Tag Archives: Buddhism
Uposatha: Seventh Precept
Hello friends, Today I am observing November’s Full Moon Uposatha day. I’ve mentioned previously [here and here, for instance] that the Uposatha observance involves certain precepts that are additional to the regular practice proscribed by the Buddha to laypeople, so you should read those for additional background information that I may not choose to go […]
Recent Thoughts on Gain; Loss
Hello friends, I’ve been thinking a bit about gain and loss, or more specifically the fear of loosing what one has gained. I’m certain the Buddha spoke of this fear more than once, but my memory recalls most clearly a the instance when it was mentioned in the Lokavipatti Sutta, the sutta on the eight worldly conditions. These […]
Long Term Plans (Meditation Retreat)
I’m sure all of my readers are familiar with making plans, and in particular, how plans often change many times before being carried out (or abandoned altogether). I know it isn’t wise to get too attached to plans, especially the long-term kind, but I’ve also learned that if I don’t set certain “goal posts” in the […]
Engaging with other “Convert” Buddhists
Occasionally over the past couple months I’ve chosen to visit a little Dharma center in Northside, maybe 10 miles from my home. It is an English-speaking group that does a group meditation for an hour on Sundays and holds short Dhamma talks on the first Sunday of each month. It is a simple get-together that […]
Cold Mornings
I woke up very early this morning so that I could allocate a little time to morning Puja before friends arrive with their children for a play-date. I have come to admit to myself that my morning ritual gets a little difficult to maintain when the temperatures get so low, and I haven’t felt like […]
The Four Dhamma Summaries
Some contemplation for today, friends. Life in any world is unstable, it is swept away. There is no stability in this world or the next. Everything that is born undergoes aging, illness, and eventually death. Even that which we perceive as stable is only such because our lives are themselves so short. Even the Earth, […]
Boredom, or Quietness
Quietness can manifest as boredom to the untrained mind… which is not meant to imply that mine is anything but untrained. I have found a bit of fascination with boredom though, and with the quietness that can come along with it. Boredom seems to imply an apparent “need” to go out and do something. I’m […]
Like a Lump of Salt
The Buddha advised people against thinking too deeply about the precise workings of kamma (or karma, for those who prefer the sanskritized spelling), saying that it was imponderable, unconjecturable, and could bring about madness and vexation. Indeed, even if one wants to spend their days thinking about how their kamma has brought about this result […]
Ahimsa
Ahimsa is a word derived from Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language from around or immediately after the time of the Buddha. It means to not kill, or to not harm, depending on who is translating it. I’ve come across this word a number of times not necessarily knowing what it meant but I’ve realized that it […]
Sharing: On Heaven and Hell
I mentioned in my last post that I often, when speaking among friends and those who are curious about Buddhism, will tailor my responses in a way that I think emphasizes Buddhism’s commonalities with Christianity. The “big question” I come across is usually something about what generally happens after someone dies. In such cases, I […]
Hickersonia 