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Going through Life with Blinders - The Obstruction of Labels

11/26/2012

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As we pass from fall to winter, there is an opportunity to be aware of the changes in nature.  It’s not just that the leaves drop after putting on their fall show, or that the weather gets colder.  There are more subtle things to be aware of, things which enrich and nourish ones soul.  One of the main differences is the quality of light.  November light is very special.  It’s “dryer”, more crisp than at other times.  Yet softer, not as stark as it gets in the middle of winter.  The clouds too are different; they tend to be more subtle than the clouds of summer, the grays softer, the whites less brilliant.

As I’m writing, I’m sitting at my desk looking at the late November landscape.  The leaves have mostly fallen off the trees, revealing their varied shapes.  The evergreens retain their robust, lush appearance, impervious to the change of season.  The grasses have turned various colors: the tall grasses a beautiful parchment, that glows when the sun is shining; the medium grasses a dullish tan; and the short grasses stubbornly hang on to their green, even though we’ve had some night-time lows in the mid-20s already.  It’s a mostly gray day, but the cloud cover has variation to it in color and texture.  And the light, while low, is very soft.  It’s a very peaceful, beautiful landscape, almost devoid of wind.

Unfortunately, most people sitting at my desk looking at the same landscape would say that it’s a dull. dreary day.  Period.  Indeed, many years ago I would have said the same thing.  This is but one small example of the labels that we, without any active thought, apply to what we experience.  And how, whether they express likes/dislikes or other judgmental thoughts, those labels are obstructions, creating a barrier between us and the reality of what we are experiencing, preventing us from experiencing things or people in their true fullness.

There is not one area of life where these labels do not impact how we experience ourselves and everything around us.  Whether it’s your personal or family relationships, passing strangers on the street, eating food, experiencing the weather, navigating work relationships, how you hear a politician speaking, and most importantly perhaps your relationship with yourself ... every moment of every day, your perceptions are but the labels that have been formed by your learned experience, whether it be your upbringing, your peer experiences, or your experience at the hands of the broader culture.

“These are my perceptions,” you say.  “They are a valid view of reality.  They are not just labels.”  They certainly feel real to you because they are based on a lifetime of experience and are supported by your family, friends, and culture.  But they are nevertheless illusory, they are empty of any intrinsic existence.  They are totally dependent on your learned experience.  Another person with a different learned experience will react very differently to exactly the same reality experience.  The difference is not in the reality; the difference is in the learned experience of the observer.  

The point is not whether one perspective is more valid than another.  The point is that any perspective is illusory.  Only when you can see and experience directly without the intervention of thought can you experience yourself, those around you, and everything in your life as things really are because then there is no separation between you and reality.

How one gets to that point is a long path which I describe in my books and which I will come back to at various times in this blog.  But for now, the first step is to realize, at least intellectually, the truth that all of our perceptions are labels, dependent on our learned experience, and that they are obstructions that prevent us from seeing things as they really are.  With that knowledge, you’ll find that you will start having moments when you glimpse that there is something there other than what you are perceiving.  You will start being more open to the honestly held but opposing opinions of other people who are just coming from a different exposure to learned experience.  You will be more measured in your thoughts and opinions.


Another lesson in practical Buddhism.

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Yes, Virginia, There Is a True Buddha Nature

11/17/2012

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One problem that many people have with Buddhist teaching is the concept that we are all born essentially perfect with the true Buddha nature inside us, and that that Buddha nature remains within us throughout our lives and defines who we really are, even as it gets buried under years of learned experience and our conscious mind sees our ego as defining who we really are.  The question many ask is, “If my true Buddha nature is inside me, intact, then why has it allowed me to be led so far astray and suffer so much?And why don’t I see it even if I’m looking for it?

The answer to the first question is that one's true Buddha nature is, not surprisingly, not an aggressive nature.  As we go through our early years and we develop layers of learned experience that are contrary to our true Buddha nature and what it would teach us, the seeds of our ego-mind are watered and strengthened.  It is like an invasive species that overruns naturally occurring plants.  And so when our true Buddha nature tells us, “no, don’t go there,” it’s advice is overwhelmed by the more powerful and crafty voice of our ego.  

