Immediacy
Spiritual Awakening is found in the here and now. In the Zen tradition they say, “After the ecstasy, the laundry.” Spiritual maturity manifests itself in...
Presence
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Practice: Seeing from the Universal Perspective
Buddhist psychology is filled with practices that shift us to the universal perspective. These include contemplations on the vastness of time, the cycles of impermanence,...
Malleability and Insight: The Fruits of Concentration
Once concentrated, the mind can be directed in specific ways. This function is called “malleability of mind” in Buddhist psychology. It means that we can...
Practice: Don’t Know Mind
Use this practice to bring wisdom to a situation of inner or outer conflict. Initially begin by sitting. Later you can practice in social...
Vast Silence and Illumination (Part Two)
(Read Part One: Vast Silence and Illumination) Buddhist psychology offers a systematic training to open the mystical perspective by explaining how to develop states of...
Concentration with Joy
First, sit quietly for a few minutes. Now reflect on the times in your life when you are most absorbed, concentrated and fully present. They...
How Concentration Works
“It is through the cultivation of inner concentration that luminous purity of mind arises. It is through luminous purity that access to expanded states arise....
Practice: Turning Toward Our Essence
“Develop a mind that is vast like space, where experiences both pleasant and unpleasant can appear and disappear without conflict, struggle or harm. Rest in...
Turning Toward Our Essence (Part Two)
Read Part One: Turning Toward Our Essence As we have seen, when we turn to investigate who is being aware we may feel confused, like a...
Awakening to Pure Consciousness
Let us consider the unbounded sky or mirror-like nature of consciousness. We need to be practical. Our first task is to learn to distinguish the...
Practice: Visualization
To work with a sacred image, choose someone who inspires you, St. Francis or Kwan Yin the goddess of infinite mercy, Jesus or Mary, Buddha...
