Great River of Compassion
Avalokiteshvara, help me to say this rightly, for all who could benefit from it.
Mantra: I: A set of sacred syllables, repeated to attain a spiritual benefit…
Author Archives: jespada
In Praise of the Vajrayana
A Brief Introduction to Buddhist Tantra
The Skillful Means of the Mahayana
The Stages of the Path teachings cover the entire range of Buddhist teachings, from refuge, to teachings on liberation, to the Mahayana motivation and Wisdom. They conclude with reference to the Vajrayana, the ‘lightning’ or ‘diamond thunderbolt’ vehicle…
An Introduction to the Bodhisattva-Divinity Tara
In order for us as Westerners to engage in practices that have come from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, without misunderstanding their nature or purpose, there are a few ideas that need to be spelled out…
Why the Buddha is Regarded as the Supreme Healer
To my mind, there are two reasons why the Buddha has been regarded throughout time as the Supreme Healer…
A Collection of Buddhist Methods for Healing
Since so many people these days are asking what they can do to strengthen their health, and to help others, I thought to offer this collection of Buddhist methods for healing. We have time now, and the strong motivation to practice, so if we connect with a Tradition, the result can only be to the good…
Continue reading
Homage to Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom
Homage to my guru and protector, Manjushri,
Who holds to his heart a scriptural text
symbolic of his seeing all things as they are…
On Mysticism
Meister Eckhart said, “God is a great underground river,” and the wisdom in all religions taps into this one source. – Matthew Fox
We must all become oceans now,
deep at that,
and as broad…
A Thousand Years of Miracles
For more than 2,000 years, people have been healed by calling on the name of Jesus; crutches and wheelchairs left along the road, and at sites of worship;
For 2,000 years, the laying on of hands, casting out harmful spirits, restoring life; and there have been countless interventions, visitations, apparitions, visions, in dreams and in contemplation, of Jesus, Mary, the Saints, and Angels;
Two thousand years of miracles, two thousand years, and still we don’t believe!…
In Praise of Big Love
Dear Nick,
I am writing to you this evening to express my deepest thanks for the publication of Big Love. I would have written sooner, but I kept having to wipe away the tears from my eyes…
The Blessings of Paritta
The Tradition of reciting or chanting Buddhist teachings is mostly practiced in South East Asian countries, such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Burma and Thailand. These cultures are different from the West in that they have more natural faith in the Dhamma, from long familiarity with it. Their world view also supports their belief in the effectiveness of hearing and reciting teachings and prayers…
A few notes on faith
From Faith, Devotion, and Blessings on the Path to Liberation
Faith comes in a few different ways. First, there is the intimation of a greater truth, something in us that says, ‘Yes, this is the way to go’.
This becomes verified faith, as we follow our intuition. Our trust in a teacher or a tradition proves itself. We become healthier, more at peace, open to others and responsive.
After this, and higher than these two is unshakable faith. Having this kind of trust calms and steadies the mind.
A few notes on humility
When I think of humility, the first thing that comes to mind is receptivity, the ability to learn…
Metta and Classical Music Study
I’ve been a student of the classical guitar since the mid 1980’s, and of metta, or Buddhist loving kindness practice for almost that long. There are a number of things they have in common, and so I thought I’d bring these two subjects together, and let each shine their light on the other…
A reflection on the power of gratitude
Our roots go deeper than we know
In every traditional culture, we find parents and elders teaching their children gratitude, and the essence is always the same, that of cultivating a living sense of appreciation for what we’ve received. Parents don’t do this for their own sake, instead they do it as a gift to their children. They do it because they’ve known these blessings themselves, and know that this is what will sustain future generations…
Counterintuitive Methods in Buddhist Practice
The act of generating desire to engage in the four types of right effort can sometimes involve using counterintuitive methods, employing pride, craving, conceit, and even spite whenever necessary to accomplish its aims. – Thanissaro Bhikkhu
All Dharma should act as a remedy to the delusions. – A Tibetan Buddhist teaching
Getting Excited About Sports
Is Like the Elation and Despair of Children
In this country, the usual cable tv package comes with at least two sports channels that air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is despite the fact that there are a hundred things going on that are more important…
The Precepts of Love
There is so much contained in love at it’s best that I thought it would be worthwhile to write a few words about it this morning. I highlight love ‘at its best’ to distinguish it from the fleeting, partial, or limited kinds of affection we all know so well.
