Some people take on a beloved’s pain by breathing in their suffering and breathing out love and well-being as Tibetan Buddhists do in the practice of tonglen. In his description of this advanced form of compassion, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987) said in his book...
The message below provides a wonderful metaphor about hummingbirds and jackhammers to describe the relationship between our intellect and the wise and loving inner voice that is our soul. The Wise and Loving Inner Voice Meditation completes this article. Connecting to...
Earth is a planet of darkness and illusion waiting for light. Experimentation, mutation, and devastation of the original, positively intended creation are its unfortunate legacy. All one needs do is look at the pain and suffering in the world today to know change is...
An overused four-letter word over the ages, love is an enigma for many of us. Love’s purest form is the divine expressed and the fruit of that expression. The sun, moon, and all of existence dancing together in harmony, unity, and symmetry is so beautiful, it brings...
Enthroned Virgin Mary and Child ca. 1260–80. French, Paris. Elephant ivory with traces of paint and gilding, 7 ¼ × 3 × 2 ¾ in. (18.4 × 7.6 × 7.3 cm). Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, The Cloisters Collection and Michel David-Weill Gift,...
Pillar one: Conscience. The first pillar is our conscience, which holds our early and/or recent lessons about what we ought, should, and/or must do each day. Located in the xiphoid process, if this pillar is too open, we can become guilt ridden, overly defensive and...