Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book

One of my favorite Chögyam Trungpa observations is that we will never be decorated by our guru.16 Even if you are, I doubt if it will be of any great benefit to you, and it might even be harmful. Thus, two ironies of the spiritual life that we might encounter are that success can cause feelings of isolation and that the spiritual path can be a very

In this non-state, there is absolutely no time, no space, no reference point, no experience, no mind, no consciousness, no awareness, no background, no foreground, no nothingness, no somethingness, no body, no this, no that, no unity, no duality, and no anything else. “Reality” stops cold and then reappears. Thus, this is impossible to comprehend,

The Buddha said that the greatest of all powers is to understand and then teach the dharma, meaning to attain full realization, however you define it, and then to help others do the same. I had been advised to use this unique period in my practice well, and I resolved to attain this awakening for the benefit of all beings as quickly as was reasonab

Having understood things just as they are, this next stage, Change of Lineage, which also lasts for just a moment, permanently changes a meditator's mind in ways that I will discuss in just a bit. Such meditators join the ranks of the awakened.

Each of these doors has to do with complete understanding of the ultimate aspect of relative reality, and thus with realizing the ultimate nature of ultimate reality.15 Each door also relates to completely counteracting one of the three fundamental defilements. The impermanence door relates to counteracting fundamental ignorance. The suffering door

A take-home lesson from this period of my life: don't assume that anyone you are in a relationship with cares about how much insight you have, and instead assume that they care how you treat them, how well you listen to them, how well you take their point of view into account, and whether you are a decent friend. While I am on the subject, if you h

This stage, called Path (magga in Pali) also lasts just a moment, and after the first completed progress of insight it marks the first moment of the newly awakened being's awakened life. It marks a permanent shift in baseline perception and brain function. It is as if you have flipped a huge switch that you can't unflip, and new circuitry hums to l

The total synchrony of the sense sphere that leads to a Fruition shows a fun physiological fact: Fruitions always occur at the end of the out-breath, and reality always reappears at the beginning of the in-breath, which is one of the cool reasons that finding the end of the out-breath can be powerful practice.

In Equanimity, we can see the three characteristics in a way that applies to the whole field of experience: everything happens on its own, everything is shifting and ephemeral, everything that involves a “this” that seems to be watching “that” has this strange tension in it. Allowing that wisdom to come through and show itself naturally is key.