What I’m referring to as “the Awakened Heart” is the concept of Relative Bodhichitta. if you’d rather listen to a podcast on this subject, click here: The Awakened Heart Bodhichitta is the mind of awakening. It’s what motivates and inspires us. It’s coming from a place of love and compassion in the things we do and our interactions with others. Our true nature is this Awakened Heart. We don’t always see it because we are afflicted by the things... Read more
Way back in early 2022 I wrote an article about famous Zen teacher Brad Warner. And I regret it now. Here’s how it happened. Brad Warner has been a famous Buddhist teacher for nearly 20 years. His books have inspired many people who thought Buddhism wouldn’t be for them. I wanted to be a Zen Buddhist for many years mainly because of his books “Hardcore Zen” and “Sit Down and Shut Up”. He even has a Wikipedia page. He founded Angel... Read more
I go to Washington DC every year for work. Or at least that’s the plan and I hope it continues. I went in March of 2023. A few weeks before that trip I was reading a book called “How the Swans Came to the Lake,” by Rick Fields. It’s a book about the history of Buddhism in the United States. When I was reading this book there was a reference to the Washington Buddhist Vihara. This is described in the... Read more
I did this series of talks on the subject of Training the mind. I hope listening to these will be helpful. Introduction to the Heart Preliminaries See Everything as a Dream Examine the Nature of Awareness Don’t Get Stuck on Peace Rest in Openness Be a Child of Illusion Sending and Receiving Seeds of Virtue It’s All Sacred Transform Disasters Drive All Blames Into One Be Grateful to Everyone See Confusion As Enlightenment 4 Practices That Help Whatever You Meet... Read more
The question comes up once in a while. It’s natural for it to come up and not something I’d ever shy away from. “How did you first get involved with Buddhism?” a co-worker asked. It was clear to me that her motivation was simple curiosity. Sometimes when people have asked me questions like that they’ve been hoping to convert me or something. But it’s been a long time since someone came at me with that sort of motivation, I think.... Read more
I did this series of talks on the classic Buddhist text “The Dhammapada.” I taught a class on this text and was recording these talks while I was preparing for the class. I hope listening to these will be helpful. This series doesn’t cover the whole text, it just covers some of the first half. In these talks I read from and comment on the verses in the Dhammapada. Introducing the Dhammapada Dichotomies Vigilance The Mind Flowers The Fool The... Read more
Bodhi Day is a holiday that commemorates the Enlightenment of the Buddha and the start of the Buddhist tradition. It is December 8th. The story is that Siddhartha Gautama, after years of trying different things, sat under a tree and declared that he would meditate until he found the root of suffering and the way out of suffering. He entered deeper and deeper levels of meditation and he became Awakened to the truth about suffering. At this moment he had... Read more
One night while I was teaching my Dhammapada class for the Rime Center, I noticed a sore throat was manifesting. I was cautiously optimistic, believing it was just one of those 24 hour things that would go away. The next day more symptoms appeared. Runny nose, low energy, and loss of appetite. The first time I took an at home covid test it was negative. I didn’t believe the test so I stayed home sick from work and didn’t go... Read more
This is a series of talks I gave from Shantideva’s “Way of the Bodhisattva” I hope these talks give you some benefit. Shantideva Had No Friends Benefits of Bodhichitta Offerings, Refuge, and Misdeeds Embracing Bodhichitta Carefulness Guarding Awareness Read more
Bodhisattva Road
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