Halfway through my month of practicing discipline, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about rest. By rest, I mean not only taking a break, although that’s valuable. I mean rest in the Jewish sense of the word. In other words, Sabbath. Sabbath is called a day…
Most of us tend to think of regret as a negative thing. It’s what lingers after a bad decision. But regret can be beneficial for us, even helpful. Here’s why we can call it the gift of regret: Regret shows your conscience is in the right…
A number of years ago, I decided to give running a try. Running has never been my thing. I don’t mind sprinting in a game, but the idea of just…running…never appealed to me. The first few times I ran, it was so terrible I went to…
Practicing discipline is often described through the five precepts of Buddhism. Many people take these five vows as a way to commit themselves to ethical daily life. But even for the rest of us, they provide helpful insights into shila/discipline. And remember, the overall focus of…
Here’s something I’ve learned already about practicing shila: discipline and meditation go hand in hand. Meditation is the foundation of the practice. I know I just talked about this in yesterday’s post, but everything I’m reading about shila emphasizes that cultivating a stable mind is the…
Here’s the foundation of all soul ninja wisdom: begin with a stable mind. A stable mind is what allows us to choose wisely, not reactively. It’s what gives us the discernment we need to do what is most needed. You can obviously see why a stable mind…
This month, for the Paramita Project, we’re going to be practicing shila (or sila) which is translated as discipline, self-discipline, ethics, or morality. Basically, shila is the act of living so that your values are reflected in your actions. It means trying to be a person…
The beloved Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron says generosity is the act of practicing three things: giving material things giving the gift of fearlessness driving away the darkness of ignorance Giving Material Things Material goods are the easiest for us to overcome–or, at the very least, the…
It’s human nature to want to be invincible. To feel strong in a way that vacuum-seals you from any pain or suffering. To feel that you cannot be conquered, and that you will prevail. If we didn’t feel this so deeply, superheroes would be far less…
“The result of generosity is always richness. The result of miserliness is always poverty. This principle is constant.” Sakya Pandita, 13th century Tibetan monk I want to talk about the underbelly of generosity today. I’ve been grappling with this quote for a couple of weeks now,…
