Tag: liberation

• 5 Mind-Bending Concepts from an Ancient Buddhist Text That Will Change How You See Time

  

  Introduction: Are You a Prisoner of Time? Do you ever feel like you’re in a battle with the clock? Some days, time drags on endlessly. On others, it flies by, leaving you wondering where the hours went. We live by schedules and deadlines, constantly feeling that we are running out of time. It’s a universal…

  William Altig

  October 27, 2025

  Chapter 15, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Aeon, Bodhisattvas of the Earth, Buddhist cosmology, Chapter Fifteen, cosmic time, Dōgen, Eternal Buddha, Half-Day Aeon, Impermanence, kalpa, liberation, Lotus Sūtra, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, Non-Duality, Saṃsāra, Skillful Means, Soteriology, Spiritual Koan, Suffering Dukkha, Temporal Paradox, Tiantai School, Time Relativity, upāya, Welling Forth from the Earth, Zen Interpretation, Zhiyi, Śākyamuni Buddha

• Already Home

  

  A slow blues ballad about the moment everything changes. I spent so long trying to earn my way, step by step, brick by brick—keeping score, watching the clock run down, wondering if I’d ever be good enough. Then one single moment of grace broke through, and I realized: I don’t have to keep trying anymore.…

  William Altig

  October 25, 2025

  Chapter 17, music, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  acoustic blues, acoustic storytelling, already enlightened, always already, Americana, apocalypse, appalachian folk, arriving, assurance, authenticity, awakening, bent notes, beyond measure, blue note, Blues, blues ballad, born again, bottleneck, breakthrough, buddhist blues, burden, burden lifted, Campfire Song, cathartic, celestial shore, chains breaking, coming home, Comparison, confessional, Conscious Music, Contemplative, contemporary folk, conversion, country blues, darkness to light, Deep Listening, delta blues, destination, dharma folk, divine presence, earned salvation, emotional journey, end of wandering, Enlightenment, eternal now, eternal presence, existential blues, face to face, faith, fingerstyle guitar, flash, folk ballad, Folk Blues, found, freedom, good enough, gospel blues, grace, grace over works, harmonica blues, here and now, home, honest, Imagery, immanent, incomparable, infinite value, instant, instant faith, intimate encounter, intimate vocals, kingdom within, letting go, liberation, life changing moment, light breaking through, lightning, live feel, lo fi blues, long road, lyric driven, meditation music, melancholic blues, Merit, Metaphor, minimal production, moment of clarity, mountain music, muddy waters, Mystical, narrative folk, natural sound, never left, no longer lost, old time, one take, one thought, organic production, original enlightenment, peace, pearl of great price, personal relationship, philosophical blues, piedmont blues, poetry, porch blues, presence, promise, promised land, raw recording, raw vocals, redeemed, redemption song, release, relief, religious exhaustion, religious folk, resonator, rest, rest for the weary, Revelation, roots music, sacred music, safe harbor, Samsara, sanctuary, saved, score keeping, self acceptance, singer songwriter, single moment, slide, slow blues, Southern gothic, spiritual blues, spiritual burnout, spiritual folk, Storytelling, striving, sudden grace, sudden vs gradual, suffering and liberation, testimonial, testimony, texas blues, thunder, timeless truth, Traditional, traditional blues, transcendent, Transformation, transformational, treasure, triumphant, trying too hard, unconditional love, unveiling, vertical leap, vintage sound, voice calling, Vulnerability, vulnerable, wheel of life, witness, worth more than

• “Lotus Sutra: Desire and Liberation”

  

  I. Executive Summary This briefing examines excerpts from “Lotus Sutra: Desire and Liberation,” focusing on Chapter Thirteen’s depiction of Bhikshunis Maha-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā receiving prophecies of Buddhahood. The analysis addresses a central paradox: how the fulfillment of a desire, even for liberation, can bring immediate and profound peace, given Buddhism’s teaching that desire is the…

