In Buddhist psychology, the instructions for thought transformation are very explicit. The Buddha instructs his followers, “Like a skilled carpenter who removes a coarse peg by knocking it out with a fine one, so a person removes a pain-producing thought by substituting a beautiful one.” The carpenter’s peg is a practical description of how we can

man (or woman) of knowledge is aware that the world will change completely as soon as they stop talking to themselves.”

Buddha. As we shall see, the transforming power of mindfulness underlies all of Buddhist psychology. To those who seek self-understanding, the Buddha teaches, “With the mind, to observe the mind.” The central tool for investigating consciousness is our own observation. With mindfulness, we can direct our attention to notice what is going on inside

A relationship matures when each partner grants the possibility that the other may be right (even though we may not always believe it).

The hospital was out in the farmlands, just off a tollway.The exit to the hospital had an unmanned machine to collect fifty cents from each car, but not everyone paid. A psychologist who worked at the hospital began to wonder about this. He set up a hidden camera to record who paid and who didn’t. Then he looked at the hospital record of healed and

In the same way, through inner practice and prompting, we plant the seeds of consciousness that can transform any difficulty.

Who, being loved, is poor? —Oscar Wilde

If you relax and allow this experience of unfixed knowing, you will discover what Buddhist writers call the clear open sky of awareness. It is empty like space, but unlike space it is sentient; it knows experience. In its true state, consciousness is simply this knowing—clear, open, awake, without color or form, containing all things, yet not limit

This is the mirror-like nature of consciousness: reflective, luminous, untarnished, and peaceful.