The Gradual Path Blog
Our quarterly forecast with master astrologer Lynn Bell happens in the Contemplative Studies Program Courtyard October 29th. Lynn will discuss the powerful alignments occurring in November and carry us through into the New Year.
Lynn Bell has been practicing astrology for over forty years. Her appr...
Introduction to the Tsum Valley Rachen Nunnery Service Project
In a hidden valley in the high Himalayas of north western Nepal, near the Tibetan border, a group of nuns preserve the practice of Tibetan Buddhism at Rachen Nunnery. Kathmandu is the nearest city, a mere 5 or 6-day trek away – by foot,...
Discover more about archetypes, astrology, and alchemy as therapist Anderson Todd discusses Carl Jung’s seminal book Aion, in our opening lecture of the Sensemaking the Pandemic series.
Life is exceedingly precious and fleeting, we must use every moment meaningfully to awaken for the benefit of others. In the second semester of our year-long course with Dr. Miles Neale and special guests, we will continue to extract the essence of the gradual path (lam rim) of Tibetan Buddhism by r...
The second instalment in the Lam Rim on the Road travelogue by guest contributor Erica Saccente.
Overlooking the silver sea, I drink a cup of coffee and try to recount the events of the past two weeks on Ithaca. This hypnotic island warps time so that a week feels like 24 hours and 6 months simulta...
Part 1 of our Review Session reminds us of our methodology, combining study and reflection, with meditation and application to everyday life.
We refresh steps 1-14, ending in the first milestone of Renunciation.
Hopefully this review is helpful for those who have completed all the posts in our s...
Congratulations! You made it to the summit of the gradual path.
The correct view of reality sees the conventional reality of people, places, things, and experiences, as inseparable from their ultimate reality, the lack of inherent existence. Emptiness is form, form is emptiness. Which means we ar...
Definition of emptiness - The lack of inherent existence of the subject, object, and interaction.
The “lack” implies something we thought was there is not. Self-existence or independent existence is not there. And yet...things still arise, appear, and feel good or bad.
There is a conventional, r...
The ability to hold ones attention on an object, sustaining it indefinitely, at will, leading to an intense experience of bliss.
They say that concentration taken to its extreme can produce psychic abilities (siddhis) we would call extra sensory perceptions like clairvoyance.
There are also the ...
We got this!
The journey of awakening is long, the suffering of living begins is vast to endure, without developing the virtue of perseverance what chance do we have? What has helped sustain you during the global pandemic? What well of good energy do you draw upon to start and sustain yourself in...
1) The Patience of Not Reacting
See that people hurt us as a result of their karma - compassion See how we feel when others hurt us as our karma - renunciation Resist retaliation, which perpetuates cycles of violence. Find more karmically constructive ways to work with others who create harm = vi...
There are three types of morality:
1) Restraining from causing harm
2) Accumulating merit through virtue
3) Benefiting all sentient beings
Want an assignment? Look up the ten non-virtues and their opposites.
Using my snowflake model ❄️ how is the perfection of morality connected and enhanced ...
