Buddha was a wealthy royal. Jesus was self-aware enough to know he was experiencing being human. So, in their early lives they didn’t know suffering the way common people did. That was part of the gig—finding out. But you can’t find out if you’ve always got a backup plan in your hip pocket, like returning […]
Have you ever noticed how we look to what other cultures do to stay healthy for a quick fix instead of changing our unhealthy habits? We search and search for that one miracle cure, miracle food, or miracle exercise that will erase the damage we’ve done and allow us to continue in a damaging way. […]
There is an old Zen koan that says, “If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him.” Koans are mini mysteries meant for us to relax into and ponder the deeper meanings of. Eventually, someday, when we’re ready, the riddle will reveal its answer. This whole process is meant to wake us up to greater […]
We have all heard variations on the adage, “That which can be given can be taken from us.” When it comes to matters of spirituality, we apply this truism as a motivator to find every important thing within ourselves, believing that what is found within cannot be taken. But there’s a catch: even those spiritual […]
Many who understand that enlightenment cannot be possessed because it is the dissolution of the possessor turn to the Buddhist path of the bodhisattva to help dissolve themselves. A bodhisattva is one who experiences nirvana—the selfless state free of suffering—but refuses the call to live in that freedom so that he or she may help […]