The love I would like to talk about is the kind we look to when we want to remember who we truly are and who we can become…
A few thoughts on having kindness towards ourselves
From a letter to a friend
When I think about it, what I want to encourage most of all, is for you to keep going with the aim to be kind to yourself. The reason I say this is that, over the years, it’s become more and more clear to me just how necessary this is.
A Midwife for Love
Combining metta and the reflection on impermanence
Taken separately, both metta, the step by step development of loving kindness, and regular reflections on impermanence have the potential to bring us a keen sense of the preciousness of life, a kind of fearlessness, and greater generosity. When they are combined though, their power is increased even more.
When it comes to birth and death
How exactly would you like things to be?
I find myself after all these years gradually coming to terms with death, and all that is revealed through its agency…
Tenderness, the Womb of the Tathagatas
If we begin with even the smallest amount of tenderness, and stay with it, and allow it to increase, eventually it will include all living beings…
Rediscovering Joy
Putting the joy back in Joyful Effort
In Buddhism, we call a bodhisattva someone who’s intent on helping others in every needed way. He or she does this through what are called the Six Perfections, which are Generosity, Ethics, Patience, Joyful Effort, Meditation and Wisdom. This is, or should be, a path of unsurpassed happiness, and mature joy, because this is not a small ambition to have. Such great love is, in fact, the fulfillment of our lives here. Sometimes, however, we lose our zeal…
Bridging the Divide Between Politics and Spirituality
It took a Sufi poet to put into words for me what I had been feeling for some time, about the limitations, or dysfunction of religions in America. It was about seven years ago that I read this verse by Unis Emrie:
Unless you can see the whole world
in a single glance,
anything you do is wrong,
even with all your religion…
A Buddhism for Progressives – Preface
Two Traditions
As the son of an activist, I learned when I was young about the need to care for others. It was part of our upbringing to talk about and to think about what was going on in our world with compassion and with a sense of responsibility. Like many other young people who were raised in the 60’s, we received from our parents and from previous generations this precious legacy of the creative struggle for human rights, dignity, and social justice…
The Glory of the Good Fight
To join in what my father’s generation called the good fight was to enter into the timeless struggle for human rights everywhere, with like-minded, courageous souls. It meant to stand with them, to march with them, to raise your voice with them, to fight along side them, and perhaps most of all to be inspired by their dedication and action, and to give your encouragement at every turn…
A Life Giving Vision
The way we’re operating right now as Americans and as a global society is unsustainable ecologically and for more and more of humanity. How do we make the systemic changes needed so that human and organizational creativity naturally lead toward sustainable and restorative practices instead of destructive ones?
What can ordinary citizens do?..
Power and Love – a Buddhist Perspective
We fear power because we associate it with aggression. It’s there in everything from militarism to abusive husbands and boyfriends, to those we say are ‘drunk with power’ – implying control, domination, and injustice. But power in itself is neutral. Power can be turned any way, and this is something we need to know, for our own sake, for that of our community, and world.
I Become We – A Confluence of Rivers
I was surprised recently to hear the phrase ‘I become we’ and it reminded me of something important, especially in these times. This is an idea that’s been made use of for generations in the Civil Rights and Labor movements, as well as in religious teachings.
