Diamond Heart Dharma

BESs

This is a helpful animation of a very old graphical guide used to explain the process of perfecting one's meditation practice. It uses visual metaphors to show the stages all great meditators must pass through to reach the highest states of consciousness. This is an invaluable map given to us by people who knew the territory well and left us instructions on how to follow them. Come back to this as your practice improves and you will see more and more in this fabulous diagram. There is a decent explanation of the stages here.

BESs

Briefly, the Monkey represents the distracted "monkey" mind we all face when first starting meditation, and the Elephant is the core of the mind itself.  Watch what happens.

BESs

Zen has a long tradition of telling stories through pictures. The messages we seek to understand often wriggle out of the word traps we make for them. In that context this video is a powerful tool for understanding the path. There is just so much in this short clip to ruminate on. The secret to happiness is right here, as much as anywhere else on this site. As with all this type of material, it is very simple, but not at all easy.

Ready for a fantastic story? Watch this video and see what active compassion looks like. This is the kind of thing we love to see this time of year. Enjoy. Then check out http://kiva.org

The Dharma comes in many forms. Listen to this beautiful and all too brief explanation of a universal concept of all true religions. As the Dalai Lama says all the time "My religion kindness".

A simply amazing exploration of the mind from the inside out, from a brain scientist describing her own experience with a stroke, and with the divine.