I am writing from the Dieppe – Newhaven ferry, returning from a week of solitary retreat in my beloved Normandy. My hope was to immerse myself in 10 to 12 hours of practice each day – the practice at hand being Guru Yoga, the fourth practice of the Vajrayana preliminaries, or Ngondro¹. Practicing for that …
On my recent holiday, I read the excellent book “The Wakeful Body” by Willa Blythe Baker. As is often the case, the right books tend to jump off my bookshelf when I am selecting my holiday reading. This was a timely read having been exploring the three kayas teaching of Vajrayana Buddhism in some depth …
“Seeing confusion as the four kayas is unsurpassable shunyata protection” This is the 14th of the Buddhist lojong slogans: 59 phrases that assist a practitioner’s mind training on the path of waking up. It isn’t the easiest slogan to penetrate, especially on first reading – but I want to use it this week to continue …
Last week I shared some thoughts on the initial feedback offered by my kalyanamitra on my book manuscript . Crystal asked how my book could itself provide ‘spiritual friendship’ to other aspirants looking to bring together psychological and spiritual journeying. This week I wanted to share a second suggestion from Crystal: to consider the ending …