Spread the Word – The Answer is Love
I first saw what has come to be known as ‘the human microphone’ during Occupy. This is where one person speaks, and those around him or her repeat it, so that others can hear. They begin with saying ‘Mic check!’ ‘MIC CHECK’, the crowd replies. This is a time when we all need to repeat the best things that we hear, a time when we all suffer and struggle together, and whatever wisdom we can gather needs to be spoken far and wide…
Getting on the same page when it comes to American history
It’s almost impossible these days for people with different political views to have a meaningful conversation. Each side is so committed to their point of view it seems there’s no basis for communication. On one news program after another, there is very little dialogue, and expressions range from bewilderment, to contempt and insults…
Reframing Modern Day Colonialism
{A brief history of colonialism for anyone in need of clarity about the past.}
At times, we here in these United States barely register the meaning of words that should make the hair on the back of our neck stand on edge. This is because we have not been taught our history, or else it has been so watered down. Take the word colonialism…
My Father’s Son
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In the Fall of 2013, I started what I thought was going to be a simple project that would take me a few months: I was going to organize my father’s photographs. I had no idea at the time how this would lead me into a deeper relationship with the man who was my hero, and role model in many ways…
A Sketch of Frank Espada’s Life
On 29th St., in San Francisco. Photo by Jason Espada
The following was written in 2014, in preparation for visits from curators, who were coming to view the entire range of my father’s work, within the space of a few short days. I took this as an opportunity to touch upon the most significant events in his life, and to celebrate the man I had come to know more fully through organizing his archive.
The Puerto Rican Diaspora
Documenting the Puerto Rican Experience in the 20th and 21st centuries
Imagine if you will conceiving of a project that would document the Puerto Rican experience across the United States… Imagine further that this project would be undertaken by someone who is widely respected as an advocate for these people, and that this person, in addition, is a first-rate photographer… Continue reading
From Eugene Smith to Frank Espada
{Photo credits: Eugene Smith, by Don Getsug; Frank Espada, Big Sur, 1984, by Jason Espada}
As soon as I heard the photographer W. Eugene Smith’s voice, in a documentary produced for Japanese television, I recognized him immediately as a spiritual ancestor. It was not just what he said that was so moving, and familiar to me, but his fierce love and commitment to the people he photographed.
Once upon a time, a letter…
I will date myself now by telling you that once I used to write letters, and receive them. These were always special occasions, and something to be cherished. Since the advent of the computer though, hardly anyone writes letters by hand anymore, and so of course, almost no one receives them. Now that this is so, I’m thinking, people really don’t know what they’re missing.
Where Two Worlds Meet
Terma, The Word Made Flesh, and Divine Manifestation
I had an unusual occurrence last night, that followed my thinking about the magical side of Dharma, and writing about terma, or the tradition they speak of in Tibetan Buddhism of teachings coming into this world as a precise result of the needs of the time.
The Heart and Mind of a Person on a Spiritual Path
From Mundane View to Pure Perception
As soon as we begin to practice a spiritual path, we become aware that we are seeing things differently than the average person. To the ordinary mind, there is not much to celebrate here, and certainly not anything worthy of reverence; the common view is jaded, corrupt, and impoverished, and it offers very little to depend on in difficult times.
The Power of the Word – a justification
The value of reading out loud, and recording, and listening to useful teachings comes from their being expressions of the truth. It does not depend on their being read with a mellifluous voice, or on the translation. Something deeper is at work, which I call the esoteric power of the word.
A Through-line for Zen Study and Practice
One way of thinking of the Buddha is that he was a reformer of Indian spirituality. He saw the limitations of how people of his time were practicing, and he introduced new language and insights to guide them to freedom. His gifts continue to be received, and new ways of talking about practicing his teachings have evolved, and they will continue to do so…
Why so many words?
A story goes that once there was a Zen master and his apprentice. It was their custom every morning, after meditation and before breakfast, to go for a long walk through the woods, along mountain trails, and back through fields on the way back to their simple monastery…
Third Ear Music
We usually listen to music in an active way, reaching out, linear. Certain types of music, however, require a different kind of listening for their appreciation. On Saturday night I went to see Ustad Habib Khan, playing the sitar, and Swapan Chaudhuri on the tablas, at the Vedic Cultural Center in Berkeley, in a performance of ragas, traditional music of India…
A few defining characteristics of classical music
Before talking about any one composer, or piece of classical music, I thought I’d write out a few brief notes about this kind of music in general. Hopefully, this will provide context for the recommended performances…
Hearing Beethoven
When we talk about the major figures in Western Classical music, Mozart is seen as representing the unique genius of Classicism. His music is the easiest to approach. J.S. Bach is on another level, such that it is almost difficult to think of him only as a composer. His art is filled with mystery, passion, profundity, and exaltation. He is thought of as the apex of the Baroque.
