Wisdom, Compassion and Openness
Exploration of history and archeological evidence of Buddhism in South India shows that Buddhism had been widespread in the South at least till the middle of the last millennium. While historical explorations dispel the attachment to misperceptions about heritage, we should also take care not to turn these new findings into another object of attachment and a cause for negative emotions.
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Sreemoolavasam Mahayana Monastery was one of the ancient Buddhist centers in South India (in South Kerala) and had a famous Avalokitesvara statue, with Tara and Bhrikuti on two sides. The then Ay King Vikamaditya Varaguna was a patron of this monastery.
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It is said that one should descend with the view from above and ascend with the conduct from below. It is equally important to maintain a view as vast and open like the sky, and to engage in conduct with precise regard for the cause and effect relations.
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In kasibharadvaja sutta, the Buddha explains the way of cultivating mind by using the simile of ploughing the field. Like the farmer Bharadvaja, even today, people confuse meditation to be simply idling. This sutra shows how it should be as involved and engaged as farming.
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An explanation on how our future is in our own hands. Explores the age old dilemma in the Indian thinking, “Is it correct to do an action with the motivation of a specific result?”
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When the voice of the messengers of peace will be heard louder than those of the hate speeches, when people find inspiration in the messages of harmony, tolerance and love, a nation enters its golden era. In contrast, when hate speeches and calls for persecution fill the air, …
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The sacred objects of Buddhism such as statues and scriptures are aids for working with one’s own mind. Masters cautioned not to turn them into objects of conflicts and not to be upset by their destruction. The way to protect Dharma is by being a living lamp of peace, wisdom and compassion …
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A poetry that explores the connection between the noble eight-fold path of the Buddha and the experience of non-dual non-conceptual awakening. “… In the withering away of the matrix of ego and concepts, Is the explosive joy of empty mind!”
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We claim to be “free thinkers”. But, are we really free in our thoughts?
If this is so, we must be thinking from clear and direct wisdom unstained by habitual presumptions, inclinations and taboos. Often, that is not the case. Whatever we hear, does it remain inside as just pieces of information we can use freely? Rather, it molds us to think in specific ways. What we hear turns into bondage – of presumptions, inclinations and taboos.