Thread
Buddhist Philosophy
He questions the boundaries between Buddhist deities and human experience.
Matthew Williamson's exploration of Buddhist philosophy is a recurring thread throughout his archive, with posts spanning from 2007 to 2015. Early posts, such as A conversation between friends about God and A Meditation On Chenrezig (both 2007), introduce his interest in Buddhist thought and practice. Later posts, like A Modern Shiva Poem (2013) and Are Dzodgchen, Mahamudra, and Moksha Essentially the Same? (2013), demonstrate a deepening understanding of various Buddhist traditions and concepts. His inquiry into the teachings of Padmasambhava, as seen in A Question About Padmasambhava (2014) and Direct Message from Padmasambhava? (2014), further highlights his engagement with Buddhist philosophy. Overall, Williamson's writings on Buddhist philosophy showcase a thoughtful and evolving exploration of the subject.
40 posts, in order
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November 2006
Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva
Do I actually know someone who could be considered a Bodhisattva? Some person who I might have contact with that is concerned with one thing only: teaching the ...
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January 2007
It's Just Good Karma
I have been lazy of late and not writing posts. Mainly because I have been reading more than living, there is an issue in there somewhere. Reading more about Dz...
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January 2007
Bardo, the Intermediate State
I went to my first official Buddhist function this past weekend in Oklahoma City. A local Kagyu meditation group brought Lama Dudjom Dorjee , pictured at right ...
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February 2007
A conversation between friends about God
A good friend and i had a conversation a few days ago that I think is worth sharing. We had spoke about a few things already and then he read on of my posts, le...
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February 2007
The Commercialization of The Buddha
I was on the way home a few nights ago. It was a dark, cloudless night and there were a million stars in the skies above rural Oklahoma. My son and I were comin...
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March 2007
Bodhisattvah Cat
Last night my cat, Guru, brought a present in to the laundry room for my wife. Guru very proudly trotted in and at my wife's feet dropped a field mouse. That al...
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April 2007
A Meditation On Chenrezig
Outside the tarp covered window the winter rages on. Snows fall for another countless day and the sun is hidden once again. Inside, the room is warm and fragran...
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July 2007
Statement of Faith
Why is it hard for many people to accept miracles in a religion other than their own? Very normal, logical and sane people accept that Jesus walked on water, ch...
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August 2007
Compassionate Business
I wonder how many CEO's would consider the companies they run as compassionate? How many corporations would be classified as 'right', as in, the Eightfold Path ...
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August 2007
I am Angulimala
I was in church Sunday morning with my family and something dawned on me: I am Angulimala. Well, I don't really think I am a reincarnation of Angulimala , but I...
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September 2007
The 4 Reminders and Buddhist Books
A while back I read some articles on the Four Reminders and they made a lot of sense to me. They are the a way to think about ourselves and our place in the uni...
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January 2008
The Goddess
Note: A good friend of mine sent this to me out of the blue, and it is wonderful and amazing. I am blessed to have read it. Thereupon, Manjusri, the crown princ...
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March 2008
It's Simple Really, Animals Are Not Food
On January 3, 2007, the leader of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, made a strong statement against eating me...
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November 2010
Hanuman and Reality
Hanuman tells Rama: ‘when I think of myself as a body, I am your servant; when I think of myself as an individual soul, I am part of you; but when I realize I a...
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September 2011
I am Brahman
Clara Llum posted this in a few tweets this morning, and I thoght it worth keeping, and sharing. 1. prajnnam brahma - Brahman is pure consciousness 2. ayamatma ...
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February 2012
Om
OM The imperishable sound, is the seed of all that exists. The past, present, the future, all are but the unfolding of OM. And whatever transcends the three rea...
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April 2013
A Modern Shiva Poem
[caption id="attachment_739" align="alignright" width="300"] Lord Shiva, in meditation.[/caption] Namaste to He who is the speaker and the listener Namaste to H...
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August 2013
Shri Dhanvantre
Shri Dhanvantari Shri Dhanvantre, the celestial healer, the deity of Ayurveda, the easer of pains, and an incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself. Ayurveda is a spir...
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September 2013
Hanuman's Devotion
I read a graphic novelization of Hanuman's time in Lanka last night, and I loved it. Sundarkaand: Triumph of Hanuman: A Graphic Novel Adaptation (Campfire Graph...
