Category Archives: Mindfulness

Kamma (1)

One of the thorniest topics in Buddhist thinking and teaching is the principle of kamma (in Sanskrit: karma). Don’t expect a pat definition here, but it’s worth digging into what the Buddha taught on the subject and how we could … Continue reading

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Internal and External Supports

Just as admirable friendship is the most important external factor in the practice, appropriate attention is the most important internal one. “Attention,” in the Buddha’s vocabulary, is a matter of which questions you take to heart – the ones you … Continue reading

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Refuge in the Sangha

And finally we come to the sangha as refuge. The word sangha has more than one meaning, but at its root, it means the community of practitioners, whether ordained or lay, male or female. Originally it referred only to the … Continue reading

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Impermanence and Time

Impermanence is intimately connected with time: … But “later” is the safest of all time frames. It can be safely ignored because it’s not now—it’s later, and later never comes. And even if it does, we don’t have to worry … Continue reading

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Impermanence is Our Nature

Impermanence is Buddha Nature (from Lion’s Roar magazine, June 12, 2021) BY NORMAN FISCHER Practitioners have always understood impermanence as the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings and practice. All that exists is impermanent; nothing lasts. Therefore nothing can be grasped or held … Continue reading

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Whatever IS will be WAS (Bhikkhu Nanamoli)

Title from: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/various/wheel186.html Bhikkhu Nanamoli gives the pithiest possible explanation of anicca, the characteristic of impermanence that permeates all existence, all the world as we can experience it. In terms of how we might come to understand the truth of … Continue reading

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Other Auspicious Actions

From: http://www.suttas.com/10-meritorious-deeds.html In the previous post, we talked about half of  the “auspicious actions” that had to do with giving. The remaining items on the list involve other sorts of actions. 2. keeping the precepts 3. meditation 8. teaching the … Continue reading

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Ten auspicious actions

The beginning of the path to awakening is giving, letting go, shifting our focus from a me-centred framework to a relational framework. We start to notice how we feel when we are generous, and how we feel when we are … Continue reading

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Karma and Self

A question we’ve heard before came up again recently: “If there’s no self, then who gets the karma of our actions?” It’s a tricky question because the answer requires trading in our presumption of a self-centred world for a completely … Continue reading

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The Wet Log Sutta

From MN 36: https://suttacentral.net/mn36/en/sujato? Suppose there was a green, sappy log, and it was lying in water. Then a person comes along with a drill-stick, thinking to light a fire and produce heat. What do you think, Aggivessana? By drilling the stick against that green, … Continue reading

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