Buddhists are good at lists. Tibetan Buddhists, the Gelugpa school perhaps especially, have made them into a sort of art form. The Lam Rim is a long list of lists, in fact. In my daily meditations I’m working with Thubten Chodron’s Guided... Read More...
Ritual, Andrew Cohen on spiritual evolution, rejoicing and more
This is an overview of spiritual material I put online in the past month or so. All Considering: Ritual as part of a spiritual practice: Tibetan Buddhism (13) Giving yourself permission to rejoice in what’s good… (8) Merry... Read More...
Ritual as part of a spiritual practice: Tibetan Buddhism
Over the past year I’ve gained some experience at (Gelugpa Tibetan) Buddhist ritual. As a born agnostic from a protestant background rituals don’t sit very well with me. In fact, before hand I was planning to select the Buddhist lineage in... Read More...
Giving yourself permission to rejoice in what’s good…
In the Discovering Buddhism (FPMT) program it’s often repeated that we should regret our bad actions, words and thoughts, but that we can also rejoice in what’s good. Rejoicing is not a part of our Western Culture, especially Dutch... Read More...
Merry Christmas & overview of 2011
2011 was a crucial year for me. My blog reached over 400 subscribers for a bit (now back at 390, still respectable obviously), I learned meditation, quit meditating and went back to meditating daily, I turned Buddhist officially, quit the Theosophical... Read More...
Baby steps or big changes – about self control and habit
When I was 21 I decided I needed to work on my social skills. Instead of getting a hobby or something I quit university and decided to get a job. My parents weren’t amused and the result was that I went for a community college nursing class,... Read More...
Meditation, Buddhist Paths, Blogs and more: overview
With Christmas and other holidays coming up, it’s perhaps not totally inappropriate to remind you all of my spiritual gift guides. Buy something off one of these pages and I get a nice commission: you help me make a living and it doesn’t... Read More...
Regret, Guilt and changing your life
In Eat Pray Love (book and movie) by Elizabeth Gilbert we meet Richard, a western devotee of an Indian guru who chastises Elizabeth for every attitude she has, or so it seems – helping her deal with the issues of living in an ashram and learning... Read More...
Best Buddhist Blogs
I’ve done a list of best spiritual blogs several times (pages gone & outdated – 2015). Now that I’m a Buddhist officially, it’s time to find out what the best Buddhist blogs of today are. My criteria: Last post in Oct.... Read More...
Becoming awake for others: Bodhicitta or the Bodhisattva Motivation
It’s time to blog about what they call in Tibetan Buddhism the ‘large scope’ in the Lam Rim. On one level this scope is the only one which we, as Westerners can relate to: it’s all about universal and impartial love. We can... Read More...