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If Nothing Offends, All Internal Struggle Ceases

7/3/2022

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This section of my daily meditation mantra – if nothing offends, all internal struggle ceases – is at the core, the endpoint, of my spiritual practice.   It is the place in which I am at peace regardless what is going on around me.

And how do I get there?  I know that the real me is my true Buddha nature, the divinity* within me.   I have renounced my ego-mind; I have said, "Not me!" to all the feelings and perceptions that are the result of my mind's reaction to my life experiences and are the cause of my suffering.   I have shone the light and love of my true Buddha nature on my trauma, embraced it, and so all the negative energy that has flowed from that trauma during my life is dissolved, dissipated.   And for good measure, I bury my trauma and my tortured child's soul with compassion, laying it to rest.

At the same time I embrace my true Buddha nature.   I have returned home and will always return home to my true Buddha nature.   And so true faith pervades my mind, I know I have everything I need inside myself to be at peace and happy.   All's self-revealing and clear without exerting power of mind.

When I am in that space, I know that I will be ok, regardless what the universe provides – when, how, where – because I have returned home and will always return home, sustained by the love of Buddha nature within me, the source of my supply, and so experience abundance and light, peace and equanimity, happiness and contentment, faith and strength.

And so nothing offends.   All internal and external struggles cease to be.  Free of mental obstructions, I experience all things with dispassion, free of labels and emotions, but aware and knowing that things are the way they are because it's just the way it is.   And so my mind rests undisturbed.   And when my mind rests undisturbed, nothing offends.   No thing can give offense.   I know that I have everything I need inside myself to be at peace and happy.   And  make the choice to allow nothing to disturb that peace and happiness.

I know I have nothing to prove.   My only purpose in life is to offer myself and others joy.   And I offer myself joy be cherishing each moment, grateful for being alive; being in touch with the positive energy in my heart, my faith; releasing all desire for my life to be different in any way from the way it is right now at this moment; being aware of all that I am grateful for; and loving myself unconditionally and having compassion for myself.

And I know that all I need to be at peace and happy is to offer myself and others joy.   To be in the company of loved ones and friends.   Respect my mind.   Respect my body.   Be in touch with nature.   Live within my means.   And be one with the presence of Buddha, my divinity, within me, the source of my supply.

I affirm these truths every day, reminding myself, because only by constant awareness of the truth can one overcome the challenges of living in the world man has created and of living with the trauma of one's past.   

I always used to wonder when I started the spiritual path why monks and holy men spend hours every day in meditation.   If you've reached that point in your spiritual practice, why is there this need?  I used to think it was a way of distancing themselves from the world.   But I know now that it is because only through constantly reminding oneself of the truth of one's true nature and divinity that one can face life with a smile in one's heart.

May you too experience peace and happiness.

*P.S.
For those readers confused or troubled by my reference to the divinity within me, see my post, "Buddhism and the Divine. "
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Lack v Abundance

6/26/2022

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The words "lack" and "abundance" don't feature much in Buddhist teaching, but they fit well with that teaching and help open up the door to experiencing peace and happiness.   As I've always said, the words we use to express concepts make a big difference in opening doors or creating barriers to the Buddha dharma.

​One of the challenges of freeing oneself from the control of the mind is having faith that regardless what we experience, what the universe provides, we will be ok, because we have returned home to our true Buddha nature, are sustained by its love, and so are at peace and happy.   And we let nothing disturb that peace and happiness.

The mind doesn't believe this so it throws all sort of things at us – mainly fear – that disturb our peace and happiness.

Perhaps the biggest barrier to having faith is our consuming fear of lack.   Whether it be fame or fortune, spouse or children, job . . .  whatever, most of us are consumed with the fear that at some point in the future we will loose what we have or never obtain what we want.   It's impossible to be at peace and happy if that is your driving force.

What is missing from a life consumed with the fear of lack is gratefulness for what one has and has had, an awareness of the abundance in one's life – all the good things that we experience every day.  The old, "Is the glass half empty or half full."

When we renounce our mind, free ourselves from its control, we must not only replace it with faith in our true Buddha nature, but the knowledge that the peace, love, and light that flows from our Buddha nature, from our divine essence (see my post, "Buddhism and the Divine"), will allow you to experience the abundance that we have, have always had, and will always have in our lives.   It may not be the abundance that our mind wishes, but it is abundance nevertheless, and not just in a spiritual sense.

When Buddhist teaching tells us to free ourselves from cravings and attachments and instead be grateful for what we have, that is in effect freeing ourselves from the fear of lack –  because that is what cravings and attachments are – and realizing instead the abundance that is in our lives.

It has been a great comfort to me in recent months, empowering, to be constantly aware of all the abundance in my life, both now and in the past.   The word "abundance" is a sustaining, life-affirming, word.  

And I know that I will always experience abundance because it is not dependent on anything being provided me by the outside world.   It is coming from the peace and serenity within me.   The knowledge that I have everything I need inside myself to be at peace and happy.   I have been told it has brought a glow to my face.

​I just discovered that this is the third post I've written about abundance.   Clearly. being consumed with the feeling of lack and not being aware of the abundance in our lives is a major barrier to experiencing peace and happiness while walking the path.   For the other posts, see, "Being Aware of Abundance," and "Prosperity and Abundance."
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The Four Bodhisattva Vows

6/17/2022

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There are four vows that Bodhisattvas make (referred to as "the great vows"):

All beings without number I vow to liberate.
Endless blind passions I vow to uproot.
Dharma gates beyond measure I vow to penetrate.
The great way of Buddha I vow to attain.
    - As translated by Roshi Philip Kaplan.

