book-review
Book Review: Awareness by Anthony de Mello
"Awareness" is an invitation to embark on a journey of profound self-discovery; but it is not for the faint-hearted.
philosophy
What Does it Mean to Be Good
I haven recently been watching the TV show The Good Place. The titular Good Place is simply what we understand to be heaven; a place where some hope to go after they die to be rewarded for their good deeds while alive. It is explained that only the most outstanding
buddhism
Levels of Enlightenment
Argues that enlightenment is not attained absolutely. Instead it is achieved in steps, including plenty of backsliding.
enlightenment
Questions
We would often find that having many questions and few answers is an undesirable state. This is good since it drives us to find answers but also bad since it encourages us to ask less questions to have a smaller problem to begin with... In my opinion, we are far
enlightenment
Truth
It is easy to say and it feels right to say that we should seek truth. Truth is one of the key tenants of the Enlightenment movement. Rather than following superstitions and other socially constructed concepts, the early scientists of the enlightenment sought out truth which may be obtained by
compassion
Practice: Healing Compassion
I have already written about a practice centred on the powerful emotion of compassion. However, today I came across an interesting variation of a practice on compassion (in the book Happiness by Matthieu Ricard): one that reflects our own suffering onto others, and helps us heal from our own suffering.
enlightenment
Practice: Irrelevance and Impermanence
The universe is very big. We are very small. The universe exists for an immeasurably long time. Our lives are very short. These are simple facts that we often forget. An omission which easily leads us to overestimate the importance of our life, actions and feelings in the greater context
breathing
Practices for Enlightenment
I believe we all have moments in which we become the best versions of ourselves; moments in which we are ever so slightly closer to true and deep enlightenment. Unfortunately, these moments are rare and we digress from whatever insights we have gained easily. For instance, we might realise that
christianity
Practice: Forgiveness
I think it is human nature that we are constantly disappointed with ourselves and others. One fundamental driver for this is our struggle between altruism and selfishness. We are programmed to be supportive and helpful to those around us but we are also programmed to look out for our own
ease
Struggle and Ease
I think the tension between the difficult and the easy, between that which we can do only with struggle, and that we we can do with ease, is an important dimension to consider for how we design our lives. We have a natural tendency to seek out the easiest path