Life in the West is full or problems and traumas, and we move from one to the next like a blind person finding the way along a rope bridge. We can, it is true, refuse to see the ‘bad’ things, or simply live on the surface of life, but that merely produces another kind of unhappiness with the voice of our lost psyche calling us from a long way away, with not only the problem shelved but our humanity and the richness and colour of our lives as well…
Meditation is learning to have a stable mind. Topics include: joy, tranquillity, peace of the moment, emotions and reactions. 7mins.
The Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, lived approximately 563-483 bce in the north of India (today Nepal). The Gotamas were a branch of the Sakya clan. His mother, Maya, gave birth to him in Lumbini Grove. She died seven days later and his… Read More ›
Humiliation is centred upon the work of ego, and humility is freedom from ego. These two words capture the gist of bondage and freedom, the gist of our practice. Maybe the only effort we need to make is to re-own the word ‘humility’ in its true sense, which often gets lost in a pseudo-humility. Hubert Benoit talks about ‘remaining motionless within humiliation’. He refers to ‘resting on the stone bed’ and ‘letting the humiliation alone.’ These are excellent descriptions of our practice; they have the strength to evoke what is beneficial, what is skilful, in transforming us…
Sitting meditation is only a part of the meditation. What the Buddha wanted us to do was to develop a meditative life—to know what we are doing at all times, leading a life of full-time awareness…
Life always presents us with pairs. There are always two aspects that complement each other—sun and moon, day and night, mother and father, life and death.
People who have a religion which provides for after-death welfare, such as in Tibetan Buddhism, are less troubled. But those without such beliefs, can trust to nature’s spiritual intentions for them, as they, like plants, struggle instinctively and unerringly towards the light…
When you dream at night you see all sorts of different things. Are those things seen with the eyes? You believe you have eyes in the dream, don’t you? You walk around and look all over, yet in reality your eyes are closed and you’re in bed…
Buddhism now 