The Guru Disciple Relationship

At a recent visit to the EnlightenNext world center; Andrew Cohen & Genpo Roshi discuss the dynamics of the Guru Disciple relationship.

The Extended You

"The extended you: body, mind, and spirit" by Kurt Barstow at LA Examiner. Quote:

Just as psychological wholeness is about realizing a Self greater than the one delimited by the defensive and ambitious ego, we might say that somatic wholeness (which should perhaps be seen as a vital component of psychological wholeness) is about realizing that the body is really a much more extensive thing than just the physical unit that has skin as its boundary and weight as its measure. As extraordinary as that physical unit is, with its five trillion cells, all of which have independent intelligence, and its complexly interacting and interdependent systems, the physical does not just operate on its own, separate from the other characteristics that make us human. Rather an extended sense of the body is really about the intricate connections among body (matter), mind, and spirit. What follows are the outlines of body maps from various cultures and traditions that represent this expanded body as well as its energetic systems.

We might begin with a contemporary scheme that simplifies the extended body into those aspects that correspond to our major states of consciousness--Integral Institute’s 3-bodies. Here the three bodies are gross (or physical), subtle, and causal and correspond to the states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. While awake we are most aware of ourselves as flesh and blood, the physical body. While sleeping our body operates under different laws. It can fly and skip around through time and space, for example. And in deep sleep we return to our primordial nature, plugging into the source, at one with all that is.

Read the whole article.

Thx to IOC for heads up.

Lotus Visualization by Glenn Marshall

The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus from Glenn Marshall on Vimeo.

Karma Espresso

Tricycle Magazine invited people to explain karma in 140 characters or less (also here). On twitter, of course. Why not? So I did my best and came up with:

If what you do and who you are don't match now,
they will, for better or worse.

And the Tricyclemag liked my contribution and thought I deserved a one year subscription. Thank you! See how others have done. And join the contest next Thursday with a new Buddhist term.

What's the point?

Great points by Genpo Roshi in this short clip, answering the question "If there's no place to be and nothing to want, why am I here, and what's the point?"

*En passant, Genpo Roshi makes an error in pronouncing the name of Mahavairocana Buddha, the same error made in the NHK/Unesco video posted here recently. Again, it's [vairo-ch-ana] instead of [vairo-k-ana].

The complement to this clip is the following one that explains the necessity of owning, balancing and integrating, both the seeking and the non-seeking.



And finally, see this interesting article "Genpo Roshi and the Big Mind Process" at the EnlightenNext blog.

Shunryu Suzuki on Sound and Noise

A New Kind of Revolution

From Terry Patten's Integral Heart blog:

The structure of Iranians’ values are still centered in traditional agreements about symbols, tones, morés and resonances. But their values also now include certain modern and postmodern values like common sense, respect for the dignity of others, thinking for oneself, and the curiosity to observe the modern world directly. Their values are not altogether modern; but they are not exclusively conformist.

Their eyes have noticed a myriad of details and evidence and colors and shades of grey that the regime is telling them aren’t there. “Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?” Everyone “in their right mind” knows the regime has lied to them.

Read the whole piece in four parts:
one, two, three, four.

More Buddhist Movies

Virtual Men's Group

Quote from Tripp Lanier's article "Kill Your Idols -- How to Build a Virtual Men's Group":

I’m a big fan of men’s groups and one of the reasons why is that when I participate in a group with solid men I get “pulled up” to a better version of myself. For instance, being around solid, accountable guys has me be more solid and accountable in my life -- even when they’re not present.

The same could be said for hanging out with dudes that aren’t solid or accountable. If I were to spend more time with them, I imagine that I would become less solid and accountable. Simple, and yet I’ve experienced this quite a few times.

I receive a lot of emails from guys wanting to know about men’s groups in their area, how they can start one, etc. Well, here’s a little experiment you can try to see if you can benefit from the little phenomenon I described above.

The other day, I went online and downloaded some candid photos of various men that are inspiring to me. I chose pictures that showed them flashing a genuine (not posed) smile. To me, their hearts seemed open and available.

After I lined up the photos on my computer screen, I sat back and thought, “Who would I have to BE to contribute to these men’s lives? Who would I have to BE to deserve a friendship with these men? Who would I have to BE to sit in a circle with them?”

Read the whole piece.

Meditation: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

From a Shambhala Sun article by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche:

For the follower of the buddhadharma, the teachings of Buddhism, there is a need for great emphasis on the practice of meditation. One must see the straightforward logic that mind is the cause of confusion and that by transcending confusion one attains the enlightened state. This can only take place through the practice of meditation. The Buddha himself experienced this, by working on his own mind, and what he learned has been handed down to us. [...]

People have difficulty beginning a spiritual practice because they put a lot of energy into looking for the best and easiest way to get into it. We might have to change our attitude and give up looking for the best or the easiest way. Actually, there is no choice. Whatever approach we take, we will have to deal with what we are already. We have to look at who we are. According to the Buddhist tradition, the working basis of the path and the energy involved in the path is the mind—one’s own mind, which is working in us all the time.

Read the whole piece.