Blog

What is Dukkha?

The Rubber Ducky Buddha of Joliet thinks I need to dig deeper into Dukkha itself. The Prism of Suffering In the Western world, Dukkha is typically translated as "suffering". That typical translation is drawn from Siddhartha Gautama's succinct and seminal realization under the Bodhi Tree that "clinging is the cause of all suffering". To me, … Continue reading What is Dukkha? →

The Root of Dukkha – Part 4 – Wrath and Sloth

Analogous to how Lust, Greed, and Gluttony arise from Envy, the last two of the Seven Deadly Sins, Wrath and Sloth arises from Pride. From the perspective of the quasi evolutionary psychology point of view of this blog series, Wrath and Sloth emerges in our Earthly lives from our fight or flight mechanism, respectively. That is, the … Continue reading The Root of Dukkha – Part 4 – Wrath and Sloth →

The Other Shore

The Heart of the Matter Early this morning I was recalling Thict Nhat Hanh's  English interpretation of the Heart Sutra and its place in my Bodhi Day ceremony last year. In particular, the phrase "... while practicing deeply with the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore ...", strikes a profound chord within me. I envision … Continue reading The Other Shore →

The Root of Dukkha – Part 3 – Lust, Gluttony, Greed

Situation Addiction goes way beyond the vices we normally think of such as gambling and drugs. If vices were the only addictions, why are there so many miserable people who aren't drug or gambling addicts? That's because anything we desire is an addiction - whether under the societal norms in which you happen to live … Continue reading The Root of Dukkha – Part 3 – Lust, Gluttony, Greed →

The Root of Dukkha – Part 2 – Pride

Enlightenment Vaporized Out of My Head The biggest hindrance to being enlightened isn't obtaining enlightenment itself. As it's said with making money, the hard part is keeping it. As soon as you leave your chosen enlightenment seminar or retreat back to the "real world", any spark of enlightenment is vaporized out of you by unavoidable … Continue reading The Root of Dukkha – Part 2 – Pride →

The Root of Dukkha – Part 1 – Envy

Why do we suffer? Why do we cling to horrible things from our past that should just be left behind like garbage or futures we only imagine? Conversely, we cling to things we hold dear that are pulling away from us or obsessively pursue dreams we are warned to be careful about wishing for because … Continue reading The Root of Dukkha – Part 1 – Envy →

My Zen Art

A principle I try to uphold on this site is that there is no requirement for belief in a supernatural power. No Magic Necessary. By "supernatural", I mean things not of our “normal” experience readily explained by math and science. For example, answered prayers, Angels, psychic powers, or 5-dimensional beings. I certainly believe in something much bigger than us, … Continue reading My Zen Art →

Compound Interest of Enlightenment

Freeing ourselves from dukkha saves us energy, no different than how a well-tuned car engine is more energy efficient. We can use that freed energy to fuel us further through the chaotic Yin and Yang dynamics of our daily lives. We can divert that energy from anger, envy, jealously, etc towards improving our ability to … Continue reading Compound Interest of Enlightenment →

The Four Noble Truths is an SBAR

Miscommunication results in unnecessary and disastrous errors while engaged in "battle". While in the chaos of battle, communication between team members is severely hampered. If communication were consistently structured, succinct, and deeply ingrained in the team's culture, information could be passed with higher fidelity. That structure should identify the problem, provide some background on the … Continue reading The Four Noble Truths is an SBAR →