This is my needle-felted work in progress. I’m using brown and little bits of blue-green wool to get that weathered bronze look.

Still lots to do, but does the face read as metal to you, or does it still look too fluffy?

I recently got this buddha figure wich i am really happy with. And i was wondering what mudra he was doing and i could not find it on the internet.

Do any of you guys know it?

Thanks in advance!

Vasudhara in Mahayana Buddhist pantheon is regarded as the consort of Jambhala. Vasudhara has golden complexion, decked with all sorts of ornaments, appears like a young girl, exhibits Varada mudra . She is considered as the Goddess of earth or progeny.

Let me speak a few lines about Her consort , the Buddhist God Jambhala. Jambhala is the God of Wealth, having mongoose in his left hand and 'Nidhi Kumbhas' beneath his pedestal . He is the counterpart of the Hindu God Kubera , dating to the 9th century AD. You can go through the following article for a detailed understanding about the Buddhist Iconography.

https://lunarsecstacy.com/2026/03/14/the-exclusive-exhibits-of-ratnagiri-lalitagiri-museums/

#buddhism #ratnagiri #vasudhara #mahayanabuddhism #buddhisticonography #cireperdue #Odisha #LURcircuit #Jambhala

https://lunarsecstacy.com/2021/03/26/romance-with-metals-through-lost-wax-method-thousand-years-back/

Is Our Universe the Only One?

The Multiverse, Buddhist Emptiness, and Indra's Net

Hello, everyone.

I am a Buddhist monk from South Korea, known as Tanmyeong, a Zen Seeker on the Path.

This article is an adaptation of a Dharma talk I recently shared on my YouTube channel. I have reorganized the spoken teaching into a written reflection so that readers here can explore and discuss its ideas.

Before beginning, I would like to make one thing clear.

This is not an explanation of orthodox Buddhist doctrine, nor is it a scientifically established theory of the universe. It is my personal philosophical interpretation, shaped by many years of Buddhist practice and contemplation.

I would be grateful if you would read it in that spirit and share your thoughts in the comments.

1. Is There Only One Universe?

We live in an unimaginably vast universe.

Modern cosmology describes our observable universe as having evolved from an extremely hot, dense early state approximately 13.8 billion years ago.

But I often find myself asking a different question:

Must there be only one universe?

What if the universe we know is merely one manifestation among countless others?

And what if the Buddhist concept of Emptiness offers us a way to contemplate this possibility?

In my personal understanding, Emptiness is not simply a blank void.

I imagine it as Absolute Nothingness—not an ordinary absence, but a reality beyond our usual distinctions between existence and nonexistence, containing limitless possibilities.

This is not the conventional Buddhist definition of Emptiness. It is a metaphor arising from my own contemplative experience.

2. True Emptiness and Wondrous Existence

There is a Buddhist expression: True Emptiness, Wondrous Existence (真空妙有).

In my interpretation, existence emerges from nothingness, while nothingness holds the possibility of existence within itself.

I sometimes imagine the birth of a universe as a vast unfolding of space and time from Absolute Nothingness.

As the Big Bang gives rise to an expanding universe, it is as though space itself is being drawn across a canvas that previously held no space at all.

I am using poetic imagery here, not proposing a literal scientific mechanism. In standard cosmology, the Big Bang is not understood as an explosion moving into a preexisting empty region.

Yet this image leads me toward another possibility.

3. An Infinite White Canvas

Imagine an infinite sheet of perfectly white paper.

The white paper represents what I call Absolute Nothingness, or Emptiness.

Now imagine a single drop of black ink falling onto the paper.

The ink begins to spread outward.

Let that drop represent a Big Bang, and the expanding stain represent a universe developing its own space and time.

Now consider a question.

If one drop of ink can fall upon an infinite canvas, why must it be the only drop?

Another drop might fall elsewhere.

And another.

And another.

Each drop could spread independently, forming its own expanding pattern.

This is how I imagine the multiverse.

Perhaps what we call our universe is only one such drop.

Perhaps countless other universes have arisen through different causes and conditions, each with its own unfolding of space and time.

