12nd February 2025. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer.

Supporting the sangha of some students from Brazil to travel and attend James' retreat in Portugal this summer, 2025: https://simplybeing.co.uk/autocategory/28876/

F1) Supporting the life blood of the Sangha

F2) You have said before that we should observe our minds to see how we cheat ourselves. Does this mean that we should try to observe the moment at which we begin to reify our experience? And does this bring us along the path of the eight consciousnesses? If so, could you explain a little how to do this in meditation?

F3) When it is said, after dying, the consciousness sees and hears, for example, when relatives enjoy the fact that you are dead, how is this possible? It is said that our perceiving is as seeing a copy of the objects. What then about this object, which are surely empty?

F4) When I identify with awareness itself, when I find myself in awareness, and then release a bit from the aspects of my personalities and the specificities of my identity, I myself also seem to become another person in a way, as if this is a different kind of experience, but there is still a certain center or subtle focal point in my heart area. Is this a dualism to go beyond?

F5) I have understood that the cleansing effect of Guru Yoga ceases in the moment in which we put mind into thinking voluntarily. I find it hard to distinguish which thoughts are spontaneous and which ones are voluntary. How can I distinguish them?

German translation: Robert Jaroslawski

English: youtu.be/HIH-pX6Qv28

English (without silence cuts): youtu.be/Lpt5fLqClb8

German: youtu.be/EfPMyqmwIlw (you are here)

Russian: youtu.be/eprVDmFmiOA

Polish: youtu.be/wlVpHZ5G3PY

Spanish: youtu.be/5vzvxmFpbqE

Portuguese: youtu.be/o66Atzd6uwY

Romanian: [soon]

Turkish: youtu.be/l8N1CUex308

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfPMyqmwIlw

Language has nothing to do with the world.

Look at everything in your house. Look at carpets. Look at clothes. Look at children's homework. Look at everything you encounter and see how it is constructed. It's something put together.

And start to observe the function of language in your existence. Language is something exquisite. It's a very beautiful thing.

It can bring us so much pleasure. But it is a game. Language speaks to language. Language hovers like some mesmerising archangel in the world with glistening wings and little rainbows falling from them. Words and things exist in a very complex and strange relationship. People like Wittgenstein would say, language has nothing to do with the world.

Language only speaks to language. The world is…….. And that's quite a good place to start.

James Low, Lojong mind training, Macclesfield 12.2006 (on YouTube)

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zERm9hcDWI

Excerpt from the teaching "Me First! and the Will to Power.", Zoom teachings with James Low on March 14th, 2025.

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

English: https://youtu.be/3xLfMetyBVA (you are here)

German: [soon]

Russian: [soon]

Polish: [soon]

Spanish: [soon]

Portuguese: [soon]

Turkish: [soon]

Romanian: [soon]

Machig's Way" book, available in Kindle e-book and hardback on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/s?k=machig%27s+way+james

A Tibetan girl's struggle to follow the path of a yogini

Machig Labdron was one of Tibet's great meditation masters. She started a whole lineage of practice that still exists today. It has been incorporated in one way or another by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

The paintings on each page were inspired by her biography and illustrate her life and difficulties. Being an inspiration for Buddhist practitioners, it goes beyond the merely biographical.

One thousand years ago villagers and nomads in Tibet had many expectations about how a young girl should behave. Girls were trained in all the tasks of maintaining a household and ensuring that nothing was wasted from the animals. This was the basis for a good marriage.

But Machig carried within her a deep spiritual vision of a different life. Every experience she had of village life convinced her that her place was in the high hills, living in caves and devoting her life to meditation practice. Her struggle to fulfil her vision is recounted in this illustrated brief biography which includes some of her most beautiful and challenging songs.

This life story of Machig Labdron is directly translated from an original Tibetan text by James Low. Paintings by Diana Collins.

Each page has paintings by Diana Collins commissioned by James Low to accompany the text. They illustrate Machig Labdron’s life and difficulties in a way that hopefully brings them to life and is an inspiration for Buddhist practitioners.

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLaow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeTCyeMmdkY

1st March 2025. Effortful selectivity and effortless non selectivity. Zoom teachings with James Low.

https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/q-and-a-34-saturday-mar-2025/

Italian translation: Rosanna D'Urso

English: youtu.be/zakRXkX84AA

English (withou silence cuts): youtu.be/jx8_jV6eoqk

German: youtu.be/ZpX2GE85g-U

Russian: youtu.be/sFO_SuRSxg0

Spanish: youtu.be/6SjnZ0Qwi4E

Portuguese: youtu.be/xVJ8ou6L_6g

Romanian: youtu.be/kI1qkcK4B6Q

Turkish: youtu.be/M4RHyVz-ARY

Italian: https://youtu.be/8Kgiqx3c2HE (you are here)

Cover art: Ruvim Miksanskiy

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kgiqx3c2HE

Excerpt from the video "Effortful selectivity and effortless non selectivity", James Low's teachings on Zoom, on March 1st, 2025.

English: youtu.be/zakRXkX84AA

English (withou silence cuts): youtu.be/jx8_jV6eoqk

German: youtu.be/ZpX2GE85g-U

Russian: youtu.be/sFO_SuRSxg0

Spanish: youtu.be/6SjnZ0Qwi4E

Portuguese: youtu.be/xVJ8ou6L_6g

Romanian: youtu.be/kI1qkcK4B6Q

Turkish: youtu.be/M4RHyVz-ARY

If you like, in the English version on YouTube, turn on the translated subtitles in your preferred language.

