Tag Archive: religion

Embracing Anatta: The Wonderful Reality of Non-Self

I got an email the other day, with A very concise question:‘Hi Roger, what do you think of the Buddhist idea of non-self?’ So it occurred to me that, even though I’ve posted… Continue reading

Practicing Mindfulness

‘Mindfulness isn’t difficult. We just need to remember to do it.’ – Sharon Salzberg Mindfulness gets a lot of media attention these days. Everybody’s talking about it, books have been written about it,… Continue reading

The Practical Illusion of Self

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

Thinking is not Necessarily Knowing.

QUESTION: Hi Roger, Just wanted to touch base on something that’s happened. I’ve been meditating for a long time using a Samatha type method and only recently switched to the Vipassana methods in… Continue reading

Forget Enlightenment … It’s Already Here.

Every so often I get asked about enlightenment – or nibbana, or nirvana – all of which Wikipedia describes as: ” … a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with… Continue reading

The Problem of Other People

Sartre once said in a play he wrote, “Hell is other people.”  and indeed, when it comes to meditation, hell can sometimes be other people, particularly when they don’t understand what you’re doing,… Continue reading

Between the Thoughts

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from people complaining about how they cannot stop thinking in meditation. They have the view that in some way, meditation should be helping them to stop… Continue reading

Accept the Struggle

Most people struggle with meditation, either with the posture or with an attention that just won’t sit still – not to mention the skeins of thinking that just won’t let you alone. It’s… Continue reading

Free download of Acharn Chah’s Teachings

Though I never had the opportunity to practice with Acharn Chah, I wish I had, because his understanding of meditation, and the tricky mental obstacle course it can be when we practice it,… Continue reading

Meditation is not the Destination

The skill of meditating is not for its own sake.  We are not meditating to be excellent meditators.  We’re meditating to have excellent lives. Meditation’s just a method, a tool after all –… Continue reading

The Main Game of Meditation

In a culture like ours, which values excitement and novelty above most other things, a lot of people come to meditation looking for exactly that – the novelty, the new, the wow factor.… Continue reading

Essential Reading for Meditation

I found this extraordinary resource in my wanderings on the net.  It’s called Dhamma Talks.net and all of the greatest teachers of Mindfulness meditation are here … what they wrote, what they said… Continue reading

The Difference between Samatha and Vipassana Meditation Methods

Audio Course Participant’s Question: “I’ve been looking for information about Vipassana meditation and I keep noticing another method called Samatha meditation, so I’m wondering what the difference is between them.  As far as… Continue reading

How Did I Go From Being in a Band to Being a Meditation Trainer?

Audio Course Participant’s Question:   “I am working through the Basic Relaxation lesson and exercise this week..really like the clear instructions…oh and have to ask after reading your bio on your site…how did… Continue reading