David Jones is a retiree after an enjoyable 35-year career with the American government. Diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, he works through things by sitting with the breath and other meditation techniques. David writes about mental health and enjoys exploring the intersection of Abrahamic religion and Buddhist teachings. Scary movies, reading, writing and helping folks as they walk along their paths are among his most favorite things. He dearly loves his wife, their five children, and all their grandchildren. And yes, he’s aware that he’s weird.
A Change in Stance from Jehovah’s Witnesses, and a Dream of Compassion
This was true on Thursday night, September 17th. By the next evening, accepting a transfusion of whole blood was still forbidden, but “after prayerful consideration,” the Governing Body decided accepting any of those four separate components was now a conscience matter, a personal decision that no longer carried any punishment or stigma. It was presented as “brighter light” of understanding from God.
Bringing the Religion We Practiced Before Onto the Path
Buddha didn’t teach a narrow, cramped road leading to Enlightenment. He didn’t concern himself with divine wrath, or really divine anything. There’s no reward for “getting it right,” nor punishment if you don’t.
The Gender Trap
Men are entirely responsible for their own words and actions, and need to stop blaming others for everything, full stop.
Understanding and Overcoming Attachment
De-criminalize attachment in your mind. Merely having an attachment isn’t a Failure, a Sin, or a Crime that needs to be punished.
Mental Health and the Practice of Hope
Hope is a key part of the mind’s immune system. It fights off infections of despair and our tendency to cling to negativity. A weakened sense of hope leaves us vulnerable to spiraling downwards.
The Sudden Silence
I stood still for a moment or two, listening, barely breathing. Finally I went to my office and sat down, my mind peaceful. I ran an internal diagnostic. What just happened?
Teachers in the Dreamlands: Dreams as Teachers {Series}
For the last couple of years, I’ve been having teaching dreams most nights. Some frame the same lessons in different stage dressing, showing how application of principles can change. Some nights dreams may revisit past views or simply give me recess time to unwind my mind.
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.
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.
Who is Thousand Hand Thousand Eye Guan Yin? (and why is she so relevant even now?)
The eyes on the hands means she’s open to a thousand viewpoints so she can identify—and identify with—the specific individual whose cries she hears.