This morning, I watched The Passion of the Christ with a couple co-workers and friends. I left the theatre without being converted to Christianity - in fact, feeling even more certain about my recent understandings about my Buddhist faith. However, Jesus’ example taught such an incredible example of compassion that I understood a sticking point […]
The high understanding of Karma is rooted in belief in rebirth, the accumulation of a ’stuff’ called karma that ripens and determines our future births, and a sense of determinism. However, I believe, especially here in the West, that another interpretation of Karma may prove useful; this interpretation does not contradict the high understanding of […]
When dealing with acquaintances who tend to ask more of us than they give back, we often develop an internal tally of ‘gives’ versus ‘takes’, and with each successive mark in the ‘takes’ column, we feel more uneasy about continuing to give. But this system develops because we view the process incorrectly: when a person […]
As a Buddhist born and living in the West, I find releasing the concept of a self difficult. It appears to me that this body exists, and that my thoughts are trapped within this body. So I have meditated upon these things and understand the Dharma in this way currently, in the hopes that it […]
The topic at hand is how to control lust.
The Buddha told us that if there were two such powers in the world as strong as sexual desire, we would have no chance for enlightenment. Experience teaches many of us that aversion is as damaging as attachment; trying to avoid the matter entirely only intensifies its […]