Buddha’s Noble Eight-Fold Path

1 – The Three Trainings that are Essential to One’s Path to Liberation

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 »

2 – The Three Characteristics – Impermanence, Dissatisfactoriness, and No-self

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 »

6 – THE SEVEN FACTORS OF AWAKENING

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 »

7 – The Scopes of the Three Trainings

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 »

11 – THE CONCENTRATION STATES (SHAMATHA JHANAS)

While our practice generally has some aspects of insight and concentration mixed together, in this section I will mostly talk more about what practice may look like when we try to stay towards the concentration side of things, that of the smooth, flowing, pleasant, more apparently stable states that concentration practice can produce. ~~~ Regardless

11 – THE CONCENTRATION STATES (SHAMATHA JHANAS) Read More »

12 – THE SECOND SHAMATHA JHANA

The second shamatha jhana is like the first, a seemingly solidified mind state. With the dropping of almost all applied and sustained effort, the rapture and happiness/joy factors created by concentration can really predominate. Thus, whereas the first jhana requires you to make effort to pay attention to maintain it, the second jhana has much

12 – THE SECOND SHAMATHA JHANA Read More »

Scroll to Top

The Start of 2020

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.