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Shambhala Training
Shambhala Training is a secular approach to meditation and a new religious movement developed by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his students. It is based on what Trungpa calls Shambhala Vision, which sees enlightened society as not purely mythical, but as realizable by people of all faiths through practices of mindfulness/awareness, non-aggression, and sacred outlook. History Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche arrived in North America in 1970, and began teaching Western students from within the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. These students formed a growing spiritual community, which incorporated as Vajradhatu (now Shambhala International) in 1973. Beginning in 1976, Trungpa Rinpoche presented a series of teachings known as the "Shambhala teachings" to the community. These teachings presented the principle of basic goodness, and a secular rather than religious approach to enlightenment. In 1977, Trungpa Rinpoche first trained senior students to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian history into the modern era. Since the Middle Ages, there have been clergy not pertaining to a religious order called "secular clergy". Furthermore, secular and religious entities were not separated in the medieval period, but coexisted and interacted naturally. The word ''secular'' has a meaning very similar to profane as used in a religious context. Today, anything that is not directly connected with religion may be considered secular, in other words, neutral to religion. Secularity does not mean , but . Many activities in religious bodies are secular, and though there are multiple types of secularity or secularization, most do not lead to irreligiosity. Linguistically, a process by which anything becomes secular is named ''secularizatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guru
Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential figure to the disciple (or ''wikt:शिष्य, shisya'' in Sanskrit, literally ''seeker [of knowledge or truth'']) or student, with the guru serving as a "counsellor, who helps mould values, shares experiential knowledge as much as Knowledge#Hinduism, literal knowledge, an Role model, exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a student". Whatever language it is written in, Judith Simmer-Brown says that a tantra, tantric spiritual text is often codified in an obscure twilight language so that it cannot be understood by anyone without the verbal explanation of a qualified teacher, the guru. A guru is also one's spiritual guide, who helps one to discover the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terma (Buddhism)
Terma (; "hidden treasure") are various forms of hidden teachings that are key to the Vajrayana of Tibetan Buddhism, and Bon spiritual traditions. In the Vajrayana Nyingma school tradition, two lineages occur: an oral ''Kama lineage'' and a revealed ''Terma lineage''. ''Terma'' teachings were originally concealed by eighth-century Vajrayana masters Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, to be discovered by treasure revealers known as tertöns, when the time was ripe. As such, the termas represent a tradition of continuous revelation in the Vajrayana of Tibetan Buddhism. Background The terma tradition of rediscovering hidden teaching is not unique to Tibet. It has antecedents in India and cultural resonances in Hindu Vaishnavism as well. The Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is said to have rediscovered a fragment of the ''Brahma Samhita'' in a trance state of devotional ecstasy. There is another occasion involving Chaitanya, who deposited his divine love (''prema'') for the grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stroke (Chinese Character)
Strokes ( zh, t=筆畫, s=笔画, p=bǐhuà) are the smallest structural units making up written Chinese characters. In the act of writing, a stroke is defined as a movement of a writing instrument on a writing material surface, or the trace left on the surface from a discrete application of the writing implement. The modern sense of discretized strokes first came into being with the clerical script during the Han dynasty. In the regular script that emerged during the Tang dynasty—the most recent major style, highly studied for its aesthetics in East Asian calligraphy—individual strokes are discrete and highly regularized. By contrast, the ancient seal script has line terminals within characters that are often unclear, making them non-trivial to count. Study and classification of strokes is useful for understanding Chinese calligraphy, Chinese character calligraphy, ensuring character legibility, identifying fundamental components of Radical (Chinese characters), radicals, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandala
A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. In the Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Shinto it is used as a map representing deities, or especially in the case of Shinto, paradises, kami or actual shrines. Hinduism In Hinduism, a basic mandala, also called a '' yantra'', takes the form of a square with four gates containing a circle with a centre point. Each gate is in the general shape of a T. Mandalas often have radial balance. A '' yantra'' is similar to a mandala, usually smaller and using a more limited colour palette. It may be a two- or three-dimensional geometric composition used in '' sadhanas'', puja or meditative rituals, and may incorporate a mantra into its design. It is considered to represent the abode ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garuda
Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the Devas, Gandharvas, Daityas, Danavas, Nāgas, Vanara and Yakshas. He is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. He is the younger brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun. Garuda is mentioned in several other texts such as the Puranas and the Vedas. Garuda is described as the king of the birds and a kite-like figure. He is shown either in a zoomorphic form (a giant bird with partially open wings) or an anthropomorphic form (a man with wings and some ornithic features). Garuda is generally portrayed as a protector with the power to swiftly travel anywhere, ever vigilant and an enemy of every serpent. He is also known as Tarkshya and Vainateya. Garuda is a part of state insignia of India, Indonesia and Thailand. Both Indonesia and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kami
are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, beings and the qualities that these beings express, and/or the spirits of venerated dead people. Many ''kami'' are considered the ancient ancestors of entire Japanese clans, clans (some ancestors became ''kami'' upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of ''kami'' in life). Traditionally, great leaders like the Emperor of Japan, Emperor could be or became ''kami''. In Shinto, ''kami'' are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, and good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of , the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. ''Kami'' are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energy (esotericism)
Proponents and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine refer to a variety of claimed experiences and phenomena as being due to "energy" or "force" that defy measurement or experimentation, and thus are distinct from uses of the term "energy" in science. Claims related to energy therapies are most often anecdotal, rather than being based on repeatable empirical evidence, thus not following the scientific method. There is no scientific evidence for the existence of such energy, and physics educators criticize the use of the term "energy" to describe ideas in esotericism and spirituality as unavoidably confusing. History The concept of esoteric energy has appeared in various cultures and spiritual traditions throughout history. Although interpretations differ, many traditions describe it as a vital force that animates living beings and permeates the cosmos. These ideas often overlap with religious, medical, and mystical frameworks, inf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wind Horse
The wind horse is a Winged horse, flying horse that is the symbol of the human soul in the shamanism, shamanistic tradition of East Asia and Central Asia. In Tibetan Buddhism, it was included as the pivotal element in the center of the four animals symbolizing the cardinal directions and a symbol of the idea of well-being or good fortune. It has also given the name to a type of prayer flag that has the five animals printed on it. Depending on the language, the symbol has slightly different names. * , pronounced ''lungta'', Standard Tibetan, Tibetan for "wind horse" * , literally "gas horse," semantically "wind horse," colloquial meaning ''soul''. In Tibetan usage In Tibet, a distinction was made between Buddhism (, literally "divine dharma") and folk religion (, "human dharma"). Windhorse was predominantly a feature of the folk culture, a "mundane notion of the layman rather than a Buddhist religious ideal," as Tibetan scholar Samten G. Karmay explains.Karmay, Samten G. ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
