The Workshop is in the Mind

To understand the whole purpose of Buddha’s teachings, we can learn and internalize the Four Noble Truths.  The Buddha challenges us to consider that suffering can indeed end.  The implications are h…

The Buddhist approach to anger is to understand these feelings in their widest context. We get angry when we don’t get what we want. So, first, we use patience, not in a passive-aggressive way, but t…

There are special skills we develop on the path. Rather than focusing on the external world, we learn to pay attention to the internal landscapes of our mind. At first, it might seem these crazy thou…

There are subtle levels of cognition that help us understand who we are in vivid detail.  But we have to get familiar with what we mean by “mind,” or “mind stream.” Buddha says “mind” is an experienc…

The Buddhist path is primarily concerned with working with one’s own mind. Why? Because that’s the source of all our suffering.

2:44 | Extracted from "When the Chocolate Runs Out" teachings given at …

On a deep level, we all have an intuitive craving or attachment. This frantic junkie mind gets reinforced with fear and hunger and drives us to suffering. We can learn to identify it and work with it…

“Know your own mind,” sums up the Buddhist view. Consider the Buddha’s view that the mind is the root cause for both pleasant and unpleasant emotions. We might not be able to change difficult externa…

At the base of many disturbing emotions lies fear.  Just look at an angry person’s face.

We must learn the mechanics of these emotions – their causes and effects.

3:41| Extracted from teachings given…

These steps lead through a counter-intuitive, courageous and altruistic state of mind. By contemplating these eight stanzas, we expand our capacity to understand a new perspective on suffering. We re…

If you look honestly at your mind, you will see anger, irritation, or craving. These negative mental states are called disturbing emotions because they do just that, disturb our well-being and get in…

Be careful about what you expect from meditation. It’s not a magic pill that will suddenly make you happy. We learn meditation to familiarize ourselves with our own minds. To clear out the trash. It …

Attending to the little things throughout the day, we can be aware of our subtle mental disturbances. That way we can deal with things as they come up. We identify what they are, and we talk ourselve…

The Buddha asks us to take responsibility for our own situation. That’s tough when it comes to suffering. It’s easy to slip into a victim mentality, blaming everyone but ourselves. Rather, muster the…

We feel a sense of entitlement about “deserving” happiness. But it’s more practical to look at our own craving and learn from it. Self-pity can impair our ability to access that information and use i…

When we cultivate habits of awareness, we discover the causes of our deepest hurt.  The regular, worldly awareness mostly ruminates about the past and frets about the future. Check your own mind. The…

Our deeply-ingrained mental habits help feed a profound sense of dissatisfaction. That’s what Buddha calls suffering, or samsara. This emotional hunger, or craving, we call attachment. When attachmen…

Buddha observes a simple moral framework of non-harming. The way we relate to others really creates the kind of person we become. It shapes how we experience the future in very particular ways. If th…

Everything we experience and everything we become, stems from our previous actions. It’s not just random. There is some structure and consistency to the law of cause and effect. Check with your own e…

Let’s take a closer look at this mind that we can see directly with our own consciousness. In Buddhism, we work to understand what’s happening inside us. So, we calm down and learn what our senses do…

The key reason we suffer are these neurotic emotions, which are based on a world view that is out-of-touch with reality. These misconceptions, according to Buddhist psychology, happen due to habitual…