Podcasts about Bodh Gaya

In this enriching episode of Handful of Leaves, Venerable Sumangala shares how Buddhist wisdom can be applied to everyday challenges—whether in the workplace, in speech, or in balancing spiritual life with modern demands. With heartfelt stories and practical guidance, she offers a grounded path toward wisdom, mindfulness, and right living.Key Takeaways:

In Triratna, learning to understand what is truly beautiful is seen as a path to Enlightenment itself. In this episode we find ourselves exploring this in an unexpected and extraordinary way at the seat of all Buddhist paths and myths, Bodh Gaya in India. Not far from the bodhi tree, where the Buddha's great achievement is said to have taken place, you'll find us deep in conversation with visitiing leaders from the Dublin Buddhist Centre about their vision of building a Buddhist retreat centre in Eire: a realm of beauty and a fitting home for distinctively Irish Dharma practice in the heart of County Clare. We hear about the retreat centre's name Shubha Vihara—The Place of Beauty—and how it sits alongside the legendary mythic names, spaces and stories of Ireland, before and after St. Patrick. We meet Brigid, Cuchulain (Setanta), and Fionn mac Cumhail as he catches the Salmon of Knowledge; and visit in our imagination Lough Derg, the ancient passage tomb of Newgrange, and the Hill of Tara—crowning place for the High Kings of Ireland. All while exploring aspects of Christianity's impact on the country's pagan spiritual history, and the role of positive warrior culture as it manifests and is transformed in both Buddhist and Irish contexts.  It's hard work building magic spaces and the team give us a glimpse into what's involved on the ground trying to transmute spreadsheets and fundraising calls into the magic of genuine community, alive with deep possibilities, where practice is—somehow—palpably rooted in the native earth and energies of a specific land and a society ready for change. Join us for an inspiring episode for the ages about a distinctively Buddhist contirbution to Irish culture.  As a bonus, we close this conversation with a recitation of the traditional Buddhist ethical precepts rendered into Gaelic. Beautiful indeed! Show Notes Support the creation of Shubha Vihara, the Irish Triratna Retreat Centre Explore key stories from Irish mythology Dublin Buddhist Centre The Windhorse Trust FutureDharma Fund *** Visit The Buddhist Centre Live (events year-round on Buddhism, mindfulness, meditation, and culture) Come meditate with us online six days a week! Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

Prayers at Bodhi Temple Bodhgaya. Stereo 48kHz 24bit. UNESCO listing: Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya Recorded by Erick Ruiz Arellano. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world's most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage

"The repetitive sound of prayer from India's Bodhi Temple is imbued with a feeling of longing – a desperate desire to cling to the concrete nature of the past. Sound is often ignored in precious places of great beauty. We closed our eyes and were inspired by the sound of prayer that has reverberated around this Indian temple for centuries.  "Significant sounds in our own lives, that form part of our archive of happiness, include the folk songs sung by our friends The Kimberleys and the sound of our children (now grown) singing and laughing. We collected these field recordings with a view to merge them with the temple prayers. The chant of the call to prayer reaches beyond the modern world into human connections from the past. We combined our source file with the folk song sung at my birthday party in our house, together with a call to the candles for the birthday girl – me! The bird song field recording was collected on an early morning walk – its timeless chant is a perfect addition to our sound piece. Our life's purpose is linked to belief, friendship and celebration." Thanks to The Kimberleys for the beautiful birthday gift of song. Bodhgaya temple reimagined by Caroline Grimshaw and Stephen Mugford. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world's most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage

We need a recovery of the sacred in our secular world. Because the mental, emotional, and psychological struggles haunting society right now can't be solved without addressing meaning, purpose, and the longing for connection to something beyond ourselves.In other words, spiritual health is an essential part of mental health.An attorney, religious scholar, and university chaplain, Dr. Varun Soni is Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, and is leading us back to our true north, through spacious and life-giving spiritual conversations and sacred practices that realign us to our values and identity.In this conversation with Varun Soni, we discuss:Finding the sacred in our secular culture.Religious pluralism and what it means to build trust that reaches across religious lines of difference.The transformative power of finding your “truth north”—your North Star—to orient our journeys of faith and spirituality.Varun shares six pillars of flourishing; how to align our actions with our values; and the benefit of listening to the cultural narratives and stories we tell.He reflects on the missing elements of spirituality in our understanding of mental health today, evidenced in his work with teens and emerging adults.He offers us a Hindu meditative practice to provide inner clarity, stability, and calm.And he comments on compassion and a cultivation sacred spiritual practices to counteract the loneliness, anguish, and suffering in our world.Show NotesDr. Pam King welcomes Varun Soni, Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at USCJourney from Hindu attorney to first Hindu Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life in the U.S.“What does it mean to be Indian? What does it mean to be Hindu? What does it mean to be American? What is this Indian American experience?”1965 Immigration and Naturalization ActInspired by grandfather's connection to Mahatma Gandhi“ What it meant to be Hindu was to be like Gandhi. What it meant to be Indian was to be like Gandhi. What it meant to live a meaningful life was to live like Gandhi.”“ I continued to study religion as a way of understanding myself.”Sitting with the Dalai Lama on Mahatma Gandhi's birthdayMentorship from the Dalai LamaDeepak Chopra's influence“Interfaith trust building”University ChaplaincyWhat is thriving to you?"Thriving is the alignment of purpose and practice—it's not about arriving, but about moving in the right direction."“What is my north star, and how do I get there?”Spiritual well-being about asking the right questions, not having all the answersReligion once provided meaning, rituals, and community—now young people seek new structures"What is sacred to you? If you can't answer that, you're drifting without a compass."The urgency of time when turning 50 years old“I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone anymore.”“Put the process before the answer.”6 pillars of thriving and well-being: diet, sleep, exercise, contemplative practice, emotional intelligence, connection to natureBasic physical pillars of thriving: Diet, Sleep, ExerciseSpiritual pillars of thriving: Contemplation, Emotional Intelligence, and Communing with NatureFinding what is sacred—faith, relationships, personal values51% of USC students non-religious, 80% spiritualRecord levels of loneliness, imposter syndrome, comparison culture“Not just a mental health crisis, but a spiritual health crisis.”Loss of intergenerational religious experiences—key protective factor against depression"We took away religion and replaced it with social media, then wondered why anxiety skyrocketed."Social media fuels disconnection rather than community"We weren't built for this much bad news. Our brains weren't designed to process global suffering 24/7."“There's no right way to do contemplative practice.”Find moments built into your dayExercise: So Hum breath meditation: Inhale “So,” exhale “Hum”Using meditation as a spiritual technology or tool"You are not your thoughts—you are the awareness behind them."Identity shaped by personal narrative—"If you don't like your story, rewrite it."Telling the story of who you will become"Every individual is the hero of their own journey, whether they realize it or not."Cultural mythology, from sacred texts to Marvel movies, reflects search for meaningSpirituality helps build redemptive life narratives“There power in being part of something bigger.”The Spiritual Child by Lisa Miller—research on spirituality and mental health"It's hard to hate the people you love—universities are one of the last places where people can learn to love each other across differences."Technology and mediated relationshipsWhat is sacred to you?"Gen Z's greatest superpower is empathy, but they've never been lonelier."Building protective factors for young peopleGratitude rituals shift focus from anxiety to appreciationCare, justice, and connectionMental Health CrisisMental Health and Spiritual HealthAwe-inspiring moments—nature, music, relationships—essential to well-being"Awe, wonder, and gratitude aren't luxuries—they're survival tools."“You can't doom-scroll your way to joy. Presence and connection matter.”Religious institutions declining, but human need for transcendence remainsCreating new rituals and meaning-making for a secular generation"Spiritual health is just as important as mental health—ignore it, and you miss a key part of the equation."What is your North Star? What gets you up in the morning?How do your daily practices align purpose and action?How do the stories you tell shape your identity and thriving?Try So Hum meditation as a daily mindfulness practiceEngage in one act of gratitude—write a note, express appreciation, savor a momentIt's all too easy to fragment our lives into secular and sacred, but thriving and spiritual health require wholeness and integration of every aspect of ourselves, including our faith and spirituality.Future generations of leaders need our guidance and support in their connection to community and their search for meaning, purpose, and hope.Keep your seat-belt firmly fastened, your seat-back upright, tray table stowed, and secure your own spiritual oxygen mask before assisting others.We can counteract the outrage, anxiety, and information overload with simple, daily practices that bring stability and clarity.We thrive when we align our actions and our values, our behavior with our beliefs, and our practices with our purpose.About Varun SoniVarun Soni is the Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California. He received his B.A. degree in Religion from Tufts University, where he also earned an Asian Studies minor and completed the Program in Peace and Justice Studies. He subsequently received his M.T.S. degree from Harvard Divinity School and his M.A. degree through the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He went on to receive his J.D. degree from University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, where he also completed the Critical Race Studies Program and served as an editor for the Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law. He earned his Ph.D. through the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town, where his doctoral research focused on religion and popular culture. As an undergraduate student, Dean Soni spent a semester living in a Buddhist monastery in Bodh Gaya, India through Antioch University's Buddhist Studies Program. As a graduate student, he spent months doing field research in South Asia through UCSB's Center for Sikh and Punjab Studies.Dean Soni is currently a University Fellow at USC Annenberg's Center on Public Diplomacy and an Adjunct Professor at the USC School of Religion. He is the author of Natural Mystics: The Prophetic Lives of Bob Marley and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Figueroa Press, 2014) and his writings have appeared in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Crosscurrents, Jewish Journal, and Harvard Divinity Bulletin. He produced the critically acclaimed graphic novel Tina's Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary by Keshni Kashyap, which is currently being adapted as a feature length film. He also produced and hosted his own radio show on KPFK-Pacifica that showcased music from South Asia and its diaspora. In 2009, he was one of the organizers of the historic Concert for Pakistan, a benefit concert at the United Nations General Assembly Hall featuring Salman Ahmad, Sting, Outlandish, Jeff Skoll, Deepak Chopra, and Melissa Etheridge.Dean Soni is a member of the State Bar of California, the American Academy of Religion, and the Association for College and University Religious Affairs. He is on the advisory board for the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, Journal for Interreligious Dialogue, Hindu American Seva Charities, Future45, and the Parliament of the World's Religion. Prior to joining USC, Dean Soni spent four years teaching in the Law and Society Program at UCSB. Born in India and raised in Southern California, he has family on five continents and they collectively represent every major religious tradition in the world. About the Thrive CenterLearn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenter About Dr. Pam KingDr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking. About With & ForHost: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.

