El·e·na [el-uh-nuh, uh-ley-nuh; It. e-le-nah] /ˈɛlənə, əˈleɪnə; It. ɛˈlɛnɑ/ –noun a female given name, form of Helen // A proud student of His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche // Personal assistant with a BSc (Hons) Psych from Uni of Warwick // These are snapshots of my life, in words and pictures

Rinpoche the playful

October 18, 2021 0

Playful-10

When most people think of Tibetan lamas, the image that comes to mind is that of a serious, unsmiling type sat on a high throne positioned far, far away at the head of a large audience. And whilst there are some lamas like that and there is definitely a time, place and benefit for such […]

Taking (spiritual) pain away

September 24, 2021 0

HealingSpiritually-3

Rinpoche’s life was about taking pain away from people, on the level that worked best for them. This meant that oftentimes, Rinpoche went above and beyond to help others, whether it was physically, emotionally or spiritually. This time, I’m covering the spiritual aspect. Over the years, due to Rinpoche’s close connection with Dorje Shugden, I […]

Lessons from the Lamrim: Part 4

Here are more questions and answers from Lamrim class, for your learning pleasure. Do take the time to read the answers and if you have any questions or require any clarification, please reach out and ask! Question: Reference to the text; 1. Page 15-16 …..”This is because you have not yet abandoned some of the […]

BuddhaMara

Here are more questions and answers from Lamrim class, for your learning pleasure. Do take the time to read the answers and if you have any questions or require any clarification, please reach out and ask! Question: “Queens are no different from the daughters of Māra” Can a Kecharian explain this further please? Answers: “Queens […]

DesireIsStrong

Here are more questions and answers from Lamrim class, for your learning pleasure. Do take the time to read the answers and if you have any questions or require any clarification, please reach out and ask! Question: Reference to Lamrim text Day 1. 1. Page 9.The great Tsongkapa is referred to as the king of […]

ToughDecisions

It’s been an age and a half since I last posted here! Lots has happened since, most of it lockdown-related and since we’ve all heard way too much of that in the last year…let’s skip right past that, shall we? So what’s been happening more recently? Well, for a start, I’ve been teaching a Lamrim […]

Self-care in Buddhism

May 16, 2020 1

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This cracks me up. These are the two incomplete cycling workouts from Week 1 of the training plan. That week, I was only able to make it to the end for 1 out of 3 sessions, and was in tremendous pain at the end. It took me three days to recover. Just three weeks later, […]

IMG_0682

When I think back on the kind of relationship some of us had with Rinpoche, I gotta be honest – it is sometimes tough to reconcile the enlightened father we knew, with the lama who sits for this portrait below. With us, Rinpoche hugged us, loved us, ate with us, joked with us, scolded us. […]

Baggage-1

Rinpoche’s life was about taking pain away from people, on the level that worked best for them. This meant that oftentimes, Rinpoche went above and beyond to help others, whether it was physically, emotionally or spiritually. This time, I’m covering the emotional aspect. All of us carry a lot of baggage, and it is this […]

IMG_2616

Rinpoche’s life was about taking pain away from people, on the level that worked best for them. This meant that oftentimes, Rinpoche went above and beyond to help others, whether it was physically, emotionally or spiritually. This week, I’m covering the physical aspect. I think the best known example of Rinpoche going above and beyond […]