Over the years, I have created the following websites and blogsites. The underlying theme has always been spirituality.
Websites
The purpose of this website is to share information about spirituality. The theme is spirituality for life – a practical spirituality to enhance life’s journey and to help fulfill one’s divine destiny.
The intent of the website is to bear in mind an inclusive view of spirituality, recognizing that the divine Spirit works beyond any one faith tradition. While Christian spirituality is emphasized, the wisdom of other religious traditions is also respected.
This website deals with prayer of the heart or meditation. It is covered from a mainly Christian perspective – and yet, since meditation is a universal spiritual practice, the website may be of interest to all.
In sum, the website is about a journey into the realm of the heart – the abode of the Divine within. Three aspects of this journey are silence, stillness, and simplicity. When pondered, may the reflections on this website lead visitors to the silence and stillness of their own heart – and in so doing, encounter the Life, Light, and Love within.
This website seeks to present Buddhist spirituality as timeless principles of living taught by the Buddha over 2,500 years ago. From the reality of experience, these teachings remain universally relevant. An underlying theme of the website is how to become free from all forms of suffering.
As a Western lay Buddhist with goodwill toward all beings in all worlds, this website was created out of love for the Dharma and a vision of a way of life inspired by the universal Four Noble Truths. All articles and charts may be freely downloaded (either in PDF format or as a Microsoft Word document), as well as photos (personally taken, unless otherwise credited).
This website presents spirituality which is Buddhist and offers a proven path to awakening.
Awakening, or enlightenment, includes a deep inner realization, a profound new perception of life, an overturning of former values and goals. It means no longer drifting through life, living for sense pleasures, or yielding to unsatisfactory social norms. An authentic reality is now seen; illusion and reality are separated; and a genuine end of suffering and lasting happiness beckon us.
It involves having a new vision for life – it is something direct and immediate, a spiritual experience in a sense (although it can be expressed intellectually). It is a vision of the nature of existence.
The Buddhist path of spirituality is a way to awakening that offers a Path to attain wisdom and compassion, as well as freedom from suffering. Understanding will come directly from one’s own practice. Needed is a willingness to explore the Path and a rigorous testing of it against one’s own experience. Confidence and conviction in the validity of the Path will then emerge — rather than from a simple belief in the teachings. (Initially, one will not have had direct, personal evidence. However, one sees that these teachings have been of value to others — and so one can cautiously proceed on the likelihood that they will be of benefit to oneself as well.)
These words from Lama Thubten Yeshe link mind with spirituality: “I hope that you understand what the word ‘spiritual’ really means. It means to search for, to investigate, the true nature of the mind. There’s nothing spiritual outside. My rosary isn’t spiritual; my robes aren’t spiritual. Spiritual means the mind, and spiritual people are those who seek its nature.” [Yeshe, Lama Thubten, Becoming Your Own Therapist (Boston: Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, 2003), p. 89.]
This website explores spirituality from a Buddhist perspective. The principles are faithful to the Buddhist tradition. Nonetheless, they hold much relevance and meaning for our present world. The term spirituality ties in with the idea that in Buddhism the mind is a vital factor in our existence.
An underlying theme for the website is the reality of suffering. Images on the website from life today are intended to help convey a spirituality that is also contemporary.
This website is about karma – a law of life. It is the timeless and universal law of cause and effect, expressed in the words, “what we sow, we reap”. (Kamma is the Pali term; karma is the Sanskrit term.) Buddhist understanding of karma has been drawn on since this tradition has extensively written on this subject.
The purpose of this site is (1) to present a clear description of karma, as much as is possible, and (2) to show how awareness of karma can immeasurably benefit our lives. Nevertheless, karma remains a deep and profound principle of life, and not all its workings can be precisely explained.
This website seeks to present an overview of Buddhism, which is a vast and complex religious and philosophical tradition. Its history covers over 2,500 years.
The website takes a general survey approach, presents fundamental ideas and practices, and in part reflects common ground among the different traditions of Buddhism.
The intent was for this website to be progressively built and developed (however, progress has been unfortunately lacking). The website seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of Buddhist meditation.
“Learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. For it is only through meditation that you can undertake the journey to discover your true nature, and so find the stability and confidence you will need to live, and die, well. Meditation is the road to enlightenment.” (Sogyal Rinpoche, Glimpse after Glimpse: Daily Reflections on Living and Dying, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.)
The Four Immeasurables—Loving-kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic [Appreciative] Joy, and Equanimity—are the sublime expressions of love. They are also known as the Four Limitless Ones, The Four Sublime States, and the Brahmaviharas or Divine Abodes. These four qualities of true love are said to be sublime, lofty, noble, and most excellent for they are the right and ideal way of relating with all living beings.
