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Our Over-sexed Culture and Lives

7/27/2017

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St. Augustine was right to recognize lust as being a central force in our lives over which we seemingly have no control.  But with all due respect, he got it wrong when he said that our inability to control our lust, our sexual arousal - it’s involuntary nature - was a sign of original sin.  “Sometimes it refuses to act when the mind wills, while often it acts against its will!”  He was right that the Garden of Eden story is the key to understanding sex.  Unfortunately, he didn’t have the right key to open the door.

He saw lust as an evil because of its dangerous allure; it’s sweet poison.  He interpreted the iconic snake’s saying, “Your eyes will be opened,” as meaning that Adam and Eve will become aware of the evilness of their sexual urges.  He argued that in Eden they would have had sex without the ardor of lust.

His interpretation of the story is that man was not meant to feel lust.  Procreation would have occurred in Eden without lust, without tainted sexual urgings, a sexless act.  But he chose to sin and so man was forever lost.  To Augustine, the importance of the virgin birth of Christ is that by definition there was no lust involved and so Christ was born pure, unburdened by an evil act of his parents. (Stephen Greenblatt, “The Invention of Sex,” The New Yorker, June 19, 2017.)

And so for much of the Christian era, sex has been considered dirty, although necessary for procreation of the race.  Dirty because it perforce involves lust.  And lust is dirty because it resulted from Adam and Eve’s eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The result of this point of view has been a disaster.

I have argued in several posts in my other blog, www.preservingamericanvalues.com, for a different take on the Garden of Eden story.  Let’s review the story.  As told in Genesis, in the paradise that God created, man and woman were naked, but they were not embarrassed by their nakedness and they were one with all things.  The only thing forbidden to them was to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.   They lived in a world where there was no knowledge of right or wrong, good or bad.  Interestingly, the paradise of Genesis is virtually identical with Buddhist Nirvana.

But once they ate the fruit of the tree, they became aware of and were embarrassed by their nakedness.  They now had knowledge of value judgments; they were no longer innocent.  And no longer innocent, they were forced out of the garden into a world full of the frustrations of cravings, fear, and strife.

The Abrahamic faiths’ take on this story is that man is a sinner because he violated God’s commandment.  And that women are the causal source of sin because it was Eve who listened to the serpent and tempted Adam to eat the fruit; it is thus also a cautionary tale regarding sexual temptation.  Man can only be saved by obeying God, which is to obey the multilayered moral and ritual strictures of His religion (take your pick as to which one).

But if one looks at the story with fresh eyes, without all the layers of religious interpretation by rabbis, monks, imams, and others, a different lesson takes shape.

The real lesson is that the world of God is the world of innocence … whether in the Garden of Eden or in the here and now.  A world where there is no knowledge of good and evil because man is one with himself and all things; he experiences all things directly, free of labels.  We cannot control what others do, but we can control how we react to that experience.  This is the world of freedom from the known.  And if all men were thus, there would be no evil because there would be no desire for what one does not have; there would be no insecurity.  There would be no good because man would not compare himself to others.  People would act from a pure spirit.

Please note:  “No knowledge of good or evil” does not mean that one is blind to the things people do which bring about suffering rather than joy, which are harmful rather than helpful.  (Such things may not have happened in the Garden of Eden, but it is certainly true in the here and now, which is not the world of God.)  It means that these things are observed clearly … one is very much aware of what one is doing and what is going on in the world … but without judgmental labels.  This is not a distinction without a difference because labels are infused with emotion which impairs judgment.

The point of the story is not so much that God’s commandment was broken, but because man ate the fruit and thus gained knowledge of good and evil, mankind lost its innocence.  And he was never the same.

In that sense, the events in the Garden of Eden have truly impacted man ever since. The story does relate dramatically, metaphorically, that man would be separated from the Tree of Life, from the knowledge of his true self, his God-essence, having gained knowledge of good and evil.

