I seem to be lucky or blessed to have a naturally happy disposition. It takes an unpleasant event or situation to send me into the land of grumpiness or pessimism. Even so, sadness and despair are no stranger to me, and during these times, I have reached outward, trying to grasp at something to bring that happiness back. Sometimes it’s a good book to help me forget, sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s new stuff, or new friends. It never works. (more…)

The other morning I awoke earlier than usual. I rolled over with the intent of going back to sleep, but saw a spider crawling around a small area of my bedroom ceiling. Within a few minutes, it was drifting downwards, dangling by a web too thin to see. A bit later it crawled back up to the ceiling, and then back down. Up and down it went for about half an hour, until eventually it got its footing back on the ceiling and scurried away behind the window blinds somewhere. Spiders are fascinating creatures. Their webs are sheer feats of marvelous engineering. (more…)

The dictionary defines relationship as the connection one object has to another.  It’s simply the connection. Yet, in our minds, relationships grow to be a huge embodiment of emotion, rules, assumptions, and expectations. (more…)

The second of the Four Noble Truths says that craving and attachment are the causes of suffering. This is easy to see when we look at hardcore addictions like smoking, alcoholism, and other drug addictions, as those substances tend to have an ill affects on the mind and the health. But it’s harder to see how craving creates suffering in the things that bring us pleasure  and don’t interfere with walking a straight line. (more…)

I’ve read in many Buddhist books that we are not our thoughts. This was a difficult concept for me to grasp or accept. But the Buddha did not expect us to simply accept, but instead to see for ourselves, to investigate by watching our own minds. The tool to do this is through meditation. (more…)

It doesn’t take much meditation practice to realize that it’s really a process of letting go. We sit, focus on the breath, and a myriad of thoughts, physical sensations, sounds, and emotions arise, all of which we let go to return to the breath. (more…)

In the years I’ve been pursuing Buddhism, I find the topic of not-self coming up frequently. This topic can be baffling and disturbing at first. We are advised to investigate inwardly for evidence of a solid, intrinsic self, and we smash into this voice that says, “This is me, myself, and I!” Yet, as I dig more deeply, pick apart the many parts and essentials that make up the human being, I am discovering a subtle understanding of the not-self concept. (more…)

If I have to be reborn again, I’ve decided I want to come back as a Second Life avatar. In SL there are no germs, no viruses, no body afflictions, and all sex is safe sex. (more…)

In this century we have many spiritual and religious paths available to us. Pagan and Shaman practices have re-emerged, along with many of the esoteric studies like the Rosicrucian Order and Kabala studies. (more…)

Attachments are something I’m always watching, as it’s a part of the Buddhist practice. It’s very likely that our attachments are the biggest form of misery that we create for ourselves. (more…)