Wisdom: An Endangered Natural Resource

Published in Tricycle Magazine Winter 2007 Lama Surya Das explores the common roots of various Buddhist meditative practices. Clinging to one’s school and condemning others Is the certain way to waste one’s learning. Since all dharma teachings are good, Those who cling to sectarianism Degrade Buddhism and sever Themselves from liberation." —Milarepa, The One Hundred Thousand Songs During my initial private meeting with the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, my first root guru, I asked him about the main points of meditation. He asked what kind of meditation I was doing, and I told him mindfulness...

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Published in The Huffington Post 4-12-2010 Last night PBS aired The Buddha, a new TV special about the sage's life, impact, and particular relevance to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. By filmmaker David Grubin, the documentary features the work of some of the world's greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia have depicted the Buddha's life through art rich in beauty and complexity. Moreover, this film points out how we may integrate enlightening wisdom and mindfulness into our daily lives today, which is the main point of Buddhism in practice,...

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Published in The Huffington Post 5-25-2010 Last week someone told me that in his eighty-odd years he had never seen such pervasive levels of fear and anger. This observation gave me pause to wonder: how do we restore ourselves, heal our spirit and revitalize the earth too? What is true healing, anyway, and can it be effected? When we are unwell, it's mostly due to imbalances clogging our lives and limiting our innate capacity for joy and well-being. These internal imbalances and energy blockages often express themselves as disturbing emotions--anger, frustration, anxiety and alienation, to name...

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Published in The Huffington Post 4-28-2010 Can you tell me What is Wisdom while standing on one leg? This was the challenge put to a rabbi of old. King Solomon said that wisdom was the knowledge and judgment to know right from wrong. He received his vaunted wisdom from God in a dream; would that we too had such dreams! "Blessed  is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for he is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold." -- Proverbs 3:13 The Talmud says that the wisest among men is he who learns from all. My father's view on the subject was that...

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