Neurodharma

Radically for his time, the Buddha said that it is not birth but intentional actions of thought, word, and deed that make a person truly noble.

As Milarepa, the Tibetan sage, described his life of practice: In the beginning nothing came, in the middle nothing stayed, and in the end nothing left.

Can we be at peace with what happens? Different parts of the brain handle liking—enjoying or preferring something—and wanting, in the sense here of craving.

Please go at your own pace and, as a teacher told me many years ago, keep going.

These three kinds of meditation—focused attention, open awareness, abiding as awareness—form a natural sequence.

From time to time, consider how a particular experience could be changing your brain bit by bit, for better or worse.

The four wishes are for others and ourselves to be “safe, healthy, happy, and at ease.”

always consider whether his actions were skillful and led to beneficial results. He told Rahula to reflect in this way before, during, and after all acts of thought, word, and deed. If an action was skillful and beneficial, fine; otherwise don’t do it.

I once asked the teacher Gil Fronsdal what he did in his own practice. He paused and then smiled and said, “I stop for suffering.” This is where practice begins: facing suffering in ourselves and others.

Explore the seven ways of being—steadiness, lovingness, fullness, wholeness, nowness, allness, and timelessness—and try to get a clear sense of each one. Imagine or feel that they are already natural for you, already part of who you are.