Abhayakara
Abhayakara
debugging your meditation practice

This is my blog about meditation, philosophy and awakening.   I wear many hats in my life—my living is as a computer geek, but I have been interested in meditation and insight for the past twenty-five years, and studied Buddhism and awakening in several traditions before turning to modern research on the topic.   I write quite a bit about this topic in various places around the Internet; this blog is a place for me to gather some of the things I've written and share them with my friends.   Welcome!   I hope that what I've written here is of some value to you.

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The terror of a just society
The terror of a just society

Is a just society possible? What would it look like? Is it even desirable? Maybe what we really ought to be striving for is a kind society, not a just society.

What if hurting people doesn't work to make the world a better place?
What if hurting people doesn't work to make the world a better place?

It seems like a silly question, but if you look at how we actually try to solve the world’s problems, nearly everything we do is rooted in hurting people—in cruelty. Why do we do that? Can we stop?

The root of self-hatred?
The root of self-hatred?

I am starting to see that suffering is not something that is happening to me. It’s something I’m doing. I don’t know yet whether this is a useful insight, but so far it seems to be.

Missing the point
Missing the point

I was really unsatisfied with yesterday’s post. Today I have further reflection on the topic, which I hope is of some use. Trigger warning: there’s a quote from Corinthians in here.

Voting for virtue...
Voting for virtue...

If we believe that life begins at conception, does this mean that we should vote for “pro-life” candidates? It’s not that simple.

Some thoughts about communication in the practice of improving the world
Some thoughts about communication in the practice of improving the world

It’s really hard to talk about making the world a better place. We often wind up talking about the wrong things. In this post I try to explain what I think the opportunities are for making change for the better, and talk about the problem of palliative actions that make us feel better but don’t actually help.

Some thoughts about the nature and practice of equanimity
Some thoughts about the nature and practice of equanimity

It’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking that Equanimity is being okay with unhappiness. But it’s not—it’s about being okay with whatever is happening right now. This is a really important distinction, but it’s really easy to forget, to fall into the habit of being okay with being unhappy, instead of just being okay.

How to "practice" acceptance
How to "practice" acceptance

Someone wrote to thank me for this reddit post today, which was a kind thing to do. I don’t know where this stuff comes from—someone asks me a question, and I try to answer it, and sometimes it’s useful. This seems particularly topical today—several people in my life are having to face things that are really hard to accept at the moment. I don’t know if this would help…

The relationship between intention and conditioning
The relationship between intention and conditioning

It occurred to me as I was answering a meditation question that there’s a really simple way to think about how to improve your meditation practice: the relationship between what you intend and what conditioning you develop as a result of realizing (or noticing that you’ve failed to realize) that intention.

Love, loss, evanescence, and beauty
Love, loss, evanescence, and beauty

In fond remembrance of Fran, whose 49th day is today.