Who are you? What’s your purpose? What does “success” mean to you? These are the big questions you need to answer for yourself. Don’t let others tell you. Don’t let media moguls or politicians or workplace bosses or spirit guides or life coaches or family and friends tell you. Sure, listen to the people you admire and trust but remember that their life experiences and their visions of success aren’t yours…
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‘Tis the season for resolutions. The tradition of making a New Year resolution can be a useful one for cultivating the kinds of wholesome habits that the Buddha recommended (generosity, compassion, mindfulness… etc.). Here’s a collection of habit-building tips that can stop any good intentions crashing and burning by the end of January 2017. Merry Christmas everyone!
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Blaming others for our suffering is a common response. Buddhism, however, teaches that we create our own suffering – no one else does. Anxiety, fear, resentment, anger, etc. are the unwholesome fruits of karma and 100% self-created.
Many people attracted to the Buddha’s teachings on impermanence and suffering nevertheless have a problem with his teachings on kamma and rebirth and are quick to reject them as outmoded metaphysical ideas, either cultural baggage or interpellations intended to placate his less-sophisticated followers. Here I attempt to show that such doubts are based on misunderstandings and that kamma and rebirth are in fact verifiable through meditation…
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The issue of minimal impact living has been spinning my mind for years and still interests me. An answer to the question of whether or not eating meat is a violation of Buddhist ethics is not easily arrived at, since clearly there are differences between the various Buddhist schools on what is and isn’t acceptable with regard to this and other important issues of moral conduct. In this post I explain where my Buddhist practice has led me to currently stand…
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