by Vishvapani | Oct 16, 2012 | Buddhism in the West, Featured, Mindfulness
Buddhist mindfulness practices are being used in settings from healthcare to corporate stress management and military training. This is the secular Mindfulness Movement. But can what else can mainstream society learn from Buddhism, and what does a Buddhist context add...
by Vishvapani | Oct 4, 2012 | Articles, Audio & Video, Buddhism, Featured, Gautama Buddha
The Buddha of history is not the same as the archetypal Buddha, but we can come close to him through the words he left behind and though imagination. This article was a keynote talk at the 2011 Triratna Buddhist Order Convention and reveals the Buddha to be a man of...
by Vishvapani | Sep 26, 2012 | Buddhism
A reflection on suffering and unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) – the motivation for deciding that ‘I must change the way I see the world’ Suffering is part of my life. Everything I experience is tinged with incompleteness. I cannot escape...
by Vishvapani | Sep 24, 2012 | Buddhism
Reflection on karma: our actions have consequences for better or for worse Everywhere I look in the universe I see things arising and passing away in dependence upon conditions. From galaxies and stars to micro-organisms, this pattern holds true. Things aren’t...
by Vishvapani | Sep 22, 2012 | Buddhism
Reflection on Death Here is my version of the second of the four reminders (also called the Four Preliminary Reflections): reflection on death and mortality. One day I will die. I cannot avoid it. It comes to everyone, and it will come to me. Everyone who has lived in...
by Vishvapani | Sep 20, 2012 | Buddhism, Practice
The Four Reminders are guided reflections on what Buddhism considers the basic facts of life. Turning them over is a way of reminding ourselves of what we know, but forget and jolting ourselves into activity. Here’s my version of the first of those reflections...
