmykia, many Kalmyks sought refugee in the neighbouring Don Cossack lands. Eventually most of those Kalmyks became a part of the Don Cossack Army, and developed into their own sub-ethnic group known as the Buzava or Don Kalmyks. The Buzava adopted much of Don Cossack culture, and intermixture between both groups was common; however, they were able to preserve a unique identity due to maintaining their own language and religion though most also spoke Russian. In the flag of the Don Cossacks the first blue vertical stripe represents the Kalmyks, with its origins in a law formulated during the existence of the temporal Don Republic stating: "Three nationalities have lived on the Don land since ancient times and constitute the indigenous citizens of the Don region - the Don Cossacks, Kalmyks and Russian peasants. Their national colours were: the Don Cossacks - blue, cornflower blue, the Kalmyks - yellow and the Russians - scarlet. "

Photo source: "Kalmykia, Chess, and Buddha" - Tomas van Houtryve

[e-n-d-a-s-h]

Liz Toohey-Wiese, 2024.

"A sign installed in the largest wildfire burn I’ve ever seen, along the BC/YK border. Borrowing the aesthetics of BC Recreation Site signs, once again pointing to the overlaps of outdoor recreation, resource extraction, and the consequences of the climate crisis. Most recreation sites in BC exist along previously built logging and mining roads.

“Forced into a great and difficult transformation” was a line I heard in a lecture on Buddhist philosophy I was listening to on my drive up north. But it became another mantra I thought about while living in a place that’s been utterly transformed by resource extraction over the past century, and as I thought about the burnt landscapes I drove through."

More here.

[salmonella-destroyer-of-worlds]

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was getting arranged married to Jesus Christ on the beach. I was super upset, but my family kept telling me that I didn't have a choice. I'm a Buddhist lesbian...

[yoga-onion]

"The path to enlightenment is not difficult. All you have to do is turn your heart toward Buddha." Kukai

- Kukai (b. 27 July 774 – d. 22 April 835),  posthumously called Kōbō Daishi ("The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism.

"悟りへの道は難しくはない。ブッダに心を向けるだけでいいのだ。"

―空海（くうかい、774年7月27日生 - 835年4月22日没）は、日本の僧侶、書家、詩人で、真言密教の創始者であり、「弘法大師」とも呼ばれる。

[meta-marphosis]

to no end

[vintage-russia]

Gusinoozerskiy datsan.Masks of the Gods,Russia (19th-20th century)

[balkanparamo]

Bodhisattva

[american-boyboss]

[mysharona1987]

[lazyyogi]

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

Thich Nhat Hanh

[charlesoberonn]

AITA for breaking out of an eternal cycle of death and rebirth?

My (28M) inner Atman (155trillionNB) recently escaped the cycle of Samsara by quenching all earthly desires and achieving Nirvana. But I kinda feel bad for abandoning all of the trillions of souls still suffering on Earth.

Should I become a bodhisattva and guide others on the path to enlightenment or is it okay if I rejoin the Brahman right now?