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As a Buddhist ... Revisited - Planning without Thinking

12/27/2013

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As human beings, it is our nature to make plans for the future, to move forward; it is an inescapable part of a layperson’s life.  As a Buddhist, this creates a vexing challenge, and so I wrote a post about how do that while remaining present.  But in the post that I wrote, “As a Buddhist, How Does One Think About the Future?” I fell into a trap, unaware.

In that post, I basically said that the key is to stay present, unattached to one’s plans.  When you think about the future, make your decision as mindfully as you can, gather information about what you have to do to accomplish your goal, and then forget about the future, focusing just on doing what you can in the present to advance your goal.

That’s good advice as far as it goes, but it is flawed.  We cannot make any decision about the future that is in our best interest if we “think” about the future.  

The problem is that if we “think” about the future, even if we try to be as mindful as possible, listening to our heart, it is unavoidable that our ego thinking-mind gets involved.  That means that our learned experience ... our feelings, perceptions, mental formations, conscious-ego ... gets involved.  

But those aspects ... the clinging skandhas ... are not only empty of any intrinsic existence, we know from our past experience that listening to our ego-mind leads to nothing but frustration, fear, and anxiety.  We cannot make a decision about anything that is in our best interest if we are under that influence.

Since we know that, and yet find ourselves powerless to separate ourselves from that influence, we obsess about the future with fear and anxiety because we know in our gut that we are not making a good decision, or at least that we have no way of knowing whether we are making a good or the right decision for us. 

And so we are on an endless treadmill throughout our lives.  Because we have doubts about the decisions we make, we obsess about the future with fear and anxiety.  And because we obsess about the future with fear and anxiety, we continually revisit our decisions, questioning them.

“OK,” you say, “but how can one plan for the future without thinking about the future?”  The answer is to not “think” about the future, but instead, while being present in the moment, experiencing it with dispassion, free of labels, free of the intervention of your thinking mind, make a decision and act based on what you are experiencing at that moment.  That is the only way to make a decision about the future that you know is in your best interest and in which you can thus rest assured.


(Once you make your decision, you will need to determine how to get from point A to point B, how to achieve your goal.  To the extent that these are objective matters, you can use your thinking mind.  But to the extent that here too judgmental questions arise, then you have to again make those decisions based on being present free of the intervention of your thinking mind.)

Let me give you a personal example.  For several years, my friend and I have known that it would be in our best interest to move to a different location.  It would be better to live in an environment that presents more opportunity for human interaction and expression.  In an attempt to move forward, we’ve had discussions ... endless discussions, always the same, always without any clear result, or when we thought there was clarity one day, breathing a sigh of relief, finding that the next day we thought clarity meant something else (see my post, “Real Clarity v the Delusion of Clarity”).  The problem was that we were using our thinking mind.  We were engaging in mental masturbation.

But when I took the awareness I expressed in that post to its next logical step, I realized that when I was present, aware of the emptiness of all five skandhas ... appearance of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness-ego ... I knew without any question what I had to do right then to move my life forward.  I did not engage in any thought about how it will work out or what will happen in two months, etc. because I knew that is just thought, it is just imagination that has no foundation in reality.

And the next day, and the days since, I have been relaxed, at peace, free of fear and anxiety and doubt about the future as I have never been before.  I feel positive energy in a way that I haven’t experienced before.  And that is because my decision was made in the present, free of my thinking mind.  

This time I have no doubts or fears.  As the classic Chinese poem, “Affirming Faith in Mind,” says, “With single mind one with the Way, all ego-centered strivings cease; doubts and confusion disappear, and so true faith pervades our life.”

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Beyond Dispassion - The Next Step

12/21/2013

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The other day I realized as I was going about my day, that although I was experiencing myself and the world around me with dispassion ... again, that is to say impartially, free of bias, objectively rather than subjectively ... I was sufficiently aware to realize that my mind was still applying labels, good ones, yes, and mild ones but still labels.  

In reflecting further, I realized that there was almost nothing that I experienced, even in a state of dispassion, that my mind didn’t apply a label to.  For example, the weather was lovely, rather than the temperature was moderate and there was a breeze.  Or the light was special, rather than the light was crisp and clear.  Or that a painting was pretty, rather than the painting was in harmony rather than discordant and the artist knew how to use and reflect light.

