Boundaries are nothing more than imaginary lines drawn-up by delusional leaders and power hungry tyrants who wish to segregate the population into more easily controlled segments in any case. -If you really think about it...

When we speak of the sangha, we speak of the “arya sangha,” which means the “exalted sangha”. At the time of the Buddha this referred to the arhats and bodhisattvas, the disciples who studied under...

Any methodology for developing patience requires a multi-tiered approach.

[S]he believed that the Buddhists were right–that if you want, you will suffer; if you love, you will grieve. (68)

It follows that I must accept myself for what I am before I can deliberately change it.

We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.

Although social and personal circumstances will play their part in contributing to how an individual suffers, in Buddhist thought blame is seen as a “poison” that will only lead to negative actions and will do...

For the Buddha of the Pali Canon, the goal is liberation: the cessation of suffering, the end of the endless hamster-wheel of dependent origination, of mental formations leading to desire leading to clinging leading to...

There are some among the so-called elite who are overbearing and arrogant. I want to foster leaders, not elitists.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

The forms of the central and surrounding deities… should not be protruding like a clay statue or cast image, yet neither should they be flat like a painting. In contrast, they should be apparent, yet...

There’s a limit to my patience with anything that smacks of metaphysics. I squirm at the mention of “mind expansion” or “warm healing energy.” I don’t like drum circles, public nudity or strangers touching my...

But sometimes you simply can’t make yourself feel like acting. And in those situations, motivational advice risks making things worse, by surreptitiously strengthening your belief that you need to feel motivated before you act. By...

All the repetitions in the pattern were superficial; the moment was always new. It had to be lived, and then the next moment embraced as it arrived.

Life is very simple. Just sometimes put your head away, sometimes behead yourself, sometimes look with no clouds in the eyes – just look. Sometimes sit by the side of a tree – just feel....

To relinquish the futile effort to control change is one of the strengthening forces of true detachment & thus true love.

Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the trance of unworthiness. The moment we believe something is wrong, our world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat the pain.

What we call life…is the combination of the Five Aggregates, a combination of physical and mental energies. These are constantly changing; they do not remain the same for two consecutive moments. Every moment they are...

To become enlightened is not just to slip into some disconnected euphoria, an oceanic feeling of mystic oneness apart from ordinary reality. It is not even to come up with a solution, a sort of...

The difference between theism and nontheism is not whether one does or does not believe in God. . . Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there’s some hand to hold: if we just do the...

The son needs the father to have access to his source, and the father needs the son to have access to the future and the infinite.

Bhikkhus, the teaching is merely a vehicle to describe the truth. Don’t mistake it for the truth itself. A finger pointing at the moon is notthe moon. The finger is needed to know where to...

I’d like to dividemyself in order to see,among these mountains,each and every flowerof every cherry tree.

hasn’t got a damn thing to do with anything, ‘cause all it has to do with is nothing. Nothingness. Okay? It doesn’t develop the mind, it dissolves the mind. Self-improvement? Forget it, baby. It erases...

Understanding the true nature of things, or seeing things as they really are, is the ground of wisdom.

A modern definition of equanimity: cool. This refers to one whose mind remains stable & calm in all situations.

Good. Bad. The cup holds both.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

That nagging state of constant thought that exists somewhere between the ears and behind the eyes is the self.

The awareness that seeks to know is the very object of its own seeking.

If you want to take care of tomorrow, take better care of today. We always live now. All we have to do is entrust ourselves to the life we now live.

And the Buddha pointed out that his confusion was justified, for ‘the dharma is profound, difficult to see, difficult to understand, peaceful, excellent, beyond the sphere of logic, subtle, and to be understood by the...

Meditate, Ānanda, do not delay, or else you will regret it later. This is our instruction to you.

As much as possible, it is useful to think of all other beings as being just like me. Every living being strives for happiness. Every being wants to avoid all forms of suffering. They are...

Consciousness is naturally shamanic.

The way is yours for the asking – the way is yours for the taking. The way is as it should be.

The Amida Buddha delivers those who recognize their own weakness and cowardice… Those who admit their own faults and above all, those who believe… A wholehearted trust in Amida Buddha gives peace of mind to...

The embodiment of kindness is often made difficult by our long ingrained patternsof fear & jealousy.

We are all trying to find a path back to the present moment. And good enough reason to just be happy here… Mindfulness meditation is just a trick for doing that. It’s a trick for...

In Demons of the Flesh, Zeena describes how Shiva and Shakti are actually ‘two sides of the same deity’. The goal of the initiate on the left-hand path is to become ‘this bisexual twin godhead’...

This will never come again

You necessarily have to be lost, before you’re found.

People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That’s not the idea at all. The...

Is it a weakness not being able to hate? Or is it preparation for what is inevitable, the ability only to love.

A smile is the most beautiful colour in the world.

We are such spendthrifts with our lives, the trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to...

Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and the spiritual, and it...

One doesn’t have to be religious to lead a moral life or attain wisdom.

One who is patient glows with an inner radiance.

If a man speaks many holy words but he speaks and does not, this thoughtless man cannot enjoy the life of holiness: he is like a cowherd who counts the cows of his master.Whereas if...