When they are recited with conviction, chanted, they are empowering and moving as part of your meditation practice.   

The first vow is not to be taken literally.   The bodhisattva could not liberate all beings.   But what he or she can do is dedicate his practice and his merit to the enlightenment of all others, and pray that his efforts be a drop on the ocean of activity of all other bodhisattvas who work to liberate and bring enlightenment to all.

The second vow is self-explanatory.   We all have endless blind passions that are the product of our mind and our life experience.   Until we uproot those passions by turning our will and our life over to the care of our true Buddha nature, surrendering our ego to its care, there is no peace, there is no happiness.

And so this vow is inward-directed.   The bodhisattva knows that he cannot uproot someone else's passions; only the person himself can uproot those passions.  And the bodhisattva knows that while he may no longer act on those blind passions, and he does not feed them, they are still within him; they will always be a part of him.   

Re the third vow, what does it mean to penetrate dharma gates?  Dharma has two meanings.   The first is "reality."  Tradition says that there are 1008 gates to reality.  Symbolically the gates are without number.   We are raised not to experience reality as it is but instead reality as it is seen by our mind.   And so there is no end to the dharma gates to be penetrated.   And it is one of the great vows because if we do not see reality as it is, free of the mind, there is no end to samsara, there is no nirvana.

But dharma has a second meaning, and that is the teachings of the Buddha.   They also have untold gates or barriers presented by our mind.   The Buddha dharma is at such a variance from the way we have been raised and taught, the way we have learned to relate to ourselves and the world around us, that was can only penetrate the teachings by going beyond our mind to our spirit, our true Buddha nature, our heart.   By freeing ourselves from the control of our mind and being one with our true Buddha nature, we are able to experience the truths of the Buddha dharma from within ourselves, and so enable us to see reality as it is.

The final vow is to walk the path of the Buddha, to walk the Noble Eightfold Path (see my post of that title).   To attain this vow means once again freeing oneself from the control of one's mind, turning your will and your life over to the care of your true Buddha self, surrendering your ego to its care. For without being free of the mind, one cannot engage in Right anything.

Indeed, the prerequisite, the condition that must be present to implement the Four Vows,  which is to be a bodhisattva, is to have turned you will and your life over to the care of your true Buddha self, surrendering your ego to its care.   

This does not mean that you cannot begin walking the paths set forth in the vows until one is completely free of the control of one's mind.   But it does mean that one has to be on that trajectory.  For more on freeing yourself from the control of your mind, see my post, 'How to Free Yourself . . ."
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The Light Within You

6/11/2022

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Each of us is born with the true Buddha nature inside us.   And since Buddha nature is light, love, faith, and trust, among other qualities, we were all born with the light of Buddha inside us.   

And indeed, typically, whenever you see a smiling baby or toddler, we see a face that is overflowing with light and happiness.   That's why all people are so attracted to children of this age; they see something pure and wonderful that they have lost and unbeknownst to them yearn for.

We know what happens to that light and faith.   It gets buried by the experiences of our life\ and the mind's reaction to those events.   Whether it's trauma or a negative reaction to repeated negative experiences, our mind absorbs this negativity and perversely makes it our self-image.

The qualities we are born with are seeds that need to be nourished.   Unfortunately instead of being fed, our mind takes control with its negativity and our Buddha nature gets buried, is suffocated, under the detritus of our lives.

Even before we started walking the path, we had evidence that the light was still within us when we would have an internal discussion between the "good" us and the "bad" us.   Or when we would see a cartoon showing an angel sitting on one shoulder whispering in one ear and the devil sitting on the other shoulder whispering negative thoughts in the other ear.

We really never thought about it, but where did you think those "good" thoughts came from?  They came from your heart, your true Buddha nature.   It was alive in us and we didn't even realize it or draw any strength from it.   When we would have these internal discussions, the "bad" side would always win because it was more powerful, more forceful.

Even as people walk the path, they are often still in the control of their mind and so they have scant contact with their heart, their Buddha nature, outside of when they are sitting on the cushion.

But it is never too late.   Our light is waiting there to be rediscovered and nourished.   It take s a lot of courage to disavow your mind and reconnect instead with your heart.   All you're ever known about yourself is your mind.   You identify with it.   

You may be well aware of all the suffering it causes, but because the other path is into the unknown, you don't have the courage to say "no" to your mind and instead turn your will and your life over to the care of your Buddha nature, to surrender your ego to its care.

It comes back to the question I raised in an early post, "Do you really want to be at peace and happy?"  If you do, the path is clear, the choice is clear.   Have the courage to disavow your mind and embrace the Buddha nature inside you.   Take refuge in it.
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Be Careful the Monk/Teacher You Choose

6/5/2022

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Not all monks are good teachers.   Many also do not seem filled with the essence of the Buddha dharma.

At one point in my meditation practice, I see myself as being one with the universe like the baby in my mother's womb.   This seemed very natural to me and reminded me of the star child segment of the movie 2001.