After a time, we don’t even hear our true Buddha nature’s voice anymore except for those rare occasions when, as it’s usually put, our conscience tells us to do something other than our ego mind is telling us to do.  You know those cartoons that show the angel telling a person one thing and the devil advising the opposite?  Well, our conscience and that angel are our true Buddha nature.  But it doesn’t stand a chance against the onslaught of our ego mind and the peer pressures of our culture.

Another proof that we have our true Buddha nature intact within us is this:  if you think about all the negative experiences we have at the hands of others and our culture, you would think that we would be filled with hate.  That any speck of kindness and love and compassion that was within us at one point would be wiped out ... not just against those who have caused our suffering but against society in general.  

And yet that is usually not the case.  For most of us, regardless how much we have suffered, we remain essentially kind, warm-hearted, loving people.  Cynical, yes ... but still loving.  Even towards those who have caused our suffering, while we may feel anger, we do not feel hatred.  Even if we may sometimes when provoked scream, “I hate you!”  we don’t really hate.  Our soul has not been poisoned to that extent.  

What keeps us from becoming totally filled with hate?   Our true Buddha nature.

“But,” you may ask, “why is it then that there are people who are consumed with hate?  And not just towards individuals but whole groups of people?”  The answer to that question is that such people have been taught to hate; those seeds were watered.  As the song from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific goes, “You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, before you are six or seven or eight, to hate all the people your relatives hate, you’ve got to be carefully taught.”  



And just as one’s true Buddha nature gets buried under the layers of learned experience and being non-aggressive in nature is no match for the ego, so too does one's true Buddha nature get buried under the lessons of hate from those whom one respects or are important in ones life.  But it will still show up on occasion as a “pang of conscience.” 

As to why we aren’t able to see or feel our true Buddha nature even if we’re looking for it, the answer is again that our ego mind is so crafty and powerful that it obstructs our efforts.  But as you walk the path, obtain more clarity through meditation, learn that all perceptions are illusory, and begin to observe without the intervention of thought, there will be ever more occasions when you get a glimpse of your true Buddha nature.  And you will become aware more frequently of the difference between what your true Buddha nature is telling you and what the voice of your ego mind is telling you.  

You may not choose to go against your ego, but you will be aware that there is another way.  And as your commitment to the path and to freeing yourself increases, you will find that you begin to listen more to the voice of your true Buddha nature.  And hopefully at some point in the future, you and your true Buddha nature will be one again.



Another lesson in practical Buddhism.
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The Question is Not Whether the Glass is Half Empty or Half Full

11/14/2012

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There is a common parable in our culture regarding whether the glass is half empty or half full.  People with a positive outlook on life are said to look at the glass as being half full.  Those with a negative outlook look at the glass as being half empty.  The point usually made with this story is that it’s your perspective, not the facts of life, that determine ones emotional reaction to life.  The deeper, unspoken, assumption in this story is that the glass is never full.  And in our culture, truer words were never spoken.

As a Buddhist, I approach this story in a very different way.  First, if one lives in the present, free of ego, and mindful, the glass is always full.  We understand that regardless the circumstances, our true Buddha nature is always at peace and content.  We and are lives are perfect as they are; there is nothing that we are lacking that needs improvement.  We live in a state of equanimity, both towards ourselves and the world around us because we truly accept our lives and the world as it is right now and we love ourselves unconditionally and have compassion for ourselves.  We have no unskillful desires, no cravings.

As I’ve said elsewhere, both in this blog and in my books, this does not mean that Buddhists are static slug-a-bugs.  As functioning lay persons we must do a certain amount of thinking about the future, whether it involves our work, our relationships, our education, whatever.   While we live in the present, we must chart a course for the future, especially when we are young. (How a buddhist plans for the future yet remains present is a topic for another blog posting and a chapter in my book, Making Your Way in Life as a Buddhist.)