  William Altig

  September 14, 2025

  Chapter 13, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Arhat, Bhikshunis, Bodhisattva, Certainty, Chanda, compassionate action, Desire, Dukkha, Ekayāna, Enlightenment, Epicureanism, liberation, Lotus Sūtra, Maha-Prajāpatī, Mahayana Buddhism, One Vehicle, peace, Prophecy, Psychological Impact, Saṃsāra, Skillful Means, stoicism, Suffering, Taṇhā, tranquility, Universal Buddhahood, Upaya, Vyākaraṇa, Women’s Ordination, Yaśodharā

• The Three Treasures of the Dharma Teacher in the Lotus Sūtra

  

  This briefing document synthesizes key themes and concepts from Chapter 10 of the Lotus Sūtra, “A Teacher of the Dharma,” focusing on the Buddha’s instructions to Medicine-King Bodhisattva regarding the three indispensable conditions for propagating the Dharma: the Room, the Robe, and the Seat. It emphasizes the Sūtra‘s unique status, the challenges of the “evil…

  William Altig

  September 12, 2025

  Chapter 10, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Active Listening, Arhat, Bhaiṣajyarāja, Bodhisattva Practice, Buddha, Buddhahood, Chū, Collection of Merit, Collection of Wisdom, Compassion, Dedicated Work, Dharma propagation, Dharma Teacher, Dialogue, Ekayāna, emptiness, Evil Age, Forbearance, Gentleness, Great Compassion, Inherent Existence, interconnectedness, Interdependence, Kṣānti Pāramitā, Ke, Kū, liberation, Lotus Sūtra, Madhyamaka school, Mahākaruṇā, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Medicine-King Bodhisattva, middle way, Non-judgmental Inquiry, Nāgārjuna, One Vehicle, Parable of the Burning House, Parable of the Prodigal Son, Patience, perseverance, Provisional Existence, Robe of the Tathāgata, Room of the Tathāgata, Saṃsāra, Seat of the Tathāgata, Skillful Means, Spiritual Fortitude, Spiritual Obstacles, Suffering, Svabhāva, Sān Dì, Tathāgata, Three Treasures, Threefold Truth, Tiantai School, upāya, Voidness, Yogācāra school, Śūnyatā

• The Buddha’s Declaration and the Universal Way

  

  Date: September 3, 2025 Subject: An analysis of the Buddha’s declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra and its implications for understanding universal enlightenment. Executive Summary: Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra features a seemingly audacious declaration by the Buddha: “I know the Way. I have opened the Way. I will expound the Way.…

  William Altig

  September 6, 2025

  Chapter 5, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Absolute Happiness, Buddha’s Declaration, Buddhist Community, Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhist teachings, Chapter Five, Compassionate Function, Cosmic Audience, daimoku, Devotional Text, Dharma, Dharma Rain, Diverse Beings, Enlightenment, Eternal Buddha, Gods Men Asuras, Great Cloud Metaphor, human revolution, Individual Effort, liberation, Living Buddha, Lotus Sūtra, Mahayana Buddhism, Nichiren School, Non-Duality, One Vehicle, Parable of the Medicinal Herbs, Rhetorical Strategy, sangha, Self-mastery, Shakyamuni, Skillful Means, Spiritual Authority, Spiritual Capacities, Spiritual Progress, Three Thousand Realms in One Thought Moment, Tiantai School, Universal Buddhahood, upaˉya, Zhiyi

• The Dharma of the Forge and the Loom: A Conceptual Conversion of Hephaestus and Athena Through the Lotus Sutra

  

  Date: August 29, 2025 Purpose: This document provides a detailed review of the provided source, exploring its core argument regarding the conceptual synthesis of the Greek mythological archetypes of Hephaestus and Athena with the principles of the Lotus Sutra. It highlights main themes, key ideas, and important facts, including direct quotes. I. Executive Summary The…