But not that man for all eternity will be burdened with original sin and be born a sinner.  That is the spin that St.Augustine and much of Christianity put on the story.  And as a result, millions of people in each generation have believed, because they were so taught, that they were born sinners.  Not a healthy self-concept.

Instead, Buddhism, Hinduism, and the mystical traditions of Christianity (Gnosticism), Judaism (Kabbalah), and Islam (Sufism) all believe that man is born with the God/Buddha essence inside him.  That is his true nature, and that remains his nature for life.

But as with Adam and Eve, he typically is pulled away from his true nature by life experiences.  They lead him to make the choice, albeit usually unknowingly, to have knowledge of good and evil, to lose his innocence, and so the tragedy of the Garden of Evil happens over and over again.

The goal of Buddhism, Hinduism, and the mystic traditions is to break that cycle.  To enable man to reject his knowledge of good and evil, the perspective of his ego-mind, and return to his God/Buddha essence and see the world through those eyes.  Again this is seeing very clearly, neither through rose-colored glasses nor darkly tinted ones.

Before looking at Augustine’s conundrum as an example, let’s discuss the word “lust.”  Looking it up in the dictionary, it means an uncontrolled, illicit desire, a craving, unbridled.  That certainly fits how Augustine was looking at the sex drive.

But Augustine was not right that “lust” is necessary to arouse the genitals and thus procreate.  Desire is what’s necessary.  And desire, like the other emotions, is not in and of itself a problem.  Desire is not sinful; it is natural and human.  The problem, as with the other emotions, is when man is controlled by or obsesses over sexual desire and it becomes lust.

This is what happens when man becomes separated from his God/Buddha essence.  If one looks at the seven deadly sins … lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride … these are all at base natural human feelings or needs which have been perverted by obsession and craving into sins.

Had they remained in the allegorical Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve would have felt desire in order to procreate.  But not having eaten the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, their eyes “were not opened,” and so they would not have seen anything sinful or embarrassing in their sexuality.  Nor would they have had any desire to perpetuate the pleasure they experienced by doing it over and over again, unrelated to the process of procreation.  The God/Buddha essence within us does not seek pleasure because it does not need pleasure to experience peace and joy.  They would thus not have experienced uncontrolled, unbridled, illicit desire = lust.

Which brings up an increasingly significant problem in our contemporary society … both the primary focus of sex being pleasure and its being inextricably bound up with the idea of love.  This is a tricky area to navigate.

From the start, we have to remember that the sex drive is part of our animal heritage.  And it is more than a biological necessity.  There are a large number of animal species that are known to masturbate in order to experience the pleasure of arousal and orgasm.  And certainly it is well known that males will typically mate any female who is available and in heat.  Indiscriminate and rampant sex is very much part of nature.

But man is an animal who has greatly enlarged capacities for thinking.  If the idea of evolution is the improvement and survival of the species, then the development of a man-animal with a larger brain has to be looked at from that perspective.

And that perspective tells us that his brain should provide man with the ability to exercise self-control and experience the freedom that results, rather than as St. Augustine felt be in a situation of no control.  How then should these matters be approached by man?

First, I think one has to admit the total failure of the way our society, and we as individuals, have dealt with this matter over the years, and increasingly so in more recent times.  We as a society are sex-obsessed.  Whether it’s based on our insecurity or on the way sex is used and portrayed in media, sex has become the go-to legitimate drug of choice … part high-inducing, part coping mechanism … when all else is failing.  Men use it to generate a feeling of power.  Women use it to generate a feeling of control.  Both men and women use it to provide some pleasure and excitement in lives that are mostly devoid of either.  And they use it to provide some momentary semblance of intimacy in a relationship where there really isn’t any or very little.

We talk about love at first sight.  No, that’s lust at first sight.  It has nothing to do with love.  Indeed, most people have no concept what “love” really means because they didn’t experience it growing up and they have no role models, whether real or in the media.  And so we don’t fall in love, we fall in lust.  Those squishy feelings we develop have nothing to do with love.

