253 – Practice is How You Live Each and Every Moment – Part 1

253 – Practice is How You Live Each and Every Moment – Part 1

by | Nov 15, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

The formal aspects of Buddhist practice – the things you can look at and identify as “Buddhist practice” – are very important. These include meditation, Dharma study, and time with Sangha. However, unless you’re a monk in a really strict monastery, over 90% of your time is spent outside of formal practice. It’s important to remember that practice each and every moment – how we choose to live our life, just as it is – is the most important thing.

247 – Sangha Challenges: How and Why to Open Up to the Treasure of Sangha – Part 3

245 – Sangha Challenges: How and Why to Open Up to the Treasure of Sangha – Part 1

by | Jul 27, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

Should you join a Sangha? Sangha, or community, is one of the “Three Treasures” of Buddhism, but is it really necessary? How important is it? There are many “Sangha Challenges” – reasons you might feel resistance to joining a community, or difficulties you might face as you practice with one. I discuss ways to relate to various Sangha challenges as opportunities for practice and growth. 

236 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 5: Koans and Awakening

236 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 5: Koans and Awakening

by | Apr 19, 2023 | Buddhist Practice

Awakening Inquiry is aimed at awakening to what I’ve been calling Reality-with-a-Capital-R. How do we inquire into aspects of Reality we have not yet even imagined? How do we even know what we don’t know? How can we see what we have not yet seen? How do we even know where to look? In Zen, we do this through the use of koans, whether those are traditional koans or natural ones. I discuss the nature of awakening inquiry and how to find koans to focus your practice.

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

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 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 3: Identifying our Karmic Issues

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

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.

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