Tag Archives: solitude

A Tale of Two Solitaries

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Vajragoni

4:5 (35) The Nāga Elephant (Nāga Sutta) Thus has it been made known. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling near Kosambī, in Ghosita’s Resort. During this interval the Blessed-One was living in over-crowded conditions, with monks and nuns, … Continue reading →

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Ah, what bliss!

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Vajragoni

2:10 (20) Bhaddiya (Bhaddiya Sutta) Thus has it been made known. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling near Anupiyā in the Mango Grove. There was a story circulating that the venerable Bhaddiya, Kāḷigodhā’s son, would frequent a wooded-area … Continue reading →

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Why Suffer?

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Vajragoni

Abandoning punishment for all living beings, not hurting even a single one of them, one should not wish for a son, not to mention a companion! one should live alone, like the horn of a rhinoceros. After refusing to strike-out … Continue reading →

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The Khaggavisāṇa Sutta: A Rhinoceros Horn

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Vajragoni

Dhivan Thomas Jones has written an excellent article concerning the sutta entitled, Like the Rhinoceros, or Like Its Horn? The Problem of Khaggavisāṇa Revisited. The Pāli expression khaggavisāṇakappo may either mean ‘like the rhinoceros’ or ‘like the horn of the … Continue reading →

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Nada and Silence in John of the Cross

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Vajragoni

We have extensively covered the rich apothatic spirituality of John of the Cross in a prior series. Our focus now is on the significance of this Nadayana and its twin sister, Silence. John’s negative path is a cradle of nothingness … Continue reading →

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Muccalinda

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Vajragoni

Muccalinda Sutta (Trans: Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu) I have heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was staying at Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River at the root of the Muccalinda tree, newly awakened. And on that occasion he sat … Continue reading →

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Contemplative Sojourn

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Vajragoni

  Greetings from the blogger here at Unborn Mind Zen It’s that annual-junction wherein my time apart from active blogging begins. Since my last contemplative sojourn a lot of new material has been blogged: the Diamond, Heart, Platform, and the … Continue reading →

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The Aloneness of the Long-Distance Mystic

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Vajragoni

  From time to time one reads the half-hearted and veiled recalcitrant attacks on mystics by those who are still trapped within their pseudo-intellectualism. They claim that mystics are somehow alien to scientific methodologies, like some form of isolated dharma-freaks. … Continue reading →

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Melancholia

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Vajragoni

Writing about Colin Wilson’s, The Outsider, recently reinforced for me a main pericope within its pages—that this “Outsider” is someone who sees “too deep and too much” into the nature of reality and as a result suffers from a lingering … Continue reading →

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Solitude

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Vajragoni

As the dying embers of 2011 fade away into the rising horizon of January and the increasing frigid temperatures experienced in northern climes, it is a good opportunity to turn-about from all the crazed excessiveness of the holiday turmoil and … Continue reading →

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