Three Teachings by Buddhadasa
Thai forest monk Buddhadasa reshaped modern Theravada by challenging doctrinal orthodoxy, arguing that the Abhidhamma was a later addition and that nibbana is an everyday cooling of reactive emotions. He taught a luminous, "empty" mind free of self‑attachment and reinterpreted the Buddhist concept of opapatika as mental rebirth occurring in each moment. His reforms extended to social realms through Dhammic Socialism and a pragmatic support for women’s practice via Dhammamata. The three core teachings—nibbana, freed mind, and birth—remain influential in contemporary Buddhist discourse.
Happiness Break: A Meditation For When You Have Too Much To Do
In a March 2026 episode of *Happiness Break*, host Dacher Keltner guides listeners through a brief meditation designed for professionals swamped with tasks. Guest Kia Afcari, director of Greater Good Workplaces at UC Berkeley, frames overwhelm as a relationship issue rather than...
A Meditation to (Gently) Interrupt Habitual Reactions
Family physician and mindfulness expert Patricia Rockman outlines a step‑by‑step meditation designed to interrupt automatic, habit‑driven reactions. The practice guides practitioners from posture awareness through breath focus, body scanning, and gentle redirection of attention when the mind wanders. By inviting...
One Stitch at a Time
The author recounts sewing an okesa, the traditional Zen ordination robe, as a meditative practice where each stitch serves as a mantra. The painstaking, collaborative effort mirrors the challenges of collective activism and personal resilience amid social upheaval. By intertwining...
How to Write Yourself Every Day
Write Yourself Every Day (WYED) is a low‑tech journaling method that uses a phone’s voice‑to‑text feature to capture unfiltered inner monologue for ten minutes each day. After recording, the transcript is reread as if it belonged to a fictional character,...
In Her Final Reflections, Jane Goodall Issues a Warning: “Without Hope, We Fall Into Apathy”
Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall passed away at 91 during a U.S. speaking tour, and her posthumous appearance on Netflix’s “Famous Last Words” delivered a stark warning about hope and apathy. In the interview, Goodall framed herself as a messenger tasked...
Unbounded
Emmy Noether, a pioneering early‑20th‑century mathematician, formulated two groundbreaking theorems linking continuous symmetries to conservation laws, providing the missing mathematical foundation for energy conservation in Einstein’s relativity. Despite lacking a formal position and facing gender discrimination, she taught unofficially, built...
Crying in the Multiverse: On the Potential of Possibility as a Literary Device
The article explores how the multiverse concept, rooted in philosophy and quantum physics, has become a powerful literary device for processing grief and identity. It highlights works ranging from James Salter’s existential paradox to contemporary novels like *The Midnight Library*...
Spiritual Distress Is a Clinical Reality in Brain Disease
A new paper in Neurology Clinical Practice argues that spiritual distress is a clinical reality for patients with neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, dementia, and epilepsy. It proposes a biopsychosocial‑spiritual model and recommends the FICA framework to conduct a two‑minute...
Liberating the Experience of Impermanence
The article traces Buddhism’s evolving relationship with impermanence, contrasting early dualistic meditations that sought disillusionment and escape from the world with contemporary nondual approaches that embrace change as a path to liberation. Early practitioners meditated in charnel grounds to cultivate...
Raving at the End of the World
Oliver Laxe’s film *Sirāt* follows a middle‑aged Spanish father’s desperate trek across the Moroccan desert to locate his missing daughter at an illegal rave. The movie, which blends pulsating electronic beats with stark desert landscapes, has earned nominations for Best...
I Fasted for Friendship During Ramadan and Lent. Here’s What I Learned.
Visiting Lahore at the start of Ramadan and Lent, Sikh executive Tarunjit Singh Butalia chose to fast not for religious duty but to stand in solidarity with his Muslim and Christian friends. He observed a day‑long Ramadan fast with a Muslim...
‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead’ Is Actually Not Just About Death
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, originally titled “The Great Liberation by Hearing,” is a 14th‑century Buddhist text that outlines six intermediate states, or bardos, extending far beyond the moment of death. While early Western exposure came from Walter Evans‑Wentz’s...
