It goes a lot deeper than how many times a day you check your phone. According to Buddhist teacher Judy Lief, distraction is the very foundation of ego, the way we protect ourselves against both the pain of life and the open space of awakened mind. You could even say that letting go of all distraction is the path to enlightenment. Distractions are everywhere, all the [...]
Developing the Mind of Great Capacity
A teaching on practices to generate bodhichitta by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. From one point of view, personal liberation without freeing others is selfish and unfair, because all sentient beings also have the natural right and desire to be free of suffering. Therefore, it is important for practitioners to engage in the practice of the stages of the path of the highest [...]
Buddhist researchers seek to reveal link between heart, mind
Researchers at Hong Kong’s Center of Buddhist Studies have published findings that point to a connection between the heart and the mind. Buddhism has long asserted a connection between the heart and the mind. The Sanskrit word citta and the Japanese word kokoro each translate to English as both “heart” and “mind.” Now, Buddhist researchers are trying to identify that [...]
Stuck at the Airport?
What better place to work with your mind? Here is a practice I have been working with for more than a decade. I recite, usually silently, these two sentences: May I meet this moment fully. May I meet it as a friend. These blessing phrases cultivate and sustain a mind of peace and goodwill. For me, they represent the promise of practice. “May I meet this moment fully” [...]
Three Questions for Coming Back to Now
While hiking, Buddhist practitioner Leslie Davis suddenly found her mind miles ahead of her body. She offers three questions you can ask yourself to reel your running mind back to the present moment. On a recent personal retreat, I hiked into Horn Canyon in the east end of Ojai, California. Due to the severe drought, it had been years since water had flowed alongside the [...]
How Do I Put My Mind to Rest?
Like the student in this famous koan, we constantly face the challenge of emotional turmoil and restless mind. You don't have to cut off your arm like he did, says Karen Maezen Miller, but you do have to cut off your conflicting emotions at their root. “Would you like to learn to meditate now?” I asked this of a student as we neared the end of the meditation class. I was [...]
Leading neuroscientists and Buddhists agree: “Consciousness is everywhere”
New theories in neuroscience suggest consciousness is an intrinsic property of everything, just like gravity. That development opens a world of opportunity for collaboration between Buddhists and neuroscientists. "The heart of consciousness," says neuroscientist Christof Koch, "is that it feels like something. How is it that a piece of matter, like my brain, can feel [...]
Living the Compassionate Life
This teaching by the Dalai Lama explains how the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and compassion lead inevitably to feelings of self-confidence and kindness. As human beings we all have the potential to be happy and compassionate people, and we also have the potential to be miserable and harmful to others. The potential for all these things is present within each of [...]
The Many Faces of the Dalai Lama
The world’s most famous “simple monk” is far from simple and more than just a monk. Barry Boyce is there as the Dalai Lama displays the many faces that make him such a unique and important figure. It was autumn 1979. Tense times. President Jimmy Carter was reeling from stagflation, the energy crisis, and the Iranian revolution. After being rebuffed by the State Department for [...]
Daily Life is Practice
All the moments of your day are teachings. If you look at them clearly, says Sylvia Boorstein, you’ll see the same fundamental truths the Buddha did. When I teach people how to use the breath to calm the mind and focus attention, I often mention something the Buddha said: that you should know, upon awakening, whether an inhalation or an exhalation is happening. He also said [...]