Good morning! The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is hosting the second international Vajrayana Conference in the capital Thimphu. The three-day Buddhist conference opened on Tuesday and ran from 28–30 March. The event offered practitioners, researchers, and academics from around the world a platform upon which to share and exchange their research, findings, and experiences related to Vajrayana […]
Vajrayana
Love for Vajra Guru
Vajra Guru I present you my love Uncontrived, pure and deathless All that is perceived by my body Is my offering to your Vajra body All that sounds is my song to your heart My breath and my mind is manifested only for your joy I have no desires of my own No memories nor […]
Black Sun
Black sun of my core The agonies of ruined loves belong to you The loss of my only child Is the shadow that falls Since there is light I do not deny you For I know you are a deft master No one can avoid you Or hide from you You are the lord at […]
Khamtrul Rinpoche: Living a Blessed Life
A religious teacher might not necessarily have much to share, unlike those of us (journalists, theologians, academics, and other guilty parties) who enjoy writing about them. That is the perspective of His Holiness Dokhampa Shedrub Nyima, the 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche (whose tulku lineage is affiliated with the Kagyu and Nyingma schools). He carries the message of […]
Evolving into Buddhahood: A Dispatch from Anam Thubten Rinpoche
It’s always a delight to catch up with Anam Thubten Rinpoche whenever he returns to Hong Kong (he’s based mainly in the US). I enjoy listening to his thoughtful, spontaneous, and frank responses about the big questions of our day. He is also a most engaging writer, and you can verify this for yourself at […]
Homage to Prajnaparamita
Prajnaparamita is the Buddhist goddess of wisdom, a personification of knowledge, revealed in the Prajnaparamita Sutras that laid the foundations of Mahayana Buddhism. The term combines the Sanskrit words prajna (wisdom) and paramita (perfection). Paramita is interpreted as having reached the opposite shore of samsara, and prajnaparamita is translated as “perfection of wisdom” or “transcendental […]
Spontaneous Union
Everything in nature is conditioned by the fundamental principle expressed in the unity of opposites: yin-yang. The fusion of the male and the female is a creative act and the source of life. Even though Buddha Nature is beyond genders, Buddhist iconography uses sexual polarity to symbolize the Mahayana and Vajrayana concept of the union […]
A Conversation with Tenzin Palmo on Nuns and Challenging Sexism
In this extended discussion recorded on the spot by Sónia Gomes, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo discusses important but often uncomfortable gender issues in Vajrayana, including the need to challenge engrained cultural sexism in monasteries and the plight of ordained Western women, who more often than not have no institutional, psychological, or moral support after becoming nuns. […]
Buddhism is Bhutan’s Key to Working with the Great Buddhist Powers
India and China are right now locked in a dispute over a plateau (known as Doklam in India and Donglang in China) that lies at a junction between China, the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, and Bhutan. My focus today is not on the technicalities of the border dispute (this analysis by Wangcha Sangey, a […]
Tears of Tara
Lyudmila Klasanova In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Tara is a complex figure that integrates mythical and historical threads and combines different functions. She is presented as a female aspect of Buddha and a symbol of unlimited compassion. The goddess protects humanity and saves people from dangers, protects them from fears, and helps fulfil their wishes. […]