emotions
There is hope! There is a place of inner confidence from which we can see what’s going on. This isn’t the false bravado of ego that represents an over-compensation for not knowing. Nor is it the misguided sense of certainty through which we set up an external symbol and to which we give up our [...]
The symbols, structures and beliefs we use to organize and sedate this endless river of impressions and habits are provisional and temporary illusions of stability. Emotions, thoughts and perceptions are moving through our awareness in constant flux. The symbols, structures and beliefs we use to organize and sedate this endless river of impressions and habits [...]
In his Discourse on Method (1637), René Descartes famously penned “Je pense donc je suis” (I think therefore I am), which became one of the bedrocks of modern Western philosophy. We are possessive of our thoughts (i.e. intellectual property). We strongly identify with, and generally assume, not only the supremacy, but also the primacy of [...]
How do we develop a sense of open awareness from which we can observe our thoughts, emotions and habits from a neutral, clear place? How can we recognize what’s really going on within us and understand the causes and conditions that form the basis of our experience, and in turn, our future context of meaning? [...]
The more I settle into life here, the more I become aware of my inner patterns—my fluctuating thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Living at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB), I’ve become much more aware of how my perceptions of my surroundings are a reflection of my mental state at the time. Living in a [...]
On an early January visit to my sister in New York City, my family and I played tourists and walked around Manhattan, soaking up the city. We ambled up Fifth Avenue, passing by Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and scores of flagship stores of companies such as Fendi, Cartier, Gucci, and Giorgio Armani. On this [...]
When I was a kid, I loved to hide. Playing in my bedroom, I’d sneakily dive under the covers and sit there, a smiling, smug child, thinking I was invisible. “Audrey’s hiding again,” my older sister would proclaim, in a rolling-her-eyes type tone. “That’s okay. Let her hide,” my mother would respond, allowing me to [...]