Second, this is not a matter of perspective ... it is for a Buddhist better put a matter of a lack of perspective.  The Buddha dharma says that all our perceptions are illusory and that all things are impermanent and changeable.  Through our practice we come to understand the truth of the emptiness of all five skandhas (appearance of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness-ego) ... that they are all of dependent origination, have no intrinsic existence ... and so we are able to see things directly, without the intervention of thought, without a perspective.

Now obviously, most of us are not at the stage of our practice where we are either enlightened or in a state that approaches enlightenment.  We could therefore not say yes to all the assumptions I’ve stated.  Perhaps much of the time, but not 24/7.  And so we have moments, or many moments, where our ego rises to the fore and we look at the glass as being half full or half empty.

But hopefully when that happens, we have the ability to stop, to focus on our breathing,  and to be aware of our ego rising, and rather than engaging it or giving in to its pull, watching it subside.  Because we know, not yet instinctively deep inside perhaps, but at least intellectually, that the glass is indeed full.  We have learned to discern the difference between the voice of our ego and the voice of our true Buddha nature. There is nothing that we lack.


Another lesson in practical Buddhism.
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Saying Grace

11/10/2012

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Before I began my practice of Buddhism, I was never one for saying grace.  I did not believe in God, and so any kind of prayer to God, whether in thanksgiving or supplication, was for me hypocritical at best and a rather cruel joke at worst.

But shortly after I began my Buddhist practice, I attended a Vietnamese temple in rural Michigan.  At the time, the temple was run by two nuns who were lovely, gentle people.  Each Saturday after a morning of meditation and dharma talk, we would have a bountiful Vietnamese lunch cooked by one or two women from the Vietnamese sangha.  At the start of the meal, someone would say the following grace:

This food is the gift of the whole universe -- the 

   earth, the sky, and much hard work.
May we live in a way that makes us worthy to 
   receive it.
May we transform our unskillful states of mind, 

   especially our greed.
My we take only foods that nourish us and prevent 
   illness.
We accept this food so that we may realize the path

   of practice.

The first four mouthfuls:
With the first taste, I promise to offer joy.
With the second taste, I promise to help relieve the 

   suffering of others.
With the third taste, I promise to see others’ joy as 
   my own.
With the fourth taste, I promise to learn the way of 

   non-attachment and equanimity,

From the first time I heard this grace, I took it very much to heart as presenting a way of life for me both consistent with the positive aspects of the life I had led, and yet in important respects a new way of life with a new awareness. That was 16 years ago. 

Today, I still carry the text of this grace in my wallet so that I have it with me always.  When I pull it out and read it before a meal, it always has the effect of centering me, of bringing me back to the moment, and providing an awareness of the food I am eating that otherwise I am sad to say is often lacking.  I love and appreciate good food and am always very aware of the food I eat in that sense.  But unless I am eating in silence ... a wonderful practice that I highly recommend ... I am not aware of the spiritual aspects of the meal nor its dedication.

In the future I will stop at the beginning of each meal and before I start eating focus on my breathing to be mindful of the moment and the food that I am about to consume.  Regardless whether I am in company or alone, talking or in silence, I always want to be mindful of the spiritual nature of my meals. Another step towards 24/7 mindfulness.



Another lesson in practical Buddhism.

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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 - Amended
    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 Present Requires Faith
    Being There For Someone
    Belief In You Buddha Nature - The Beginning And The End
    Be One With Your Divine Essence
    Be Sustained By The Love Of Buddha Within You
    Be The Eye Of The Hurricane
    Beware Complacency
    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
    Can't Find Your Buddha Nature - Look In The Mirror
    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
    Desperate For Love And Acknowledgment?
    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?
    Emptying Myself Of Myself - The Divine's Will Not Mine
    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
    Faith: What Is It And Why Is It Essential?
    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
    Fear V Faith
    Feeling Lack - A Most Insidious Perception
    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
    Happenstance - Part II - You Your Buddha Nature And The Universe
    Happiness Is Elusive
    Happiness - What You Need To Be Happy
    Happy New Year 2017?
    Have Directions Not Goals
    Have Faith In The Process
    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
    Humility: The Truth About "My" Good Accomplishments
    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
    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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