How do we integrate the heart principle with our technologies? In this video clip taken from the Buddhist Geeks Conference 2011, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche –
Friday, January 31 marks the dawning of the new lunar year of the Male Wood Horse, according to the Tsurluk astrological system of the Karma
What does it mean to practice the discipline of meditation, when your kids or your co-workers are driving you nuts? When you keep making mistakes? If you can’t get away to a cave, how can you face your demons?
How important is it to get free of the Asian baggage we may have picked up along with our meditation practice? How can we tell if we’re clinging to the familiar for its own sake, or if we’re revering the truth? How do we evolve a Buddhism that works for Westerners without creating new obstacles for ourselves?
Are we in touch with our rebel spirit, always questioning and testing? Can we take our “no fear” approach too far? Or, by rigidly holding to the “right” rules and rituals, are we actually losing spiritual ground and just shoring up the ego? Is it possible to cut ourselves off from our own clarity and wisdom, all the while thinking we’re playing it safe?
Why do we feel especially triggered by family relationships? How can we transform challenging moments with our family and use those triggers effectively on our path?
From my perspective, family life and relationship are among the most obvious and paradoxical of paths on which to practice the dharma. Nowhere are we more triggered nor more loving. In one moment, something our partner / child / parent does fills us with joy, and then suddenly, in the next moment, something they say hits us just the wrong way and we’re ready to live a life of solitude!
