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Three years ago Ringu Tulku Rinpoche made his first visit to Thailand.  In February this year he returned.  Following his last visit several different groups in Thailand were very eager to listen to more of Rinpoche’s teachings.  I was very pleased when, once the prospect of Rinpoche’s visit to Thailand was going to happen, that…

 International Conference on Science, Spirituality and Education.  Gangtok, Sikkim December 20th – 23rd 2010  In December 2010, while the western hemisphere was engulfed in the worst snowstorms and lowest temperatures in living memory, Gangtok was enjoying relatively balmy daytime weather and for four days, at the invitation of the Sikkim Government, the  Dalai Lama and…

Graham Smetham B.A. studied Mathematics at Essex University, England and Philosophy of Religion at Sussex University. During his time at Sussex he taught a subsidiary course for scientists on the interconnections between Western science and Eastern philosophical perspectives and it was through the investigations undertaken during the preparations for this course that he began to…

« La vie de chacun d’entre nous est marquée par une triple anxiété : la peur de la destruction, le désespoir devant l’absurde et la détresse de l’isolement » Karlfried Graf Dürckhem  Quand on a toute sa vie durant, baigné dans la culture occidentale et côtoyé les différents aspects de la philosophie et de la spiritualité occidentale, il…

Q.: en tant que scientifique, qu’est-ce qui vous a attiré dans le Bouddhisme ? R.: Plusieurs aspects du bouddhisme m’ont attiré en tant que scientifique. Il y a bien sûr son caractère non dogmatique, ouvert et rigoureux à la fois. L’injonction du Bouddha Shakyamuni de ne pas le croire sur parole, mais de vérifier par…

Thank you Rinpoche for agreeing to this interview. When did you get your ‘wake up call’ to come to the West? I was asked maybe in the late 70s by the XVIth Karmapa to go to Canada to teach at the university and then later I was asked to go to Naropa university but both times…

Background : In 1972 the North of Ireland had become a harrowing place as Catholic and Protestant civilians became more and more preoccupied with establishing territory and identity. As the unrest grew, so did the urgency for a peaceful resolution to a conflict stretching back into history. The conflict was resurrected during the 19th century…

In February this year I spent an enjoyable stay in Nepal. A very happy trip, full of surprises, loving kindnesses and sunny days. One of my stories is that I met Tsultrim who owns a carpet factory where a lot of women work and live on site.

A human life, my ordinary life and the way it is lived and experienced by me, is to a great degree determined by the baggage of my past and the constant craving for something better in the future. That “something better” we call salvation, enlightenment and other times something else. We feel ourselves on a…

“A threefold anxiety marks everyone’s life: the fear of extinction, despair when faced with absurdity and the anguish of loneliness” Karlfried Graf Dürkhem. When a whole lifetime has been spent immersed in Western culture and one has walked alongside the different aspects of Western philosophy and spirituality as I have done, it  might be helpful…

Buddhists talk often about happiness. It is a focus on the path. My journey with spirituality, particularly Buddhism and Daoism, has led me to realise that essentially I am a happy being but as I have grown older I feel, for me, the spiritual journey is now more about attaining a state of contentment rather…

  Laurent hopes to answer your questions.  His participation in the e-magazine will be regular and his rubric can be seen as the first in a series as the title suggests. Laurent Nottale is a French astrophysicist, director of research at CNRS, and researcher at the Paris Observatory. He is author and inventor of the…

Happiness is big business nowadays. Everywhere we look we find books and articles about how to be happy; how to find happiness; what makes us happy and what doesn’t. There seems to be no end to the advice we are offered and many people say that Buddhist practice is about ‘being happy’. But what is happiness?…

I’m not at all sure how we all in the Bodhicharya Sangha developed the merit to be able to meet Rinpoche in this life – but somehow the good fortune has come to us, each in our own different way, and I think now we  just have to see how much further we can clarify…

I am trying to break free but have now discovered that breaking free won’t break me free of my emotions. You know life is funny, you think that you know what to do and what path to take but this can change. All my life I have been abused mentally and emotionally by my parents…