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Larchfire: Photography from India, Nepal and Tibet, plus quotations primarily from traditions in Yoga and Buddhism

At the core of every major religion we can find a treasure trove of powerful technologies for awakening, transformative practices designed to invoke in us the very same experience of fullness, transcendence, and immeasurable love as the great religious founders themselves were able to have.
That's right—you can have the same experience that the Buddha had. You can have the same experience that Jesus Christ had. Or that Muhammad had, or St. Teresa, or Rumi, or any other great mystic in history. All this is abundantly available to you, at this very moment.
Why is this important? Simple: it's your birthright. It's why you are here, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous incarnation. This is not an invitation, nor is it an obligation—it's who you already are, right now. All that's left to do is to wake up. But first, you need to know that you can wake up in this lifetime, that enlightenment is a real possibility for you and for your loved ones. Second, you need to give yourself permission to pursue your own enlightenment. You deserve to be awake—because in a certain sense, you already are. —Lama Surya Das, ISE Keynote address, 2010
<i>L1652 Buddha statue, Bodhgaya</i>

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At the core of every major religion we can find a treasure trove of powerful technologies for awakening, transformative practices designed to invoke in us the very same experience of fullness, transcendence, and immeasurable love as the great religious founders themselves were able to have. That's right—you can have the same experience that the Buddha had. You can have the same experience that Jesus Christ had. Or that Muhammad had, or St. Teresa, or Rumi, or any other great mystic in history. All this is abundantly available to you, at this very moment. Why is this important? Simple: it's your birthright. It's why you are here, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous incarnation. This is not an invitation, nor is it an obligation—it's who you already are, right now. All that's left to do is to wake up. But first, you need to know that you can wake up in this lifetime, that enlightenment is a real possibility for you and for your loved ones. Second, you need to give yourself permission to pursue your own enlightenment. You deserve to be awake—because in a certain sense, you already are. —Lama Surya Das, ISE Keynote address, 2010 L1652 Buddha statue, Bodhgaya

Buddha Bodhgaya India Lama Surya Das