So I was shocked recently when I heard a Buddhist monk in a video talk about the horrible life of the fetus in the mother's womb, being accosted by so much filth, foulness.   I forget his actual words, but it was a dark picture.

Where was this coming from?   At a minimum, barring negative impacts from the mother's or parent's lives, the fetus develops, protected by his environment and nourished by his mother's blood.    Growing in this protective environment is why the birth process is such a shock for the baby, suddenly being thrust out into the cold air, slapped on his behind, and placed in a basinet by himself after being fed by his mother.

This was a sick monk.   Unfortunately over the years, I have encountered other sick monks or monks who did not give off the glow of serenity.  Monks that never have a smile on their face.   There is certainly lots in life to be serious about, but every monk should be so filled with love and compassion and serenity that his normal demeanor is like the Dalai Lama's or Thich Naht Hanh's – with a gentle smile on his face.

I have been fortunate that the teachers I've had, while being very serious about their work and their teaching responsibilities, have had a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh heartily.   How terrible is life if one does not have the ability to have a sense of humor and laugh heartily.

A monk like the ones I've described should not be allowed out of the monastery to interact with lay people.   They need to be retrained.

Choose the monk and temple you seek to receiving teaching from with care.
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No Spiritual Force Can Protect You from Yourself, Your Mind

5/21/2022

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We come to be aware through our practice that we have choices to be made in our lives, the most basic one being whether to suffer or not, whether to reject the guidance of our mind or not – yes, you do have a choice.   Suffering is indeed universal, but not because it is inherent in man.

Most people don't have the awareness of this choice, but you do because you have been exposed to Buddhist teaching.   But be aware that no matter how strong your faith is, neither your Buddha nature, the universe, or the presence of God/divinity within you, can protect you from making the wrong choice.   The responsibility rests solely with you.  It is your choice to make – no one else's.  (Please remember that when I use the word "God" I am not referring to the God of the Old and New Testament, but rather to the divine essence that is within each of us.  And so I use God, Buddha, or the universe interchangeably.)

Let's take an example.   You have undertaken a project which you think is important for you, you may even feel guided to do it, but it causes you much fear, confusion, and frustration.   You are torn up inside.   You suffer.

The mind in such a situation typically will admonish you to persevere; this is a challenge, and you must meet it.   You mustn't fail.   Your mind can get downright aggressive.

Our practice, however, teaches that if it's causing you suffering either the project is not in your best interest or you need to find a different way of approaching it so it does not have this negative impact.   The Buddha said, "If it causes you suffering, it is not you, it is not yours, it is not your self, because your self would not cause you suffering."

Further, it not only causes you suffering, it draws you away from your contact with the presence of Buddha nature/God within you and your faith in its guidance and its care for your welfare.   The mind will ask, "Why isn't this working?  Where is God when I need him?  I was guided to do this."

One thing I should note at this point: people often say they were guided to do something and so expect that it's the right thing for them to do, that God or the universe intended it.   It may be that the universe or Buddha or God brought you something as potentially the right thing, but I have certainly been involved with many things that were presented to me by happenstance as the right thing, but which turned out not to be right for me and so they ended.

I could have been very upset, but typically I wasn't because I knew it just wasn't meant to be; the universe had something better in store for me.   Also, I knew I had achieved something meaningful as the result of the effort, and I can guarantee that is always the case, if you are open to being aware.

Making this choice is a quandary that we all face many times.   And the choice is ours alone to make.   We have been given the guidance on suffering; it is up to us whether we make the choice.  See my post, "4. The Choice Is Yours," among others.

Unfortunately, even if we are aware, typically the mind wins the argument, unless we are so far along in our practice that our faith is steadfast and equal to the challenge of standing up to the mind.

If we do not chose to end our suffering by stopping the project, we cannot blame God for not helping us.   That is not what God or Buddha nature is there for.   The fact that we suffer is not proof that God has abandoned us; it's proof that we have ignored the change in God's guidance, the change in the guidance of our heart.   All things are impermanent and changeable, even God's guidance.   

If you are caught in this quandary, meditate on where your peace and happiness, your safety and security really lies.   Does it lie with following the bodily and material urgings of your mind or does it lie with being sustained by the love of God/Buddha nature within you and putting your life and your will in its care?

Ultimately, only you can end your suffering.

May you experience peace and happiness.
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Faith: The Essential Element of Spiritual Practice

5/15/2022

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I have written many posts about faith that reflect the state of my practice at the time.   My faith has developed from being reason-based to coming from my realizing truths from within myself.   Even when I am following a teacher, deep faith comes not from respect or reason, but by meditating on the truths presented and coming too be aware of them from within, putting them in my own words.

The simplest statement of my faith is that I believe that I will be ok, safe, regardless what the universe provides (or when or how) because I have returned home and will always return home to my true Buddha nature, am sustained by the love of God within me, know that the presence of Buddha/God, the universe, within me is the source of my supply of abundance and good fortune, and so I always experience abundance and light, peace and equanimity, happiness and contentment, faith and strength.

