From August until two weeks ago, I was unemployed. It was, by far, the longest stretch of unemployment I’ve ever had since I got a job at 15. I’m 52. It was stressful, financially. I did all the things that long term unemployed people do: drained all my savings, dipped into retirement income, took on… Continue reading Being a Bad Buddhist
Tag: buddhism
Drop The Rock
This will be longer and more personal than most of my posts so far. It’s also less focused. I’m rambling a bit. This is not my metaphor and I also don’t think it’s the metaphor of the teacher in whose book I read it, though I am using my words and phrasing. I’ve seen similar… Continue reading Drop The Rock
Greco-Buddhism
There’s a possibility that some of you know that as part of my interest in the ancient world over the last few years, I’ve picked up a couple of books on the Indo-Greeks of Bactria which was an aftermath empire that resulted from Alexander The Great’s conquests. It’s not quite a successor state like the… Continue reading Greco-Buddhism
Karma
There is absolutely nothing mystical about the concept behind the word “Karma”. If there’s one notion I wish I could disabuse people of, it’s that you benefit or suffer from the effects of some unknowable Karma, like it’s a capricious magical force that likes you or has it out for you. Karma is cause and… Continue reading Karma
Samadhi
Generally, the word Samadhi is translated as “concentration” in English in the context of Buddhism. There are longer explanations that are used as well, that go beyond just a single word. It is meant to refer to a state of deep concentration in meditation, with “right concentration” being a state of meditative concentration so well… Continue reading Samadhi
A Game You Can Win
I have heard many people tell me over the last decade that they don’t like to meditate because they “can’t stop thinking” or “can’t focus” or “can’t quiet the mind”. You shouldn’t even try to do that. Minds think in the same way that rivers flow. It’s just what they do. Because I came into… Continue reading A Game You Can Win
A New Foundation, Part 2.
I was always reluctant to refer to myself as a Buddhist. It seemed presumptuous. Based on my own background, comfort, and circumstance, my path into meditation was very secular. It was mindfulness meditation. Some of the meditation leaders and teachers I’ve gravitated to were ordained Buddhists, but many were not. The first place where I… Continue reading A New Foundation, Part 2.
A New Foundation, Part 1.
When I was 19, I read a book on Buddhism. It was a factual, straightforward, western academic book on the topic, nothing of Buddhism, but something about Buddhism. It was maybe five years later that I bought a guided meditation and talk on tape by Thich Nhat Hanh. I was kind of a dilettante on… Continue reading A New Foundation, Part 1.