Buddha’s step by step instructions to obtain Enlightenment Practices at very deep end of the Ultimate Path to Liberation. There IS a Way… And this is it. For those that have already been inspired to integrate a daily meditation practice into their life and has developed the volition to take it deeper. For those that […]
Deepen your Practice with Buddha’s Enlightenment Teachings – Introduction Read More »
MORALITY – THE FIRST AND LAST TRAINING… and embodies all steps in between. Training in morality has as its domain all the physical, verbal, and mental behaviors belonging to every single aspect of life that is not explicitly meditative. These are all trainings in morality: To life a good life. Improving our physical health. Exercising.
1 – The Three Trainings that are Essential to One’s Path to Liberation Read More »
The three characteristics of Impermanence, Dissatisfactoriness, and No-self are so central to the Buddha’s teachings. Every single time I say, “Understand the true nature of things,” what I mean is, “Directly perceive the three characteristics.” To perceive them thoroughly and directly is to be Awakened. The big message here is: drop the stories. Find a
2 – The Three Characteristics – Impermanence, Dissatisfactoriness, and No-self Read More »
The next characteristic is Dissatisfactoriness, misery, or suffering. I will sometimes translate it as “suffering” and other ways. Other translators and authors also use terms such as “misery”, “unsatisfactoriness”, “stress”, and “anxiety”. I don’t think that we really have a perfect English word that can capture its nuances. There are two major aspects to the
3 – DISSATISFACTORINESS Read More »
NO-SELF The last and perhaps most misunderstood of the three characteristics is “no-self”. The original Pali term, anatta, means literally “not-self”. We have this notion that there really is a permanent or autonomous “I”. We might say, “Hello, I am…” and be quite convinced that we are talking about a permanent, separate thing that can
4 – NO-SELF – A Deeper Look Read More »
The five spiritual faculties are said to be like a cart with four wheels and a driver. If any of the four wheels is too small, wobbly, or not in balance with the others, then the going on the spiritual road will be rough. The four wheels symbolize faith, wisdom, energy, and concentration. If the
5 – THE FIVE SPIRITUAL FACULTIES Read More »
The seven factors of awakening are: 1) mindfulness 2) investigation 3) energy 4) rapture 5) tranquility 6) concentration 7) equanimity We have three concepts from the five spiritual faculties (mindfulness, energy, and concentration) and four that seem new but have already been touched on to some degree. The order here is closely related to the
6 – THE SEVEN FACTORS OF AWAKENING Read More »
The scopes of the three trainings of Impermanence, dissatisfaction, and Anatta – No self HAPPINESS First, I will consider happiness in the context of the scopes of the three trainings. Since training in morality is such a vast subject, the ways we can find happiness is also a vast subject, and becomes interesting primarily in
7 – The Scopes of the Three Trainings Read More »
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS there is: 1) Suffering or dis-satisfactoriness 2) The cause of suffering 3) The end of suffering 4) The path that leads to the end of suffering. The fourth noble truth is The Buddha’s Noble Eight-fold Path that leads to suffering’s cessation: 1. Right view 2. Right intention 3. Right speech 4.
8 – THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS Read More »
The word jhana (a Pali word that literally has two basic meanings, “to contemplate”, and “to burn up”, as in to burn up unskillful states of mind) refers to a whole mode of attention, a whole broad package of mental aspects and possibilities that are vastly more essential than they are typically considered to be.
9 – The Higher States of Human Consciousness – The Jhanas Read More »
Maui Marrying Man – Making Dreams Come True on Maui’s Romantic Beaches.
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Our business was doing great, but we still couldn’t afford to buy a house or a condo. Renting in Maui for another 30 years was not an option we wanted to take. Then, Bobbie Jo suggested we buy a sailboat that is comfortable to cruise and live in. By the end of January, we started looking for our new home.
After a long search, we found our dream boat in Mazatlan, Mexico. COVID-19 was not yet a concern when our boat hunt began, but masks were starting to appear at airports by the time we flew to Mazatlan. Originally, we had planned to get the boat ready as fast as possible to cover a full calendar for the busy wedding season. However, it was apparent our business was going to tank amid the pandemic, and the struggle went on until the end of the year.
Luckily, we scored an awesome condo for only $19 a day at Mazatlan. On the 10th day of our stay, we received the news that all harbors will be closed the next Monday morning. We thought we’d be stuck in Mexico longer, but another sailor advised us to leave before sunrise.
We felt the adrenalin of escaping the Mexican harbor master just before the sun rose that faithful day. The seas were rough as waves were building up in the tight channel that led us to the open ocean. We ended up anchored off an adorable little isle just a mile offshore. We enjoyed cruising to many spectacular anchorages and cute villages on our way to Puerto Vallarta, where we would depart for Maui on May 7. On May 30, 2020, we completed our 24-day passage from Mexico to Maui.
