Windhorse
- Carolyn Labrie
- Jan 2, 2024
- 2 min read
January 2024
We all have an inner guide and an inner strength. We intuitively know what is best for us and we have the power to pursue it. We are born with this. We often call it intuition or inner voice. In Buddhist traditions there is lungta (windhorse). The best definition of windhorse I’ve found comes from an article written by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche for Shambhala Times (2015), which describes windhorse to be our basic goodness and inherent wakefulness that we can access through our meditation practices. It’s such a beautiful description:
“In the Shambhala teachings of warriorship, this life force is called windhorse(Tibetan: lungta). Lungtais the unlimited energy of basic goodness, buddhanature, inherent wakefulness. Basic goodness is the most fundamental secret in any situation—difficult or not—and it’s something that we already possess. We connect with it through meditation practice. Every day we need to contemplate our own inherent wakefulness. Then we’ll have the confidence to raise our windhorse and ride it through life with joy and delight. This is how we become the kings and queens of our own lives.“
When we have access to our windhorse we achieve stability and clarity- both of which we need to make decisions and keep our lives on track, right? Unfortunately, as we move through life our windhorse strength can sometimes be buried by stress, trauma, grief, and the many responsibilities of life. In my experience this has led to feeling lost and I believe it has also been the cause of my struggles with health, mental well-being, and spiritual fulfillment.
With the right support, we can access our windhorse and get all aspects of our life back on track. This is where coaching is so helpful. Through the process of inquiry, we can ask ourselves what we want and design a life that supports our dreams and goals. We can do this even in times of stress, grief, illness, and loss. It’s there in the depths that we find our resilience, our hope, and our ability to take even the smallest steps forward.
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