Category Archives: Background on Buddhism

206 – Beware of Equanimity. . .

Posted on May 9, 2012 by

. . . when it is really complacency. It’s sometimes difficult to tell them apart, which is why we need to look carefully at all mind states all the time, inside and outside of formal practice. I was reminded of … Continue reading →

Posted in Background on Buddhism, Brahmavihara Practice, Dhamma Matters | Leave a comment

201 – Consciousness / Vinnana

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

Ever since the group sit last week, I’ve been mulling over what consciousness is and how we experience it. In the West, the term is defined in various ways, but most often as representing awareness of oneself as an entity … Continue reading →

Posted in Background on Buddhism, Dhamma Discussion, Dhamma Matters, Insight Practice, Teachers | 1 Comment

199 – It’s All About Me

Posted on December 16, 2011 by

No, really. It is all about me. How could it be otherwise when we each make contact with the world through our own sense doors, and then process that input through our individual and unique perceptual filters? For us worldlings, … Continue reading →

Posted in Background on Buddhism, Dhamma Discussion, Dhamma Matters | 1 Comment

189 – A Moment of Freedom

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

What would it be like to be with our experience without holding on to it? If you can imagine such a state you are experiencing a moment of awakening. It is what happens when the sense doors make contact with … Continue reading →

Posted in Background on Buddhism, Dhamma Discussion, Dhamma Matters, Insight Practice, Practice, Teachers, Vipassana | 4 Comments

185 – Working with Personality View

Posted on September 26, 2011 by

The role of skillful teachers in guiding our practice can’t be over emphasized. A good teacher is like a good tour guide, pointing out the way and advising us so that we don’t stray too far from the path. When … Continue reading →

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182 – The End of Suffering

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

The suttas assert that “human effort, properly directed, can put an end to all suffering and stress.” –Thanissaro Bhikkhu What is right effort and may it be directed? Right effort is the tool mindfulness uses to rescue us from unskillful … Continue reading →

Posted in Background on Buddhism, Dhamma Discussion, Eightfold Path, Intention, Practice, Quotations Series | 2 Comments

180 – The Four Requisites

Posted on August 10, 2011 by

The Buddha said that there were four necessities of life — clothing, food, shelter and medical care. A just and humane society ensures that even the least among its citizens has these basic needs met, at least on an elemental … Continue reading →

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176 – Getting Past Judgments?

Posted on July 17, 2011 by

We make hundreds if not thousands of judgments daily and this is largely an unconscious process. Judgment, meaning the ability to make an evaluation or form an opinion from which action follows, is a necessary and positive skill that forms … Continue reading →

Posted in Background on Buddhism, Quotations Series | 3 Comments

173 – An Optimum Mode of Being

Posted on July 10, 2011 by

Buddha is nothing but the optimum mode of being possible for man in his present condition. –Stephen Batchelor The historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, existed and is remarkable because he discovered a method for awakening which involves acknowledging suffering, understanding its causes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Background on Buddhism, Four Noble Truths, Quotations Series, Teachers | Leave a comment

167 – Protestant Buddhism

Posted on June 15, 2011 by

Andrew Olendzki of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies has posted an interesting article on Western Buddhism in the May issue of the Insight Journal: ‘Protestant Buddhism’ is a label that has been applied to certain progressive elements in the … Continue reading →

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