I gave lectures and engaged in some scholarly dialogue at the University of Tokyo in Japan. From the talks, I realized that the attendees would like to know more about the practical methods that Buddhism offers for training the mind. They expressed the hope that such Buddhist methods could help the people of today to maintain a healthy mind, and to derive benefit from these kinds of processes for self-improvement.
The streets of the countryside also have retail vending machines. The beverages are very hot, and besides drinking them, they’re also good for warming the hands.
Here, I come searching for the true self, whose friendly, real face that I so wish to see, as I grow weary of this virtual self!
Twenty-one years ago, my guru was in this Buddhist center in Malacca, giving initiations and Dharma teachings. Today, I specifically came over to have a look at the house. The house had not been used for a long time, and the front courtyard was overgrown with grass. As I carefully went through the outside and inside, an indescribable feeling arose in my heart. After some time, I prostrated three times in front of the house and reluctantly left.
Here are a 30-year old airline ticket and boarding pass; the name shown is my given family name. That was the first time I ever flew with my guru H.H. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. What a joyful time! Today, I’m flying again but alone. All the teachers will eventually leave us. So, be grateful and treasure them all.
~ Khenpo's blog published on 10 September 2016
In my hand is a real human brain. A few years ago, a lady donated her brain for scientific research. The brain is a tool of consciousness. That is, consciousness uses the brain to sense the outer world. Consciousness is analogous to a computer user while the brain is the computer; the two are not one and the same. So far, there has not been enough scientific data to back up the idea that consciousness comes from the brain.
“Feeling zen” in a Zen Monastery in Kyoto. Zen gives people an unlimited sense of securit and an uplifted mood.
Here are a 30-year old airline ticket and boarding pass; the name shown is my given family name. That was the first time I ever flew with my guru H.H. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. What a joyful time! Today, I’m flying again but alone. All the teachers will eventually leave us. So, be grateful and treasure them all.
A neuroscientist and I discussed the relation between the brain and consciousness. His view is that, based on the current research, the brain alone cannot explain the nature of consciousness for two reasons: first, so far the brain has proven too complex to understand it fully, and second, it has been found that in reality there are some mental phenomena that cannot have been produced by the brain.
