[August 2023 – Dharma Center Mindfulness Tip] Our society holds the promise of joy out in front of us like a carrot on a stick. We’re told we can be happy when … when we finish our degree, when we land the high paying job, when we buy the house,…
[February 2023 – Dharma Center Mindfulness Tip] When things don’t go the way we planned, or when we don’t get the answers we wanted, we often spin out into a variety of emotional states. We might feel anger, frustration, sorrow, despondency to name a few. If we dig into our…
Buddhism is a pathway to liberation from suffering. When people are cruel to others and to themselves, we find at the root of those actions one of three poisons: anger, hate, or greed – the endless desire for more. If we dig deeper into these poisons, we find they all…
1. Everything is Transient During my last pain flare, for over a week I lived with the feeling of two nails shoved in my eyes, causing an intense headache. It would be easy to say the pain was constant since it bothered me enough to interrupt my activity several times…
There are no words to describe Enlightenment. We can use concepts to allude to the state of Awakening, to God-Realization, to Self-Realization. That last one, Self-Realization is rather ironic since it’s realizing there is no Self. We can say it is a state of Unity, of ultimate bliss and peace;…
My elbow has not quite healed, so instead of writing, I’ve taken a clip from my class on Saturday and turned it into a short video for you. (In case you’re wondering, apparently I have tennis elbow, even though I don’t play tennis. Well, occasionally, I’ll play Wii tennis, but…
On the spiritual path, we become extremely sensitive. We reach a point where we feel everything. Every thought and emotion of every being rushes through us. With over 7 billion people here on this tiny rock called Earth – and most of them suffering – you can imagine why it’s…
Through the practice of meditation, our awareness expands. We begin to notice new sensations and feelings and even objects. These things were always there; they just weren’t on our radar. At first, this newfound psychic sensitivity can be exciting and wondrous. When we walk into a room, we immediately know…