This episode we will finish up the travels of Xuanzang, who circumnavigated the Indian subcontinent while he was there, spending over a decade and a half travelings, visiting important Buddhist pilgrimage sites, and studying at the feet of learned monks of India, and in particular at Nalanda monastery--a true center of learning from this period. For more, check out our blogpost page:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-122 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 122:  Journey to the West, Part 3 The courtyard at Nalanda was quiet.  Although hundreds of people were crowded in, trying to hear what was being said, they were all doing their best to be silent and still.  Only the wind or an errant bird dared speak up.  The master's voice may not have been what it once was—he was definitely getting on in years—but Silabhadra's mind was as sharp as ever. At the front of the crowd was a relatively young face from a far off land.  Xuanzang had made it to the greatest center of learning in the world, and he had been accepted as a student of perhaps the greatest sage of his era.  Here he was, receiving lessons on some of the deepest teachings of the Mahayana Buddhist sect, the very thing he had come to learn and bring home. As he watched and listened with rapt attention, the ancient teacher began to speak….   For the last two episodes, and continuing with this one, we have been covering the travels of the monk Xuanzang in the early 7th century, starting around 629 and concluding in 645.  Born during the Sui dynasty, Xuanzang felt that the translations of the Buddhist sutras available in China were insufficient—many of them had been made long ago, and often were translations of translations.  Xuanzang decided to travel to India in the hopes of getting copies in the original language to provide more accurate translations of the sutras, particularly the Mahayana sutras.  His own accounts of his journeys, even if drawn from his memory years afterwards, provide some of our most detailed contemporary evidence of the Silk Road and the people and places along the way.  After he returned, he got to work on his translations, and became quite famous.  Several of the Japanese students of Buddhism who traveled to the Tang dynasty in the 650s studied under him directly and brought his teachings back to Japan with them.  His school of “Faxiang” Buddhism became known in Japan as the Hosso sect, and was quite popular during the 7th and 8th centuries.  Xuanzang himself, known as Genjou in Japan, would continue to be venerated as an important monk in the history of Buddhism, and his travels would eventually be popularized in fantastic ways across East Asia. Over the last couple of episodes we talked about Xuanzang's illegal and harrowing departure from the Tang empire, where he had to sneak across the border into the deserts of the Western Regions.  We then covered his time traveling from Gaochang, to Suyab, and down to Balkh, in modern Afghanistan.  This was all territory under the at least nominal control of the Gokturk empire.  From Balkh he traveled to Bamyan, and then on to Kapisa, north of modern Kabul, Afghanistan.  However, after Kapisa, Xuanzang was finally entering into the northern territories of what he knew as “India”, or “Tianzhu”. Here I would note that I'm using “India” to refer not to a single country, but to the entirety of the Indian subcontinent, and all of the various kingdoms there -- including areas now part of the modern countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.  The Sinitic characters used to denote this region are pronounced, today, as “Tianzhu”, with a rough meaning of “Center of Heaven”, but it is likely that these characters were originally pronounced in such a way that the name likely came from terms like “Sindhu” or “Induka”.  This is related to the name of the Sindh or Indus river, from which India gets its name.  Xuanzang's “Record of the Western Regions” notes that the proper pronunciation of the land should be “Indu”.  In Japan, this term was transmitted through the Sinitic characters, or kanji, and pronounced as “Tenjiku”.  Since it featured so prominently in the stories of the life of the Buddha and many of the Buddhist sutras, Tenjiku was known to the people of the Japanese archipelago as a far off place that was both real and fantastical. In the 12th century, over a thousand stories were captured for the “Konjaku Monogatarishu”, or the “Collection of Tales Old and New”, which is divided up into tales from Japan, China, and India.  In the famous 9th or 10th century story, “Taketori Monogatari”, or the “Bamboo-Cutter's Tale”, about princess Kaguya hime, one of the tasks the princess sets to her suitors is to go to India to find the begging bowl of the Buddha.  Records like those produced by Xuanzang and his fellow monks, along with the stories in the sutras, likely provided the majority of what people in the Japanese archipelago knew about India, at least to begin with. Xuanzang talks about the land of India as being divided into five distinct parts—roughly the north, south, east, west, and center.  He notes that three sides face the sea and that the Snow Mountains—aka the Himalayas—are in the north.  It is, he says, “Wide in the north and narrow in the south, in the shape of a crescent moon”.  Certainly the “Wide in the north and narrow in the south” fit the subcontinent accurately enough, and it is largely surrounded by the waters of what we know as the Indian Ocean to the west, the east, and the south.  The note about the Crescent Moon might be driven by Xuanzang's understanding of a false etymology for the term “Indus”, which he claims comes from the word for “moon”.  Rather, this term appears to refer to the Indus River, also known as the Sindh or Sindhus, which comes from an ancient word meaning something like “River” or “Stream”. Xuanzang also notes that the people of the land were divided into castes, with the Brahman caste at the top of the social hierarchy.    The land was further divided into approximately 70 different countries, according to his accounts.  This is known broadly as the Early Medieval period, in India, in which the region was divided into different kingdoms and empires that rose and fell across the subcontinent, with a total size roughly equivalent to that covered by the countries of the modern European Union.  Just like Europe, there were many different polities and different languages spoken across the land – but just as Latin was the common language in Europe, due to its use in Christianity, Sanskrit was the scholarly and religious language in much of India, and could also be used as a bridge language.  Presumably, Xuanzang understood Sanskrit to some extent as a Buddhist monk.  And, just a quick note, all of this was before the introduction of Islam, though there were other religions also practiced throughout the subcontinent, but Xuanzang was primarily focused on his Buddhist studies. Xuanzang describes India as having three distinct seasons—The hot season, the rainy season, and the cold season, in that order.  Each of these were four month long periods.  Even today, the cycle of the monsoon rains is a major impact on the life of people in South Asia.  During the rainy season, the monks themselves would retreat back to their monasteries and cease their wanderings about the countryside. This tradition, called “Vassa”, is still a central practice in many Theravada Buddhist societies such as Thailand and Laos today, where they likewise experience this kind of intensely wet monsoon season. Xuanzang goes on to give an in depth analysis of the people and customs of the Indian subcontinent, as he traveled from country to country. So, as we've done before, we'll follow his lead in describing the different locations he visited. The first country of India that Xuanzang came to was the country of Lampa, or Lamapaka, thought to be modern Laghman province in Afghanistan.  At the time it was a dependency of Kapisa.  The Snow Mountains, likely meaning the Hindu Kush, the western edge of the Himalayas, lay at its north, while the “Black Mountains” surrounded it on the other three sides.  Xuanzang mentions how the people of Lampa grow non-glutinous rice—likely something similar to basmati rice, which is more prevalent in South Asian cuisine, as compared to glutinous rice like more often used in East Asia. From Lampa he headed to Nagarahara, likely referring to a site near the Kabul River associated with the ruins of a stupa called Nagara Gundi, about 4 kilometers west of modern Jalalabad, Afghanistan.  This was another vassal city-state of Kapisa.  They were still Mahayana Buddhists, but there were other religions as well, which Xuanzang refers to as “heretical”, though I'm not entirely sure how that is meant in this context.  He does say that many of the stupas were dilapidated and in poor condition. Xuanzang was now entering areas where he likely believed the historical Buddha had once walked.  In fact, Lampa was perhaps the extent of historical Buddha's travels, according to the stories and the sutras, though this seems unlikely to have been true.  The most plausible locations for the Historical Buddha's pilgrimages were along the Ganges river, which was on the other side of the subcontinent, flowing east towards modern Kolkatta and the Bengal Bay.  However, as Buddhism spread, so, too, did stories of the Buddha's travels.  And so, as far as Xuanzang was concerned, he was following in the footsteps of the Buddha. Speaking of which, at Nagarahara, Xuanzang mentions “footprints” of the Buddha.  This is a Buddhist tradition found in many places.  Xuanzang claims that the Tathagatha, the Englightened One, or the Buddha, would fly, because when he walked the land itself shook.  Footprint shapes in rock could be said to be evidence of the Buddha's travels.  Today, in many Buddhist areas you can find footprints carved into rock conforming to stories about the Buddha, such as all the toes being of the same length, or other various signs.  These may have started out as natural depressions in the rock, or pieces of artwork, but they were believed by many to be the actual point at which the Buddha himself touched down.  There are famous examples of these footprints in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and China.  Of course there are also traditions of creating images of the footprint as an object of worship.  Images of footprints, similar to images of the Great Wheel of the Law, may have been some of the earliest images for veneration, as images of the Buddha himself did not appear until much later in the tradition.  One of the oldest such footprints in Japan is at Yakushiji temple, and dated to 753.  It was created based on a rubbing brought back by an envoy to the Tang court, while they were in Chang'an. Like Buddha footprints, there are many other images and stories that show up multiple times in different places, even in Xuanzang's own narrative.  For example, in Nagarahara Xuanzang also shares a story of a cave, where an image of the Buddha could be just barely made out on the wall – maybe maybe an old carving that had just worn away, or maybe an image that was deliberately placed in the darkness as a metaphor for finding the Buddha—finding enlightenment.  This is not an uncommon theme in Buddhism as a whole.  In any case, the story around this image was that it had been placed there to subdue a naga. Now a naga is a mythical snake-like being, and  we are told that this particular naga was the reincarnation of a man who had invoked a curse on the nearby kingdom, then threw himself from a cliff in order to become a naga and sow destruction.  As the story went, the man was indeed reborn, but before he could bring destruction, the Buddha showed up and subdued him, convincing him that this was not right.  And so the naga agreed to stay in the cave, where the Buddha left an image—a shadow—to remind the naga any time that its thoughts might turn to destruction. Later in his travels, at a place name Kausambi, Xuanzang mentions another cave where the Buddha had subdued a venomous dragon and left his shadow on the cave wall.  Allowing for the possibility that the Buddha just had a particular M.O. when dealing with destructive beings, we should also consider the possibility that the story developed in one region—probably closer to the early center of Buddhism, and then traveled outward, such that it was later adopted and adapted to local traditions.  From Nagarahara, Xuanzang continued to the country of Gandhara and its capital city of Purushapura, aka modern Peshwar.  This kingdom was also under vassalage to the Kapisan king.  Here and elsewhere in the journey, Xuanzang notes not only evidence of the historical Buddha, but also monasteries and stupas purported to have been built by King Kanishka and King Asoka.  These were important figures who were held in high regard for spreading Buddhism during their reign.  Continuing through the region of Gandhara, he also passed through Udakhand and the city of Salatura, known as the birthplace of the ancient Sanskrit grammarian, Daksiputra Panini, author of the Astadhyayi [Aestudjayi].  This work is the oldest surviving description of classical Sanskrit, and used grammatical and other concepts that wouldn't be introduced into Western linguistics for eons.  Daksiputra Panini thrived around the 5th or 4th century BCE, but was likely one of the reasons that Sanskrit continued to be used as a language of scholarship and learning even as it died out of usage as the day to day language of the common people.  His works and legacy would have been invaluable to translators like Xuanzang in understanding and translating from Sanskrit. Xuanzang continued on his journey to Kashmira, situated in the Kashmir Valley.  This valley sits between the modern states of Pakistan and India, and its ownership is actively disputed by each.  It is the namesake of the famous cashmere wool—wool from the winter coats of a type of goat that was bred in the mountainous regions.  The winter coat would be made of soft, downy fibers and would naturally fall out in the spring, which the goatherds harvested and made into an extremely fine wool.  In the 7th century and earlier, however, the region was known not as much for its wool, but as a center for Hindu and Buddhist studies.  Xuanzang ended up spending two years in Kashmira studying with teachers there.  Eventually, though, he continued on, passing through the country of Rajpura, and continuing on to Takka and the city of Sakala—modern day Sialkot in the Punjab region of modern Pakistan.  Leaving Sakala, he was traveling with a group when suddenly disaster struck and they were accosted by a group of bandits.  They took the clothes and money of Xuanzang and those with him and then they drove the group into a dry pond in an attempt to corral them while they figured out what they would do—presumably meaning kill them all.  Fortunately for the group, there was a water drain at the southern edge of the pond large enough for one man to pass through.  Xuanzang and one other went through the gap and they were able to escape to a nearby village.  Once they got there, they told the people what had happened, and the villagers quickly gathered weapons and ran out to confront the brigands, who saw a large group coming and ran away.  Thus they were able to rescue the rest of Xuanzang's traveling companions.  Xuanzang's companions were devastated, having lost all of their possessions.  However, Xuanzang comforted them.  After all, they still had their lives.  By this time, Xuanzang had certainly seen his fair share of life and death problems along the road.  They continued on, still in the country of Takka, to the next great city.  There they met a Brahman, and once they told him what had happened, he started marshalling the forces of the city on their behalf.  During Xuanzang's stay in Kashmira, he had built a reputation, and people knew of the quote-unquote “Chinese monk”.  And even though the people in this region were not necessarily Buddhist—many were “heretics” likely referring to those of Hindu faith—the people responded to this pre-Internet “GoFundMe” request with incredible generosity.  They brought Xuanzang food and cloth to make into suits of clothes.  Xuanzang distributed this to his travel companions, and ended up still having enough cloth for 50 suits of clothes himself.  He then stayed at that city a month. It is odd that they don't seem to mention the name of this location.  Perhaps there is something unspeakable about it?  Still, it seems that they were quite generous, even if they were “heretics” according to Xuanzang. From the country of Takka, he next proceeded to the kingdom of Cinabhukti, where he spent 14 months—just over a year—studying with the monks there.  Once he had learned what he could, he proceeded onwards, passing through several countries in northern India until he came to the headwaters of the sacred Ganges rivers.  The Indus and the Ganges rivers are in many ways similar to the Yellow River and Yangzi, at least in regards to their importance to the people of India.  However, whereas the Yellow River and Yangzi both flow east towards the Pacific Ocean, the Indus and Ganges flow in opposite directions.  The Indus flows southwest, from the Himalayas down through modern India into modern Pakistan, emptying into the western Indian Ocean.  The Ganges flows east along the base of the Himalayas and enters the eastern Indian Ocean at Kolkatta.   At the headwaters of the Ganges, Xuanzang found a Buddhist monk named Jayagupta and chose to spend the winter and half of the following spring listening to his sermons and learning at his feet. From there he continued his travels, and ended up being summoned by King Harshavardhana of Kanyakubja, known today as the modern city of Kannauj.  Harshavardhana ruled an immense state that covered much of the territory around the sacred Ganges river.  As word of this strange monk from a far off land reached him, the King wanted to see him for himself.  Xuanzang stayed in Kannauj for three months, completing his studies of the Vibhasha Shastra, aka the Abhidarmma Mahavibhasha Shastra, known in Japanese as the Abidatsuma Daibibasharon, or just as the Daibibasharon or the Basharon, with the latter two terms referring to the translations that Xuanzang performed.   This work is not a sutra, per se, but rather an encyclopedic work that attempted to speak on all of the various doctrinal issues of its day.  It is thought to have been authored around 150 CE, and was influential in the Buddhist teachings of Kashmira, when that was a center of Orthodoxy at the time.  This is what Xuanzang had started studying, and it seems that in Kannauj he was finally able to grasp everything he felt he needed to know about it in order to effectively translate it and teach it when he returned.  That said, his quest was not over.  And after his time in Kannauj, he decided to continue on. His next stop was at the city of Ayodhya.  This was—and is—a city of particular importance in Hindu traditions.  It is said to be the city mentioned in the epic tale known as the Ramayana, though many argue that it was simply named that later in honor of that ancient city.  It does appear to be a city that the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, visited and where he preached.  It was also the home of a famous monk from Gandhara who authored a number of Buddhist tomes and was considered, at least by Xuanzang, a proper Boddhisatva.  And so Xuanzang spent some time paying homage to the places where the Buddha and other holy figures had once walked. “Ayodhya” appears in many forms across Asia.  It is a major pilgrimage center, and the city of “Ayutthaya” in Thailand was named for it, evoking the Ramayana—known in Thai as the Ramakien—which they would adopt as their own national story.  In Silla, there is a story that queen Boju, aka Heo Hwang-ok, wife to the 2nd century King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya, traveled to the peninsula all the way from the foreign country of “Ayuta”, thought to mean Ayodhya.  Her story was written down in the Gaya histories and survives as a fragment found in the Samguk Yusa.  