I'm struggling to find the balance between endorsing the pure teaching of dhamma as taught in this tradition and supporting people outside of this tradition to live a better life more in line with dhamma. The path of dhamma is a long path and we each start from where we are at this moment. While one person may …
Category: Observations
Economic Growth Is Not The Solution
I'm not an economist or a business man so I might not be the ideal person to speak to this point but even an outsider can see the instability that comes with a society that builds its foundation solely upon the economy. The primary challenge that I see is that security and stability depend on …
Don’t Compare Yourself To Others
This is a nice idea but unless there's a good alternative it's hard to escape the world of comparison. We are constantly compared when applying for jobs, loans, and friends. The best example for me is knowing that most Americans have more gadgets that someone from the 1980s could imagine but it's still not enough. Live …
Passionless Sex
In response to my post on masturbation a reader introduced me to the idea that the orgasm is the part of sex that results in craving, not the sex. I've been thinking about this idea and there are definitely aspects of it that resonate with me. These are currently just thoughts for me, but it's …
Peace from Truth
Remember when "spiritual, not religious" was one of the options for publicly announcing your religion on Facebook? Or maybe it was MySpace. I always wondered what people meant by that. It seems to imply a Cartesian duality, where some immaterial spirit or soul is something you hold more precious than the bland solid matter encountered …
Facing Discomfort
Life can be challenging. We all face difficult life changing moments. How we respond in these moments help define who we are. I've alway evaluated myself and others when adversity arises. We often see the a persons true nature in these difficult moments. I've always strived to face these challenges head on. My willingness to fight …
Masturbation
While I read in one of Goenka's question and answer sessions that masturbation, or as he calls it, "self-sex", isn't breaking the sexual misconduct precept, I've started to wonder how healthy this really is. All of the precepts seem to have a sliding scale of strictness, and for sexual misconduct, that ranges for no rape or …
Goenka Vipassana Is Different
Besides committing to a daily practice, the biggest hurdle I've faced is accepting that Vipassana meditation taught by S N Goenka is different from other meditation techniques. It's even different from other Vipassana meditation techniques. The reason this is signficant is not because I'm an elitist snob who thinks my technique is the best. Quite the contrary. At …
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful holiday full of family, friends, and love.
Doing Nothing Is Something
In our fast paced world where we're evaluated by what we accomplish, it's strange to consider the value of doing nothing. Sure, you can count the number of hours you sit or the number of courses you complete, but no one's giving you certificates or congratulating you based on this score card. What I gain …
Living Vipassana 