“Why do I need Tantra when Sutra already seems enough?” Some Buddhist practitioners are happily enjoying stages of the path (Lamrim), Buddhist psychology, and the Bodhisattva path. They wonder “”Why add another layer?” “What’s the point of Tantra?” “There’squite a lot to do already! Can’t I just attain enlightenment through Sutra alone?” Carrying on from the Q&A in this last article: Who’s ready for Highest Yoga Tantra? To answer this,…
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As you may have read in this last article, In case you’re wondering about Highest Yoga Tantra, the general advice is that if we have some foundation in renunciation, bodhichitta, and the wisdom realizing emptiness, and faith…
This Summer, Highest Yoga Tantra empowerments and teachings will be given at the International Kadampa Buddhist Festival – they come around approximately every two years. If you’re mulling over attending these for the first time, and are…
To drill down a bit on emptiness and mere appearance, both of which are invaluable contemplations during mandala offerings and life in general … some months before he passed away, Venerable Geshe Kelsang said: All phenomena their…
What is a day really for? I’ve seen four clips these past few days that illustrate the need to think about this if I want my life to have a deeper meaning. The first, and simplest, clip…
Fairly dicey times here on Planet Earth. What direction are we headed in? In the introduction to Prayers for World Peace, which Geshe Kelsang gave us way back in 2001, he says: World peace is very important;…
If we get into the habit of making mandala offerings, we swiftly purify our mind and start to see the world in a purer way. For example, we may notice that we can still love people even…
“You can never step in the same ocean twice.” So said Heraclitus, sort of, and so I pondered as I tried to paddle along the…
7 mins read. I think we could all do with some kind of conversation between our heart-mind and our thinky head. I remember some years…
What do you do when your meditation isn’t flowing as you wish? Sometimes we feel disconnected. All these teachings and meditations sound good, great even;…
Do you fancy some Buddhist meditation retreat? January 2026 is nearly upon us and – although retreats are offered throughout the year – January means…
In the previous article on Tantra, I explain a meditation for overcoming attachment and other delusions that is derived from Buddha’s Tantric methods. Now I want…
I seem to be here again at the Denver DMV. I thought I’d left this grimy place forever, but here I am back all over…
I recently spent time with some chickens in Cartama near Malaga, where…
Mahasiddha Saraha was a Mahamudra master who gave some really helpful analogies to help us…
Some people talk these days about “peak experiences”, and how they give meaning to a…
First I thought it’d be helpful to give some context for the clarity of mind…
A guest article by Jan J, a long-term Kadampa Buddhist practitioner. Here are some experiences that remind me how the hidden truth of karma is…
8.5 mins read. Often when things go wrong in our lives, we cast about for someone to blame and/or conclude that life is unconscionably unfair.…
Some time has elapsed since I wrote this article on Homs, Syria; but the question “What can we do?” seems just as relevant to what’s going on today…
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Society
An article co-written by a friend and me. One of Buddha Shakyamuni’s…
Impermanence
Scanning the magazine rack at LaGuardia, wondering whether I could be bothered…
Self Confidence
Meditation is the way to access our own pure potential for mental…
Buddha nature
On the last day of the recent Kadampa Summer Festival, the life story of…