When I was a child, I found a secret place in the bayberry bushes. In the summers my family floated free from the known world—the world that was measured by carpools and sidewalks—and went to the seashore. It was lonely for me there; I felt alone in my separate self,...

‘Here, bhikkhus, some misguided men learn the Dhamma — discourses, stanzas, expositions, verses, exclamations, sayings, and answers to questions — but having learned the Dhamma, they do not examine the meaning of those teachings with wisdom.’ Alagaddupama Sutta

‘The Buddha made an important distinction between ordinary acts of giving and true dāna, which transcends the ordinary understanding of giving. In true dāna, there is no giver, no gift, and no recipient. This is the union of giving and anattā (not-self).’ Everyday...

‘In the teachings of the Buddha, dāna (giving) holds a place of great significance. At its most basic level, giving is an ethical practice that cultivates generosity, selflessness, and compassion.’ Everyday Buddhism

‘In his profound teachings, the Buddha illuminated the possibility of liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth — what we know as samsara.’ Everyday Buddhism

‘The Buddha’s teachings do not call for repression but for illumination. Awareness, when steady and unentangled, remains untouched by the arising and passing of thought. The key is not to eliminate thinking but to cease identifying with it.’ Everyday Buddhism