Dharma Notes

Refuge, BodhosattvaVows, Initiation

Through the vows and initiation we gain the supportive connection with those practising in the same way, and  strengthen the connection with the teachings of those with realisation and the commitment to work for the benefit of all beings through time.

The Buddhist teachings offer many different, beautiful methods for supporting us in shifting our view of our selves and the world… 

…all leading (slowly or more quickly) towards the realisation of the currently unrecognised givenness of non-duality of what we currently take to be ‘self’ and ‘others’… and the ground of our being.
They have been used effectively through thousands of years.

Clearly this realisation is not itself  ‘Buddhist’… but the teachings of the tradition offer tools to be used skilfully to help us relax out of our deluded confusion into our integrity.

Some methods are openly available… others need prior preparation training and commitment for them to be used effectively.

What my ego might want (or not)… and what I actually need don’t always coincide…the teachings and teachers help with resolving this issue

James referred to Buddhism as being like a hospital where you where you make the transition from being sick as a dog to becoming invisibly healthy – a lot of Buddhism to start with, but less and less at the end…( as the medicines takes effect! ) 

So, for sure, you don’t want to become a ‘patient’ for life… but when you realise you are really ill you do need to become a patient for a while and have treatment until you recover… 
maybe visiting .. A&E .. Intensive care…Recovery…then back to the ward…then maybe a Convalescent hospital…but anyway – eventually no longer a patient. 
Looking pretty much the same outwardly  but  functioning optimally… free from tension and limiting beliefs.

I hope you enjoy connecting with what you can, as it becomes available (you can always request)…and find it helpful.

Thanks to whoever took this image of the illusory Padmasambhava (Pembrokeshire) express!


Preparatory reading…helpful for those taking vows in this weekend’s teaching and for January.

Maybe you’ve already noticed the supportive reading which has been suggested on this page of Simplybeing.co.uk …but I’m signposting it here just in case you’ve missed it…or like me have a tendency to leave things ’til the last minute!

There is quite a bit to engage with and digest offered on that page… and, for me anyway, a quick read though is not going to be satisfying. Slow reading with a cup or two of tea and time for meditation on the meaning will be more illuminating of the profundity of the practice.
And, if you like to listen… vows and supplementary commentary are available from the book and in the audios of the book Longing for Limitless Light.

So hopefully you’ll have time to ‘take your time’… as the lovely Irish saying goes…

P.S. If it’s new to you… the beautiful first section of Refuge and Bodhicitta is found in Santideva’s writing – The Bodhicaryavatara.

Lotus Source by C.R.Lama &James Low: book review

In case you’ve been thinking of buying this book the review below, which I wrote for Amazon, might convince you!

Lotus Source…well what is that??? 
If you’re drawn towards this book don’t hesitate… buy it!
Then – through inhaling imbibing and digesting, becoming at home 
with the rare clarity of the explanations prayers and practices therein – 
you’ll find it leads to what you seek. 

The intellect and observation take us so far in the dharma… but as our hearts and minds open wider this rainbow-bridge appears leading from our deluded assumptions about the nature of our ‘self’ and other ‘things’ towards recognition of the unchanging ground of all.

In the introduction, James explains precisely how our mistaken identifications arise and the consequences of this miss-take.
How liberation from confusion can occur at death or before…and how the Buddhas, here primarily Padmasambhava, function to assist our re-solution and re-alignment – as inseparable from and an expression of buddha.

Really??? Have a look…and you will see!

James was teaching ‘Waking up to Impermanence’ 7/8 May expounding the Mi Tag Gyud Kul prayer that is in this book pp 280-285… currently the book is reduced in price at Blackwell’s bookshop…by £8.31 from £25 to £16.69.
For such a precious and beautiful book this seems an extraordinary bargain……

The teaching was recorded as usual and will shortly be found on his YouTube channel…more in the next post about that.

Proud Little Cloud:Letting in the light… review

This book… with its enchanting images by Amanda Lebus and story by James Low… is now available to purchase. So I bought two copies and gave one to two happy ‘cloud sisters’ who live near me…ages one and five… a perfect fit for the suggested age range …
but it’s so lovely that you might like a copy for yourself : )

It’s available from Blackwells Amazon and others… and i wrote these words the day I read it.

~ softly kissed clouds ~

Today snow falls
on wind-whipped blackthorn
and the blackbird with a damaged wing
rests on the little table

The sky’s a wash,
awash with different forms
whitish defined, and diffuse grey
shot through with opaque rays
and touched with rainbow light

This resonates as wordless poetry
like pages of the ‘Proud Cloud’ book
gently caressing anxiety
from feeling separate –
‘just me’…

…and perhaps ‘Me!’,
more special than the rest…
with flip-side – disconnected
loneliness!