The influence of Beethoven, in comparison to other composers, in my thinking, eclipses the boundaries of music. When his music is known in context, we can begin to understand just how much it changed, not only music, but all of Western consciousness and Western Culture…
Crossing the desert with Bach
My Spanish teacher in Colombia asked me this week how we can keep going, with right view, with all that is going on in the world…
The Dark Mysteries and Arvo Pärt
… the existence of suffering is great in us and in our world, and it doesn’t resolve without embracing what we call the dark mysteries…
Six things that Westerners need, that Buddhism can offer
Recently, a friend of mine asked what I thought a Dharma center could offer to engage people who are new to Buddhism. The first few items came to mind right away, and within the week the list had grown to six things that I think are especially needed at this time, in this culture.
The King of Aspiration Prayers
To all the Lions Among Humans who appear
in the ten directions and three times,
I pay homage with reverent body, speech, and mind…
Dedication Prayers
By this merit,
gathered together with all the virtue,
of all the ten-directions and the three times
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas…
A Collection of Buddhist Methods for Healing – Contents
Here is the complete text, in pdf format.
For ease of reference, I’ve made these two hyperlinked posts – one for the Introduction, and one for the Table of Contents
Contents
Part I – Sadhanas and Commentaries
Preface – General Comments on Front Generation and Self Generation, and the Refuge Tree
A Frank Espada Bibliography
Articles, books, audio and video
I thought it might be useful to gather these resources together in one place, for those who are interested.
Here is our ongoing collection of material by and about Frank Espada…
My best suggestions for learning another language
Here are my best suggestions for learning another language…
First, I tell my friends they should write freely in their native language, and then translate it…
Waking up in a burning house
Out of night’s troubled dream,
I wake and hear cries,
shouting,
and people running down the hallway
I gather myself and listen –
Our house is on fire.
The Supreme Siddhi of Mahamudra
The Supreme Siddhi of Mahamudra Retreat, by Ani Tenzin Palmo, Vajrapani Institute, Boulder Creek, California, June 8th through 10th, 2018.
Commentary on Advice for Mountain Retreat, by the Eighth Kamtrul Rinpoche
Complete audio recordings:
Friday evening, June 8th, 2018
Saturday, June 9th, 2018, morning session – I
Transcript of an excerpt, A Healthy Sense of Self
Saturday, June 9th, 2018, morning session – II
Saturday, June 9th, 2018, evening session – audio,
On the meditation section of the text:
Saturday, June 9th, 2018, evening session, questions and answers
Sunday, June 10th, 2018, closing session
Esoteric Buddhism
Friends, a couple of months ago I came across a wonderful podcast called ‘This Esoteric Life’. In it, Christopher ‘Free’ covers a broad range of subjects from The Western Esoteric Tradition, and he does so in an inspired way. So I sent him a message and suggested we do a program on Buddhism and A Belief in the Miraculous as a starting point, and here it is. The program we did together is titled, ‘Esoteric Buddhism‘.
A list of things that are healing
Beauty is healing
and love is healing
and peace is healing
and laughter,
and kindness is healing
Books by Jason Espada
Clicking on any of these will take you to their individual pages, with samples, and ordering information.
More below.
Then there is this.
Buddhist Poetry
From four collections, 1985 to 2018.
2009-2015.
And this, 1985 to 2005.
2006 to 2007.
If resources are an issue, get in touch with me and I’ll make it not an issue.
