The Mirror of luminous revelation, Aracena, 2016

This text comes from Nuden Dorje, the first incarnation of my own teacher, C R Lama. We believe that Nuden Dorje was himself an incarnation of one of the close disciples of Padmasambhava, and that Padmasambhava came directly from the pure heart of Amitabha.
Buddhist texts often include a history of how the text arose, from whom, where and when. To say that a text came directly from Padmasambhava or from the mind of another great teacher, what does this mean? Why should we trust it? Who should we trust? You come here and I am telling you a lot of things. Why should you trust me? If you trust there is a chance you will be cheated, but if you don’t trust it’s difficult to proceed.

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Buddhist English

Encountering translations of Tibetan Buddhist texts is to enter a realm of technical terms embedded in an ethos that has few resonances with the beliefs and concepts that we are familiar with in the Greek and Judaeo-Christian traditions. Translators attempting to make traditional Tibetan Buddhist texts available are faced with a complex task. Texts written into Tibetan have arisen in […]

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Eifel Retreat Autumn 2019

The Happy Twins Dzogchen and Mahamudra are harmoniously complementary. Their evocative styles offer us beautiful metaphors which can sweetly and poetically ease us out of our rigid concepts. The retreat was focussed on two texts, the Mirror of Luminous Revelation, a dzogchen treasure text from Nuden Dorje Drophen Lingpa Drolo Tsal, and the Mahamudra Upadesha by Tilopa. The Nuden Dorje […]

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Equanimity and the pull of the five poisons. Frankfurt, Oct 2019

James Low Tibethaus, Frankfurt. 18/10/2019 One day of teaching Equanimity and the pull of the five poisons The power of the five poisonous afflictions (mental dullness, desire, aversion, jealousy and pride) is very strong and each affliction can easily pull us away from grounded harmony into the treacherous security of taking up a position. Equanimity is the great quality of […]

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Equanimity and the pull of the five poisons. Frankfurt, Oct 2019

James Low Public Talk Tibethaus, Frankfurt.17/10/2019 Equanimity and the pull of the five poisons The power of the five poisonous afflictions (mental dullness, desire, aversion, jealousy and pride) is very strong and each affliction can easily pull us away from grounded harmony into the treacherous security of taking up a position. Equanimity is the great quality of the Middle Way, […]

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Saraha. Treasury of songs.

Although Saraha had a scholar’s training his style here is to offer a simple sharing of his experience. He presents the ground: the simplicity of the base and source of experience. Then the path: the way to not stray from the ground. And finally the result: abiding at ease in the ground without reification or attachment. There is no discussion or debate for this is not a proposition but a revelation.

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