January 2012 mindfulness practice: Acceptance of desire Buddha, in the 4 Noble Truths teaching, starts off in its common translation, “Life is suffering.” However, I think a better translation is “Dissatisfaction is always present in human life.” This is easily seen by our own experience. I wake up in the morning and if I follow my … Continue reading January Mindfulness – Acceptance of Desire
Tag: Tara Brach
No resistance
No Resistance: A continuing commentary on Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach Our suffering points to resisting what actually is happening in this moment. Our resistance is the great saying “no” to our life – the life of the moment and the life of our karmic story. These two polarities of life, the mentally constructed story of … Continue reading No resistance
Saying “Yes” to this moment!
It’s strange how many decades it takes to digest the simplest instruction. So many layers and “ideas” about the instruction have to be peeled off. Our intellectual understanding keeps us in our heads without taking the instruction into our bodies and hearts. Perhaps that’s why Katagiri Roshi said, years ago, that one should practice for … Continue reading Saying “Yes” to this moment!
Compassionate Presence
Every now and then, I have to let go of my ideas of “Zen” or enlightenment. Over the years, I build up a construction of what I think enlightenment is or what I think practice is and then I bump into something else which breaks that idea open. I don’t particularly like these transitions in … Continue reading Compassionate Presence
Waking up from our trance
We make experience belong to a “self.” When this becomes the core of our experience, we lose sight of the wholeness of life. All suffering or dissatisfaction arises from a mistaken understanding that we are a separate and distinct self. This self imprisons us in our desires and fears. This self often judges itself poorly … Continue reading Waking up from our trance