I'm usually pretty good with yidams, but this one has me stumped. Thanks in advance 🙏

A while ago I posted a question here about vajrayana and also if one can practice it without a guru's guidance or not. And almost everyone replied that it is nearly impossible to not get a guidance from a guru and practice it.

Well, I am really interested in vajrayana these days and honestly I dont know why. It is something that keeps dragging me towards it. And I was thinking if I should practice it. But I will need a guru for that. The thing is, in my area it is impossible for me to find a Lama, there isnt even a buddhist temple in my city. Also Im a late-teenager and it is high possibility that my family restrict me to talk to any 'stranger' or something because...thats how they are, my parents. Also, I dont have any money.

Is it possible that I find a qualified Lama who could guide me through chat and with no cost?

Also I read this page from a website, which looks like guides you through a prayer of some kind. Can I start with this? Here's the link of it, please tell me:

https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-wangpo/daily-wish-fulfilling-wheel

We're Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London (FPMT), posting openly as ourselves.

Something we notice constantly with new students: almost everyone arrives having learned some form of placement or mindfulness meditation, often from apps. Very few have ever been shown analytical meditation, the practice of working through a topic with inquiry and reasoning until intellectual understanding starts to become felt experience. In the Tibetan tradition it's not an optional extra, it's the engine of the whole path. Yet in mainstream meditation culture it barely exists.

Our theory is that it's harder to package. "Follow your breath" fits in a three-minute app session. "Reason your way through impermanence until something shifts" doesn't.

For those of you who do practise analytically: how did you learn to actually do it, rather than just sit and think in circles? Did you need a teacher, or did texts get you there?

(For transparency: this is on our mind because we're hosting Geshe Thubten Sherab at the Centre in early August for a practical day on exactly this, part of his final UK teachings before he enters long retreat. But mostly we're curious what this community's experience has been.)

Happy 100th birthday to the venerable Brother David Steindl-Rast, who, through his genuine openness and profound equanimity, brings people of all faiths closer to their true nature.

About a week ago, my dog died tragically and unexpectedly. It was awful and the worst experince of my life. If you pray, practice phowa, dedicate merit, or just send well wishes, I would be beyond grateful if you would include my baby, his name is Teddy and he is the sweetest dog I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I am so thankful that I got to experince his love, and devastated that he is gone so soon and so tragically.

As a Pagan, I find Tantric or Esoteric sects of Buddhism interesting but I worry because I am not Tibetan but somewhat distantly related because I am Indigenous American but besides that

Can anyone from wherever and any background practice Tantric Buddhism?

I don’t want to disrespect the culture of the Tibetans

In my neighboring city, there's a Vrajayana Buddhist monastery and temple. I understand Siddhartha Gautama, but I don't delve into Buddhist matters because I am Hindu. I love the philosophy you have, but I don't know much about Vajrayana. I didn't even know that Buddhism, which denies the existence of God, believes in gods, and I also learned that Buddhist gods are just symbols and not cosmic forces or real beings. But I see people dedicating themselves so much, making prayers, offerings, etc. Could you explain this to me? I also find Vrajayana very interesting because it is very similar to Hinduism

So I came across viral videos on 4 kids in CN set a furry being on fire alive and watch it suffer .

Recently Im trying to see the lives of those suffering thru the lens of karma and watch my mind react . While back I got on the dark web looking at disturbing stuffs human can do to each other , just to challenge my understanding . It took me couple of days to recover.

But this Wang Wang video just broke me , I can see the rage coming inside of me and I do have the thoughts of wishing those kids a very horrible ending .

Is that just my self gasping/ self cherishing mind holding on something . May be dogs have a special place in my mind and that attachment is too big to NOT seeing things happening karmically ?

I do have the thoughts that the furry friend and the pups might did similar things to those kids somewhere in their previous life. But The rage is undeniably there in my head for the last 2 days.

Can anyone pls open my view on compassion and understand this Wang Wang incident thru the view of buddhism ?

My apologies for my sloppy English

This is definitely a work in progress so please use the feedback link to let us know what is missing.

https://www.shambhala.com/a-map-of-buddhism-in-canada/

how to practice being what seems like two at once?

Tashi Delek,
Lama Glenn is just wonderful in this video. So much wisdom and style, so blessed he is still with us🙏🏻

Now i want to narrow my focus to just Vajrayana. And if you would give someone a roadmap to understand this practice. How would it like? I want to understand this subject as comprehensively as possible and live through it.

Image 1 Custom Commissioned Avalokiteshvara Thangka (Tibetan & East Asian fusion)\ Image 2 Venerable Wangchen Rinpoche & H.E. 1st Kalu Rinpoche

The mantra OM MANI PEME HUNG is the embodiment of all the buddhas' heart, the root of the eighty-four thousand teachings of the Buddha, the essence of the Five Buddhas, and the essence of the secret holders.

Each word is a pith instruction, the source of the qualities of all the tathagatas, the root of all goodness and siddhis, the great path to higher realms and complete freedom.

To recite this supreme among all mantras, the six syllables, the heart of all the teaching, just once can put you onto a spiritual path of no-turning-back, and you can become a great liberator of other sentient beings.

Even a small insect, if it were to hear the sounds of the mantra just before dying, would be liberated from that body and be born in the pure land of Amitabha.

Just to think of it is like the sun shining on a snow mountain so brightly that bad karmic obscurations and defilements are eliminated, and one can be born in the pure land of Amitabha Buddha.

Just touching the mantra OM MANI PEME HUNG is receiving empowerment from many buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Meditating on it once equals the practices of listening, contemplating, and meditating combined together. In this way the entire experience of phenomena can be transformed into dharmakaya experience, and great treasure gates of activity can be opened to benefit sentient beings.

Do our assumptions leave imprints on our karmic continuum? Is it the same as intention? these two often confuse me. Thank you in advance

I'm new here, please help.