Author: Selfless Anatta
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True Cessations: The Transformative Journey of the Third Noble Truth
A practical guide to cessation practices that make the mind more peaceful and life more joyful. The young prince, Siddhārtha Gautama, grew up in opulence, but he found that he was not happy. His pleasures were fleeting, and he came to believe he would never be truly happy, enjoying a life free from the many…
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The Joyful Cure: How Rejoicing Leads to the Cessation of Jealousy
Rejoicing in the happiness and success of others and transforming jealousy into a feeling of joy and connectedness. In the Buddha’s Third Noble Truth, he taught that true cessation of human suffering exists. The suffering of anger ceases with the practice of patient acceptance. The suffering of attachment ceases by meditating on impermanence. The suffering…
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Transforming Desire into Liberation: Practical Wisdom from the Second Noble Truth
Understanding the nature of selfish desire, craving, and attachment is fundamental to discovering relief from suffering. Ignorance is Bliss? Cypher in the movie The Matrix, decided it was preferable to live a life of illusion than endure the harsh truths of reality. The matrix had pleasures, and people could delude themselves into believing they are…
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Human Suffering: Understanding Dukkha in the First Noble Truth
The Buddha’s encounters with suffering and his quest to understand and alleviate it, leading to the foundational Buddhist teachings on the universal nature of suffering (dukkha). The Traditional Story of the Buddha When a prince named Siddhārtha Gautama was born, the mystic seers of the time told the royal family that Siddhārtha would either become…
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The Downside of Beauty, Fame, and Wealth: The Illusion of Happiness and Fulfillment in Worldly Attainments
Most people engage in worldly pursuits, laboring under the false impression that they will find personal wholeness or satisfaction there. No satisfaction Dissatisfaction with life is a problem as old as antiquity. For savages of pre-history, life was a constant struggle to procure enough food to survive and obtain shelter from predators and other humans…
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Tibetan Buddhist Lamrim: The Initial Scope Meditations
A summary of the initial scope with links to detailed explanations of the five meditations. The Initial Scope, Intermediate Scope, and Great Scope of Lamrim When people are very young, they learn to crawl; later, they learn to walk; finally, they learn to run. Each skill builds on the previous one. Similarly, the scopes of…
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What is Buddhist Samsara?
Samsara refers to the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, characterized by suffering, impermanence, and the perpetual cycle of existence. In nature, nearly every process we observe exists in a cycle. It begins, grows, peaks, fades, and ends, most often repeating over and over again. Celestial bodies, like stars, have a life cycle. When they…
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Mindfulness Meditation Mastery: A Journey to Observing, Directing, and Sustaining Mental Focus
The ability to observe the mind, control its focus, and sustain concentration are the key practices of mindful meditation. A personal journey From the time I was very young, I observed the activity of my mind. I was an only child, growing up in a rural area, so I had plenty of alone time, often…
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Tibetan Buddhist Lamrin: Actions and Their Effects
Understanding Karma, morality, and personal responsibility For every action a person takes, there is an inevitable response, a consequence that will follow, connecting the action back to the source. Just as a spider’s web provides support while also ensnaring the spider, individuals reap the rewards of their wise choices and endure the consequences of their…