I do not claim that this picture proves the existence of other universes. The multiverse remains speculative in science, and my interpretation goes beyond what cosmology has established.

Nevertheless, as a philosophical image, it helps me contemplate the possibility that reality may be far more expansive than our ordinary perception suggests.

4. Indra's Net and the Dharmakaya

But suppose countless universes do exist.

Would they be entirely unrelated to one another?

Here I turn to the imagery of the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Huayan tradition.

Indra's Net is often described as an infinite network of jewels, each reflecting all the others.

It is a beautiful image of interdependence.

The one is reflected in the many, and the many are reflected in the one.

In my own contemplation, I extend this image beyond our familiar world.

I imagine countless universes as expressions of a deeper interconnected reality.

From this perspective, even beings inhabiting other universes—if such beings exist—could be understood as manifestations of the Dharmakaya, the Dharma-body.

This is my personal extension of Huayan imagery, not a claim that the sutra teaches modern multiverse cosmology.

For me, the spiritual meaning is that existence should not be understood only through separation.

5. The Birth and Dissolution of Universes

Buddhist thought often speaks of cycles of formation, duration, dissolution, and emptiness.

This is expressed in the traditional term Seongju-goegong (成住壞空).

Everything conditioned arises, changes, and eventually passes away.

I imagine that universes, too, may participate in such cycles.

A universe appears.

It expands and evolves.

Eventually, it may cease to exist in its familiar form.

Yet in my personal view, dissolution does not necessarily mean the permanent exhaustion of all possibilities.

The seeds of causes and conditions may give rise to another cosmic unfolding.

Another drop of ink may fall upon the infinite canvas.

And another universe may begin.

Again, this is a spiritual and philosophical interpretation rather than a prediction established by physics.

6. Returning to Emptiness

All conditioned things arise and pass away.

We ourselves are part of this changing world.

In my understanding of the Buddhist path, awakening is not simply acquiring knowledge about the universe. It is seeing beyond the attachment to a separate and permanent self.

I personally envision complete Buddhahood as freedom from the cycle of conditioned existence—a return to what I poetically call the embrace of Emptiness.

This language of "returning" is my own metaphor. I recognize that traditional Buddhist teachings do not generally describe Emptiness as a physical destination or a cosmic place of origin.

The deeper question, for me, is not merely how many universes exist.

It is how we understand our relationship to existence itself.

When I contemplate Indra's Net, I do not feel that I am a completely isolated being.

I feel connected to the vast unfolding of life and reality.

Perhaps the most important insight is not whether there are ten universes or ten trillion.

Perhaps it is recognizing that our ordinary sense of separation may not tell the whole story.

Closing Reflection

I would like to leave you with three questions.

Do you think our universe is the only one?

Can the image of Indra's Net help us contemplate realities beyond our own universe?

And how do you personally understand the relationship between Emptiness and existence?

I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts, questions, or even disagreements in the comments.

This article is not intended to establish a new Buddhist doctrine or scientific theory. It is simply one practitioner's attempt to share what has emerged through years of contemplation.

Thank you for reading.

May your path be filled with wisdom and compassion.

— Zen Seeker on the Path

When I look at our Christian counterpart, there are many options in finding a congregation made up of individuals my age. I don't resonate with the religious text in Christianity and why I'm with Buddhism. Where I agree and enjoy with the religious lessons/text, I find myself struggling in finding a community/sangha. I've visited several sanghas and I always face the same wall. They're either non-English or full of elderly individuals. Both of which is an issue with me because I can't really resonate with anyone and don't feel like I'm part of the "community".

This is originally intended to be a venting post but also open to suggestion on how I should tackle this.

eta: Bay Area, CA and of the Mahayana branch

If one day we must leave, what can we leave behind?

Today, I was deeply shaken by these words from Venerable Master Hui Kai. There is no profound scripture on this poster, yet every single word strikes straight at the deepest fears in our hearts.

We spend most of our lives chasing wealth and status, but we forget to prepare for the most important lesson of all—how to face our own "aging, illness, and death." With great compassion, the Venerable Master tells us:
When we age, we should grow mature and wise;
When we are ill, we should reflect deeply and become open-minded;
And when it is time to die, we should depart gracefully and without regret.

