The Space in the Mind | May 2, 2015   Most of our suffering comes from habitual thinking. If we try to stop it out of aversion to thinking, we can’t; we just go on and on and on. So the important thing is not to get rid of thought, but to understand it. And […]

“The researchers found that if any of the three extrinsic aspirations—for money, fame, or beauty—was very high for an individual relative to the three intrinsic aspirations, the individual was also more likely to display poorer mental health. For example, having an unusually strong aspiration for material success was associated with narcissism, anxiety, depression, and poorer […]

The Task of Repetition | April 29, 2015   If we are to close the gap between ideal and actuality—between the envisaged aim of striving and the lived experience of our everyday lives—it is necessary for us to pay greater heed to the task of repetition. Every wholesome thought, every pure intention, every effort to […]

Sorrows No Greater Than Yours | April 27, 2015   You seem to be you and I seem to be me. My sorrows are no greater than your sorrows. Thou art beautiful, o my loves, as tears are. – Terrance Keenan, “A Sweetness Appears and Prevails”

To Be Called a Buddha | April 25, 2015   When you refrain from unwholesome actions, are not attached to birth and death, and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, not excluding or desiring anything, with no designing thoughts or worries, you will be called a buddha. Do […]

Cultivating a Planetary Perspective | April 22, 2015   You can instill a view, but then there actually have to be processes like meditation that shift the way the mind relates to others. You can’t just say a lot about how we’re all connected; you have to actually offer tools for how you would become […]

Why Attain Freedom? | April 21, 2015   Sometimes people get very rigid and tense trying to be good, disciplined, and ethical. Tension can also arise when we become more aware of the immense amount of destruction—seen and unseen, intentional and unintentional—that our mere physical existence causes. From a Buddhist point of view, however, this […]

Receiving Love | April 17, 2015   Many people are extending love, the simple wish for us to be happy—and have been since the day we were born. What is remarkable to me is what happens when we are willing to notice it. And even more remarkable is what happens when we are willing to […]