Personal Development

Effective Listening – Three Defects of the Vessel

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The upside-down pot. When you are listening to the teachings, listen to what is being said and do not let yourself be distracted by anything else. Otherwise you will be like an upside-down pot on which liquid is being poured.

Buddha's Birthday

The pot with a hole in it. If you just listen without remembering anything that you hear or understand, you will be like a pot with a leak: however much liquid is poured into it, nothing can stay. No matter how many teachings you hear, you can never assimilate them or put them into practice.

The pot containing poison. If you listen to the teachings with a mind full of the five poisons of attachment, aversion, ignorance and so on, the dharma will not only fail to help your mind; it will also be changed into something that is not dharma at all, like nectar poured into a pot containing poison.

-Khenpo Gyaltsen

Yes, I am changing

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A  friend of mine crossed 45 years of age. I asked him what’s changing?  He sent me the following lines.

Yes, I am changing — After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself.

Yes, I am changing —  I just realised that I am not “Atlas”. The world does not rest on my shoulders.

Yes, I am changing  —  I  now stopped bargaining with vegetables and fruits vendors.  After all, a few rupees more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow save for his daughter’s school fees.

Yes, I am changing  —  I pay the taxi driver without waiting for the change. The extra money might bring a smile on his face. After all he is toiling much harder for a living than me. Continue reading →

A key to Unconditional Love, is the willingness to forgive…..

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Forgiveness (Courtesy of Huffington Post)With forgiveness, events and people are re-contextualized as simply “limited”—not “bad” or “unlovable.” With humility, we are willing to relinquish our perception of a past event. We pray for a miracle to see the truth about the situation or person, and we surrender all of our opinions about the matter. We look at the payoffs we’re getting from keeping our perception of what occurred, and we let go of each little payoff: the pleasure of self-pity, of “being right,” of being “wronged,” and of our resentments. Continue reading →