Gendun Rinpoche
A new book of Buddhist teachings by Gendun Rinpoche has recently been published in English entitled “Heart Advice from a Mahamudra Master”.
Archive for 2010
Heart Advice from a Mahamudra Master
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010Footprints of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje
Monday, December 27th, 2010
Footprints of the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje
This painting (click to enlarge), recently uploaded to the Himalayan Art Resource website, shows the footprints of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339). The footprints are accompanied by the early Marpa Kagyu lineage, predecessors to the Karma Kagyu lineage, along with Buddhas, protectors and wealth aspects. The custom of having drawings done based on the physical outline of a teachers feet appears to be an oral instruction coming down from Gampopa.
Seasons Greetings and round-up of 2010
Saturday, December 25th, 2010
The Diamond Way Buddhism UK Blog would like to wish all our readers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Naropa’s prophecy to Marpa
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Marpa
During his third and final visit to India to meet Naropa, his teacher, Marpa asked Naropa to prophesise the way the Kagyu lineage would expand and flourish:
Although in this life, your family lineage will be interrupted, your dharma lineage will flow on like a wide river as long as the teachings of the Buddha remain. In the view of some impure ordinary men, you will appear to gratify yourself in this life with sense pleasures. Your desires will seem unchanging, like a carving in rock, so solid and so great. On the other hand, since you yourself have seen dharmata, samsara will be self-liberated, like a snake uncoiling. All the future students of the lineage will be like the children of lions and garudas, and each generation will be better than the last.
- Naropa (1016-1100)
From “The Rain of Wisdom” by the Nalanda Translation Committee (Shambhala, 1980)
Lama Ole Nydahl on Crazy Wisdom
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Lama Ole Nydahl at the Europe Center, August 2010
The following text is an interview with Lama Ole Nydahl made by Artur Przybyslawski in the bus from Katowice to Warsaw on 15th of April 2003. It forms the introduction to the Polish edition of Divine Madman. The Sublime Life and Songs of Drukpa Kunley, “Szalony Jogin Drukpa Kunlej“. Enjoy!
History of the World in 100 Objects – Statue of Tara
Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
Tara in the British Museum (photo: Rafal Portas)
“A History of the World in 100 Objects” was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, comprising a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor. In 15-minute presentations broadcast on weekdays on Radio 4, MacGregor used objects of ancient art, industry, technology and arms, all of which are in the British Museum’s collections, as an introduction to parts of human history. The series began in January 2010 and was broadcast over 20 weeks. Several of the objects had Buddhist significance, which we’re sharing here on the blog.
17th Karmapa on Impermanence
Monday, November 29th, 2010These questions and answers were taken from H.H. 17th Karmapa‘s ‘Black Hat Lama’ MySpace blog:
17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje
Q: What is Buddhist meditation, and what are the benefits of it?
H.H. Karmapa: Buddhist meditation is a way to relate to death, but the term we use is known as impermanence. So it is possible to see the beauty of impermanence finally through meditation. Before meditation we have to focus on learning and contemplating on impermanence.
Q: How do you relate to death?
H.H. Karmapa: Often one relates to death mainly by fear, and also by hope. So the Buddhist approach is to approach it without the two.
Q: Are Buddhists afraid of death?
H.H. Karmapa: Sentient beings are not born as Buddhists, so due to that it becomes a very difficult question to answer. (more…)
Scientists glimpse universe before the Big Bang
Thursday, November 25th, 2010A very interesting article recently appeared on the Physorg.com science news website which supports the Buddha’s observation that Samsara or “cyclic existence” is beginningless…
Scientists glimpse universe before the Big Bang
November 23, 2010 by Lisa Zyga
Black hole encounters would have repeated themselves several times, with the center of each event remaining at almost exactly the same point in the CMB sky, even when occurring in different aeons. The huge amounts of energy released would appear as spherical, low-variance radiation bursts in the CMB. Image credit: Gurzadyan and Penrose
In general, asking what happened before the Big Bang is not really considered a science question. According to Big Bang theory, time did not even exist before this point roughly 13.7 billion years ago. But now, Oxford University physicist Roger Penrose and Vahe Gurzadyan from the Yerevan Physics Institute in Armenia have found an effect in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that allows them to “see through” the Big Bang into what came before.