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December 2013
Are Dzodgchen, Mahamudra, and Moksha Essentially the Same?
Namaste. I recently posed this question to someone who I know and love in the Dharma community. He has been a devotee and practitioner since before I was puttin...
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December 2013
Dreams of Church, Revelations, and Bhagavan Das
My wife and I woke this morning and while laying in bed we started to talk about our dreams, nothing unusual there. I told her about my dream of being back at O...
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March 2014
Direct Message from Padmasambhava?
For the last few days, well, for the last four days now, I have been hearing Padmasambhava's mantra in my dreams and saying it as I woke. I guess it isn't anyth...
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March 2014
Lord Shiva and Lord Padmasambhava
I spent a long time studying Lord Shiva and I feel as though I have become close to him, and his holy family. His wife, the mother goddess, Parvati, and his two...
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May 2014
Om Mani Padme Hum Benefits and Explanation
[caption id="attachment_761" align="alignright" width="258"] Chenrezig[/caption] Significance of OM, MA, NI, PAD, ME, HUM OM Go for refuge to the Buddha Produce...
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May 2014
The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra
[caption id="attachment_898" align="alignright" width="300"] Amitabha By Aloka[/caption] Namo! Homage to the Lotus Pool Assembly of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas As ...
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July 2014
Prayer to Yeshe Tsogyal
[caption id="attachment_908" align="alignright" width="234"] Yeshe Tsogyal[/caption] Prayer to Yeshe Tsogyal ༈ དབྱིངས་ཕྱུག་ཌཱ་ཀིའི་གཙོ་མོ་མཁར་ཆེན་གཟའ། ། yingchu...
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December 2014
A Question About Padmasambhava
I am reading “Tantric Practice in Nying-Ma.” by Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche. In the book I found this: “He originated this transmission, and five different types of...
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April 2015
Prayer by Guru Rinpoche to Wake Us Up!
[caption id="attachment_1031" align="alignright" width="300"] Padmasambhava[/caption] "Whatever appears to the eye, The outer universe, inner living beings and ...
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April 2015
Karmapa's Wisdom on Visualization
His Holiness The 17th Karmapa spoke of how when we express devotion to a visualization or painting of a deity, that deity is not external to us; we are honoring...
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April 2015
Mahakala: The Great Black One
The legendary history of Mahakala was written by Khedrup Khyungpopa, founder of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition, in the eleventh century. He says that the reason fo...
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May 2015
His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa in Seattle
I decided to preserve these images here because my wife and I were just in Seattle two weeks ago and we spent time there in this beautiful monastery, the seat o...
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May 2015
Keep Going - Advice from the Karmapa
"You keep going. That is the bodhisattva’s way. As long as it benefits even one being you have to, without any sense of discouragement, go on." ~ His Holiness t...
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May 2015
Tara - Mother of Liberation
Post from my friend Ganga Nath on Facebook . Tara, or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism wh...
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June 2015
The Birth Of Tara
The story of Tara's origin, according to the Tara Tantra, recounts that eons ago she was born as a king's daughter, and as a compassionate princess, she regular...
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September 2015
Buddha Amitayus
Buddha Amitayus ཚེ་དཔག་མེད་ 'The Buddha of Boundless Life' — a sambhogakaya aspect of Amitabha, particularly associated with longevity. He is mostly depicted si...
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September 2015
Manjusri
Om Ah Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhi!
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September 2015
Precious Master
"My father is the pure awareness of rigpa, Samantabhadra, My mother, the space of all things, Samantabhadri, My line, the indivisibility of awareness and space,...
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November 2015
Vajravidarana Mantra
Learn this, the short: om namaścaṇḍavajrakrodhāya | om hulu hulu tiṣṭha tiṣṭha bandha bandha hana hana amṛte hūṃ phaṭ and after you have samadhi with it, this s...
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March 2018
Machig's Last Instructions
Mind itself, [natural and co-emergent] Has no support, has no object: Let it rest in its natural expanse without any fabrication. When the bonds [of negative th...
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June 2026
Quiet Things
I built a breathing orb to sit between my commits. The thing it's most defined by is everything it refuses to do.