Spiritual Odyssey

It is interesting to speculate about Cosmic Rhythm. Although Buddhism says all effects come from causes (there being no “first cause”), many events seem the result of cyclic, not causal, influences. The plum [...]

In speaking or writing about vashanas, it is easy to give the impression that they are something “bad.” Actually, these “habit energies” are neither good nor bad. It is impossible to live everyday life without [...]

All organisms are in a constant state of purification – both spiritually and physically. Physically, the activity to throw off impurities brings on what we call “illness.” To put chemicals in the body (pain-killers, sleeping [...]

Most students come to T’ai Chi Chih feeling, “I am going to do a beneficial exercise.” Eventually they find it is beneficial – and joyous – but they still think of it as exercise, and [...]

People do their thinking with their emotions. This is a sure path to suffering. They manifest hate while speaking abstractly of love. Then they wonder why they have unfulfilled lives. The Buddhist Abidhamma (Buddhist psychology) [...]

At a recent T’ai Chi Chih meeting in the Albuquerque Center, I mentioned several sentences to give an insight into the truth of TCC and to motivate those who practice it. I was asked to [...]

There are some lazy people who do not want to take the trouble to do something properly and therefore invent rationalizations for not making the effort, usually using generalities such as “love,” and “freedom,” which [...]

To differentiate wisdom (Prajna) and consciousness (vijnana or chit) is difficult. When the mind is obscured by habitual thoughts, it may be referred to as consciousness. When the obscuring habitual notions are dispersed, it can [...]

When a student is having difficulty learning the simple T’ai Chi Chih movements, it is often because he or she is not moving correctly and has no clear concept of how to move. It is [...]

So-called “Enlightenment” (different in different traditions) implies realizing Unity. Dualistic thinking or practice cannot hope to realize Unity. Strangely enough, Mary Baker Eddy seems to have understood that. I do not believe that most followers [...]

In my view, there are three things to be done (realized): To recognize, deeply feel, and accord with Impermanence. Then, and only then, is it possible to find out Who and What we are (transcending [...]

In the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Buddha speaks of the “Perfection of Wisdom” and the admirable traits of the Bodhisattva. This wisdom is, of course, the Prajna, the inherent wisdom that is within all of us. [...]