I think part of this is just the mind’s laziness ... it’s easier and quicker to say something is nice or pretty, rather than objectively state what you are actually observing.  But a large part of it is the mind’s habit-energy of applying labels to everything.  These weren’t negative, and they weren’t romanticizing or demonizing, but they were still labels, and I knew that if I wasn’t vigilant on freeing myself from all labels then other harmful labels would continue to arise as well.

I decided that as an experiment, I would consciously try to only use objective facts in describing or noting my experience of things.  I was surprised at how much extra effort it took, and for some things how I really had to search for ways to describe my experience without using judgmental rather than factual labels.

This is an experiment that I will need to continue.  Judgmental labels need to be discarded from my mental and verbal vocabulary.  They of course will still arise, as with all thoughts, but I will hopefully be aware, present, and stop and reflect on what really is.

The Buddha said, “this teaching leads to dispassion, to fading of lust, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment.”  Being able to experience things with dispassion is an important step, but it is not the last step.

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The Mystery of the Ego - An Answer

12/14/2013

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For years I have wondered, as I’m sure many Buddhists have, why it is that the ego-mind, rather than protecting us from suffering, is not just the source of our suffering but  impervious to any attempts to change its perspective and stop its constant attempts to lead us down a path that brings nothing but frustration, fear, anxiety, and insecurity.  Why, in short, is the ego our tormentor, the giver of bad advice, rather than our protector, our friend?

Recently, a friend was reading me an entry from a novel he is writing.  In this entry, the protagonist reflects on the side of her that has views of herself and those around her that are not based in reality but in the perceptions of a child.  That gets her in trouble because of the actions and reactions these views continue to cause.  She refers to that side of her as “little Marie,”  herself as a child.

When I heard those words, I literally sat there stunned.  A central truth had been revealed to me through my friend’s writing.  The part of my ego-mind that has to do with self-image is not some ephemeral specter in my mind, it is “little Ronnie,” myself as a child.*  And it is because of the insecurity of that child that my ego-mind has been so receptive to all the messages it has received about life from family, peers, and the larger culture.  I resolved then and there to meditate on little Ronnie the next day.

As I meditated on little Ronnie and felt his pain as it developed through his childhood experiences, I came to two realizations.  The first is why my ego-mind, the little Ronnie within me, acts as it acts.  When little Ronnie experienced as a young child (age 5-8) what he interpreted as being unloved and what he correctly saw as rejection by some of his peers, he developed a defense mechanism pattern to protect himself.  

He determined that if he could not receive people’s (specifically his father’s) love because he was unworthy or unloveable, he could gain their respect through hard work and excellence.  And if he was going to be rejected, he was going to reject first ... the “better the dumper be than the dumpee” perspective ... and walled himself off from most everyone other than those few he felt a close affinity towards, saying that he was better than them.  

And when he arrived at the age when sex stirred within him and his desire to be loved added a sexual element, he decided after many unhappy attempts that if he couldn’t have the real thing (and he couldn’t trust it even when he had it, so insecure was he), he would receive validation and at least the pleasure of intimate contact through casual sex.  He felt that this would somehow protect him when a relationship ultimately failed ... and he/I became a sex addict.

These were all actions that the little Ronnie within me took to protect himself and me, not knowing that these actions were in fact very harmful to our wellbeing (of course striving for excellence is not in and of itself negative, but when that striving comes from a lack of equanimity, then it is a craving, unskillful and harmful) and would continue to negatively impact my attempts to find peace and happiness for most of my adult life.  And that is why my ego -mind is so impervious to my efforts to surrender it to my true Buddha nature and to not follow the path it wants to lead me on.  My ego-mind, little Ronnie, is in fact trying to protect me, never mind how misguided and harmful his perspective may be.

And so, while our ego-mind may indeed be our tormentor and give us bad advice, it is not some droid-like our-of-control function of our brain but instead our childhood selves trying to protect us, with tenacity.  Pima Chodron’s advice about having compassion for your thoughts as they arise should thus be even more compelling.

