From over fifteen years of sharing her understanding of Buddhist concepts
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Why is it so hard to be good?
As a world community, we have well-established rules of non-harming, most of which conform to some version of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Yet we just can’t seem to help ourselves from causing harm to ourselves and others, knowingly or unknowingly. Why? Once again, as we…
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Beyond ‘Should’ | The Joy of Virtue
Poet Mary Oliver’s ‘Wild Geese’ tells us ‘You do not have to be good’. What a relief! But then we come to the Buddhist Parami of Virtue/Ethics. How do we juggle our innate desire to be good, our relief at being told we don’t have to be, and the call to practice vows of non-harming? When…
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There’s an app for that!
There are a number of apps on my phone that I don’t have a clue how to use. You too? Well, that’s like the Paramitas, the perfections of the heart we have been discussing. These qualities or states come pre-installed in our being. We don’t have to go to the app store to get them.…
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Generosity: An exploration
When I lived in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury District in the fall of 1966 and spring of 1967, I remember how the spirit of generosity was at the core of the community of young people who lived and flocked there. The Diggers, a totally volunteer group, supplied free meals in the Panhandle. The Haight Ashbury…
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The Ten Paramitas or Perfections of the Heart
At the beginning of the year when we naturally have a feeling of fresh intention is a good time to undertake an exploration and practice of the Ten Paramitas. These are qualities or states of being, known as perfections of the heart. I’m going to list the Ten Paramitas. Please pause at each one before going…
STEPHANIE NOBLE 