The "twelve-point-dependent-origination" (//paticcasamuppada//) starts with ignorance (//avijja//) and goes through kamma formations (//sankhara//), rebirth consciousness, mind and matter, sense contacts, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, and ends with death. Getting…
The Buddha was like a doctor, treating the spiritual ills of the human race. The path of practice he taught was like a course of therapy for suffering hearts and minds. This way of understanding the Buddha and his teachings dates back to the earliest texts, and yet is also very current. …
Karma is one of those words we don't translate. Its basic meaning is simple enough -- action. But because of the weight the Buddha's teachings give to the role of action, the Sanskrit word "karma'' is packed with many meanings and the English word "action'&#…
The image most often associated with meditation is that of a sitting Buddha fixed in a crossed-legged posture. While such a representation is undoubtedly inspirational and aesthetically pleasing, it unfortunately suggests to the uninitiated that meditation is a static, 'statue-like&#…
This is not such a simple question… The essence of dharma is liberation. Liberation from dukkha, from suffering in its widest meaning. And also liberation from any kind of delusion, any kind of ignorance. Sometimes liberation is portrayed as a goal at the end of one's path, and at ot…