The second realization is how to ultimately free ourselves from our ego, possibly even to the extent that our ego-mind ceases to arise.  When I was meditating, I thought that what I needed to do was practice tonglen towards little Ronnie.  That by receiving his pain and giving him my love and compassion he might be healed, and if he was healed then he would see the truth (e.g., that all five skandhas are empty of intrinsic existence), drop his “protective” efforts, and be one with our true Buddha nature.

Later that day, I recalled my following Sogyal Rinpoche’s advice regarding practicing tonglen on myself many years ago, in what for me was a breakthrough at-home retreat.  Rinpoche, in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, suggests, for the purpose of this exercise, dividing yourself into two aspects … one is the aspect of you that is whole, compassionate, etc., the other is the aspect of you that has been hurt, that feels misunderstood, bitter or angry, “who might have been unjustly treated or abused as a child, or has suffered in relationships or been wronged by society.”  

As you breathe in, the first aspect opens its heart completely and receives all of the other aspect’s pain and suffering. As you breathe out, the first aspect gives the other aspect all its healing love, warmth, trust, and happiness.  In response, the other aspect opens its heart to this love and all pain and suffering melt away in this embrace.

When I followed Rinpoche’s advice that day many years ago, it was a breakthrough because it resulted in not just removing the power of my sex addict, but stilling its voice so that it ceased to arise with any regularity.  It’s still there, I’m still recovering, I feel it at times, but it’s more like a whisper from far away.

And now I know why.  Because I practiced tonglen on little Ronnie ... he was the “aspect that has been hurt” ... and he was healed.  I continued this practice for a while after the retreat but at some point for some reason I unfortunately stopped.  And so, while my sex addict has remained quiescent other aspects of my neuroses have remained active causing me, as the reader of my blog will know, not-infrequent suffering amid a general pattern of peace and happiness.

I know the healing of little Ronnie will be a long-term process.  There is no quick fix, just like my healing and learning to walk the path is a long-term, incremental process.  And so I will return to practicing tonglen on myself, on little Ronnie.  And we will see.



But I have also discovered that practicing tonglen on little Ronnie is one thing, focusing on my "failings" that result from the wall that little Ronnie built … that I don't offer joy to everyone … is another.  That just feeds my thinking mind and drags me down, regresses, takes me back to a place where I do not accept and love myself as I am.  


And so while practicing tonglen I must also remain clear that little Ronnie is the past, he is no more.  I am living in the present aware that this is the only reality and that all else is thought, and thought is empty, not the truth, not reality, and only leads me to frustration, fear, and negativity.  I am aware that my life is the way it is right now because it's just the way it is, and I accept myself as I am and love myself unconditionally and have compassion for myself.


*Note:  Little Ronnie is a later stage of development than the picture of the smiling toddler filled with love and feeling nothing but love from his family, totally innocent, in which, as I related in an early post, I saw reflected my true Buddha nature.



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Dispassion - Enter the State of by Becoming Aware of the Emptiness of Our Ego-Mind

12/8/2013

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At the end of my last post, “Dispassion - Unlocking the Doors,”  I raised the natural question of how one goes about entering the state of dispassion.  The bottom line answer can be found in the opening verse of the Heart Sutra, which says:

The Bodhisatva Avelokiteshvara,
Practicing the perfection of wisdom, going deep   

    within, 
Was illuminated and perceived that 
All five skandhas are empty of intrinsic existence.
Thus being at one with all things, 
Experiencing things directly without the intervention 

    of thought,
All suffering and doubt ceased.

The key is perceiving that all five skandhas ... the appearance of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness-ego ... are empty of intrinsic existence because they are all dependent on your specific learned experiences.  As a result, someone else with a difference set of learned experiences has different perceptions, etc.  And to perceive that truth, one must first be present so that one can go deep within.



That’s the bottom line.  But to understand why and how let me go back to the beginning.  In my book, Scratching the Itch: Getting to the Root of Our Suffering, I devote two chapters to this question.  In the first, “Why Do We Crave,” I say that we have no equanimity, we cannot accept ourselves and our lives because of the fears and insecurities that developed within us, usually during childhood. These fears and insecurities in turn were learned experiences, were the result of experiences we had interacting either with our family, our peers, or the larger society and culture. We ended up defining ourselves and the world around us through a bundle of learned labels, which blocked our mind and heart from the knowledge of who we, and what the world around us, really were.