The words in the book are so well chosen, few and beautifully simple. You can take them as they are or as ‘light as a cloud’ gestures inviting exploration…

as the description says
‘This attractively illustrated book invites children to see how the sea and the sun and the clouds are all collaborating together to make our bright and variegated world. They all need each other and so the key theme is that none of us is alone and we all get along better with friendly and appreciative participation. The idea is that adults read the book aloud and talk about the images and themes with the child.’

The text on the back cover explains,
Proud Little Cloud felt very happy to be bright and shining in the vast blue sky: “There is no one like me.” she thought proudly. “I’m so special!” However the eclipse of the sun came as a big surprise to her: “Oh, so it is not my own light that makes me bright!” “I need the sun so I can shine and children need my rain so they have puddles to splash in.”  “Now I’m proud to be part of everything.” [Proper pride w]

Each illustration has many fascinating details for children to explore.’

No finger wagging here, this is a caress on the cheek of the child…
I don’t know what older readers will see…maybe themes of impermanence as opposed to eternalism,  anxiety and ease, dependant co-origination, inclusivity exclusivity, joy…perhaps even the source of luminosity… : )

The final pages, of wordless poetry, are expressions of great delicacy – evoking spacious openness and calm…for this little cloud anyway! The thought…’where are the words’? … was … blown away

This is it…

‘This is it’ is the title of the latest book by James Low

Always fresh…what more could we want than ‘this’?

I’m just drawing your attention to the recent publication of this book as there is a lot on offer on the main web-site and I would not like you to miss this opportunity to connect with the wisdom of this exposé of development of practice.

Each element is introduced and expressed with the profundity and clarity which James embodies, nourishing and deepening our own.

Finding freedom – Wandel Verlag

To find freedom we may not have to do so much, it is free and it’s always there, but if we don’t see this directly, then there is so much richness and diversity in the different aspects of the dharma with which we can engage, and which may release some of the rigidities and tensions…

…some of the teachings are spoken, some are written, and some are neither.

The books may bring great richness and depth to the dharma view to which they pertain and each book is the fruit of the labours of many different people, some of the the last being the publishers.

The latest work of James Low –  ‘Finding Freedom’  will shortly be published by Wandel Verlag  a small publishing house in Germany… and i’d like to appreciate and highlight how valuable is all the work that goes on behind the scenes there and elsewhere in the world, in the production of books which encapsulate the richness and diversity of the dharma in a way which maintains the integrity of the flow of the continuous stream of dharma teachings into and through the world.

The various books James has written all have quite different flavours… reading, thinking about, and absorbing them into practice/life brings about different possibilities of being and relating. This recent book will be readily accessible to practitioners of different strands of dharma…and illuminating of their interrelatendess.*

Some of the other books published are of practices which are very particular in their context, application, and effect – including the works of Martin Boord (Rig-‘dzin rdo-rje) . As with all teachings these are tools to be picked up and used in the correct way, a way which needs to be explained by someone who knows how, or they will be ineffective or have the potential to harm. Recently I met someone who had spent eight years doing a Tara practice from a translated text which he had found, and said it had made no difference… I’ve also met a Chod practitioner who said she had been practising for seven years… but was just miserable… neither were taught or supervised within the tradition from which the teachings come.

*Ordering ‘Finding Freedom’ from Wandel Verlag before August 3 bring benefits in terms of discount and timing!

 

 

 

 

Two updates… The book – ‘Finding Freedom’ also a change for Friday 8th November

Firstly just to draw your attention to the change of venue in Oxford on the evening of Friday eighth of November.

The public talk James is giving will now be held in Talbot Hall, Lady Margaret Hall – the same venue as for the Saturday and Sunday.

 

Secondly the book: Finding Freedom

…. you may have noticed some publicity…some of which is included below… around the latest book ‘Finding Freedom’ which will be published and widely available from 3rd August…however, pre-payment to the publisher has benefits! (see bottom of post.)

‘Finding Freedom’ includes texts from the Theravadin, Mahayana and Dzogchen Buddhist traditions, introduced and translated by James Low. The book consist of profound introductions and revised translations of classical and some more recent works, most of which had been first translated under the supervision of Chimed Rigdzin Rinpoche.

These texts, which were very important to him, are of immense value for our practice, e.g. to deal with everyday difficulties, to recognise and include the cause-and-effect principle in our path, to recognise emotions and their cause and to cut off the illusory ego, or, in the final section, to experience and realise emptiness in its diversity through the wide all-inclusive view of Dzogchen. All texts are a deep inspiration and this collection shows the great richness of Buddhist teaching’.

 

Emerson 2018 audio recordings

These recordings are now available for your delectation…sweet music for your dharma ears!

Here’s the link to their location, with lots more, under the audio section of the simplybeing.co.uk website.

 

Sparks – a bonfire of the vanities, revealing….

Just an attention grabbing line, i hope…

in case you haven’t noticed this latest, very beautiful, publication… ‘Sparks’ by James Low.

Although one can dramatically ‘burn the vanities’… until the underlying sense of need for covering is gone, sooner or later, replacements will be sought.

