Wherever you are, whatever you do, it’s essential to acknowledge your experience as something ordinary, the natural expression of your true mind. If you don’t try to stop whatever is going on in your mind, but merely observe it, eventually you’ll begin to feel a tremendous sense of relaxation, a vast sense of openness within... Continue Reading →
BUDDHA SPEAKS “Bahiya, this is how you should train yourself:Whenever you see a form, simply see;whenever you hear a sound, simply hear;whenever you taste a flavor, simply taste;whenever you feel a sensation, simply feel;whenever a thought arises, let it be simply a thought.Then “you” will not exist;whenever “you” do not exist, you will not be... Continue Reading →
"Although much of the [ground]work has already been done for us [by the enlightened beings of the past and present], we still have to use our own experience to arrive at our own unshakable confidence. We have to observe our heart, over and over again, both when it's open and when it's closed. We have... Continue Reading →
"If we want to develop the strength of patience, we have to know our own weaknesses. That is the only way we can get free from them. . . When we acknowledge the trouble caused by our own neurotic tendencies . . . we can heave a sigh of relief and start working on the... Continue Reading →
We need to deal with difficult situations, with both wisdom as well as compassion, which is definitely a challenge. We need insight into just how to deal with someone's negative emotions, especially anger, without creating more aggression and harm.Of course, compassion itself can be very strong and fearless, but it needs a clarity to understand... Continue Reading →
"To study emptiness means to accept without resisting, to not push away from the emptiness that's within us and try to fill up our sense of longing and deficiency. It's to sit and say, 'Let me feel that emptiness and not try to fill it right away.' When we stop running and feel that, then... Continue Reading →
So many people exist in their own bubble, focusing intently on getting food, homes, cars, insurance, securities. We are most afraid of something negative happening to our material world, such as our investments, home, health, and on a larger scale, global warming. But anger and being burned in the flames of anger doesn’t seem to... Continue Reading →
When you open yourself to the continually changing, impermanent, dynamic nature of your own being and of reality, you increase your capacity to love and care about other people and your capacity to not be afraid. You're able to keep your eyes open, your heart open, and your mind open. And you notice when you... Continue Reading →
Stop Running Away If there are whole parts of yourself that you are always running from, that you even feel justified in running from, then you’re going to run from anything that brings you into contact with your feelings of insecurity. And have you noticed how often these parts of ourselves get touched? The closer... Continue Reading →
"From the earth’s point of view, the sun shines with varying degrees of brightness, but from its own point of view, it always shines with the same intensity. Likewise, from the mind’s point of view, there are various degrees or states of awareness, but from the point of view of awareness, which is the only... Continue Reading →
Most of us search for peace and happiness in our thoughts, feelings, activities, relationships and our experiences of the body and the world. We hope for a time in the future when our minds and the world will settle down, so we can finally experience the peace of mind for which we long. However, this... Continue Reading →
If victory is the notion of no enemy, then the whole world is a friend. That seems to be the warrior's philosophy. The true warrior is not like somebody carrying a sword and looking behind his own shadow, in case somebody is lurking there. That is the setting-sun warrior's point of view, which is an... Continue Reading →
Like an old man watching children at play, we need to see through our own seriousness. No matter how seriously the children go about their games, the old man is amused and never for a moment takes them to be real. We can watch our thoughts and emotions in the same way. Without taking them... Continue Reading →
Whenever you look at your mind, you can't help but recognize your similarity to those around you. When you see your own desire to be happy, you can't avoid seeing the same desire in others, and when you look clearly at your own fear, anger, or aversion, you can't help but see that everyone around... Continue Reading →
Enlightenment is referred to as en-lighten-ment. It is further luminosity; it illuminates life. Up to this point, we had a very bad lighting system; but now we are getting a better lighting system, so we begin to see every curve of skin, every inch of our world, properly. We might get irritated by such sharpness... Continue Reading →
Though we're conditioned to identify with the thoughts that pass through our awareness rather than with awareness itself, the awareness that is our true nature is infinitely flexible. It is capable of any and every sort of experience - even misconceptions about itself as limited, trapped, ugly, anxious, lonely, or afraid. When we begin to... Continue Reading →
