Natural Awareness Blog

by Ārya Atiśa Khutön Tsöndrü Yungdrung, Ngok Lekpé Sherab, and Dromtön Gyalwé Jungné asked Ārya Atiśa: “What are the best aspects of the path?” Ārya…

This is an excerpt from the Essence of Ambrosia by Taranatha: Dispelling Hindrances When practicing the main meditation that integrates emptiness and compassion [on page 100], there…

Composed by Longchenpa (1308-1363) Assailed by afflictions, we discover DharmaAnd find the way to liberation. Thank you, evil forces! When sorrows invade the mind, we discover DharmaAnd…

The first poem is by Fernando Pessoa. The second poem, by Tony Hoagland, was inspired by Pessoa. The Innumerable by Fernando Pessoa (translated by A. S. Kline)…

Sonnet by Feng Chih, 1941 We stand together on top of a towering mountainTransforming ourselves into the immense sweep of view,Into the unlimited plain in…

May we all be well May we all be healthy in body and mind May we all be safe and free from inner and outer…

The Cure for It All Go gently today, don’t hurry or think about the next thing. Walk with the quiet trees. Can you believe how…

Famous The river is famous to the fish. The loud voice is famous to silence,  which knew it would inherit the earth  before anybody said…

Well, while I’m here I’ll do the work–and what’s the work? To ease the pain of living.Everything else, drunkendumshow. Allen Ginsberg, Memory Gardens

Saṁyojana: a fetter that binds the mind to the cycle of rebirth:

The Pali word saddha (Sanskrit sraddha) implies faith, reliance, and trust — “to place the heart upon.” The root word is srath, meaning “to loosen,…

From “Me To We: True Love Is A Process Of Humility” by Thich Nhat Hanh: “A community of people walking together on a spiritual path…

Sometimes, when I’m dissatisfied, I catch a glimpse of the fact that it’s because I’m struggling with the way things are. The value of that…

Stability and clarity are undermined by busyness and dullness. Busyness includes distraction, attention and energy being drawn into objects and excessive activity, or becoming obsessed…

A Nyingma commentary on the ngondro preliminaries says: outer bustle is many activities   inner bustle is many thoughts   hidden bustle is many intentions…

“Silently dwell in the self, in true suchness abandon conditioning. Open-minded and bright without defilement, simply penetrate and drop off everything. Today is not your…

The Zen monk Ryokan wrote: The ancient buddhas taught the dharma Not for is own sake but to assist us. If we really knew ourselves…

When you have even a single thought of looking for a shortcut in zen you have already stuck your head in a bowl of glue.…

“When we are young, we don’t realize the importance of dharma practice;when we are middle-aged, we think we are too busy to do it; and…

Essential. Inner experience is more important than the external practices that support the inner movement (prayers, recitation, bowing, etc). Intention and cultivation are more important…

So it is said that false [thinking] is stopped and stillness necessarily arises, stillness arises and wisdom appears, wisdom arises and stillness necessarily disappears [in…

Outer practice: the skillful means of relieving suffering, working with interdependence, causes and conditions, balancing energies, perfecting the paramitas — skillfully taking different medicines for…

May I be of help to others. May I not be overwhelmed by my own suffering. May I remember that others struggle and suffer just…

Ch’an master Hongzhi Zhengjue wrote: Emptiness is without characteristics. Illumination has no emotional afflictions. With piercing, quietly profound radiance, it mysteriously eliminates all disgrace. Thus…

Worthy admonitions cannot fail to inspire us, but what matters is changing ourselves. Reverent advice cannot fail to encourage us, but what matters is acting…

Seeking Perfect Total Enlightenmentis looking for a flashlightwhen all you need the flashlight foris to find your flashlight ~ Lew Welch

The buddhadharma is a collection of medicines for various dis-eases — traditionally, 84,000 teachings for 84,000 kinds of suffering. Let’s take a look at a…

Every Buddhist tradition has multiple levels of practice. Over time, as one’s capacity in attention grows, it’s often possible to work at deeper levels. Of…

Shamatha is often translated as “calm abiding”. It’s the capacity in attention to abide with, hang out with, be in the experience of, whatever arises.…

In my meditation practice I’ve had some dramatic experiences, and also some not so dramatic, as habituated patterns are revealed. In the end, if freedom…

How do we “pay attention”? With the brain? The eye? The hand? With time? With energy? What does it cost to pay attention? Does it…

