This beautiful sutta from the Pali canon tells the story of what happened after the beloved disciple and arahat Sariputta passed away. Sariputta—(Sāriputta (Pāli) or Śāriputra (Sanskrit)—was a truly remarkable student of the Buddha’s, and along with Ananda, was considered his greatest pupil. As Nyanaponika Thera writes of him in The Life of Shariputra: “Shariputra..was […]
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Tag Archives: death
Everyone is Just Trying to Get Born Before They Die
2011/03/14 
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In the past year I have my life has been greatly blessed by getting to know the inspired, skillful teachings of Stephen Levine. I highly recommend his A Gradual Awakening, Healing into Life and Death, and Who Dies?—An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying, the latter two being extremely helpful and skillful treatments of […]
Continue reading Choose life! Choose love! Choose to live!
2011/02/11 9 Comments
“Most people can look back over the years and identify a time and place at which their lives changed significantly. Whether by accident or design, these are the moments when, because of a readiness within us and a collaboration with events occurring around us, we are forced to seriously reappraise ourselves and the conditions under […]
Continue reading Veterans Day-The Wounds of Combat Can Be Healed
2010/11/11 1 Comment
As an ex-GI, I often find my heart and loving-kindness practice embracing our enlisted men and women throughout the world, and especially those in war zones. War is hell. That’s no cliché, and only those who have been in combat can truly testify to what that phrase means. That’s why around Veterans Day I highlighted the […]
Continue reading Krishnamurti-Fear of Death is Really Fear of Life
2010/10/23 2 Comments
Death & Life J. Krishnamurti You cannot be frightened of the unknown because you do not know what the unknown is and so there is nothing to be afraid of. Death is a word, and it is the word, the image, that creates fear. So can you look at death without the image of death? […]
Continue reading Do we really believe in impermanence?
2010/09/14 8 Comments
In my own practice, I’ve really been wrestling with the Buddha’s teaching of anicca—the truth that all conditioned, fabricated, created things are impermanent and constantly change. It’s one thing to accept anicca as a truism—after all, it’s obvious that all things change and are transient. And it’s another to see something of the truth of […]
Continue reading Poem-Mary Oliver-The Hermit Crab
2010/07/16 1 Comment
The Hermit Crab Mary Oliver Once I looked inside … the darkness ……of a shell folded like a pastry ………and there was a fancy face— or almost a face— …it turned away ……and frisked up its brawny forearms ………so quickly against the light …and my looking in ……I scarcely had time to see it, ………gleaming […]
Continue readingIf We Could Poll the Dead Iraqis-Poem, Music, and Interview with Thich Nhat Hanh
2010/06/17 2 Comments
I wrote this poem this week after listening to an American soldier talk about his deep regret over his part in the Iraqi war and his sorrow over his role in the destruction and loss of so many lives. After the poem, please have a listen to John Gorka’s powerful song, “The Road of Good […]
Continue readingMemorial Day 2010-Poem and Song for Young Men Who Died
2010/05/31 0 Comments
Here Dead We Lie A. E. Housman Here dead we lie Because we did not choose To live and shame the land From which we sprung. Life, to be sure, Is nothing much to lose, But young men think it is, And we were young. Click here to hear “Let Them In” by John Gorka: […]
Continue reading A Poem about the “severe gift” of Grief
2010/05/31 4 Comments
I’ve been reading a lot of the poetry of Wendell Berry lately, and this excerpt from his poem “Rising” came to mind this morning as I thought of all those we have lost through war and other tragedies. Although the poem speaks of the burdens we carry in our hearts over loved ones lost, it […]
Continue reading Kabir-“The Time Before Death”-Poem and Music
2010/05/27 4 Comments
Although my path is not the path of theism, I have greatest respect for those who follow this path with love, integrity, and compassion. My own teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, has always sought an ecumenical approach with various spiritual traditions: See: Thich Nhat Hanh on Buddhism, Mindfulness, and the Holy Spirit Buddha and Christ—Let the […]
Continue readingThe Paradox of Becoming-A Deep Study of the Buddha’s Teaching
2010/05/07 0 Comments
Of all the skillful writings of Thanissaro Bhikkhu, I think “The Paradox of Becoming” is probably his greatest, his magnum opus, though his “Wings to Awakening” certainly ranks right at the top as well. (see: Wings to Awakening-An Anthology from the Pali Canon) In this wonderful treatise, Thanissaro Bhikkhu has brings together all the Buddha’s […]
Continue reading There’s More to Dying Than Death-A Buddhist Perspective
2010/04/23 5 Comments
“It is understandable that those who do not believe there is any reality deeper than this life, and the death that ends it, do not want to dwell on the fact of death. But if you suspect there is a way to awaken to a deeper, timeless reality that lies beyond birth and death, there […]
Continue reading Thich Nhat Hanh-No Death, No Fear (audio)
2010/04/22 8 Comments
“Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing. We believe we are born from nothing and that when we die we become nothing. And so we are filled with fear of annihilation. The Buddha has a very different understanding, that birth and death are notions. They are not real.” ~ Thich […]
Continue reading The Buddha on Not Getting Caught in Metaphysical Speculation
2010/04/22 1 Comment
The Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta is one of the Buddha’s teachings that I have come back to again and again when I have found myself entangled in metaphysical speculation and argument with myself—and with others! In this sutta, the Buddha answers the questions of the wandering ascetic Vacchagotta on the nature of existence and uses the simile […]
Continue readingSome Helpful Buddhist Meditations on Death (audio)
2010/04/22 6 Comments
Of all the challenges we face as humans, none is more difficult than death. Whether it’s the death of a loved one, the death of thousands in some natural disaster, or the fear of our own eventual demise, death is the terrible problem that won’t go away. Nothing causes more suffering. Confronted with age, sickness, […]
Continue reading Martin Luther King-He Still Calls Our Hearts to Act
2010/01/18 4 Comments
Martin Luther King was a hero of mine long before I became a Buddhist. His assassination in 1968 was one of those seminal moments that caused me to dedicate myself with greater effort to the ideas of equality and justice that exemplified Dr. King’s life. Later in my life, when I came to Buddhism through […]
Continue readingMetta-Care-Earthquake Disaster in Haiti
2010/01/13 12 Comments
If ever a nation deserved a change of fortunes, it has got to be poor Haiti. As the New York Times reports in breaking news today: “A devastating earthquake struck Haiti late Tuesday afternoon, causing the collapse of the National Palace, leveling countless shantytown dwellings and bringing even more suffering to a nation that was […]
Continue reading Digging Deeper-All About Change
2009/11/30 1 Comment
Digging Deeper-All About Change What did the Buddha really have to say about anicca—inconstancy and change? Does the fact of impermanence tell us (as some popular teachings claim) that we should just accept change and learn to embrace fully our good and bad experiences without clinging? If “change makes all things possible”, do we then […]
Continue readingMetta Care-Four officers slain in Seattle
2009/11/30 2 Comments
Metta Care: Four officers slain in Seattle Today, my heart and metta goes out to the families, friends, and co-workers of four police officers in Seattle that were murdered this Sunday, November 29th. Authorities identified the victims as Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; Officer Ronald Owens, 37; Officer Tina Griswold, 40; and Officer Greg Richards, 42. […]
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 