You may be surprised by my interchangeable use of the terms "Buddha," "God," and "the universe," but that reflects my realization that these forces are all one.   Note that the "God" I refer to is not the God of the Old or New Testament; the father figure who one prays to and micromanages our lives.   Instead, it is the essence of God that is within each person, the cosmic force, which is light, love, faith, trust, compassion, gratefulness, humility, joy, contentment, strength, courage, and wisdom

In using the phrase, "whatever the universe provides," I am reflecting my experience as related in my post, "Happenstance."  Although at the time I wrote that post, back in 2016, I had not come to the awareness that these happenstances don't just happen accidentally; there is some force in the universe that I connect to within me (Buddha, God, the universe) which presents opportunities to me and which I either follow up on, or not.   

I do believe and have faith that the cosmos wants each individual to experience abundance and good fortune.   If we don't, it's because the working of our mind presents a barrier to achieving that faith because it is grounded in fear.   That is the mind's faith, and if that is what controls you, you will have no faith in your deserving and obtaining abundance and good fortune, and so you will not in fact obtain it.   If you live in fear, what you fear will come to pass.

Note that abundance does not necessarily mean wealth.   There are millions of people who are financially poor or suffer disaster who experience abundance and light because that comes from their faith, their self-knowledge. No material situation can take that away from them.

I have always said and written that faith is the beginning and end of spiritual practice.   Without faith, one is lost, subject to the control of the mind/ego, and thus subject to all the fears and anxieties and perceptions that cause human suffering.   It is faith that enables one to have positive energy regardless what is happening in life.   

Some people may say this sounds like an opiate.   Not so; opiates, drugs, obscure          what one fears and so provide an escape.   But when one has this faith, one is very aware of the circumstances of life, nothing is obscured, yet one doesn't obsess about it, one doesn't run from it.   Instead, one is aware of the light within you regardless, that you have everything you need to be at peace and happy within you right now.
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Innocence or Ignorance?

5/7/2022

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In a recent meditation I realized something.   When I have pointed to my smiling toddler as being the avatar of my true Buddha self, a common reaction that I get is that the toddler is innocent, he knows nothing of the world, so his smiling is one of ignorance.   To which I gave some credence.

But that is mistaken on two points.   While it is certainly true that a 3-year-old toddler knows nothing about all the cruelty, thoughtlessness, and evil in the world, how innocent is the toddler?   That child has already had his share of life experiences of people, in this case his parents, not being dependable for meeting his needs; of knowing that he is not in control of his life, others control it; and experiencing disappointment.

Those three experiences are critical components of everyone's life experiences as they pass through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.   So the child is not this innocent baby that we imagine.

However, as we know from all the smiling, radiant toddlers we have seen, and taken joy in their radiance, those experiences have not yet impacted them; have not dragged them down to "reality."

The reason is two-fold.   First, the ego doesn't develop until age 2 or 3, so all the experiences the child has up to that point have not been categorized, labeled, and stored by the mind.   The child just experiences this as they are in the moment, much like the chickens in my post, "The Wisdom of Chickens."

Second, because the ego has not developed, it does not supersede the light and faith he was born with.  And so the child is still in touch with his Buddha nature, his divine essence,  Ergo his radiant smile.

I was right on all counts when the image of my smiling toddler came to me years ago in a meditation and I knew right then that it was the avatar of my true Buddha nature.   I am strengthened in my awareness of Buddha nature inside me, of its love, and the power of turning my will and my life over to the care of my true Buddha nature, of surrendering my ego to its care.   I am relieved of all burdens caused by the mind.   
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5.   You Have a Self, But It's Not the Ego

4/23/2022

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The common but incorrect Buddhist teaching of “no self” presents a problem for many people trying to walk the path.  As an example, I noted in my first book, The Self in No Self, the story, as reported in the New York Times, of a Zen master who had become disturbed by his inability to synthesize his Buddhist practice ... his no self ... with the continuing evidence of his individuality, his psychological markings.  And so he went to a psychiatrist for help!

In that book, I argued that this seeming conflict flows from a basic misunderstanding of the Buddha’s teaching,  “One may perceive the intrinsic emptiness of all five skandhas and be at one with all things, free of ego, and in this sense have no self, and yet still have a self.”   I posited that the self that is part of one’s true Buddha nature is one’s unborn spirit, one’s elemental nature.

Later I came to question the teaching of “no self” more strongly.  It wasn’t just that there was a self in no self, it’s that the teaching of no self seemed wrong, opposed to the evidence of our lives.

And with that thought, I went back to the authoritative book, The Life of the Buddha, by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, to see what the Buddha actually said on this subject.   As a note, most of the passages in this book are taken directly from the Pali canon, which is the most immediate and direct presentation of the Buddha’s life and teachings.

What I found, and had surprisingly missed on previous readings, was that the teaching of “no self” is not a teaching of the Buddha.  Instead, this is yet another example of a translation having been used for English fluidity but having the unfortunate consequence of changing the meaning for it’s intended Western audience and creating barriers.

What the Buddha did was define what was "not self."  At one point he said to his disciples, "If it causes you suffering, it is not you, it is not yours, it is not your self for your self would not cause you suffering."  The Buddha also enumerated all the things that were “not self,” basically all the things that make up our ego, our learned experience, the clinging aggregates.  For example, he said that form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are impermanent, of dependence origination, and are not self.  And in “The Doctrine,” he stated that these attributes should be regarded as, “This is not mine, this is not what I am, this is not my self.”

