Dear Friends I am writing from a place I never seriously imagined before these Covid-19 times. The normalisation of social distancing, lock-down, unrequested retreat, and a prolonged plunge – an eternal diving – deep into the unknowing and unknowable not-knowingness of everything taken for granted; this interweaving of worlds, revealed ever more starkly as fragile, … Continue reading A Sheaf of Poems
Dear Friends I hope you are all healthy and well in body and spirit. New Zealand is going into total lock-down tomorrow for at least a month. It is hoped that by doing this, many lives will be saved and the health system will not be overloaded to the point of collapse. We have just … Continue reading Love and Clear Seeing in Tumultuous Times
This post is dedicated to the Australian fire fighters, medical responders, comforters, supporters and helpers – bodhisattvas of all kinds – who are courageously rising to the occasion, regardless of risk, to help and succour beings in need. I realise that many of you are far too engaged with immediate necessities to find these mere … Continue reading Fire and Living Dharma
Returning from a very full month of teaching and dharma exploration in Brazil we are delighted to announce some new publications in both English and Portuguese. In NZ we have refined and extended, "Foundations of Mindfulness: A Manual for Meditators". This is now available in book form where it joins "Walking in Wisdom" and "Breathing: … Continue reading Foundations of Mindfulness and Brazilian Blessings
Winter is truly upon us, though in the Bay of Plenty, that means occasional frosts while gardens are still filled with blossoming flowers and green leafy vegetables! The last few months have seen little activity on Green Dharma Treasury but we haven't been completely asleep. In the background, much has been happening and we are … Continue reading New Treasures on GDT
Every human choice bows like a slave in submission to the absolute's creative will, yet this does not deprive us of freedom, or of taking responsibility for what we choose. ~ Rumi ~ (Translated by Coleman Barks in, "The Soul of Rumi.") Hearing the news of the Christchurch mosque shootings, I sit stunned with sadness … Continue reading We Are In This Together
We are bombarded daily by reports of conflict, atrocities and proliferating social dysfunction. Surely many of us must be asking what, if anything, we can do about this nightmarish situation. The following essay is extracted from my e-book, "Sangha Work". Re-reading it the other day I felt it is as relevant today as it was … Continue reading Cultivating Healthy Community: towards a universal sangha
I remember studying with the Ven. Namgyal Rinpoche in 1970. What attracted me was his alive presence, his breadth of knowledge and the immensity of view he continually revealed to us. Around that time, his book "The Vision" was published. Drawing on traditions of Christianity, Buddhism, Jungian psychology, science and sociology, he sketched out an … Continue reading Future Dharma Worth Supporting: a vision of immeasurable wisdom and compassion
Profound teaching (dharma) is revealed in the fullness of our living. At Orgyen Hermitage, we have shelves of books from various schools and traditions. Each of them grew from a view of the world. Each of them conveys a particular angle or breadth of understanding. Many of them seem to be saying very similar things. … Continue reading Primordial Middle Way
A central meaning of 'tantra' is wholeness/continuity. Tantra is a path of wholeness understanding wholeness, a vision integrating all visions. In the ancient cultures of Tibet, India, parts of southeast Asia and China, there flourished various wisdom traditions known as tantra. Today, tantra is sometimes associated with attempted mergings of spirituality and sex, but originally … Continue reading Tantra and Climate Change
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