Members of the Gimhae Kim, Gimhae Heo, and Incheon Yi clans all trace their lineage back to her and King Suro. From Ayodhya, Xuanzang took a trip down the Ganges river.  The boat was packed to bursting with some 80 other travelers, and as they traveled towards a particularly heavily forested area, they were set upon by bandits, who rowed their ships out from hiding in the trees and forced the travelers to the shore.  There the bandits made all the travelers strip down and take off their clothing so that the bandits could search for gold or valuables.  According to Xuanzang's biography, these bandits were followers of Durga, a Hindu warrior-goddess, and it is said that each year they would look for someone of particularly handsome features to sacrifice to her.  With Xuanzang's foreign features, they chose him.  And so they took him to be killed.  Xuanzang mentioned that he was on a pilgrimage, and that by interrupting him before they finished he was worried it might be inauspicious for them, but he didn't put up a fight and merely asked to be given time to meditate and calm his mind and that they perform the execution quickly so that he wouldn't even notice. From there, according to the story, a series of miracles occurred that ended up with Xuanzang being released and the bandits worshipping at his feet.  It is times like this we must remember that this biography was being written by Xuanzang's students based on stories he told them about his travels.  While being accosted by bandits on the river strikes me as perfectly plausible, we don't necessarily have the most reliable narrators, so I'm going to have to wonder about the rest.  Speaking of unreliable narration, the exact route that Xuanzang traveled from here on is unclear to me, based on his stated goals and where he was going.  It is possible that he was wandering as opportunities presented themselves —I don't know that he had any kind of map or GPS, like we've said in the past.  And it may be that the routes from one place to another were not always straightforward.  Regardless, he seems to wander southeast for a period before turning again to the north and eventually reaching the city of Shravasti. Shravasti appeared in our discussion of the men of Tukhara in Episode 119.  With the men of Tukhara there was also mentioned a woman from Shravasti.  While it is unlikely that was actually the case—the names were probably about individuals from the Ryukyuan island chain rather than from India—it is probably worth nothing that Shravasti was a thriving place in ancient times.  It was at one time the capital city of the kingdom of Kosala, sharing that distinction with the city of Ayodhya, back in the 7th to 5th centuries BCE.  It is also where the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was said to have spend many years of his life.  This latter fact would have no doubt made it a place of particular importance to Xuanzang on his journeys. From there he traveled east, ending up following the foothills of the Himalayas, and finally came to some of the most central pilgrimages sites for followers of the historical Buddha.  First, he reached Lumbini wood, in modern Nepal, said to have been the birthplace of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.  And then he visited Kushinagara, the site where the Buddha ascended to nirvana—in other words, the place where he passed away.  From there, he traveled to Varanasi, and the deer park monastery, at the place where the Buddha is said to have given one of his most famous sermons.  He even visited the Bodhi tree, the tree under which Siddhartha Gautama is said to have attained enlightenment.  He spent eight or nine days there at Bodhgaya, and word must have spread about his arrival, because several monks from the eminent Nalanda Monastery called upon him and asked him to come to the monastery with them. Nalanda Monastery was about 80 km from Bodhgaya.  This was a grand monastery and center of learning—some say that it was, for a time, the greatest in the world.  It had been founded in the 5th century by the Gupta dynasty, and many of the Gupta rulers and others donated to support the monastery, which also acted as a university.  After the fall of the Gupta dynasty, the monastery was supported by King Harsha of Kannauj, whom Xuanzang had visited earlier.  It ultimately thrived for some 750 years, and is considered by some to be the oldest residential university—meaning that students would come to the temple complex and stay in residence for years at a time to study.  According to Xuanzang, Nalanda hosted some 10,000 monks. Including hosts and guests.  They didn't only study Buddhist teachings, but also logic, grammar, medicine, and divination.  Lectures were given at more than 100 separate places—or classrooms—every day.  It was at Nalanda, that Xuanzang would meet the teacher Silabhadra, who was known as the Right Dharma Store.  Xuanzang requested that he be allowed to study the Yogacharabhumi Shastra—the Yugashijiron, in Japanese.  This is the work that Xuanzang is said to have been most interested in, and one of the works that he is credited with bringing back in one of the first full translations to the Tang dynasty and then to others in East Asia.  It is an encyclopedic work dedicated to the various forms of Yogacara practice, which focuses on the mental disciplines, and includes yoga and meditation practices.  It has a huge influence on nearly all Mahayana schools, including things like the famous Zen and Pure Land schools of Buddhism.  The Yogacharabhumi Shastra is the earliest such encyclopedic work, compiled between the 3rd and 5th centuries—so even if the monk Faxian had brought portions of it back, it was probably not in the final form that Xuanzang was able to access. Silabhadra, for his part, was an ancient teacher—some put his age at 106 years, and his son was in his 70s.  He was one of the few at Nalandra who supposedly knew all of the various texts that they had at the monastery, including the Yogacarabhumi Shastra.  Xuanzang seems to have been quite pleased to study under him.  Xuanzang stayed at the house of Silabhadra's son, Buddhabhadra, and they welcomed him with entertainment that lasted seven days.  We are told that he was then given his own lodgings, a stipend of spices, incense, rice, oil, butter, and milk, along with a servant and a Brahman.  As a visiting monk, he was not responsible for the normal monastic duties, instead being expected to spend the time in study.  Going out, he was carried around by an elephant.   This was certainly the royal treatment. Xuanzang's life at Nalandra wasn't all books: south of the monastery was the city of Rajagrha, the old capital of the kingdom of Magadha, where the ancient Gupta kings had once lived, and on occasional breaks from his studies, Xuanzang would venture out to see the various holy sites.  This included the famous Mt. Grdhrakuta, or Vulture Peak, a location said to be favored by the historical Buddha and central to the Lotus Sutra, arguably the founding document of Mahayana Buddhist tradition. After all, “Mahayana” means “Greater Vehicle” and it is in the Lotus Sutra that we see the metaphor of using different vehicles to escape a burning house.   We've already talked a bit about how the image of Vulture Peak had already become important in Japanese Buddhism: In Episode 112 we talked about how in 648, Abe no Oho-omi had drums piled up at Shitennoji in the shape of Vulture Peak. But although the sightseeing definitely enhanced his experience, Xuanzang was first and foremost there to study.  He spent 15 months just listening to his teacher expound on the Yogacarabhumi Shastra, but he also heard expositions on various other teachings as well.  He ended up studying at Nalandra Monastery for 5 years, gaining a much better understanding of Sanskrit and the various texts, which would be critically important when it came to translating them, later. But, Xuanzang was not one to stay in any one place forever, and so after 5 years—some 8 years or more into his journey, he continued on, following the Ganges east, to modern Bangladesh.  Here he heard about various other lands, such as Dvarapati—possibly referring to Dvaravati, in modern Thailand, as well as Kamalanka and Isanapura.  The latter was in modern Cambodia, the capital of the ancient Chenla kingdom.  Then Mahacampa—possibly referring to the Champa region of Vietnam—and the country of Yamanadvipa.  But there was still more of India for Xuanzang to discover, and more teachings to uncover, and so Xuanzang decided instead to head southwest, following the coast.  He heard of the country of Sinhala, referring to the island of Sri Lanka, but he was urged not to go by ship, as the long journey was perilous.  Instead he could stay on relatively dry land and head down to the southern tip of the subcontinent and then make a quick hop from there across to the island.  He traveled a long distance, all the way down to Kancipuram, the seat of the Pallava dynasty, near modern day Chennai.  From the seaport near Kancipuram, it was only three days to Sinhala—that is to say Sri Lanka—but before he could set out, he met a group of monks who had just arrived.  They told him that the king of Sinhala had died , and there was a great famine and civil disturbances.  So they had fled with some 300 other monks. Xuanzang eventually decided not to make the journey, but he did talk with the monks and gathered information on the lands to the south, on Sri Lanka, and on the islands south of that, by which I suspect he may have meant the Maldives.  While Sri Lanka is an area important to Buddhist scholarship, particularly to the Theravada schools, this likely did not impress Xuanzang, and indeed he seemed to feel that his studies in Nalanda had more than provided him what he needed.  Sri Lanka, however, is the source of the Pali canon, one of the most complete early canons of Buddhism, which had a huge influence on Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. So Xuanzang took plenty of notes but decided to forego the ocean voyage and headed northwest, instead.  He traveled across the breadth of India to Gujarat, and then turned back east, returning to pay respects once more to his teacher in Nalanda.  While there he heard of another virtuous monk named Prajnabhadra at a nearby monastery.  And so he went to spend several months with him, as well.  He also studied with a layman, Sastrin Jayasena, at Stickwood Hill.  Jayasena was a ksatriya, or nobleman, by birth, and studied both Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts.  He was courted by kings, but had left to continue his studies.  Xuanzang studied with him for another couple of years. Xuanzang remained at Nalanda, learning and teaching, expounding on what he had learned and gathering many copies of the various documents that he wished to take back with him, though he wondered how he might do it.  In the meantime, he also acquired quite the reputation.  We are told that King Siladitya had asked Nalanda for monks who could refute Theravada teachings, and Xuanzang agreed to go.  It isn't clear, but it seems that “Siladitya” was a title, and likely referred to King Harsha of Kannauj, whom we mentioned earlier.  Since he was a foreigner, then there could be no trouble that was brought on Nalanda and the other monks if he did poorly.  While he was waiting to hear back from Siladitya's court, which was apparently taking time to arrange things, the king of Kamarupta reached out to Nalanda with a request that Xuanzang come visit them.  While Xuanzang was reluctant to be gone too long, he was eventually encouraged to go and assuage the king. Kamarupta was a kingdom around the modern Assam region, ruled by King Bhaskaravarman, also known as King Kumara, a royal title.  This kingdom included parts of Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.  Bhaskaravarman, like so many other regents, seems to have been intrigued by the presence of this foreign monk, who had traveled all this way and who had studied at the famous Nalanda Monastery in Magadha. He invited Xuanzang to come to him.  Xuanzang's teacher, Silabhadra, had exhorted him to spread the right Dharma, and to even go to those non-Buddhists in hopes that they might be converted, or at least partially swayed. King Bhaskaravarman was quite taken with Xuanzang, wining and dining him while listening to him preach.  While there, Xuanzang learned about the country of Kamarupta.  He also learned about a path north, by which it was said it was a two month journey to arrive at the land of Shu, in the Sichuan Basin, on the upper reaches of the Yangzi – a kind of shortcut back to the Tang court.  However, the journey was treacherous—possibly even more treacherous than the journey to India had been. Eventually word reached the ears of King Siladitya that Xuanzang was at the court of King Bhaskaravarman, and Siladitya got quite upset.  Xuanzang had not yet come to *his* court, so Siladitya demanded that Bhaskaravarman send the monk to him immediately.  Bhaskaravarman refused, saying he'd rather give Siladitya his own head, which Siladitya said he would gladly accept.  Bhaskaravarman realized he may have miscalculated, and so he sailed up the Ganges with a host of men and Xuanzang to meet with Siladitya.  After a bit of posturing, Siladitya met with Xuanzang, who went with him, and eventually confronted the members of the Theravada sect in debate.  Apparently it almost got ugly, but for the King's intervention.  After a particularly devastating critique of the Theravada position, the Theravada monks are blamed for trying to use violence against Xuanzang and his fellow Mahayana monks from Nalanda, who were prepared to defend themselves.  The King had to step in and break it up before it went too far. Ultimately, Xuanzang was a celebrity at this point and both kings seem to have supported him, especially as he was realizing it was about time to head back to his own country.  Both kings was offered ships, should Xuanzang wish to sail south and then up the coast.  However, Xuanzang elected to take the northern route, hoping to go back through Gaochang, and see that city and its ruler again.  And so the Kings gave him money and valuables , along with wagons for all of the texts.  They also sent an army to protect all of the treasures, and even an elephant and more – sending him back in style with a huge send-off. So Xuanzang retraced his earlier steps, this time on an elephant.  He traveled back to Taxila, to Kashmir, and beyond.  He was invited to stay in Kashmira, but because of his retinue, he wasn't quite at leisure to just go where he wanted.  At one point, near Kapisa—modern Bagram, north of Kabul—they had to cross a river, and about 50 of the almost 700 documents were lost.  The King of Kapisa heard of this and had his own monks make copies to replace them based on their own schools.  The King of Kasmira, hearing that he was in Kapisa, also came to pay his respects. Xuanzang traveled with the King of Kapisa northwest for over a month and reached Lampaka, where he did take some time to visit the various holy sites before continuing northwest.  They had to cross the Snow Mountains—the outskirts of the Himalayas, and even though it wasn't the highest part of the range it was still challenging.  He had to dismount his elephant and travel on foot.  Finally, after going over the high mountains and coming down, he arrived back in the region of Tukhara, in the country of Khowst.  He then came to Kunduz, and paid his respects to the grandson of Yehu Khan.  He was given more guards to escort him eastward, traveling with some merchants.  This was back in Gokturk controlled lands, over a decade later than when he had last visited.  He continued east to Badakshan, stopping there for a month because of the cold weather and snow.  He eventually traveled through the regions of Tukhara and over the Pamir range.  He came down on the side of the Tarim Basin, and noted how the rivers on one side flowed west, while on the other side they flowed east.  The goings were treacherous, and at one point they were beset by bandits.  Though he and the documents were safe, his elephant panicked and fled into the river and drowned.  He eventually ended up in the country of Kashgar, in modern Xinjiang province, at the western edge of the Taklamakan desert. From there he had two options.  He could go north and hug the southern edge of the Tianshan mountains, or he could stay to the south, along the northern edge of the Himalayan range and the Tibetan plateau.  He chose to go south.  He traveled through Khotan, a land of wool and carpets.  This was a major trade kingdom, and they also grew mulberry trees for silkworms, and were known for their jade.  The king himself heard of Xuanzang and welcomed him, as many others had done.  While he was staying at the Khotanese capital, Xuanzang penned a letter to the Tang court, letting them know of his journey, and that he was returning.  He sent it with some merchants and a man of Gaochang to deliver it to the court. Remember, Xuanzang had left the Tang empire illegally.  Unless he wanted to sneak back in his best hope was that the court was willing to forgive and forget all of that, given everything that he was bringing back with him.  The wait was no doubt agonizing, but he did get a letter back.  It assured him that he was welcome back, and that all of the kingdoms from Khotan back to the governor of Dunhuang had been made aware and were ready to receive him. With such assurances, Xuanzang packed up and headed out.  The king of Khotan granted him more gifts to help see him on his way.  Nonetheless, there was still a perilous journey ahead.  Even knowing the way, the road went through miles and miles of desert, such that in some places you could only tell the trail by the bleached bones of horses and travelers who had not been so fortunate.  Eventually, however, Xuanzang made it to the Jumo River and then on to Dunhuang, from whence he was eventually escorted back to the capital city. It was now the year 645, the year of the Isshi Incident in Yamato and the death of Soga.  Xuanzang had been gone for approximately 16 years.  In that time, the Tang had defeated the Gokturks and taken Gaochang, expanding their control over the trade routes in the desert.  Xuanzang, for his part, was bringing back 657 scriptures, bound in 520 bundles carried by a train of some 20 horses.  He was given a hero's welcome, and eventually he would be set up in a monastery where he could begin the next part of his journey:  Translating all of these books. This was the work of a lifetime, but it is one that would have a profound impact on Buddhism across East Asia.  Xuanzang's translations would revolutionize the understanding of Mahayana Buddhist teachings, and students would come from as far away as the Yamato court to study under him and learn from the teacher who studied and taught at none other than Nalanda monastery itself.  His school would become popular in the Yamato capital, and the main school of several temples, at least for a time.  In addition, his accounts and his biography would introduce many people to the wider world of central and south Asia.  While I could go on, this has already been a story in three parts, and this is, after all, the Chronicles of Japan, so we should probably tune back into what is going on with Yamato.  Next episode, we'll look at one of the most detailed accounts we have of a mission to Chang'an. Until then, I hope that this has been enjoyable.  Xuanzang's story is one of those that isn't just about him, but about the interconnected nature of the entire world at the time.  While his journey is quite epic, there were many people traveling the roads, though most of them didn't write about it afterwards.  People, artifacts, and ideas traveled much greater distances than we often consider at this time, well before any kind of modern travel.  It was dangerous, but often lucrative, and it meant that various regions could have influence well beyond what one might expect. And so, thank you once again for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan

