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[…] way that environment shapes what does arise. The effect of a technology is far reaching. In Understanding Media, McLuhan writes: The availability of cheap writing materials affected power in the Mediterranean. The Romans depended on papyrus from Egypt. When the supply was cut off by the Muslims, they lost control of the Mediterranean. Parchment […]
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[…] However, the more messages you miss, the more forceful the reminders. Consequently, this manifestation of awakened mind is often depicted in wrathful forms that represent the terrific power and immediacy of awakened mind when it manifests directly in your world of experience. Taking The Vow of Refuge Do I have to take the refuge […]
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[…] is regarded as an expression of one’s own mind. On the other, certainly in the rituals themselves, the deity is regarded as something that has agency and power in its own right. Are deities symbols? Are they independent figures? In general, the ontological status of deity in Western thought has long been fraught with […]
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[…] honor or a material debt, if I am in debt to you and am unable or unwilling to honor the debt, you can choose to use whatever power you have to compel me to make good on what I owe, or you can choose to forgive the debt. In today’s world, the person owed […]
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[…] the course of your life. The therapist provides a healing environment, a place where old hurts can be touched, without your being re-wounded. Change comes through the power of the emotional connection you experience with the therapist. He or she supports you, through presence, attention, and caring, in revisiting old hurts so they can […]
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[…] is a “Buddhist” way of responding. This election, with all its hyperbole and vitriol, combined with the high degree of polarization in this country, has brought out powerful emotional reactions in many of us. Those emotional reactions are reactions, and the path of Buddhism is about developing the skill and capacity — through emptiness, […]
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[…] repress feelings, it’s as if I’m cutting out a part of my own being. At best it’s a short-term solution. The feelings usually come back with a power and seeming vengeance all their own, and they tend to cause rather more havoc second time around. On the other hand, when I’m consumed by a […]
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[…] and beyond. Keep touching the place in you where faith and devotion reside. If that faith takes the form of a deep longing, then let that longing power your prayer. If that faith takes the form of confident understanding, then let that understanding power your prayer. And if your faith and devotion give rise […]
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[…] present in your daily life and not be run by the expectations of the world or the demands of reactive processes. It consists of a set of power-based methods for presence. Presence, of course, is the aim of all spiritual practice. But two problems consistently show up: Passivity in developing the level of attention […]
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[…] the great cathedrals of globalism, the World Trade Center towers, crumbled into dust. The tallest and grandest buildings of any culture represent beliefs in invincibility, entitlement, and power. When these illusions are shattered, fear arises. Events such as 9/11 and the anthrax mailings reveal that all of us are vulnerable to injury, ruin, and […]
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[…] practices (such as tumo, vase breathing, anu yoga, certain forms of pranayama and qi gong), practices in which you are transforming basic energies in the body to power attention, are all dangerous if not practiced properly. They can result in death, paralysis, or insanity, and for this reason need to be learned under the […]
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[…] learn a lot from her. So, while I teach others, I’m still a student. Could you elaborate on these approaches? The four approaches in spiritual work are power (the ability to go directly and just “do”); ecstasy (the ability to open); insight (the ability to see into); and compassion (the ability to let go). […]
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[…] we find that a whole realm of experience begins to open up to us: thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, sounds, images, memories. Our conditioned tendency is to regard some of these as good and some as bad. Through power, we have established a place for our attention to rest. Now we make an effort in ecstasy…
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[…] differently intentionally in given situations so that we know experientially that those possibilities are available to us. Internally, we will find the teachings on impermanence and suffering powerful aids to letting go of ideas about how the future should be for us. Finally, we make efforts, again internally and externally, to be able to […]
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[…] what arises in experience to avoid questioning that view of life and what we feel we are. Disillusionment Siddhartha could not simply ignore what he had seen. Power, wealth, and position became meaningless to him in the face of illness, old age, and death. His conception of life and what he was were turned […]
