Last night my wife and I watched on of the most moving documentaries we have seen in a long time. It’s called The Dhamma Brothers, and I can’t recommend it enough. Brief Synopsis (from website) An overcrowded, violent maximum-security prison, the end of the line in Alabama’s prison system, is dramatically changed by the influence […]
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Tag Archives: hell
Veterans Day-The Wounds of Combat Can Be Healed
2010/11/11 
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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 readingIndependence Day-independent from what?
2010/07/04 2 Comments
Independence Thanissaro Bhikkhu July 4, 2003 Independence Day. A good time to ask yourself what you’d like to be independent from. What are the things that weigh down on the mind, that oppress the mind? If you ask most people, they’ll talk about things outside: their job, their family, their worries about the economy or […]
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 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 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 Groundhog Day and the serious problem of impermanence
2010/01/31 5 Comments
One of the most basic teachings of the Buddha, so far as I understand it, is that all conditioned things, all contingent things, all fabricated things, all things that arise, and thus all things that pass away, are inherently impermanent, and thus are intrinsically dukkha—suffering and unsatisfactoriness. Further, the Buddha, or Buddhism, teaches that our […]
Continue reading Buddhism’s Practical Answer to the Problem of Evil-Part 2
2010/01/21 3 Comments
In my previous post, Buddhism’s Practical Answer to the Problem of Evil – Part 1, I focused on how the Buddha’s focus on answering this problem was not philosophical or metaphysical, but practical and existential. Indeed, philosophical and metaphysical beliefs can utterly sidetrack us from seeing the truth of things for ourselves. I also posted […]
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 Buddhism and Forgiveness: What Brit Hume forgot to tell Tiger Woods
2010/01/11 10 Comments
By now, many Buddhists and people interested in Buddhism have probably heard the remarks of Brit Hume of Fox News about Tiger Woods: “He [Woods] is said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger would […]
Continue reading Tara Brach and Radical Acceptance
2009/12/15 10 Comments
Tara Brach is a highly skillful meditation teacher who brings 35 years of insight meditation practice to her background as a clinical psychologist. Her book, Radical Acceptance, brought a huge amount of emotional and spiritual healing into my life, and I can’t recommend her enough. At her website you can find wonderful talks and teachings—both […]
Continue reading Alleviating Suffering by Skillfully Facing the Pain
2009/12/07 2 Comments
Zen Teacher Darlene Cohen was a true dharma warrior. Faced with the pain of crippling rheumatoid arthritis, she used this very pain to go deeper into the dharma and to find a skillful way through the suffering. I deeply admire her courage and her bodhisattva heart, which impelled her to share with others what she […]
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 reading How the Need to Be Perfect Creates Self-hate
2009/11/17 0 Comments
“Adopting the belief that you must be perfect is the perfect set up for self-hate. You believe that your choices are to be perfect or to be a failure. BUT SELF-HATE SETS THE STANDARD OF PERFECTION, and you can bet you are never going to meet that standard. If you did, if you met that […]
Continue reading Vimalakirti and the Angry Dragon
2009/11/15 12 Comments
The Jakata tales are wonderful folklore-like tales from ancient India. They tell the adventures and accomplishments of the Buddha in previous lives as a bodhisattva, before he becomes the Buddha. In many stories, the Buddha is an animal who demonstrates the ideals of Buddhism. In this story of compassion and redemption, the bodhisattva is named […]
Continue readingMetta-Care: Bill Moyers Documentary “The Good Soldier”
2009/11/09 0 Comments
“As America prepares to observe Veterans Day and President Obama weighs sending more troops to fight in Afghanistan, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL broadcasts a powerful documentary about the impact on soldiers of learning to kill – or be killed. THE GOOD SOLDIER follows four veterans – one from World War II, two from Vietnam, and the […]
Continue readingThe Secrets of Heaven and Hell
2009/11/06 0 Comments
The Secrets of Heaven and Hell The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation, he sat. Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. “Old man! Teach […]
Continue reading Even Stuck in Hell, You Can Still Choose Your Own Way!
2009/11/04 1 Comment
At the heart of Buddhist teaching and practice is the great truth that every individual has the innate capacity to change for the better—to make decisions and choices that lead to the end of suffering and to lasting happiness. Each step on the Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, […]
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
- Practicing the Middle Way-not too much, not too little
- Buddhist Forgiveness-When We Have Hurt Another-Part 3
- 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 