  William Altig

  August 29, 2025

  Mythology and Modern Connections

  AI, Ani Choying Drolma, Arachne, Arts, athena, Athena’s Wisdom, Bodhisattva, Buddhism, Compassion (Karuna), Conceptual Conversion, Creative Purpose, Dharma, Dharmakaya, Ego, Ekayana (One Vehicle), Greek Mythos, Hephaestus, Hephaestus’s Forge, Lameness, liberation, Lotus Sutra, Meditation, Metis, Mount Olympus, Mythology, Olympian Archetypes, Pandora, Philosophy, Religion, Robotics, Sebastian Yatra, Skillful Means (Upaya), Software Development, Spirituality, Strategic Warfare, Suffering (Duhkha), Technology, Weaving, Wisdom (Prajna), Workplace Spirituality

• “Lotus Sutra Bodhisattva Study” – Main Themes and Key Insights

  

  This briefing document provides a comprehensive review of the provided excerpts from “Lotus Sutra Bodhisattva Study,” focusing on Chapter Twenty-Seven, “The Former Affairs of King Wonderful Adornment,” and the Bodhisattvas Medicine-King and Medicine-Superior. It highlights the main themes, most important ideas, and significant facts, incorporating direct quotes from the source material. I. Overview of the…

  William Altig

  August 20, 2025

  Chapter 27, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Buddhism, Dharma, Enlightenment, Eradicating misfortune, Good roots, healing, Karmic well-being, liberation, Lotus Sūtra, Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva, Meditation, Mental diseases, Merit, Philosophy, Physical diseases, Religion, Skillful Means (Upaya), Spiritual well-being, Spirituality, Suffering, Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on Visualizing the Two Bodhisattvas Bhaisajyarāja and Bhaisajyasamudgata, Universal Buddhahood, Visualization meditations

• The Promise of Deliverance: An Exploration of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and the Breaking of Bonds in the Lotus Sūtra

  

  The Lotus Sūtra, a cornerstone of Mahayana Buddhism, holds a revered position as a scripture that elucidates the profound truths of existence and the inherent potential for enlightenment within all beings.1 Central to its teachings is the figure of the World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, known by various names across cultures, including Avalokiteśvara, Kuan Yin, Kannon, and Kanzeon.3…

  William Altig

  May 3, 2025

  Chapter 25, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  #EscapeIgnorance, Avalokiteshvara, bodhisattva-of-compassion, buddhahood-potential, buddhist-philosophy, chapter-25-universal-door, Compassion, compassion-karuna, Delusion, Guanyin, Ignorance, ignorance-and-delusion, kannon, kanzeon, karuna, liberation, liberation-from-bonds, Lotus Sutra, lotus-sutra, Mahayana Buddhism, mahayana-buddhism, practice, recitation-practice, skillful-means-upaya, spiritual-deliverance, Sutra Recitation, symbolic bondage, symbolic-bondage, ten fetters, ten-fetters, world-voice-perceiver

• The Inconceivable Supernatural Powers of the Buddha in the Lotus Sūtra

  

  1. Introduction Overview This report undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the concept of “inconceivable supernatural powers” (acintya−ṛddhi) attributed to the Buddha, particularly as referenced in Chapter Six, “Bestowal of Prophecy,” of the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra (Lotus Sūtra). The specific impetus for this investigation is the verse sung by Śākyamuni Buddha following his prophecy of future…

  William Altig

  April 30, 2025

  Chapter 6

  abhijna, acintya, asravaksaya, Buddha, Buddhahood, Buddhism, Dharma, Ekayana, Enlightenment, inconceivable, interpretation, jhana, karma, Kevatta Sutta, liberation, literal, Lotus Sutra, Mahayana Buddhism, Meditation, Miracles, One Vehicle, prajna, Prophecy, psychic powers, psychological, rddhi, Rebirth, samadhi, Skillful Means, Subhuti, supernatural powers, symbolic, Theravada Buddhism, Upaya, wisdom

• The River Remembers Blues

  

  “The River Remembers Blues” is a soulful folk-blues song that captures the essence of resilience and awakening. Drawing inspiration from the journey of a river, the lyrics convey a powerful narrative about transformation, strength, and the inevitability of one’s path. Through a heartfelt call-and-response structure, the song invites listeners to reflect on their own journeys,…

  William Altig

  March 19, 2025

  music

  awakening, Blues, call and response, Emotional, Folk, liberation, narrative, resilience, river, Self-Discovery, song, Soulful, Transformation