anatta (non-self)

Self-love, self-kindness, and non-self

Someone wrote to me recently and asked two questions, which boiled down to: Did the Buddha teach self-love? Is loving…

March 7, 2025

Understanding non-self – an audio preview

I'm curious what you think about this conversation, on the topic of non-self. It's a podcast-style explanation of an article…

September 19, 2024

The importance of emulation in compassion

In some versions of the  lovingkindness (metta bhavana) meditation practice we start by calling to mind a benefactor — someone…

March 15, 2024

Buddhism, free will, and non-self

The concept of "free will" doesn't sit very easily with Buddhism. As far as I'm aware, it's considered an important…

March 10, 2023

“Blessed is the man who knows his own weakness” — Isaac of Nineveh

Isaac of Nineveh, who is also known as Abba Isaac and as Saint Isaac the Syrian, was an important figure…

March 1, 2023

Why you don’t have free will (and why that doesn’t matter)

Free will is "the unimpeded capacity to choose between different possible courses of action." We tend to believe that everyone has…

September 28, 2022

Peace is right here, right now

For the past month I've been recording a series of daily guided meditations, taking as my basis the teachings in…

November 14, 2018

From the burden of illusion to the joy of freedom

I'm going to say something about the arising of insight that I've never heard any teacher say before, yet which…

May 16, 2018

The secret to self-discipline is having empathy for your future self

In general, we human beings have trouble doing things that are good for our long-term wellbeing, but which may be…

April 28, 2018

Can Buddhist practice make you more of a dick?

A quick thought experiment for you. You can take a pill to extend your own life by six months. Alternatively…

February 8, 2018