In a chess game, the first moves are usually quite important. Players aim at taking some control of the center of the board and allow...

How should I practice? This is an important question, and its answer is made somehow fuzzy by the multitude of different methods,...

Force develops against resistance. Growth demands constraints. When constraints work systematically and methodically, they create a...

In the beginning of the Bhagavad Gītā (2.50) we encounter the following short definition: yogaḥ karmasu kuśalam, which might be...

There is a condition in which life flows by itself. It does not matter what exactly is experienced, but whatever happens seems to unfold...

We might encounter teachings, practices, and other aspects of contemplative traditions in a pretty random way: a Buddha Head looking out...

Whatever feeling is felt (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral), do not indulge in craving for the pleasant, or in aversion for the...

In the Udana 3.5 there is this short stanza: “Sati kāyagatā upaṭṭhitā, Chasu phassāyatanesu saṁvuto; Satataṁ bhikkhu samāhito, Jaññā...

As any pianist would know, there are two boundaries within which any interpretation has to move. On the one hand, one is confronted with...

The discourses present the teachings of the Buddha as potentially addressed to everybody, although they also make it clear that not...

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) said: 'by sculpture I understand that which one does by force of taking away' ('per scultura io...

A core business of the practice presented in the discourses is to reach a form of dispassion and emotional neutrality. This means that no...

Even superficial familiarity with the history of philosophy and ideas (especially from a global perspective) immediately reveals that...

In Sanskrit and Pāli, yoga literally means 'yoke.' Like the yoke put by farmers on the neck of oxen. In a more metaphorical sense, yoga...

In They Live (1988, directed by John Carpenter), the world is ruled by an invisible alien elite. Everything looks normal and fine, but it...

Very often, the Buddha describes awakening as the extinction of greed, aversion, and ignorance. On some occasions (e.g. MN 72 and SN...

A core notion in the discourses of the Buddha concerns one's attitude towards experience, and in particular the ability of not...

In today's Western culture, it's fairly common to raise the question 'what is the meaning of life?' The reason for raising this question...

It is common in the discourses to come across seemingly ordinary qualities (recollection, energy, effort, tranquility, to mention but a...

On one occasion (MN 37), the Buddha is asked to summarize his teaching in a brief statement. And this is what he came up with: sabbe...