The first step in the process of finding dispassion is to acknowledge this basic fact of our lives. Once we acknowledge that our perceptions are all a function of our family, peer-group, or larger society and that it is these perceptions that make it impossible for us to truly accept ourselves and our lives as they are, which in turn makes it impossible to approach our lives with equanimity, which in turn causes us to attach to what we do and thus crave those things, which is the cause of our suffering … once we acknowledge all of this, then we have positioned ourselves to address the next steps. 

It is one thing to acknowledge that all of our perceptions are based on learned experience. It is quite another to acknowledge and understand that those perceptions are illusory, that they and our learned experience are empty of intrinsic existence and thus do not reflect reality … that we have no way of experiencing reality through the faculty of our mind.  This is explored in the book's next chapter, “Discovering the Emptiness of Thought.” 

Whether you think about how you relate to the weather or yourself or other people or whatever ... it all comes down to the labels that our learned experience automatically places on things and people. 

To be clear, this assertion does not dispute the fact, for example, that it has been gray and raining for days on end, or that we or others are unemployed, or making a certain amount of money, or tend to be introverted … it disputes the label our mind places on those conditions ... nasty, failure, nerd.  And the fact that our culture supports that label makes it no less illusory; it makes it seem very real and makes it harder to free ourselves from that perception, but it is still just a creation of our mind based on our learned experience.

When you come to understand this, even at first intellectually, this opens the door to start the process of freeing ourselves and finding dispassion.  What you must do is to be aware, which is to be present, so that one is able to observe how our thinking-mind places labels on things that create a barrier to experiencing what really is.  And as I’ve noted in many other posts, the key when being aware of the thinking-mind arising is to choose not to follow it’s lead, to follow instead your true Buddha nature.  That is the beginning of exercising dispassion.

As time goes on and your understanding of the emptiness of the five skandhas is absorbed by you and comes from your gut or your heart, you will be in conscious contact with your true Buddha nature and you will feel dispassion as a matter of course.  It will become the default reaction, not the application of labels.  

In this post, I have just been able to touch on this difficult and important subject.  For more, see my book, Scratching the Itch: Getting to the Root of Our Suffering.

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Dispassion - Unlocking the Doors

12/3/2013

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Recently a friend described how he had begun to ask himself various questions regarding matters that had been trapped in the confusion of his thinking mind.  One day, when he was able to be aware and answered those questions objectively, he was surprised by the answers, and that led to a different conclusion than he had anticipated.

When his experience came to me in my meditation the next day, I realized that he had stumbled upon an important truth.  Dispassion is the key to clear vision.  Indeed, when commenting on another's teaching or his own, the Buddha's first criteria was whether it "leads to dispassion."  That was the first in the list of stages that lead to enlightenment.

One could say that this is no different from what I and others have taught about being free of the intervention of our ego thinking-mind, of seeing one’s life and the world around one through the eyes of your true Buddha nature.  While that is true, I have always felt that how one presents something, the words one uses, can make a big difference as to how it is perceived, accepted, and implemented.  I think there is something of real potential usefulness in focusing on dispassion.

First, let’s define what we mean by “dispassion.”  To be dispassionate is to neither romanticize nor demonize something.  It is to view something impartially, free of bias ... objectively rather than subjectively.

This definition is consistent with the Buddha’s statements when he set rolling the wheel of the dharma,.  He described the path he would define in the dharma as “the middle way.”  The path would avoid the two extremes of the pursuit of pleasure in sensual desires on the one hand and self-mortification on the other hand.  

It is just as important to state what dispassion is not in this context.  It does not mean to be devoid of personal feelings.  It does not mean to be emotionally uninvolved.  

For example, it is possible for you to love someone dispassionately.  This may seem like an odd juxtaposition, an oxymoron, but it is not.  To love someone dispassionately is not to be uninvolved emotionally, it is to love someone and not be attached.  To be able to say, “If it works out, great.  If it doesn’t, that’s ok too.”  It is to love someone from a place of equanimity, not from craving.  It the same as the difference between a skillful desire and an unskillful desire (see my post, “How To Desire Yet Not Crave”).

The interesting thing is that in English, certainly in our culture, to be emotionally involved implies that one is biased, that one is attached to something or a point of view.  The reason being that people generally can’t separate themselves from their emotions.  But that does not mean that it is not possible.

