The Gradual PathĀ Blog
Lam Rim on the Road: Severed butterflies death freedom koh pha ngan life of milarepa rebirth relationships shadow Feb 17, 2022

Part One in a Mini-Series on Death & Rebirth

As I reflect on a term I heard in a documentary yesterday, “reemergence,” a small, delicate object lands on the table. It looks like a leaf or flower. Wind from the fan blows it onto the ground. Something pulls me to look at it again. I...

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Finding a Qualified Dharma Teacher compassion dharma emptiness ethics find true refuge four noble truths geshe tenzin zopa guru lam rim michael roach scandal shadow trauma wisdom Feb 04, 2021

I think it actually requires much more maturity to be able to stay in the hot pocket of understanding the virtue of this institution and how the lama arrangement works and the qualities of seeking a master that's truly qualified and also recognizing all the malarkey and all the nuance and...

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Working with Anger anger buddhism master your becoming psychology shadow shantideva trauma Jan 29, 2021

Usually when there's shame, there's also a shadow, rage or anger. Sometimes we're more aware of the anger and less aware of the shame because the shame is more core and more painful. If you have lots of rage, if at the exterior of the onion there's lots of rage, it's designed to protect the core...

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Year's End Reflection 2020 astrology atisha contemplative studies program dalai lama dorje zong nunnery geshe tenzin zopa karma lineage merit pandemic service project shadow tsongkhapa Dec 31, 2020

My dear friends,

As the new year dawns I offer my reflections on this year we will never forget. 

Despite challenges unseen in a hundred years we remained steadfast together on the gradual path and never faltered a single step. We made no excuses. Wasted no time. We forged ahead in the face...

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Shadow Work bodhichitta freud jung purification shadow shadow work spiritual bypass vajrasattva Aug 01, 2020

The spiritual seeker sees our oneness with all and interconnectivity but it's only the true student of the mind that understands that if we're all one, we're also one with the ugly bits. Dr. Miles Neale explains in this clip from Return with Elixir.


We said that for each of the preliminary...

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Return with Elixir contemplative studies program hero with a thousand faces hero's journey joseph campbell monomyth return with elixir shadow trauma Jul 31, 2020

In this excerpt from Return with Elixir, Dr. Miles Neale introduces Joseph Cambell's monomyth, how it can be applied in our own lives and what to expect from the course.


It became clear that another level was necessary the progression to rise above the personal and enter the transpersonal...

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Coping With Your Shadow in Isolation anger hero's journey isolation mcmindfulness mental health pandemic podcasts shadow Apr 23, 2020

"Week 2 (or 3) of this great global experiment in social isolation has been throwing up all sorts of shadow aspects in our homes and in our lives. I have personally found myself staring into some of my most punitive, frustrating, and angry patterns as a lack of distraction brings little escape!

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