At some point we marry because we need someone in our life.  After some time passes, though, about half of us divorce because there just isn’t the love necessary to meet the challenges of a human relationship.  Most of the other half also don’t have that love, but they don’t have the guts to admit it or divorce.

But in the 20-something generation, perhaps because there’s an awareness of the illusion of love, they don’t even go there.  For them it’s just an endless round of sex, whether it’s in short affairs or with “friends with benefits.”  It’s sex just to feel good, to feel wanted, desired.  All based on insecurity.

So I think there is no option but to try and wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

First, what is love?  There are two essential components of love.  The first is that you love someone for who the person is, not for what needs of yours they fulfill.  Such love is unconditional.  The second is that you are totally committed to the relationship and want nothing more than to offer the other joy and compassion.  The other’s welfare is your main thought.  Ideally, one’s love is returned and the relationship is reciprocal.

Love is thus a totally self-less act.  This does not mean that one doesn’t benefit from loving and the relationship.  One certainly does and knows it.  But you don’t love because you are thinking of yourself.

Second, what is the role of sex?  Notice that this definition of love has nothing to do with sex.  Sex is both unnecessary and irrelevant to the existence of love.  One can be in a deeply loving, committed, relationship that is not sexual.  I for one can attest to that.

Sex has only one biological function … procreation.  All the other uses we make of sex are functions of the mind.  And because most of our minds are somewhat messed up (we’re insecure, we feel inadequate, we crave this and that, we hate, etc.), our attitude towards sex is infected by these neuroses.

Does sex have a legitimate role in a relationship beyond procreation?  There is no question that people often, not always, feel close, intimate, when they have sex, even though they don’t feel that way towards each other otherwise during the day.  And this is the problem.  One should no more have sex in an attempt to solve a relationship’s problems than one should have children in order to save the relationship.  Neither works.

But assuming one has a truly loving relationship as I’ve defined it, does sex have a role?  I want to say yes.  Part of loving is wanting to give the other person joy … in this case pleasure.  So sex would seem to have a beneficial role if approached in this way … selflessly.  The question is, can sex ever be carried out selflessly?  One can I think approach it that way, but once in the middle of it, I think it becomes predominantly an act of self-gratification.

It’s true that over the last few decades there has been much more emphasis placed on men thinking about the other person’s physical needs, the woman’s orgasm, and many men (what percentage I have no idea, but I would suspect far less than the majority) are more tender and considerate in their lovemaking than in earlier times.   But even then, it becomes a matter of self-gratification.  How well did you do in pleasing your partner?  As well as a source of insecurity.  Thus the familiar comic line, “Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

I fear that the answer to my question is that even if one was so spiritually advanced that he or she was truly selfless, one could not have selfless sex.  The nature of the biological, evolutionary, act is such that it brings out man’s basic survival instinct, which is definitely not selfless.

The other problem with introducing sex for pleasure into an otherwise well-balanced, truly loving relationship is that it would create tensions.  Since sex is by its very nature not a selfless act, it would revive insecurities and other emotions that would have otherwise been mostly put to rest in our ego-mind.  And those emotions are potentially destructive of a loving relationship.

Thus, in an ideal world, relationships between two people would be loving ones that would not include sex for pleasure.  Whether heterosexual or homosexual, it would make no difference to the nature and value of the relationship, either to the individuals or to society.  Sex would be limited to the purpose of procreation.

Now, a love relationship without sex or without children has always been looked at askance by others, and still is even in our more liberated society.  Probably because for millennia the focus of marriage’s purpose was to have children (and provide security).  But in today’s overpopulated world, this too should be looked at with fresh eyes.

But we do not live in an ideal world, nor is that foreseeable in the near or probably even distant future.  So, what should mankind do?  How do we at least transition from the disastrous situation we currently experience to something that is better for people’s wellbeing?  Where to start!?

