The process of awakening

In the  ”Group-Section” (Khandhasamyutta) of the Samyutta Nikaya numerous short suttas can be found which – if we squeeze them in the right manner – provide valuable information how a puthujjana (or unenlightened being) turns into an ariyapuggalo (an enlightened being). As promised at the end of the last post we will have a close [...]

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From Vipassana Hater to Vipassana Lover

And I show you how
Okay, caught your attention (did you see what happened when you read this headline)?
Now, let me rephrase a bit: This post is about a how a Vipassana-opponent turned into a Vipassana-proponent. Interested? This is the story:
If you were raised in the West and got to know Buddhism from a scientific [...]

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When Mahayana started as a reformation…

…and started something else.
I admit – this was just for my amusement. Below you will find a pali version of the famous Mahayana text the “Heart Sutra” which I attempted to “translate” (back) into pali.
The purpose of this exercise was to learn how closely (or not) early Mahayana texts were to the Theravadin tradition [...]

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Buddhist Genesis

Most of you are probably familiar with the Christian/Jewish bible’s Genesis, the little story about how Mahabrahma (aka ‘God’) created the world….
From a Buddhist cosmological [what a contradiction in terms, ] standpoint, this particular event was not really unique – depending on your timeframe of course – but what if we, just for the fun of [...]

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Mindfulness is not Sati?

Many people  (especially those who intensively try to put the Buddhas eightfold path into practice) have thought about the meaning of samma sati or “right mindfulness”. In fact, the meaning of this important aspect of Buddhist practice had troubled me for a long time (1)
The problem occurs when we start looking closer at [...]

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