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Lotus Sutra 15: Emptiness and the Necessary Obstacle
I thought we’d begin with one of the most dramatic moments in Buddhist literature. It’s a scene that I used to imagine taking place in a kind of palace, where the candles would throw large flickering shadows on the walls
Lotus Sutra 14: You Were Happy
Sick Kids R Us Children have taken the poison of dukkha and have lost their senses. They are trapped in delusion. Even when the father, whom the children love and respect, prepares medicine, only some of them take it, the
Lotus Sutra 13: Bodhisattva Vow
Addictions Suffering is caused by the stories we’re addicted to. Maybe we just need to give our addictions a decent burial. When you try to resolve your crisis the resolution becomes the new crisis. Room Response What if you walked
Lotus Sutra 12: Girl Buddha
Dancing In The Lotus Sutra, whenever people start to wake up they start dancing. It’s nice to be part of a lineage that insists on dancing. Emma Goldman (proto-feminist, writer, activist) thought so too. “At the dances I was one
Lotus Sutra 11: Nemesis
There is a treasure tower, a stupa, that appears floating in the sky every time the Lotus Sutra is being delivered. Michael met a mensch on the plane who said, “The tower is there because the fear of death hovers
Lotus Sutra 10: Imagination
The arhats – those perfectly enlightened beings who had sat with the Buddha, tirelessly meditating, extending benevolence and kindness to others with every breath – offer a parable about themselves to the Buddha. They are like a man who gets
Lotus Sutra 9: Treasure
At the beginning of this chapter, the one that promises treasure, Purna is excited that he’s hearing such beautiful teachings. The Buddha says to the sangha: Now this Purna in the past diligently practiced the way under a thousand million
Lotus Sutra 8: Facing the Face
Breathing as Listening Can you listen to The Lotus Sutra through your breath? Using the medium of your breath, letting it float into you on currents of cool air, instead of using the analytical part of yourself, the inner autopsy
Lotus Sutra 7: The Phantom City
Time There are different layers of time. The atomic clock in Boulder measures time through its decay. Time is passing. Is time passing? Is time passing? Is time passing? The body has its own time. We’re meeting in the evening
Lotus Sutra 6: Suffering and Time
Dharma Sequins Mahayana Buddhism is rococo Buddhism, extravagant and spectacular. If you photocopied the Lotus Sutra it would come out of the machine looking like gold sequins. Arhats are the perfected beings of early Buddhism, sternly ascetic practitioners of the
Lotus Sutra 5: Burning
Last Defence at Troubled Reactors: 50 Japanese Workers by Keith Bradsher and Hioko Tabuchi (New York Times) A small crew of technicians, braving radiation and fire, became the only people remaining at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Tuesday
Lotus Sutra 4: Scenes
Rule Rebellion When the Buddha died, the sangha built several stupas (shrines). Different parts of the community gathered around different shrines. One of the largest gatherings, of what might be named the maha, the majority of the sangha, had split
About the Community Library
Michael was a great archivist and the Community Library was—and continues to be—a labour of love. Everything in the Community Library is available for free. Anyone, anywhere can have instant access to material that will help them deepen their practice and contribute to a culture of compassion and collaboration.
Libraries are places where we gather alone together. They are known to be places of refuge for seekers, as well as those who are marginalized. This library is no different. It helps us nourish our beautiful, international community without walls. Now, it will also help keep Michael’s legacy alive.