Issue 21 (Spring/Summer 2008)

There is a kind of hidden thread that runs through this issue of Buddhism Today
and it points to what Buddhism is all about: mind. Of course many people of
the 21st century with fresh and intelligent minds are probably concerned with
how we work with mind and the benefits that we can personally accrue when
we do a good job. And for those of us lucky enough to meet with Tibetan
Buddhism, we also learn that the goal of our practice is development of mind
and enlightenment for the sake of benefiting others, human and nonhuman beings.

In this issue we investigate mind, its origins, its qualities, and its activities.
We explore the purpose of bringing benefit to others and uniting wisdom with
compassion. I invite you to follow this thread.

First in “Questions and Answers,” Mipham Rinpoche, father of H.H. the 17th
Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje, discusses the mind and brain. He talks of the
coarse mind, which is connected to the nerve cells in the brain and perhaps the
mind on which neuroscience is generally focused. But this coarse mind manifests
out of what he calls subtle primordial mind. He engenders excitement in
his description of a case where doctors worked with a boy without a brain but
with a mind! I hope you enjoy this story.

Second, Lama Ole Nydahl addresses our experiencing mind that is not materialistic,
nor even an emotional mind. He shows that mind is space: potential,
indestructible, a non-thing. Read what this means for our development. Along
with his focus on benefiting others, he stresses how important it is to preserve
the teachings and methods of Buddhism, lest they disappear, as has been
happening with many cultures and languages around the world today.

Third, enjoy the inspiring words of Hannah Nydahl about how the 16th Karmapa
instructed her and Lama Ole. She does not speak specifically of mind and
its development, but her stories of how the 16th Karmapa worked with them
clearly show the way mind is involved and benefits from the refined and subtle
methods of a teacher.

Keeping in mind what these three teachers tell us about mind, see what
happens with this theme in Tasso Kallianiotis on meditation, Matt Huddleston
on Buddhism and science, and Manfred Maier on matters of transmission and
lineage. Truly, Buddhism is primarily about mind!

Kenn Maly
Executive Editor

Editorial Board

Executive Editor
Kenn Maly
Art Director
Anilou Price
Copy Editor
Eveline Smilack
Associate Copy Editor
Jessica Prohuska
Associate Editors
Claudia Balara, Aaron Crook, Carin Crook, Cristina Ferrando, Joshua Johnson, Tasso Kallianiotis, Joseph Lyman, Angelika Prenzel, Eveline Smilack
Transcription
Jim Macur, Rachelle Macur
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Jonathan Bradley
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Benjamin Ritchey, Renata Ritchey
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Jennifer Wilson
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George Porrata, Ryan Singer, Ivan Smirnov

Questions and Answers with Mipham Rinpoche

Questions and Answers with Mipham RinpocheBy /

What is presented here is a continuation of teachings by Mipham Rinpoche that appeared in Buddhism Today No. 19. Because of a stroke, Mipham Rinpoche is unable to speak. Therefore, he does all his teaching by writing on a board, in response to questions. For this article he wrote down everything in Tibetan and it was then translated into English. Helping with the interview and translating this text were Gabi Coura and Khenpo Karma Ngedon.

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Life Before Life

Life Before LifeBy /

Jim B. Tucker, M.D.256 pagesSt. Martin’s Press (2005)ISBN 0-312-32137-6 Life Before Life by Jim B. Tucker is about an investigation into the memories of children who claim to have had previous lives. Dr. Tucker is a child psychiatrist at the

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Niguma, The Secret One

Niguma, The Secret OneBy /

This article is a reprint of one chapter from Dakinis: Life Stories of Female Buddhas, edited by Angelika Prenzel and published by Buddhistischer Verlag in 2007. Buddhism Today thanks the publisher for permission to publish this chapter. The book tells eleven life stories from the time when Diamond Way Buddhism was blooming in India and Tibet. They show how people, by applying these views and techniques, can use personal challenges for development, take responsibility for oneself and one’s environment, and above all, reach inner freedom and lasting happiness. Hannah Nydahl said about this book, “We don’t so much learn the same meditations, but rather use the biographies as motivation for our own practice and development here and now.”

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