Tag Archives: attachment
What I’ve come to understand of karma
Ending karma is the work of ending the mental conditions we’ve come to associate with everything. Often I see discussions about non-attachment to money, or power, or fame, or worldly possessions. These are all no doubt valuable endevours. But they also fall short of that ultimate mark. What about your attachment to your skin? Your view of the thing you’re looking at right now as a “computer screen”? This is why renunciation doesn’t solve all of your problems. Even a monk in retreat still has to deal with the issue of “trees”, “fart”, “feet” “wet” “ground”. These are the type of attachments that ultimately create our most incredible dukkha, the dukkha that keeps us bound to the conventional world. Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism
Tagged as attachment, Buddhism, karma, practice, right view, skhanda, Western Buddhism
Home, part 1
Recently we drove down to Seattle so that my wife could do a photo shoot at a favorite old park of ours (it’s the one I proposed to her at…). It’s been 4 years since we lived in Seattle. The … Continue reading →
Raising spiritual children
It will be awhile until the questions begin to emerge, but in time they will. And when that time comes I have no qualms with asking him if he wants to practice with me. And if he says no, he says no and he will enjoy racing matchbox cars around the Kitchen 500.
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Filed under Buddhism, Parenting
Tagged as attachment, Buddhism, Christianity, Indoctrination, meditation, Parenting, practice, religion, Western Buddhism
My Team
I will always love my teams, win, loose or otherwise. But I’ve abandoned the blind “my team is the greatest no matter what” mentality that I had as a child, because as a serious sports fan, hero-worship only blinds one to the reality of the situation. That kind of fanaticism is fine for a child, but the greater reality of the situation is much more complex, and deserves our criticism as much as our love. Continue reading →
Filed under Political
Tagged as attachment, Blind Patriotism, Detroit Sports, impermanence, Independence Day, liberals hate america, rationality
Why you should(n’t) be a parent
Those excuses you came up with about why it’s so damn hard to wake up in the middle of the night and why you’d rather be golfing with friends than feeding your kid dinner suddenly start to look ridiculous upon evaluation. They don’t go away overnight (or ever?), but you can begin to see them for what they are: hindrances. They hinder your ability to fully embrace this moment with kind-heartedness and acceptance. They hinder your ability to produce the end results you fantasize about (rather than put into action). And they hinder your ability to live with the love you usually feel about being a parent. Because even though the responsibilities of being a parent are enormous, a majority of the time we are able to embrace them with joy and a smile. Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism, Parenting
Tagged as attachment, effort, fatherhood, Parenting, right view
Still LOST?
But if the writers had closed every story line, and gave us all the answers, there’d be nothing to discuss, would there? Continue reading →
Filed under Other
Tagged as attachment, awakening, impermanence, interconnected, LOST, lost finale
Infection!
This weekend I brewed up my first Barley Wine. (Yeah, it’s a beer, not a wine). My apartment now reeks of hops and alcohol. Very nice. As I was brewing, I decided to pop open one of the Dunkleweisens that I … Continue reading →
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Filed under Buddhism, Home Brewing
Tagged as attachment, beer, Buddhism, compromise, essence, infected beer, right effort, right view
Atheism vs(?) Buddhism
I believe Buddhism to be largely apatheistic in it’s approach to deities. It doesn’t really matter if god/gods do exist, because they obviously don’t care about ending our suffering. It falls upon us to end the cycle of samsara (though we may call upon the bodhishatvahs to aid us). Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism
Tagged as apatheism, atheism, attachment, Buddhism, Eightfold Path, karma, practice, rationality, rebirth, religion, right view, suffering
It is what it is …… and that’s okay
Awhile back, during one of our Buddhist meetings, someone went off on a tangent about how she hates it when people say “It is what it is”, and how fatalistic and negative it is, that there is no hope in … Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism
Tagged as attachment, Buddhism, it is what it is, karma, right view, suffering
Someone said something about Buddhism!
Yet, there is a real problem here. Unfortunately, there are people who base their views off of what a comedian like Bill Maher or Dennis Miller or John Stewart has to say. Bill Maher has his version of the “ditto-heads” that flock to his every word, and spread it like a virus. So while I really don’t see anything to get upset with about his comments in and of themselves, the problem really lies with what happens to those comments when they reach the public. Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism
Tagged as attachment, beer, Bill Maher, Brit Hume, Buddhism, ego, intention, jokes, religion, right speech, Sarah Palin, suffering, Tiger Woods, Western Buddhism
Shhhh……
Then the switch just flips. It becomes easy. With the effort of a passing thought I made the determination that this subtle moving and sushing alone in the dark with my son was the better of the two options. And it became easy. Now I felt the comfort of my own sushing. My son stops stirring. Time to start sneaking backwards. Slowly. Carefully. Purposefully. Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism, Parenting
Tagged as attachment, change, effort, family, intention, meditation
My punishment became my path?
Reminiscing the other day, I remembered that one of my Father’s punishments for me was to ground me. Basically, the idea was that I when I came home from school, I couldn’t watch TV, play outside, talk on the phone or do anything other than chores, homework, eat dinner, and stay in my room. Sweeping the dust and pushing the dirt for punishment? WTF? Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism, Parenting
Tagged as attachment, grounded, intoxicants, meditation, punishment, self, suffering
A new (old) ritual
Lighting candles and incense, chanting, offering food and water, these things create the right environment for earnest practice. They are the same as hanging the ornaments on my tree, or watching It’s a Beautiful Life. Those things are not the Christmas Spirit in and of themselves, likewise my offering a pear on my Butsudan alter isn’t going to bring me enlightenment. But it helps me. I understand the symbolism, and how it should reflect in my life. Continue reading →
Filed under Buddhism, Personal
Tagged as attachment, chanting, christmas tree, intention, ritual
Recipe for Disaster/Lesson in attachment
The problem is in my attachment to what may or may not have been. Rather than just brew, and let things play out, I got all excited and anticipated something wonderful. I made up an unreasonable scenario in my head. And of course, when those expectations weren’t met, I suffered. Continue reading →
The Eightfold Path: Right Intention
When I brew a beer, I’m not doing it to win a medal. I’m not doing it win the admiration of friends and family. I’m not trying to get a high alcohol percent so that I’ll get wasted when I … Continue reading →
The Eightfold Path: Right View
“Suffering, he said, is when you don’t want the pain.” Continue reading →
Transfer of Essence
Today I transferred a batch of ale into the secondary fermenter. The reason you do this is to separate the beer from the yeast cake. Beer is made up of 4 main ingredients: Water, barley, hops, and yeast. The yeast … Continue reading →
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Filed under Buddhism, Home Brewing, Other
Tagged as attachment, beer, essence, self, transfer
