Suffering Within Suffering, Decay & Process

May. 2 | Refuge only in the worldly and material, in clothing, food, lodging, wealth… eventually leads to suffering, when one is forced to part from them in death, when one has no greater refuge in the spiritual. - Stonepeace An example of Suffering within...

Inferiority & Superiority By Action

Aug. 18 | Beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions, they originate from their actions, are bound to their actions, have their actions as their refuge. It is action that distinguishes beings as inferior and superior. - The Buddha (Culakammavibhanga...

What is Your Totem of Reality?

Jan. 19 | What you cling to as real, be it worldly or spiritual, is your refuge, even if it is not the true or best one. ~ Stonepeace In the movie ‘Inception’, ‘the dream hackers each fashion a unique totem for themselves, which they always hold...

Take Ultimate Refuge

Aug. 25 | How could gods of this world possibly liberate us, being themselves tied to the prison of Samsara? Instead let us take refuge in that on which we can rely on. To take refuge in the Triple Gem is a practice of the Bodhisattva. ~ #7 of the 37 Bodhisattva...

Aftershock Of The Human Heart

Jul. 30 | Though ‘Aftershock’ retells the terrible tragedy of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which killed 240,000, it is not a typical disaster movie. Its focus is on its tear-jerking aftermath – of the subtle yet sure spiritual aftershocks, of how it tore...

The Twin Criteria for Rejection & Acceptance

Oct. 30 | If a ‘truth’ and goodness are not one, what good is that ‘truth’? - Stonepeace The very intelligent Kalamas once asked the Buddha (as paraphrased), ‘As there are various teachers who come to expound their teachings, while...

Have You Taken True & Total Refuge Yet?

Aug. 14 | Those who need not constantly take the Threefold Refuge must have become the Threefold Refuge themselves. - Stonepeace While witnessing hundreds receiving the Threefold Refuge, I reflected on its true meaning. We take refuge when we recognise the Triple...