We start by sensitizing individuals to the disaster that our current and historic approach to love and sex has had on ourselves, our partners, and our children.  There is no lack of evidence of this disaster.  It is the responsibility of civil and religious authority figures, and especially the media, to provide leadership in this area and be of service to people.

In sensitizing people to the problems, it is critical that it be very clear that individuals are not to blame for the situation.  It is not their fault, even though they participated through their actions.

They are not to blame because their actions, while seemingly voluntary, were not the result of free will.  We have all been programmed by our life experiences and by society to act as we act.  Our range of true free will is thus very narrow, contrary to the assumptions of our legal and moral systems.  This does not absolve us of responsibility, but it does absolve us of guilt.

Once this groundwork has been laid, the following steps can be advocated.  Here again, the leadership of religious leaders and the media is of vital importance.

First, it starts with the individual, who needs to rediscover his/her true self, their true nature, reconnect with the God/Buddha essence inside them and thus free themselves from the control of all the emotions, judgments, cravings, and attachments that cause suffering.  For each person will become aware that their suffering is not caused by whatever they experience in the world, but by how they reacted or react to those experiences.  And they will come to know that they have everything they need inside themselves to be at peace and happy.

As the reader knows, getting to this point requires much discipline and hard work.  You are attempting to change the paradigms of your life, everything that has controlled how you have related to yourself and the world around you for your entire life.  It’s not easy, but it is achievable.  I have tried in this blog to make the path more accessible and it is the subject of the current book I’m working on, Finding Inner Peace - A Handbook for People of All Faiths and Non-Believers, as well as my previous books.

Second, with that change in attitude and self-image, the individual approaches people differently.  For example, since one knows they have everything they need inside themselves to be at peace and happy, when they look at another person as a possible relationship, they do not think foremost about how that person can fulfill their needs, but whether the person is a kind and loving person, thoughtful, caring, as well as compatible in life-styles and interests.

Third, when you know you have everything you need inside yourself to be at peace and happy, and are free of insecurity, you have no need to experience the pleasure of sexual gratification.  Further because you are at one with your partner, intimate and trusting, there is no need for sex to reach that point.  Sex becomes solely the province of the desire to have children.

Fourth, possessed of this new attitude about yourself and the world around you, you are totally committed to your love relationship.  You have no desire to entertain amorous or sexual thoughts or actions towards any other individual.

Clearly this would be a total 180 degree turn from current and past attitudes about love and sex.  I truly don’t know whether given our training and our ego-mind such a transformation is possible.  But I do know from my own personal experience that with deep spiritual work we can move substantially in that direction.  The fate of our happiness rests on our taking action.
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Seek and You Shall Find

7/20/2017

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You are no doubt familiar with this line from the Bible.  It applies to walking the spiritual path because it determines what we experience in life.

I was rereading one book recently that said that the things that nourish the soul are creativity, beauty, humor, and work.  Other teachers have said that what the soul yearns for is beauty and love.

Regardless, the point of this post is that one can go through life, through a day, through a moment and either see all the ugliness and dysfunction that is out there in the world and often indeed within us.  Or one can go through life and each moment and see beauty, love, creativity, humor, or work, while still being aware of the things that we label ugliness and dysfunction, but without the labels.

What one sees and experiences is a product of our mind’s focus, our attitude.  It’s similar to the old question, is the glass half full or half empty.  If our ego-mind is in control, for some reason it seeks only to see everything that is wrong in the world or in us, everything that in some way is a threat to us.  And when we are in that mode, everything that is beauty, love, etc. is blocked out from our awareness.

On the other hand, if we are present and one with our heart, our Buddha nature, and we seek beauty, love, creativity, humor, or work, then that is what we will experience every moment regardless what the situation is.  Because at a minimum, all of those attributes are present within each of us, in our heart, our true self.  So even if we were in the most dire of circumstances, there would always be these things to nourish us; we would nourish ourselves.

