Hello everyone,

I thought I'd share this "Asian Classics Institute Link" with all of you.

http://www.world-view.org/aci/index.html

The Asian Classics Institute is dedicated to the serious study and personal practice of the original teachings of the Buddha. The Institute was established by Geshe Michael Roach under the spiritual direction of Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, a distinguished scholar and master of Buddhism from Tibet.

The Institute is staffed by volunteers and offers a wide range of programs for spiritually minded people of all levels, from beginning to advanced. We welcome all comers, all our teachings are offered without charge, and our teachers are well trained and experienced in the authentic Tibetan tradition. The purpose of the Institute is to provide a thorough, accurate Tibetan Buddhist education to anyone interested.

As a result of completing full studies with Khen Rinpoche and at Sera Monastery in India, Geshe Michael Roach developed and taught a seven-year Formal Study Program in New York. That program condensed the essence of the Six Great Books of Buddhism into a series of 15 Formal Study Courses to train the next generation of Western Tibetan Buddhist teachers. Those Courses parallel the same basic core of information that a Geshe (Doctor of Theology) learns at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Geshe Michael taught the Formal Study Courses along with Tibetan language classes, meditation and general Buddhist topics prior to entering retreat.

Upon completing this full program of teaching, Geshe Michael entered a three year isolated retreat, which will conclude in 2003. The teachers that Geshe Michael trained over a period of seven years continue to teach and conduct classes in person for the New York City community. For more information on the wide variety of classes offered in the New York City area, please see the classes in person pages. There are also study and meditation groups located in various cities around the world that are using materials from the Asian Classics Institute listed in the classes outside New York section.

Geshe Michael's classes were recorded, and demand for them from people living outside New York City consistently grew. As a result the Correspondence Courses were created to make these comprehensive, accessible teachings available to people everywhere by mail. The Correspondence Courses make the Formal Study Courses and meditation instructions that Geshe Michael taught available to those who did not attend in person. You can pursue a comprehensive Buddhist education wherever you are, and at your own pace and commitment level.

Thousands of people have received Buddhist study materials from the Asian Classics Institute by mail. To help satisfy the demand, and to make it more cost-effective for the growing number of students outside the United States, we have launched on-line availability of the teachings. Shipping printed materials and tapes around the world is too slow and expensive for many people.

The on-line teachings make the audio and text from the original classes that Geshe Michael taught available for download onto your own computer. You can now burn your own audio CD's of the teachings, or print out your own class texts.

For more information about classes and programs click on a relevant link, or to receive a class schedule in the mail contact:


ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE, PO Box 144, New York, NY 10276 U.S.A.

Tel: (212) 475-7752
Email: aci@world-view.org

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Jaye K,  thank you for the link.

has more:

http://dharmafriendship.org/index.html?/links.shtml

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Check the site carefully ... there's an ACI West in California ... there are also classes in Arizona.

Also check Geshe Michael Roach's schedule ... he's teaching worldwide now.

Mangalam,

patt

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Summary: This teaching explores further questions that arose from the Buddhism Connect email titled "The Truth of Suffering" which was sent out on 29.05.05

A student writes:

You say that the pain is Bodhicitta ... and to turn towards it and not resist it. It is like there is a wound where my heart is - I feel it almost physically. And sometimes it seems attached to personal issues like feeling very lonely and loveless; other times it's more about seeing the suffering in the world, that goes with being a living being."

Lama Shenpen:

Right.

Student:

I am trying to just be with pain. Sometimes I am feeling very sorry for myself and sometimes for others and crying because it hurts."

Lama Shenpen:

Yes. That is what we mean by suffering isn’t it? It is exactly like that.

Student:

I need to ask if this is OK?! That this is the path?"

Lama Shenpen:

There is no way around it. The path starts and ends there.

Student:

Perhaps I am repeating what I wrote before ... I am worried that just being with the pain is enough and yet I know from the experience of being with another person in pain that it often is enough ... It is all so strange ... "

Lama Shenpen:

It is very strange. When it doesn’t feel enough it is because somehow one is not really being with the pain. We have a little agenda going that says 'but I have been with the pain for ages now - why doesn't it feel any better?'

That second question is the tell tale sign that one is not really believing in the pain as Bodhichitta. That is because it is not easy to believe. Usually the pain is not persistent enough to force us to give up wriggling. We kind of wriggle to shake off the pain and if it goes, then we forget all about being awake and aware - it seems like an optional extra.

So in a way it is really good to have lots of suffering forced on you that you cannot wriggle out of. That is not because life has to be pain and suffering, but because we keep trying to wriggle out of being fully alive and awake. Pain and suffering keep reminding us that it is not ok being dulled out and half asleep, because sooner or later suffering catches up with us.

If we keep awake we eventually learn to be very simple with the pain and that is when a door seems to open into a different kind of space - not just an experience, but a reality that is neither suffering nor happiness in the sense of fleeting pleasures. It is an alive, complete sense of waking up out of something - and you realise you belong there. You realise that there is a way of relaxing into what is and simply being that right where you are. Even though we only realise it for a moment it is enough to make us realise there is a path and this is it!

