- Why the Buddha Taught You TO Think
We're often told that meditation means emptying the mind. But the Buddha's own path to enlightenment tells a different story. We explore how Right Intention (sammā saṅkappa) and two famous suttas show that practice isn't about stopping…
- Why You Don't Do What You Know You Should
How often does it happen that we know what to do and yet don't do it? In the West this is often chalked up to "weakness of the will", but the Buddha had a different diagnosis.
- Mindfulness of Absence: Buddhist Meditation Practice
Mindfulness is ordinarily a practice of awareness of what is present to us, right now. But one aspect of such meditation involves being mindful of things that are not present. We will look at this aspect with reference to early suttas and…
- Removing Negative Thoughts: Five Early Buddhist Techniques
We will discuss five techniques in early Buddhism for removing negative thoughts. Often it's said that we should simply observe thoughts arise and pass, not trying to influence them. This is a very good practice, but the Buddha suggested…