Dharma

Self Acceptance

Self Acceptance

Here is a reflection or meditation that you might want to try. It sounds like the last one I posted but is very, very different in its impact. Try repeating it seven times a day or whatever works, then see…

Self Contentedness

“What I am is enough.” “What I have is enough.” “What I do is enough.”

Transforming Problems into Happiness

Transforming Problems into Happiness

“May I see each difficult condition as a precious teacher, and an opportunity for transformation.”  “Instead of seeing all the problems you experience—whether caused by living beings or by situations and circumstances—as problems, you need to develop the habit of…

Ageing as the Path

Ageing as the Path

During the question-and-answer period, someone asked, ‘Why do we meditate?’, Suzuki answered with a laugh, ‘So you can enjoy your old age.’  I’m about halfway through a book called Aging as a Spiritual Practice and really enjoying it. Written by…

Real Happiness At Work

Real Happiness At Work by Sharon Salzberg *Date specific for the the author, visiting Guelph on June 7, 2014  After first reading Salzberg’s Lovingkindnesss, I thought it was okay – another decent spiritual book. However, after working with the ideas…

The Fruitful Darkness

The Fruitful Darkness

The Fruitful Darkness by Joan Halifax  I don’t know about you, but I’ve crossed over from fearing the worst to believing in it. From the sixties onward there has been lots of speculation that our industrial free market system was…

Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness

Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness

Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness “We can travel a long way and do many different things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. It is born from letting go of what is unnecessary, and knowing…

The Four Desires

The Four Desires

The Four Desires By Rod Stryker  There is an ancient set of ideas from Hindu India that I find very compelling. They are called The Four Aims of Human Life: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Dharma in this case, means…

5 Essential Buddhist Books

5 Essential Buddhist Books

Top Five Beginner Buddhist Books  I have been studying, practising and teaching Buddhist meditation for nearly twenty years, and this is the list of books that I would recommend to someone who wants to start practising Buddhist style meditation. Seeking the…

When Things Fall Apart

When Things Fall Apart

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron A few days ago, I came across the quote by Cesar A. Cruz that “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” which struck me as true. Even more so for the…