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Farewell, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh!
Over ten years ago, one of my disciples in Vietnam had a Stupa — a Buddhist shrine — built for my ashes. I told her, I didn’t need a stupa for my ashes; I don’t want to be stuck in a stupa; I want to be everywhere. “But,” she protested, “it’s already built.” “In that…
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What is Meditation?
Let’s start with the understanding of meditation. What is meditation, really? We know that the mind can be divided into sense consciousness — sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch — and mental consciousness. Mental consciousness ranges from our grossest experiences of anger or desire, for example, to the subtlest level of complete stillness and clarity.…
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A Short Course on Buddhist Meditations
In this series of posts, we will bring you some of the finest lessons of Buddhist meditations. The lessons are based on the teachings and published works of Kathleen McDonald. She is a respected and inspiring teacher in the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, the worldwide organisation of the Buddhist teaching and…
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Sam Harris on Free Will
Free will is an illusion. Our wills are simply not of our own making. Thoughts and intentions emerge from background causes of which we are unaware and over which we exert no conscious control. We do not have the freedom we think we have. Free will is actually more than an illusion (or less), in…
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How to Write a Dialogue
Writing a dialogue can be challenging. For most writers, it’s much easier to narrate a story in their own voice, instead of jumping from one character to another. But… there is thrill too, in writing dialogues. Think about a dialogue that you can remember at this moment — maybe from a book or a movie.…
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John Lang and Wanderings in India: How the 19th-century British Travelled in the Subcontinent
John Lang (1816-1864), a lawyer and Australia’s first native novelist, was born at Parramatta, Sydney. He later went to Cambridge in 1837 only to qualify as a barrister and return to his home country. In India, John Lang is known for his career as a solicitor, particularly, when he was defending the Rani of Jhansi…
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The Algebra of Writing a Joke
Jokes work not because of the details in the stories themselves, but the order in which they are revealed. There really is an order of elements in comedy just like there is an order of operations in algebra. Try telling a story from the other end and what you will end up with is just…
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