- How to Stop Overthinking (An Ancient Buddhist Fix)
How can we escape being caught in our own stories? We'll look at the Buddha's diagnosis of how such stories get spun, then turn to various practices we can use to introduce space, ease, and so quiet down our inner storyteller.
- Obsessions, Compulsions: Mental Proliferation in Buddhism
What does early Buddhism have to tell us about our everyday obsessions and compulsions? We'll look at the centrality of such syndromes in Buddhist dharma, particularly around the idea of "papañca" or "mental proliferation". Note that I…
- 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…
- Escaping the Thought Trap
It sometimes seems we are trapped by our thoughts. We will look at how the Buddha considered thoughts, both in their general character, and also how he saw obsessive rumination arising and proliferating in the mind.
- Thinking and Practicing
How important is thought, reasoning, and cognition to our practice? Or is it just a kind of impediment? We'll look at some material from early Buddhism for answers to this question.