What is a god? Human figures with the heads of animals are intentionally absurd images. They look frightening, ridiculous, inexplicably endearing. They arrest us, shake us out of our dull, seen-it-all before everyday complacency and force us to take a second look at them because they reveal themselves as intentionally strange beings. In ancient Egypt, […]
Author: Teahouse
Dharmodaya: The Source of Reality
Lyudmila Klasanova The six-pointed geometric star or hexagram is considered one of the most ancient spiritual symbols in the world and has a deep meaning in Tantric Buddhism. In Vajrayana it appears as ritual diagram and symbolic emblem of the female deity Vajrayogini (Tib. Dorje Naljorma) who is emanation of the perfect state of Buddha […]
Ways of Seeing Life
Grace Ko The esteemed British art critic and author John Berger once said: “Art is one of the noblest achievements of man”. He advocated that the art critic must not only look at art from his personal point of view, but also from that of other artists, the conscious and unconscious mind of the spectator, […]
Digging in as a Meditation Teacher and Practitioner
Justin Whitaker These are very peculiar times that we are living in. Growing up in a rural Rocky Mountain state in the U.S., it is easy to say that I’ve just been out of touch with the world. But I ask, and keep asking people, “what do you think of this world we live in […]
Postcard from Raymond: What is Dharma?
Dharma is the cosmic law of reality. It is simultaneously the Buddha’s teaching, meaning two very important things. First, it means that the Buddhist teachings and reality itself are one and the same; they correspond to each other. The Dharma is the fount of all things which lies beyond the universe and the wheel of […]
A Meditation on Mind, Body and Place – Ho Siu Kee
Wilson Chik An ancient Banyan tree: a giant in its own rite, towering. Thousand green leaves shimmering air, each leaf, a moment in life. Nested inside, in the intersection of two gnarly branches, stands Dr. Ho Siu-kee (known as Kee to friends) in all white. Though human, Kee is scaled tiny in this instance, comparatively. […]
On trying not to eat animals
Graham Lock I like meat. I like waking up in the morning to the sound and smell of sizzling bacon. I like the aroma that wafts out when an oven is opened and a leg of lamb cooked to perfection in it own juices is slowly lifted out. I like chomping on pork crackling and […]
Who knows what else might come?
Ratnadevi ‘Ready’, called the egg when it was laid. ‘Now I’m ready!’ called the tadpole when it had hatched. ‘Now I’m completely ready! ‘ called the creature, animal when it had two legs. ‘Now, finally, I’m absolutely completely ready! ‘ called the creature when it had four legs and a long tail. ‘Who knows what […]
Balancing Spirituality and Academic Study
BD Dipananda It has now been 13 years since I balanced the duality of a monastic and a academic life and I have several key observations to share. Values of Celibacy As a Monk First, my on-going celibacy is the most dramatic hall mark of difference in my life amongst the secular laity. I have come […]
Postcard from Raymond: Cosmic Lotus
What will I see when I leave this world? Will my “sight” even be the kind of visual “seeing” that I’ve known all my life? What will I hear when I have no auditory organs? What will I bring with me when I sigh farewell? Nothing. I will have nothing. I can take zilch, nada […]