The responsibility of bodhisattvas may feel daunting and great courage is needed to engage in this practice, but why not give it a chance?Mitra Karl Brunnhölzl together with Karunika Stephanie Johnston offered rich and inspiring teachings that spoke directly to our paths.
A mindful pause can open space for change—where even noticing a bad habit can be a win. What if we threw a little party for our awareness?Read Ellen Balzé’s reflections on mindfulness, habits, and self-compassion in Mindfulness and Changing Habits.
What can we learn from the events or problems that encourage us to pause? My hope for us all is that we will not resist the challenges that arise, but see them as opportunities. I hope we will welcome these obstacles, these pauses, these moments of reflection. And while we do, let us practice loving-kindness toward ourselves and those around us.
What is the quality of your mind, right now? That was the question Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen posed at the beginning of a weekend teaching on the topic of Mahāmudrā and Bodhicitta at Milarepa’s Yak Horn, our center in Hong Kong.
It can be easy for me to fall into self-pity. I find myself clinging to a solid sense of self when I experience physical or emotional pain. But when I apply what I have learned in my longtime Buddhist practice, I can let go of my self-clinging and self-pity, and I can experience compassion for all suffering beings, including myself.
When we practice listening to what others have to say,” Christian Scott writes, “when we truly hear them, there are fewer rambling thoughts coming from our own mind. When we hear what someone is saying before we put our own thoughts on it, our mind settles down into a receptive and peaceful space.
