buddhism

Vajrayana (Buddhist Tantra) began in India, and most of its main developments happened there. There is no historical doubt about this; see for instance The Origins of Yoga and Tantra .

Buddhism is unique, as far as I know, in insisting that the kind of answers we want cannot be had, anywhere. Emptiness—inherent uncertainty—is at the heart of Buddhism. For this reason, Buddhism is sometimes described as “The Way of Disappointment.” If we follow it sincerely, Buddhism repeatedly crushes our hope that somehow it will satisfy our lon... See more

Stephen Zerfas, cofounder of Jhourney, a company that aims to help more people experience jhanas, describes them as “the opposite of a panic attack.” Instead of an escalating anxiety loop, jhanas are an escalating pleasure loop, the intensity of which is comparable — depending on whom you ask — to an orgasm, an MDMA-induced cuddle puddle, or the th... See more

What do the Buddhists know that Freud and the psychologists don't? Freud understood that we don't own our minds. He was onto the relative puniness of consciousness in relation to experience. But he didn't see the fluidity and changeability of the internal constellations. He kept trying to pin them down (and that's why his theories kept changing), i

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Spaciousness is functional only when wed with passion. Without passion, spaciousness produces only a stupid peacefulness. Spaciousness, by itself, is passive.

Compassion is about having good intentions. Tantra is not interested in that. Good intentions pave the road to mediocrity, self-righteousness, and irrelevance. Tantra cares about effective action, not socially-acceptable sentiments.

A sangha should be irritating. It should include many people whose experience and understanding of life is quite different from yours. They will rub you the wrong way, because the things they take for granted without thinking about them are different from the things you take for granted without thinking about them.

Tantra can seem extremely complex and technical. However, its mass of details are all just hints about how to maintain the passionate, spacious attitude.

I was the kind of kid who never stopped asking annoying “why?” questions. And I was lousy at learning facts by rote in school. I had to understand how the facts fit together in order to remember them. Unless a method made sense , I couldn’t use it to save my life. When taught a skill without explanation, I would complain “but it doesn’t get you any... See more