Archive for December, 2010

Heart Advice from a Mahamudra Master

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
Gendun Rinpoche

Gendun Rinpoche

A new book of Buddhist teachings by Gendun Rinpoche has recently been published in English entitled “Heart Advice from a Mahamudra Master”.

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Footprints of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje

Monday, December 27th, 2010
Footprints of the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje

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.

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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.

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Naropa’s prophecy to Marpa

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Marpa

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

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!

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History of the World in 100 Objects – Statue of Tara

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
Tara in the British Museum (photo: Rafal Portas)

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.

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