Do you ever feel stuck in the same patterns of stress, dissatisfaction, or distraction, no matter how hard you try to change? Many of us do, and in this post, we’ll explore how the Buddha’s teachings offer practical tools to notice what’s happening in your mind, shift unhelpful patterns, and bring more ease and presence into everyday life. We will look at these these teachings not as abstract ideas, but as living practices—ways to engage with life with awareness, intention, and care.
The path begins with understanding the Buddha’s discovery under the Bodhi tree, where he faced countless challenges, which led to a clarity about life—about suffering and how to let it go. In his first teaching, he shared the Four Noble Truths: the reality of dissatisfaction, the role of craving, the possibility of liberation, and the path to freedom—the Eightfold Path. I like to think of the first truth not just as “suffering,” but as “dissatisfaction”—a subtle, self-generated attitude we can observe and work with. Pain may arise from outside, but dissatisfaction often arises from within, shaped by our habits, culture, and personal history. Recognizing this gives us some measure of agency: we can notice, adjust, and practice with it.
Teachers like Ajon Samedo and Philip Moffitt offer a helpful approach: for each truth, we can reflect on it, commit to experiencing it in daily life, and finally, through mindfulness, come to know it deeply—“knowing that you know.” This is not intellectual alone. Reflection inspires us, commitment brings practice into life, and mindfulness allows insight to arise naturally. Through this cycle, we start to see where our speech, action, and intentions align with our understanding—and where they don’t. The path is like a wheel: these steps are not linear but interwoven, continuously reinforcing one another as we practice.
The Eightfold Path offers practical guidance: understanding and intention, speech, action, and livelihood, and effort, mindfulness, and concentration. These are not rules or commandments—they are inspirations for practice, invitations to notice what supports our wellbeing and what does not. Practice is active. It’s like a hen sitting on eggs: the eggs hatch not by hoping, but by the consistent, careful attention of sitting on them. Similarly, our commitment to practice nurtures understanding, letting it ripen in its own time. We cannot control exactly what unfolds, only our dedication to the practice itself.Even when life is busy, we can practice. Simple gestures—a few mindful breaths, paying attention while walking, noticing how we impact ourselves and others—are ways to return to the path. We notice, we understand, and we recommit. Over time, these small moments accumulate, offering clarity, calm, and even joy along the way.
Try this simple practice today: pause for a minute or two, take a few intentional breaths, and notice what’s happening in your mind and body—without judgment. You can also try a short journaling exercise: reflect on one moment today when you felt dissatisfaction or craving arise. How did it affect your actions or thoughts?
Over time, these small moments of noticing and reflection help you live the Buddha’s teachings in your daily life, turning insight and understanding into action.
Warmly, JD
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