A talk by Suryagupta on The Seat of Enlightenment, where she shares the significance of visiting sacred spaces, and her recent and profound experience of sitting under the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya. ‍ This is followed by a Panel Discussion with Vandanajyoti, Samantavajra and Saddhaketu where they discuss about a key obstacle in their spiritual journey, and the process and conditions that led them to a significant breakthrough.

Quilley is a social worker by education, with about six years of experience working with the elderly in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, she explored different psychedelic medicines under the tutelage of Leo Zeff while also engaging in regular recreational use common to that era. Her first non-dual experiences occurred with the Grateful Dead while on medicine. Quilley has been practicing meditation for over 30 years, accumulating about three years of silent retreat practice, including a 21-day retreat in complete darkness. She came to Theravadan Buddhist practice through the doorway of suffering after the loss of her son in 1993, working with her grief under the guidance of Stephen and Ondrea Levine. This led her to volunteer with two hospices and work with individuals through the Living Dying Project. Over time, she developed a deeply committed sitting practice, which included many monthlong retreats, a three-month retreat in 2010, and extended practice in Burma (four months in 1999) and Bodhgaya in 2012. She was also active in the Buddhism 12-Step community and worked with elders in various capacities, including being part of a Sangha practicing with San Quentin inmates. Quilley served as a retreat manager at Spirit Rock Meditation Center for 11 years. In her elder years, Quilley trained as a Death Doula with INELDA and now has a practice at the intersection of meditation, death, and awakening.Episode Highlights▶ ▶ Quilley Powers' background in social work and psychedelics▶ The importance of recording elder voices and wisdom▶ How 5-MeO DMT offers profound experiences that can resemble death▶ How psychedelics can help alleviate the fear of death for many▶ The crucial role death doulas play in providing support and ritual▶ Why society often avoids discussions about death, and how it leads to fear▶ Rituals around death that can bring sacredness to the process▶ How meditation and psychedelics can enhance understanding of nonduality▶ The intersection of meditation, dying, and awakening and why it's significant▶ How open conversations about death can transform societal views and how exploration of personal experiences can lead to growth and wisdom▶ Why the future of death and dying is evolving with societal changes▶ How continuous learning is essential for personal development▶ Ways that psychedelics can complement Buddhist practices for a deeper understanding▶ How mindfulness helps in accepting life's unpredictability▶ Cultural influences that shape our perceptions of aging and beauty▶ The importance of community in navigating life's transitions▶ How an awareness of privilege can inform our understanding of suffering▶ Why acceptance of the aging process can lead to greater wisdom▶ Personal practices are crucial for maintaining presence and awareness.Quilley Powers's Links & Resources▶ A FREE half-hour phone call to anyone who ants to know more about her work. Email her at medicinecrone @ gmail .com with your name and phone number.  Download Beth's free trainings here: Clarity to Clients: Start & Grow a Transformational Coaching, Healing, Spiritual, or Psychedelic Business: https://bethaweinstein.com/grow-your-spiritual-businessIntegrating Psychedelics & Sacred Medicines Into a Transformational Business: https://bethaweinstein.com/psychedelics-in-business▶ Beth's Coaching Program: https://bethaweinstein.com/coaching ▶Other Offerings: https://bethaweinstein.com/services▶ Instagram: / bethaweinstein ▶FB: / bethw.nyc & / bethweinsteinbiz ▶ Join the free Psychedelics & Purpose Community: / psychedelicsandsacredmedicines

Have a question you want answered? Submit it here!Discover the hidden costs of our digital age as I sit down with Zach Rausch, the lead researcher behind "The Anxious Generation." Zach opens up about his personal journey with mental health challenges and how it fueled his passion to explore the complex relationship between technology and well-being. This episode peels back the layers on the disturbing rise in loneliness, anxiety, and depression among young people, especially adolescent girls, as they grapple with the very tools meant to connect them. We tackle the sobering reality of international trends affecting mental health and stress the urgency of addressing these issues for the sake of future generations.Zach Rausch is Associate Research Scientist at NYU-Stern School of Business, lead researcher to Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt and the #1 New York Times best seller, The Anxious Generation. Zach previously worked at the Center for Humane Technology and as Communications Manager at Heterodox Academy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and religious studies and a Master of Science in psychological science from SUNY New Paltz. Zach previously studied Buddhism in Bodh Gaya, India, worked in Wilderness Therapy, and was a direct care worker in two psychiatric group homes.Zach's research and writing have been featured internationally, in outlets such The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, and more.Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ZachMRausch Newsletter: After Babel Website: https://zach-rausch.com/ Anxious Generation: https://anxiousgeneration.comYour Host: Kimberly Beam Holmes, Expert in Self-Improvement and RelationshipsKimberly Beam Holmes has applied her master's degree in psychology for over ten years, acting as the CEO of Marriage Helper & CEO and Creator of PIES University, being a wife and mother herself, and researching how attraction affects relationships. Her videos, podcasts, and following reach over 500,000 people a month who are making changes and becoming the best they can be.

"Most people seem to think that if they cut 10 trees and then plant 100 trees they have atoned for their sins but ecologically that doesn't make sense. The best thing to do is to protect what we already have. There is a pushback from nature and we are all seeing the effects. When you cut old growth trees, it is going to be that much tougher to deal with climate change because these trees store enormous quantities of carbon. Even if you planted 100 other trees, by the time those grow, where will we be? The oldest tree in the world is more than 5000 years old and the oldest tree in India is about 2031 years old. Trees grow continuously until they die. They are a lesson to all of us -- that we need to keep ourselves intellectually and physically fit until we die or we will become obsolete and irrelevant. I want this book to make people relate to trees in a much bigger way than before. Western countries have their champion/heritage/iconic tree registers and there is a lot of public participation in updating them. We too must make our own tree registers at the village, district, state and finally, the national level. We must have a heritage tree register of India that's updated from time to time" – S Natesh, author, 'Iconic Trees of India' talks to Manjula Narayan about the country's many old and wonderful trees with their own fantastic history including the mother tree of the Dussehri mango in UP, the sacred rayan tree of Ranakpur, the coronation cypress of Norbugang in Sikkim, and the Mahabodhi tree in Bodhgaya under which Buddha attained enlightenment, among others.

Meet Indra, a lifetime spiritual seeker, healer, and teacher! Join us in this transformative episode as Indra shares his experience ringing in a new millennium at the very place where Buddha attained enlightenment. Looking for the VIDEO VERSION of this episode? Keep an eye out on our YouTube channel! Don't forget to leave us a GOOGLE review: Review Link Find us on GoodPods: GoodPods Link. Connect with Indra Rinzler: Website: indrarinzler.com Facebook: Indra Rinzler Connect with Had To Be There:  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@hadtobethere203⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Had To Be There⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@hadtobethere203⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠   Connect with Vacations by Kelly:  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vacationsby_kelly⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vacations by Kelly⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@KellyVacations⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠   Interested in visiting Bodh Gaya for yourself? Contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vacations By Kelly⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to request your free quote!

When used at the time of death, light offerings are believed to prevent spirits from entering and possessing the corpse. Before making light offerings, it is important to generate the motivation of bodhichitta, thinking that the purpose of one's life is to free all sentient beings from suffering and bring them to enlightenment. Each light offered accumulates limitless merit by visualizing the root guru and reciting the appropriate mantras.Rinpoche emphasizes the importance of Dharma wisdom in guiding one's life and the lives of others. Lack of this wisdom can lead to wrong decisions and non-virtuous actions, causing suffering and confusion. Rinpoche suggests introducing special education sessions in schools to cultivate a good heart, tolerance, and awakened minds, promoting positive relationships, happiness, and friendship. He proposes the establishment of "Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth," an organization focused on universal education to guide young people by incorporating ethical and moral values in schools. Universal education, such as the Maitreya Project's universal education school in Bodhgaya, emphasizes teaching respect and kindness through behavior, speech, and actions. By practicing respect towards others, especially parents and holy beings, one accumulates powerful positive karma and experiences happiness in this life and future lives.Wisdom is important in discerning between right and wrong and pursuing practices that lead to liberation and happiness. By eliminating ignorance and developing wisdom, individuals can achieve liberation from suffering and attain enlightenment. By cultivating wisdom, individuals will always be in the light, even while in samsara, and will experience great wealth and favorable rebirths.We should take every opportunity in everyday life to collect merit. By remembering the impermanence of life and the certainty of death, we learn to abandon negative actions and practice virtue. Even in daily conversations, one should speak with the intention of benefiting others. Making offerings before eating and drinking, with bodhichitta, allows one to accumulate limitless merit.Lama Zopa Rinpoche also discusses various aspects related to death, signs indicating the departure of consciousness from the body and the importance of correctly determining whether consciousness has left the body. He recommends reading books on death and dying as a valuable practice.This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18 to May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here: https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

To find some mental stability, start with physical stability.About Oren Jay Sofer:Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication. He has practiced meditation since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India and is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Oren teaches retreats across the country and works as Senior Program Developer at Mindful Schools, teaching and developing curricula for one of the international leaders of mindfulness in education.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Ground Hope In Your Body.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Niraj Kumar (b.22nd April 1973-) belongs to Magadha region and born near Bodhgaya, the Vajrasana. He is the author of classic work on Asian Integration, “Arise Asia” (2002). He is also a founding member of the Society for Asian Integration, an organization working for promoting Asian integration. He has been studying and writing Hindu and Buddhist tantras and a keen student of geopolitics and geostrategy. He is a Civil servant and currently working as Director in the Government of India.For last 8 years, he has been working on five volume pentalogy on Kalacakra Tantra(DK Printworld: 2022-24).This is the first comprehensive translation and new commentary of the cryptic Sanskrit text of the 11th century after several centuries. Kalacakra Tantra was the climax of Nalanda tradition and the last major Buddhist tantra composed in India. He has also been commissioned a book on “THE BATTLE FOR FUTURE BUDDHA” by Penguin and Random House-India (2023).Initiated by Swami Ranganathanada Ji Maharaj, President of the Ramakrishna Order .Founder Member, Society for Asian Integration, New DelhiFounder Trustee, Iternity Foundation, Kolkata- a group of neuroscientists, physicists, doctors committed to pursue dialogue between modern science and traditional wisdom .Honorary Adviser, Mody University of Science & Technology, Rajasthan, India's Only women university in India. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode #245: Barry Lapping shares his spiritual odyssey from the turbulence of the Vietnam War era and counterculture movement, to the serene hills of Bodhgaya, India, to becoming a vipassana meditation teacher in western Massachusetts.His story begins with a chance encounter with a captivating magazine photo of a meditator in the mountains of New Mexico, which ignited his quest to find true happiness. His subsequent journey led him to try kibbutz life in Israel, before traveling overland through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan to India, where he found his spiritual home at the Burmese Vihara in Bodhgaya. There, under the guidance of his first teacher, Munindra, and later S.N. Goenka, Barry delved deep into the practice of vipassana meditation.Barry highlights the essence of Goenka's teachings, which focus on the purification of the mind through a non-judgmental observation of physical sensation that leads to an experiential understanding of impermanence, suffering, and non-self. Despite initial struggles, Barry found profound transformation through this practice, which provided him with the tools to navigate the complexities of life with equanimity and wisdom. He has devoted his life to helping spread these teachings, and is now the Center teacher at Dhamma Dhara, in western Massachusetts.Barry's story is a testament to the enduring power of meditation to bring about profound personal change and contribute to a more compassionate and understanding world.

Zach Rausch is Associate Research Scientist at NYU-Stern School of Business, lead researcher to Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, for the book- The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness and a researcher for the Center for Humane Technology. Zach worked for two years as Communications Manager at Heterodox Academy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and religious studies and a Master of Science in psychological science from SUNY New Paltz. Zach previously studied Buddhism in Bodh Gaya, India, worked in Wilderness Therapy, and was a direct care worker in two psychiatric group homes. Zach's research and writing have been featured and cited internationally, in outlets such The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Times, The After Babel Substack, The Free Press, Axios, Politiken, Zeit, and more. He has also given expert testimony to multiple state legislatures on the impact of social media on adolescent mental health. Zach has been called “a highly interesting person from the Anglosphere.” Zach lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and enjoys trying to fix his bicycle. Check out new book- The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness https://a.co/d/1KuyEJn

When you feel anxious about a difficult decision, meditation can help take the edge off and put you in touch with your own wisdom as a guide.About Oren Jay Sofer:Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication. He has practiced meditation since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India and is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Oren teaches retreats across the country and works as Senior Program Developer at Mindful Schools, teaching and developing curricula for one of the international leaders of mindfulness in education.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Making A Tough Decision.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kein Land ist so inspirierend, vielseitig & bereichernd wie Indien. Und kein Ort ist wie Varanasi - die heiligste Stadt der Hindus - an den Treppen des Flusses Ganges. Bunt, pulsierend und fast alle Vorstellungen sprengend. Wir führen euch in dieser Folge in das spirituelle Indien, das einerseits tief bewegt, anderseits herausfordert und eines mehr bedeutet als fast jede andere Ecke auf dieser Welt: echtes Reisen. Erkenntnis, Schönheit und Lernen - nur sechs Flugstunden entfernt von Europa. Nur sechs Stunden Autofahrt entfernt von Varanasi - die Stadt der Hindus - liegt Bodhgaya - eine der heiligsten Stätten des Buddhismus. Unter dem Bodhi-Baum fand Siddharta Erleuchtung. In einer bildhübschen Tempelanlage sitzen wir. Und erleben Meditation und Rituale von Menschen, die aus der ganzen Welt hierher kommen. Alles in dieser Folge. Plus Delhi! Plus Taj Mahal! Reisen muss man reisen.Unsere Werbepartner dieser Folge findet ihr hier: https://www.reisen-reisen-der-podcast.de/werbepartner/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this interview I am once again joined by Lama Glenn Mullin, spiritual teacher, Tibetologist, and author of over 30 books on Buddhism. Glenn discusses the mysterious Kālacakra ‘Wheel of Time' Tantra, exploring its history, and uncovers its unique esoteric characteristics, Glenn recounts his own connection to the Kālacakra tantra, including his memories of the Dalai Lama's first ever public Kālacakra empowerment given to hundreds of thousands of people in Bodhgaya, and discusses the surprising pros and cons of mass public initiations. Glenn reveals the subtle body yogas of the Kālacakra, compares its methods to other highest yoga tantras such as Cakrasaṃvara and Guhyasamāja, and considers the Kālacakra prophecies of Śambhala and a coming age of darkness over the world. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep249-kalachakra-tantra-lama-glenn-mullin

 Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast'. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 00:56 - Kālacakra 03:01 - Glenn's history with the Kālacakra 04:25 - Dalai Lama's first public Kālacakra empowerment 08:18 - Coney Island of the mind 08:49 - Blavatsky and Theosophical Society's interest in Kālacakra and Śambhala 10:25 - Dreams and other signs during tantric empowerment 14:24 - Why give public tantric empowerments? 15:35 - Outer, Inner, and Secret levels 18:14 - Exclusively secret traditions 18:38 - History of public Kālacakra empowerments 20:06 - Tantric vows 21:07 - Śambhala prophecies and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra 23:48 - Today's signs of fulfilment of prophecy 26:30 - Origin of Kālacakra in the Buddha's teaching career 32:42 - Time capsule wisdom teachings 35:09 - Highest Yoga Tantra's characteristics 36:29 - Cross-fertilisation with Himalayan shamanism 37:30 - Later ways of categorising tantric systems 40:20 - Unique and common aspects of the Kālacakra yogas 42:30 - 7 initiations of entering like a child 46:48 - Kālacakra completion stage 48:18 - Subtle body yogas and rainbow body 53:35 - Misunderstandings about Śambhala 55:15 - A century of Russian interest in Kālacakra 01:00:27 - Limits of Helena Blavatsky's understanding 01:01:38 - Blavatsky's world legacy 01:06:50 - Why is Kālacakra so little practiced? 01:15:10 - How to receive teachings from Glenn … Previous episodes with Lama Glenn Mullin: - https://www.guruviking.com/search?q=glenn%20mullin 
To find out more about Lama Glenn Mullin, visit: - http://www.glennmullin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Maitripa.Glenn 
… For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi' by Steve James

In this episode I talk with Oren Jay Soffer about his new book, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity & Love. Oren teaches meditation and communication internationally. He holds a degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma. Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India, and later spending 2-1/2 years living as an renunciate at branch monasteries in the Ajahn Chah Thai Forest lineage. He is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher's Council. Oren is also the author of the best-seller Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication and two books on teaching mindfulness to adolescents: The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents and Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Teens. His teaching has reached people around the world through online communication courses and guided meditations, combining classical Buddhist training with the accessible language of secular mindfulness In our conversation we talked about, among other things: How our hearts REALLY are made for these times … Our hearts were made to awaken and if we can practice—in small steps—turning toward suffering, we enter a portal to transformation. How the world shapes our hearts in ways not best for us and how we can practice shaping our own hearts. How getting in touch with our true values will guide us through these challenging times. How we need to consciously "change the channel" of our thoughts to be more aligned with our true values.   Buy the book (Amazon affiliate link): Your Heart Was Made for This   Learn more about Oren Jay Soffer, his teaching, courses, and special events: https://www.orenjaysofer.com/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/orenjaysofervideo   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orenjaysofer   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrenJaySofer/   X/Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/OrenJaySofer/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orenjaysofer/     Become a patron to support this podcast and get special member benefits, including a membership community and virtual sangha:https://www.patreon.com/EverydayBuddhism   Join the Everyday Sangha: Join the Everyday Sangha   Join the Membership Community: https://donorbox.org/membershipcommunity   If this podcast has helped you understand Buddhism or help in your everyday life, consider making a one-time donation here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-donations   Support the podcast through the affiliate link to buy the book, Everyday Buddhism: Real-Life Buddhist Teachings & Practices for Real Change: Buy the book, Everyday Buddhism

Begin today by bringing to mind the people who have meant the most to you. It's a simple way to start the day feeling great.About Oren Jay Sofer:He has practiced meditation since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India and is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Oren teaches retreats across the country and works as Senior Program Developer at Mindful Schools, teaching and developing curricula for one of the international leaders of mindfulness in education.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Grateful for Loved Ones.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ethan is joined by author, teacher, Nonviolent Communication trainer and Somatic Experiencing practitioner Oren Jay Sofer. They discuss being "dharma dads," not having enough time to practice meditation with a kid, how to make classic teachings modern, Oren's new book Your Heart Was Made For This, and Oren's complex experience of being a Jewish and Buddhist American in the wake of the atrocities in Palestine and Israel.  Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India with Anagarika Munindra and Godwin Samararatne. He is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and a graduate of the IMS - Spirit Rock Vipassana Teacher Training, and current member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Oren is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, a practical guidebook for having more effective, satisfying conversations. He is also co-author of two books on teaching mindfulness to teens and adolescents: The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents and Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Teens. His latest book is called, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices to Meet a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love For more info on Ethan visit  EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com, and check out the Yearlong Buddhist Studies Program with Ethan and an amazing faculty!

Headlines: 1.    His Holiness the Dalai Lama began Teachings at Kalachakra Teaching Ground in Bodhgaya 2.    Sikyong embarks on Official visit to Bodh Gaya and Bangalore 3.    Sikyong and deputy Speaker Address a Group of Students on the issue of Tibet 4.    DOE Holds Leadership workshop for School prefects 5.    V-TAG Washington Calls on Representative Rick Larsen to Support US-Tibet Bill in a Virtual Meet 6.    Former Tibetan Political Prisoner Ven Golog Jigme Visits Office of Tibet – Canberra

Make peace with pettiness through good old understanding.About Oren Jay Sofer:Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication. He has practiced meditation since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India and is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Oren teaches retreats across the country and works as Senior Program Developer at Mindful Schools, teaching and developing curricula for one of the international leaders of mindfulness in education.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Soothing Resentment's Burn.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Headlines: 1.     His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Visit Sikkim and Bodh Gaya in December 2.     His Holiness the Dalai Lama Meets Former President of European Parliament Dr. Hans-Gert Pottering 3.     Sikyong Continues Advocacy for Tibet in Canada, Canadian Parliament Welcomes Sikyong Penpa Tsering 4.     V-TAG Australia Strategy Meeting Concludes with Appointment of Regional Coordinators and Adoption of Action Plan 5.     Kalon Norzin Dolma Concludes Visit to Australia and New Zealand 6.     Australian All-Party Parliamentary Tibet Group Asks Foreign Minister Wong to Raise Tibet at UN Periodical Review on China 7.     President of Foreign Affairs Committee, Belgian Federal Parliament Calls for the End to Coercion of Tibetan Children 8.     Japan, Tibet, Uyghur, and Southern Mongolia Conduct Seminar Condemning China's Infamous Religious Order No. 19 9.     Tibet Museum launches Exhibition on Advocating Tibet 10.  Tibet Support Group of Arunachal Pradesh Holds Executive Body Meeting in Itanagar

The podcast Visionary Leaders Collective discussed the blue lotus essential oil, exploring its history, physical and emotional applications, and potential benefits for skincare and meditation. The conversation also touched on the symbolism and emotional uses of the oil, as well as its benefits for self-care and achieving goals. The podcast ended with a discussion on the importance of awakening human consciousness and the role our essential oils  supporting humanity. Blue Lotus Discussion in Visionary Leaders Podcast Dr. Josie  welcomed attendees to the visionary leaders, collective podcast. She mentioned that they gather every Monday at 10 A.M. Pacific time and that the podcast is available for listening on various platforms. Josie also emphasized the importance of the five-star ratings and reviews for the podcast, as they help reach more people. The discussion focused on the essential oil known as blue lotus, with Ariana Harley leading the conversation. They explored the physical, emotional, and energetic applications of blue lotus, and attendees were invited to participate with their own experiences with the oil. Blue Lotus Journey: From Discovery to Impact Ariana shared a video where Emily Wright from doTERRA discussed the history and significance of the blue lotus flower, which she was introduced to in 1998. She shared her initial disappointment in discovering that the blue lotus she found on the market was all 100% synthetic and this lead her to a journey of sourcing 100% pure blue lotus. She mentioned the challenges they faced in finding the real thing, eventually leading them to Guangdong Province in China, where they found a team to help them grow and extract the flower. Emily highlighted the job opportunities created by this project, noting the positive impact on the local community. She also touched on the cultural and religious significance of the blue lotus, referencing its use in ancient Egyptian art and religion, as well as its symbolism in Buddhism. Finally, she mentioned the psychotropic properties of the blue lotus when made into a tincture with its central oil. Blue Lotus Oil Uses and Benefits Ariana and  Dr. Rose discussed the various uses of Blue Lotus. Dr. Rose  highlighted the oil's potential benefits for skincare, including its ability to support skin structure and elasticity. She also shared her personal experience of using Blue Lotus, both topically and on her pulse points, and noted its potential as an aphrodisiac. They both emphasized the oil's ability to help with meditation and intuition. Furthermore, Dr. Rose mentioned the need for more scientific research on this particular oil. Blue Lotus Oil: Symbolism, Uses, and Effects Dr. Rose  and Ariana discussed the symbolism and emotional uses of the Blue Lotus essential oil. Dr. Rose shared her personal meditation notes, emphasizing the themes of deep roots and transformation, while Ariana elaborated on the oil's effects, describing it as mildly sedating, relaxing, and calming. She also suggested using the oil for emotional mastery, invoking a sense of euphoria, enhancing tactile sensation, and promoting stream states. Ariana also recommended the book "Gifts of Essential Oils" by Adam Bartlett and Vanessa Gene, Boscarello, and suggested the affirmation "I awaken to my soul's mission" when using the oil. Blue Lotus for Self-Care and Goal Achievement Dr. Mica led a discussion on the benefits of the blue lotus. Participants were instructed to anoint themselves with the blue lotus, focusing on self-care and becoming more in tune with themselves.  Dr. Mica emphasized that the blue lotus can help navigate internal turmoil and align with one's highest potential, thereby helping individuals to rise above challenges and remain steady during chaos. The use of the blue lotus was also highlighted as a tool for achieving goals, both big and small. Blue Lotus for Staying Steady and True Dr. Mica discussed the benefits of using blue lotus to stay steady and avoid drama or chaos. She highlighted its ability to help one stay true to themselves amidst challenges. Dr. Mica also introduced a new tool she sent to Dr. Julie for moving through turmoil and encouraged the use of blue lotus flower as a symbol for staying true to oneself. Additionally, she emphasized the importance of personal integrity and avoiding the muck of others in relationships, which she illustrated with the image of two lotus flowers side by side. Eastern Religions and Spirituality: Josie's Experiences in India Dr. Josie shared her knowledge and experiences about comparative Eastern religions and her time spent in India studying comparative Buddhism. She spoke about the Mahabodi Temple in Bodhgaya, which is the purported site of Buddha's enlightenment, and the significance of the lotus in Buddhist symbolism. Josie also mentioned the connection between the lotus and the chakra system in the body, which ascend as one progresses spiritually. Blue Lotus Therapy Benefits Dr. Mica discussed the therapeutic benefits of the Blue Lotus, emphasizing its role in stabilizing oneself in relation to oneself and aiding in relationship issues. Dr. Rose  and Ariana also contributed to the discussion, sharing their experiences and offering tips on how to use the Blue Lotus. They also suggested combining the Blue Lotus with other oils, such as Frankincense and a blend that includes Roman chamomile. Consciousness, Holy Oils, Plant Spirit Medicine: Discussion and Upcoming Events Dr.  Rose  and Ariana discussed the importance of awakening human consciousness and the role of the Holy Oils  in supporting humanity. Ariana also shared information about a book related to plant spirit medicine. The speakers then introduced their areas of expertise and how to connect with them. The discussion ended with Aisha reminding attendees about an upcoming class on metapower and a weekly laser coaching session for Doterra business questions. She also mentioned a local event for essential oil users in Portland.     About the Hosts: This podcast is a collaborative effort between doTERRA Presidential Diamond Aisha Harley, doTERRA Blue Diamond Dr. Josie Schmidt, doTERRA Blue Diamond Arin Fugate, and doTERRA Diamond Ariana Harley They are the founders of the Visionary Leaders Collective. Connect with us: Aisha Harley- www.aishaharley.com / Instagram @aisha.essentialwellness  Ariana Harley - https://www.arianaharley.com/ Josie Schmidt- FB Personal Page: https://www.facebook.com/josie.h.schmidt Arin - https://msha.ke/jasmineandjuniper/ Contact Email: ariningraham@gmail.com Welcome to the Visionary Leaders Podcast Here you will gain the knowledge you need to bring essential oils, plant medicine, wisdom, supplementation, and functional medicine into your life. We have a weekly show: “Learn to Be the Healer in Your Home,” where we hear stories from our community on how they integrated essential oils, supplementation, and functional medicine into their lives as a pathway to healing.  

End Seeking & Live As Truth These Vlogs are Dedicated to my Mom. I Love You. Also to Andrew & the HOME DAO. https://thehomedao.com Everything filmed with iPhone 11 / 14. Edited in Premiere Pro. SCRIPT

Theme: Realization Artwork: Model of the Mahabodhi Temple; eastern India, probably Bodhgaya; ca. 11th century; stone (serpentinite); purchased with funds from Ann and Matt Nimetz and Rubin Museum of Art;http://therubin.org/37c Teacher: Lama Aria Drolma  The Rubin Museum of Art presents a weekly meditation session led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area, with each session focusing on a specific work of art. This podcast is recorded in front of a live audience, and includes an opening talk, a 20-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion.The guided meditation begins at 10:09This meditation is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg, teachers from the NY Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine.  If you would like to attend Mindfulness Meditation sessions in person or learn more, please visit our website at RubinMuseum.org/meditation.If you would like to support the Rubin Museum and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member and always attend for free.  Have a mindful day!

Theme: Realization Artwork: Model of the Mahabodhi Temple; eastern India, probably Bodhgaya; ca. 11th century; stone (serpentinite); purchased with funds from Ann and Matt Nimetz and Rubin Museum of Art;http://therubin.org/37c Teacher: Lama Aria Drolma  The Rubin Museum of Art presents a weekly meditation session led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area, with each session focusing on a specific work of art. This podcast is recorded in front of a live audience, and includes an opening talk, a 20-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion.The guided meditation begins at 10:09This meditation is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg, teachers from the NY Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine.  If you would like to attend Mindfulness Meditation sessions in person or learn more, please visit our website at RubinMuseum.org/meditation.If you would like to support the Rubin Museum and this meditation series, we invite you to become a member and always attend for free.  Have a mindful day!

