Dharma explorations by Stephanie Noble

From over fifteen years of sharing her understanding of Buddhist concepts

  • The heart of the practice

    In our ongoing exploration of the Buddha’s Eightfold Path, using the Cooking Pot Analogy that I created years ago to teach this list in a way that makes it easier to remember and understand, the spoon stirs the contents of the pot, just as concentration practices stirs up mindfulness. It’s not a stew we can…

  • The joy of mindfulness

    In the cooking pot analogy, Wise Mindfulness is the delicious nourishing content of the pot. It is the reason for the pot, the matches and the firewood of Wise View, Wise Intention and Wise Effort. In cultivating Wise Mindfulness we are both creating and enjoying something that is both delicious and nourishing. We always feel…

  • Are your goals getting in your way?

    A strong message in our culture encourages us to work hard and keep our eye on the prize, whether that prize is material comfort and security or a heavenly reward. While learning how to handle delayed gratification can be beneficial, a mindset that focuses only on the future causes suffering for ourselves and all beings.…

  • Are you overdoing or underdoing?

    I’ve always found the Buddha’s many lists of wisdom teachings difficult to remember. You too? All of them are valuable, but the Noble Eightfold Path in particular, provides immediate help. It can pop you out of any mental muddle in a minute! In order to remember the eight aspects, years ago I created a visual…

  • Each moment is a fresh start

    Every morning at the end of my meditation, timed by the Insight Timer app, I respond to any messages from companion meditators — little notes of ‘Thank you for meditating with me.’ This is such a sweet feature of the app, reminding us we are not alone in our practice, even though we are sitting…