Beyond Belief

This is the chapter “Binge Thinking” from Beyond Belief: Life on the Buddhist Path. “Binge thinking” is a cute way to introduce a topic, but it’s also a literal description of a problem that has a great deal in common with binge drinking. I have a lot of experience with binge drinking, and with binge…

We should rest in mind, not search for it; why search for what we already are?  When Self-liberation appears within, Engage not in logic and speculation Lest meaningless activities involve you. Son, rest yourself without wandering thoughts. Do you understand, Venerable Monk from Weu? (The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, 242)   This is a…

Blindly trying to help without understanding a given situation causes more harm than good.  Compassion is sensitivity to the suffering of others, and the desire to relieve that suffering. It is one of the two wings of enlightenment, the other being wisdom. Enlightened wisdom keeps us from psychological confusion and pain, and enlightened compassion keeps…

We see how important it is to recognize and cherish authentic teachers—especially in Tibetan Buddhism, where allowing devotion to lapse is not only harmful to one’s enlightenment, but to one’s health. Today is the twenty-fifth parinirvana of my teacher, the Vidyadhara, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. A great teacher’s death is called a parinirvana (“highest nirvana”), because…