I love my free time like a dog loves a bone. I guard it jealously and always look back to see who might snatch some of it from me. I look forward to filling up my time with entertainment from video games to catching up on dharma reading.
But...
One of the more distinctive concepts in Buddhism is non-self. It does not mean that you do not exist physically. It does mean that you don't exist as a permanent, solid, independent entity. "You" are as changeable as the weather -- and that's good...
Being aware of our surroundings and where we are in relationship with the world reminds us of our inherent interdependence and where we fit into this group dance that is life. ...If we lose this sense of our interdependence, we will forget...
During recent days, I find myself forming a distinction around boundless & reckless behavior: Boundlessness is a transcendental essence to whole-heartedly embrace Recklessness is a scattering that potentially aims for...
Im not a big fan of the word "resolution" because there's something very rigid about it, and I think that goal-setting in the usual sense sets one up for failure and frustration.
“We have been raised to fear…our deepest cravings. And the fear of our deepest cravings keeps them suspect, keeps us docile and loyal and obedient, and leads us to settle for…many facets of our own oppression.” – Audre Lourde
"..it’s a critical time in human history, and the collective decisions we have to make during the next few years will set the course of events for generations to come.." - David Loy
I've been thinking about Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old man who shot his mother in her bed, killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school, then shot himself as police arrived at the scene.
Make your New Year’s Resolution for 2013 to meditate every day!
Ok, I admit, that’s too simple.
If you…
1) …have a daily meditation practice, can you add one more session per day for 365 days?
As the holidays unfolded, and every stop along the way brought more and more gifts for our little baby, I couldn’t help remarking that it was sad, in a way, that he wouldn’t remember any of this. Indeed, that this entire period of his life would be...
These two people are hard to find in the world. Which two? The one who is first to do a kindness, and the one who is grateful and thankful for a kindness done." Anguttara Nikaya
Today I am grateful for:
-- airlines connections that happen (again -- both kids in state)
-- pictures of sunrise in places where the sun rose and didn't hide behind clouds
-- new seasons
What are you grateful for? Write it in the comments...
Today I am grateful for:
-- airlines connections that happen
-- holiday parties (and the people who plan them)
-- running into friends
What are you grateful for? Write it in the comments below or share it on Twitter #idpgratitude
This is a community...
After I booked a 12-day trip home for the holidays, a rarity after several years away, I heard my brother gasp through the phone, incredulous. “Are you crazy?” he asked. I hadn’t really thought of this as a death sentence, but then started to...
One of the lojong, or mind-training, slogans, which seems particularly apt at this moment says: When all the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi (awakening).
Today I am grateful for:
-- This incredible collection of photos of President Obama, his colleagues, and family. Policies aside, what a human! and what great photos.
-- a day to wrap and send presents, do errands, etc
-- banter. and silence.
It is almost impossible, no, it is impossible, to have any idea how to react to a tragedy as profound and senseless as the one that occurred today at an elementary school in Connecticut. It is impossible to grasp.
Oh sister, am I lazy! I didn’t get up early enough this morning. I didn’t finish all the work I said I was going to do. I left the dishes in the sink, and the laundry unwashed. I haven’t cleaned in weeks. I seem to have quit my meditation practice...
Today is 12.12.12. It's notable because it's the last time this repetitive digital pattern will happen for a calendar date in this century. The next time the month, day, and year will be represented by the same digits will be Jan. 1, 2101 -- 01.01....
"What is this true meditation?It is to make everything: coughing, swallowing, waving the arms, motion, stillness, words, actions, the evil and the good, prosperity and shame, gain and loss, right and wrong, into one single koan."
This is an excerpt from my interview of Kyabgon Phakchok Rinpoche.
Question:
Where does a person draw the line between things like devotion, faith, and doing practices and ritual, and using Buddhism as another way of sort of solidifying their...