Suffering exists. It ranges from losing a job or a loved one, to the inevitable pains of illness, old age and death, from the subtlest…

We Buddhists like our emptinesses. But we have a problem with talking about emptiness in English, because “emptiness” is a noun. There is no such…

Milarepa sang to the Rakshasa Demoness of Lingpa Valley: Mindfulness has awakened powerfully! Looking up in the center of the blue sky, I suddenly remember dharmata-emptiness.I…

Composed by Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol (1781-1851) Now I have some heart-advice to give you: a sky needs a sun, a mother needs a child, and…

Blessing of the Animals by Thomas Rhodes You Birds of the Air,Hawk, Sparrow, and laughing JayYou embody freedom itself,delight us with your song, astound us…

The seven factors of awakening in Buddhist meditation: 1. mindfulness, awareness, remembering (sati) 2. investigating, examining, looking into (vicaya) 3. enthusiasm, energy, effort (virya) 4.…

Refuge and AwakeningRecognize that suffering arises. Form the intention to discover and renounce the causes of suffering. Cultivate the intention to wake up and generate good for…

Feel the body. Settle down into it. Rest inside the body. Feel your backside on the chair’s seat and back. Let the chair hold you…

Metta (lovingkindness) = friendly kindness that wishes self and others well. Karuna (compassion) = the trembling heart that responds to pain and suffering. Mudita (sympathetic…

awareness of impermanence heart of compassion foundation of faith Inspiration, like any sensation or feeling, comes and goes. The essence of practice is to practice…

“It is by suffering’s presence that we know there is something we need to address.” (Jane Hirschfield, Ten Windows) Before a habit-pattern arises in experience,…

Shamatha (calm abiding) is the capacity to abide in vividly clear experience without reacting (fighting, fleeing, or freezing). This non-reactive capacity comes from focusing on a chosen…

Every practice is a medicine for a specific ailment. Letting go is the medicine for clinging and grasping to things as solid and permanent. Too…

We often pretend we’re simply going from point A to point B and that there is a simple straight line to get us there. But…

Inspiration, like any sensation or feeling, comes and goes. It is possible to practice every day whether one feels inspired or not. Intention is different…

Sabbe sankhara anicca: “All conditioned things are impermanent.” Everything is changing; every experience or phenomenon, no matter how dear or pleasant or seemingly reliable, is…

Settle into a comfortable chair or cushion. Feel your body, its shape and weight, the sensations coming and going, the movement of breath in and…

Notice, as often as you can, that each and every experience arises, is here for a while, and then disappears. Just that simple. Recognize the…

Feel the body. Settle down into it. Rest inside the body. Feel your backside on the chair’s seat and back. Let the chair hold you…

This poem was composed by the 12th century Chinese Buddhist master Hung-chih Cheng-chueh (Hongzhi Zhengjue)  All things originate from the mind. When the whole mind…

The spirit of awakening is the antidote to ignoring, passivity, and automatic routines. We cultivate the spirit of awakening wisdom and compassion for the sake…

Don’t Waste Your Precious Time by Ryokan The ancient Buddhas taught the Dharma  Not for its own sake but to assist us.  If we really…

Here is what the 17th-century Tibetan teacher Tsele Natsok Rangdrol wrote about going astray in meditation practice: (1) Not understanding that the mind-essence is the…

So it is said that false thinking is stopped and stillness necessarily arises,stillness arises and wisdom appears,wisdom arises and stillness necessarily disappearsin wisdom’s active functioning.…

Here is a story from Robert Grudin​’s ​​Time and The Art of Living: ​ A man made a long pilgrimage to a holy city. As he…

Chuang Tzu said: A large consciousness is idle and spacey; a small consciousness is cramped and circumspect. Big talk is bland and flavorless; petty talk…

1500 miles of airways in two lungs that would cover 2000 square feet if laid flat 50+ hormones involved in metabolism, reproduction, growth, mood, and…

Sanskrit terms are followed by (Tibetan terms). Shamatha (shinay): Evenly Abiding in what arises. Aware, nonreactive, flexible.  Samadhi (ting nge ‘dzin)To bring together or unite subject…

Refuge and bodhicitta. Take refuge in compassion and awareness for the sake of all beings. Main practice. State your intention to experience and share appreciative…

From Dhammapala’s Treatise on the Paramis (6th century) These Great Beings [mahasattvas] devote themselves to working uninterruptedly for the welfare of others without any concern…