Don’t Misinterpret! Pema Chodron Don’t impose the wrong notion of what harmony is, what compassion is, what patience is, what generosity is. Don’t misinterpret what these things really are. There is compassion and there is idiot compassion; there is patience and there is idiot patience; there is generosity and there is idiot generosity. For example, […]
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Tag Archives: wisdom
The Buddha’s Teaching When a Beloved Disciple Passed Away
2012/01/23 
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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 […]
Continue reading The Skill in Looking at Emptiness as a Mode of Perception Rather Than a Worldview
2012/01/18 6 Comments
Few words in Buddhism are more well-known, and more debated historically among Buddhists, than the word “emptiness.” What do we find about “emptiness” in the Pali canon, the oldest records we have of the Buddha‘s teachings? In this essay Buddhist monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains how Theravadan Buddhists understand the word in terms of these earliest […]
Continue reading How the Buddha looked at the “What is a Person?” Question
2011/12/10 3 Comments
A recurring theme in Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s writing is his stress on how important it is to understand what kinds of questions the Buddha answered, and refused to answer, in his teachings. Many people think his new way of using the Pali word “khandhas” was the answer to the question, “Who am I” or “What is […]
Continue reading The Buddha’s Warning Against Getting Caught in Doctrines
2011/12/02 4 Comments
The following conversation was reported to have taken place between the ascetic Dighanaka and Gautama the Buddha. This recounting is from the book Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. ♡♡♡ Dighanakha asked the Buddha, “Gautama, what is your teaching? What are your doctrines? For […]
Continue reading Holy as the Day is Spent-Thich Nhat Hanh on the Holiness of Mindfulness
2011/09/27 2 Comments
This excerpt below is from “The Blooming of the Lotus: the Nature of No-birth and No-death.” It’s a dharma talk given by my heart teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh on May 3, 1998 in Plum Village, France. It is followed by the beautiful and profound song, “Holy as the Day is Spent” by Carrie Newcomer from […]
Continue reading Zen Minus Moral Precepts Equals No Zen
2011/09/23 0 Comments
In this post I’m sharing an excerpt from one of my favorite books by Zen master John Daido Loori. It’s a Shambhala Publications book titled Invoking Reality — The Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen. In this short but powerful book Loori Roshi takes head on the prevalent misconception that Zen practice is just about […]
Continue reading What the Buddha Said about Purity of Heart and the Grasping Self
2011/09/08 2 Comments
This passage from the Sutta Nipata of the Pali canon has very special place in many Buddhist hearts. To me, the teaching is closely related to the beloved passage from the 9th Chapter of the great Mahayana Diamond Sutra that I recently posted: See: “Does a Buddha say to himself ‘I have obtained Perfect Enlightenment?‘” I […]
Continue reading Does a Buddha say to himself “I have obtained Perfect Enlightenment?”
2011/09/04 2 Comments
Buddha then asked, “What do you think, Subhuti, does one who has entered the stream which flows to Enlightenment, say ‘I have entered the stream’?” “No, Buddha,” Subhuti replied. “A true disciple entering the stream would not think of themselves as a separate person that could be entering anything. Only that disciple who does not […]
Continue reading Thich Nhat Hanh – A Simple Teaching on Bringing Mindfulness to What Arises
2011/09/03 11 Comments
“There are some practitioners who want to bend and twist their breathing the way they think it ought to be. The Buddha said that is not the correct way. You only be aware of your breath and do not try to intervene. You don’t need to do anything, just know. You just observe, you do […]
Continue reading Desire-our “most precious possession” or the root of all suffering?
2011/07/06 0 Comments
The Buddha’s Second Noble Truth is that craving—desire, attachment, clinging—is the cause of suffering, unsatisfactoriness, stress. Anyone who has looked into the cause of suffering can affirm this great truth for oneself. From this insight, one might conclude that the way to end suffering and find lasting happiness is to kill all desires. From that […]
Continue reading Letting Go and Picking Up in Buddhism (with music of Chris Smither)
2011/06/15 1 Comment
The following excerpt if from Living Meditation, Living Insight: The Path of Mindfulness in Daily Life by Dr. Thynn Thynn. Dr. Thynn Thynn is a Burmese born retired physician and Dhamma teacher. She is mother of two and is the resident yogi at the Sae Taw Win II Dhamma Center in Northern California. She is […]
Continue reading The Bodhisattva Vow-the whole thing is hopeless, but we’ll do it
2011/05/06 2 Comments
A hazy autumn moon, solitary and full, falls as it may on the winding river ahead. There are those who seek perfect clarity, yet sweep as you may, you cannot empty the mind. (The Capping Verse to Dongshan and Shenshan Cross the River) “You can’t teach someone to walk a tightrope wire by telling them […]
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 Ajahn Chah on the relationship of Concentration and Wisdom in Meditation
2011/05/03 1 Comment
Ajahn Chah A Taste of Freedom “On Meditation” “When the mind is peaceful and established firmly in mindfulness and self-awareness, there will be no doubt concerning the various phenomena which we encounter. The mind will truly be beyond the hindrances. We will clearly know as it is everything which arises in the mind. We do […]
Continue reading Krishnamurti on How to Meditate
2011/03/26 11 Comments
While Krishnamurti was not a Buddhist, nor of any other religion, his lectures are, to me, always pure “dharma”—insight into the way things work, into the way the mind works. These excerpts from various talks of his have been very helpful to me in going deeper into my meditation practice. I share them here for […]
Continue reading Some thoughts on talent, success, failure and compassion for ourselves
2011/03/16 6 Comments
The ego has many traps, but one of the worst is self-identification with one’s talent. If one self-identifies with one’s artistic or creative talent, this inevitably leads to suffering as the ego’s unquenchable needs and desires can never be satisfied by that talent. Indeed, the world is filled with “hungry ghosts” whose attachment to their […]
Continue reading Everyone is Just Trying to Get Born Before They Die
2011/03/14 2 Comments
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 Sogyal Rinpoche on God and Emptiness
2011/02/17 4 Comments
A recent discussion with a friend on Facebook about the nature of the Absolute, brought to mind something I had transcribed years ago from a CD, but had forgotten about. So, I thought I’d dig it up from my dharma archives and share it here on my blog. The passage is from a talk by […]
Continue reading How Letting Go Helps Us See the Truth of Non-duality
2011/02/01 2 Comments
Ayya Khema is a highly-skilled Theravadan teacher who brought a remarkable love and light to her service as a nun in the Theravadan tradition. I highly recommend her book Who is My Self? A Guide to Buddhist Meditation. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read on developing deep concentration and insight (samatha and […]
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 