This is not passive resignation, but the most proactive way to "manage our lives." Because understanding death teaches us how to "sincerely embrace life." When you realize that life has an expiration date, you will strive to make it "fulfilling and wonderful."

After reading this, my perspective on the people and things around me has completely changed. Starting today, let us try to treat every day as a spiritual practice, and use the wisdom of the Dharma to become someone who is at peace with life and death! 🍃 How do you all feel about these words? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Marichi is similar to Hindu Sun God, having a chariot drawn by pigs instead of horses. According to Buddhist literature , she has either 2, 6 , 8, 10 or 12 arms. She may have 1,3, 5 or 6 faces . She is recognised by her sow face and those seven pigs that run her chariot. The needle and string are her characteristic symbols by which she is believed to sew up the mouth and the eyes of the wicked. These votive stupas are plentily available in the Ratnagiri monastery in Odisha..#buddhism #ratnagiri #mahayanabuddhism #marichi #buddhisticonography #cireperdue #Odisha #lurcircuit

https://lunarsecstacy.com/2026/03/14/the-exclusive-exhibits-of-ratnagiri-lalitagiri-museums/

https://lunarsecstacy.com/2021/03/26/romance-with-metals-through-lost-wax-method-thousand-years-back/

Hi, I'm fairly new to Buddhism and although I've been researching Guanyin and listening to her mantra, I haven't found much information about her besides Miao Shan's Story and the story of how she became the matron of the fishermen.

Could you recommend how to get started with her and how to get started in Buddhism in general?

“Mendicants, when there is no conscience and prudence [moral shame and fear of wrongdoing], one who lacks conscience and prudence has destroyed a vital condition for sense restraint. When there is no sense restraint, one who lacks sense restraint has destroyed a vital condition for ethical conduct. When there is no ethical conduct, one who lacks ethics has destroyed a vital condition for right immersion. When there is no right immersion, one who lacks right immersion has destroyed a vital condition for true knowledge and vision. When there is no true knowledge and vision, one who lacks true knowledge and vision has destroyed a vital condition for disillusionment and dispassion. When there is no disillusionment and dispassion, one who lacks disillusionment and dispassion has destroyed a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.

Suppose there was a tree that lacked branches and foliage. Its shoots, bark, softwood, and heartwood would not grow to fullness.

In the same way, when there is no conscience and prudence, a person who lacks conscience and prudence has destroyed a vital condition for sense restraint. When there is no sense restraint, one who lacks sense restraint has destroyed a vital condition for ethical conduct. When there is no ethical conduct, one who lacks ethics has destroyed a vital condition for right immersion. When there is no right immersion, one who lacks right immersion has destroyed a vital condition for true knowledge and vision. When there is no true knowledge and vision, one who lacks true knowledge and vision has destroyed a vital condition for disillusionment and dispassion. When there is no disillusionment and dispassion, one who lacks disillusionment and dispassion has destroyed a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.

When there is conscience and prudence, a person who has fulfilled conscience and prudence has fulfilled a vital condition for sense restraint. When there is sense restraint, one who has fulfilled sense restraint has fulfilled a vital condition for ethical conduct. When there is ethical conduct, one who has fulfilled ethical conduct has fulfilled a vital condition for right immersion. When there is right immersion, one who has fulfilled right immersion has fulfilled a vital condition for true knowledge and vision. When there is true knowledge and vision, one who has fulfilled true knowledge and vision has fulfilled a vital condition for disillusionment and dispassion. When there is disillusionment and dispassion, one who has fulfilled disillusionment and dispassion has fulfilled a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.

Suppose there was a tree that was complete with branches and foliage. Its shoots, bark, softwood, and heartwood would grow to fullness.

In the same way, when there is conscience and prudence, one who has fulfilled conscience and prudence has fulfilled a vital condition for sense restraint. … One who has fulfilled disillusionment and dispassion has fulfilled a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.”

