Can we “choose” to be happy? Well, try it right now, and see. Make yourself truly happy. Can’t do it, right? At any given instant, if we are honest about it, we realize that we just feel what we feel. Sheer willpower can’t make us truly happy. We can’t flip on happiness like a lightswitch — […]
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Tag Archives: habit-energies
Skillful Ways to Deal with Your Demons
2011/07/17 
3 Comments
Recently, on Facebook, I posted a Photo to my Wall with a comment about working with “demons.” As I said at this Photo post: “Demons are not bloodthirsty ghouls waiting for us in the dark; they are the forces we find inside ourselves that fabricate around ego-clinging and that we project “out there” on others, […]
Continue reading Am I Pleasing Others to Make Myself Feel Loved and Good?
2011/02/19 5 Comments
The path of awakening, of liberation, always includes self-observation and self-inquiry. Without them, we tend to repeat the same unskillful ways of thinking and acting over and over again. That’s what is called samsara in Buddhism. In this essay I’m sharing my thoughts and observations on something I’ve struggled with much of my life: a […]
Continue readingEmbrace it, Don’t Fight it!
2009/11/26 1 Comment
Embrace it, Don’t Fight it! “You have to generate the energy of mindfulness, which is also you, and that positive energy will do the work of recognizing and embracing. Every time you embrace your habit energy, you can help it to transform a little bit. The habit energy is a kind of seed within your […]
Continue reading Taming Elephants-How To Transform Negative Habit Energies
2009/11/25 7 Comments
This post is a follow-up to: Can the Power of Love Stop an Elephant? What do we do about our own raging “tuskers?” One of the skillful tools used by my heart teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, is the concept of habit energies, called vasana in Sanskrit. Habit energies, as the name implies, are […]
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
- Practicing the Middle Way-not too much, not too little
- Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing
- 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 