235 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 2: Suchness or Thusness

235 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 2: Suchness or Thusness

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Buddhist Teachings

What do Buddhists mean by the terms “Suchness” or “Thusness”? Over the millennia, Buddhists have employed many concepts to point us toward Reality-with-a-Capital-R, because awakening to Reality is profoundly liberating. This series of episodes discusses five classic descriptions of Reality. In Episode 229 I talked about the first of these, Emptiness (One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 1: Emptiness). In this episode I explore Suchness, or Thusness.

234 – Preguntas Espirituales Parte 4: Investigación y Resolución de Problemas Kármicos

234 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 4: Investigating and Resolving Karmic Issues

by | Mar 30, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

This is my fourth episode on spiritual inquiry. In the last episode I discussed “karma work,” or the process of noticing the underlying reasons for our selfish, harmful, or less-than-enlightened behaviors of body, speech, and mind, and then working to resolve them. I talked about how to identify our karmic issues. In this episode I discuss what to do once you’ve identified a karmic issue you’d like to work on, taking you through the process of delving into the underlying causes of your negative karmic patterns, and then finding greater freedom through insight and through habit change.

233 – Preguntas Espirituales Parte 3: Identificando nuestros problemas kármicos

233 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 3: Identifying our Karmic Issues

by | Mar 18, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

An important part of Buddhist practice is spiritual inquiry. Buddhism teaches us that there are underlying reasons for every selfish and neurotic thing we do, and that we can discern what those reasons are and work on them. This karma work can lead to lasting and transformative change. In this episode I describe karma work and discuss how to identify your karmic issues. In the next episode I will talk about the process of karmic inquiry once you have identified a karmic issue you would like to resolve.

232 – Preguntas Espirituales Parte 2: Resistencia a las Preguntas y el Trabajo del Karma Frente al Despertar

232 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 2: Resistance to Questions and Karma Work Versus Awakening

by | Mar 6, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

In this episode, my second in a short series on spiritual questions, I talk about various reasons for resistance to coming up with or asking spiritual questions. Then I discuss the relationship between karma work and awakening, because in my next episode or two I’ll explore in depth how to come up with karmic questions, and then how to come up with awakening questions.

232 – Preguntas Espirituales Parte 2: Resistencia a las Preguntas y el Trabajo del Karma Frente al Despertar

231 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 1: What Spiritual Questions Are and Why They Matter

by | Feb 27, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

There are many aspects of Buddhism which suggest you ought to have deep spiritual questions – questions which are not merely intellectual, but which matter to you, personally, very much. Questions which bother you so much that you are driven to seek answers in the hope that they will bring peace of mind, or reveal better ways to think or behave, better ways to live your precious life. How can you come up with meaningful spiritual questions, or choose which of your many questions you should focus on?

230 – La Importancia de la Mente-Bodhi, o Mente que Busca el Camino

230 – The Importance of Bodhi-Mind, or Way-Seeking Mind

by | Feb 15, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

Buddhism is based on seeking – seeking freedom from suffering, greater wisdom and compassion, greater skillfulness in benefiting beings, and a more authentic, connected way of being. Our spiritual growth depends on arousing and sustaining “Bodhi-Mind,” or the “Way-Seeking Mind,” which in turn generates questions, curiosity, energy, and determination. How do we arouse our Way-Seeking Mind and thereby give direction and inspiration to our practice?

229 – Una Realidad, Muchas Descripciones. Parte 1: Vacío

229 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 1: Emptiness

by | Jan 31, 2023 | Buddhist Teachings

Teachings like Emptiness, Buddha-Nature, Suchness, Absolute and Relative, and Mind-with-a-capital-M are challenging, and sometimes people wonder if they’re all just terms for the same thing, more or less, or whether they’re part of a long list of difficult-to-comprehend concepts we need to master as Buddhists . It may be helpful to realize that each of these classic Buddhist concepts describes Reality-with-a-capital-R, and there’s only one Reality. The concepts, therefore, are intimately related to one another, and each one emphasizes different aspects of Reality in a very useful way. In this episode I discuss Buddhist descriptions of Reality in general, and then talk about Sunyata, or Emptiness.

228 – Autodisciplina Hábil Parte 2: Claridad de Propósito Y Determinación Paciente

228 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 2: Clarity of Purpose and Patient Determination

by | Jan 18, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

If we live without self-discipline – without clarifying aspirations, forming intentions, or training ourselves – our lives are unlikely to go in the direction we would like them to. Unfortunately, self-discipline is notoriously difficult! In the last episode I discussed the importance of self-discipline and some of the mistakes we make when applying it. In this episode I talk about what skillful self-discipline looks like.

228 – Autodisciplina Hábil Parte 2: Claridad de Propósito Y Determinación Paciente

227 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 1: Balancing Discipline and Gentleness

by | Jan 9, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

If we live without self-discipline – without clarifying aspirations, forming intentions, or training ourselves – our lives are unlikely to go in the direction we would like them to. Unfortunately, self-discipline is notoriously difficult! In this episode I will discuss the importance of self-discipline and some of the mistakes we make when applying it. In the next episode (Part 2), I’ll talk about what skillful self-discipline looks like.

226 – Cómo Relacionarse con Los Placeres Mundanos como Budista – Parte 2

226 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 2

by | Dec 26, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

In the first episode I defined what I mean by “worldly pleasure,” and then discussed five drawbacks of such pleasure as described in Buddhist teachings, and in our own experience. In this episode I talk about how, if we can engage worldly things with the mind that sees impermanence, we are not only inoculated against the many usual drawbacks of worldly pleasures, we can use every encounter we have with the world as an opportunity to practice deeply. Not only that, we actually end up engaging worldly pleasures with more appreciation and awareness.

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