Reading Archives (Author)
Sense Of Self Is An Essential Skill Of Mind
Paul Fleischman
Many articles in the Western press have confused the Buddha’s idea of “anatta,” the absence of an eternal soul, with the idea that meditation should rid you of your ordinary sense of...
Wonder of the Universe is Wondering In Us
Paul Fleischman
The universe is very big and very old. It was only discovered by us in the twentieth century. When you look up at the night stars you aren’t seeing it. Our Milky Way galaxy alone has billions of...
Death is Life's Door
Paul Fleischman
(Note from the Editors: 'Sitting' here refers to seated meditation) Sitting enabled me to see, and compelled me to acknowledge, the role that death had already played, and still continues t...
I Am Interested In My Mind
Paul Fleischman
I am interested in my mind, and in my body. Previous to my having cultivated the habit of sitting, I had thought about myself and had used my body as a tool in the world, to grip a pen or to chop fire...
The Endurance to Observe
Paul Fleischman
There is little I have heard from others -- and it is my daily business to listen -- that I have not seen in myself as I sit. But I also know the necessity of work, training and restraint. Dependence,...
Equanimity: An Invisible Inheritance
Paul Fleischman
Gratitude isn’t merely an extra, an outflow of meditation. The deep peace of meditation gushes up from the realization that an infinite series of events have crystallized into this moment of equanim...
A Paradoxical Struggle
Paul Fleischman
The life of peace is like an international flight permitting only one handbag. You'll have to leave behind some of your cherished shoes and appliances. The international traveler, the hiker, and the...
Why I Sit
Paul Fleischman
This morning, the first thing I did was to sit for an hour. I have done that regularly for twenty years, and have spent many evenings, days and weeks doing the same. I would like to know myself. It ...