New Beginnings
Posts
Understanding the 12 links of dependent origination
Personalizing the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination By Ven. Tenzin Gache His Holiness the Dalai Lama often comments that as Buddhists, our distinctive practice is non-violence, and our distinctive view is dependent origination. His Holiness’s comments echo a common strand in the Buddhist tradition: Lama Tsongkhapa claimed that there was no teaching of the Buddha more profound than dependent origination, and Nagarjuna began most of his works by praising the “one who taught dependent origination.” The Buddha himself recounted that on the night of his enlightenment, he awoke to the profound nature of the twelve links of dependent origination, clearly seeing how beings trap themselves in an endless cycle of self-perpetuating confusion and misery.1 The Buddha went on to claim that nobody could understand his teaching without understanding the nature of these twelve links.2 Yet for many Dharma practitioners, these twelve links remain an elusive subject, something difficult to penetra...
The Joy of Reading
The Joy of Reading I have always loved to read, the companionship of a book, growing with the characters, sharing tears, and laughing through a book, is a journey that takes us places, both within and outside of our realm of experience. This short essay is my reading journey as a reader, a mother, and an educator. In third grade, Charlotte’s Web, Malory Towers, and Nancy Drew and later Little Women all captured my imagination. My mother influenced my book choices, these were some of her favorites. I remember my tenth birthday that I spent in a bookstore buying books. My parents loved to read, and our house was overflowing with shelves upon shelves of books. When I was bored, I would memorize the titles and the authors. When I made the long journey from New Delhi to College in New York, the pillow room in the library was my safe zone. I voraciously read Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, bell hooks, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sanchez, Bharti Mukherjee, and Salman Rushdie. I was trying to unders...
Routines in early childhood
Anke on how to build a routine at home for children in early childhood. Kim John Payne has podcasts on compassionate responses