These sublime qualities of love provide the answer to all situations we may encounter in our lives. They are the great removers of tension, the great peace-makers in social conflict, and the great healers of wounds suffered in the struggle of existence. These noble qualities of love level social barriers, build harmonious communities, awaken the slumbering generosity within us, and revive the joy and hope long abandoned. (SourcePoint Global Outreach. The Heart of Dharma Collection. Mount Shasta, CA: Naljor Prison Dharma Service, n.d.)
This website is about facing the end of life. Four critical issues are:
(1) the reality (and fear) of death,
(2) reasons for fearing death,
(3) letting go and facing death, and
(4) preparing for death.
The aspirations for the website are: (1) May the content of the website help visitors toward enabling them to die well themselves, as well as better helping others at the end of their lives. (2) May all visitors to this website learn how to find hope in death, instead of only tragedy.
Unfortunately today, many are taught little about death and dying as they grow up and during their adult lives. The website draws on the Buddhist tradition for its rich practical insights into death and dying. The Four Noble Truths form a framework for the site as follows:
(1) Suffering exists: The reality (and fear) of death can be tormenting.
(2) Origin of suffering: There are reasons for our fear of death.
(3) Cessation of suffering: We can gently let go and die in peace.
(4) Path to ending the fear of death: There are steps in preparing for the end of life and death.
Our personal responsibility, therefore, is fourfold:
(1) To understand the reality (and fear) of death.
(2) To abandon the causes for the fear of death.
(3) To achieve letting go peacefully.
(4) To take the steps in preparing for the end of life.
In some ways, there is no greater gift of love one can give than to help a person die well, including oneself. May this website, created from a heartfelt desire to serve, prove to be a useful source of information for all those seeking help in facing the end of their life.
dying-and-death-reflections.com
This website was begun to be created during the website author’s 70th birthday weekend (November 1-4, 2019) as a gift to others who are also nearing closer to the end of their life. His heart wish is that this website serve all others in preparing for their inevitable end of life.
The website features reflections about growing older. All backgrounds and faith traditions are honored. Coming from a Christian background, the author then had the opportunity to study Buddhism, and then only recently has been exploring the spiritual richness of Hinduism (Vedanta).
The purpose of this website is to present information on the Lamrim (Tibetan) — the stages of the Buddhist path to awakening or enlightenment.
The Lamrim teachings organize the Buddha’s teachings from a basic level to an advanced level in a gradual sequence of instruction and learning. It was Atisha (982-1054 AD), the Indian Buddhist Master, who wrote Lamp for the Path that was the original Lamrim text that has served as the basis for subsequent Lamrim instructions.
Blogsites
From early on in life, the author has tended both to reflect on life and to search for greater meaning. As a result, he has tried to keep diaries, but was more successful in jotting down insights in bound notebooks and on three-by-five inch index cards. Finally, it has dawned on him that he needed to share the insights that he has faithfully recorded in notebooks and filed in shoe boxes!
The insights imparted on the blog site have come from the reality of living life – including the learning of painful lessons along the way. As a result, the author has come to appreciate the Buddha’s words: “I teach two things, O disciples: suffering and release from suffering” (Samyutta-Nikaya, xxii, 86). May these words in turn be a theme for the blog site: release from suffering. And, may the heartfelt insights shared be of real benefit to those who visit this blog site and bring them a measure of joy and happiness.
buddhistspiritualityblog.wordpress.com
This blog site was created after the author had spent a lifetime pursuing a spiritual path – and had lived and worked in Australia, Europe (England, Czech Republic), the United States, Asia (South Korea) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia). Additionally, he had completed both undergraduate and graduate level studies in spirituality (as well as in education).
Now, as a result, he would like to share what he has found helpful in life from a practical and experiential level. He believes that there is a timeless spirituality that works to bring peace, harmony, and happiness for all people. May the insights shared on this blog site serve and enrich the lives of all.
end-of-life-reflections.blogspot.com
This blog was begun to be created during the author’s 70th birthday weekend (November 1-4, 2019) as a gift to others who are also nearing closer to the end of their life. The blog features reflections about growing older. All faith traditions (and none) are honored. May this blog serve all in preparation for their inevitable end of life. While dying is certain, its timing is uncertain.
In some ways, the 70th birthday is indeed more of a special milestone than other birthdays. First of all, one finds that one has a far more sober view of life. There simply is not that much time left in one’s life, compared to the 70 years that have passed. Secondly, one finds that one no longer has the same energy levels that one had in one’s forties and fifties, as well as during the early years of one’s sixties. Therefore, one must now truly focus on what is important in life.
For a PDF copy of the above list of websites, please click here.
