Start Where You Are

you don’t want to do. It’s gentle; at the very most, you say to yourself, “One day at a time.” Remedial action. The third part ...

process, rather than becoming more dependent. Resolution. The fourth aspect of laying down your evil action is the resolve not ...

and you offer it. Maybe you offer it during a cere- mony, maybe you put it out each morning, but in any case you physically offe ...

the dön; there’s some sense of “let it be.” There is even an incantation that says, “Not only do I not want you to go away, you ...

buy that stuff. And who is it that’s not going to buy that stuff? In truth, it’s your own wisdom. Under this slogan comes the te ...

the wisdom principle. Traditionally you offer cake. At the inner level, you’re inviting that principle to be alive and well in y ...

12 Empty Boat I had an interviewwith someone who said she couldn’t meditate; it was impossible because she had real-life problem ...

The slogan “Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence” goes along with this. Usually it is consid- ered a slogan for when you’re ...

throughout every day of our lives! This gift is given to us by the unexpected circumstances referred to in this slogan. After th ...

that it comes out of the blue. You’re walking down the street, caught in tunnel vision—talking to your- self—and not noticing an ...

up. Who did she think was going to wash these dishes, her mother? Did she think we were all her slaves? I was really getting int ...

we could let them stop our minds. Even if they only stop our mind for one point one seconds, we can rest in that little gap. Whe ...

13 Teachings for Life and Death T he five strengthsare the subject of two of the slogans: “Practice the five strengths, / The co ...

have to do. These slogans tell us to practice the five strengths: strong determination, familiarization, seed of virtue, reproac ...

there was less to hold on to, she became more grim and terrified, clenching her teeth and her hands. She was facing a vast abyss ...

Strong determination. The first strength is strong determination. Rather than some kind of dogged pushing through, strong determ ...

yourself. Dharma isn’t philosophy. Dharma is basi- cally a good recipe for how to cook yourself, how to soften the hardest, toug ...

of water. Buddha nature isn’t like a heart transplant that you get from elsewhere. “It isn’t as if you’re try- ing to teach a tr ...

Over the years, with encouragement from wonder- ful teachers, I have found that, rather than blaming yourself or yelling at your ...

you’re sowing seeds of wakefulness, seeds of being able to see the nature of mind, and seeds of being able to rest in unconditio ...