[embed]http://youtube.com/watch?v=jvOzU-UXCek&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
When I say the word renunciation, what happens for you?
For many of us, theres an immediate reaction. Renunciation can sound bleak: it can sound like deprivation, denial, or turnin... Read more
Thoughts are Not Facts
[embed]http://youtube.com/watch?v=LvccgrR4bF8&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
One of the most important things we learn in meditation is something surprisingly simple: thinking is happening. Usually, were completely swept away in our thinking. Were lost in th... Read more
Facing the Right Direction
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htIQBbmkkiA[/embed]
Ive been reflecting on how Buddhist practice can be most useful when we can distill it into a set of organizing principles.
When I feel the weight of some personal thing thats going on—a neigh... Read more
Real Life: From Constriction to Freedom
[embed]https://youtu.be/Rv9dwZzdYxY[/embed]
The thesis of the book, Real Life, which I wrote some years ago, was based on an experience I had during the height of the pandemic and isolation. I was watching an online program about a Passover Seder—a Jew... Read more
How Our Words Shape the Heart
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbm8bxymhzE[/embed]
Of the Noble Eightfold Path, we have wise view, wise intention, wise speech, wise action, wise livelihood, wise effort, wise mindfulness, and wise concentration. Wise speech is a big part of pr... Read more
Nothing Exists Independent of Its Causes
[embed]https://youtu.be/8o3svrPQ6Xs[/embed]
There’s a Buddhist legend about two men who would later become disciples of the Buddha.
Before they ever met him, they found themselves at a festival—something like Stagecoach, with music, dancing, and getti... Read more
What’s the Attitude in the Mind?
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5MH_-BzJ4k[/embed]
The idea Id like to explore for tonight is: what is the attitude in the mind?
There’s always something going on in our experience, something we are seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, etc. The... Read more
How Honesty Frees the Mind
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzlTWYffDgU[/embed]
Theres a teaching from the Buddha about telling the truth that I find interesting and challenging. The setting is a story of the Buddha speaking to his son seven year old son Rahula. This is ri... Read more
Learning to Be Content
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yxCcHuTUBc[/embed]
I find it very helpful to have a guideline for making decisions as I move through my day. What are my values that guide my decisions? I like the framework of the Buddhist teachings for... Read more
The Bliss of Blamelessness
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkSyg6wVP4E[/embed]
My favorite translation of sila, which is the Pali word for ethical conduct, is compassionate morality. I like that term because there’s a heart quality -- it’s not stern; it’s warm, it... Read more