When we open our heart, we open it to all experiences: our greatest joys and our deepest sorrows. Danadasa opens this talk by reading a poem from the book by Dawna Markova, "I Will Not Die an Unlived Life"He shares an image that represents the meaning of Vadrasana - the "Diamond Throne," on which the Buddha is said to have gained enlightenment under the bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India. Not just a literal place, the Vadrasana also resides within each of us, as a place that we can come to in order to experience awakening.Danadasa shares that we must move beyond pursuing only the fruits of our meditative practice. It is only when we address those aspects that may distress us that we begin to recognize injustice, anger, grief and sorrow. He compares the wisdom that results from striving upward with that which arises from below. Striving upward does work, but then we have no roots. We must become open to just receiving without trying to achieve something. This is what happens when we learn from experiences that distress us; it gives rise to emotional resilience. ______________ Dhammachari Danadasa has been practicing with the San Francisco Buddhist Center (SFBC) community since 1993 and was ordained in 2011. His current area of exploration is the cultivation of metta (universal loving kindness) as a response to all the hatred, discrimination, and bigotry in the world out there.  Support the show______________ To participate live and be notified of upcoming speakers in advance, please Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gaybuddhistfellowship) or visit https://gaybuddhist.org/calendar/ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit www.GayBuddhist.org.There you can: Donate Learn how to participate live Find our schedule of upcoming speakers Join our mailing list or discussion forum Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Episode #190: A carefree Australian surfer, Grahame White's life changed dramatically on a chance encounter with Hermann Hesse's, Siddhartha. After reading it, he decided to practice breathing based on a short line in the text. What happened next blew him away. “The mind became very bright and luminous after about five minutes and I said, ‘Oh, this is better than drugs!'” Grahame then practiced Buddhist meditation in the Mahasi style at a monastery offered by the Thai Embassy in London, before heading onto Bodhgaya and ordaining there as a monk.At Bodghaya, he learned about an Indian vipassana teacher, S.N. Goenka, and Grahame made plans to go to the Tibetan monastery in Ladakh where Goenka would be conducting his second ever course.Those days in Bodghaya were an amazing time. He met Joseph Goldstein and Munindra, among many other names who would become prominent in Dhamma circles. Goenka soon announced his intention to come there to conduct a series of courses. Even among all the other spiritual teachers he was encountering at the time in India, he found that Goenka stood out in a remarkable way. “I feel as though Goenkaji just had a presence about him from his meditation practice,” he commented, adding that his strong personality and humility also stood out. He spent long periods in Goenka's presence, and listened to Goenka and Munindra converse for many hours on the Dhamma.In those days, Goenka courses were intense, but quite relaxed. But little by little, Grahame felt an emergent “fundamentalism” in the organization as it rapidly grew in size, which made him uncomfortable, and so he returned to his Mahasi practice.In 1973, Grahame made his first visit to Burma. With only 7-day visas given to foreigners, he practiced briefly at the main Mahasi monastery, where he studied under Sayadaw U Janaka.Mahasi was also gaining a growing interest among Westerners, and when Grahame finally made it back to Australia, he began to involve himself with supporting Mahasi courses there. He eventually stepped into the teacher role himself, which will be the subject of Part 2 of our interview with him.

In this unique episode of the Wisdom Keeper Podcast I'm joined by Tibetan medical practitioner Christiana Polites and Vajrayana teacher and author Lama Justin von Bujdoss as we reminisce on our shared experience as students on the Antioch Buddhist Studies Program in Bodhgaya, India during our early twenties, and the ensuing impact it had on our lives and careers. Sit back and enjoy this intimate three-way conversation filled with stories of tenderness, synchronicity, resilience, and self-actualization as we trace how the Dharma seeds of those early days ripened for each of us during the global pandemic and beyond. Nothing is a coincidence; we are all interconnected and on an enduring pilgrimage in search of healing and purpose. Bio: Christiana Polites received her Bachelor of Arts in the Comparative Study of Religion at Harvard University and has been immersed in Eastern spiritual traditions for over twenty years. She has studied both Tibetan and Chinese Daoist healing arts and received a Masters in Acupuncture from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She has traveled extensively around the world, seeking out authentic living lineages in both the healing and spiritual sciences. In collaboration with her teacher Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Christiana founded Pure Land Farms in Topanga, California, the Sowa Rigpa Institute of Tibetan Medicine, and Sky Press publishing house. She teaches foundational courses on Tibetan Medicine, yoga and rejuvenation and guides retreats and practices in the Yuthok Nyingthig meditation tradition at Pure Land Farms, online, and internationally. https://purelandfarms.com https://www.sowarigpainstitute.org Lama Justin von Bujdoss is an American vajrayana Buddhist teacher, writer, and the is a co-founder of Bhumisparsha an experimental Buddhist sangha along with Lama Rod Owens. He is the author of Modern Tantric Buddhism: Authenticity and Embodiment in Dharma Practice published by North Atlantic Books, and contributor to Buddhism and Whiteness: Critical Reflections published by Lexington Books. From 2016 until December 2021 Justin served as the Executive Director of Chaplaincy and Staff Wellness for NYC Department of Correction where he also served as Staff Chaplain supervising over 30 chaplains and guided wellness programming for staff. Justin also has professional experience in home hospice and hospital settings as a pastoral caregiver. Lama Justin is currently the chaplain for Hart Island, New York City's public cemetery. Justin was ordained as a repa, a lay tantric yogin in the tradition of Milarepa, by His Eminence Gyaltsab Rinpoche, one of the heart sons of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa. Lama Justin has presented on Buddhist practice at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, University of Chicago, Wellesley, Columbia University, has been a visiting instructor at Union Theological Seminary, teaches at Pure Land Farms. Justin is passionate about helping to create the conditions for authentic embodied tantric Buddhist spiritual practice in the West. https://www.bhumisparsha.orghttps://www.yangtiyoga.com Dr. Miles Neale https://www.milesneale.com https://www.gradualpath.com In this episode Christiana, Lama Justin, and I discuss: • How we all felt ourselves to be misfits in childhood, and how this led to our sense of coming home to Bodhgaya, India in our early twenties. • The nature of the Antioch Buddhist Studies Program and what made it so instrumental in our personal and development. • Stories of tenderness and how teachers and associates alike found a way to open our hearts and speak to our soul. • Each of share how our early experiences in Bodhgaya shaped our professional careers, and how we chose to apply Tibetan Buddhism in unique ways in the world. • Stories of resilience and how dharma practice has offered refuge in times of chaos and uncertainty. • How modernity and technology has impacted our ability to have authentic spiritual experience. • Stories of how the early dharma seeds came full circle and ripened as crucial moments of self-actualization during the global pandemic. • Forecasting the future and working with the uncertainty ahead.

Counteract negativity bias by appreciating the goodness in life: simple acts of kindness, moments of beauty, and even your own good efforts.About Oren Jay Sofer:Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication. He has practiced meditation since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India and is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Oren teaches retreats across the country and works as Senior Program Developer at Mindful Schools, teaching and developing curricula for one of the international leaders of mindfulness in education.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “What's Good?” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"We must remember we are exhaustible. We need renewal. Silence, quietude, time alone, naturally gives that. Then we can come back in to serve others in small ways. That we do. Then we take time for renewal. Jesus, the Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi and all the great sages recognize the importance of connection with others to serve, then step back from that into quietness, then renewal, and then serve. This is the great rhythm of life." Christopher Titmuss, a former hippie turned Theravada Buddhist monk turned social critic, is Britain's senior Dharma teacher. Having once lived on 39 British pounds per year for ten years, he has sat beneath The Tree of Enlightenment in Bodhgaya, India and, so impacted by the experience, returned to Bodhgaya for years afterward to offer retreats there. For five decades, he has been teaching Dharma around the world for free. Living primarily on donations since 1970, Christopher has noted his intention to stay true to the spirit of dana, a practice of cultivating generosity. Christopher is a teacher of Awakening and Insight Meditation in the Buddhist tradition. He does not use the label 'Buddhist' for himself but expresses the deep benefits of his long-standing connection with the Buddhist tradition. He is the founder and director of the Dharma Enquiry Programme as well as co-founder of the Prajna Vihar School in India and Gaia House, an international retreat center in Devon, England. Many of the spiritual practices along with the Dharma talks and videos he offers also are freely available online, including a conversation between Christopher and Krishnamurti in 1984. Christopher was born on Earth Day in 1944, in County Durham, England. As a practicing Roman Catholic, he attended Catholic school as a boy, where he broke the school record for the number of times he was caned for his self-described prankster ways and a lack of cooperation. At age 15, he left school and began clerking in the newsroom for a Roman Catholic weekly before becoming a reporter in the London office for the Irish Independent Newspaper. At 22, disillusioned with the Catholic Church and politics, Christopher began his journey around the world. "I felt that the world is such an extraordinary place," he has said. "I wanted to be connected, involved and listen to other cultures and environments." Arriving in India, Christopher picked up a couple of books on Buddhist teachings and, inspired, became a Buddhist monk three years later. He went on to spend six years as a Buddhist monk in Thailand and India, during which time his experiences led him to contemplate on the corpse as well as contend with snakes and scorpions while living in a cave for nine months. He disrobed in 1976 and completed his journey around the world before returning to England, having spent ten years abroad. "The freedom makes possible the adventure," Christopher has shared. His spiritual recognition that everything is changing, and that non-clinging leads to a sense of freedom in one's life, has given him the ability to embrace continuously the next adventure. A prolific writer, Christopher maintains an active blog and has written numerous books that dive deeply into meditation, spirituality, political, social and global issues, and other topics in the Buddhist tradition. Despite this depth, Christopher has an accessible approach. "I found myself deeply touched by his willingness to be utterly ordinary, available, and walking his talk with humility and simplicity," recounted author Eliezer Sobel after attending a meditation retreat given by Christopher. Christopher has even found opportunities to reflect on Buddhist teachings through songs by The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and The Beatles, works by William Shakespeare, and Dharma Dancing. Christopher is known as a steadfast exponent of applying the Dharma to contemporary issues facing people, animals and the environment. He speaks, writes, and campaigns on social, political, and global issues. He also advocates the development of spiritual values, community renewal, and a green economy. He encourages Dharma practitioners to be Agents of Change and Caregivers. Since 1982, Christopher has lived in Totnes, Devon, England, regularly engaging in local activities. Vegan and environmentally conscious, Christopher only takes flights out of the EU to teach. He has one adult daughter and four grandchildren. Join us in conversation with this master seeker and teacher of wisdom and compassion in action.

Would you meditate in the middle of a flock of pigeons? Ethan FINALLY gets some recognition for meditating in public. The inner experience, which he paints for us with words in spectacular beauty, is the real WIN, though. Also you HAVE TO listen through to the end because you will be like, "Wait. WHAT?!?"Participate in the 100 Ways Community:Email Me: https://laurachristine.us/contact or LC@laurachristine.us Send a voice message: Click Message button on this pageSupport our show or book a reading! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/100ways Instagram: https://instagram.com/100wayspodcast Thank you, Ethan!!All Episodes in Series:36. Where the Beatles Learned to Meditate. Spiritual Tour of India 1: Rishikesh https://100wayspodcast.com/3637. Ayurvedic Dr's Office. Spiritual Tour of India 2: Dharamsala {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/3743. Zen Motorcycles and Monasteries. Spiritual Tour of India 3: Dharamsala {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/4344. Might Be a Cult. Spiritual Tour of India 4: Katra {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/4450. Smoldering Bodies & Magic Carpets. Spiritual Tour of India 5: Varanasi {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/5051. Defiling the Ganges! Spiritual Tour of India 6: Varanasi {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/5157. Monks & the Buddha Cave. Spiritual Tour of India 7: Bodh Gaya {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/5758. Quiet into Chaos. Spiritual Tour of Nepal 8: Country & Kathmandu {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/5864. How NOT to Meet a Rinpoche. Spiritual Tour of Nepal 9: Kathmandu {with Ethan} https://100wayspodcast.com/6465. Meditating in PIGEONS? Spiritual Tour of Nepal 10: Boudhnath {with Ethan} "Everything is right the way it is right now," is a quote by Jared, who texted that to me one night.Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from Pixabay Participate in the 100 Ways Community: Email Me: https://laurachristine.us/contact or LC@laurachristine.us Support our show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/100waysBook a session: https://buymeacoffee.com/100ways/commissions Facebook: https://facebook.com/laurachristine808Instagram: https://instagram.com/100wayspodcast

Would you hang out with an 11-year old monk? Would you sit in the cave reputed to be one where the Buddha sat? (And possibly even reached enlightenment) Would you choose a receipt or a bodhi leaf? Listen to find out what each is like - at least, if you're Ethan.Participate in the 100 Ways Community:Email Me: https://laurachristine.us/contact or LC@laurachristine.us Send a voice message: Click Message button on this pageSupport our show or book a reading! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/100ways Instagram: https://instagram.com/100wayspodcast Thank you, Ethan!!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/100ways/message"Everything is right the way it is right now," is a quote by Jared, who texted that to me one night.Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from Pixabay Participate in the 100 Ways Community: Email Me: https://laurachristine.us/contact or LC@laurachristine.us Support our show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/100waysBook a session: https://buymeacoffee.com/100ways/commissions Facebook: https://facebook.com/laurachristine808Instagram: https://instagram.com/100wayspodcast

