Never mind the broken chairs and the shattered table, and the light that didn’t work, it’s all an adventure, every bit of it, so we might as well enjoy it even when everything seems to be going wrong. In fact, the moments when it goes wrong are often the times to throw the doors wide and invite all the troubles in, the happiness, the despair. ‘Greet them with laughter,’…
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.
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…
If we think the Buddha had a point, then we can take heart and make efforts in transforming our own minds and seeing that there is no outer world in turmoil as distinct from an inner one, that one is the other…
An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer.
At the hub of the wheel are three creatures—a pig, a snake and a cock—each biting the tail of the other. These three represent the greed, hatred and delusion that dogs our lives. It is these which make the world go round. Remove one and the axis will collapse, bringing the wheel crashing down…
Buddhism now 