Tag Archives: Intention
Harsh Truths You Need to Accept
To Live a Happy Life The Dhammapada tells us that. All beings seek happiness and fear pain and death. This seems obvious on the face of it, but we act as if it weren’t true. We look for happiness in … Continue reading
Persistent Erroneous Beliefs
“What more does the community of bhikkhus expect from me, Ananda? I have set forth the Dhamma without making any distinction of esoteric and exoteric doctrine; there is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the Tathagata holds to … Continue reading
Afterthoughts: Karma
Fourteen days ago I suffered a “massive heart attack”, whatever that might really mean. This was a cause to consider the often-mysterious workings of karma. During the past year I had been forced for many reasons to consider my karma … Continue reading
No One Is Perfect, Nor Can They Be
In a conversation with an aged Brahmin, the Buddha once explained concisely what a Buddha, an enlightened one, means: What has to be known, that I have known (the five aggregates); What has to be abandoned, that I have abandoned; … Continue reading
The Matrix of Practice
Dengyo Daishi once wrote, “A devout believer in the Buddha’s Law who is also a wise man is truly obliged to point out to his students any false doctrines, even though they are principles of his own sect. He must … Continue reading
The Myth of Original Enlightenment
A person has six properties, six media of sensory contact, eighteen considerations, & four determinations. He has been stilled where the currents of construing do not flow. And when the currents of construing do not flow, he is said to … Continue reading
It’s Still True — No One Purifies Another
It is easy to think that Mahāyāna has made it pretty clear that they distinguish between ‘the Buddha’ and ‘Buddha’ as a state of being per se. The problem with referring to ‘Living Buddhas’ and people becoming a Buddha in … Continue reading
Compassion, the Holy Action
I used to live in an apartment that was built in 1921. It was a cool place with a small landing and stairs going down four flights into the alley. With restaurants on either side of the apartment some of … Continue reading
The Entrusting Heart
I hate to be a downer but the facts are there is no one who has been born that can avoid sickness, aging, weakness, separation from and death of your loved ones, loss of wealth, and the hate and harm … Continue reading
Intention: Skilled & Unskilled
“Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect.” Anguttara Nikaya 6.63 “‘I am the owner of my actions (kamma), heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, … Continue reading
Fists Full of Sand 