Dear friends of Penguins/Linux, My long term plan is to have a GNU-Debian or hosted server, providing Dharma. That is right, computer bodhi! Will the Buddha Maitreya be using what she is given OR be advocating for a better enlightened interface? I spent last night trying to set up Fedora 40 on my laptop. More to do. https://distrowatch.com/ Any other plans to provide dharma-bots? Programs for Buddha? https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=10289 ..read more

Dear friends with an affinity 4, Well for wot? I have an affinity for trees. Today I came across a Princess/Empress street tree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia_tomentosa#Europe Obviously not all trees in all locations, times and places, demonstrate ahimsa. Just as not all Dharmic religions are always harmless or used with compassion and wisdom. However I feel trees are the natural embodiment of Buddha-Nature and Shakyamuni Budhha's preferred emblem … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Tree Wot is your harmless affinity ..read more

Lately a spiritual friend told me that his teacher of many years had gone into silence, and before doing so had said to him “it doesn’t matter what I say, the people make their own story of it.” Now this teacher had given up seeing students altogether. It reminded me of what was told about Sri Ramana Maharshi, the holy man of Arunachala Mountain, who held that his most advanced students learned from his silence. A new disciple would first be tested to see if he could learn in silence, then he would be asked to try self-inquiry, and if he said that was not the way for him it would be suggested ..read more

Hello everyone! I'm Flavia and I was introduced to Buddhism and the concept of karma a little while ago, so I'm trying to reconcile this idea with my life experience. I had a particularly violent upbringing and, according to the laws of karma, the terrifying childhood I experienced, full of violence, verbal abuse, and the extreme rejection and neglect that came from my mother was deserved because it was my karma. I grew up to be a self-destructive, self-hating individual who strongly believes that no good thing can come out of me... I grew up extremely depressed and suffered from an array of m ..read more

It seems to me that all search for truth can’t get away from the subjectivity of it, the fact that your own viewpoint defines the results and extents of the search. This leads you to explore yourself, to deconditioning and self-observation. In many ways earnestness, a commitment to honesty inside and outside yourself, is an ally in this search, an accelerant of the process in which you let go of many things. It really is a process where the question “who am I?” forces you to confront all the untruths. It leads to many questions about yourself, and a long process of letting go of things. But as ..read more

It seems to me that at a certain point intelligence breaks free of pre-conditioned patterns of behaviour and starts asking “why exactly should I do certain things? What is in it for me?” For example the questions of honour and of keeping one’s word, honouring a promise, that is a very old pattern that goes back to ancient times, in the days when you determined whether a man could be trusted by the value of his word. In a way keeping your word is a kind of personal code of honour, something you don’t really expect others to see in you, and it supersedes gain and loss, which are a merchants way ..read more

Dear Parents, As a mother of a 9 year old child, I have a strong wish for her to live a happy and peaceful life. However, I understand that no matter how carefully I shelter and protect her, eventually she must face challenges in life on her own. The best thing I can do for her right now is to help plant and nurture the wholesome seeds of kindness and compassion, wisdom and patience in a spacious mind and an inclusive heart. Because only from that foundation, can she truly live a free and happy life. Realizing the importance for young children to have an education program that focuses on nurtu ..read more

Just when humanity needs to be coming together to work to solve existential threats like climate change, we are seeing the world on the possible verge of a global conflict. Please share your meditations for peace here if you wish. Let me begin. To the world and the people in it - MAY YOU BE HAPPY. MAY YOU BE WELL. MAY YOU BE SAFE. MAY YOU BE FREE ..read more

It seems to me that a key aspect of mindfulness lies in how you observe yourself. I find that I can observe my thoughts and emotions quite well while sitting still in a chair or on my bed, but when I am moving and doing things my attention is otherwise engaged and I have only a little spare capacity for observing thoughts and feelings. When I am doing something complex like cooking which involves multiple tasks to track at the same time, I often lose self observation entirely, and find myself back in “just doing”. I have this while bicycling as well… there’s balance, steering, speed, the traff ..read more

TLDR: how do I achieve maximum presence (for as long as possible) in the shortest amount of time possible? Looking at the only 3 buddha's (with a small b) with whom I have familiarity of their life, Eckhart Tolle, Jesus and the Buddha, I've observed that they all seem to have went through a process where they basically had to kill themselves in one way or another, you could say spiritually, to come out the other side with a lasting, deep presence. Ultimately you seemingly have to go through a very painful process to come out the other side a happy, peaceful person who can manifest things if th ..read more