5 Surprising Things I Learned About Love From Hanging Out With Buddhist Nuns

I spent two weeks at Plum village, a Buddhist monastery in France. I came to recover from burn out, and what I found was not only wisdom and practice around how to be present with life, but also wisdom on love. While the nuns must abstain from any kind of romantic or sexual activities, they shared heartfelt and grounded advice about dating and romantic relationships. The fact that they must face their desire for romantic love by looking into it deeply, and by cultivating love for the community, they are well equipped to answer any break-ups, marriages and dating questions.

1. The surprising effect of asking why.

When you feel attracted to someone, and before taking it to the next level, stop and ask yourself why. It is easy to attribute it to magic, intuition or chance. But when you actually ask yourself why, it gives you clarity and honesty. According to one of the senior nuns, more often than not when she is attracted to someone she realizes she is actually attracted to a quality they have, that she wishes she had in her. So instead of clinging to the idea of being with that person, she cultivates the quality in her. When I applied the advice to myself, I realized that for the relationships that did not last, my attraction was an expression of my loneliness.

Breath

Breath is the bridge that connects life to consciousness, the bridge that unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Unique exhibition spotlights Afghanistan’s Buddhist period

by Daniela Lazarová, Radio.cz, March 3, 2016

Prague, Czech Republic -- An exhibition called Afghanistan: Rescued Treasures of Buddhism organized by the National Museum aims to present the war-torn country in a different light, to draw attention to its rich cultural history and point out the many influences that left their mark on Afghan culture and traditions.

The exhibition focuses on the country’s pre-Islamic Buddhist period. Its chief organizer Lubomír Novák showed me around and began by explaining what makes the exhibition so special.

“The exhibition Afghanistan: Rescued Treasures of Buddhism is the first exhibition of Afghan Buddhism in Europe and the second exhibition of Afghan art to be presented on the territory of Europe so the exhibition is really special in this respect and also in that it presents the largely unknown history of Afghanistan before the coming of Islam.

Not many people around the world know that Afghanistan is not just an Islamic country but that it has a rich Buddhist history which reaches to the so-called Kushan period which started approximately in the 1st century AD. So in this respect the exhibition is really amazing and we are happy that here in Prague we can present this unknown part of the history of a country that is known as a country of war.

The first historical reference to the territory of present-day Afghanistan is linked to military campaigns of Persians and many wars and military conflicts followed in the history of the country, but Afghanistan is not just a country of war but a country of art, knowledge and literature. 

The Alms-bowl of a Theravāda monk or nun

Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia

The alms-bowl of a monk or nun is only used to receive cooked food offered by willing donors. The monk or nun strictly does not accept money with his/her bowl or on his/her alms-round.

A Theravāda Buddhist monk or nun only consumes food between the break of dawn (around 7am in Kuala Lumpur) and noon (12pm). Thus, he/she does not go about collecting alms-food after mid-day. The monk or nun goes on Pindacāra mindfully observing ‘noble silence’. He/She does not engage in talking or chatting with others.

I spent 12 years in a cave

Even as a small child growing up in east London, I felt I was in the wrong place and the wrong body. I felt my body should be male, so when I heard that your body changes as you get older, I thought maybe I would get a male one. Now I feel lucky to have stayed female.

From my earliest years, though, I wanted to leave England. Outwardly there was no reason. My family are lovely, my school was great,

I had a wonderful job as a librarian. Bethnal Green in east London, where I grew up, was very neighbourly. But inwardly I had a strong feeling that I had to go where I belonged; for a long time I just didn't know where that was.

Even as a child, I was interested in spiritual matters. I studied Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism and I'd tried reading the Qur'an, but as I didn't believe in a creator God most religious paths were closed to me. Then, when I was 18, my mother and I were delayed at an airport for eight hours. The only book I had with me was Mind Unshaken, about Buddhism. Halfway through the book, I said to my mother, "I'm a Buddhist."

The first level of Noble Attainments

Question : How much concentration is required for one to develop real insight in the practice and to attain at least Stream-Entry?

Tan Ajahn: Your mind has to enter the fourth jhāna, when it becomes totally detached from the body. And it can see that without the body, it can still be happy. Once it understands this truth, and when it comes out of this jhāna, this fourth level of jhāna, which we call apanā-samādhi, it can then instruct the mind to relinquish the body, to leave the body alone.

Manual of Excellent Man: Uttamapurisa Dipani

"Patience [khanti] and equanimity [upekkha] are the mainstay for the other perfections [paramis]. Only when one has established these two can one expect to fulfill the rest. Just as a newborn infant can only survive with the care of its parents, the remaining eight perfections can only be fulfilled under the constant care of patience and equanimity. Patience may be likened to the mother and equanimity to the father.'

"If patience and equanimity are present, and the other good deeds are forthcoming under their benign influence, if there is an absence of renunciation [nekkhamma], these good deeds will not properly become perfections. Lacking the guidance of renunciation, one is liable to be overcome by attachment to the merit derived from them and yearn for mundane benefits. Then the meritorious deeds merely prolong rebirth because they are dependent on existence. They do not then qualify as perfections. Therefore, if patience and equanimity are the parents, renunciation should be called the family doctor who takes care of the child’s health." Ledi Sayadaw

Rock-cut Lord Buddha statue at Bojjannakonda near Anakapalle in the Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, India

A journey across the amazing Buddhist circuit of eastern India

by Pallavi Pasricha, India Today, February 28, 2016 New Delhi, India -- In tiny Buddhist pilgrim towns tucked away in eastern India, you can experience moments of tranquillity and peace, even as you witness the frenzy of devotion. The Dhamek Stupa. Picture courtesy: India Today Archive My last train journey was an overnight run from to Delhi to Kathgodam two years ago. And here I am at the little-known Safdarjung station in New Delhi, boarding the Mahaparinirvan Express, which is going to be my home for the next seven nights and eight days. Not only is this going to be a long haul, it is also a journey of a different kind. This train is taking me to the Buddhist heartland of India, winding its way through the most significant spots in Buddha's life that lie scattered in Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. In short, I am doing a pilgrim's circuit. Not being too spiritually inclined, I am not sure what I am in for. But an aunt of mine, who has taken to Buddhism in a big way, tells me that I will get certain answers in this trip. I am not convinced but I am curious.

Chasing Courtin: Buddhist nun brings teachings to Missoula

by Maddie Vincent, Montana Kaimin, Feb 25, 2016

Missoula, MO (USA) -- She enters the room and everyone stands. Dozens of bowed heads and hands at heart center decorate her path to a chair neatly set up front.

Before she sits, she fluidly moves from her feet to her knees, arms outstretched on the floor towards images of Buddha and the prominent teachers who follow him. For Missoulians, she is one of those teachers.

Robina Courtin is a Buddhist nun, a woman whose life is dedicated to preserving Buddha’s views. She has taught around the world and visited Missoula’s Osel Shen Phen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center for the last 20 years.

Eliminate all forms of mental suffering

“…There was actually a Buddha and there were actually his teachings that can help eliminate all forms of mental suffering. The person who has realized this truth is at the first level of Ariya-Saṅgha, the Sotāpanna. Once you see this truth, you will also eliminate your doubt of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha.

Your faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha will be unshakeable because you know that they are real. But before you reach this stage, you can sometimes doubt whether the Buddha was real, whether his teachings were real, whether they are capable of eliminating the suffering from your mind, or whether the Ariya-Saṅgha are real. These are things that you haven’t proved for yourself.