http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl Random jots and scribbles of Bernie Simon en http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/god_and_buddhism.html Yes, it's been another long absence. This time my excuse is that I've been sick. I had a bad habit of clenching my jaw when under stress. It eventually caught up with me and set off a facial neuralgia. It felt like the whole right side of my face was on fire. It didn't go away simply by stopping ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/unfabricated.html Clearing up my backlog of old notes, here is an extract from a teaching by Lama Gursam on mahamudra. I will try to explain this word, unfabricated (ma cho pa). It means the mind and body are relaxed, just as they are. The body becomes so relaxed and sleepy. But you have to wake up from that. The ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/no_self_and_true_self.html I answered a question on reddit and might as well get double duty out of it by posting my answer here as well. Q: I am curious about your experiences of the true nature of yourself, I have been told that its similar to me asking what an orange tastes like and hoping to truly find out from ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/importance_of_lam_rim.html Here are my notes from a short teaching Lama Gursam gave last October on Lam Rim. Lam Rim means the stages of the Path of Tibetan Buddhism. Everything goes stage by stage. Trying to reach the final level is like jumping into space. Many Tibetan masters have written on how to practice stage by ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/notes_on_mind_training.html Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin taught on the Seven Points of Mind Training over the Christmas to New Years break. I took notes, but much of what I wrote is not very comprehensible. Here are the best bits from my notes. To develop strong relative bodhicitta, you need strong love and compassion. You need to ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/a_single_taste.html I'm back again with two more translations of quotes. Both are on the topic of the single taste of samsara and nirvana. I have mentioned Saraha before. Shankarakshita was the abbot of the first monastery in Tibet, Samye Ling. sa ra ha sa/ 'khor 'das kun gyi rtsa bar gyur la sems rtogs nas sgom du ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/rebirth_prayer_thinley_norbu.html Thinly Norbu Rinpoche died last week. He was a Nyingma lama, the son of Dujom Rinpoche and the father of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. He lived in New Yark State, but did not teach widely. I knew him for a book he wrote on the lives of the Sixteen Karmapas. One of his sons wrote a prayer for his ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/have_a_very_kagyu_christmas.html Tonight I have translated two quotes quotes from Tilopa, the Indian siddha who sands at the head of the Kagyu tradition. te lo las/ nam mkha'i rang bzhin kha dog dbyibs las 'das/ dkar nag dag gis ma gos 'gyur ba med/ de bzhin rang sems snying po kha dog dbyings las 'das/ sdig dkar nag chos kyis ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/hell_has_a_cause.html My latest translation is another well known passage, this time from Shantideva's "Engaging in Bodhisattva Deeds." The text is so well known it needs no introduction. spyod 'jug las/ lcags bsregs sa gzhi su yis byas/ me tshogs de dag gang la byung/ ltar de dag thams cad ni/ sdig sems yin par thub ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/altmed/if_you_love_something.html Homeopathy has some very talented technical people writing software, but has fallen behind the technology curve. This is because homeopathic software is locked into the old model of selling proprietary software to a small audience at high cost. This model is rapidly being superseded, leaving ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/virupa_speaks.html Tonight's quote is from Virupa, an Indian mahasiddha who stands at the head of the Sakya lineage. bir wa las/ chos rnams sems nyid snang ba gzugs brnyan yin phyir ro/ Virupa said, Because all phenomena are mind, the appearance of external forms is like a reflected image. http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/from_the_avatamsaka.html Tonight's quote is from the Avatamsaka Sutra. It is one of the great Mahayana sutras and was much admired in Chinese Buddhism. phal po che las/ kye rgyal ba'i sras dag khams gsum po 'di ni sems tsam mo/ From the Avatamsaka Sutra: Listen, children of the Victors! The three realms are only ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/from_the_lankavatara.html Tonight's translation is a famous verse from the Lankavatara Sutra. The Lankavatara is one of the sutras from the third turning of the wheel of dharma and it teaches the mind-only doctrine and buddha nature. It was the sutra that Bodhidharma brought with him to China. lang kar gshegs pa las/ bag ... http://www.carelesshand.net/weblog.pl/dharma/no_need_to_abandon.html So tonight I reach down in my quote bag and pull out a translation of a quote by Orgyenpa. Orgyenpa was an teacher in the Karma Kagyu lineage, a student of Gotsangpa and the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, and a teacher of the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. grub thob orgyan pas/ mi rtog ched du btsa ...