Recently my partner and fiancee of five years told me that he’d met someone else and was therefore ending our relationship. This was a complete shock to me as there’d been no signs of discord or discontent as far as I could tell, and while I may...
We all have people in our lives who have profoundly harmed us. Sometimes the situation with the other person has changed. You may have forgiven them and they may even have taken ownership and expressed remorse for their harmful actions. Other times...
In the class I am co-teaching with Ethan Nichtern and Miles Neale on Buddhism and Psychology: Spiritual Awakening NOT Spiritual Bypassing at the Interdependence Project, there has been a good deal of discussion — and...
THE NOW - It Shows Up Uninvited
But don't worry, we can shield ourselves from "The Now" by watching Channel 4 news! Or at least that's what is implied by this ad.
Caroline Brett conducts a detailed inquiry into how practitioners of Vajrayana, Zen, and Hindu Tantra natively distinguish between mystical and psychotic states.
Last week was not so much fun, let me put it that way. In case you’re just tuning in now, I was struggling a great deal trying to figure out whether or not to take my Buddhist refuge vow this past weekend. Since the vow was taking place right...
As various thinkers attempt to position Buddhism in relation to "Western Psychology," I thought IDP folks might benefit from understanding some of the movements that are lumped into the latter.
In this post, "Maladjusted Buddhism," on Patheos.com, blogger Nathan Thompson argues that Westerners who have converted to Buddhism are too tied to psychology and its focus on bringing everything toward a norm. Psychology, he says, works with...
I've been writing Journals about Women in Buddhist History during March, which is Women's History Month. Women's stories are largely absent from traditional Buddhist study -- the men who wrote down the stories didn't collect women's stories, for the...
Memories are foundational for our sense of self. This is particularly true for early childhood memories (which the scientists tell us are the most unreliable of all).
"When I think about women and Buddhism, the first thing that always comes to mind is the story of Tara’s vow. This story expresses our situation so clearly and applies equally well to both ancient and modern times. It is a story that originated when...
1. Japanese teacher says: At first light, rise. Don’t hover between sleep and waking, this makes you heavy, puts a stone inside your heart. The minute you drift back to shore, anchor. Breathe. Remember your deepest name. 2. Sometimes objects stun...
Among the people who consciously moved toward Buddhism as an alternative to theistic traditions, it seems that, for many, one of the most attractive features that Buddhism had to offer was its lack of emphasis on heaviness and guilt in its...
It’s another morning, another day of having to live inside a hurting body inherited from a little known, rare genetic condition. I try not to think of how it used to be. I can let go of the younger me, the one who won a yoga Olympics by holding...
I’ve been practicing meditation since 2004. I’m aware of the major benefits that my practice and study have had on my life, and I feel good about taking refuge in the Three Jewels — the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. For the past few months, I’...
I'm in Thailand this week, and I've noticed that a lot of my Buddhist co-workers talk a lot about generating merit. For example, they'll say things like, "I'm going to the wat (a Thai Buddhist temple) for a few weeks to generate...
Welcome to the next Contemplation Station: Barre, Massachusetts. I am being a bit selfish in bringing you here. I am going to an Insight Meditation Society retreat at the end of this week (my first!) and I would like to get to know the lay of the...
You can tell whether something is an aspiration or a god -- whether it's an intention to work toward something or a desire to simply have it -- by the tension around it.
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While iconic archetypes of feminine enlightenment (dakinis in the ancient language of Sanskrit) were erected on shrines, few women in Asia were actually emboldened to follow in their footsteps. That women participate equally is probably the single...
The meaning of the Prajaparamita
is not to be looked for elsewhere; it exists within yourself.
Neither real nor endowed with characteristics,
The nature is the great clear light.*
In doing research in order to write a blog post on the concept of sexual consent in a Buddhist framework, I came across many blog posts broadly written about homosexuality in Buddhist circles but not a lot of discussions around the need for consent...
In my life as an educator, one lesson has served me and my students more than any other: in order to provide a good education to students of all backgrounds, a teacher must have high standards and have
