Written Words

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 pills, and others) simply adds to the impurities [...]

When I gave an evening course of this nature at the Monterey Peninsula College, I was amazed by the amount of interest it developed. Apparently people are not only concerned about making a living, developing meaningful relationships and coping with the inevitability of [...]

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 blossom pushes through the snow in February in Japan, and [...]

In speaking or writing about vasanas, 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 building such habit energies. You would not be [...]

A good T’ai Chi Chih teacher must be able to detect the faults of the student – and then be able to correct them. This means that, through his or her own practice, the teacher must have come to more than a shallow [...]

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 still put the “I” in there. As they [...]

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) says there are sixty-odd joyous states of consciousness [...]