Where to start with Buddhism?

I have been very curious about buddhism for some time now, but have no idea where to really start to learn more about it.  Do you have any suggestions?  

Are there books you would recommend to learn more?  Lizzy

Hey Lizzy, the teachings of Buddha have been endlessly interpreted and while it is more possible than ever before to study pure texts with Tibetan teachers, I have received great benefit from a more recent lineage of teachers from the US who have absorbed the classics in depth and fully understand how to support westerners with our 'special kind' of daily struggles, in our real lives.

I offer here some highlights or gems from my personal dharma (knowledge and practice) library. I hope that you enjoy and use this material as a 'way in' to finding the teachers that are exactly right for you.

Firstly go to Tara Brach and find her audio material and videos which she shares freely, though accepts donations. She is active on YouTube and also has her own site. She has issued a couple of very powerful books, but the audio is an easy way in.

Tara addresses addiction and all kinds of psychological distress with warmth and compassion and teaches these skills, its the way out of suffering, well it has been for me.

John Welwood is also fantastic, you may have to dig a little deeper to find his material. Buy any of his books as he writes prolifically and you can pick them up used for a few dollars.

All John's book emphasize the same message, he speaks to our core wounding; 'the wound of the heart' and indicates a very graceful way of healing that and hence improving our relationships.



Sharon Saltzberg is another teacher who is mature, well established, respected and relevant. She writes and speaks with authority about loving kindness, a core Buddhist teaching.

Kristen Neff is newer to the field and is coming more from an academic perspective than as a teacher of dharma. Her work is an unpacking and examining of a key Buddhist trait - and essential component of self healing: self-compassion.

This overall approach is broadly about a merging of Buddhism and psychotherapy, (another tradition I have richly received from and am about to start training in).

And has really helped me to identify, dissolve and release some very real and pernicous situations I have carried around and repeatedly created for myself as heavy and painful burdens for too many years.


Buddhist dharma has gifted me a kind of practical support I could not find in yoga, which is oriented towards self-realisation. These teachings are helping me to understand and unlock my true nature, how to relate to myself and others with kindness and acceptance and how to cope with the changing conditions and challenges of every day life in a constructive and positive way.

I hope that this will be of benefit to you
Be happy, be well!

Jennifer

Links as mentioned:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqPCcFTP_kY
A short video which gives a flavour of Tara's approach

www.tarabrach.com/audiodharma
All of Tara's talks for free, with a section for those new to meditation.

www.soundstrue.com/podcast/healing-the-core-wound-of-the-heart/
Excellent interview with John Welwood

www.amazon.com/dp/0394721829
'Awakening the Heart' is John's magnum opus, but any of his book are excellent

www.insidepersonalgrowth.com/2010/11/podcasts/podcast-240-the-force-of-kindness-with-sharon-salzberg/
Recommended audio interview: Sharon Saltzberg discusses the meaning and value of kindness

www.amazon.com/Self-Compassion-Beating-Yourself-Insecurity-Behind/
Kristen Neff's helpful and easily readable guide to self-compassion

The temple of God is within your soul

 

 

The temple of God is within your soul. 

Enter into this quietness and sit there in meditation with the light of intuition burning on the altar.

There is no restlessness, no searching or striving there. 

Come into the silence of solitude, and the vibration there will talk to you with the voice of God.

And you will know that the invisible has become visible, and the unreal has become real.

Parahamsa Yogananda

An elegant summation of the true aim of yoga by a great, good, generous, frankly gorgeous yogi who has done so much to transport and translate the gifts of yoga from east to west. 

I feel the deep truth of his words resonating throughout my being -a lovely feeling.

Hari om 

Jennifer

High summer at Glastonbury Healing Gardens

Good things to come!

I set out for the Healing Gardens under a changing sky, indigo clouds with a cool feel to the day. The sound of tall grasses swooshing in the wind accompanied me as I descended the grass pathway to the growing area.

I paused to greet the chickens who clucked and clamoured as I approached their enclosure. And passed young fruit trees carrying their tender offspring: cherries and apples for later in the season.

A little further along, tiny translucent berries ripening steadily illustrated this moment in time - the sweet spot between summer solstice and lammas.


 
 
As I browsed the produce in the planted beds, I noticed that many wild insects were sharing this special place with me. Certain species clearly having an affinity for certain plants: ladybirds on the sage and mint, bees all over the borage and earwigs crawling under the kale.

Exuberance and colour

A delightful sense of harmony spread through me and I thought about how, when we garden with sensitivity and care, nature blesses us with the gifts of her diversity.

The clouds looked as though they might burst at any moment, so I detached myself from my musings and got busy with the day's harvest. Juliet had asked me to pick up some chard and I was interested in salad ingredients for myself.


There was a choice of chard; red, yellow and white stemmed varieties growing comfortably alongside each other. Two types of kale, several lettuce varieties, landcress, rocket, flat leaf parsley and bronze fennel.

I was excited to see so many edible flowers; surely the essence of summer - each a miniature mandala - balance, beauty and perfection on a small scale.  I made my selection with a happy heart.

A nest of onions begging to be picked!

In contrast to the delicate blooms and leaves in the salad beds, heavy, brooding artichokes, robust broad beans like giant's fingers and families of earthy onions asserted a vigorous presence nearby.

I admired a row of strange alien shaped allium heads that rose high into the skyline.



 
Turning to leave, I noted a bed of chard stalks, left on the earth, laid out to decompose and nurture the soil.

The poetry of dead forms

A transparent reminder of the cycle of life, the quiet efficiency of nature endlessly recycling and wasting nothing and the poignancy of death and changing forms.
  
Each time I visit the gardens I feel grateful not only for the wonderful food that nourishes my body, but also for the gentle teachings that I receive wordlessly from the plants and other living creatures.

Healing Gardens indeed.


 
Glastonbury Healing Gardens Co-operative is a year round expanding community project, currently open to new members.

Website: www.GlastonburyHealingGardens.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Glastonbury-Healing-Gardens-Cooperative

View additional pictures from today's visit on my facebook page