While we thus have a clear statement of what is not self, the Buddha does not provide a similar statement for what is self; he just frequently refers to the self.  But by logic, self is the absence of these attributes, which is in essence our true Buddha nature which is free of ego, free of thought, dwelling in perfected wisdom, experiencing all directly and at one with all things.  Thus when the Buddha says that when one perceives not-self, he eliminates the conceit, “I am,” this is not a negation of the concept of self, but a statement that one must perceive his true self before one can be fully free of ego, the conceit, "I am."

At one point, the Buddha is asked whether the self exists.  He doesn’t respond.  Then he is asked if the self doesn’t exist.  He again doesn’t respond.  When Ananda asks him afterwords why he did not answer the question, the Buddha said that regardless how he would answer, it would be confusing because it would contradict some other aspect of the teaching or would confirm one point of view versus another.  In this as in other instances, we find that there is no right answer because all is one; there is just one’s true Buddha nature.

After arriving at these conclusions, I did a Google search to make sure that I wasn’t missing something.  What I found was that teachers far more learned than I have made basically the same points.  The doctrine of “no self” is not a teaching of the Buddha.

You have a spiritual self – your true Buddha nature which resides in your heart.   You were born with that self and it remains a part of you, regardless how buried it is under the detritus of your learned experience and the five skandhas,   And so your heart is light, love, faith, trust, compassion, humility, gratefulness, joy, contentment, strength, courage, and wisdom.   Rediscover your heart, free yourself from the control of your ego-mind, be sustained by the love of your Buddha nature within you, so that you become a radiant being who is a light to yourself and to all those around you.

See the videos in my "Coming Home" series, "Your Ego ≠ Your True Self," and "Your True Self = Your Heart."  See also my post, "How to Free Yourself from the Control of Your Ego-Mind," together with the numbered posts at the beginning of the blog list.
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The Purpose of Meditation

4/18/2022

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The purpose is not as obvious as one might think.    For many people, including Buddhists, meditation is about quieting the mind and experiencing the calming effect of that quieting  as well as the clarity that comes from being free of the intervention of the mind.   

If one can achieve this through meditation, that is a major accomplishment.   We all have had the experience of our mind bombarding us with thoughts – one monk called it, "our unfinished business" – when we first started meditating.   But we learned  through various techniques to not give those thoughts any focus and just let them pass.

But there is more.   I once read a story about a woman who, after 40 years of meditating, complained to a monk that nothing had changed in her life.   My take on that was that her meditating was probably divorced from the Buddha dharma.   She did not take the opportunity of the quiet and freedom from the mind's intervention to sit with aspects of the Buddha's teaching.   To me, that is the real purpose of meditation.   To absorb the teachings and ultimately find those truths from within yourself.

And for me, the ultimate truth contained in the Buddha dharma is the truth about your true self, who you are.   As I've explained in my books, posts, and videos, your true self is your true Buddha nature, your unborn Buddha mind, your heart.   You were born with this and it remains part of you throughout your life.

Not only is it a challenge to discover your true self because the power of your ego-mind is so strong.  but most Buddhist teachers teach the doctrine of "no self."  As I explained in my book, The Self in No Self, and in my post, "The Misleading Teaching of No Self," the Buddha never taught that there is no self.   What he did teach was the things that are "not self" – all the attributes that cause suffering and make up the ego.   Read the post.

While the Buddha's teaching of "not self" implies that there is a self, he never spoke to that subject.   But I and others have written that discovering your true self is a very important part of the process of walking the path and freeing yourself from the control of your mind.   See my video in the "Coming Home" series, "Your True Self = Your Heart."

