“So the Three Characteristics in and of themselves are not the content of Buddhist wisdom, Buddhist discernment. They have to be placed in context, the context of the question of skillfulness: “What are you doing? What are your intentions? …”
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Tag Archives: karma
Can We “Choose” to Be Happy? No—and Yes!
2013/07/22 
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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 — […]
Continue reading What Am I Doing Right Now? And Why Does it Matter?
2011/12/09 2 Comments
In this essay Thanissaro Bhikkhu analyzes the profound importance of understanding the nature of our intentions and the actions that arise out of those intentions. In many ways, as he points out, this issue is at the very heart of the Buddha’s teaching—looking deeply into intention, into cause and effect, and seeing how to “unbind” […]
Continue reading Look at Karma in Terms of What One is Doing Right Now
2011/08/02 0 Comments
Karma—It’s About What We Can Do Now An excerpt about karma from “Noble Strategy” by Thanissaro Bhikkhu Karma is one of those words we don’t translate. Its basic meaning is simple enough—action—but because of the weight the Buddha’s teachings give to the role of action, the Sanskrit word karma packs in so many implications that […]
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 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 Freedom from fear-is it really possible?
2010/08/18 2 Comments
This article from Thanissaro Bhikkhu is filled with deep and helpful insights into the problem of fear and how delusion makes fear dangerous. It’s one of Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s longer articles, but there are so many gems here, so many very helpful insights, I hope you’ll take the time to ponder what he has to share. […]
Continue reading The Buddha on the Importance of Abandoning All Self Views
2010/07/21 4 Comments
Who am I? What am I? How am I? We’ve all asked these questions. Throughout history, people have asked these questions, and come up with countless answers and religions and philosophies to answer them. Just who or what is this “self” we all have to deal with? Interestingly, the Buddha does not offer a final […]
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 The Three Poisons-How Greed, Ill Will, and Delusion Corrupt our Institutions
2010/06/17 0 Comments
This is a companion post to Transforming the Three Poisons: Greed, Hatred, and Delusion. The Three Poisons are not just an individual problem. They affect every aspect of society and all our institutions. This brilliant article by Zen teacher Dr. David Loy explores how we can skillfully deal with the collective manifestations of greed, ill […]
Continue reading Buddhist morality-it’s all about karma and skillful means
2010/04/29 2 Comments
For those of us who grew up in fundamentalist or authoritarian religions, the word “morality” can be like a red flag in front of a bull. Words like “morals” and “morality” can sometimes evoke powerful childhood images and feelings of a wrathful god making arbitrary rules and punishing the wrongdoer—forever! The words may also evoke painful […]
Continue readingThe Karma of Not-self (audio)
2010/04/26 1 Comment
Here’s another skillful teaching from Thanissaro Bhikkhu on how to use the idea of “not-self” skillfully. The teaching on “not-self” is some esoteric, metaphysical idea that we think about. It’s an immensely practical teaching that helps us look at how our thoughts and actions create a sense of self that determines our happiness or our […]
Continue readingIs the Buddhist Path at Odds with Our Humanity?
2010/02/19 3 Comments
The Roots of Suffering in Biology and Human Nature What could be more natural than to desire pleasure and avoid pain in our life? We all desire what is pleasurable, and we all seek to avoid what is not. That’s just human nature, right? Well, it’s more than just human nature; it’s our biological nature. […]
Continue readingFreedom from Buddha Nature
2010/02/05 12 Comments
Concluding this week’s theme of iconoclasm and “outside the Buddha-box” insight, I offer this essay by one of my favorite dharma teachers, Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The provocative title says it all: Freedom from Buddha Nature. What? A Buddhist teacher who says that there is no innate, inherent Buddha nature? Isn’t that a cornerstone of Buddhist teaching? […]
Continue readingThe Moral Math of Climate Change « Goodheart’s Extreme Science
2009/12/11 2 Comments
The Moral Math of Climate Change « Goodheart’s Extreme Science “…The future of the world depends on each one of us broadening and deepening our understanding of what is environmentally moral. The future depends on our moral imagination as a species.” This is a follow-up post to “Global Warming and the Loss of Earth’s Coral […]
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 readingDharma Bites-The Law of the Farm
2009/11/24 9 Comments
We can find the dharma just about anywhere people have looked deeply into life, because “dharma” is a just word for the way things really work. Stephen Covey’s The Law of the Farm is something I read at least once a week as a kind of “reality check.” It makes me ponder how realistically I’ve […]
Continue reading Karma-no big deal, just the way things work
2009/11/19 3 Comments
Karma-just the way things work In Buddhism, dharma has many meanings but at its simplest level, dharma is just the way things work. When through experience, suffering, and observation, you gain genuine insight into how the world really works, in that moment you are an awakened one. Why we are fooled about life The problem […]
Continue readingHow do we develop discernment?
2009/11/19 3 Comments
An interesting post at a fellow blog… The Year of Discernment …got me to thinking about discernment. In Buddhism, what is discernment and is it something we can cultivate? The question brought to mind a great essay on the subject by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, one of my favorite dharma teachers. In an article entitled “Giving Rise […]
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 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 