Author Archives: EricKVanHorn

Something Is True

I have been reading up a little on “secular Buddhism” lately because at the Albuquerque Vipassana Sangha someone is running a study group on it. Those of you who read this blog know that I am unabashedly a “religious Buddhist,” … Continue reading

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What I Want for Christmas

I saw an ad this evening that started: “So… What do you want for Christmas?” OK. I’m game. Here is what I would like. I want the United States to be as warm and open-hearted as the Canadians are in … Continue reading

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Metta, Syrian Refugees and Dazzle

I am reading the Itivuttaka (“This Was Said (by the Buddha)“), which is a small volume of discourses from the Pali Canon. The literary quality of this volume is particularly striking. Each discourse begins with a short prose passage, which is … Continue reading

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New version of Travel Guide

There is a new version of the Travel Guide to the Buddha’s Path. You can download it directly from this site for Kindles, and get it from Smashwords for non-Kindles. The content has not changed but I made dozens and … Continue reading

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Travel Guide

The Practice Guide is now complete, to the extent that anything of this sort is ever complete. I am hoping that many of you will read it and provide feedback. I would like to know, in particular, what parts are … Continue reading

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Good Monk, Bad Monk

When my children were young and I was learning how to be a parent, one of the things that I quickly noticed was how they learn from their parents. The most obvious way in which they learn is by the … Continue reading

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The Three Poisons

I heard a Dhamma talk this week in which the idea that there is such a thing as an “appropriate poison” was proffered. He was speaking of the Three Poisons: greed, hatred and delusion. He gave an example of “appropriate … Continue reading

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Be The Change…

“Be the change you want to see happen, instead of trying to change everyone else.” – The Love Project I saw a movie yesterday, “Dalai Lama Awakening.” It is about a group of mainly Americans who go to Dharamsala for … Continue reading

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Reverse Engineering the Buddha’s Enlightenment

I was dumpster diving through my hard disk the other day and found a paper that I wrote a few years ago called “Reverse Engineering the Buddha’s Enlightenment.” I have posted it to the “Papers and Projects” section of the … Continue reading

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The Good Path

Many years ago I went to a retreat at the Omega Institute in New York. It was a Buddhist retreat, but there were four other non-Buddhist retreats taking place at the same time. One of them was with Sufi Muslims. They … Continue reading

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