"That is to say, from the Dharma point of view, representation is an illusion. We see pictures of Padmasambhava: "Oh, this is Padmasambhava." No, this is a picture. And somebody says, "This is a picture of Padmasambhava—he never changes. He doesn’t even change his socks," which might make us a little bit concerned about domestic relations in Zangdok Palri. "He is always the same." This is a skillful method to give us the sense of object constancy—so we know what Padmasambhava looks like.

But actually, Padmasambhava shows many different forms. All forms are Padmasambhava. I’m just looking for this—Padmasambhava said, regarding the Padmasambhava initiation, "The vows from this empowerment are as follows: all that you see, both the world and its inhabitants, is to be seen as the body of Padmasambhava." So, the cars, the trees, the messy gardens that people have in wintertime—all of this is Padmasambhava.

So, if everything looks like Padmasambhava, you can’t know what he looks like. It looks like Padmasambhava because Padmasambhava has no shape. There is no true Padmasambhava. Padmasambhava is the nirmanakaya illusion which manifests in order to bring us back to our own unchanging ground. So, from this tantric point of view, when we say that all that we see is the form of Padmasambhava, all that we hear is the mantra of Padmasambhava. It means Padmasambhava is beyond thought."

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLaow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86DsPc9k70

1st March 2025. Effortful selectivity and effortless non selectivity. Zoom teachings with James Low.

https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/q-and-a-34-saturday-mar-2025/

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

"(0:00) Morning session 1"

"(42:07) Morning session 2"

"(1:20:45) Afternoon session 1"

"(2:03:35) Afternoon session 2"

English: youtu.be/zakRXkX84AA (you are here)

English (withou silence cuts): youtu.be/jx8_jV6eoqk

German: youtu.be/ZpX2GE85g-U

Russian: youtu.be/sFO_SuRSxg0

Spanish: youtu.be/6SjnZ0Qwi4E

Portuguese: youtu.be/xVJ8ou6L_6g

Romanian: youtu.be/kI1qkcK4B6Q

Turkish: youtu.be/M4RHyVz-ARY

Full transcript: https://bit.ly/TrcptJL-ESENS-Z03-2025

Cover photo: Ruvim Miksanskiy

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zakRXkX84AA

1st March 2025. Effortful selectivity and effortless non selectivity. Zoom teachings with James Low.

https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/q-and-a-34-saturday-mar-2025/

"(0:00) Morning session 1"

"(1:14:41) Morning session 2"

"(2:21:21) Afternoon session 1"

"(3:35:11) Afternoon session 2"

Turkish translation: Mustafa Mert Çelebi

English: https://youtu.be/zakRXkX84AA

English (withou silence cuts): youtu.be/jx8_jV6eoqk

German: youtu.be/ZpX2GE85g-U

Russian: youtu.be/sFO_SuRSxg0

Spanish: youtu.be/6SjnZ0Qwi4E

Portuguese: youtu.be/xVJ8ou6L_6g

Romanian: youtu.be/kI1qkcK4B6Q

Turkish: youtu.be/M4RHyVz-ARY (you are here)

Cover photo: Ruvim Miksanskiy

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4RHyVz-ARY

1st March 2025. Effortful selectivity and effortless non selectivity. Zoom teachings with James Low.

https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/q-and-a-34-saturday-mar-2025/

0:00 Morning session 1

1:13:12 Morning session 2

2:18:24 Afternoon session 1

3:29:22 Afternoon session 2

Romanian translation: Viorica Constantinescu

English: https://youtu.be/zakRXkX84AA

English (withou silence cuts): youtu.be/jx8_jV6eoqk

German: youtu.be/ZpX2GE85g-U

Russian: youtu.be/sFO_SuRSxg0

Spanish: youtu.be/6SjnZ0Qwi4E

Portuguese: youtu.be/xVJ8ou6L_6g

Romanian: youtu.be/kI1qkcK4B6Q (you are here)

Turkish: youtu.be/M4RHyVz-ARY

Cover photo: Ruvim Miksanskiy

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI1qkcK4B6Q

1st March 2025. Effortful selectivity and effortless non selectivity. Zoom teachings with James Low.

https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/q-and-a-34-saturday-mar-2025/

"(0:00) Morning session 1"

"(1:12:58) Morning session 2"

"(2:19:05) Afternoon session 1"

"(3:31:55) Afternoon session 2"

Portuguese translation: Milton Petruczok

English: https://youtu.be/zakRXkX84AA

English (withou silence cuts): youtu.be/jx8_jV6eoqk

German: youtu.be/ZpX2GE85g-U

Russian: youtu.be/sFO_SuRSxg0

Spanish: youtu.be/6SjnZ0Qwi4E

Portuguese: youtu.be/xVJ8ou6L_6g (you are here)

Romanian: youtu.be/kI1qkcK4B6Q

Turkish: youtu.be/M4RHyVz-ARY

Cover photo: Ruvim Miksanskiy

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVJ8ou6L_6g

1st March 2025. Effortful selectivity and effortless non selectivity. Zoom teachings with James Low.

https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/q-and-a-34-saturday-mar-2025/

"(0:00) Morning session 1"

"(1:13:07) Morning session 2"

"(2:18:44) Afternoon session 1"

"(3:30:00) Afternoon session 2"

Spanish translation: María Lleó

English: https://youtu.be/zakRXkX84AA

English (withou silence cuts): youtu.be/jx8_jV6eoqk

German: youtu.be/ZpX2GE85g-U

Russian: youtu.be/sFO_SuRSxg0

Spanish: youtu.be/6SjnZ0Qwi4E (you are here)

Portuguese: youtu.be/xVJ8ou6L_6g

Romanian: youtu.be/kI1qkcK4B6Q

Turkish: youtu.be/M4RHyVz-ARY

Cover photo: Ruvim Miksanskiy

📱 Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

🎧 Poscasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

📆 Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SjnZ0Qwi4E