Meditation
Insight or Mindfulness…
“What is Mindfulness”
Mindfulness practice is currently a fad in the West. And that’s wonderful — it’s great that, as a culture, we’re promoting more mindfulness and less mindlessness. But with its surge in popularity, there has also been a lot…
“The Art of Bare Attention”
Today we’re going to talk about the ancient Buddhist practice vipassana, or insight meditation. Now, just to be clear, this is an entirely secular practice. It doesn’t require you to adopt any dogmatic beliefs…
“Building a Lens of Freedom”
How does one come to hold a worldview? How does a baby come out of the womb without any ideas of itself or the world, without any prejudices or biases, without any opinions or beliefs, one day come to hold…
“Ardor & Clear Knowing”
There are two qualities that are often overlooked in vipassana, or insight meditation. The Satipatthana Sutta tells us we need more than just mindfulness on our path to awakening. We need ardor and…
“The Faceless Seer”
Because “I” can’t be removed from you, because it’s essential to you, only you can investigate it for yourself. So, go ahead, take a look. What is this thing you call “I”? Where is it? What is it like? What is its nature?…
“The Noble Eightfold Path”
Dharma practice, then, asks us to live in peace and harmony with the Dharma. Together, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path form an indivisible whole called the Dharma, or Truth, Law, Nature, Life.
Metta or Loving-Kindness…
“Cultivating Loving Attention”
How many of your words and actions are reactive & automatic? How many are reflective and intentional? What would it be like, what would it feel like, to intentionally love yourself, others, and the world?
“My Prayer to Humanity”
One of the yummiest parts of my day is found in the company of my family’s stillness as we sit around the dinner table just before we eat. “Should we have our moment of silence?” Gideon, my eight-year-old, asks…
“The Divine Connection”
You don’t need to search far and wide for the Divine connection. It’s that without beginning or end. See and feel – know directly – the love that both surrounds you and fills you. Know the Love that is you…
More on Meditation…
“Hallucinations of Perception”
When we perceive the world without mindfulness, which is the norm for most people most of the time, then we simply know and remember only the surface appearance of things. Our experience becomes…
“Thinking Into Being”
Thought takes the seamless and interconnected whole of existence and breaks it into pieces, which can then come into relation to one another. It is in thought that ‘you’ and ‘I’ are born, where ‘you’ and ‘I’…
“Tranquility of Non-Addiction”
When we investigate desire directly and honestly, when we move past the surface, we discover that dukkha constantly lurks in its shadows, often as a steady strain of discontent. Just consider…
“Stepping Into Wholeness”
As you become more mindful, I think you’ll discover that there is no space between ‘you’ and what is known—no space between ‘you’ and the person across from you, no space between you and the world…
“Touching Suffering”
Once we start to open to suffering and dis-ease in our own lives, once we become more familiar with the mind-body process and the cause of ill-being, we begin to see suffering everywhere. We realize that…
“Morality of Harmony”
Today, we will move into the second arena of training in the Eightfold Path, training in virtue or morality, where we will choreograph our thoughts and understanding onto the world through our words and our bodies…
“Speaking Harmony Into Life”
Want peace of heart and mind? Are your words honest? Are they from a place of goodwill? Are they useful and beneficial? Are they thoughtful and affectionate? Is this the right time to say them?…
“Acting for Freedom”
If you want to find peace, concentration, and clarity, commit yourself to non-violence. And do this first by making it a practice to fall in love with yourself. Every morning when you wake up, extend some love and…
“Taking What Is Not Given”
Non-stealing asks us to live in harmony and reciprocity with the whole of existence. Where stealing is an expression of our greed or our ego, non-stealing is the expression of our love or our non-duality…
“Dog Zen”
Historically, there are two approaches to awakening, sudden and gradual. In this article, we’ll explore these two approaches after flushing out the term non-duality. Then, we’ll practice some Dog Zen…
“The Art of Balanced Effort”
What will you do with this precious gift of life? Whatever it is, you will need effort to do it. Effort is the source of all achievement. It fulfills our aspirations, breathes life into our values, and turns our intentions…
“Mindfulness & Insight”
Mindfulness is an immediate, direct, and present knowing. One that can’t be carried into the future, remembered from the past, or written in a book. It can’t be contained in thought. It is a raw or bare awareness…
“Everything Changes”
It’s no secret everything changes. Your experience this morning isn’t your experience now. Yet how many of us act like we really understand this? How often do we grasp onto the illusion of things…
“Awakening to Your Heart”
What do you think it’d feel like if you committed your time, energy, and awareness to alleviate the suffering all around you? How would it feel to wrap the world in a caring attention?
“What is the Space of Possibility”
I’m glad you decided to explore the Space of Possibility! I wish you the best possible experience, the best possible life, whatever that looks like to you. Toward that wish, I made you this gift…
“Cultivate Reverence”
Reverence is a companion — a strong force — in our ascent to the heavens. It continually raises us to higher states of being. Have you ever stood under the Milky Way, sat in a holy place, or been graced…
“Character Development”
What could be more important than building up your own character, building up your life? Develop yourself so you can give more of yourself away, so you are better situated to uplift the world…
“Ascending to Heaven”
Ascending to heaven takes hard word and discipline. One can’t simply walk through the gate. Before she can even begin her ascent, there is preparatory work to do. There are seeds of character she must…
“The Four Noble Truths”
The Buddha taught only suffering and its end, which is expressed in the Four Noble Truths — the indispensable foundation embraced by all Buddhist traditions and lineages, no matter how far their metaphysics…
“You Want to Be Free?”
A common obstacle I hear from people who want to start a meditation practice is that it’s just too damn hard to sit still with themselves. I hear you, it is hard. Our culture is pathologically busy. We are so…
“Motivations & Intentions”
Without understanding our motivations for our actions, what can we say we are really doing? Where is our freedom, our choice, our awareness? Now, of course, unless we’re saints, this is where many of us are at…
“Roots & Threads | Focus”
The Buddha said a mind without focus is like a fish out of water, flipping around with no control. We need it to stick with our goals, tasks, and aims, and to harmonize our words and actions with these aims…
“Wisdom Without End”
To help us navigate the landscapes of our experience with peace of heart and mind, the Buddha created a training program, made of three arenas: training in sila or moral conduct, training in cognition, and training in…
“Work-Life Harmony”
Work-life and spiritual-life can often seem like two very separate and even incompatible things. But our work is central to our lives and so it must play a significant role in our spiritual journey. For many of us, it…
Keep Me Updated…
