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This web site invites inquiry into early Buddhism, especially the relational or interpersonal practices and potentials found in the Pali suttas, along with corollaries of those early practices in contemporary life and practice.
Such inquiry inevitably involves some engagement with scholarship, but by intention it is also personal, ad hoc, and a bit haphazard—reflecting the opportunities, teachings, and experiences that come to me. Read more about this project.
upaddha sutta:
Ānanda went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, Ānanda said to the Blessed One, "This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie."
"Don't say that, Ānanda. Don't say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life."
—Upaḍḍha ("Half") Sutta, SN 45.2
- Read more about Upaḍḍha Sutta on this website; or read a translation of the entire sutta on accesstoinsight.org.
Category: 21st century relational practice
Paying Attention: How to Endure Spending Time in an Art Museum
[I wrote this in 2015 for a group of college students. But the need to wrangle attention runs through all of life: museum-going is just another instance of practice in daily life.]
Improv, Dress Up, and Deity Yoga: Playing With Identity
I got interested in improv when I saw a connection between it and certain forms of meditation that work to deconstruct the sense of a solid and permanent self—particularly, deity yoga. Continue reading
Improvisation As a Spiritual Practice
I have been doing some improv this fall—as a spiritual practice. Standard principles of improv include: stay in the present moment, listen carefully, do not get tangled up in your ego, keep letting go of your idea from a second … Continue reading
Reading the Suttas with Dharma Contemplation
On five Tuesdays in April and May (2013) I led Dharma Contemplation for a group of seven meditators, reading passages from the Pali suttas. Continue reading
Dharma Contemplation for Interfaith Dialogue
My friend Liz and I led a series of interfaith dialogues this spring, using the protocol of Greg Kramer’s Dharma Contemplation and reading texts from a variety of world religions. Continue reading
Play As a Root of Sati (Mindfulness)
Suppose for a moment that play were a root from which mindfulness develops—its immediate precursor, or most archaic form—and that root shared by accomplished meditators, children, and animals.
Meditating at the Edge of Reactivity
I have been remembering my first encounter with Insight Dialogue and thinking about how my understanding of that practice has grown and shifted over the years.
Experiment Using Dharma Contemplation: First Series
Eight participants (including myself) met in my small apartment on six Tuesday evenings in September and October (2012) for an experiment in Dharma Contemplation.
Experiment Using Dharma Contemplation: Planning
I’ve begun an experiment: facilitating group dialogic meditation using a text—using Greg Kramer’s Dharma Contemplation method—and doing so primarily as a way of conveying certain meditative skills.