The more one does one’s spiritual practice with a sense that it should be done, the more one creates a sense of self. And the greater the sense of a self trying to become “spiritual” or “liberated,” the more suffering we experience. We suffer both when we “fail,” and we suffer when we “succeed,” either way reinforcing […]
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Tag Archives: awakening
The Importance of Compassion in Assessing Our Dharma Progress
2013/04/02 
6 Comments
Never condemn your past from the standpoint of some new spiritual understanding or breakthroughs. Never look down on who you once were. Never disparage “the old man” or the “old woman,” to use a biblical phrase, who you may now feel was so wrapped up in illusion, in grasping needfulness, in impossible yearnings and beliefs. […]
Continue reading Why Working with Suffering is Essential to Our Awakening
2011/09/14 1 Comment
The following is an excerpt from an interview with Ajahn Sundara, a French-born ordained monastic in the Buddhist Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah. She has been teaching and leading retreats in Europe and North America for 20 and currently resides at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in southeast England. May this sharing inspire you to discover […]
Continue reading Did you know that the Buddha almost didn’t teach the Dharma?
2011/05/05 4 Comments
According to the Pali canon, not long after the Buddha attained enlightenment, he mused to himself: “This Dhamma that I have realized is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced only by the wise.” The Buddha then apparently seriously questioned whether he could […]
Continue reading “Not This, Not That”-A Way to Let Go and Open Up Some Space in Your Heart
2011/03/01 3 Comments
As readers of this blog know, from time to time, I like to share insights from non-Buddhist paths that I’ve found skillful in my own life. One of my very favorite non-Buddhist teachers is A. H. Almaas. His “diamond method” of self-inquiry is tremendously skillful, and I find his approach is especially effective at getting […]
Continue reading Why it’s Important to Know What Mindfulness Is and Is Not
2010/11/19 3 Comments
Mindfulness Defined by Thanissaro Bhikkhu What does it mean to be mindful of the breath? Something very simple: to keep the breath in mind. Keep remembering the breath each time you breathe in, each time you breathe out. The British scholar who coined the term “mindfulness” to translate the Pali word sati was probably influenced […]
Continue reading The Truth of Silent Illumination
2010/10/12 4 Comments
Silently and serenely one forgets all words; Clearly and vividly That appears… When one realizes it, it is vast and without limit; It is Essence, it is pure awareness. Singularly reflecting in this bright awareness, Full of wonder in this pure reflection… Infinite wonder permeates this serenity; In this Illumination all intentional efforts vanish. Silence […]
Continue reading Spiritual Practice and Learning to Surrender (w/music)
2010/04/28 5 Comments
Here are some insights on surrender from various spiritual teachers, paths, and poets that I have found comforting and inspiring. At the end, I share a moving instrumental piece by pianist Solomon Keal from his beautiful album Peace of Heaven. Some of us have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, before we let go, and […]
Continue readingWings to Awakening-An Anthology from the Pali Canon
2010/04/26 5 Comments
For the student who wants to dig deeply into the Buddha’s teachings, “Wings to Awakening” is one of the best anthologies available because of its very specific focus on the “how” and “what” of the Buddha’s Awakening. As its author, Thanissaro Bhikkhu writes in the Preface: Many anthologies of the Buddha’s teachings have appeared in […]
Continue readingDo You Hear the Call of the Wild Geese?
2010/03/18 6 Comments
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you […]
Continue readingDogen Poem-I Awaken to the True Path
2009/12/29 0 Comments
Drifting pitifully in the whirlwind of birth and death, As if wandering in a dream, In the midst of illusion I awaken to the true path; There is one more matter I must not neglect, But I need not bother now, As I listen to the sound of the evening rain Falling on the roof […]
Continue readingMay All Beings Be Happy
- Looking at the Ninth Zen Precept-I Do Not Indulge In Anger
- True God, True Buddha
- The Difference Between Compassion and “Idiot Compassion”
- Ajahn Brahmavamso teaches Loving-kindness Meditation
- Now-and-Zen-Are you still carrying her?
- A Buddhist Mantra based on the Prayer of St. Francis
- Mindfulness of Breathing-The Anapanasati Sutta
- Buddhist Forgiveness-When We Have Hurt Another-Part 3
- Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing
- Practicing the Middle Way-not too much, not too little
- Look at the Three Characteristics in Terms of Actions
- Thich Nhat Hanh – Healing Through Resting in the Breath
- How Metta Can Help You When Meditation is Hindered by Overwhelming Feelings
- The Importance of Taking the “Should” out of Spiritual Practice
- Can We “Choose” to Be Happy? No—and Yes!
- Ken Mcleod on how to use Thich Nhat Hanh’s Five-Step Method of Emotional Releasing
- Non-resistance and the Art of Resisting without Resisting!
- Don’t be fooled! There is a Way and We Can Walk It!
- The Importance of Compassion in Assessing Our Dharma Progress
- Jesus and the Buddha on Good Friday
Metta Refuge 