I have been asked the same question lately. “How do I deal with strong emotions regarding (fill in the blank).” The current volatility of things like political ideology and environmental concern is surfacing some very strong feelings. I have addressed dealing with emotions and habitual thoughts in my recent Dharma Journal entries, but maybe I…Read more …
Lately, the sky has been overcast. The clouds throw a blanket across the sun, making everything seem dull and grey. It is hard to maintain a ‘sunny’ disposition. Even though the light shines brightly above the water vapor shield, I am likely to spend too much time contemplating the darkness—unless I remember the light. Clouds…Read more …
The word ignorance or delusion in the Sanskrit language is avidya: “misunderstanding” or “not seeing clearly.” The inability to see things clearly arises from the mind’s habits. So, when we are observing any life event, we are only seeing the habit—until the habit is liberated. We only see what we expect to see until our…Read more …
A basic fact of unconditional love is that it surfaces any condition we would place on love. If we develop our capacity to love unconditionally, we will inevitably have moments that will challenge our illusory assumptions about love. This is as it should be, since most of us have adopted such illusions as truth. We…Read more …
We are now in a bardo, an “in-between,”—this time between Christmas and the New Year. Of course, this is only one perspective. As I write this, we are on the fifth day of Hanukkah and the second day of Kwanzaa. There seems to be a concentration of activities near the winter solstice and new (solar)…Read more …