Author Archives for Colin
The Nature and Implications of Mudita
by L.R. OatesFrom Metta, Vol. 12, No. 2Altruistic joy is one of the four "sublime states" of mind — friendliness, compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity — which together form one related group among the various spiritual or physical exercises generally described as meditation or contemplatio ...>
Mudita
by C.F. KnightFrom Metta, Vol. 12, No. 2A feature of the Buddha-Dhamma is cognizance of the pairs of opposites in the training to get beyond them. The Buddha's method of mental training and development was to teach by first defining unwholesome or unskillful thoughts, words, and deeds, or practices ...>
Is Unselfish Joy Practicable?
by Nyanaponika TheraThe virtue of mudita [muditaa], 1 i.e., finding joy in the happiness and success of others, has not received sufficient attention either in expositions of Buddhist ethics, or in the meditative development of the four sublime states (brahma-vihara [brahma-vihaara]), of which mudit ...>
Mudita - The Buddha’s Teaching on Unselfish Joy
(Photo source: flickr.com)The awakened one, the Buddha, said:Here, O, Monks, a disciple lets his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of unselfish joy, and so the second, and so the third, and so the fourth. And thus the whole wide world, above, below, around, everywhere and equally, ...>
Transforming Problems
by Venerable Thubten Chodron©This is a lightly edited transcript of a talk given in Singapore, Sep 95.Our usual attitude - rejecting problemsWhen talking about "Transforming Problems", I think you might prefer I talk more about rejecting problems, rather than transforming them. Our usual attitude i ...>
Sustaining Present Awareness
by Lama Surya DasTonight I'd like to talk about how to practice Dzogchen sky-gazing and the essential point of it. I will introduce this by reading to you a poem, a pith-instruction from the first Jamgon Kontrul Rinpoche, who lived 100 years ago. It is called "View and Meditation of the Great Perfec ...>
View, Meditation, Action
by Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheArticle source: Gentle Voice Newsletter issue (#21) March 2004In the previous issue of the newsletter we featured Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s straightforward approach to the Buddhist view from his recent public talk “View, Meditation, Action”. In this excerpt Rinp ...>
The Taste of Freedom
by Bhikkhu BodhiThe clarion call of our present age is, without doubt, the call for freedom. Perhaps at no time in the past history of mankind so much as at present has the cry for freedom sounded so widely and so urgently, perhaps never before has it penetrated so deeply into the fabric of human ex ...>
De-perception
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Article source: www.accesstoinsight.org)Meditation teaches you the power of your perceptions. You come to see how the labels you apply to things, the images with which you visualize things, have a huge influence over what you see, how they can weigh you down with suffering and ...>
Fording the Stream: An Affirmation of the Bodhisattva Way of Life
Picture source: flickr.comby Ven Dharmakara Boda, The Buddhist Channel, Feb 23, 2008Los Angeles, CA (USA) -- There are few expressions which capture the essence of Madhyamika Buddhism better than "fording the stream and returning to it with equal measure".All of the teachings throughout the history ...>