Category: Buddhism

Today’s One-Liner (#3)

May I be a light for those in need of light.  –Shantideva, The Bodhicaryavatara: A Guide to the Buddhist Path of Awakening, translated by Kate Crosby & Andrew Skilton

Our Emanation Bodies

At the time I wrote that small book [The Miracle of Mindfulness], I could not have imagined the effect it would have in the world. It has been translated into twenty-five languages, reprinted many times,…

Go to Hell

“Keep you mind in hell, and despair not.”  –Staretz Silouan, 1866-1938, quoted in Gillian Rose, Love’s Work:  A Reckoning with Life Ksitigarbha … made the great vow to go into the hell realm so that…

Long Live Detachment

Those who follow the path of service renounce their selfish attachments, and work with the body, senses, and mind for the sake of self-purification. The man whose consciousness is unified abandons all attachment to the…

Choosing Guiding Means

A few years ago I read Amos Oz’s trenchant book, How to Cure a Fanatic.  His context was the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Therein, Oz noted that “the essence of fanaticism lies in…

Hold It All

Joseph Needham has described the unity of Chinese civilisation as organismic, with the various parts functioning like those of a living organism. We think of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, and even of popular religion. These…

Fire/3

We are full of craving, always running after things. We want to become a director or president of a company, we want to buy a beautiful car or a nice house, or go on an…

Kindred Spirits

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. But I try to work one day at a time. If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever…