Monthly Archives: August 2020

Not thinking (of giver, given, and recipient) is generosity. Not abiding (in judgement of others) is morality. Not making distinctions (between friends and enemies) is patience. Not accepting or rejecting (the pleasant and unpleasant) is effort. Nonattachment (to views) is … Continue reading →

You will not accomplish both the Dharma and the aims of this ordinary life. If that is your wish, no doubt you are deceiving yourself. There is no greater obstacle to Dharma practice than to be obsessed by the achievements … Continue reading →

It is said that the belief in the reality of phenomena is as big a mistake as Mount Meru, but that attachment to emptiness is an even bigger mistake. Until we have obtained liberation, the illusory appearances of relative truth … Continue reading →

You can get to Sukhavati in the flash of an instant.  That is not a problem. Even now, the mind pervades the Pure Land… By merely thinking of it, the mind is already there. So there is no reason to … Continue reading →

One morning, after another long night, I was squatting on the toilet watching it all come out. For the first time I saw my body —not just how it looks, but what it does— turning what is dear into what … Continue reading →

There is a simple way to become enlightened. If you avoid unskillful acts; feel no attachment to birth or death; are compassionate to all sentient beings, respectful to the old, and kind to the young; if you do not reject … Continue reading →

People used to say that I was so beautiful it hurt to look at me, like the sun. The sun lights the whole world, but isn’t free. It lives its life on a leash. I lost weight and grew pale. … Continue reading →

Each sentient being is like a sleeping Buddha who is dreaming about inherent existence of self and of all phenomena, and believing the dream to be true. The practice of Buddhism is like the method to wake up from this … Continue reading →

My mother taught me how to sell my youth for money and some sense of power, just as her mother had taught her. At our front door, I answered the calls of passing men with well-rehearsed lines, laughing and lightly … Continue reading →

One of my teachers said: “First hear and study, then you think about it and you become it.” And that’s the point: We go from head to heart and that transforms us. Then spontaneously, what we say, what we think, … Continue reading →