The point I’m making is essentially the difference between the attribute/skandha “feeling” and the clinging attribute/skandha “feeling”.  The former is not a problem.  It is the latter, the attachment to feelings, that the Buddha said was the source of cravings and suffering.

So being dispassionate does not imply that one is a cold fish, that one has no feelings.  It just means that one doesn’t attach to ones feelings, that one views all things with equal mind, something that certainly requires great discipline.

With this definition in mind, let me proceed.  What is useful about the concept of dispassion is that it defines in an accessible, understandable way what it means practically to surrender one’s ego to your true Buddha nature, to turn your life and your will over to your true Buddha nature, to be free of the intervention of your ego thinking-mind.  

These last phrases, which I have certainly used consistently and are correct, do not give the practitioner much to wrap their heads around as to what exactly is meant.  Especially since one can never be free of one’s ego or thinking mind; it’s always there, one just has a choice not to follow it.  And how do you know if you are doing it?  It’s easy to be fooled.  

But to be dispassionate is a concept which I believe is easier to grasp and can be easily applied to practical, everyday situations.  Also, it is much easier to “call yourself” on not exercising dispassion, as opposed to not following your true Buddha nature, or of following your ego thinking-mind.  The distinction is much clearer and thus more easy to be aware of.

The more I have meditated on being dispassionate, the more I understand that it truly is a stand-in for turning your will and your life over to your true Buddha nature, surrendering your ego, experiencing things without the intervention of your thinking-mind, exercising nonattachment.  As such, to be dispassionate about all things is the co-condition with being present to accepting your life and the world around you as it is at this moment, and abiding in a place of equanimity from which one can practice the Five Precepts and the Six Paramitas.

As in several other instances I have discussed in posts, the question may be raised which comes first, being dispassionate or being present, accepting, and abiding in equanimity.  As for being present, it is both a pre-condition and a co-condition.  One cannot turn your will over to the care of your true Buddha nature and be aware of the emptiness of all five skandhas without being present.  You cannot go deep within yourself without being present.  Thus you cannot view things with dispassion, at least initially, without being present.  



However, once one has received this awareness, it is possible to view things with dispassion without being present, hence the apparent contradiction of being dispassionate and yet the mind is still applying labels and presenting "what if" scenarios.  Thus being present and being dispassionate are co-conditions to accepting and abiding in equanimity, being free of labels and your thinking mind, to being free of fear and anxiety, doubts and confusion, anger and negativity.

“O.K.,” you say, “but how does one achieve the state of dispassion?”  For the answer, stay tuned to the next post.

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Shall We Dance? - An Invitation to the Dance of Death

12/1/2013

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We have all been at the point where we are totally exhausted by the stress caused by our samsara.  It can be very debilitating.  Recently, a friend of mine told me that he has come to think of his interaction with his ego-mind as being an elaborate dance, and that he has decided he is no longer going to be available for that dance.  

This is in essence the same as the teaching I’ve presented, based on Pima Chodron’s, of having compassion for your thoughts and feelings, acknowledging them, but saying firmly that they represent the past and that you aren’t going there anymore; you are seeking guidance now instead from your true Buddha nature.  But I found the imagery of the dance to be a powerful one.

And since it is a dance which leaves one exhausted and weak, it reminded me of the St. Vitus Dance, which was a phenomenon in the Middle Ages where hundreds or thousands of people would gather and dance wildly and uncontrollably for hours and days until they collapsed, and at times died on the spot.  Beyond being physically and mentally exhausting, the dance that we engage in with our ego is a dance that kills our spirit by pulling us ever farther away from our true Buddha nature, which represents a threat, the only threat, to its supremacy. Ultimately, it is only our faith in the teachings of the Buddha and in our own true Buddha nature that provides us with a path to freedom from our ego-mind.

And so I have added to my friend’s thought and refer to the call of our ego-thinking-mind as an invitation to the Dance of Death.  If we want to experience peace and happiness. if we want to lead a spiritually-grounded life, if we want to follow the Noble Eightfold Path, we must be aware when our ego-mind arises, have compassion for it for we know where it is coming from, it is a captive of our past, but we must respectfully decline its invitation to take its hand and engage in its deadly dance.

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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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