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Born into a royal family of a highly
developed culture about 2560 years ago, the young prince
from northern India enjoyed extremely privileged circumstances
and up until the age of 29 he had known only pleasure.
Leaving his palace for the first time, his world was
turned upside down. Over three consecutive days he saw
a very sick person, somebody old and someone who had
died. Upon his recognition of the inevitability of old
age, sickness, death and the impermanence of everything,
he became deeply troubled. Leaving his home and family
he wandered the country in search of teachings that
could overcome death and suffering. At the age of 35,
after six years of deep meditation, he realized the
true nature of mind and was enlightened. He therefore
became a Buddha, the one awakened from the sleep of
ignorance. The Buddha now experienced the world as it
is, without adding or removing anything. With neither
expectations nor fear but was simply present and aware
of the here and now. He experienced mind as something
open, clear and limitless and could therefore handle
any situation with fearless joy and active compassion.
He then spent the remaining 45 years of his life teaching
others so that they could do the same.
The Buddha never claimed to be
anything other than a human being. Even though he had
insight into the life situations of all beings and knew
how to help each person individually, he (or his followers)
never proclaimed himself to be a god, a savior or a
prophet.
The Buddha was the first, but not
the last – enlightened being of our age. The only
difference between the Buddha and anyone else is that
the Buddha realized his potential. This is something
anyone can do just as well.
The teaching of the Buddha –
also known as Buddhism – is an unsentimental and
unpretentious way to freedom and happiness. First and
foremost it builds upon experience. Buddhism is not
packed with dogma and rules that you are required to
follow, but encourages critical questioning. The teachings
of the Buddha begin by recognizing life as it is.
Now,
don't believe my words because a Buddha told you,
but examine them well. Be a light unto yourselves.
- Buddha |
The Buddha taught because he wanted
his students to experience the same freedom and happiness
that he himself experienced. He did not ask for worship
from any student but strove to develop him or her into
his equal. In this way Buddhism is not a religion in
the ordinary sense, and is in its foundation free from
the concept of any outer force presiding over the world
of men. Buddhism’s path to freedom and happiness
has been practiced throughout the past 2,500 years.
Since the time of the Buddha many have realized the
nature of mind, and today Buddhist methods are just
as effective in the West as they have been in the East.
Buddha's teachings aim at the full development and freedom
of body, speech and mind. The goal of the Buddhist is
to recognize the nature of mind – to become a
Buddha. The practice consists of calming the mind and
then training one to transcend the idea of a fixed and
unchanging sense of ‘I’ or ego.
Buddhism has about 350 million
practitioners worldwide. Until 1970s Buddhism was mainly
an Asian philosophy but the timeless view of the Diamond
Way and its methods is appealing to a growing number
of well educated and independent people in North and
South America, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, New
Zealand and Russia.
Buddha gave instructions to three
main types of people; Small Way or Hinayana to those
who wanted to avoid suffering received information about
cause and effect. Great Way or Mahayana to those who
wanted to do more for others, were given instructions
on compassion and wisdom. Diamond Way or Vajrayana to
his closest students he shared the highest view of mind
called the Great Seal or Mahamudra.
Meditation is often used as a common
term for a number of techniques originating from the
Far East. Although individual meditations may seem similar
their contents can be quite different. Meditation is
a tool for working with mind. How a meditation works
depends on what you wish to achieve. Buddhist meditation
has only one purpose: to recognize the nature of mind.
I have
shopwn you the methods that lead to liberation,
but you must know that liberation depends upon yourselves.
- Buddha |
By meditating every day you train
your mind to not follow the thoughts and feelings that
ceaselessly come and go. In this way you calm your mind,
and you may start turning mind’s awareness towards
its own radiating power. When you approach mind through
its power, you meditate on light forms and then work
with the energy channels and energy wheels of the body.
This form of meditation is very powerful and results
in quick development.
Daily meditation is about developing
a good habit: just as naturally as you take a shower
to keep your body clean, you meditate to keep your mind
clear and attentive. Through daily meditation sessions
you gain greater freedom to act beneficially in life’s
various situations, permitting the wise to choose roles
in the comedies of life and avoid its tragedies.
In the long run Buddhist meditation
fundamentally alters your way of experiencing yourself
and the world. Therefore it is important to have a teacher
who can guide you. Meditation cannot be learned from
a book or CD.
