In my last blog, I explained that in order to overcome anger, we must change our views. Buddha taught that we must regard the objects of our views as dreams. Buddha also taught that to overcome all suffering and attain true and lasting happiness, we must cultivate right views and...

Buddha Shakyamuni taught that we should regard our waking experiences as if they were dreams. We ordinarily think there is a big difference between the objects of our dreams and the objects of our waking experience -- believing the objects of our dreams are merely mind-created but the objects of...

Shakyamuni Buddha taught 12 interdependent links of causation that keep us trapped in a suffering existence. This is called "nidana," or "the nidana chain." In this blog, I am going to explain three of the links and how we can guard our minds between meditations sessions to help us break...

In this blog post, I am going to discuss some ways to cultivate and practice the perfection of joyful effort, or just effort, for short. Effort, as well as the other five perfections, is called a 'perfection' rather than merely a 'virtue,' because all perfections differ in an important way...

Wisdom is the Bodhisattva perfection that brings true and lasting happiness as well as the end of all suffering. With the attainment of this virtue, a Bodhisattva becomes a fully-enlightened being. He or she knows, from experience, the complete path to enlightenment. The mind of someone who has attained the...

When we engage in non-virtuous activities, we place negative potentialities in our minds. In general, all negative actions are caused by the root delusions of anger, grasping attachment (or craving) and ignorance. Ignorance may be thought of as the "tap root" of all delusions, because anger and craving arise in...

There are said to be three principle aspects of the path to Buddhahood -- renunciation, bodhicitta and wisdom. These are called "principle aspects" because of the crucial role they play in following the path. Most of the other aspects of the path can be understood as either steps necessary to...

The Constitution of the United States, as we learn in high-school civics class, is based upon the social-contract political philosophy of the English philosopher, John Locke. Two of the fundamental assumptions upon which Locke constructed his theory are that everyone has the fundamental rights of life, liberty and property, and...

In an episode of my radio program, The Life of Universal Loving, entitled "The Perfections and the Virtues: What's the Difference," I explained that a virtue is a disposition to act, think and/or feel in particular types of circumstance as persons of good character would act, think and/or...

There are three types of meditation that are coordinated in what is called, "lojong meditation," which are employed by a Bodhisattva to advance on the path of Buddhahood: "calming meditation," "analytic meditation" and "placement meditation." In addition to these three types of meditation, we can also refer to two other...

In my blog, "How to Use Meditation to Become a Buddha," I explained the process of meditation that is used in Tibetan, lojong meditation. Lojong is Tibetan for "mind training," and this type of meditation is very effective as a tool for changing the world we perceive. I...

Renunciation is the attitude toward mundane things such as wealth, power and fame that they are not, in themselves, sources of true and lasting happiness and are only useful in so far as they enable us to make progress toward our spiritual goal. What we need to progress toward our...

In my last blog, I explained the use of mindfulness as a mind-training technique. A bodhisattva needs to be vigilant constantly in walking the path to Budddhahood -- mindful of her or his thoughts and feelings and alert to those that are non-virtuous. Alertness is a mind-training skill...

Bodhisattvas employ the faculty of mindfulness in order to maintain consciousness of "the present moment." In fact, we could define mindfulness as "controlled, conscious awareness of all of the contents of one's mind." It is useful to distinguish mindfulness from the faculty of "alertness," which assesses the character of a...

Bodhichitta abides in two precious ways;
Keep both of these in mind.
The goal to become a Buddha for all
Is what we first must find.

But having a goal bereft any Effort
Will always leave us behind.
With Effort seek the goal in practice;
Employ the...

Patience is the Mahayana Buddhist virtue that overcomes anger. According to this religious point of view, an angry mind is the result of ignorance, and when we act out of anger, we always cause ourselves spiritual harm. We often harm others when we act out of anger, but we always...