As always, when we negate something we have to have something positive to put in its place, otherwise the old just rushes back in, as nature abhors a vacuum.   By coming to know your true self, you will have an anchor that will help you free yourself and remain free from your mind.   Without that, there is no end to suffering.
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    All
    1. The Goal Of Buddhism
    2. End Of Suffering Cheat Sheet
    3. 12 Steps On The Buddhist Path
    4. The Choice Is Yours
    5. You Have A Self But It's Not The Ego
    A Buddhist Trinity - Further Support
    A Buddhist Trinity - The Core Path To Peace And Happiness.
    A Carefree Day And Life
    Acceptance Courage And Wisdom
    Accepting The Life Of Those Around You
    Acknowledgement Of The Cause Of Suffering Is Key
    Allow Nothing To Disturb Your Peace And Happiness
    An Open Letter To President-elect Trump And All Americans
    Antagonist Or Challenge?
    A Path To Compassion And Loving Kindness
    Approaching The Other Shore
    Are You Reading And Willing To Let Your Cravings Go?
    As A Buddhist How Do You Plan - Revisited Again - Relying On Your Buddha Nature
    As A Buddhist How Do You Think About The Future?
    As A Buddhist … Revisited Again - Do We Need To Know Where We’re Headed?
    As A Buddhist ... Revisited - Planning Without Thinking
    As A Buddhist … Revisited Yet Again - How Do You Implement Moving Forward Without Having A Destination Point?
    A Simpler Path To Experiencing Joy
    Attachment To Self
    Avatars - Their Usefulness
    Back To Basics
    Be A Light Unto Yourself And Others
    Be Aware When Reading - Yearn To Please Or To Offer Joy?
    Be Careful The Monk/Teacher You Choose
    Befriend Yourself
    Being Aware Of Abundance
    Being Good To Yourself
    Being - Not Being
    Being One With Your True Buddha Self
    Being Present Is Being Flexible
    Being Present Is The Key To Peace And Contentment
    Being Present - No What If’s Or Imagining The Future
    Being Present - Part 2
    Being There For Someone
    Belief In You Buddha Nature - The Beginning And The End
    Be Sustained By The Love Of Buddha Within You
    Be The Eye Of The Hurricane
    Beyond Acceptance
    Beyond Awareness
    Beyond Dispassion - The Next Step
    Boredom
    Boundaries
    Buddha Mind - Child Mind
    Buddha Mind Free Of Thought
    Buddha Nature Gentle And Serene
    Buddhism And The Divine
    Burying Your Old Identity
    Change Your Life By Changing The Direction Of Its Energy Flow
    Changing The Direction Of Your Energy Flow - II - Manifesting
    Changing Your Reactions
    Chicken Or Egg ?
    Co-existence Of Buddha Nature And Ego-Mind
    Compassion
    Control
    Craving "Survival" Condemns You To Suffering
    Crying - An Understanding
    Darkness Before Light
    Death And Life
    Death And Life - Part 2
    Death Heaven And Hell
    Deflating The Ego
    Dependence
    Desire - The Gerbil Trap
    Discipline - It’s Essential
    Dislike - An Insidious Obstruction
    Dispassion Does Not Mean Wtihout Feeling
    Dispassion - Enter The State Of By Becoming Aware Of The Emptiness Of Our Ego-mind
    Dispassion - Obstacles And Options To Achieve It
    Dispassion - Unlocking The Doors
    Don't Just Say No To Your Mind
    Don’t Waste A Moment
    Don’t Waste A Moment
    Do We Suffer Or Not? - The Choice Is Ours
    Do You Really Want To Be At Peace And Content
    Ego - Changing Your Relationship With It
    Embrace The Moment Not Merely Accept
    Emptiness - What Does It Mean?
    Enter Your Buddha Mind
    Equanimity But Feel Someone’s Pain
    Everything That Disturbs Us Is A Product Of Suffering
    Everything You Need To Be Happy
    Evil - How Should A Buddhist Respond?
    Expectations? - Not If You Want To End Suffering
    Experiencing The Fullness Of The Present
    Facing My Insecurity
    Faith And Mind Not Separate
    Faith And Mind Not Separate - 2
    Faith And Reason
    Faith Even When You Are Dependent On Others
    Faith: The Essential Element Of Spiritual Practice
    Fear And Anxiety - There's More
    Fear Anxiety And Craving - Chicken Or Egg #2
    Fear Arises From Our Desire To Control
    Fearlessness
    Fear's Destructive Impact
    Fear V Common Sense
    Feeling Off? - Adjust Your Attitude
    Finding Happiness In Each Moment
    Forgiveness - A Different Take
    Freedom From The Future
    Freedom From The Known
    Freedom - What Does It Mean?
    Freeing Yourself From Anger And Resentment
    Freeing Yourself From Attachments
    Freeing Yourself From Fear
    Freeing Yourself From Fear II
    Freeing Yourself From Suffering - The Prerequisite Step
    Free Of Thought - Important Clarification
    Frustration ... Our Canary In The Mine
    Get Over Yourself
    Getting To Know Your True Buddha Self
    Give Yourself A Choice
    Going Through Life With Blinders - The Obstruction Of Labels
    Good Guys Finish Last?
    Go Slow
    Grateful For Being Alive
    Guilt
    Guilt And The Defensive Beast
    Happenstance
    Happiness Is Elusive
    Happiness - What You Need To Be Happy
    Happy New Year 2017?
    Have Directions Not Goals
    Have You Heard Of Narcs - The Final Answer To Why I Was Frowning
    Healing Your Inner Child - Healing Your Wounded Heart
    Healing Your Inner Child - Update
    Hell Is Just Resistance To Life
    How I Failed Myself
    How The Ego-Mind Tries To Destroy Faith
    How To Desire Yet Not Crave?
    How To Find Faith?