Vesak is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar. We remember, commemorate, celebrate and rejoice in three main events in the Buddha's life, which all occurred on the Full Moon in May ('Visākhā'): 1. Birth of the Bodhisatta in beautiful Lumbini grove 2. Supreme Awakening ('Sammāsambodhi') under the Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya, at the banks of River Neranjana. 3. Final Nibbāna ('Mahā-Parinibbāna') between the twin Sāla trees in the park of the Mallas'. In this talk, Ajahn Dhammasiha describes the events leading up to the Buddha's final victory against greed, hatred and delusion, while meditating all night under the Bodhi Tree. He relates the crucial insight that occurred to the Bodhisatta while he was practising austerities until he almost died: When the Bodhisatta collapsed from the extreme fasting he had done, he remembered how he had spontaneously attained the first jhāna (full samādhi) as a young child when left alone under a Rose-apple tree. He realized that the happiness and bliss from samādhi is utterly free from sensuality and unwholesome phenomena. He ralized that the happiness and bliss from samādhi is actually the path to full awakening, a crucial condition for liberating insight to arise. The Bodhisatta abandoned the extreme of ascetic self-mortification, started eating suitable amounts of food, and regained sufficient strength. Then he sat down under the Bodhi Tree and resolved: "I will not break this posture, even if my blood and flesh dries out and only bones and skin remain, until I have experienced total release from suffering ... Our Podcast on our own Dhammagiri Website, no need for any special app, just listen in any browser: https://www.dhammagiri.net/podcast More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Welcome to Season 4 Ep.5 of OneMicNite Podcast -----Returnng Guest: Nathan Harding is an Actor/writer/visual artist and works in multimedia art platforms. Hear his full story on S3 Ep4 of OMN Podcast. Contact/Follow: on Twitter/Fb/Spotify/LinkedIn/Youtube @NathanHarding www.NathanHarding.com ------Our Guest on this Episode shares his Life experiences to help everyone target a way to empower ones own own Life, create clarity, and generate a more profitable way of wealth with your Art with NFTs. Nathan Harding is an intuitive, American artist in New York City who's known for his vibrant, abstract paintings. His fascination with the visual arts began in Whittier, California as a multiracial child where he'd watch movies being filmed in his neighborhood. As a teenager he wrote and directed character-driven scenes while growing up on 20-acres in Freeland, Washington. At Chapman University he studied filmmaking with an emphasis on screenwriting and directing. Before graduating, he was hired by talent agency, William Morris, as an agent trainee in Beverly Hills, California. The more Nathan progressed at the agency, the stronger he desired to leave the United States. He quit the agency, went through an identity crisis, and listened to someone's suggestion to teach English in Japan. In Osaka and Tokyo, he worked as an English instructor. Tokyo tiggered an awakening to move to India where he lived at a Buddhist Burmese Vihara Monastery in Bodh Gaya. Nathan spent most of his days visiting the nearby Bodhi Tree where the Buddha became enlightened. He returned to Southern California and studied Tibetan Buddhism with the late Venerable Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen at Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling in Long Beach while working in nonprofit management. Many World travels later he settled in Queens, NY ,where he quickly met his future Ecuadorian husband, Jorge. They live in one of the most diverse, multicultural neighborhoods in the world. In their spare time they renovate a 100-year-old home in a northeastern Pennsylvania coal mining town. Since being in New York, Nathan has focused on acting, writing, photography, filmmaking and painting. His life experiences are fundamental to his process as an artist .******Host Follow/Contact: IG/Fb/TikTok/Twitter @MarcosLuis www.MarcosLuis.com ** Music on Audio Podcast: "OMN Theme Song 'Halftime' by Daniel Howse www.youtube.com/ProfesorSoraMusic **Show Follow/Contact Us on IG/Fb/Twitter/Tumbler/Youtube/TikTok @OneMicNite www.OneMicNite.com Audio Podcast: Available wherever you download podcasts.. ** -- ***OneMicNite and Marcos Luis have been here since 2006 as with a Home and platform for Indie Artists around the world. --- Support Us Now: http://www.Anchor.fm/onemicnite ---Please Visit: The AzulesEn Online store to find Products that Compliment your Lifestyle: Link https://www.AzulesEn.myshopify.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onemicnite/support

As we begin to talk about the arrival of Buddhism on the Japanese archipelago we start out with a look at the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, and his teachings. For more, check out our webpage at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode- Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 83: Shakyamuni, aka the Historical Buddha. First a quick note—it has been brought to my attention that some of the episodes are out of order, particularly the older episodes.  I'm going to try to fix that.  It probably has to do with a decision I made about a year or so in to not worry about the “season” number, since this isn't exactly a “seasonal” show.  But if some episodes are marked as “Season 1” then they likely show up differently.  I'll probably see if I can't just remove the “Season” number from all of the episodes and hopefully that will fix it. Last episode we talked about the happenings over on the Korean Peninsula during the reign of Ame Kunioshi, aka Kimmei Tennou, and it wasn't looking very good for Yamato and their allies.  Over the course of the last several decades in our story the kingdom of Silla rose to power, brokered a deal with Baekje, and then ended up eating up all of the smaller polities that sat between them, including Nimna, Kara, and whatever else was there. A Baekje-Yamato alliance attempted to put the brakes on Silla's ambitions, but despite some major offensives they were thwarted time and again.  Overall, it seems rather a bleak outlook for Yamato, but there were several things going for it.  For one thing, with their close relationship with Baekje, Yamato was getting a plethora of new ideas—from how to govern to the subject of our current episode: religion. That's right, if you didn't figure it out from the title, we are finally going to talk about Buddhism. The Buddhist religion and its accompanying institutions have played a huge role in the development of Japan and Japanese culture, and so we are going to want to understand something about this and where it came from, and the journey it took to get to the islands. And to start with, let's go back to the very beginning, of what Buddhism actually is. Now this isn't going to be an in depth history of Buddhism, but I am going to try to hit the high points so that we have some context for things we'll see later on.  It should also be noted that, while the core of the religion remained the same, specific beliefs and practices were not always universal across all people and at all times.  Also, not everyone believes in exactly the same things, and as an outsider I'm going to do my best, but this will probably be more at the level of a Wiki article than a scholarly treatise.  If you are interested in more, I highly recommend looking into what various scholars have written. Also, a lot of what I'm pulling from is Andrew Skilton's book, “A Concise History of Buddhism”, mainly because I think it fits what we are trying to outline here, but I recognize that there other teachings and scholarly discussions.  Still, I think most of what we talk about will probably be at an even higher level than that book gets into. And that brings me to another thing that's important to say up front:  when I say Buddhism, I'm not necessarily talking about Zen, or any particular sect, at least not right now - though Zen is Buddhism, or a school of Buddhism.  Likewise you might also hear about Tendai, Shingon, or even Jodo, or Pure Land, Buddhism— those are all sects within Buddhism, and just some of the schools that made it to Japan, although a lot of them don't appear until after the time we're currently in.  The differences between these sects could be likened to the differences between Roman Catholicism and various Protestant groups—or even with the Orthodox church.  While they have differences, they also have their similarities, and the core beliefs that make them all Buddhist. As to why this is so important—Buddhism had a huge impact on the development of Japan.  As we'll talk about in a later episode, the adoption of Buddhism affected not just the philosophical thinking of the Japanese court, but had direct impacts that would bring about the end of what we consider the Kofun era.  Furthermore, having at least a cursory understanding of Buddhism is going to be useful in understanding some of the ways people thought about the world they inhabited. Finally:  I am probably going to butcher the pronunciation on a lot of Buddhist terms, but I will do my best.  Where possible I may preference the Japanese terms, both because they are more familiar to me, but also because that is how most of us will encounter them in the context of Japanese history. Buddhism gets its name from the fact that it promulgates the teachings of the Buddha, the Enlightened One, and while various people are believed to have attained this enlightened state over the course of human history, we usually are referring to the individual known to us as the Historical Buddha, also known to us as Siddartha Gautama. Tradition holds that Siddartha was the son of one of the elites of the Shakya clan—later this would translate into the term “Prince”, though some think that term may not be quite accurate.  Still he was born into power and privilege, at the height of his society; later this would translate into him being considered a member of the Kshatriya warrior class. His birthplace is thought to be located in “Lumbini”, at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, in modern Tibet, in the 6th century BCE.  Some traditions put the year of his birth at about 566 BCE, though there are those that suggest a later date, even into the 5th century.     From a young age, we are told that Siddartha was protected from much of the outside world, living a life of luxury, and unaware of the poverty and suffering that went on outside of the palace walls.  You see, a seer had predicted that he would be destined to lead an empire—either political or spiritual.  And so his father did everything he could to ensure that Siddartha would aspire to the political.  Even though his mother had died when he was young, Siddartha was largely insulated from any suffering until his teenage years, and he was even provided a young wife, Yashodhara, by the time he was sixteen years old—which probably wasn't that young, back in those days.  It was as a young man, in his late twenties, traveling about the land in a carriage, that Siddhartha saw four sights that suddenly set his mind on a different path.  First, he saw an old man, and in asking about him, it occurred to him that old age and infirmity were the inevitable outcome of life; there is no escaping it.   Likewise he encountered people suffering from disease and even death, in the form of a dead body.  All of this forced him to confront the fact that suffering is a part of life here on the mortal plane.  Finally, he encountered a wandering ascetic, which got him to thinking about spiritual matters, and that perhaps there must be a better way—a solution to all of this suffering. As he contemplated what to do, he was suddenly graced with what should have been wonderful news:  his wife had just given birth to a son.  However, to Siddhartha, he saw this child as simply one more thing that was keeping him from going out and seeking answers to the problems he saw.  The comfort of his life, the social obligations, the privileges he had were all metaphorical chains, keeping him from going out really trying to answer the questions he had. And so, at the age of 29, he absconded himself.  He left his wife and child.  He left the power and prestige and worldly possessions he had inherited from his family, and he went out to seek answers and to find out how to put an end to suffering. To do this, he sought out teachers, one after the other, learned what they had to teach, found himself at the end of what they could give him, and moved on.  These teachers provided various meditation techniques, which helped, perhaps, to ease or even forget the pain and suffering of existence, but the pain and suffering were still there, nonetheless. It should be noted that a core belief at this time was in the concept of reincarnation.  The idea that, based on your karmic balance, that is the difference between the good and evil that you did, here in the world, you would be reborn after death into a new body and a new life.  If you did well, then you would be born higher up the ladder of existence, perhaps into a better caste or more.  But if you committed sins and evil acts then you would find yourself born further down the ladder of existence, perhaps even as an animal or an insect. The problem, as Siddartha saw it, was that all of this just meant you kept going back through the same things over and over again, coming back into the world, and once more experiencing suffering.  Even stories of the gods themselves tell of their wants and needs, and of their fighting,  suffering, and even dying.  As long as one stayed on the wheel of life and death, suffering would be inevitable, and you'd always come back around to it. He sought out answers in some of the extreme forms of asceticism.  Holding his breath for long periods.  Starving himself.  These were meant to bring on a state wherein he hoped he would find the answers.  Eventually, though, he spurned these techniques as well, claiming they were dangerous and unnecessary. He instead ate food in reasonable quantities, and found a form of meditation that felt natural.  In other words, he sought out a path between the extremes of hedonistic overindulgence and severe deprivation—a Middle Way, one might say.  Practicing this tempered form of existence, he meditated under a tree, and it was there that Siddartha Gautama achieved an awakening, or enlightenment.  He could see the world for what it truly was, and gained profound insight into our condition.  This is how he became known as Buddha, or “the one who has awoken”, to quote Andrew Skilton.  He was only 35 years old—he had been studying for 6 years to this point, when he finally found the answers he was looking for. Quick side note right here: For many, “Buddha” is not a single person or individual.  People may talk about the historical Buddha to refer to Siddhartha Gautama, but technically “Buddha” is a title for anyone who has awakened to the truths of the universe.  Buddhist traditions would come to define various people who had attained this enlightened state, though Siddhartha Gautama is generally considered the most important for the current era. Siddhartha Gautama spent the next forty-five years or so of his life wandering the land and teaching his Middle Way to anyone who would listen.  He initially spent time teaching in the area of the Bodhi Tree, where he had first experienced his revelation, and this area is known to us as Bodh Gaya.  He later went to a deer park in the area of Rshipatana, where five of the ascetics whom he used to hang out with were gathered. These ascetics had known Siddhartha when they were all practicing extreme deprivation together.  They had come to see him as a teacher, but turned from him when he spurned his own attainments and started on his Middle Path.  It took some initial convincing, but Siddhartha was eventually able to convince them and bring them around. From five, Siddhartha's disciples soon grew to 60, and he sent them out across the land to share his teachings with the people.  His community of followers—known as his Sangha—continued to grow.  As for Siddhartha himself, he seems to have focused much of his time on urban centers, with much of the last 20 to 25 years spent weathering the rainy monsoon seasons in the city of Sravasti. When he was 80 years old, Siddhartha grew seriously ill, possibly from something he ate.  Realizing his own state, it is said that he predicted his death in three days, and he passed away among a grove of trees.  Seven days later, his remains were cremated, and, much as with holy men everywhere, bone and teeth left over from the cremation were distributed as relics.  Tradition holds that ten relics went to ten rulers for burial under stupas, or memorial mounds, as a tribute to Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. After his death, his disciples continued to grow the community, or Sangha, and spread the word.  The life and teachings of the Buddha were written down in various documents and these were copied into different languages.  In about the 3rd century BCE, Buddhism gained a powerful patron in the form of Ashoka.  No, not the Togruta jedi, Ahsoka Tano, but the Mauryan king, Ashoka the Great.  Much of what comes down to us about Ashoka is as likely legend as fact, but we do know some things for certain because Ashoka left his own words carved in stone across his kingdom.  Many of these mention Buddhist ideas and concepts and even identify key sites, such as the site of Lumbini, where Siddhartha Gautama was born. At the same time, I would be remiss in not pointing out that it can be difficult to suss out just what Ashoka believed.  He certainly patronized Buddhism, much as Constantine patronized Christianity, including calling councils together to help ensure Buddhist orthodoxy, but it also can be read as a form of propaganda, utilizing Buddhist concepts to strengthen his own rule.  We'll see how later sovereigns would use similar tactics to lay claim to being a Buddhist sovereign, as well. Whatever his motivations, the pillars and inscriptions left from the 3rd century BCE provide us some of the first instances of the term “Buddha”, as well as another name, “Shakyamuni”, the “Sage of the Shakyas”; the “Shakyas” being Siddhartha's own people. So with the patronage of Ashoka the Great, the influence of Buddhism spread.  But what was it? Well, what we know is what was passed down, first as oral tradition, and later written down. First of all, all things in existence are impermanent.  That is they come and go.  People live and they die.  Even we change, moment from moment, nothing is truly static in this world—even if it were to last for thousands and thousands of years. Then there is suffering—the bane of humankind's existence.  However, it is also inescapable, at least in this life.  Describing suffering, and his solution to it, Siddhartha, aka Shakyamuni, revealed the Four Noble Truths, which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching.  They are, roughly: ·         Suffering is an innate characteristic of existence.  Even the greatest pleasure eventually fades, leaving longing in its wake.  No matter how many times you go round the wheel of life and death, you cannot escape it. ·         Suffering arises because of our desires. From our material wants and needs to simply our desire to not be hungry or cold. ·         Ending our attachment can help us put an end to suffering. ·         To put an end to desire, and thus to suffering, one should follow the Eightfold Path. So the four noble truths are something like a diagnosis of the human condition and then a potential solution.  By the way, notice the numbers four and eight—just as Christianity tends to find particular value in the number seven (seven deadly sins, seven heavenly virtues, etc.) and 12 (Jesus and the 12 Apostles), Buddhism finds particular significant in the number eight, and, to some degree, the number four, although that would clash in some areas of East Asia, where the word for “four” sounded like the word for death. And that eight is found in Shakyamuni's recipe for how to end suffering: Right understanding Right resolve Right speech Right action Right livelihood Right effort Right mindfulness Right concentration These are all individual actions for someone to strive to achieve, but they are also pretty vague.  After all, what is “Right Understanding” or “Right Resolve”?  That feels kind of like giving someone directions by saying “take the right road and you'll get to where you want to go”. Indeed, Buddhism therefore offers various precepts for how to live your life in accordance with the eightfold path.  There are precepts for the lay person and precepts for monks and nuns.  These include the requirement to avoid taking a life, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and even harsh, frivolous, or senseless speech.  There are also positive admonitions, such as to cultivate loving kindness and speech that is truthful, kindly, helpful, etc.  There are different lists of these precepts, but they generally include the same things. On top of this were the rules for monks, including such things as fasting after midday; no singing or dancing; no garlands, scent, or adornments; no luxurious beds; and a vow of poverty—no accepting gold or silver, the coin of the day.  Besides following the precepts, there were various teachings and practices that monks and lay persons can follow.  Most common are various techniques of meditation, meant to help open the mind to see beyond the surface of what we can perceive with our eyes and our ears and to transform one's consciousness. All of this was geared towards the eventual attainment of a state of enlightenment, and eventually, nirvana.  Contrary to many popular portrayals, though, nirvana is not some kind of heavenly existence.  After all, any existence in this plane, at least as we know it, was still suffering.  Instead, to attain nirvana meant to escape the cycle of death and rebirth entirely.  How and what that looks like may vary depending on your interpretation, but that is generally agreed upon as the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice. This does not mean that there was not a concept of a heaven or a hell in Buddhism.  While some have suggested that much of Buddhism and Buddhist practice is philosophical in nature, or geared more towards mindful practice, it is also steeped in certain cosmological views of the universe, and greatly influenced by the beliefs in the Indian subcontinent.  Gods and demons, however, were simply different orders of existence, and even gods and demons could seek their own escape from suffering if they chose to do so. It appears as though Buddhism was originally passed down as an oral tradition amongst the community of Shakyamuni's followers.  Eventually this was written down in texts, describing Buddhism for those who came later.  The canonical texts that outline the Dharma, that is to say the teachings of the historical Buddha, are known as sutras.  They contain the actual words of the historical Buddha, or so it is believed, and the core of his teachings. Then there are the Vinaya, which are those writings about the community, or Sangha, and the rules for the community and for various monks.  These came about as the community grew, and various Buddhists in different areas, without access to the direct disciples of the Buddha themselves, started to vary in their practices.  As such, the Vinaya texts were written to try to give some shared reference material. Finally, there are the Abhidharma texts, which are further writings about the teachings, generally with a more scholarly bent.  They elaborate upon what is found in the sutras, but are not considered the actual teachings of the historical Buddha. Together, these three classes of texts are known in the Buddhist tradition as the Tripitaka, or three baskets, with any canonical text generally falling into one of the three descriptions. I'll note that it is unclear to me just when these texts were written down.  The oldest extant sutra fragments are from sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE, but some of the texts—particularly sutras and Abhidharma texts, were likely around much earlier.  Various traditions make claims to when different texts were written, but it can be hard, sometimes, to discern fact from fiction. There is also at least one other form of Buddhist literature which would be important in its spread, and that is the jataka tales.  These are stories about the previous lives of the Buddha.  Much like Aesop's fables or the parables found in the Bible, these are stories that contain lessons and often help to break down or explain a particular point, but they are not necessarily the direct teachings of the Buddha himself. The focus of the canon was to help define and preserve the Three Jewels of Buddhism:  Memory of the Historical Buddha, Siddartha Gautama, aka the Shakyamuni Buddha; the Dharma, which is to say, his teachings, and the Sangha, or the community of followers. Over time, things changed.  Early on, Buddhist monks would wander much of the year, coming back together during the rainy seasons and then dispersing again.  At various times they would call a council and come together and ensure they still held the same doctrines, though even with that, differences began to form.  At first it was just over things like the rules of conduct, which might differ in one place or another.  Eventually, though, different sutras began to appear here and there, claiming to describe different teachings of the Buddha.  One such sutra is the Lotus Sutra, which claims to tell the story of what the Buddha taught after his last sermon.  It claims that after most of the people had left, the Buddha began another discourse just for those who remained, and that became known as the Lotus sutra, one that many will likely have heard of.  Other texts include the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra. Not everyone accepted these texts as factual and canonical scriptures, however.  Particularly in the south, down to Sri Lanka, many of the Buddhist communities continued to focus on what they considered the orthodox canonical texts, while others began to incorporate these new sutras into their practice.  Those sects that accepted the new sutras, which often focused on the concept of Boddhisatvas—individuals who had done all they needed to attain Buddhahood, but who had “remained” in this world to help shepherd and guide others—or on various tantric and spiritual techniques to attain Buddhahood for themselves, became known as the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, sects.  On the other hand, those sects that denied the authenticity of such sutras and which tried to keep to what they believed was the original tripitaka became known as Theravada Buddhism.   Today, Theravada Buddhism tends to be more popular in Southeast Asia, in places like Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos, while Mahayana Buddhism tends to define many of the practices in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. In addition to changes in what people considered doctrine, the nature of the Sangha and Buddhist worship changed as well.  Over time, monasteries were set up as specific places where monks could settle down. This may have originally arisen from the places where they would gather during the monsoons, but they eventually became places where the monks themselves stayed, and where individuals might come to learn.  In addition, there was a rise in the worship of holy relics, and many such settlements would have one or more stupas containing some form of holy relic that the people could pray to. People also built statues depicting the Buddha and other figures from the stories.  An entire school of how to depict various Buddhas and other figures came about, with specific hand gestures  and postures imparting specific meaning to what was built.  Traditions arose around how to build these temples and monasteries as well as to how to build the various statues and even to specific identifying features that would call out the Buddha, such as long fingers, drooping earlobes that had once held heavy and elaborate earrings, toes that were all the same length, et cetera.  The features of Buddha images—especially the faces—would change in different areas.  Much as Jesus is often depicted as a white man, Buddha would typically be depicted with features similar to the people who were making the image. Still, certain aspects remain the same from one tradition to another such that they are all recognizable as the Buddha. From Shakyamuni's home south of the Himalayas, Buddhism would eventually spread, following the trade routes of the so-called Silk Road.  Buddhist missionaries appear to have made contact with the Han dynasty, but it wasn't until the Northern and Southern states period that it really took off.  Likewise, it made its way to the Korean peninsula, and from there to Japan. But those are all things to save for our next episode, when we take a look at just how this new religion grew and expanded and became so influential in the continent and eventually in the peninsula and the archipelago itself. Until then, thank you for listening and for all of your support.  If you like what we are doing, tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Reflections on Compassion, including stories from practicing in Hawai'i and in Bodhgaya with the 17th Karmapa.

