Category Archives: Dharma

Finding equanimity and joy in giving, receiving, and letting go

Last night, during my weekly formal meditation practice with Portland Friends of the Dhamma, I took part in a revealing exercise in acceptance of the way things are. Next week Ajahn Thanissaro, abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in Southern California, will be teaching at Friends of the Dhamma. His topic will be on the importance of [...]
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Creating the causes and conditions of spiritual growth

In a recorded Dhamma talk given by Ajahn Jayasaro I listened to recently, he said it’s ineffective to use meditation and other forms of practice as a means to get something or somewhere. Rather, what’s important is to use one’s practice to create the causes and conditions for spiritual growth. That’s it: Just create the [...]
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Watching a doubtful mind

My visit to Abhayagiri Monastery last week – and the 13-hour drive to and from – is in the past. So too is the feeling that overcame me shortly after arriving early Friday evening. The Buddha speaks of three kinds of feeling: pleasant, unpleasant and neither pleasant nor unpleasant. What I experienced during the initial [...]
Also posted in Buddhism, Delusion, Desire, Dhamma, Dukkha, Suffering, The Buddha, Upasaka | Leave a comment

Letting Go and the Symmetry of Canoes

Tualatin River, September 22, 1999 On Friday I sold my canoe. The last time we had it in the water was the summer of, maybe, 2005. Since then it’s been in the backyard, covered with a decaying plastic tarp. It needed some minor repairs to make it usable and a lot of work to bring it [...]
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