"My life is over. I have hit the bottom. I don’t know what to do. Please help me." And here is the advice Trungpa Rinpoche gave me. He said, “Well, it’s a lot like walking into the ocean, and a big wave comes and knocks you over. And you find yourself lying on the bottom... 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 →
So the point we come back to is that some kind of real gift or sacrifice is needed if we are to open ourselves completely. This gift may take any form. But in order for it to be meaningful, it must entail giving up our hope of getting something in return. It does not matter... 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 →
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 →
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 →
Once someone asked a well-known Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah, "In this world where everything changes, where nothing remains the same, where loss and grief are inherent in our very coming into existence, how can there be any happiness? How can we find security when we see that we can't count on anything being the... Continue Reading →
At the heart of every addictionis the attemptto run awayfrom ourselves. To flee our sorrow, self-doubt, anxiety, shame, fear, guilt, loneliness. To be somewhere other than where we are. To be out of the Now. Meditation, true meditation, courageously dismantles the core addiction,the addiction to 'somewhere else',to 'another Now',to 'not here'. In true meditation, we... Continue Reading →
Our life is an endless journey; it is like a broad highway that extends infinitely into the distance. The practice of meditation provides a vehicle to travel on that road. Our journey consists of constant ups and downs, hope and fear, but it is a good journey. The practice of meditation allows us to experience... Continue Reading →
On the whole, it could be said that the discovery of confusion is enlightenment. When we discover confusion, the enlightened state becomes redundant. Discovering the confusion is the most important thing of all. It is facing reality and getting beyond the many kinds of self-deception. Whereas if we are purely searching for something glorious and... Continue Reading →
Our opinions and attitudes about ourselves are very important. We cannot ignore the slightest tendency to feel wretched, inadequate, or fundamentally distrustful of ourselves. Those feelings always show through. This doesn't mean that you are not allowed to think anything bad about yourself. However, there is another side to you that is an expression of... Continue Reading →
Ram Dass sometimes shared a story of a young woman who told him, “My family hates when I’m a Buddhist but loves when I’m a Buddha.” In other words, its not what religion we identify ourselves with that matters, but how freely we are able to love and keep our hearts open with others that... Continue Reading →
One day my teacher Ajahn Chah held up a beautiful Chinese tea cup, “To me this cup is already broken. Because I know its fate, I can enjoy it fully here and now. And when it’s gone, it’s gone.” When we understand the truth of uncertainty, we become free The broken cup helps us see... Continue Reading →
Many of us, without even realizing it, are dominated by fear. We might be aware of some of our fears - perhaps we are afraid of public speaking, financial hardship, or losing a loved one. Most of us suffer from a far more pervasive form of fear: the fear of ourselves. We feel ashamed and... Continue Reading →
“There is no one thing that can make us happy. When we expect stability from the world of things we make ourselves vulnerable to disappointment. When things change, a they inevitably do, we think the phenomenal world has turned on us, our bodies disappoint us , the pleasant feeling we got from our meditation session... Continue Reading →