Í öngum mínum erlendis.. yrki ég skemmsta daginn.. Sjúkir en fagrir dagar að baki. Indlandsþríleiknum formlega lokið, I had a ball. Lokaniðurstaða: Stórkostlegt land og þjóð. Bodh Gaya, Bihar, Gorrikhpur. 3. - 10. feb. 5. feb, 8. feb, 10. feb, lokaorð.

Í öngum mínum erlendis.. yrki ég skemmsta daginn.. Sveitamaðurinn í stóra landinu - himnaríki & helvíti. Bollywood, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya. 26. jan - 3. feb. 28. jan, 29. jan, 30. jan, 31. jan, 2. feb, 3. feb.

Participants from the recent pilgrimage reflect on their experiences, sharing what they took from the journey to Thailand and India. Detailed reflections from the pilgrimage may be found on Clear Mountain's website.

This Dhamma talk was given by Ajahn Amaro on 3 December, under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India. The occasion was during the 17th annual Tipitaka recitation ceremony, organized by ITCC, the International Tipitaka Chanting Council. The post Teachings on Nibbāna from the Questions of King Milinda appeared first on Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.

This Dhamma talk was given by Ajahn Amaro on 3 December, under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India. The occasion was during the 17th annual Tipitaka recitation ceremony, organized by ITCC, the International Tipitaka Chanting Council. The post Teachings on Nibbāna from the Questions of King Milinda appeared first on Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.

In this practice you'll connect with your values and set an intention for how you want to show up today.About Oren Jay Sofer:Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India with Anagarika Munindra and Godwin Samararatne. He is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and a graduate of the IMS - Spirit Rock Vipassana Teacher Training, and current member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council.Oren is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, a practical guidebook for having more effective, satisfying conversations. To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “A Fresh Start,” or click here:"https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=b4a40731-798e-4f9e-87ac-e889dd0298e2"See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1.His Holiness the Dalai Lama Begins Teachings in Bodh Gaya 2. Sikyong Penpa Tsering Embarks on Official Visitation Programme 3. Melbourne-based Chinese Associations Call on OoT Canberra 4. Tibet House Japan Organises a Tibet Workshop for the Tibetan University Students

Conflict is inevitable in any relationship. By identifying what really matters to us, we can strengthen our most meaningful connections.About Oren Jay Sofer:Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation, and Nonviolent Communication in secular and Buddhist contexts. Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India with Anagarika Munindra and Godwin Samararatne. He is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and a graduate of the IMS - Spirit Rock Vipassana Teacher Training, and current member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council.Oren is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, a practical guidebook for having more effective, satisfying conversations.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “When We Fight With People We Love,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=4de9fcbb-c18d-44c0-bdca-328c38289a9f.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The 13th chapter begins with another question from Arjuna. He asks in the 1st verse: “What is Prakriti or matter? What is the nature of consciousness? What is kshetra or field? Who is kshetrajna, knower of the field? What is known, who is the knower, and what is knowledge?”Lord Krishna starts answering in the 2nd verse. He says that this body is the kshetram, or field. More broadly, we can think of the field as this material universe, which is changing and that is not eternal. It gradually decays and eventually disappears. Kshetrajna is the knower of the field. Within the field there is something that is not subject to modification – that is kshetrajna. It is the Atman, which is immanent, all-pervading and transcendental.When we refer to kshetram as the body, it refers to the following – the physical body comprising five elements, five senses of perception, five senses of action, mind and intellect.We sow seeds of tendencies and impressions in this field through our actions, thoughts, emotions and words. We are reborn with this legacy of tendencies and impressions. They determine in which direction our mind goes. That is why different people demonstrate different level of interest and understanding when reading a spiritual book. We can only understand what we are spiritually ready for.We march towards enlightenment when we realize kshetra as only kshetra, not as the highest reality. Then we look for something higher than kshetra, and our spiritual journey begins. Ultimately, we realize that the divine spark is present as drshta, as the witness, as kshetrajna, in all kshetras.Swami Vivekananda said that the difference between an amoeba and a Buddha is only of degrees, not of kind. Buddha is like the clean mirror, in whom the presence of the lord manifests in His full effulgence. Noble, unselfish action generate spiritual energy which purifies our mind, and helps us manifest this divinity with more effulgence.3rd verse: Lord Krishna says: “What is the nature of this kshetra? How does it undergo change? How does it originate? What is the real nature of kshetrajna? How does it manifest? Hear this from Me.”4th verse: “This great science of understanding the distinction between the Real and the unreal – this is the real knowledge of spiritual realization. Great vedic sages sang great hymns on the glory and greatness of this knowledge.”In daily life, we get into trouble because of wrong prioritization. We prioritize the empirical, the non-eternal. When we learn to prioritize the Real, lots of problems of daily life can be avoided.5th verse: The 5th verse describes the Sankhya philosophy of evolution expounded by Kapila. In Sankhya, there are two categories: (1) Purusha, which is eternal and self-effulgent (2) Prakriti, which is the cause of material evolution. From Prakriti, the first evolute is Mahatattvam or cosmic intelligence. From Mahatattvam, the next evolute is Ahamkara or ego-sense. From Ahamkara, the three gunas evolve: Sattva guna, Rajo guna and Tamo guna. The evolutes of sattva guna are the mind, the five senses of perception and the five senses of action. The evolutes of tamo guna are the five subtle elements and the five gross elements.The material world consists of the mind, the five senses of perception, the five senses of action, sense objects, and human tendencies –desires, love, hatred, pleasure, pain and so on.Within this material world is the divine spark. It is immanent in every being. When we begin to manifest spiritual qualities that are described in the next few verses, then we connect with the divine within.7th and 8th verses: These verses describe the qualities of someone who has spiritual knowledge. (1) Humility – it is the natural expression of one with spiritual growth because he understands that the body is just an instrument to do great things. (2) Not pretentious – his thoughts, words and deeds become one (3) Non-violence, as he instinctively feels spiritual affinity with entire creation (4) Forbearance (5) Uprightness (6) Respect for the teacher (7) Mental purity (8) Steadiness (9) Self-control – the spiritual energy from his noble actions gives him steadiness and self-control (10) Detachment from sense pleasures (11) Absence of egoism (12) Understands the misery of birth, death, sickness and old age.Shankaracharya says that in spiritual literature, whenever a list of characteristics of a spiritually enlightened person is provided, there is only one purpose. These characteristics constitute the road by which we should travel to reach the goal that the enlightened person has reached.Ego cannot be wished away. Our ego can also be given a spiritual orientation. By sublimating the ego and giving it a promotion, eventually, we can transcend ego. Sri Ramakrishna said: “Let this rascal ego remain as a servant of God.”Buddha reflected on the miseries of birth, death, sickness and old age. He went to Bodh Gaya, sat under a tree and took a vow to not leave his seat until he realized the spiritual truth.

Build resilience for tough situations. Learn the tools to develop self-empathy, clarifying what matters to you most and how to move forward.About Oren Jay Sofer:Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation, and Nonviolent Communication in secular and Buddhist contexts. Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India with Anagarika Munindra and Godwin Samararatne. He is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and a graduate of the IMS - Spirit Rock Vipassana Teacher Training, and current member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council.Oren is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, a practical guidebook for having more effective, satisfying conversations.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Self Empathy,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=c547f8dc-f150-464a-ba59-3131a4bf6944.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.