Tag: dailysuccesshabits
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95. When Doubts Arise, Simply Say Not Two
The Third Ancestor Hsin Hsin Ming’s now famous Trust In Mind is quoted in it’s entiretyelsewhere on this website. Towards the end, the ancestor states:“To come directly into harmony with reality.Just simply say when doubts arise, not two.”In this “not two” nothing is separate, nothing excluded.No matter when or where, enlightenment means entering this truth.”…
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Learning to be Intolerant
Acceptance is a big deal in Buddhist circles. We’re told that we must accept suffering, accept mistreatment, accept the opinions of others. We’re told to be like the ocean, which accepts all things and rejects nothing. Much of this thinking is rooted in a slavish dependence on the absolute. This is especially true in Zen…
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Lost Cats and Buddhist Love
As I write this one of our cats, Finn, is sprawled across my lap. He is an all-white, American short hair with blue eyes and below average intelligence. I’ve watched him carefully plan his leap onto the bookshelf only to jump headfirst into the wall. And he regularly gets lost wandering through our house; meowing…
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still here
I had already waited three months for the approval that was supposed to take 30 days. My Social Security application was in some kind of paper purgatory. It was understandable. Thousands of employees had been fired. Offices, closed. The phone system was jammed and the computer system was down. As DOGE tore deeper into the…
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here for you
For a few months I’ve been hearing this phrase—here for you—in unlikely places. The words have stayed with me like a thrum beneath the sickening roar of our civic dismantling. Someone is here for me. Someone is here for me in my forsakenness; someone stands ready to help. It started in the still, small quiet…
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A chair in snow
One afternoon not long ago, as I was walking in a local gym, I watched a student shooting hoops in an unusual way. On the fingertips of his right hand, he held a basketball. In the palm of his left, he held a cell phone. After taking a single-handed shot, and before the ball had…
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Judgment and discernment
Imagine, if you will, that you are having lunch with a friend in your favorite diner. It’s a cold winter’s day, and both of you have ordered bowls of chili. Sampling a spoonful, your friend notes that the chili is spicier than usual. That’s fine with him but not so fine with you. It’s far…
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97. Trying To Suppress Thoughts Is A Mistake
There is an interesting and productive way to view and digest the conundrum ofthinking in meditation. Sometimes it can become a hindrance, while at other times,thinking is a necessary function and integral part of being human. Let’s explorethis in the following manner: Begin by noting that when you are doing anything, whether it be physical…
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Hells Bells and Buddhist Purelands
As I write this essay, there is an AC/DC album playing in the background. I like AC/DC for a couple of reasons. First, they are objectively the greatest rock band of all time; putting out bangers like You Shook Me All Night Long, Thunderstruck, and the infamous T.N.T. Second, the incongruity in their early…
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Nurturing the Seeds of Virtue
Three years ago, I planted asparagus in our garden. Asparagus is a centerpiece of many homesteads because it’s nutritious, easy to grow, and it comes back every year. But gardeners must abide by several rules if they want their asparagus patch to feed them year after year. First, the asparagus can’t be harvested for the…