Student:

My mind is full of questions about what is going on here. But that is maybe more about needing to know for security. But I also need to know what is true."

Lama Shenpen:

That is right.

Student:

You say to have confidence in your own Indestructible Heart Essence - this doesn't seem very real at the moment."

Lama Shenpen:

It is more elusive than unreal, isn’t it? It seems what is false is so well established that it is monolithic and intrudes everywhere - so the sense of something deeper and more meaningful kind of slides into the background and the propaganda of the foreground is saying 'all that stuff about Indestructibel Heart Essence is just so much hot air'. It is very hard to keep up the inspiration if you do not get time to study, reflect and practice and/or to talk to Dharma friends. Can you give anyone a ring from time to time to just chat about Dharma? You could ring me and/or Andrew of course.

Student:

But now I am thinking about the power of the Truth. That is what I can have confidence in. And where I am a bit lost about my own experience - and trusting that? Is it deluded?"

Lama Shenpen:

There is a part of yourself that really wants to know the answer to that question isn’t there? Go to that part and really identify with it - honour it - give it a hug and tell it to go for it. It is going to show you the way - it can always smell a rat when things aren’t right - so go for it - let it lead you - follow your nose! And enjoy the hunt ...

I hope this helps.

--- By Lama Shenpen Hookham

Subscribing to Buddhism Connect

If you're reading this email but you're not already a subscriber, you can easily subscribe yourself to the list to get these teachings regularly, by going to

http://www.buddhism-connect.org.

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Summary: Although it is wise not to lash out at others when we feel angry, we also need to develop kindness towards ourselves and allow ourselves to explore the experience of anger by relaxing into the feelings and physical sensations when meditating. We can develop a fearlessness that will help us to get right down to the root of that anger which is actually springing from the wisdom of the Heart. Then we are able to drop all the complicated twists that cause anger to manifest in unskilful ways.

A student writes:

So far I am finding the course challenging but rewarding."

Lama Shenpen:

That sounds good.

Student:

Sometimes I find it difficult to meditate as I have tension in my body and get sensations of heat and I am aware that some of the tension and heat is associated with anger."

Lama Shenpen:

Yes, this happens sometimes.

Student:

I have anxiety and find it hard to let out my anger."

Lama Shenpen:

It is a problem of being afraid of your anger. From one point of view that is a good thing - very wise. Anger harms ourselves and others. However, it is possible to make of it something rather solid and threatening that one kind of shies away from and never really explores to see what it is - what that experience is really. It is all built up on wrong ways of thinking - it is all built up on deep seated attitudes towards what we percieve of as ourselves and as others.

It is good to keep control and not lash out at people as soon as you feel anger arising. But at the same time you need to be very kind to yourself and not develop a hard attitude towards yourself and the anger. That is what the course is all about. It is about recognising that you are fundamentally good and gaining confidence in that. Then you won’t be afraid of yourself anymore. You will want to explore your experience more deeply and make friends with yourself.

When you understand how your anger is a twisted form of your wish for the happiness of yourself and others, you will no longer be afraid of it. Instead you will want to get right down to that deep root that is springing from the wisdom of the heart and to drop the complicated twists that cause it to manifest in an unskilful way. As your confidence increases, the more you will relax both in body and mind and so you will feel more at ease and notice a whole range of different creative ways you could respond to situations.

So make sure that you relax. Make sure that you do everything you can to be more relaxed in body and mind. Make sure that you are relaxed when you sit to meditate and when you are doing walking meditation. The more relaxed you are, the more you will be able to turn towards your experience of anger in an open and confident way and discover what lies at the heart of it.

You are bigger than that anger and bigger than your present idea of your body. No wonder it burns! You are this vast sea of ungraspable energy and inspiration plugged into this tiny view of yourself! You might find it helps to actually close your eyes and feel all your body sensations as if you had no idea of what a body was. You would then just have the body sensations in a kind of nowhere space that is neither big or small, near or far. Try it! Ask yourself how big any one sensation is or where it is (if you forget all about what you imagine your body is). Its sensation in space – it’s good to really relax into that. Sometimes you could do this instead of a meditation session. Feel free to move around - move your limbs and twist your body about so that you can explore all the sensations in this open and relaxed way - just wondering what it all is somehow. The important thing is to let go of your fixed ideas and just wonder! Try it and let me know how you get on.

Student:

I try not to lose my temper and point blame at people, because since meditating I am able to catch myself and take a step back before I overreact."

Lama Shenpen:

Good.

Student:

The section on the heart is a bit challenging as I find it can be hard sometimes to find associations with the word heart as I tend to look at the feelings the word creates rather than direct phrases using this term."

Lama Shenpen:

It doesn’t matter about the words too much - but try to get a range of them to help you link into all the different aspects to heart. Otherwise you might just keep looking at only one or two kinds of feeling associated with heart, and leave out others such as courage and strength.

--- By Lama Shenpen Hookham

You can search for teachings on a subject of your choice:

http://www.buddhism-connect.org/default.asp?ID=566

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http://tinyurl.com/ky9rw

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BBC: The Life of the Buddha

http://video.google.pl/videoplay?docid=2642956578955666663&q=bbc+the+life+of+buddha

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