Resetting the Anchor from Loss with Bodhicitta
with Annie Bien
We experience loss regularly, whether from the loss of someone very close, or the loss of not having someone to lose. The idea for this workshop began with the loss of my Buddhist teacher whose passing brought back the memory of not having had a teacher to lose when searching for one. How do we work with loss in our meditation practice and daily life? What do we do when we meditate? What do we familiarize ourselves with and cultivate?
When we have a meditation practice, how do we develop compassion by cultivating bodhicitta? What is bodhicitta, “the spirit of enlightenment,” this “mind of awakening”? How does bodhicitta become critical to move onwards? How do you take a fearless account of yourself to become more resilient?
Bodhicitta is a supreme challenge for the mind, a gift of honesty for yourself and for those you wish to benefit as you develop your understanding of compassion.
Recording
About the Facilitator
Annie Bien is an English translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts, a writer, and Buddhist practitioner. She began studying Tibetan Buddhism in 1997. In 2000 she attended an audience of the Dalai Lama where she asked a question—how could she be a compassionate person if she did not like her heritage as a Chinese person living in America? His reply changed her life. She then met her teacher Khyongla Rato Rinpoche of Tibet Center. Wishing to understand the Dalai Lama in Tibetan, she began learning Tibetan with Khenpo Pema Wangdak of Vikramaśila Foundation then attended Buddhist text translation classes at the Center for Buddhist Studies of Columbia University taught by Geshe Losang Jamspal and Dr. Robert Thurman. She was assistant to Dr. Thurman and editor at the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. She has translated sūtras for Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, 84000, and Khenpo Pema Wangdak. She currently writes reports on the teachings by the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje. As writer she has published two poetry collections, and won competitions in flash fiction and poetry. At Shantideva Center, she enjoys leading meditation classes to create calm and kindness together.
