Monthly Archives: February 2016

London Talk…The seductive creativity of ignorance: delusion as a way of life

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James Low gave a talk for Shang Shung UK in their new centre on 25th Feb.

Here is a link to that talk and video …. ‘Why emptiness is liberating’….

and I have just finished making something audible from the talk below that James gave at their invitation  last year

The seductive creativity of ignorance: delusion as a way of life

James Low, 23 April 2015

Organised by Shang Shung UK, at SOAS, London University

“You are not who you think you are and, since self-knowledge tends to be conceptual, it is easy to get lost. The self is a topic that is explored in all schools of buddhism. Tonight we will look at it from some aspects of the dzogchen tradition.”

Recorded by Baz Hurrell

You can listen to it here.

This recording was made on a mobile phone and trying to make it listenable has been a challenge. The replacement introduction was recorded later in the year… as for the rest, having just luckily found out how to process over-saturated sound, it’s mostly pretty good. I’m glad of this because it’s dharma in a nutshell… it includes the vision of a mandala of communication,connectivity,creative interactions, resonance and harmony…. and an explanation as to how our constructed sense of self is a shape which serves to limit our ability to inhabit that vision – “You can’t dance with a lobster!”

Amour

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So, another Valentine’s Day comes and goes… I just looked at the post I made last year around this time which you can still find, if you wish, under Writings> With love on Valentine’s Day.

Those words still hold good but you should have a new present… an invitation to watch, if you can, the film Amour.

sweetpea-bunch-7402The tenderness of the husband towards his wife in the end stages of life brings tears to my eyes as i think of it. His ability to be with things as they are, sensing and feeling how best to respond to a changing and very challenging situation, his lack of self-pity and his ability to work around the bullying certainties of others who are out of touch are just beautiful……. and burst the heart open with the poignancy of the scent of a freshly-picked bunch of  sweet-peas flowers.

Winner of the 2012 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival….

 

 

Lamps – Ancient and Modern.

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220px-Diya-1Ancient:

A Bradj (pre-Hindi) proverb says, “Chiraag tale andhera”, “the [utmost] darkness is under the oil-lamp (chiraag)”, meaning that what you seek could be close but unnoticed (right under your nose or feet), in various senses (and indeed, a lamp’s container casts a strong shadow).

and, from the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu (see Unchanging Wisdom post 2.11.15) –

Returning to heaven’s mandate is called being constant.
Knowing the constant is called ‘enlightenment’.
Not knowing the constant is the source of evil deeds because we have no roots.
By knowing the constant we can accept things as they are.
By accepting things as they are, we become impartial.
By being one with heaven, we become one with the Tao.
Being one with the Tao, we are no longer concerned about losing our life because we know the Tao is constant and we are one with the Tao.

Modern:

The  Seductive nature of Ignorance 23.4.2015  is a  recording of a short public talk which James gave in London.  If you haven’t tried out the audio delights on the simplybeing.co.uk website this might be a good recording to start with as it contains the Dharma in a nutshell. There’s lots else to explore on the website – it’s a treasury of texts and recordings. If like Aladdin you rub the lamp and engage with the genie then, well…. the pearl of great price could be yours!