Tag: Buddhism

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • JOURNEY INTO BUDDHISM

    Journey into Buddhism In the years following Buddha Shakyamuni’s demise Buddhism was propagated in all sorts of ways; mendicant monks travelling around the country spreading the word to name but one.  Following the famous conversion by Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism became enmeshed into the political system of his ever expanding Empire and was soon adopted, perhaps…

  • GUESS WHO

    GUESS WHO!         J      Where were you born? ?     I was born high up in the mountains. J      What brought you to Scotland? ?     My husband is from Scotland.  I married a Scotsman. J      Where did you meet him? ?     I met him in my own country. J      Do you have a…

  • APPROACHING BUDDHISM

    DETAIL ON THE BASE OF STUPA AT SAMYE LING   Ani Rinchen Khandro recounts years living in South-East Asia and her life as a Buddhist nun at Kagyu Samye Ling monastery. When one encounters anyone born in the west who is a Buddhist, the likelihood is that they were not born into the faith, but…