Anyone can learn to meditate -
it is only a question of practice. Diamond Way centres
and groups offer regularly evenings of meditation where
anyone is welcome to participate.
Meditation is not a goal in itself
but a tool for personal development. Therefore meditation
is seldom taught on its own but usually accompanied
by knowledge about what one wishes to develop, namely
the full potential of mind. This knowledge is passed
on at the various evening lectures held at Diamond Way
centers and courses held regularly. Learning to meditate
is a process that alternates between acquiring knowledge
about mind, practicing the specific meditation, and
maintaining the achieved insight in everyday life.
Instructions on meditations, such
as 16th Karmapa, Loving Eyes, Limitless Light, Ngondro
- a series of meditations known as Prostrations, Diamond
Mind, Mandala, and Guru Yoga. Furthermore, courses are
offered in Conscious Dying (Phowa) as well as guided
meditations in Clear Light and Medicine Buddha.
The goal of the Phowa practice
is to learn how to die consciously, and transfer the
consciousness at the moment of death to a state of highest
bliss. The practice is the last of the Six Yogas (energy
teachings) of Naropa, and one of the most profound teachings
in Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Ole Nydahl is one of the few
Buddhist lamas empowered to teach the Phowa practice.
He received the transmission of the Phowa teachings
from Tibetan Lamas and is today the most significant
teacher of this practice in the Western world. Since
1987, he has taught Phowa to over 80,000 people at several
hundred meditation courses around the world.
From a Buddhist point of view Karma
does not mean fate or destiny, but may be translated
as action or cause and effect. Roughly speaking, Karma
works like this: Every activity - positive or negative
- leaves imprints on mind. As mind's content determines
how the world is experienced, negative impressions will
inevitably lead to future pain. This means that our
thoughts, speech and actions sow the seeds for our future
experience. It is therefore in our hands to change our
lives by understanding this.
Used in the right way the understanding
of Karma therefore means freedom. In every situation
it gives beings the freedom to decide their future.
The Diamond Way offers especially effective methods
for removing the impressions of negative, harmful actions
from mind. By this we can get rid of what would ripen
as difficult states and situations in the future. Through
meditation, we can overcome the whole process of cause
and effect. However, if we don't choose to work with
our mind, we will have no control at all and simply
be the victim of our own actions.
Buddhism is an open offer to anyone
who wishes to get to know his or her own mind. What
proportion of Buddhist teachings you incorporate into
your life depends on how well you understand the teachings
and how motivated you are towards realizing them.
It is not required that you meditate
a certain amount of hours every day and there is in
fact no ‘correct’ way of being a Buddhist.
Children, studies, work and active participation in
society is no hindrance to Buddhist practices. On the
contrary, everyday life is where Buddhist methods are
fully put to the test. Lay people participate in life
as it is, while both monks/nuns and yogis traditionally
live in at least some degree of isolation from society.
The reclusive lifestyle offers much peace and quiet
for meditation but also means that it is not possible
to help others directly. It is a relief for many who
meet with Buddhism for the first time that you don’t
need to give up your boyfriend/girlfriend or your career
or to become a vegetarian to be a good practitioner.
The Buddha encouraged his students
never to accept blindly what he himself taught but to
consider the relevance of his teachings to their own
lives. Only when they could see the relevance of the
teachings were they ready to employ their methods. This
is still an important process in the Buddhist practices
of today.
Openness to the teachings, an independent
critical assessment of them, and application of their
methods are in Buddhism closely connected: First you
listen to the teachings, then you reflect upon them,
and finally you are ready to meditate.
In other words: You allow the teachings
that you have listened to with your ears and understood
with your intellect to sink into your heart in order
for these to become an integral part of yourself.
Buddhist practice consists of acquiring
knowledge and methods, employing the methods –
meditation – and maintaining the achieved level
of insight in everyday life. If you follow this path
you will automatically feel less and less important
and become more and more happy and attentive in everyday
life.
The Karma Kagyu School offers lectures
and meditations in which anyone is welcome to participate.
During the lectures there will be opportunities to ask
questions and all lectures about Buddhism are concluded
with a meditation session. In this way the school always
strives to unify the steps of knowledge, understanding
and meditation.
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