So for example, if we were in solitary confinement with no window and nothing but ourselves and four walls, we would still find nourishment if that is what we were seeking.  In other dire circumstances, even such as a concentration camp, there would in addition be beauty in the form of nature … the sun, clouds, rain, the stars.  There would also be creativity because creativity is the essence of nature.  And even in a concentration camp there were ample examples of love.  It’s truly a question of what we seek out, our attitude.

After this teaching of seek and you shall find was presented to me in my meditation the other morning, I put it into practice as I went about my day, and indeed I experienced the things that nourish me, while not being oblivious to that things around me that were not what they could be.  But while being aware of them, they had no negative labels and thus did not agitate me.
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Humility

7/8/2017

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Recently, prompted by some readings, I meditated on humility.  But before writing this post, I looked to see if I had written on this subject previously.  I found a post of mine from 4 years ago, “Humbling Myself.”  And it was deja vu.  Most of what I had realized in my recent meditations I had realized back then.  But I had forgotten it as it never became an active part of my daily practice.

How sad.  But also a powerful reminder … if we don’t make key aspects of our spiritual growth part of our daily practice, they are forgotten in the pull of our daily life.  We must affirm our key truths every day.

As with most things spiritual, one cannot will oneself to be humble.  It just doesn’t work.  There are too many interior obstacles.  And so if you try that route you will just set yourself up for internal struggles and defeat.

Instead, in order to feel humility, it is essential that one stops feeling prideful, that one is special.  This is not to gainsay whatever talents or other qualities you have.  But do those things make you special?

You are not special because everyone is special.  Everyone is born with something that makes them special.  For some it is a talent, for others it is a disposition.  Whatever the gift, everyone is born with something.  Everyone is also equally deserving of acknowledgment.

The other way in which we feel special is that we feel that I did it.  The ego-mind thinks that we have been successful because it engineered it.  While the ego-mind can truthfully often take credit for our perseverance, that is not really a source of pride.  A pat on the back, but not pride.  First there is the realization that the basic gift that the ego-mind pushed was not something it created but was something we were born with.  The other is that whether perseverance pays off is truly a matter of happenstance … being in the right place at the right time.  These are matters beyond our control.

Why do we seem to have this need to feel special?  Because we learn early on that it is the people who are special in some way who get rewarded, whether at home or in school.  And so it becomes part of our survival instinct.  If we can’t identify our natural gift, we identify some reason to feel special.

But through your spiritual practice, you have hopefully come to learn the truth that you have everything inside yourself that you need to be at peace and happy, and that that is what you value most, what is most important to you.  And that all will be well regardless what life throws your way, what situation you are in, because you will always return home to your true Buddha self and be at peace and happy.  Thus if you apply those truths to this situation, the need to feel special vanishes because we are not dependent on the acknowledgment of others for our peace and happiness, our wellbeing.

When you are able to feel from within that you truly are not special and when you cease feeling the need to be special because you are aware that you have everything you need to be at peace and happy, then you will arrive at humility naturally.
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    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
    Offering Others Joy - From The Heart
    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
    Renouncing What You Have Always Depended On
    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
    See Yourslef And The World Through Different Eyes
    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
    Soul’s Yearning Distorted By The Ego-Mind
    Soul -True Self - And Ego-Mind
    Speaking The Truth
    Speaking To Your Buddha Nature/Divinity/Heart
    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 And The Wounded Inner Child
    The Mind And Your Inner Child - II
    The Mind Is Sneaky - Surrender It
    The Mind's Deep State
    The Mind - Suffering Connection
    The Miracle That Is You
    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 Original Trauma - Birth
    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 Truth – Seeing It And Speaking It
    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
    Wealth Poverty And Buddhism
    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 Lies Behind Our Good Deeds?
    What Nourishes My Soul?
    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
    Your True Self And The Irrelevance Of The Min

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