Hello All,
This is Kiran Shila, Lucjan’s son, and I am writing a final post for my father’s blog. It pains me to say this, but my father has passed away today peacefully in his sleep. This blog among others will stand as a testament to his memory, his wisdom, and his legacy. Thank you readers, I hope he inspired you as much as he inspired me.
Om
Kiran
Young Spartans Exercising
With even a small degree of observation it appears obvious that people share a common, compulsive and insidious tendency to socialize. The sensitive observer will perhaps also notice that churches, synagogues, ashrams, yoga studios and dharma centers seem to be particularly attractive venues for socializing. Continue reading
Chiron instructing Achilles in the art of drawing the bow
Over, under, around and through.
mepa, chigpu, chelwa, lhundrup
There is a thread of truth that runs through all the various spiritual teachings of this world. The endless bolts of exquisite brocade called Buddha Dharma display an infinite interweaving of that single thread in such a perfusion of meaningful patterns that liberating relevance can be found by all living beings. Continue reading
There are fundamentally three factors which act together in the actuality of something. The first two factors must interact in opposition while the third mediates. This is like the principle of a sailboat. The wind and the resistance of the sail are in opposition. If the vessel is unmanned, it will only go where wind and tides capriciously dictate. But when a pilot holds on to the tiller and controls the rudder, using strength to keep it steady, specific directions and destinations become possible.
Continue reading
The sharpest part of a knife is where the honed cutting side meets the infinity of space in non-dual actuality.
The New Age Movement was launched by Jane Robert’s channeling of the entity, Seth, who emphatically declared that “You create your own reality”. Upon hearing about the popularity of this channeled message, Ronald R. (my gentle mentor) began lamenting what he was certain would be the rapid disappearance of whatever little remained of esoteric spiritual schools. At that time I was conversely noticing what appeared to me to be the virtual explosion of such schools everywhere. Continue reading
Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?
Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:
Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?
Or Love in a golden bowl?
— William Blake
As mentioned in a previous post, it can be useful to recognize that there are two Buddhisms. One Buddhism is the practical codification, organization and institution of teachings, teachers and students as a human sociological phenomenon. The other Buddhism is the self-perfected, self-optimizing radiance of our own essential, individual Being. Continue reading
Buddha taught that the proximal causes of suffering are karma and klesha. Karma is the relation between actions and their effects. According to the Buddhist Mahayana it is our intention that determines the character of the effects of our actions. Accordingly, if we have good intentions the effects will be good, and conversely the opposite. But if we look into this deeper we come to ask, “… good or bad for whom?” The karma associated with our actions (deeds, words and thoughts) accrues to ourselves. It is easy to observe that even with the best of intentions we can still cause suffering for others. This is because even the best intentions such as kindness, generosity and compassion can only be expressed by individuals according to their individual levels of consciousness. Continue reading
Spiritual work is the quest for the realization of consummate primordial wholeness. That is to say, to not be realized is to seem to be not-whole, fragmented or, worse than simply fragmented … missing a few pieces. Many people may relate to a special quality possessed by mothers. They are usually the very best finders. When we were searching and searching for a lost item of some kind, and becoming very frustrated, we would call out to our mother in desperation. She would say, “Did you look in the clothes hamper?” or, “Did you look in your school backpack?” If still you could not find the item, she would find it herself, often right where you had previously looked and right where it was supposed to be. Finding the missing ontological pieces whose apparent absence seem to sabotage our realization can have a similar resolution. Often, everything was right where it was supposed to be, but not always. Continue reading
Dzogchen is synonymous with Prajnaparamita when these terms are understood as referring to the fundamental condition of an individual living being. However, by all accounts, Buddha was a very practical man. And so the practice which is associated with the realization of Prajnaparamita follows a very comprehensible curriculum that is incremental and cumulative. Continue reading
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freestanding dzogchen 