Being in this bardo period if you will, I can feel how much part of me wants to react, to create some sort of narrative to live in.

link: dangerous harvests

Buddhism is fundamentally interested in the desires of human beings, and offers a great deal of wisdom and practices for contending with them.

While Buddhism encourages moderation, or perhaps abstention, it is more clearly about self-control. The teachings create a context for looking at oneself not in a judgmental way based upon having desires, but upon the self-fulfillment and self-respect that comes from making skillful choices. True self-respect comes from doing no harm to oneself or others, and the fruits of this are love, compassion and equanimity.

Ehipassiko constitutes an open invitation to investigate, to scrutinize and if need be, even to criticize the Dhamma before accepting it. The practice of Buddha Dharma is a first person endeavor. You are called to use your own life as a lens, a light, and a laboratory. The beauty of this principle is that it dignifies and empowers each individual, and honors a person’s own ability to discern clearly whether the practice works or not.

As time went on, my interest in Buddhism became less about reaching a goal, as it was about fully enjoying the present moment, making some contribution to others, and not expecting more.

Underemphasized and left unmentioned by many teachers (Thich Nhat Hanh being a notable exception) is that, even short of full enlightenment, the state of being relaxed, present, and aware concurrently with following an ethical path of harmlessness, produces a very pleasurable feeling and a durable contentment.

- Allan Badiner

link: shambhala sun

Every sentence ensnares me anew in what I was trying to escape from.

link: the endless further