Contemplative Studies Program Blog
The second instalment in the Lam Rim on the Road travelogue by guest contributor Erica Saccente.
Overlooking the silver sea, I drink a cup of coffee and try to recount the events of the past two weeks on Ithaca. This hypnotic island warps time so that a week feels like 24 hours and 6 months...
Part 1 of our Review Session reminds us of our methodology, combining study and reflection, with meditation and application to everyday life.
We refresh steps 1-14, ending in the first milestone of Renunciation.
Hopefully this review is helpful for those who have completed all the posts in our...
Congratulations! You made it to the summit of the gradual path.
The correct view of reality sees the conventional reality of people, places, things, and experiences, as inseparable from their ultimate reality, the lack of inherent existence. Emptiness is form, form is emptiness. Which means we...
Definition of emptiness - The lack of inherent existence of the subject, object, and interaction.
The “lack” implies something we thought was there is not. Self-existence or independent existence is not there. And yet...things still arise, appear, and feel good or bad.
There is a...
The ability to hold ones attention on an object, sustaining it indefinitely, at will, leading to an intense experience of bliss.
They say that concentration taken to its extreme can produce psychic abilities (siddhis) we would call extra sensory perceptions like clairvoyance.
There are also the...
We got this!
The journey of awakening is long, the suffering of living begins is vast to endure, without developing the virtue of perseverance what chance do we have? What has helped sustain you during the global pandemic? What well of good energy do you draw upon to start and sustain yourself...
1) The Patience of Not Reacting
See that people hurt us as a result of their karma - compassion See how we feel when others hurt us as our karma - renunciation Resist retaliation, which perpetuates cycles of violence. Find more karmically constructive ways to work with others who create harm =...
There are three types of morality:
1) Restraining from causing harm
2) Accumulating merit through virtue
3) Benefiting all sentient beings
Want an assignment? Look up the ten non-virtues and their opposites.
Using my snowflake model how is the perfection of morality connected and enhanced by...
Having established the altruistic intention, we move to the altruistic actions. These six modes of training build our capacity for optimal social engagement while at the same time cultivate the inner qualities leading to Buddhahood.
The Mahayana is the path of awakening through our social...
Congratulations!
You’ve made it to the second milestone of the journey!
How is your memorization going?
Based on strong love and compassion for others, and the view of our interdependence, we want to help, but recognize our own limitations. How can we ultimately help others awaken from...
Get ready for an expresso shot!
I articulate Asanga’s ‘Seven Step Cause and Effect’ method for generating Bodhichitta and follow this up with Shantideva’s Four-points of Exchanging Self and Other” to show how Tsongkhapa stitched both methods together into his 11...
Overcome the negativity bias and conduct an inventory of all the success stories and expressions of human triumph.
Just as all social suffering has its origin in self-grasping in each of us, so too all examples of social flourishing have their roots in love and compassion.
Here’s the good...
