On View in Buddhism View in Buddhism is not something far off. View is not something other people have, and must teach you. View is not, by any definition, teachable. View is not a religious philosophy. View is not a belief. View is not even something that you get a grasp of, and now…

Before Enlightenment “My life is about getting my career on track. My life is about finding a girlfriend or boyfriend and getting married and having kids, or not. My life is about hanging out with friends and having fun. My life is about dealing with some annoying things like paying…

It’s really scary knowing — especially as your practice develops — that every single inch you walk, every single time you blink, every thought you have — is all being recorded in your karmic record, and it better be spot on, ethical to the highest degree. …

Before Enlightenment “Having this problem sucks. Having this problem means I did something bad and deserve this punishment. I don’t deserve this punishment and I’m mad at (mom, dad, god, myself, anyone) for giving me something that I don’t deserve. My life is ruined. If I could only get rid…

We’ve discussed this before…meditation is not about getting rid of your thoughts, it’s about dropping the identification with the thoughts. When a Zen Master is shouting at you to “cut off thinking” you might be misled into thinking that it’s about getting rid of them completely. What happens, once you…

You wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that mindfulness, at least initially, is something you “do.” Most meditation instruction starts with asking you to direct your attention in a specific way, with as much concentration and continuity as you can muster. Of course, as you progress in your meditation, you wouldn’t…

When you wake up from a dream, all of the drama of the dream instantly vanishes, and all you’re left with is wakefulness. The same is true of the Buddhist path. As you continue along in your meditation practice, you learn to wake up in the midst of your life…

When you first start getting into mindfulness, dharma, and meditation, you start to feel like you’re doing something really special, new, or important. You’ll probably start to feel like you’re better than other people, or that your mission is somehow more important than theirs. That your suffering is more meaningful…

In a previous post, when I was trying to come up with a different word than “spirituality” to describe what the Buddhist path was all about, I suggested using the word “humility.” But, I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I’ve come up with a better word: intentionality. “Spirituality”…