11 Ways to Be a Light in the Darkness
At the end of his life, Buddha encouraged his followers to be lights unto themselves because his light was about to go out and there was still plenty of path they needed to walk.
Read More
Category: Featured
No Self. Yes Self. Maybe Self?
Have you ever met folks who have a visceral dislike to concepts like “I,” “Me,” or “Mine?” I certainly have. Like Buddhism itself, views such as No Self can become religious doctrine because of how we use them.
Read More
Tonglen for LA
If we don’t look the homeless man in the eyes we don’t have to face his humanity. It’s so much easier to cross the street, to bury ourselves in some other mind numbing distraction from the realities that others are facing. To turn away. There is a Buddhist practice called Tonglen, which is the exact opposite of turning away.
Read More
A Good Resolution : Attention First
If they have convinced us that enlightenment (however it is conceived) is something we have to strive for, with a lot of painful sitting and obeisance to a “master,” let me give us the good news. They are completely wrong. Maybe, at last, this is a message we can all accept.
Read More
What’s Gained in Loss
Loss seldom happens all at once. It’s a movement, an emptying that takes something away bit by bit until there’s nothing left to take apart but the memory. Like a cup made of ice melting into itself. The whole world, the entire cosmos… statues of melting ice.
Read More