Before attaining awakening, Shakyamuni Buddha was an ignorant sentient being like us. By learning, contemplating, and meditating on the Dharma, he attained Buddhahood. We have the same potential; our attainments are contingent on our effort to follow the path. Knowing this broadens our vision of life and encourages us to look beyond the narrow view […]
Some people misinterpret the Buddha’s teachings and think that all goals and plans are bad because we’re supposed to remain in the present moment without thinking about the future. Wanting to “go with the flow,” they don’t initiate anything and wait for things to happen. This is not the meaning of “being in the present […]
We like to think we’re broad-minded, caring people and realizing anything contrary to that may be difficult. Our self-centered attitude prefers to think, “I’m a really good person. I’m unhappy because the rest of the world is ignorant and hostile.” As long as we hold that idea, spiritual progress will be difficult. As long as […]
In Buddhism we cultivate a wise concern regarding death. Because we know that one day we’ll separate from all that is loved and valuable in this life and that only the seeds of our actions and our mental habits will continue to the next life, we want to make this life meaningful. To do so, […]
There is a story about a monk who had an extremely ugly body but a beautiful voice. People loved to hear him chant but recoiled when they saw him. Someone who had clairvoyant powers saw that in a previous lifetime, while constructing a stupa — a monument representing the Buddha’s mind — he continually complained […]
It can be difficult to accept others and to accept ourselves. “I should be better. I should be something different. I should have more.” All of this is conception; it’s all mental fabrication. It’s just the mind churning up “shoulds,” “ought tos,” and “supposed tos.” All this is conceptual rubbish, and yet we believe it. […]
The sky is pure, open space, free from all obstructions. The nature of our mind is similar: the afflictions, self-centered attitude, and other obscurations are not in its essential nature. Just as clouds may temporarily obscure the open sky, anger, attachment, and confusion can temporarily obscure our mind. When they do, the pure, open nature […]
How do we become a qualified disciple? One quality to develop is open-mindedness. In other words, we let go of our own hard and fast agenda, of our likes and dislikes, and of our erroneous opinions about the nature of reality or the stages of the path. If we attend a teaching yet still hold […]
We receive what we put into the Dharma. Our joyous effort brings good results over time. We are responsible for our spiritual practice, although we certainly depend on spiritual teachers to instruct us and a community of Dharma friends for support. However, no one is going to spoon-feed us. Our teachers and the Three Jewels […]
As long as we hold onto our resentment, we can never forgive others, and our lack of forgiveness hurts no one but ourselves. To heal from our pain, there’s no other alternative but to let go of our anger and forgive others. Forgiving simply means that we stop tying up our life’s energy in being […]
We ordinary beings see love as a limited commodity; it’s a fixed pie and we feel we only have a limited amount. “If I give some to you, I can’t give as much to others. And if I give it to everybody else, I can’t give it to you.” That kind of love has strings […]
