Best tools and resources for practicing mindfulness in everyday life.
“Once we let go of the things that don’t matter, we are free to pursue all the things that really do matter,” Joshua Becker wrote in his book about five essential benefits of minimalism. Yet many of us keep clinging to things we don’t need and people who keep us from the life we want … Read more
Can you be an atheist and a Buddhist? From what I’ve read, I can tell you that seeking an answer to this question will surface two groups of people – those who’ll tell you that it’s possible and those who’ll tell you that it’s not. Among the former is Stephen Batchelor, the author of Confession … Read more
What are the five aggregates? In Buddhism, they are the building blocks that we typically use to construct our sense of self. The Buddha classified the constituents of body and mind into five categories known as “the five aggregates of clinging”: form, feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness. In his book Satipatthana: The Direct Path to … Read more
Ryokan (1758-1831), long beloved in Japan for his delightful verse, exquisite calligraphy, and eccentric character, belongs in the tradition of great Zen poets of Asian literature. His parents named him Eizo, but when he entered the monkhood in 1777 at the local Zen temple Kosho-ji, he adopted the name Ryokan: ryo, meaning good and kan, … Read more