Upaya & Rational Amidism

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Notes on Kamma

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The Paḷi word kamma (Sanskrit karma) is taken to mean "action". In Buddhist doctrine kamma refers to any intentional mental, verbal or bodily act; that is, an act of will. The Buddha says: ‘I say that intention is kamma, because having first intended one acts with body, speech or mind.’ (Anguttara Nikaya 3.415). According to the Buddha, every intentional action modifies our consciousness, thus building our character and thereby influencing our behavior, our experience and consequently our destiny. Positive intentional actions motivated by generosity, love, and wisdom tend towards outcomes that are experienced as positive, while intentional negative actions motivated by greed, hatred and delusion tend towards outcomes experienced as negative. The doctrine of kamma is probably the most misunderstood of all the Buddha’s teachings. The four most common misunderstandings are these Everything that happens to us is the result of our past kamma. In actual fac...
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Buddhism Without Meditation in the Age of Appearances

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Mushin  "no-mind" In an era of collapsing attention spans and spiritual branding, it has become common to hear people claim the title of “Buddhist” while disavowing or bypassing the core practices of the Dharma. Meditation is often seen as optional. Dharma quotes adorn social media posts alongside self-help slogans. “Mindfulness” is marketed like a weight-loss product. But can someone truly be called a Buddhist if they do not meditate? Is compassion alone enough? The Threshold: What Makes Someone a Buddhist? In traditional Buddhism, one becomes a Buddhist by taking refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha (teacher), the Dharma (teaching), and the Sangha (spiritual community). This act is a conscious turning of one’s life toward liberation. In this view, practice may begin small, and perfection is not the measure — sincerity is. So yes, a person who has taken refuge, who aspires to walk the Path and live ethically — even without formal meditation — can be considered a Buddhist. ...
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The World Is Not Degenerating — We Are Not Seeing Clearly

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Rohitassa Sutta, Dzogchen, and Pure Land Echoes In the  Rohitassa Sutta  (Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.26), the Buddha makes a revolutionary statement that challenges our assumptions about the world, suffering, and liberation: " In this very fathom-long body, with its perception and mind, I declare is the world, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the path leading to the cessation of the world. " This “fathom-long body” — roughly the height of a person, from fingertip to fingertip — is not just the locus of personal identity. It is, in the Buddha’s words, the world itself. This is not a metaphor. It is a radical pointing out that the entirety of our suffering and the path to its end is found within our own mind-body system — perception, feeling, intention, consciousness. So, when people say we are in the Dharma Ending Age, that the world is falling apart, we may ask: What exactly is ending? Is the Dharma itself fading? Or is it our ability to see the Dharma that...
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