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Redesigning The Dharma is an open forum for discussion and we highly recommend that our readers comment and engage on any blog posts or podcast episodes such that we can broaden the discussion around what a contemporary practice of Buddhism looks like.
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LATEST FROM THE BLOG:
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March 2023
- Mar 29, 2023 Be a Light Unto Yourself
- Mar 27, 2023 The Road Home
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January 2023
- Jan 19, 2023 Soma and Tantra
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December 2022
- Dec 23, 2022 The Mother Goddess
- Dec 23, 2022 Peganam Harmala: Creating the Space which Chacruna Illuminates
- Dec 13, 2022 The Goddess Chacruna
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November 2022
- Nov 30, 2022 The Dance of Tantra
- Nov 30, 2022 The Kingdom of Heaven
- Nov 29, 2022 Tantric Maps for Working with Plant Medicine
- Nov 19, 2022 Balancing Masculine and Feminine Ideals of Awakening
- Nov 16, 2022 The Tapestry of Tantra
- Nov 15, 2022 Seeking The End of Seeking
- Nov 15, 2022 The Universe Begins with a Question
- Nov 10, 2022 Balancing Effort & Effortlessness
- Nov 4, 2022 Waking Up, Growing Up, Cleaning Up
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October 2022
- Oct 27, 2022 The Promise and Purpose of Meditation
- November 2021
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October 2021
- Oct 25, 2021 Renunciate vs Householder Paths
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September 2021
- Sep 27, 2021 Carving out the Householder Path
- Sep 27, 2021 From Redesigning the Dharma to Integral Dharma
- Sep 2, 2021 Welcome to Redesigning the Dharma
The essence of Tantric sadhana, or yogic practice, is refinement of the body-mind. Like other dimensions of Tantric yoga, the Churning of the Milky Ocean is a powerful myth that allows us to examine the ways in which yoga allows us to lead a richer, happier, and more meaningful life. This myth is also a wonderful metaphor for the ways in which plant medicine like Soma allows us to answer these same questions.
Yoga is a process of refinement. Working with plant medicine such as the Soma is the same. It invites us to carefully dial up or dial down the two separate levers of the process, the masculine and feminine aspects, and understanding this balance is ultimately allows us to wake up in this reality.
The Kingdom of Heaven arises when the mind ceases to turn outwards towards gratification in impermanent objects and turns inwards to rest in its own place. That radiance already exists within ourselves. It's our very essence. So ask yourself, what if the Kingdom of Heaven is always and already here and now, if only I had eyes to see it?
Awakening is the movement of consciousness becoming conscious of itself. Psychedelics and plant medicines do not offer a path for awakening but they can serve as powerful accelerators along the journey. This article examines the path to awakening as described by Dzogchen, Mahamudra, and Shaiva Shakta Tantra and the role that plant medicines can play in it all.
We need a clear path to awakening that addresses both our desires for freedom and connection. Typically, spiritual paths have focused on masculine ideals of transcendence without the acknowledgement of our embodied experiences. Tantra, alternatively, represents the rise of The Divine Feminine and offers us a perspective on how archetypal feminine values can balance archetypal masculine ones.
The term “Tantra” evokes the image of a loom, for it points towards the way in which everyone and everything are intricately interwoven. An awakened mind clearly sees that tapestry and understands that the undertaking of awakening is ultimately a collective endeavor. This is why bodhicitta, the intention to wake up for the benefit of others, is essential for continued unfolding along the path.
We need to seek until we find, which usually only happens when the desire to keep seeking outward exhausts itself. Samsara is the wheel of desire that keeps us spinning around and around. It is an endless state of wandering and only when we become exhausted, can the mind finally stop searching for happiness and peace outward in external appearances and turn inward to rest in its own place.
The ability to hold a paradox is central to the practice of meditation and the journey of awakening. Life is full of paradoxes. However, we overlook them for the simplicity and clarity of dualistic categories. In meditation, one important paradox is the importance of both effort & effortlessness. Neither is right nor wrong in an absolute sense, but the issue is what to emphasize at any given time.
There are many reasons to practice meditation, but out of respect for the cultures that developed these practices, I’d like to underscore the deeper promise: awakening to our true nature. If you’re allergic to terms like religion or spirituality, as I used to be, then you can approach awakening through Ken Wilber’s Integral Model of growing up, cleaning up and waking up.
The purpose of meditation is to recognize that the deeper causes and conditions for happiness and well being have far more to do with how your mind is relating to experience, rather than having the right kind of experience. Ultimately, the promise of meditation is to awaken to our true nature and to see clearly what makes us happy and what makes us suffer.
What does democracy have to do with Buddhadharma? Historically, nothing. But this is changing in the fourth turning of the Dharma. This article explores the intersection of Dharma and political activism for the Western Dharma practitioner and the impact that embracing Dharmic values might have in supporting the struggle for democracy in Thailand.
This article will address what I like to call, the “enlightenment or bust” phenomenon. It’s an attitude that often arises in contexts in which renunciate forms of yoga predominate in society and in short, describes the perspective that because enlightenment cannot be reached, there is less of a willingness to engage in contemplative practices such as meditation.
What are the practical implications of translating ancient contemplative code that was designed for monastics into a contemporary context for householders? In this article, we explore the significance of understanding the history and context of meditation and why questioning the assumptions and values that underlie this path is imperative for a modern Buddhism practitioner.
The renunciate’s and householder’s spiritual paths need to be clearly distinguished. A Buddhist renunciate is a monastic or a wandering yogi and someone who has “renounced the world.” Householders, alternatively, are people who wish to “live in the world.” This article explores differences between the two and why some of the practices and views inherited through renunciate teachings might not apply to those who are householder practitioners.
This post builds on the origin of “Redesigning THe Dharma” and elaborates in more detail what this project might entail. It offers some insight into the choice behind the name and concludes with what I see as an essential development within this project of Redesigning the Dharma, which is a more Integral approach to Dharma.
Redesigning The Dharma is an open platform where people can critically discuss meditation, awakening, and the teachings of The Dharma with neither attachment nor aversion towards any religious language, belief, or identity. This project explores the necessity of adapting the teachings of The Dharma to meet the needs of today’s particular time and place.