PinnedMember-onlySelf and SatipaṭṭhānaExploring the psychology of Early Buddhist meditation — Join the Apsis Newsletter community 1 Introduction In 2008, researcher Franco Bertossa and colleagues set out to answer an intimate question: does our sense of self have a spatial location? Is there a center point to our experience of “I am”? Of the participants questioned, 83% identified a localized sense of self behind the midway…Buddhism28 min readBuddhism28 min read
Feb 17Member-onlyWhat does a Buddha think about?A Textual Analysis of Early Buddhist Sources This essay is an effort to better understand the lived experience of an Arahant (enlightened being). I specifically want to examine the thoughts that appear to their minds — and whether they are similar to those a worldly being might have. This study…Buddhism5 min readBuddhism5 min read
Feb 14Member-onlyA Beautiful Life: Reflecting on Death, Days, and Development“Call it honesty, integrity, wholeness; you must not go back, undo, uproot, abandon the conquered ground. Tenacity of purpose and honesty in pursuit will bring you to your goal” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj I’ve been reading Japanese death haikus before bed. Jakura died on the fifth day of June, 1906, and…Buddhism5 min readBuddhism5 min read
Feb 1Member-onlyThe Wisdom of the Body: Reflecting on Dharma, Sensation, and CausalityIt’s All Happening Here “If you are unable to find truth here and now, where else will you find it?” — Dogen The only access we have to the external world is through our nervous system. The stable and static outer reality that we so often take for granted is not inherently existent, but…Buddhism5 min readBuddhism5 min read
Jan 23Member-onlyWaking Up to Dharma: Reflecting on a Decade of PracticeEvery Moment “Although even when we ‘lose sight of’ the present moment, that is the quality of our present moment” (Uchiyama 2011, 152). The path of following Dhamma is a full time job. Every moment, you are either moving towards, or away from liberation. You are either planting seeds of future becoming…Buddhism8 min readBuddhism8 min read
Jan 21Member-onlyHow asymmetry is the engine of creation“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead — his eyes are closed.”…Philosophy4 min readPhilosophy4 min read
Jan 15Member-onlyHe was at rest“In his first summers, forsaking all his toys, my son would stand rapt for near an hour in his sandbox in the orchard, as doves and redwings came and went on the warm wind, the leaves dancing, the clouds flying, birdsong and sweet smell of privet and rose. The child…Spirituality4 min readSpirituality4 min read
Jan 7Member-onlyThe Timeless Realm“If he lacks this focus, if his soul is dispersed in the manifold from the beginning, then he will never have time to make the movement; he will constantly be running errands in life, never entering eternity, for even at the moment when he is closest to it he will…Spirituality4 min readSpirituality4 min read
Dec 30, 2022Member-onlyGoing on ahead.“But it is a general principle that ‘you can’t go home again,’ you can’t really regress, the adult cannot become a child in the strict sense. You can’t ‘undo’ knowledge, you can’t really become innocent again; once you have seen something, you can’t undo the seeing. Knowledge is irreversible, perceiving…Philosophy4 min readPhilosophy4 min read
Dec 24, 2022Member-onlyBoth of us laughing.“My old landlady, got rich a couple years ago. Used to be poorer than me. Now she laughs that I don’t have money. She laughs that I’ve fallen behind. I laugh that she’s gotten ahead. Both of us laughing, no stopping us. …Philosophy4 min readPhilosophy4 min read
