The Best Conqueror

Mar. 21 | One may conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, yet one is the best of conquerors, who conquers oneself. – The Buddha (Dhammapada)

The Silent Yet Noisy Falling Tree?

Sep. 20 | The practice of all the bodhisattvas is never to entertain concepts, which revolve around dualistic notions of perceiver and perceived, in the knowledge that all these appearances are but the mind itself, whilst mind’s own nature is forever beyond the...

Where Is Self?

Jul. 19 | Does the self exist within a name? – Gampopa [If the illusory self does not exist in name, how can it exist anywhere else?]

The Demon’s Costume

May. 9 | When the inner demon of self is exorcised, all outer demons are powerless. ~ Stonepeace In the country of Gandhara there was a troupe of entertainers known throughout the land. One year a famine occurred and the troupe was forced to take to the road in...

As ‘I’ Am

Mar. 7 | If I only perceive things as I am [according to my deluded perception], how do I perceive things as they are? By not using the illusory ‘I’ to perceive. ~ Stonepeace

Altruism Brings Courage

Nov. 4 | Altruism is a source of goodness for yourself and others, Medicine alleviating all troubles, The great path traveled by the wise, Nourishment for all who see, hear, remember, and contact it, Possessing great efficacy for advancing others’ welfare. Through...

If There Is No Self, Who Owns My Karma?

Jul. 15 | Just as there are thoughts without a thinker, there is karma without a creator (of karma). – Stonepeace How is it possible, as the Buddha taught, that there is no fixed self to inherit the karma of one’s deeds, while karma still operates for one? Here...

Rebuttal of Arguments Against Identitylessness

Aug. 28 | As there is self only conventionally, there is no self ultimately. – Stonepeace (70) One might [mistakenly] say that in the absence of a [ultimate; substantial and thus unchanging] self, there would be no proper relationship between an action and...

What Was Behind the Buddha’s Silent Answer?

Jul. 25 | Whether there is self or not, it is attachment to self that perpetuates suffering. – Stonepeace As recorded in the Ananda Sutta, a wanderer called Vacchagotta once asked the Buddha if there is a self, to which the Buddha remained silent. Next, he...

What Is You, Yours Or Your ‘Self’?

Jul. 10 | The fundamental delusion is the hardest to dispel – your sense of ‘self’. – Stonepeace In the Theravada tradition, the Anattalakkhana Sutta (Discourse on the Characteristic of Non-self; 无我相经) was the second sermon delivered by...