dharmamodini's picture
dharmamodini

Padmasambhava arrives in Adelaide

Sat, 9 Jun, 2018 - 01:06

For this first week in June, Padmasambhava was introduced to our sangha here in Adelaide, through a talk given by Dharmamodini. Thinking about Padmasambhava’s extraordinary powers of transformation and how he transformed the energies of the Bonpos in Tibet, to become forces for good in the world, protecting the Dharma, is inspiring to say the least!

As we struggle with dark forces dominating our world, we need to be reminded of what else is going on around the planet. George Monbiot’s book Out of the Wreckage is such a fabulous testament to this, especially in Ch.5 Belonging, where he cites so many exciting examples of what humankind is capable of in terms of transfomation.

There are over seventy talks about Padmasambhava on freebuddhistaudio, including the latest one by Padmavajra on the precious guru, given at the Ireland/UK Order weekend just last month. Read George’s book, listen to the talks and let’s keep talking with one another about how we can, and are, transforming ourselves and the world. Great to read all the postings here about Triratna’s activities across the globe.

Dharmamodini
Amaladipa's picture
Amaladipa

'Proceeding as though you are needed'

From Buddhist Action Month 2016 on Sat, 21 May, 2016 - 10:24

“Everything we do and don’t do makes a wake, a legion of waves and troughs that pound the shores at the edges of what we mean, grinding away on the periphery of what we know. This goes on after the years of our private lives are long past. If we don’t learn that simple, devastating, and redeeming detail of being alive – that what we do lasts longer than we do, that the past isn’t over – then the parade of our days stands to indict much more than it bequeaths… Do you think it’s an accident that you were born at a time when the culture that gave you life is failing? I don’t think it is. I think you were born of necessity with your particular abilities, with our particular fears, with your particular heartaches and concerns… I think if we wait to be really compelled by something… something big, well… we’re going to wait an awful long time and I don’t know if the state of our world can tolerate our holding out until we feel utterly compelled by something. I think it’s more like this, that we have to proceed now as if we’re utterly needed given the circumstances. That takes almost something bordering on bravado, it could be mistaken for megalomania easily, though I don’t think it is. It had a certain amount of nerviness in it or boldness for sure, something that’s not highly thought of in the culture I was born into unless you’re a star or something… regular people aren’t supposed to have those qualities. I say they are of course. That’s what we’ve got to bring to the challenges at hand, not waiting to be convinced that we’re needed but proceeding as if we are. Your insignificance has been horribly overstated… Consider the possibility that being born in a troubled time is not an affliction but a sign that you’re needed.”

Steven Jenkinson