Free ebooks, in .pdf format, updated 10/2/2023
A Resource for the Practice of Meditation – Third Edition (2023)
A Key to Buddhist Wisdom Teachings
A Concise Set of Buddhist Healing Prayers and Practices
The Wisdom of Impermanence – Twenty Eight Essays (updated 10/16/2024)
As Editor:
An Anthology of Buddhist Prayer (2008)
Metta and Readings on the Mahayana (updated 10/17/2024)
Cultivating the Field of Joy – Buddhist Readings to Uplift the Heart
The Stages of the Path Teachings – A Selection of Texts
The Beautiful Path – Readings on Ethics, to Soothe and Brighten the Mind (updated 11/13/2023)
Essays on Purification, by Various Authors
Vajrasattva Commentaries, by Various Authors
Mahayana Prayers and Poetry.pdf; Audio (2012)
Teachings on Bodhicitta, in two volumes: One, and Two
Great Perfection Teachings (updated 4/3/2024)
Teachings on Mahamudra – Volume One
Teachings on Mahamudra – Volume Two
Paritta Recitation – Protective Readings from the Pali Canon, Audio, (2022)
with an introduction, The Blessings of Paritta.pdf; Audio (2021)
Reflections on Impermanence and Transcendent Renunciation
Aiming for Freedom – Readings on Transcendent Renunciation (2023)
Teachings on Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh
Opening the Door to Pure Perception (2023)
On the Vajrayana
A Collection of Prayers to Tara (updated 2/14/2021)
Chenrezig Sadhanas and Commentaries – in four volumes: One, Two, Three, and Four
A Collection of Buddhist Methods for Healing (279 pgs., 2020)
Dedication Prayers
Dedication Prayers from Various Teachers
Dedication Prayers – 6/16/2021
Prayers for the time of transition – 4/26/2020
Teachings on Humility from the Buddhist and Christian Traditions
The Discourses of the Buddha – from the Pali Canon
Audio – on youtube; and, on Bandcamp
Reflections on this precious human life
Essays on Buddhist Prayer (2023)
An Ocean of Prayers – Introduction and Contents (2023)
…
If you would like to support my work here, or at abuddhistlibrary.com,
contributions in any amount are appreciated.
Essays on the Frank Espada Archive
To view my father’s photography, please visit thefrankespadagalleries.com
The notes and essays in this collection were written over the last couple of years, as I’ve prepared for events, and communicated with scholars, curators, and representatives from universities. In a few cases, I’ve included something just because it has a family story or two in it. Perhaps all together these will help someone who is interested to get a fuller idea of who my father was, along with his own writing, and his art, of course.
The Epistle on Love
First Corinthians, chapter 13
Though I may speak in the tongues of men and of angels, if I have not love, I am but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal…
Sonnet 116
by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove….
Hope and Betrayal in the Age of Obama
When it comes to the legacy of Barack Obama, the Left is divided. Some see him as a heroic figure that did his best for the country, despite Republican opposition, while others see him as a traitor to progressive values. With Trump’s election, it’s essential that we understand what took place during Obama’s presidency because it’s only in knowing our recent history that a unified progressive movement can make it’s way forward. We owe ourselves and the coming generation of activists at least this much.
The New Extreme of the American Left
As American soldiers returned from Vietnam in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, they were often met with scorn, and mistreated. The anger directed towards them came from an enraged and educated opposition that had gradually become aware of the injustice and sheer criminality of the wars being waged.
Confronting Revisionist History – On The Vietnam Veteran Experience
Last year I wrote an article, The New Extreme of the American Left, that describes the way many people who identify themselves as progressives today view the modern soldier. I began my article with what I thought was a given: In the late 1960’s and early 70’s, as American soldiers returned from Vietnam, they were met with scorn, spat on in airports, and called “baby killers”. To my surprise, I learned that there is another narrative, being held up by the left in particular (commondreams, truthout, alternet, seattletimes) that says vets were never spit upon. I found this hard to believe, and so I did a bit of research.
The Prayer of Saint Francis
Be a Light in the Gathering Light – Selected Poems
Preface
In my ideal world, we introduce ourselves with poetry, either our own, or that of other people, that we keep with us at all times…