A Duty to Oneself
The essay interrogates whether genuine duties to oneself exist, contrasting Kantian claims of rational autonomy with sceptical views that self‑obligations merely serve personal happiness. It introduces African philosophical concepts—harmony (ubuntu) and vitality—as alternative foundations that treat self‑respect as a form...
How to Fight
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s "How to Fight" teaches that anger stems from entrenched neural pathways that can be reshaped through mindfulness. By pausing, breathing, and observing the emotion, individuals create new pathways toward compassion and forgiveness. The practice emphasizes...
Seeing Our World Differently
At a recent InsightLA gathering, participant Pablo Das explained how mindfulness can temper rumination and hyper‑vigilance that often follow trauma. He described mindfulness as an objective, non‑reactive awareness that lets individuals pause before reacting, creating space to evaluate thoughts, speech,...
Try Small Steps and Set the Bar Low: How to Find the Meaning of Life
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, former Apple engineers, apply design‑thinking principles to personal purpose in their new book *How to Live a Meaningful Life*. They argue that the current meaning crisis—exacerbated by the pandemic, AI‑driven job fears, and economic slowdown—can...
Solving the Mystery of Consciousness
Michael Pollan’s latest book tackles the age‑old puzzle of consciousness, arguing that psychedelic experiences offer a practical window into the mind’s workings. The journalist, famed for his food‑focused writing, pivots to explore how substances like psilocybin, caffeine and opium reshape...
What Atheism Could Not Explain
Christopher Beha, former atheist and Harper's editor, recounts in *Why I Am Not an Atheist* how falling in love with his future wife sparked a return to Catholicism. He argues that secular philosophies—from scientific reductionism to Nietzschean romanticism—cannot account for...
My Depression Felt Creatively Expansive. Now I’ve Overcome It, How Do I Keep the Meaningful Parts? | Leading Questions
Eleanor Gordon‑Smith reflects on how her recent depression amplified her creative output, delivering vivid poetry, painting, and a darker artistic lens. She now feels better but fears losing the intensity and clarity that the depressive state provided. The essay argues...
How to Reconnect with Your Inner Child
The article explains the inner‑child metaphor as a psychodynamic tool for uncovering early emotional imprints that drive adult reactions such as anger, fear of abandonment, and self‑criticism. It outlines three phases—recognition, in‑the‑moment management, and long‑term healing—using concrete techniques like naming...
Are You an Artist If No One Sees It?
The essay asks whether an artist remains an artist when unseen, weaving personal experience with meditation practice. It argues that true artistic worth stems from internal recognition rather than clicks, likes, or external validation. The author describes how the tension...
The Uses of Equanimity
The article explains that equanimity, while appearing as calm concentration, can conceal subtle attachment and delusion. It warns that staying absorbed in a state of equanimity without probing can prevent genuine insight. Practitioners are urged to use equanimity as a...
Rethinking Equanimity: Margaret Cullen on Equanimity and Quiet Strength
Margaret Cullen’s forthcoming book Quiet Strength delves into equanimity as a distinct, teachable virtue, filling a gap in the crowded mindfulness market. After rejecting a workbook proposal, she pursued a deep‑dive manuscript that positions equanimity alongside mindfulness, compassion, and love....
What Happens When Faith Leaders Try to Force Forgiveness?
Amanda’s experience of being pressured by a biblical counselor to apologize to her abusive father highlights how some faith‑based counseling programs prioritize doctrinal conformity over survivor safety. Researchers document that coercive forgiveness often arises from unequal power dynamics within churches,...
The Sound of Silence
The essay explores how incessant internal dialogue functions as a form of noise pollution, clouding clarity and driving dualistic thinking. It presents chanting the name of Kanzeon—or any pure, intention‑free sound—as a pathway to a pre‑conceptual awareness that transcends mental...
Afloat Between Worlds
In a midnight watch aboard the yacht Lorraine Marie, the author recounts two vivid visions: a herd of spectral bison running alongside the vessel and a luminous infant-like being cradled in his arms. The bison episode evokes ancestral memory, a...