Category: Articles

  • The Tibetan Art of Healing

    The first time I think I was enchanted by the Tibetan Knowledge of Healing was when I was in Dharamsala, India. I took a friend to see the great Tibetan Physician, Dr Yeshe Dondon, one misty winter morning. My friend had told me she had cancer and needed help.  She was a visitor to this…

  • Buddhist Cartoons

                   

  • A Time to Weep

    “Grandma, I haven’t seen you cry yet about my leaving!” This, spoken with solemn earnestness, came from my gorgeous seventeen-year-old granddaughter a month before she left for her first term at university this autumn. In the moment that I was waiting for an answer to emerge that would help her feel something from within me,…

  • Stromatolites

      Western Australia has some unique sites:  the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park formed from the remains of seashells; a pink lake in the Esperance area brought about by the acccumulation of algae producing the red pigment beta carotene; and the stromatolites on the outskirts of Cervantes. In the town, all the names of the…

  • Journey to Lumbini

    Lumbini temple A couple of years ago, around January, the bone-freezing climate of Pokhara drove my wife and me down to Lumbini in the Nepalese Terai in search of sun and heat…and a visit to the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, born in the year 1563 BCE. (Archaeologists’ discovery puts Buddha’s birth 300 years earlier, although…

  • Nut Roast

    This is a warming recipe for the winter season. Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 15g butter 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 sticks celery, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 200g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped 1 red pepper, halved, deseeded and finely diced 1 large carrot, grated 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp smoked…

  • The Sangha: Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel

    Looking for a Spiritual Community Jun 7th 2014 Elizabeth responds to a friend who is looking for a practice community or “sangha.” She suggests that searching for a spiritual community is similar to looking for romance: you can’t avoid the challenges, and yet there has to be chemistry too.   Question: Dear Elizabeth, I have…

  • Bodhicharya Publications becomes a CIC

      After many years in formation and development, we are happy to announce that Bodhicharya Publications has this year registered as a Community Interest Company, in the UK. A CIC means we have the aim to benefit the community, and this is not just a Buddhist community, but anyone generally – helping people deal with…

  • Egg Curry-फूल्को तर्कारी

        Ingredients 4 hard-boiled eggs 3 medium-sized potatoes 4 medium-sized tomatoes 1 medium onion (chopped) 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1/2 teaspoon ginger 4 cloves garlic 3/4 teaspoon salt bread crumbs oil for frying chopped coriander leaves Process Cut the eggs into two halves and wrap them in breadcrumbs.  Heat the oil and shallow fry them,…

  • Dharma Dance: Yumma Mudra

    Rome 15th March 2014 at Casa delle Culture Roma Photos by ©Elio Castoria Having been raised in USA, English is my first language.  I was only 3 years old when my mother used to bring me with her to concerts, theatre and movies.  We lived in Detroit Michigan.  My mother would have rather become an…

  • Dentistry in Nepal by Anita Selva

    This August I returned to the Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu for the third time. However, this visit wasn’t for a retreat, but was instead to provide much needed dental care. I had made contact with Dr George Manos, an Australian dentist who had been a Buddhist for many years, and had finished setting up the…

  • DHARMA IN THE WEST by Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel

    WHY DO BUDDHISTS PRAY? When we recognize how lost we get in the habitual momentum of our thoughts and emotions, we realize how little strength we have to move in the direction of sanity. This can inspire us to understand and appreciate the power of prayer. Prayer cuts through the wild and discursiveness activity of…

  • Meadow Woundwort in the Field!

    Posted on August 16, 2015 by Monica Wilde Recently I got bitten yet again. Not by horseflies this time, but some mosquitoes. Sadly I reacted in just the same way. About 27 years ago, I was bitten by a large centipede while living in the West Indies – the joke shop kind, huge and shiny…

  • CHAU MEIN भाजेको चाउ चाउ

    Ingredients 1/2 standard packet of noodles 1 cup of chopped vegetables (carrot, cabbage, onions, tomato, coriander, etc) 1/2 teaspoon of spices (garam masala) 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder 1/4 teaspoon paprika powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 – 2 eggs beaten 1 1/2 tablespoons of ghiu (clarified butter) for frying Process Boil the noodles in water for…

  • Bodhicharya Summer Camp Community Ngöndro

    Vila Verde, Portugal A number of years ago while teaching on the 9th Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s shorter mahamudra text named ‘Pointing Out the Dharmakaya’, Ringu Tulku sowed the seeds for this year’s summer-camp topic, when he introduced the idea of group practice for accumulating merit.  He explained that one hundred people reciting the Vajrasattva mantra…

  • Trowlock Island

                   Trowlock Island from Thames Path A sliver of land cut from the mainland by a narrow backwater – this was Trowlock Island on the Thames where I lived every weekend from Easter to September and throughout the Summer Holidays when I was young. Although it was only about…

  • She Wanted Peace…

      She wanted Peace.  So she played beautiful music, painted beautiful expressions.  It was not enough.  She went on long walks.  Gave away possessions.  Smiled more.  Stopped multitasking.  Not enough.  She bought more reverent clothing.  Read spiritual books.  Spoke spiritual words.  Not enough.  She changed her relationships.  Attended classes.  Cut her hair.  Improved her diet. …