Latest posts
-
Wanting More: When Healthy Aspiration Becomes Craving
Key Takeaways 1. Introduction Why Wanting More Is Such a Common Human Experience In the modern world, the drive to acquire more, whether it is wealth, status, or even spiritual experiences, is often framed as the primary engine of progress. From a young age, we are conditioned to believe that our value is tied to…
-
Buddhist Comics – Part IV – Dependent Origination, Not-Self, Emptiness
Dependent Origination Not-Self Emptiness Two Truths
-
The Five Aggregates (Khandhas): A Contemplative Guide and 108 Reflections
With Sutta Central Links Key Takeaways Preamble & Scope Note This guide presents a structured exploration of the five aggregates (pañcakkhandhā), drawing primarily from the early Buddhist discourses preserved in the Pāli Nikāyas (specifically the Khandha Saṃyutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya). In the early suttas, the five aggregates are not presented as an ultimate ontology…
-
Winning, Losing, and the Buddhist Path: Victory and Defeat Across the Traditions
KeyTakeaways Introducotion “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” “Winning beats losing every time.” “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.” These three slogans, staples of twentieth century competitive culture, encode a theory of human worth. Victory is treated as close to the highest good available to a person. Defeat is…
-
Abhidhamma Explained Simply: A Guide to the Buddhist Psychology of Experience
Key Takeaways 1. Introduction to the Higher Teaching The word Abhidhamma translates as “Higher Teaching” or “Higher Doctrine” [Abhidhamma]. While the Buddha’s general discourses, collected in the Sutta Piṭaka, often used stories, parables, and everyday examples to point toward inner peace, this third collection of texts takes a markedly more analytical and systematic approach. If…
-
What Is Nibbāna? Understanding the Unconditioned in Modern Life
Key Takeaways 1. Introduction to the Ultimate Peace There is a quiet restlessness that pervades much of modern life. We may have more material comfort, more information, and more connectivity than any generation in history, yet a persistent, subtle sense of unease often follows us. We chase promotion after promotion, refresh social media feeds for…
-
The Two Truths: Conventional and Ultimate
Key Takeaways 1. Introduction: Why Two Truths Matter in Modern Life You wake up in the morning. You check your phone. There is a message from a colleague that upsets you. Your mind races with thoughts: “They are so unfair. I always work harder than them. This is typical.” By midday, you feel tired and…
-
The Sand Mandala: A Philosophical Education in Ritual and Impermanence
From the tantric monasteries of the Pala Dynasty to the museums of the contemporary West, the Tibetan sand mandala remains one of Buddhism’s most demanding and doctrinally complete ritual forms. Glossary Key Takeaways Introduction At first glance, a Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala appears to be a painting of extraordinary intricacy and chromatic intensity. But to…
-
Sand Mandala – Glossary
A – Article Term Language / category Definition AbhiṣekaSkt. Vajrayāna practice Tantric empowerment or ‘ripening initiation’ for a specific deity, authorising the practitioner to engage with that deity’s mandala. Four levels exist in the Anuttarayoga system: vase, secret, wisdom, and word. AdhiṣṭhānaSkt. General doctrine Blessings; the positive karmic energy and auspicious influence transmitted through a…