So to live in the present moment is also to accept and face these poisons as they arise, manifest, and return to the unconscious, and to practice observation meditation in order to transform them. This is a Buddhist practice. To live in the present is also to see the wonderful and wholesome things in order to nourish and protect them. Happiness is

In our everyday life, we may also produce poisons for our minds, and these poisons destroy not only us but also those who live with us, in the present and in the future too. Buddhism talks about three poisons: desire, hatred, and ignorance. In addition, there are other poisons whose capacity to do harm is very great: jealousy, prejudice, pride, sus

When we have a tea mediation, those who attend breathe in and out and recite the following gatha together before taking the first sip of tea: This cup of tea in my two hands— mindfulness is held uprightly. My mind and body dwell in the very here and now.

Sometimes we don’t want to go back into the past, but the past grabs hold of us and pulls us back. We have to look directly into the past, smile at it and say, “You can no longer oppress me. I am free of you.” The past is just a ghost. We know that the past is a ghost, but we allow the ghost to imprison us.

Life exists only in the present moment. To lose the present is to lose life. The Buddha’s meaning is very clear: we must

The ghosts of the past and the future take away a lot of our freedom. We can become their slaves. They follow us and condition our life, and order us about. But if we know how to deal with them, we will never fall under their influence. We only have to smile at them. We only need to breathe and come back to our awareness of the present moment and s

It is the way of deep observation to see that the past no longer exists and the future has not yet come, and to dwell at ease in the present moment, free from desire. When a person lives in this way, he has no hesitation in his heart. He gives up all anxieties and regrets, lets go of all binding desires, and cuts the fetters which prevent him from

“Living alone” means living to have sovereignty over ourselves, to have the freedom that comes from not being dragged away by the past, not living in fear of the future, and not being pulled around by strong emotions caused by the circumstances of the present.

To think that after death we no longer exist is a narrow view which in Buddhism is called the “nihilistic