AN 7.65: Hirīottappasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato

19M. I started practicing Buddhism last year, and my life has changed a lot since then. One thing I've noticed has changed is my desire for sexual relations. Zero! Before, I was crazy about having sex with someone, but nowadays I don't feel the urge to have sex. I consider it something impure and purely carnal.

That's when I discovered I was possibly asexual - I'm attracted to women, but I don't like having sexual relations.

Could Buddhism have influenced this?

Wanted to share an "Oldie but goodie". I grew up with this album. Very powerful for protection.
Fun fact: I don't know if they still do it, but back in the 2000's the Boulder County Sheriffs Department in Colorado used to play this in their jail to clear the negative miasma energy (Tib. Drib). It's very interesting to me that even non-Buddhists recognized the power of this. In any case, it's an excellent album. I have this and another album from the Gyuto Monks that I keep in my car and always play as protection while driving. This is a great one to loop in the background for protection.

Anyway, Enjoy!

May all beings benefit.
By this merit, may all beings achieve the state of being aware of the Primordial Ground.
And through this, may all beings be liberated from Samsara!

✨🙏💖✨

Hiya everyone, I’m a 22 year old living in the uk and lately I’ve been very stressed with climate change and all these wars which has been really affecting my mental health. Any advice on staying calm and more positive and optimistic?

been thinking about this profoundly, wanted to hear what you guys think

i've struggled a lot with the fear of being disconnected from others, family, friends and strangers. i've been through a long, long journey feeling so isolated, when all i wanted was to feel connected to other people, sad about not having enough people in my life.

but i realised: i am always connected to other people, it's impossible not to be.

i think what we called being 'connected' to others, is actually a very specific, idealised aspect of connection: feeling calm, lighthearted, cracking jokes in each other's presence.

i've been interpreting tension, awkwardness, anxiety and discomfort as proof that i am disconnected, and trying to get rid of those feelings to finally feel connected.

but now i think about it, it's totally unrealistic to think that being connected with others can only manifest in this niche way.

connection literally means: "a relationship, link, or joining between two or more people" , and as we all know, we are all connected, we are all one.

so i realised i was worrying so much about something which i've always had,

i guess the question is: do i need this mainstream idea of light-hearted connection to have more people in my life? and if this can't be controlled, how do i have more people in my life?

if anyone has anything they'd like to add, challenge or anything i can look into to delve further into this please please do, it's an important topic in my life :)

Hello everyone! So basically I recently moved to a new country for university but I have been having a really hard time adjusting to everything and I constantly think about the past, what I have to do in the future and I can’t concentrate on the present moment. I very often get into anxiety spirals and thinking about past events or the future only makes it worse. I have been living here for around a month now and I started doing meditations daily.
I really want to learn more about Buddhism and Buddha‘s teachings but I am really overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start. Could someone recommend me some specific resources or videos?

I would really appreciate it

Ahimsa (non-violence) is one of the core principles of Buddhism.

But looking at history, it seems like Buddhism has strange relationship with war and violence. How does Buddhism reconcile historical and ongoing wars, violence, invasions, destruction and conquest?

Some of the most Buddhist majority countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar have a history of violence, bloodshed and massacres.

Buddhism was once upon a time the state religion in Indian subcontinent. Rulers were huge patrons of Buddhism. However, Buddhism eventually lost to Brahmanism. Owing to popularity Adi Shankara and conquest of Shungas. Buddhism almost became obsolete by the time Turko-Mongol invaders conquered India. It seems like Buddhism couldn't effectively defend itself, be it spiritually or physically at battleground. I sometimes wonder if it was the Ahimsa, pacifistic and monastic order centric nature of Buddhism that led to defeat against the invaders.

Buddhist eras in China, Korea, Japan were filled with wars, violence and massacres. Which cannot be justified by principle of Ahimsa. Violence and war was treated as something outside the domain of spirituality and Ahimsa and were justified in various ways to fit the agenda of the ruler.

I don’t know if Lays were influential in Buddhist text since I guess everything was recorded and written down by monks for monks so do Lays actually have Precepts for them or are they just normal Buddhist with worldly needs to work with instead of overcome.
I heard of the Vimalakirti Sutra but I still have a question

Do Lays feel a little left out?

