BRINGING BUDDHISM TO LIFE

I’m Vajradarshini, a contemporary, down-to-earth Buddhist teacher. I love connecting the Dharma with art and culture, and grounding it in the grittiness of ordinary, everyday life.

Red Ladder Studio is where you’ll find most of what I’m creating — from writings and online workshops to in-person retreats.

I also send out a newsletter every two weeks, focused on creative Dharma. You can sign up below.

You can learn more about me on the about page, and see what I’m currently exploring on the now page.

I’m always happy to connect with people around the Dharma. Feel free to get in touch by email.

Writing

Featured

nonjudgement, acceptance, buddhism, procrastination, resistance, enjoyment, perfectionism, henonism, hedonist

Buddhism for hedonists

nonjudgement, acceptance, buddhism, procrastination, resistance, enjoyment, perfectionism, henonism, hedonist

Sometimes the things that matter most to us are the hardest to do. I’ve noticed that the more meaningful a task feels, the stronger the resistance — as if my longings and my fears are somehow linked.

nonjudgement, acceptance, buddhism, procrastination, resistance, enjoyment, perfectionism, henonism, hedonist

guesthouse, rumi, hospitality, bodhisattva, nonjudgement, acceptance, welcome

Practice a radical hospitality

guesthouse, rumi, hospitality, bodhisattva, nonjudgement, acceptance, welcome

If we can practice a radical hospitality towards ourselves—dropping judgements and just letting ourselves be—others will see this and learn that they too can take a far more generous attitude towards themselves.

guesthouse, rumi, hospitality, bodhisattva, nonjudgement, acceptance, welcome

seeds, garden, habits, growth, reflection, journaling

Learning from the garden

seeds, garden, habits, growth, reflection, journaling

Like the gardener selecting seeds, we can pay attention to what works in our lives, and in our Dharma practice, and choose to “save” the habits, attitudes, and practices that bear the most fruit.

seeds, garden, habits, growth, reflection, journaling

insight, dharmastudy, jameslow, dzogchen, mahamudra, buddhism

7 lessons from James Low

insight, dharmastudy, jameslow, dzogchen, mahamudra, buddhism

Sharing a few nuggets of wisdom offered by the Dzogchen teacher James Low on a recent retreat. The essence of Dzogchen is, ‘do not correct’. How do we make that a practice?

insight, dharmastudy, jameslow, dzogchen, mahamudra, buddhism

insight, triratna, dharma, reflection, zettelkasten, dharmastudy, tsong-ka-pa, tsongkapa, guy newland

Can Dharma study lead to insight?

insight, triratna, dharma, reflection, zettelkasten, dharmastudy, tsong-ka-pa, tsongkapa, guy newland

Is it a mistake to think that Dharma study—with its conceptual and necessarily dualistic nature—can’t lead to non-conceptual, non-dual insight?

insight, triratna, dharma, reflection, zettelkasten, dharmastudy, tsong-ka-pa, tsongkapa, guy newland

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Workshops and retreats

Featured

Feb 14

Creative meditations: On love

Online day retreat - Why not treat yourself to a day of love this Valentine’s? I’m happy to be offering this day retreat with my friend Katie Sollohub. She’s an artist and one of her specialities is combining drawing, movement and meditation. We’ll be weaving these into Dharma teachings and practices on the theme of love.

Mar 1

Dharma Geeks: Experimenting, morning session

Online workshop- Dharma Geeks is a gathering for people who enjoy thinking creatively together about Dharmic ideas as they show up in everyday life. Each session centres on a single theme, this month’s theme is experimenting.

Mar 3

Dharma Geeks: Experimenting, evening session

Online workshop - Dharma Geeks is a gathering for people who enjoy thinking creatively together about Dharmic ideas as they show up in everyday life. Each session centres on a single theme, this month’s theme is experimenting.

Mar 28

The 4 Noble Truths

Grevlunda Yoga Studio, Sweden - In this workshop we’ll look at how we create unnecessary suffering, and how we can lessen it. The morning with include Dharma teachings, led meditation and time for discussion.

Apr 10

We have a huge barrel of wine, but no cups

Rivendell Retreat Centre, UK - In much of spiritual culture, we’re encouraged to grow, improve, develop—a path of progress and attainment. But the Buddha also spoke of another way: the path of cessation. A path not of becoming more, but of letting go. Of stopping.

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Who is red ladder studio?

Hi, I'm Vajradarshini,

I think I’m in love with life because I’m in love with the Dharma. Yet, I hold lightly to the idea of ‘being a Buddhist’. I love the Dharma because it’s the best way I’ve found of exploring this mystery we call ‘life’.

I’ve spent many years living in Buddhist communities and retreat centres. But ordinary life is where the magic happens. I now have a creative and vibrant practice in the nitty-gritty of family life, living in Stockholm with my wife and her teenage boys.

These days, my life looks a lot less ‘Buddhist’, but it is absolutely ‘shot through’ with Dharma.

About Vajradarshini