Breath, Desire, and How To Open The Heart

As we breathe is it possible for us to die with every breath? Can we allow there to be a release that cascades throughout our physiological system that ensues with the termination of each breath? Can we breath in such a way that our eyes become like a crystalline still pools of water? Can we, even as we are stuck in traffic, waiting in line, or when our kids are screaming their heads off continue to breathe in this way?

Strangely, by watching the unfolding currents of the breath and the continuous flowering of sensations that accompany each cycle we are slowly able to disentangle the fixity of our labels for things and the things as they are themselves--the fixity of our labels of how things are or we think they ought to be slowly dissolves. As thought structures begin to dissolve we can, if we are attentive with soft eyes, open ears and a vacuous palate, develop a relationship with the oceanic force that connects all things and is the energy of desire that drives and directs our lives.

This force, says Lama Yeshe, is the wellspring of energy that we must draw upon and direct towards awakening, or enlightenment. Otherwise, this energy will inevitably orient itself towards the unquenchable desires the are limited to the world of NAMA and RUPA, or NAME and FORM. Yoga of course is that ultimately satiating experience that comes from embracing the totality of our world in all of its forms, names, their interconnections, and the sparkling hollowness that lies at their core. Yoga is not limited to the shells of things and the names that we give them. From brushing our teeth, to surfing The Web, to calling our friends, to driving to work and sharing moments with loved ones, this energy of desire is pulling us ever forward like a great and surging tidal wave. In fact, it is this perpetuity of desire that enables us to become fountainheads of positive change in the world around us and to become beacons to light for those who have lost their way in the dark. And through the cultivation this energy and working tirelessly for the sake of others, we find what is means to live with a truly open heart.

Ornate Hawk-Eagle

The Shape of the Universe

One physicists idea of the great meta-structure of the universe, and perhaps also the structure our our energetic hearts.

A reminder for all who dwell in the urban jungle

(courtesy National Geographic)

Serpent Power-Shakti

Unknown species of asian pit-viper (perhaps a Wragler's Pit-Viper)
(courtesy of National Geographic)

May the People of Tibet once again live free.

A Prayer Composed by
His Holines Tenzin Gyatso The Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet

Honoring and Invoking the Great Compassion
of the Three Jewels; the Buddha, the Teachings,
and the Spiritual Community

O Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and disciples
of the past, present, and future:
Having remarkable qualities
Immeasurably vast as the ocean,
Who regard all helpless sentient beings
as your only child;
Please consider the truth of my anguished pleas.

Buddha's full teachings dispel the pain of worldly
existence and self-oriented peace;
May they flourish, spreading prosperity and happiness through-
out this spacious world.
O holders of the Dharma: scholars
and realized practitioners;
May your ten fold virtuous practice prevail.

Humble sentient beings, tormented
by sufferings without cease,
Completely suppressed by seemingly endless
and terribly intense, negative deeds,
May all their fears from unbearable war, famine,
and disease be pacified,

To freely breathe an ocean of happiness and well-being.
And particularly the pious people
of the Land of Snows who, through various means,
Are mercilessly destroyed by barbaric hordes
on the side of darkness,
Kindly let the power of your compassion arise,
To quickly stem the flow of blood and tears.

Those unrelentingly cruel ones, objects of compassion,
Maddened by delusion's evils,
wantonly destroy themselves and others;
May they achieve the eye of wisdom,
knowing what must be done and undone,
And abide in the glory of friendship and love.

May this heartfelt wish of total freedom for all Tibet,
Which has been awaited for a long time,
be spontaneously fulfilled;
Please grant soon the good fortune to enjoy
The happy celebration of spiritual with temporal rule.

O protector Chenrezig, compassionately care for
Those who have undergone myriad hardships,
Completely sacrificing their most cherished lives,
bodies, and wealth,
For the sake of the teachings, practitioners,
people, and nation.

Thus, the protector Chenrezig made vast prayers
Before the Buddhas and Bodhisativas
To fully embrace the Land of Snows;
May the good results of these prayers now quickly appear.
By the profound interdependence of emptiness
and relative forms,

Together with the force of great compassion
in the Three Jewels and their Words of Truth,
And through the power
of the infallible law of actions and their fruits,
May this truthful prayer be unhindered
and quickly fulfilled.
-----------------------
This prayer, Words of Truth, was composed by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, on 29 September 1960 at his temporary headquarters in the Swarg Ashram at Dharamsala, Kangra District, Himachal State, India. This prayer for restoring peace, the Buddhist teachings, and the culture and self-determina-tion of the Tibetan people in their homeland was written after repeated requests by Tibetan government officials along with the unanimous consensus of the monastic and lay communities.