I have spent a few months engaging myself in a regular study and consideration of Buddhism. My schedule now calls for me to move onto other studies, which makes this a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned, how I’ve learned it, the methods I used, and the advice I would give myself or another interested in a similar venture. My introduction to Buddhism began with an interest in...
The Pali cannon (MN 36) tells the story of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Before his liberation, the to-be Buddha tortured himself by emaciating himself and restricting his breathing, in his search for ultimate liberation. Past masters had failed him in his ultimate quest, and so he strived to find his own way. But when these efforts bore him to fruits, he considered that not all that is...
Emotions are a central concept in Western psychology and its language for introspection. The definition of “emotion” is nebulous, incorporating and alluding to a range of phenomenon, and yet it is an extremely powerful category for defining and referring to the human experience. Buddhism has a deeply and long developed model for describing, identifying, and deconstructing mental...
Setting: Aristotle (the philosopher) and Alexander (the young, one day to be ‘the great’) are walking home from a speech by Protagoras the sophist. Alexander: Are the words of Protagoras true; that the ways of men are whimsical and at the mercy of the winds? Or perhaps it is true that man is the puppet of his soul? Aristotle: What a fine question young Alexander. The Oracle of Apollo...
Samma samadhi is the last of the listed eightfold path. It is the nurturing of a mental state already present in every state of consciousness. It aims at the development of citt’ekagatta one pointedness of mind, when the mind centres its acts of consciousness around an object. Samadhi can be recognized by two salient features: Unbroken attentiveness to an object A consequent tranquillity...
A few things have entered my awareness recently, and combined with my present struggles and goals to produce an inspiration. I’ve been introduced to the DBT skill radical acceptance. I’ve come across strategies for reparenting and for relearning responses. And have discovered that the creator of DBT herself persevered through psychiatric struggles. Radical acceptance At DBT I have...
Samma sati is right mindfulness. Sati is also translated as “bare attention”. It contrasts with the familiar mode of consciousness, which uses impressions as inspiration for its experiential confabulations. Those are the papañca elaborations, or embellishments, which are used as springs for the expression of latent defilements. The Buddha described four foundations of sati...
Khan Academy[I] is awesome. Learning maths with Khan Academy is fun and rewarding. Here’s how I started, why I started, my thoughts and experiences. How I started Its been a decade since I last did any mathematics, and whilst I can still remember many general principles and a few rules, the maths part of my brain has certainly grown more than a little rusty. It’s not just forgetting...
This is a diary of a perfect, impossible day. One that epitomises, exemplifies, and trends towards my various goals, values, and desires for expressions. A Morning Wake up and whisper a personal mantra. Paint the constellations. This expresses my hope in transcendental significance, and drive to ascend ever higher, to get to the place to get to the place. Shower and shave and teeth, practising...
Dear stranger, Down the road is a bridge over a cement creek. The waters are always very low, except when it rains, then it stays high for a few days. In the middle of the creek, to the side of the bridge, is a supermarket trolley lying on its side, half submerged. I walk over the bridge most days – to the train station, or the shops, or the library – and sometimes I see two ducks standing next...
