The Tribe
“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.” —14th Dalai Lama
We live in an interconnected world. Like ripples in a pond, our thoughts, speech, and deeds influence and affect each other, waxing and waning like a delicate dance of our lives unfolding. Read on for reflections, thoughts, and theories that examine how we interact with each other and our environment.
Looking over the wreckage of the discarded ideas that have claimed universality over human history, it is obvious that any such claim is fragile at best. The only exception to this general rule is the continued re-emergence of personal experience as the ultimate ground in which we can put our trust. We are constantly dissuaded [...]
The New Yorker magazine has a very insightful article on psychological studies about kids and self-control (It’s long, but worth a read). It illustrates a lot of different, subtle aspects of Patience. The original 1960s study tempted 4-year old kids with snacks placed right in front of them, where they are rewarded with extra snacks [...]
When I was a kid, I loved to hide. Playing in my bedroom, I’d sneakily dive under the covers and sit there, a smiling, smug child, thinking I was invisible. “Audrey’s hiding again,” my older sister would proclaim, in a rolling-her-eyes type tone. “That’s okay. Let her hide,” my mother would respond, allowing me to [...]
So what did Buddha have to say about our modern experience? Our fundamental problem is our crowning achievement. We have the potential for a radical, exciting freedom; yet, at the same time, we fear the responsibility. We vacillate from ecstasy and fear, openness and disappointment, feeling full of possibilities, and at the same time, recognize [...]
The Buddha urged his students to focus on their experiences, rather than trying to figure out the ultimate reason for their existence. “dharmas” are irreducible and basic units of our experience. Momentary and discrete, dharmas appear to be the objects of our cognitive awareness, but they also co-arise with the appearance of our cognitive awareness [...]