“The cause of all these sufferings is our fundamental insecurity. We are always wondering whether we exist or not. Our ego, or rather our attachment to the idea of self, is completely insecure about its own existence. Our ego may seem strong but it is actually quite shaky. Of course, we do not ask such... Continue Reading →
In order to make yourself a person of the world, you have had to fight for every inch. Even when you are pressing your clothes or busy organizing a cocktail party, there is always an undercurrent of trying to prove something, trying to achieve something. Whatever you do involves some kind of chauvinism, which in... Continue Reading →
We could all use more humor in our lives. Having a sense of humor doesn’t mean laughing and being cheerful all the time. It means seeing the illusory nature of things—and seeing how, in this illusory life, we are always bumping into the very things we meticulously try to avoid. Humor allows us to see... Continue Reading →
We expect the teachings to solve all our problems; we expect to be provided with magical means to deal with our depressions, our aggressions, our sexual hangups. But to our surprise we begin to realize that this is not going to happen.It is very disappointing to realize that we must work on ourselves and our... Continue Reading →
In order to make yourself a person of the world, you have had to fight for every inch. Even when you are pressing your clothes or busy organizing a cocktail party, there is always an undercurrent of trying to prove something, trying to achieve something. Whatever you do involves some kind of chauvinism, which in... Continue Reading →
True freedom is not doing whatever you want. True freedom is learning you can control what you want. It’s being released from wanting the things that tempt you but don’t bring you happiness. It’s being released from your ego Eliyahu Jian
Among Tibetans there is a saying that a person who thinks he is better or above others because he is wiser, more capable, more knowledgeable or learned is like someone sitting on the highest peak of the highest mountain. And what is it like on the peak of that mountain? It is very cold there.... Continue Reading →
The cause of all these sufferings is our fundamental insecurity. We are always wondering whether we exist or not. Our ego, or rather our attachment to the idea of self, is completely insecure about its own existence. Our ego may seem strong but it is actually quite shaky. Of course, we do not ask such... Continue Reading →
All people have enlightened nature. Everyone’s hearts are innately imbued with tsewa. Why not cherish what you have in common with all beings rather than make yourself insecure by trying so hard to be special, somehow better than everyone else? If you can enjoy being ordinary, you’ll be free from the insidious, unrelenting pain of... Continue Reading →
Many people think that meditation requires a lot of effort and it’s something you have to gain. We plug into this idea that somehow it’s something we have to force ourselves to do and at the end of it we will succeed or fail. And I think it’s very important to realize it’s nothing to... Continue Reading →
This restless mind is buddha nature. Because it is so intelligent, therefore it is restless. It is so transparent that we can’t put any patch on it to mask over the irritation—if we do, the irritation still comes through. We can’t hold the irritation back or maintain ego-style comfort anymore. In tantric literature, buddha mind... Continue Reading →
"In Tibetan there's this interesting word: ye tang che. The YE part means "totally, completely" and the rest of it means "exhausted." Altogether ye tang che means totally tired out. We might say "totally fed up" It describes an experience of compete hopelessness, of completely giving up hope. This is an important point. This is... Continue Reading →
Despite the clarity of the teachings, we often lose sight of this essential aim of eradicating mental poisons and self-clinging. In fact, instead of eliminating those poisons, we often end up increasing them. For example, people that practice the Dharma have a tendency to gather together and organize themselves. They create institutions, Dharma centers, and... Continue Reading →
Perhaps the deepest reason why we are afraid of death is because we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity — but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name,... Continue Reading →
This is something we must learn through meditation — that it is impossible to be absolutely right. Most of the time all we are doing is defending a viewpoint, which is based on our own ego. Because we have this ego, the "me" delusion, all our viewpoints, all our opinions are colored by that. They... Continue Reading →
People often think that the whole point of doing anything or becoming anything in life, is to be noticed by others.When we look at our minds, a lot of the time we are just trying to make impressions on others, rather than simply trying to be at peace, or trying to tend to our own... Continue Reading →
As a Buddhist, you have been taught that aggression is generally considered to be a negative emotion. Therefore your immediate reaction to any aggressive tendency or thought that arises in your mind will be to reject it. And you reject it because you are in love with your “self,” which makes you an egoist. As... Continue Reading →
Imperfections are part of the display of life. Joy and sorrow, birth and death are the dance of existence throughout which our awakened consciousness can shine. Yet we long for perfection. The perfect partner, house, job, boss, and spiritual teacher. And when we find them, we want them to stay that way forever, never to... Continue Reading →
Renunciation mind is very simple in a way: we have renunciation mind when we realise that all this is not a big deal. Somebody steps on your toe – what’s the big deal? The more we get used to this notion, the more we have renunciation mind. Renunciation somehow has this connotation of giving something... Continue Reading →
