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Traits of the Awakened Mind, Part 1: Compassion

July 31, 2023   |   Leave a reply

Hello Open Heart Project, According to Buddhist thought, the awakened mind has three qualities. Although I’ve said many times that having goals for your practice is a bad idea, I’m now going to suggest that there actually are goals and they are to realize these three qualities. However, the path is not accomplished by conventional means. Interestingly, these qualities arise... READ MORE

Is it even possible to let go of my ego?

June 12, 2023   |   1 Comment

  Hello Open Heart Project, As a Buddhist teacher and someone with a lifelong interest in spirituality, I have attended my share of, well, interesting gatherings. From months-long meditation retreats where the vast and profound dharma is practiced, to sweaty evenings of devotional chanting, to workshops on using Sacred Geometry to attract love, to cocktail parties where sage is burned... READ MORE

Are you a Buddhist? I don’t know. You tell me.

May 1, 2023   |   15 Comments

Dear Open Heart Project, How do you know if you’re Buddhist? I knew I was a Buddhist the moment I read a book by Chogyam Trungpa called The Heart of the Buddha. This is how I already think, only I didn’t know it, I said to myself. I must be a Buddhist. From that moment, the fates conspired to place... READ MORE

The Teacher-Student Relationship: Liberating or a Trap?

July 27, 2017   |   33 Comments

I’m a 20+ year practitioner in a Tibetan Vajrayana tradition. It is based on teachings brought to the West by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. There are things in these seemingly straightforward sentences that might piss some people off. There are people who say that the Vajrayana (the third “yana” or vehicle of Buddhist teachings, aka the esoteric teachings) is not even... READ MORE

The Open Heart Project: 2015 Annual Report

January 5, 2016   |   11 Comments

Hello, to all! I hope your year is beginning in a delightfully auspicious way. Mine is, because I finished this $(#) annual report which has somehow taken about a week to write. (I thought it would take a couple of hours.) I share it with you here as an account of the ups and downs of 2015 which, as it... READ MORE

Start Here Now comes out today

September 15, 2015   |   11 Comments

My new book is out today. I am honored to share it with you. Personally, I really, really like it. I’m so happy about it. I woke up this morning at 5:30 wondering how the day would go, how I would feel about it all, (it’s such a vulnerable situation), and if the world would embrace it in any way.... READ MORE

The magic of a morning routine

September 9, 2015   |   4 Comments

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I felt productive, connected, and easeful. I accomplished work I was proud of. I liked myself. I focused on what mattered to me and honored my energy ebbs and flows. When I went to bed, I felt good-tired. The day before yesterday sucked. I wandered around in a fog. I watched a lot of television.... READ MORE

The one where I asked the Dalai Lama a question

September 8, 2015   |   9 Comments

Some years ago, my friend Josh was organizing a press conference at MIT for the Dalai Lama and the prominent neuroscientist Richard Davidson. They were there to answer questions about the Dalai Lama’s decades-long dialogue with scientists exploring the relationship of science and Eastern thought. Josh asked me if I wanted to go and of course I did. There were... READ MORE

Is writing an egotistical act?

July 8, 2015   |   2 Comments

I recently saw this question: Does anyone of you write morning pages? With Sokuzan Brown‘s talk today (in the Daily Dharma Gathering) I thought about the observing of the I and I was wondering if it is an act of holding on to the ego to constantly make I-statements in the free-writing. Generally, I would be interested what others think of journaling in connection to meditation.... READ MORE

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