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Some interesting Buddhist sites

Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
More from Rigpa glimpse of the day -

When people begin to meditate, they often say that their thoughts are running riot and have become wilder than ever before. But I reassure them and say that this is a good sign. Far from meaning that your thoughts have become wilder, it shows that you have become quieter and are finally aware of just how noisy your thoughts have always been. Don’t be disheartened or give up. Whatever arises, just keep being present, keep returning to the breath, even in the midst of all the confusion.When people begin to meditate, they often say that their thoughts are running riot and have become wilder than ever before. But I reassure them and say that this is a good sign. Far from meaning that your thoughts have become wilder, it shows that you have become quieter and are finally aware of just how noisy your thoughts have always been. Don’t be disheartened or give up. Whatever arises, just keep being present, keep returning to the breath, even in the midst of all the confusion.

Have a good one!
 
Vinayaka

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Geoff-Allen said:
Looking forward to it!

:)
Click to expand...
Please forgive me if I get anything wrong about Buddhism, or say wrong notions.

It was a cold misty windy day, and the site (they bought 160 acres, known as a quarter section in these parts, half a mile by half a mile square) was completely empty of monks or devotees, so we didn't see anyone, nor spend as much time as we would have had it been sunnier. My friend (he did some construction stuff and spent as few days working there, got some information) said it's a Buddhist pilgrimage site for many in western North America.

I'm not very familiar with the sects of Buddhism, but the meditation center one hour outside of my city we visited 2 days back is huge, and built by the local Vietnamese Buddhists. There is a large (50m by 25m) central outside flat concrete pad which contains a large (35 feet) 3 headed brass (hollow, not solid) Buddha on one end and a sitting blue Buddha on the other. Along the sides are many finely carved stone (granite?) statues of various minor deities. Each has an English and Viet explanation plaque. The plaque for the large standing one is an explanation about the value of listening, and that particular version of Buddha represents listening in some way.

The new indoor meditation center is very large as well, it wasn't open, but a peek inside showed a largely empty flat concrete area with a large shrine on one end. I'm sure it would be quite something to see if 500 people were meditating inside.

The old farm house on the property is used as a monk residence and there is an abbot living on site. There is also quite a few temporary residences, and an older meditation hall used as a kitchen now for when crowds gather.

There is a lake on property and the initial landscaping is still going on. Lots of planted trees and such. Room for a lot of growth. Another larger 100 foot standing Buddha is going to put somewhere near the lake.

We will definitely be going back, probably next summer, and quite likely during an 'event' of some sort.
 
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Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Just as the ocean has waves, and the sun has rays, so the mind’s own radiance is its thoughts and emotions. The ocean has waves, yet the ocean is not particularly disturbed by them. The waves are the very nature of the ocean. Waves will rise, but where do they go? Back into the ocean. And where do the waves come from? The ocean.

In the same manner, thoughts and emotions are the radiance and expression of the very nature of the mind. They rise from the mind, but where do they dissolve? Back into the mind. Whatever rises, do not see it as a particular problem. If you do not impulsively react, if you are only patient, it will once again settle into its essential nature.

When you have this understanding, then rising thoughts only enhance your practice. But when you do not understand what they intrinsically are — the radiance of the nature of your mind — then your thoughts become the seed of confusion. So have a spacious, open, and compassionate attitude toward your thoughts and emotions, because in fact your thoughts are your family, the family of your mind. Before them, as Dudjom Rinpoche used to say: “Be like an old wise man, watching a child play.”

Enjoy your day!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
When someone is suffering and you find yourself at a loss to know how to help, put yourself unflinchingly in his or her place. Imagine as vividly as possible what you would be going through if you were suffering the same pain. Ask yourself: “How would I feel? How would I want my friends to treat me? What would I most want from them?”

When you exchange yourself for others in this way, you are directly transferring your cherishing from its usual object, yourself, to other beings. So exchanging yourself for others is a very powerful way of loosening the hold on you of the self-cherishing and the self-grasping of ego, and so of releasing the heart of your compassion.
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Enlightenment is real; and each of us, whoever we are, can in the right circumstances and with the right training realize the nature of mind and so know in us what is deathless and eternally pure. This is the promise of all the great mystical traditions of the world, and it has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled in countless thousands of human lives.

The wonder of this promise is that it is something not exotic, not fantastic, not for an elite, but for all of humanity; and when we realize it, the masters tell us, it is unexpectedly ordinary.

Spiritual truth is not something elaborate and esoteric, it is in fact profound common sense. When you realize the nature of mind, layers of confusion peel away. You don’t actually “become” a buddha, you simply cease, slowly, to be deluded. And being a buddha is not being some omnipotent spiritual superman, but becoming at last a true human being.
 
Vinayaka

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
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This is the 3 faced Buddha at the meditation place we went to a week or so ago. The building in the background is complete now.
 
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