working with our speech

A veteran American born Buddhist monk in Thailand (Thanissaro Bhikkhu) commented once about the Buddhist practice of right speech. He said he his teacher once told him “if you can’t control your mouth, there’s no way you can hope to control your mind.” 
The Buddha set out some specific guidelines for considerate, compassionate communication in the [...]

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let freedom ring

“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” Thomas Jefferson
Buddhism, particularly Mahayana Buddhism, stresses the ideals of freedom from suffering for all beings. This ties in nicely with the writings of Thomas Jefferson. I think he must have been thinking of the corruption of governments and the need for some way to hold governments accountable with [...]

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from dread to delight-faith in the present moment

As we approach the end of another year, perhaps we have become more aware of the passage of time. This awareness may pop up in the midst of rushing around, going to the post office, shopping, and then it’s buried. I get stopped in my tracks when I sit down to meditate, and remember, after [...]

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not knowing is most intimate

Some thoughts about the essence of our meditation practice. An exchange between Zen teachers old (9th century China, I believe).
Fayan was going on pilgrimage.
Dizang said, “Where are you going?”
Fayan said, “Around on pilgrimage.”
Dizang said, “What is the purpose of pilgrimage?”
Fayan said: “I don’t know.”
Dizang said, “Not knowing is most intimate.”
This points to the essence of [...]

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goals vs no goals in spiritual practice

At the beginning and through the initial stages of our practice the goal of practice, and by this I mean activities such as sitting meditation practice, is to discover and gradually establish a condition of ease in body and mind.
As we progress on the path, though, goals actually become an obstacle. This is what Nan-yueh [...]

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the monkey pod tree in the beach park

In Zen Buddhism there is a rich literary tradition known as koans. Koans are “public cases” in which a Zen teacher spontaneously dialogues with a student, and some of their exchanges have been collected over the centuries and used as ways to contemplate essential truth. One of the most well known koan is from the [...]

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review of the basics

“The ultimate point of view is that there is nothing to understand, so when we try to understand, we are only indulging in acrobatics of the mind. Whatever you have understood, you are not. Why are you getting lost in concepts? You are not what you know, you are the knower. “
Nisargadatta Maharaj. From “Prior [...]

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the king and the doorman

The King and the Doorman
(a story that I first saw on Troy Chapman’s’ blog, and which has since been used by Cheri Huber in one of her books. I have changed some of the wording and shortened it, and added a commentary).
Once upon a time, there was a king who lived in a castle. He [...]

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the ego will never leave you

This is one of those crucial linchpin topics. It’s got to be approached skillfully, otherwise it makes no sense, and just makes you want to take up something else.
I have never found that thinking of the ego as a problem to be overcome to be of much use. I am speaking from what I call [...]

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valley vs mountain (1)

A question that came in recently:
“I can accept the moment is as its supposed to be but have issues with accepting things like the Rwanda genocide (and other human made atrocities) was it was supposed to be.”
This question points to a larger issue we face when we engage spiritual practice. I think of the path [...]

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