But just as it is important to have an adequate conception of the goal of our practice, it is also important to gain proper knowledge of the path leading to that goal… In a discourse in the Udāna, the Buddha describes the path of practice by comparing it to the continental shelf off the coast of India. [Ud. 5.5] This image gives a sense of the training required to reach the goal of Nibbāna: a grad…

At Sāvatthī. Then Ven. Ānanda early in the morning adjusted his under robe and—carrying his bowl & outer robes—went into Sāvatthī for alms. He saw the brahman Jāṇussoṇin leaving Sāvatthī in an all-white chariot drawn by mares. White were the yoked horses, white the ornaments, white the chariot, white the upholstery, white the reins, white the goad, white the canopy, white his turban, white his clo…

When we buy into ‘I want more, just one more; I want to keep this, this is really great,’ then at that moment we believe the promise that ‘If I had just one more, then I would be happy.’ We’re feeling we’re incomplete, but if we get one more drink or one more piece of cake or one more profound meditation experience, then we’re going to be happy and satisfied. Whether the object of addiction is coa…

Even if you are doing mettā as a meditation, you still need to have an anchor. You still need to be grounded in something and have someplace to keep returning to, which is mindfulness of the body. Become very familiar with returning to the body. There are many ways of using mindfulness of the body, but in terms of the formal practice of meditation, become familiar with mindfulness of breathing an…

There can be times when there is wisdom in our minds, when we will have wise emotion and times when we have no wisdom in our minds, when we have unwise emotion; the same with thought. When there is wisdom in our minds, then we will have wise thoughts. When there is no wisdom in our mind, then we will have unwise thoughts as a result. These are all results of the perceptual process, which is the th…

Wisdom is one of the great blessings of the citta. True inner happiness is a lovely quality which allows the citta to unfold and be free from anxiety, criticism, doubt, anger and so forth. As the citta unfolds, its wisdom capacities become more available, more revealed. You can imagine the citta as something that gets contracted, distracted and tangled up. Even when it’s excited, it doesn’t have t…

Don’t be fooled by things. Whatever comes your way, it’s just conditions. There’s nothing which can entice a mind like this to create or proliferate, to seduce it into greed, aversion or delusion. This is what it is to be a true supporter of Buddhism. Whether you are among those who are being supported (i.e., the Saṅgha) or those who are supporting (the laity), please consider this thoroughly. Cul…

My nineteenth birthday found me living by the side of a lake with a Hindu monk. He was an inspiring teacher whose practices were similar to Buddhism and he taught me many things. While I stayed with him, I had plenty of time to contemplate my life. In the afternoon I liked to climb up a nearby mountain, sit under an old tree, and enjoy the breeze. Looking down to the lake below and the desert that…

Suffering is the illusion that we project onto life because of our ignorance and through the habits of our unawakened heart or mind. If, instead of focusing on this illusion, we look into the present moment, whatever it is, then we can see that, ‘This is the way it is.’ By recollecting we bring the moment to consciousness. It reminds us that this is the way it is right now. We’re not trying to say…

Can the creation and enjoyment of art be considered a spiritual path? Yes, but in the Buddhist view its spiritual benefits are relatively superficial. Great art may elevate the mind and may illuminate the human condition in profound and emotionally satisfying ways, but it lacks the power in itself to induce the lasting transformation of consciousness provided by the practice of the Eightfold Path.…