Dharma Wheel

where is the next wave of western Dzogchen practitioners ? I'm relatively young I guess - 31 - and a native of a western country. I've been interested in Dzogchen for about 7 years and have been a member of ChNN's IDC for about 5 years. I became interested in Buddhism at the age of 17 through readi...

Hi Lingpupa,

It looks like the book is purchasable from the Vajra Publications website.

The documentary film of the same name is available on Amazon.com. You'll need a US card to rent/buy this. A virtual US card can be acquired through several online providers, e.g. US Unlocked.

Find a Dzogchen teacher who speaks English (or spend several years learning the teacher's language). Meet Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Build mutual understanding with the Dzogchen teacher. This seems to require a huge amount of time (probably many years) and money to go on retreats with the teacher, or al...

And this applies for each moment, not only for the time after death. If we only weren`t so distracted. If you wish to realize rainbow body in this lifetime, go for it. I was talking about the instructions for extremely lazy people. M Hi Malcolm, Could you, or someone else, elaborate on "go for...

I feel that I'm hindered by doubt regarding the Buddhist doctrines of rebirth, karma (especially the karmic law of "increase in results" as described here ), and the existence of other-worldly realms, as well as the idea that we have all lived such an unfathomable number of past lives that...

I found a better explanation in Speech of Delight: Mipham's Commentary on Santaraksita's Ornament of the Middle Way : "...we may hypothetically assume that the most subtle particle is [in fact] truly singular. If so, then not [even] some subtle truth can exist in its place, and no other phenome...

I'm not familiar with any teachings that divide Buddhists into "beginner" and "advanced" groups. Nevertheless, I think it might serve some benefit to do so. In my opinion the most useful place to draw the dividing line is at the point of entry into the Path of Seeing (a.k.a. Stre...

According to Rob Burbea in Seeing That Frees , "both the neither-one-nor-many reasoning and the sevenfold reasoning are among the practices capable of revealing the emptiness of matter even at the most basic levels." Regarding the neither-one-nor-many practice, he goes on to say: Even if w...

I have anhedonia and emotional numbness also, and also have a desire to compose music full-time. My advice, if you're feeling overwhelmed, is go and see a doctor and find some medication that will ease the immediate stress of your situation. Then identify the causes of your bad mental health and tak...

Harsh speech seems to be dependent in large part on ego. A lot can arise out of insecurities towards others, jealousy, perceptions of social hierarchy, and need to assert dominance or to side with one group over another. Very rarely in my experience does it arise solely from an intent to harm anothe...

Does anyone know of any Tibetan Buddhist books that discuss the nature of the enlightened being's consciousness? Specifically, how their body could be governed by causes and conditions that lead to it needing to scratch itself, etc., yet how their consciousness remains somehow separate and untouche...

Mon dieu. Will the bodies of enlightened beings scream when you hit a hammer on their toes? Most likely so. What are you basing this judgement on? I don't share your view for the following reasons: (i) It is taught that enlightened beings have overcome all craving and aversion. Without aversion tow...

I wonder if it wouldn't have been more valuable to delve into this doubt That is more or less the response I received from the most highly qualified teacher I've asked on this issue. I've tried to do this but clearly I still feel compelled, for various reasons, to search for answers outside of myse...

It indicates the arising, and giving in to, a desire to relieve oneself of an unpleasant feeling. I think you are drastically over-thinking this & have got to the point where you're placing limits on what a realised person is allowed to do. They can manifest any kind of activity at all without ...

Obvious question - what's so unenlightened about scratching an itch? It would be an unnecessary expenditure of energy, assuming the enlightened person doesn't suffer, and so finds nothing unpleasant about the itch sensations. It indicates the arising, and giving in to, a desire to relieve oneself o...

Video of Chogye Trichen Rinpoche scratching his head . Biography here . Apparently, he has "engaged in several three-year meditation retreats", so either (a) he is "enlightened" in the sense of having attained at least the 8th bodhisattva bhumi, and enlightened people still feel...

Thank you both for the help. Sherlock, that Sakya Pandita book in particular looks to be exactly what I need, so thanks for mentioning that.

I think I'm just confused by the various understandings of what bodhisattvas must undertake to become Buddhas. E.g. in Ajahn Maha Boowa's biography of Acariya Mun Bhuridatta (founder of the Thai forest tradition) it says: "Ãcariya Mun related that in ages past he had made a ... resolution ... t...

Do bodhisattvas who have reached the 8th bhumi continue to suffer when they take rebirth in the realms of samsara to help sentient beings? If not, then could it not be said that aspiring bodhisattvas sacrifice little, if any, of their own future wellbeing in taking the bodhisattva vow, in that (assu...

Hi Lite, From Dhammapada (sayings of Shakyamuni Buddha) verse 178: Sole dominion over the earth, going to heaven, lordship over all worlds: the fruit of stream-entry excels them. Stream Entry is a wonderful goal to have, no least because you go from wandering indefinitely in samsara, being reborn ov...