Author Archives: EricKVanHorn

Rebirth and the Thicket of Views

Posted on September 5, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

I am writing a book on rebirth and the Buddhist cosmology. Rebirth is quite a hot topic in Western Buddhism. I think that it is safe to say that most Western Buddhists do not accept the doctrine of rebirth. That … Continue reading →

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The Journey

Posted on September 3, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

I have just finished a week in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado in which I have visited what are now called “ancestral Puebloan sites.” As I have lived in the southwest, I have increasingly adopted a Native American view … Continue reading →

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The Greatest Carrot of All

Posted on August 29, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

As I have worked my way through the Little Books series and visited and revisited each topic, I have come to think of practice as having three levels: The worldly level, in which the goal of meditation is to ease … Continue reading →

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Dukkha

Posted on August 21, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

Sharon Salzberg tells this story about her time in India. She was really struggling with her practice, and when all you are doing is practicing, that is quite a struggle. I remember when I was at my first silent retreat … Continue reading →

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More Little Books

Posted on August 6, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

Books 4 & 5 of The Little Books on Buddhism are now available on the Books tab. Book 4 is The Little Book on Buddhist Wisdom. It is very similar to the same chapters in The Travel Guide to the … Continue reading →

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New Biography of the Buddha

Posted on June 16, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

For those of you who are wondering why there is such a long time between my posts it is because I am working on the seven-part series of “Little Books on Buddhism.” I am in the process of releasing book … Continue reading →

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The View from Space

Posted on April 27, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

When my grandson was born I did some research into my family’s history. Unfortunately I lost track of that research, but as I recall I actually traced the ship that brought my family to Philadelphia from Germany in 1754. They … Continue reading →

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Buddhism 101

Posted on March 29, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

I recently went out to the University of New Mexico web site to see what they have in the way of resources for teaching Buddhism. The good news is that there are a number of professors who teach various aspects of … Continue reading →

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The Wolf You Feed

Posted on March 17, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, … Continue reading →

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Joy

Posted on January 23, 2016 by EricKVanHorn

I recently heard a Dharma talk on the topic of joy, and it got me thinking about the different contexts in which joy occurs in the Pali Canon. Those of you familiar with the practice of jhāna – meditative absorption … Continue reading →

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