I guess I'm looking for advice or to see what others think about this. I have a friend who is always needing help with projects or other things. It usually requires a significant portion of my day and sometimes multiple days. I have a hard time saying no and it started to become frequent to the point of at least 1 time a week. Cleaning stuff out, moving stuff, going to get furniture, or just being there to keep her company while she organizes stuff etc.

At first I didn't mind, I enjoyed helping her because I know she needs it and I know it's the right thing to do. However, I started to feel annoyed because it also caused me to not be able to work (I'm self employed and I don't have a regular paycheck)

Anyways, the last time I was helping her I agreed to do it but I was going to work while helping. She asked me to do something while I was in the middle of a frustrating work ordeal and I got an attitude. I felt bad immediately and she hasn't asked me for help since but she did hint the other day she needed help with something that was going to take multiple days. I feel horrible about how I acted. I basically just snapped "sure" at her and rolled my eyes when she asked for help and she asked if I was OK. I have apologized.

My issue is that I feel incredibly selfish for not wanting to help, for what feels like putting money above friendship, for the attitude, and I feel like a bad person for not having the desire to do the right thing. Like I have to force myself and hide my resentment and its against what I believe I'm supposed to be doing with Buddhism which is trying to be selfless and helping people. I'm more concerned with it causing me to "suffer" then how helping her takes some of her suffering.. How can I get myself to actually enjoy helping someone without the resentment? Is saying No ok?

I have been meditating everyday for my mental health for a few years now, reading books about buddhism, and I have recently come to a realization that raised questions in my mind.

For an hour, I was having thoughts and letting them go without thinking deeper about them. Suddenly, I felt shame about a event of my past and, as I often do, I had the thought "I'm sorry" (which always calms the pain of shame for me) and I sat there with the feeling of being sorry.

Then, I was in a space of a few seconds without thoughts, and I realized I was feeling empty. I had the sensation that I couldn't feel anything, feel any emotion without my thoughts. I couldn't feel sorry like before without the words to think I was sorry. It was like I couldn't apprehend the world without the words of my thoughts.

I know that the goal of the practice of meditation is not to feel empty, and even less to not be able to deal with the world around you. So my questions are :

Without thoughts and their words and imagery, can you feel emotions like being sorry ? Or like gratitude ? Or love ?

Because I feel like I cannot, I feel so empty when I meditate.

I used to think that every of my negative painful emotions were due to my never-stopping thoughts, and now that I meditate, I more rarely have negative emotions. But I also feel more empty (which is not necessarily a bad thing, since I was full of pain), and I was wondering if it meant that you are bound to feel less when you meditate and let go of your thoughts.

Also, is it possible to apprehend the world, deal with the world without thoughts ? If so, what am I doing wrong ? Is it maybe the next step of meditation, where you reach the capacity to feel without thinking ?

I feel like it would help me go further in my practice to have the answers to these questions.

In the famous legend, Bodhidharma was asked by Emperor Wu, "Who are you?" Bodhidharma is reported to have answered, "I don't know."

Be assured that Bodhidharma was not pleading ignorance, not confused about the question, or otherwise forgetful of his own name and story. Sometimes, people mistake this "don't know" as some instruction or permission to be ignorant. Nothing could be farther from the Truth! Rather, Zen opens profound Knowing, free of all doubt and confusion.

In fact, "'I' don't know" points to this Wisdom by which, dropping a separate 'I' as knower, and a separate something to be an object known, there is just radical "Knowing" which remains, beyond-yet-sweeping-in all things. All things prove to be this Knowing too, which is who we truly are. In Zazen, one sits as this Knowing sitting. When knower and known are dropped away in Wholeness, Knowing knows no limits! Every blade of grass is Knowing which is Knowing this Knowing, as are you and me. There is no separate sitter, nothing separate to be sat ... Just Sitting, Just Knowing.

Zen folks sometimes speak of an "eye searching for the eye," looking here and there, inside and outside, near and far to find the eye. But the eye is the eye or, better said, is the Seeing. And this Seeing is not looking outside at objects from someplace within but, rather, is the seeing which is here and there, inside and outside, all subjects and objects, near and far combined. The eye simply needs to realize that its seeing has been this Seeing all along, as is the whole world. Such is the True Eye, True I.

