The words ‘suffering’ and ‘kamma’, as core principles in Theravada Buddhism, are very much misunderstood by many. In this illuminating talk, Ajahn Jayasaro brings them to life as aspects of the path to… Continue reading
Recently, a couple of very good friends have died. And being months away from my seventieth year and sensing the approaching end of my own life, I have been contemplating the nature of… Continue reading
When it comes to meditation, it’s rare that I find anything on YouTube that is both succinct and illuminating – but this video was both. In particular, it clarifies the Buddhist notions of… Continue reading
Question: ‘Hi Roger … In stories of the Buddha that I’ve read, enlightenment seemed very easy to people. Just by listening to the Buddha, they used to suddenly become enlightened. Is this just… Continue reading
Got this question in an email from Marc. “Hi Roger … I recently started meditating and frankly I find it makes me even more anxious than I usually am. But I persevered and… Continue reading
Hi … I haven’t posted for a long time, largely because, this being question-based blog, most of the questions I’ve been sent of late have already been responded to in other posts, which… Continue reading
“Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect any praise or reward. If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot,… Continue reading
‘Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom. – Theodore Isaac Rubin I was told the other day that about half of what we do… Continue reading
Sorry I’ve been absent for so long, but I’ve been writing a book, and considering most of the 100 or so posts on this blog answer most questions I receive, I took a… Continue reading
When I first began meditating I had terrible difficulty with it, and almost gave up at one point, because I felt as if I just didn’t have what it took. It wasn’t… Continue reading
The Monkey in Our Mind The aspect of mind we’re working with in meditation is our meddlesome, hyperactive and mischievous attention – the part of the mind we were nagged about all through childhood, all… Continue reading
” The things that trouble our spirits are within us already. In meditation, we must face them, accept them, and set them aside one by one. Cristopher Bennett I was thumbing through a popular tabloid news… Continue reading
Just found this wonderful interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates on the writing process, in which he says: “I always consider the entire process about failure …” Like with any skill, I also believe this to… Continue reading
So, at the outset, let’s get it out in the open. My personal view is, positive thinking, either as affirmations or visualizations, doesn’t work. In fact, it’s been seen that these strategies actually… Continue reading
“It is slavery to live in the mind unless it has become part of the body.” -Kahlil Gibran One time, in one of the temples where I was doing Vipassana training in Thailand,… Continue reading
I was looking through a meditation journal from one of my retreats in Thailand the other day and I found something that made me smile – a vibrant little note scrawled in my… Continue reading