    How To Find Your True Self Your Heart
    How To Free Yourself From The Control Of Your Ego-Mind
    How To Live In Our World
    How To Love Yourself
    How To Observe Through The Eyes Of Your True Buddha Self
    How To Offer Others Joy
    How To Protect Yourself Against Psychic Attack
    How To Respond To Acts Of Aggression
    How To Spiritually Respond To The Election?
    How To Start The Day
    How To Surrender Your Ego Or Turn Your Will And Your Life Over To The Care Of Your True Buddha Nature
    Humbling Myself
    Humility
    I Am Being Reborn
    I Am Therefore I Am
    If Nothing Offends All Internal Struggle Ceases
    If This Is Practical Buddhism Why The Pastoral Setting
    "If You Love Someone You Will Suffer"
    Imagining In Meditation
    I’m Grateful To Be A Jubu
    Inner Happiness - Outer Happiness
    Innocence Or Ignorance?
    Insecurity - Nurture Not Nature
    Instead Of Forgiveness Show Compassion
    It Doesn’t Have To Be
    It's All About Survival - Or Is It?
    It's A Sin -The Harm We Inflict On Ourselves
    It’s Just The Way It Is
    It’s Just The Way It Is And It’s All OK
    It’s No Crime To Think About Oneself!
    Joy - A Hopefully Final Take
    Joy - At Last Real Understanding
    Joy - Experience It Now
    Joyful Dispassion - Excited Non-attachment
    Joyful Dispassion - Update
    Joy/Happiness - A Choice We Make
    Joy - One More Take
    Joy - Yet Another Take
    Knowing Best?
    Know Thyself - The Power Of Awareness
    Lack V Abundance
    Let Go - Let God
    Letting Go
    Letting Others Go Their Way
    Liberate Yourself From Thinking
    Likes And Dislikes - A Potential Trap Examined
    Listening - Why Is It So Difficult?
    Love At First Sight - NOT
    Love/Loving-Kindness - Defined In The Buddhist Context
    Love Yourself Unconditionally
    Make It Your Own - An Extension Of “The Heart’s Embrace”
    Making Lists - Objectifying Your Fears The Things That Push Your Buttons
    Making Peace With The Outside; Making Peace With The Inside
    Making The Most Of Every Day
    Manifestation - DANGER DANGER!
    Manifesting
    Manifesting In The Moment
    Meditation - Coming Home Releasing And Being At Peace
    Meditation - The Importance Of Daily Practice
    Memory - Don’t Trust It
    Mental Obstructions
    Mind Resting Undisturbed
    Mirror Mirror On The Wall - A Revelation
    Money And Spirituality
    My Daily Task
    My Daily Task - 2
    My Ego's Sneak Attack
    My Life - A Being Dichotomized
    My Meditation Isn't Working!
    My Mind Trapped Me
    My Road To Peace
    My True Buddha Self And Me
    Nature Of Mind Revealed - A Transformation
    Never Stop Going Deeper
    Newly Discovered Trauma
    Nirvana - It's Right Before Your Eyes
    No Expectations No Hope?
    No One’s Life Is Ordinary
    No Reason To Be Defensive
    No Self - Not!
    No Spiritual Force Can Protect You From Yourself Your Mind
    Not Engaging Your Thoughts
    Nothing To Prove
    Not Me - Peeling Off The Layers Of Our Ego-Mind
    Observe
    Offer Joy Experience Joy
    Offer Myself Joy!
    Oneness Does Not Mean Sameness
    Opening The Door To Being Present
    Our Over-sexed Culture And Lives
    Pain - A Cry For Help
    Paradise Lost
    Peace And Happiness Is Your Birthright
    Personal Boundaries As Part Of A Buddhist Life
    Preparing A Child For Life
    Pride Is A Function Of The Devil
    Problem - NOT!
    Proof Of The Nature Of Mind - Fear Ego And Buddha Mind
    Prosperity And Abundance
    Protecting Yourself From The Elements
    Psychiatry Needs To Incorporate Buddhist Teaching
    Putting Spirituality Into Practice 24/7
    Que Sera Sera - Whatever Will Be Will Be
    Real Clarity V The Delusion Of Clarity
    Reality Is Not What We Experience
    Receiving The Love Of Your Buddha Nature
    Reciting Affirmations
    Reclaiming The Narrative Of My Life - II
    Reclaiming The “Story” Of Your Life
    Reflecting On 75 Years
    Reincarnation - An Unorthodox Take
    Rejoice And Be Happy
    Rejoice And Be Happy - II
    Releasing All Desire
    Releasing All Desire - II
    Releasing Negative Energy
    Replacing Weakness With Strength
    Reprogram Your Mind To End Your Suffering
    Returning Home - Returning To Your True Buddha Nature
    Right Attitude
    Ritual Burning Of The Past
    Safety Defined
    Saying Grace
    Saying “No” To Negative Thought
    Seeing The Light
    Seeing Through The Eyes Of Your True Buddha Self
    Seek And You Shall Find
    Seeking Guidance From Buddha Mind Not Ego Mind
    See Things Through Your Heart Not Your Mind
    Self Re-examined
    Self-Responsibility During The Pandemic
    Sex - Misused And Abused - A Different Perspective
    Shall We Dance? - An Invitation To The Dance Of Death
    Shame
    Smiling Toddler + Wounded Inner Child
    Soul’s Yearning Distorted By The Ego-Mind
    Soul -True Self - And Ego-Mind
    Speaking The Truth
    Speak The Truth But Beware
    Starving The Ego
    Step #10: Continued To Be Mindful Of The Arising Of Cravings And Desires And When They Arose Did Not Attach To Them And Allowed Them To Subside.
    Step #11: Sought Through Meditation To Constantly Improve Our Conscious Contact With Our True Buddha Nature
    Step #1: Admitted Our Cravings Cause Us Suffering And That We Are Powerless Over Them
    Step #2: Came To Believe That Our True Buddha Nature Could Restore Us To Peace And Created A Platform Of Serenity
