Reading Archives (Author)

Sense Of Self Is An Essential Skill Of Mind

Paul Fleischman

Many articles in the Western press have confused the Buddha’s idea of “anatta,” the absence of an eternal soul, with the idea that meditation should rid you of your ordinary sense of...

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16K reads, 9 comments

Wonder of the Universe is Wondering In Us

Paul Fleischman

The universe is very big and very old. It was only discovered by us in the twentieth century. When you look up at the night stars you aren’t seeing it. Our Milky Way galaxy alone has billions of...

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18K reads, 10 comments

Death is Life's Door

Paul Fleischman

(Note from the Editors: 'Sitting' here refers to seated meditation) Sitting enabled me to see, and compelled me to acknowledge, the role that death had already played, and still continues t...

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23K reads, 12 comments

I Am Interested In My Mind

Paul Fleischman

I am interested in my mind, and in my body. Previous to my having cultivated the habit of sitting, I had thought about myself and had used my body as a tool in the world, to grip a pen or to chop fire...

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14K reads, 9 comments

The Endurance to Observe

Paul Fleischman

There is little I have heard from others -- and it is my daily business to listen -- that I have not seen in myself as I sit. But I also know the necessity of work, training and restraint. Dependence,...

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11K reads, 5 comments

Equanimity: An Invisible Inheritance

Paul Fleischman

Gratitude isn’t merely an extra, an outflow of meditation. The deep peace of meditation gushes up from the realization that an infinite series of events have crystallized into this moment of equanim...

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7K reads, 2 comments

A Paradoxical Struggle

Paul Fleischman

The life of peace is like an international flight permitting only one handbag. You'll have to leave behind some of your cherished shoes and appliances. The international traveler, the hiker, and the...

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6K reads

Why I Sit

Paul Fleischman

This morning, the first thing I did was to sit for an hour. I have done that regularly for twenty years, and have spent many evenings, days and weeks doing the same. I would like to know myself. It ...

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5K reads, 6 comments