Essential Buddhist teachings to improve your mindfulness practice.
What are the five major world religions? We were born into a time when many young people had lost faith in the transcendent, whether it be named God, Nature, the Sacred, or by any other term. Confident in our understanding of the world, we were lulled into a false sense of security. But this illusion … Read more
“When writers call the Buddha a ‘spiritual democrat,’ they mean he felt sure he could go anywhere in India and find that needle in the haystack, the person who would come up after the sermon and say, ‘I want to know more about how to prevent hostile thoughts from arising. Please teach me,’” writes … Read more
Have you ever truly loved? More often than not, what we love is the idea we have of someone. It’s our own concept — our own selves — that we love. Two people say “I love you” or think it or feel it, and each has in mind a different idea, a different life, perhaps … Read more
It has been said that grief is love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot give. The more you loved someone, the more you grieve. This is a theme of the Buddhist “Parable of the Mustard Seed.” If you’re interested in what the Buddha taught about overcoming grief, I’d like to share … Read more
“The Pali word dukkha (or Sanskrit duhkha) in ordinary usage means ‘suffering,’ ‘pain,’ ‘sorrow’ or ‘misery,’” writes Walpola Rahula (May 9, 1907–September 18, 1997) in his book What the Buddha Taught. “But the term dukkha as the First Noble Truth, which represents the Buddha’s view of life and the world, has a deeper philosophical … Read more