Author: Selfless Anatta
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Forgiveness: Choosing to Overcome Anger and Resentment
Feeling angry or resentful is a decision one makes, and individuals can use particular techniques to aid in their forgiveness. Hatred never ceases through hatred, but through love alone is healed. This is an eternal law. The Buddha When we interact with other people, we judge our experiences with them as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.…
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Buddhist Meditations on Virtue: The Key to Transforming the Heart
Buddhist meditation practices that encourage feelings that promote peace of mind and happiness. When I was a teenager, I completely rejected the Roman Catholic Church and all its teachings. With no lingering doubts, I believed I was a hardcore atheist. This break from my past allowed me to freely explore other religious and spiritual traditions…
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Tibetan Buddhist Lamrim: Developing Equanimity
Learning to devalue yourself and value others equally. The three types of emotional reactions Whenever we encounter any phenomenon, we judge it as either positive, negative, or neutral. Buddhist psychology recognizes three types of reactions to our judgments. If we encounter something we judge to be pleasant or positive, we tend to want more of…
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The Practice of Giving: Understanding Generosity as a Core Buddhist Virtue
Generosity is a key practice on the path to spiritual enlightenment in Buddhism. Giving and Wisdom Before I began engaging in a regular spiritual practice, I was not particularly generous. I nearly always placed my own selfish desires above any other concerns. I’m not unique in that particular spiritual failing. As I became more focused…
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Floating Through the Mind: My Journey of Self-Discovery in a Float Tank
How I came to spend several hundred hours in a float tank practicing Tibetan Buddhist Lamrim. A personal journey From the time I was very young, I observed the activity of my mind. When I was three or four years old, I remember several occasions when I lay in bed and noticed this odd feeling…
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Earning Heaven: Parallels Between Pure Land Buddhism and Evangelical Christianity
Salvation in the afterlife is the shared quest in Pure Land Buddhism and Evangelical Christianity. Salesmanship of Organized Religion Religions must compete in the marketplace of ideas. If the sales pitch isn’t compelling, people won’t follow it. Without adherents, the religion dies. Religions all use a carrot-and-stick approach. Some emphasize the carrot, like the Christian…
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The Bodhisattva Vow: A Path to Compassion and Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhist views on the significance and practice of the Bodhisattva Vow. Embracing the Buddhist path requires letting go of this life’s attachments to focus on improving future lives. Interestingly, by doing so, one often finds that their current life is enhanced significantly, a fact that helps motivate continued practice. To attain tranquility in the…
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Exploring the Six Perfections: Transforming Mind and Spirit by Embracing Buddhist Virtues
Daily life for a Buddhist practitioner is following the Six Perfections in pursuit of enlightenment. The Six Perfections include generosity, ethical conduct, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom. They are called Perfections because these practices are all motivated by Bodhichitta, the desire to obtain enlightenment for the sake of others. Similar actions and behaviors that are…
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How to Create a Dry Float Sensory Deprivation Enclosure at Home for Meditation
A dry float tent was far more practical than installing an at-home float tank, and it’s nearly as good for meditation. The call of the mystic When I was in my early teens, I watched the movie Altered States, a horror film based loosely on the life of John C. Lilly, who, among other accomplishments,…