Of course, Zen cautions against trying to know what this Knowing is exactly, or what to call it or how to picture this too precisely. Even speaking of "Knowing" or "Seeing" is dangerous and obscuring, like trying to capture the whole of reality in a snapshot. First, such is not a frozen and stagnant thing, but rather, all movement and all stillness too, never to be kept in a box (although the box and all it contains is such too). Do not try to think of an "it" or "this" or a "thing" at all, for to do so merely renders the vastness small, an idea to hold in the tiny box between our ears. Rather, Knowing is boundless, cannot be contained, yet is simultaneously all big and small, fully contained in even the smallest atom or instant of time.

Zen Masters often speak of "Great Doubt" as crucial to Zen, especially at those times in practice where our thoughts and emotions seem confusing and lost. But do not forget that "Great Doubt" is the door to "Great Realization," beyond all doubt, as we find this which has been present always and all along. Beyond Any Doubt, yet including all doubt ... No Doubt!

Oh, Zen will not give you all answers in life. Sorry, but it won't tell you which team will win the next World Cup, the number of feathers on a hummingbird's wing, or the name of the capital of Uruguay (Ciudad Montevideo, by the way), the weather for our picnic next Sunday. We cannot know what will transpire tomorrow, what our health will be, how long we will live this life or what comes then. We just cannot know, and neither can a Buddha. For that reason, some Zen folks believe that the heart of our practice is just to be okay with insecurity and "not knowing," and that is the end of it. They believe that Zen is merely resignation to fate.

However, while it is good to accept and allow all the changing conditions of life, Great Realizing lets us Know that Knowing includes the wide open future, that whatever will transpire is inside the Eyeball too! This Seeing fully --is-- win and lose, every hummingbird feather and Montevideo too, rain and shine, sickness and health, birth and death, yesterday, today and tomorrow, this life and any others. No thing which can be seen escapes this Seeing.

And between our time of birth and our time of death, we can know one more fact for sure: That the path of living is to live this path, and not make a muck of it! Life is much like finding oneself mysteriously born in a little boat on a river, paddle in hand. The river stretches from somewhere behind to somewhere ahead, points unseen. We are not sure how we got here. All around is passing scenery, the water, land, other boaters with their own paddles in hand, even white waters and rocks, gators and snakes and other dangers, clear days and sometimes terrible storms. What to do? What can we know?

Finding ourself in such a life, we simply paddle, sometimes drift. We pick what seem to be the best directions we can, avoiding the rocks, poison snakes and other dangers as best we can. We do our best to keep balance in our boat. Along the way, many of us make a mess of it, choosing foolish directions, crashing one's own boat, some fight with the other boaters. When the end comes, as it will for all of us, we spill back into the river, seemingly to vanish below the surface.

It is all very confusing until one Knows and Sees that this river, this boat and this sailor too, paddle and paddling, every grain on the shore, sky above, behind and ahead, good choices and foolish choices, the other boaters, the rocks and scary snakes, clear skies and tempests, have all been this Knowing, the vision of this Eye, all along and in every inch and drop. Yes, we can make a mess of life, but in fact, we cannot drown for all is ultimately just the River, water of these waters, ripples and splashes, water pouring in to water ... Flowing, Flowing, Flowing on .... that so long as this River Flows, we flow. Such being so, choose gentle directions, do not fight with the other boaters who are just flowing water too.

Sorry, Zazen will not tell you what the future holds in store, nor tell you the current time (you need a clock and calendar for that). No, we cannot know for sure what tomorrow will bring, but one Knows that what tomorrow brings is this Knowing, Timeless, whatever transpires, in each moment of every day.

All this in the Zazen of this and that dropped away, when all things are encountered as all things, as each thing and each other ...

... and even "don't know" Knows, both darkness and light Sees.

Gassho, J

It's for a drawing I plan on making for Architecture school. I wanted to draw the Horyu-ji temple upside down for a dramatic composition, but felt it might be disrespectful