(Follow this link to see the December 2022 Priory Newsletter where this was recently published.)
Winter is on the way!
The other day, I was listening to a recent interview with the Dalai Lama and he was asked whether he had any regrets at this point, late in his life. He said that he did not and that for many decades, he had not made any serious mistakes. He said that he relied upon what he called Buddhist logic and investigation and, interestingly, he said he had deities that he could ask for help. While I am not fond of the word deity to describe it, it cheered me up that he had a sense for and went for help to the unseen assistance in his life.
In the Zen tradition, there is an ongoing discussion, or deliberate avoidance of a discussion, about what is variously called Buddha Nature, the Awakened Mind, the Unborn Buddha Mind or “our Original Face before we were born.” While there are many names for it, this Buddha Mind within us is a source of assistance for us in our lives if we will ask for and listen to its offerings.
But it is slippery. Or, rather, we make the approach to it slippery. Continue reading →
Lately I have been reflecting on the profound value of training and living in community and also the fragility of our community connections. In Buddhism there is a special value placed on community: the Buddha famously remarked that having good spiritual friends is the “whole of the holy life” and I can attest to this value. Because of this value, this is a topic, or range of topics, that I come back to time and time again in my spiritual practice.