    Step #3: Committed Ourselves To The Path By Practicing The Five Precepts And The Six Paramitas
    Step #4 Came To Believe That All Our Perceptions Are Learned - That They Are Just A Product Of Our Ego-mind - And That Our Ego-mind Is Not Our True Self - Instead We Knew That Our True Self Is Our Heart.
    Step #5: Were Ready And Willing And Made A Decision To Surrender Our Ego And Turn Our Will And Our Lives Over To The Care Of Our True Buddha Nature Opening Our Heart To Embrace All Aspects Of Our Being.
    Step #6: Came To Believe That We Have Everything We Need Within Ourselves To Be At Peace And Happy
    Step #7: Came To Be Free Of Our Cravings
    Step #8: Were Entirely Ready To Love Ourselves Unconditionally And Have Compassion For Ourselves And To Accept Ourselves And The World Around Us As Being The Way They Are Because It's Just The Way It Is.
    Step #9: Made A List Of Persons We Had Harmed And Made Amends To Them
    Stopping Self-Sabotage
    Strength Not Courage
    Suffering Is Universal - But Why?
    Survival - The Force That Controls Our Life
    Taking Pleasure In Each Passing Moment
    Taking Refuge In Yourself
    Taking Responsibility Is Not Blame
    Teaching Only Points The Way
    Test The Wisdom Of What You’re Doing Or Thinking Of Doing
    The 3-legged Stool Of Spirituality
    The Art Of Self-Nurturing
    The Challenge Of Staying Aware
    The Coexistence Of Ego And Buddha Nature
    The Devil Is Alive And Well
    The Distinction Between Pain And Suffering
    The Divine And Man
    The Ego As Saboteur
    The Emptiness Of Intrinsic Existence And Its Relevance To Global Warming
    The Felt Need For Acknowledgment
    The Five Precepts
    The Four Bodhisattva Vows
    The Fourfold Path To Freedom
    The Four Noble Truths
    The Freedom Of Focusing On Someone Or Something Outside Yourself
    The Heart/Mind Divide
    The Heart’s Embrace - More On Freeing Ourselves
    The Heart's Embrace - Updated
    The Hurt Of Rejection - Its Enduring Impact
    The Illusion Of Control
    The Imperative Of Self-Preservation
    The Lessons Of Siddhartha
    The Light Within You
    The Limits Of Rational Thought
    The Meaning And Power Of Selflessness
    The Middle Way - A Way Back From The Breach
    The Mind Is Sneaky - Surrender It
    The Mind - Suffering Connection
    The Misleading Teaching Of No Self
    The Missing Noble Truth
    The Myanmar Situation
    The Mystery Of The Ego - An Answer
    The New Me - I Not I
    The Noble Eightfold Path
    The Parable Of The Raft
    The Path As Tightrope
    The Path From Peace To Joy
    The Path Is Never-Ending
    The Power Of Affirmations - Use Carefully
    The Power Of Giving Voice To Thoughts
    The Present Beyond Us
    The Purpose Of Life
    The Purpose Of Meditation
    The Push/Pull Of Ego-Mind
    The Question Is Not Whether The Glass Is Half Empty Or Half Full
    There Are No Bad Persons
    There Is Nothing Wrong With You
    The Remnants Of The Ego
    The Serenity Prayer
    The Soul’s Yearning And How Best To Fulfill It
    The Stages Of Acceptance
    The Stages Of Man’s Spirit
    The Subconscious
    The Three Stages Of Embrace
    The Unaware Consumer
    The Wisdom Of Chickens
    The Wisdom Of Now
    This Is Not Me This Is Not My Self
    Thought Objects
    To Free Yourself From Cravings You Must Free Yourself Of Fear
    To Love Unconditionally = Loving-Kindness
    Tonglen - How To Approach Its Practice
    To Observe Free Of Mind - To Experience Joy
    To See Opportunity You Must Be Free Of Fear
    To Thine Own Self Be True
    Trauma
    Trauma Begets Trauma
    Trauma Denied No Longer
    Trauma - Healing It Is Critical
    Trauma - It’s Release
    Turning Your Will Over To Your True Buddha Nature
    Waking Up
    Walking Away From Modernity
    Walking On The Beach
    Walking The Path - It’s A Lot Of Work But It’s Well Worth It
    We Are All One
    We Are Not Meant To Suffer
    We Have Everything We Need To Be At Peace And Happy Inside Ourselves
    We Have Lost Our Sense Of Place
    We Make Our Own Mental Environment
    We Never Stop Healing
    What Activates The Ego-Mind?
    What Are We Celebrating On July 4th?
    What Blocks Me From Being Truly Present And Radiating My Inner Energy 24/7?
    What If The Present Is Bad?
    What Is Joy? What Is Happiness?
    What Is Life Without Emotion?
    What Is Most Important To You?
    What Is Your Task In Life?
    What Price Peace And Happiness?
    What's In A Name?
    What's Real And What’s Not Real?
    What’s The Real Challenge - Life Or The Ego?
    What To Do When You Lose Faith?
    What Use Fame Power Fortune?
    What You Can’t Will And What You Can
    When A Heart’s Desire Is Commandeered By The Ego
    When Joy Is Not Joy
    When Love Is Not Love ...
    When Nothing Offends
    When Really Bad Things Happen
    When Smiling Toddlers Cry
    When The Mind Intervenes
    Who Am I?
    Who Are You?
    Who/What Is Your True Self?
    Why Diets Fail - A Buddhist Perspective
    Why Do We Crave?
    Why Is Being Grateful Such A Challenge?
    Why Is It So Hard To Be Free Of Your Ego?
    Why Is Mankind Trapped In A Box?
    Why Point The Compass Towards Tomorrow?
    Why We Take Offense
    Wisdom - What Is It?
    Wounded Our Ego-Mind Becomes The Devil
    Yes Virginia There Is A True Buddha Nature
    Yet Another Past Attachment
    You Are Not Alone
    You As Observer
    You Can Be In Control
    You Don't Need To Be Liked

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