The Courageous Heart

As children, many of us were taught courage in the form of the warrior or the explorer, bravely facing danger. In the Buddhist understanding, however,...

Freedom Amid Challenging Times

Fear of Freedom

People often prefer a very limited, punishing regime—rather than face the anxiety of freedom. — Jean-Paul Sartre Along with the joy of freedom is a...

Lead with the Heart

  The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.—Sri Nisargadatta When we carefully observe our thoughts, we discover that they are not in...

Fear and Anger

Aversion, anger, and hatred are states of mind that strike against experience, pushing it away, rejecting what is presented in the moment. They do not...

The Practice of Forgiveness

Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is the ancient and eternal law. —Buddha Without forgiveness we are chained to...

Learning from Doubt

When we learn about doubt in meditation, we can then learn to face doubt wisely in our life. Here’s how to start: begin by looking...

Naming the Wanting Mind

This human world is sometimes called the desire realm because so much of it runs on desire and wanting. How to relate wisely with desire...

The Trouble with Denial

Anger is easy to see, and greed is more subtle, but delusion is the hardest. All the accompanying mind states get cloudy, confusing. — Ajahn...

Love vs. Attachment

Each of the qualities of the awakened heart, such as love, joy and peace, have what are called “near enemies”—aspects which mimic and limit them....

Awakening Love

The Buddha taught that we can develop loving-kindness by visualizing how a caring mother holds her beloved child. Love is our true nature, but it...

Fearing Death

If you understand—things are just as they are. If you do not understand—things are just as they are. —Zen saying From the universal perspective, all...