The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology
As we have already seen, the function of this exercise is to nourish us with joy and happiness and to heal the wounds within us. But we have no doubts about letting go of this joy in order to embark on the work of observation. Joy and happiness come about because of physical and psychological conditions, and are as impermanent as all other physical
... See moreThich Nhat Hanh • Transformation And Healing: The Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Buddhims)
Our two-way meditation, then, is truly radical psychotherapy - psychotherapy so deep that overt and particular results may be very slow indeed to surface. Nevertheless, when sufficiently persisted in, it is sure to yield - more as a bonus than an expected reward - quite specific improvements in that “outer” scene, in the problem-ridden realm of our
... See moreDouglas Harding • On Having No Head
We all come to practice with questions, perhaps the most basic of which is “Why am I suffering?” We also come to practice with our private answers to that question, answers that involve blaming ourselves or others, or which catch us in endless cycles of hope and disappointment. These answers lie buried within our minds as grim unconscious beliefs,
... See moreBarry Magid • Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide
Our anger, anxiety and fear, for instance, are the ropes that bind us to suffering. If we want to be liberated from them, we need to observe their nature, which is ignorance, the lack of clear understanding. When we misunderstand a friend, we may become angry at him, and because of that, we may suffer. But when we look deeply into what has happened
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