The Gradual Path Blog
Lam Rim on the Road: Reflections on Life, Legacy, and Death buddhist pilgrimage death lam rim lam rim on the road sri lanka Nov 12, 2021

Rolling thunder rumbled as I reflected on the number of dead bodies surrounding me. Who had these people been? What were their stories? Did they live with integrity? Were their deaths peaceful or wrought with fear? Who did they leave behind? Looking around at the inscriptions, I recognized many...

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Live Classes Resume September 15 essential nectar of holy doctrine foundation of all good qualities lam rim meditation phil jacobs sound meditation tsongkhapa yeshe tsondru Sep 09, 2021

Life is exceedingly precious and fleeting, we must use every moment meaningfully to awaken for the benefit of others. In the second semester of our year-long course with Dr. Miles Neale and special guests, we will continue to extract the essence of the gradual path (lam rim) of Tibetan...

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Review of Steps 1-30 of Awakening in 30 Steps gradual awakening gradual path lam rim renunciation Aug 16, 2021

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...

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The Perfection of Wisdom | Step 29 of Awakening in 30 Steps emptiness gradual awakening gradual path lam rim paramitas perfections wisdom Aug 14, 2021

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...

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The Perfection of Concentration | Step 28 of Awakening in 30 Steps concentration gradual awakening gradual path lam rim paramitas perfections Aug 13, 2021

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...

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The Perfection of Perseverance | Step 27 of Awakening in 30 Steps gradual awakening gradual path joyous perseverance lam rim laziness paramitas perfections procrastination Aug 12, 2021

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...

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The Perfection of Patience | Step 26 of Awakening in 30 Steps gradual awakening gradual path lam rim paramitas patience perfections Aug 11, 2021

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 =...

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The Perfection of Generosity | Step 24 of Awakening in 30 Steps generosity gradual awakening gradual path lam rim mahayana paramitas perfections Aug 09, 2021

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...

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Bodhichitta - the Altruistic Intention to Awaken for the Benefit of Others | Step 23 altrusim bodhichitta compassion gradual awakening gradual path lam rim love renunciation Aug 08, 2021

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...

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Exchanging Self & Other | Step 22 of Awakening in 30 Steps asanga bodhichitta gradual awakening lam rim shantideva tonglen Aug 07, 2021

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...

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Contemplate the Benefits of Altruism | Step 21 of Awakening in 30 Steps compassion dukkha emptiness gradual awakening gradual path lam rim Aug 06, 2021

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...

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The Detriments of Self-grasping and Self Preoccupation | Step 20 of Awakening in 30 Steps compassion gradual awakening gradual path lam rim lojong self cherishing Aug 05, 2021

Our compassion training combines both a wise mind and an open heart, analysis and emotion.

Here we take a deep dive to expose the root cause (mula klesha) of the myriad forms of suffering, ecological, social and personal.

Try to trace the chain link of events for the most extreme atrocities...

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