River's Chi House

Our species long and complicated internal struggle to find ways to achieve a bit of balance and understanding in the face of the great mystery called consciousness and the insanity called society continues. This struggle has never been easy  or quick and the results have often been erratic and inconsistent but the time and effort spent on the quest for self-knowledge is, in my opinion, definitely worth it. I have had to face the uncomfortable reality that almost all my significant choices have been and are based much more on ignorance and a hopeful optimism than any real understanding of the situations that have confronted me. There are two more or less dependable guides I have found for making very important decisions. One, what is the most beautiful and elegant choice or choices I can make in relation to the situation. Two, when I look back years from now how will I feel about myself and the choice of choices I make now? The study and practice of various forms of meditation prac...

Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery - Reflections This reflection is excerpted and adapted from “Running Away from Phantoms,” a Dhamma Talk offered by Ajahn Sucitto at Abhayagiri in 2007  --- “What if I get it wrong?” “What if it doesn't work?” “What if I'm left here alone?” Just look over the edge of that. Look over the edge of 'what if' and let your mind open up and realize that we've been running away from phantoms. Examine the attitudes you have, like 'What if I get it wrong?' You've been getting it wrong all your life — it's no big deal! Everybody's getting it wrong. Everybody's making mistakes. Everybody's losing it. Blundering. Not noticing. Not being respectful, polite, kind, talking too long, not saying enough... Everybody's getting it wrong. Why don't we just practice forgiveness instead and get out of this trap? You forgive me and I'll forgive you, okay? And yes, everything is breaking down. But we can get through t...

Meditating with Emotions | Tricycle Drop the story and find the feeling. Pema Chödrön We all have emotional experiences that feel terrifying, and in order to experience our natural state, we have to be willing to experience these emotions—to actually experience our ego and our ego clinging. This may feel disturbing and negative, or even insane. Most of us, consciously or unconsciously, would like meditation to be a chill-out session where we don’t have to relate to unpleasantness. Actually, a lot of people have the misunderstanding that this is what meditation is about. They believe meditation includes everything except that which feels bad. And if something does feel bad, you’re supposed to label it “thinking” and shove it away or hit it on the head with a mallet. When you feel even the slightest hint of panic that you’re about to feel or experience something unpleasant, you use the label “thinking” as a way to repress it, and you rush back to the object of meditation, hopin...