We assemble the thing we call “self” ourselves, according to Buddhist psychology. Gaylon Ferguson breaks down the five-step process of ego development.
What Are the Five Skandhas?
According to Buddhism, people are made of five aggregates, or “heaps.” These are known in Sanskrit as the skandhas.
The Key to Zen
Photo by Basil StrahmZen teachings by Sekkei Harada Roshi
I Love You — Pass the Cheese
What is love? That’s a tough question to answer. Perhaps, suggests Charles Spearin, we might do well to ask what it isn’t.
The Problem of Personality
We believe deeply in ourselves as personalities, says Ajahn Sumedho, each committed to the reality of our own personal history and distinctive traits.
The Heart Sutra: the Fullness of Emptiness
Emptiness is not something to be afraid of, says Thich Nhat Hanh. The Heart Sutra teaches us that form may be empty of self but it’s full of everything else.
Like Oil and Water
Photo by Greg Walters.There is a quality of pure awareness that is not fazed by fleeting thoughts, emotions, or sense impressions, explain Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. Even when they are together, pure awareness and the conditioned realm are always separate.
Into the Depths of Emptiness
Master Sheng Yen surveys the path to enlightenment, explaining how it progresses and where its pitfalls are. Our intellectual understanding, our temporary realizations, even the exalted state of oneness—all must be dropped to realize the deepest emptiness, the highest truth.
What is Khandha?
Khandha as defined by Ajahn Punnadhammo, an abbot of the Theravada tradition.
Deconstructing the “Self”
In the third in a four-part series by Dr. Reginald Ray on the “self” in Buddhism, he explores how we create the storyline of “self” and how to deconstruct it.