Monthly Archives: May 2017

Everyday life demands a certain level of planning and goal-setting. After all, we need to secure shelter, food, and other necessities; provide for our dependents; and be able to practice generosity. As Buddhists, however, it is important to make sure … Continue reading →

These are karmic consequences in accord with the cause: Killing leads to short duration of life. Theft leads to lacking possessions and enjoyments. Sexual misconduct leads to much enmity. Lying leads to being maligned by others. Slander causes friends to … Continue reading →

As you are, so are others. As others are, so are you. Having thus identified self and others, never harm anyone, nor abuse any being. … Train yourself in doing good that lasts and brings happiness. Cultivate generosity, the life … Continue reading →

Pleasure is insubstantial. The cessation of pleasure is pain. Pain is insubstantial. The cessation of pain is pleasure. —Ippen Shonin

Better than the slaughtering of animals is the sacrifice of self. Those who offer up their unwholesome desires will see the uselessness of butchering animals at the altar. Blood has no power to cleanse, but the giving up of harmful … Continue reading →

Surely, whatever form, past, future or present, internal or external, coarse or fine, low or lofty, far or near, all that form must be regarded with proper wisdom, according to reality, thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, … Continue reading →

The best spiritual teacher is one who attacks yours hidden faults. The best instructions are the ones that hit those faults. The best friends are mindfulness and vigilance. The best incentives are enemies, obstacles, and sufferings of illness. The best … Continue reading →

Do not go after the past, nor lose yourself in the future, for the past no longer exists, and the future is not here yet. By looking deeply at things, just as they are, in this moment, here and now, … Continue reading →

All of us come to the Dharma with various degrees of wrong views, previous tendencies and conditioning, false identities, afflicted emotions, and extremely sensitive egos. It takes time and effort to leave them behind, or at least transform them sufficiently … Continue reading →

The reason for practicing meditation and seeking to attain samadhi is to escape from the suffering of life. But in seeking to escape from suffering ourselves, why should we inflict it upon others? Unless we can control our minds, so … Continue reading →