When I first heard the Buddhist teachings on loving kindness, compassion and forgiveness, I was incredibly skeptical. Coming from a background of drugs and violence, I saw those heart qualities as undesirable and perhaps unsafe. In the circles I ran in, compassion was seen as equivalent to weakness and would...

The First Truth:

The Buddha taught that life by its very nature is unsatisfactory, that some level of difficulty exists for all unenlightened beings in creation. We face sickness, old age, and death; the sense
pleasures we do experience don't last; and physical and perhaps emotional pain is...

The first teachings the Buddha gave after his enlightenment were the four noble truths. These were first delivered to the same ascetics he had been practicing with in the forest before his awakening. This giving of the truths is often referred to as the setting in motion of the wheel...

(con't from Part II)

He realized that when he really looked through the lens of concentration and then opened himself to mindful investigation, examining who was experiencing the moment and what the
nature of his self was, he eventually could see that even the self is impermanent. He concluded...

(con't from Part I)

He sought out all of the spiritual masters of his time. He studied with several great Hindu masters and learned all of the practices and wisdom they had to offer. During the course of that instruction he had many very pleasant spiritual experiences.

What he was...

March 20th 7:30pm

Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society
4300 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles 30029
323-655-4300

Join us at 7:30 for a reception prior to the screening. Following the film there will be a Q&A and book signing with Noah.

Fundraiser...

Let's go all the way back to the origin of this teaching and tradition--that is, to the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. How is it that we are still studying and practicing what he experienced
and taught more than 2,500 years later and on the other side of the planet?
...

The path of the spiritual revolutionary is a long-term and gradual journey toward awakening. If you are looking for a quick fi x or easy salvation, turn back now, plug back into the matrix, and enjoy your delusional existence. This is a path for rebels, malcontents, and truth seekers. The...

I came to this path and perspective from a place of deep confusion and great suffering. These teachings are not theoretical or philosophical to me; they have been directly experienced. Although I have already written in detail about my personal experiences of coming to and applying these practices in my...

Against the Stream is more than just another blog about Buddhism. It is a manifesto and field guide for the front lines of the revolution. It is the culmination of almost two decades of meditative dissonance from the next generation of Buddhists in the West. It is a call...