Monday, November 6, 2017

Female spirituality in Buddhism (TEDx video)

CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Drukmo Gyal Dakini, Tibet, Emma Slade, Bhutan (TEDx); Gen Kelsang Nyema at TEDx Greenville, South Carolina, UNZIPPED
The Buddha taught Ananda that females were in every way able to attain what males can.

(TEDxTartu) "Female in Buddhism," Drukmo Gyal Dakini, Dec. 22, 2016

Yogini Drukmo Gyal Dakini shares a 17:00 minute speech on how to bring back harmony between mother and child under the guidance of Buddhist teachings. She discusses the value of females in Buddhism.

Green Tara (Vajrayana goddess)
Drukmo Gyal is from Northeastern Tibet. She is from a Tibetan yogi family where mantra, yoga, and meditation are introduced from the family's lineage with the support of the Tibetan yogi community.

Drukmo Gyal came to Europe in 2014 and worked for the International Academy for Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM), which was founded by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang more than 10 years ago. There is a TTM sub-academy in Estonia.
 
The Buddha on womanhood (about.com)
She is also a Tibetan mantra singer, who has published two mantra albums in recent years and started touring the world. During her stay in Estonia she not only performed in concert halls but in addition also offered free concerts in hospitals, convalescent homes, senior citizen centers with great Estonian musicians like Taavi Peterson, Joosep Kõrvits, and Leho Rubis.

She is a spiritual guide according to the Yuthok Nyingthig tradition (Essential Heart Teaching of Yuthok, the father of TTM). Many people who felt a connection with this teaching were able to study and practice it, she says of Yuthok Nyingthi. This talk was given as a TEDx event in the TED format independently organized by a local community.
 
My path to becoming a Western Buddhist
Lisa, why don't you shut up about Buddhism? We're trying to watch America's Got Talent.
(TEDxSevenOaksSchool) "My Path to Becoming a Buddhist," Emma Slade, Feb. 6, 2017
 
Emma Slade, author of Set Free: A Life-Changing Journey from Banking to Buddhism in Bhutan and founder of the charity Opening Your Heart to Bhutan, talks about her path to Buddhism and the situation she found herself in that caused this change.

Ani (Vajrayana nun) was previously a successful investment banker. She talks about the dichotomy between her previous occupation and her current life as a nun and how this allowed her to view the world in a fresh light.

She was born in Kent, England, and educated at universities in Cambridge and London. She had an exciting international career in finance, which she was committed to with mental drive and a smart selection of business suits. But a deep-seated desire to inquire into the deeper aspects of what it is to be human was brought to the surface following a life-altering, near-death visit to Jakarta, Indonesia.

She resigned from her career and began traveling and exploring yoga and meditation. Since then she has been teaching yoga and meditation, now going on more than 15 years, and she has continued to deepen a life-long interest in Buddhism.

Happiness is all in your mind

"Happiness is all in your mind," Gen Kelsang Nyema at TEDx Greenville UNZIPPED, April 11, 2014, convened at the Kroc Center in Greenville, South Carolina.
 
Simple, profound truths are the realm of this Buddhist nun. Her message? The gift of happiness truly resides in our hearts and minds. Gen Kelsang Nyema, exuding a peace that immediately connects with the audience, starts by asking three questions:
  1. Are you having a good day?
  2. Why?
  3. Tomorrow, would you rather have a good day or a bad day?
You mean happiness was always my choice?
She teaches that we cannot put our happiness at the whim of other people and external circumstances. If we want to be happy, we have to "stop outsourcing our happiness to other people" and cultivate a source of inner peace. What happens next is quite astounding.

The whole crowd of 350+ people proceeds to meditate with Nyema. There's a little squirming at first, but as she leads the audience through a calm citation of how to rest the mind, audience members feel a collective relaxation flow into the room and through the crowd. It's fascinating, refreshing!
Help amplify the voices of indigenous women (culturalsurvival.org)

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