Although we hold the bowl open for an offering, the practice of takuhatsu [collecting alms] does not teach us to be dependent upon society, asking for something that is not earned, or pressuring a community for an entitlement to food…
When the studies on mindfulness started rolling in a few years ago, it was good news for those of us who had been practicing Buddhist meditation for years. . . . But in the midst of all this there was…
Perhaps you will ask, what value is there in [a] quiet and aloof way of life? The monks would ask the same question of you. What value is there in passing your nights in a nightclub? —Sokei-An Shigetsu Sasaki, “The…
Something I have come to understand slowly over my lifetime is that nature, earth, the world—whatever you call it—is not simply something I am on but something I am. It is not outside of me: it is me, and I…
‘There is no self’ is the granddaddy of fake Buddhist quotes. It has survived so long because of its superficial resemblance to the teaching on anatta, or not-self, which was one of the Buddha’s tools for putting an end to…
Sounds, like everything else, arise and pass away. Just by listening, you can experience the insight of impermanence. —Sylvia Boorstein, “Sound Meditation”
The Buddha refused to deal with those things that don’t lead to the extinction of dukkha (suffering). He didn’t discuss them. Take the question of whether or not there is rebirth after death. What is reborn? How is it reborn?…
Nature teaches us simplicity and contentment, because in its presence we realize we need very little to be happy. – Mark Coleman, “A Breath of Fresh Air”
Mindfulness practice isn’t meant to eliminate thinking but aims rather to help us know what we’re thinking when we’re thinking it, just as we want to know what we’re feeling when we’re feeling it. —Sharon Salzberg, “Mindfulness and Difficult Emotions”
Meditation practice helps us relinquish old, painful habits; it challenges our assumptions about whether or not we deserve happiness. (We do, it tells us emphatically.) It also ignites a very potent energy in us. With a strong foundation in how…