By inspiring, allowing them right in, the marks on these pages can become heart-sparks… and then through repeatedly breathing onto them with tender attention, slowly or quickly, they will surely glow and then set fire to the soggy accumulated dead wood, so that the brilliance of the source of inherent warmth and wisdom can blaze forth unobstructed.

Mostly ‘though the fire aye burns,
we do not realise, because…
our smoke gets in our eyes!  

I felt moved to write the review below for Amazon:

‘If I had to choose one book to take to a desert island,
one dharma book,
one book for all time,
one book to open the heart to…this is it.

With iridescent lucidity ….moving beyond words
using language which is precise, yet contemporary and very accessible,
with great warmth and encouragement, the wisdom shining through this great teacher of dzogchen illuminates the way from lostness and confusion to the ease of our being, both simply and directly.’

It’s also available through Abe books and, if in London, from Watkins book store.

 

 

Emerson comes early…

Often in July…but not always so!

These meetings and partings ‘mark the change of time’ as a song of Milarepa’s  goes

they may seem a ‘fixture’ but times change, causes and conditions shift, the river flows…

The setting is beautiful…  the teachings beautiful and profound….

It’s always a lovely time…and these freedoms and opportunities to be reminded of our true nature are rare and precious…

Hope you can make it.

 

You can camp or (if you prefer and book in time) stay in the college buildings

Painting by Stewart Edmonson

no commission! – i just like the work…and the way he works.

Latest: Tunnock’s tea cake blasted into space; Emerson recordings travelling through cyberspace…

tea2

‘One of Scotland’s favourite snacks’ according to the Scottish Sun newspaper has been sent 36,000m into space…’and the nation waits’.

I used to enjoy these when I was younger – biscuit base, marshmallow topping, covered in chocolate – but i wouldn’t expect too much from a high-altitude tea-cake!

David Cameron tweeted that he ‘liked the shine on the foil…’

Viewers of this site will probably have more realistic expectations of satisfaction from the recordings of ‘Dissolving Conflict in Life and Death’, this year’s talk at Emerson College, which are currently travelling through cyberspace – ready for Chris to publish when he has a moment – carried on the tail of a hurricane-wind dragon!

Some other work (coming later) has gone on around these recordings so it’s taken longer than usual and i haven’t had time to post… and now need to catch up with other stuff! but i will let you know when this great feast is available on the simplybeing.co.uk website…

 

 

 

Length of audio recordings

We are working to bring you the recent Emerson College recordings…

Until now I have broken the recordings into segments of roughly half an hour but as download speeds have increased i’m wondering whether you would prefer to listen to recordings that are an hour long, or are half hour chunks easier to manage?

If you have a keen preference one way or another send me an email via the contact page and we’ll try to work out what’s best overall.

P.S. i have updated the list of links to all the available audios and videos in the ‘Macclesfield talks’ collection of teachings. You will find the link to this index on the home page… at the bottom of the introduction.

Audio glitch, videos and… live speech!

public-speakingJust to let you know that the audio website is undergoing some remedial work which will take a few days…. Christian is onto it!

His update on 30th June….’the Macclesfield Talks are working again. Also most of the elder records.
The links from Oct. 2015 to Feb. 2017 are still out of order, but we’re working on it.’

In the meantime there are no issues with the videos….

…and at 9.30 until 11am on the morning of Wednesday, 12 July I’m giving a little talk at the Buddhafield Festival. It needed to be early this time as I’d like to be over at  Emerson college by  evening for James’ teaching.

The title of the festival this year is ‘Embracing Simplicity’ so i’m giving a talk called  ‘The dance of becoming – simplicity and complexity’.

I have given a talk at this festival for many years (under the workshop umbrella rather than in the dharma parlour ) as ‘a round peg being offered a square hole’. Could be viewed as esoteric – not in the middle – but maybe just that ~ and appealing to some.
So if you are going to be there it would be a pleasure to see you in the little tent, otherwise maybe in East Sussex…anyway hope you enjoy whatever the summertime offers you!

Buddhism and Psychotherapy

Apologies to those of you who have clicked on the link to this talk only to find that it has already taken place –I’d removed the link to the invitation to the weekend…but not to the Friday’s talk which was on this topic.

However the talk was recorded and it is now available under audios on the simplybeing website….this link will take you to that (it’s at the top of the page) and to other audios on this topic.

If you were recorded and are happy to have your contribution shared that’s lovely, thank you… if not just let me know and i’ll remove it. [I sent an email to go around about this earlier but part of its contents got lost in the email-mill, apologies again!]

Good bye and good luck to those at Wisdom books

Wisdom books (Ilford, Uk) was run by some very friendly helpful and knowledgeable people on a not-for-profit basis – a pretty rare way of operating these days but particularly meritorious in their enabling and facilitating of dharma study over many years.

They recently ceased trading and i wanted to join with many others in thanking them for what they have done and in hoping that their new lives are healthy, enjoyable, fruitful and as full of dharma as before!