“So keep it short. And keep your aspiration—that our whole day will be our dharma practice, that it’s not just sitting on your cushion. Your cushion, yes, is to get your mind settled, get the awareness clear, set up good motivation, but then we have to use our daily life, everyone we encounter, everything we... Continue Reading →
Are you operating out of love or fear? And our intention is something. If we learn how to pay attention to that and hone it and sculpt it and strengthen that muscle within us to be there for the people, for the planet, not for our bank account or for our reputation. It's a slippery... Continue Reading →
Loving kindness towards ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. It means we can still be crazy after all these years. We can still be angry after all these years. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. The point is not to try to throw ourselves away and become... Continue Reading →
Decency here is not in contrast to the indecency of, say, wearing two different-colored socks or not having your zipper done up. We are talking about decency as something more profound to be realized and understood. The first part of decency is what is called modesty, which here is the absence of arrogance. The second... Continue Reading →
Before you know what kindness really isyou must lose things,feel the future dissolve in a momentlike salt in a weakened broth.What you held in your hand,what you counted and carefully saved,all this must go so you knowhow desolate the landscape can bebetween the regions of kindness.How you ride and ridethinking the bus will never stop,the... Continue Reading →
The most important aspect of karma relates to the state of our mind. At some point, whether we meditate or not, we learn that certain activities disturb the mind. When we apply awareness to cause and effect, we cultivate recognition of subtle shifts in mental behavior, and we become more sensitive to how an agitated... Continue Reading →
The kindness to oneself that I was speaking of is rather different from the self-fixation of selfishness. For example, the Buddha said, “I have shown you the path to liberation but know that its achievement depends on you.” In other words, we have to take responsibility for the achievement of liberation through our own efforts.... Continue Reading →
Each of us has our own measure of pain. Sometimes the pain we suffer is great and obvious; sometimes it is subtle. Our pain can reflect the coldness of our families, the trauma of our parents, the stultifying influence of modern society. As a result, we often feel that we have been cast out. To... Continue Reading →
Being broken teaches us kindness - empathy as we realise we're All in this together
The question that we're going to discuss tonight is a very simple one. It is a question of heart. That is what the world needs. The heart of warriorship is also fearlessness. Having a heart at all is based on being fearless and manifesting a sense of warriorship. When we talk about becoming a warrior,... Continue Reading →
“We often think of heroism as something that occurs in moments of grave crisis… But in Buddhism, warriorship also points to the sense of not giving up on goodness and kindness. This warriorship is a matter of showing up again and again to life. This is the sense of the courage required to be on... Continue Reading →
Whenever our goodness is seen, it is a blessing. Every culture and tradition understands the importance of seeing one another with love. An old Hasidic rabbi asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and day begun, for daybreak is the time for certain holy prayers. “Is it,” proposed one student,... Continue Reading →
"Our habit of being a fair weather friend to ourselves—of pushing away or ignoring whatever darkness we can—is deeply entrenched. But just as a relationship with a good friend is marked by understanding and compassion, we can learn to bring these same qualities to our own inner life... Just as a bright sun causes ice... Continue Reading →
"Our habit of being a fair weather friend to ourselves—of pushing away or ignoring whatever darkness we can—is deeply entrenched. But just as a relationship with a good friend is marked by understanding and compassion, we can learn to bring these same qualities to our own inner life... Just as a bright sun causes ice... Continue Reading →
“You hold in your hand an invitation: to remember the transforming power of forgiveness and loving kindness. To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart peace is possible.” ― Jack Kornfield
