Geoff-Allen
Resident megalomaniac
Greetings fellow Earthlings!
I hope you are enjoying your time with us here on the forum today.
This is NOT a site for HUGE Buddhists
All jokes aside, here is a site I recently found - devoted to Thubten Chodron.
For a little taste -
I thought this morning to give some general advice on how to approach Dharma practice, because you already have teachers here who are giving you teachings in the actual Dharma studies. How to approach the practice is something really important, and how to manage everything else in our lives is very important. Because sometimes we get the feeling—at least I did at the beginning— “I’ve just got to hear a lot of teachings and do everything that the Tibetans do, and then somehow I get enlightened.” I took me falling flat on my face a few times to realize that’s not what Dharma practice is all about—that practice is all about changing what’s inside here.
It’s much easier to try and do external activities that are deemed “Dharma” and in the process to ignore the internal ones. Sometimes we think that we are getting somewhere in our practice because we can do the external activities well. However, that doesn’t go on for very long, because at some point we can’t sustain it. That’s why it is important to continually come back to focusing on the actual practice of Dharma, which is changing what is inside our own minds and hearts. Learning Tibetan is good and it is a tool. Studying philosophy is good and it is a tool. Getting ordained is excellent, it’s a tool. But the real thing is to use all these tools to change what’s inside ourselves.
How to approach Dharma practice
Check-out the very comprehensive menus of teachings at top of page. I have barely scratched the surface so far
Enjoy your browsing!
I hope you are enjoying your time with us here on the forum today.
This is NOT a site for HUGE Buddhists
All jokes aside, here is a site I recently found - devoted to Thubten Chodron.
For a little taste -
I thought this morning to give some general advice on how to approach Dharma practice, because you already have teachers here who are giving you teachings in the actual Dharma studies. How to approach the practice is something really important, and how to manage everything else in our lives is very important. Because sometimes we get the feeling—at least I did at the beginning— “I’ve just got to hear a lot of teachings and do everything that the Tibetans do, and then somehow I get enlightened.” I took me falling flat on my face a few times to realize that’s not what Dharma practice is all about—that practice is all about changing what’s inside here.
It’s much easier to try and do external activities that are deemed “Dharma” and in the process to ignore the internal ones. Sometimes we think that we are getting somewhere in our practice because we can do the external activities well. However, that doesn’t go on for very long, because at some point we can’t sustain it. That’s why it is important to continually come back to focusing on the actual practice of Dharma, which is changing what is inside our own minds and hearts. Learning Tibetan is good and it is a tool. Studying philosophy is good and it is a tool. Getting ordained is excellent, it’s a tool. But the real thing is to use all these tools to change what’s inside ourselves.
How to approach Dharma practice
Check-out the very comprehensive menus of teachings at top of page. I have barely scratched the surface so far
Enjoy your browsing!