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Editors note : This is a guest post from Jonathan Fields, author of Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance . Uncertainty. Its a terrifying word. Living with it, dangling over your head like the sword of Damacles, day in day out, is enough to send anyone spiraling into a state of anxiety, fear and paralysis. Like it or not, though, uncertainty is the new normal. We live in a time where the world is in a state of constant, long-term flux. And, thats not all. If you want to spend your time on the planet not just getting-by, but consistently creating art, experiences, businesses and lives that truly matter, youll need to proactively seek out, invite and even deliberately amplify uncertainty. Because the other side of uncertainty is opportunity. Nothing great was ever created by waiting around for someone to tell you its all going to be okay or for perfect information to drop from the sky. Doesnt happen that way. Great work requires you to act in the face of uncertaint...

The discipline ( vinaya ) of a Bodhisattva is different than that of a worldling ( prithagjana ) including worldling monks and nuns, including even those who take the vow of a Bodhisattva since they have never had real Bodhicitta. According to the Sutra, On Virtue and Discipline, in the larger Maharatnakuta Sutra (trans. Garma C.C. Chang) it is even different than that of a sravaka (disciple) who is at least a stream winner ( srotapanna ); who has entered the supermundane path. Even if Bodhisattvas enjoy the five sensuous pleasures with unrestricted freedom for kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, as long as they do not give up their bodhicitta , they are said not to break the precepts. Why? Because Bodhisattvas are skilled in protecting their bodhicitta , and dwell securely in it; they are not afflicted by any passions, even in dreams. Further, they should gradually root out their defilements instead of exterminating them all in one lifetime.(The italics are mine.) Since ...

Jonathan Fields Uncertainty must be present in the quest to create anything deeply meaningful. From Jonathan Fields new book Uncertainty By Mary Jaksch Do you have creative ideas but find it hard to make them happen? All human beings are born creative. We all have good ideas. But on the path from idea to creation we can be ambushed by fear, doubt, and uncertainty and that often means that great ideas land up dead in the dust, instead of coming to fruition. But heres the good news Fear, doubt, and uncertainty are not the enemy of creativity. In fact, they are necessary for bringing your creative stirrings from the first idea right through into action. There is a fantastic new resource that shows exactly how to turn fear and doubt into fuel for brilliance: Jonathan Fields new book: Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance Jonathan Fields is a good friend of mine. Hes insanely creative and what he produces is always of the highest quality. What I particularly apprec...

Post written by Leo Babauta . Today I launch the 2nd rendition of my course on creating habits: The Habit Course . The 4-week course is a culmination of everything Ive learned about habits in the last six years (read My Story for more on the habits Ive changed). Im joined by the excellent Barrie Davenport of Live Bold and Bloom and Katie Tallo of Momentum Gathering . Its packed with articles, videos, audio interviews with experts. It features a weekly live webinar with me and another expert, where you can ask us questions. It also features a forum where you can ask questions and support others as you create your first habit using The Simple Method. The Simple Method is the focus of the course a method that distills the essentials of creating a habit and beats the forces that usually stop you from creating habits. Once you learn The Simple Method, youll be able to create habits for life. Some of the experts featured in The Habit Course : Steve Pavlina, Personal Development for Smart ...

Dangerous Harvests Writings about zen Buddhism, yoga, social justice and politics, the arts, and life in general. Tuesday, September 27, 2011 Feeding the "Me" Beast: Yoga and Body Harming In an engaging post over at the ID project blog, yoga teacher J. Brown w! rites th e following: I remember a particular occasion when I was teaching one of my trademark power vinyasa classes. I was barking out my well prepared sequence and, instead of my usual attention to everyones alignment, I happened to be noticing the facial expressions of the people in my class. They looked miserable. They were filled with struggle and strain, just doing their best to get through and not enjoying themselves much in the process. There was a distinct lack of joy. Afterwards, several students came up to thank me and tell me how great the class was. It made me feel uncomfortable. Walking home, I kept thinking: What am I doing? Fact is, I was proficient in the pract...

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, Joshu asked, What is the path? Nansen said, Everyday life is the path. Later Nansen added, If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself within the same freedom as that of the sky There are two aspects that arise from disciplined practice. First, our disciplined practice is in every moment. Second, as a result, our disciplined practice is not contained by the dimensions of a zabuton. As Janis Joplin sang, Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose. In Zen we actually mean this. When every moment is practice it means in every moment we are attuned to our heart/mind. There is just this in front of us and there is no separation between it and us. Why? Because we realize there is no it and no us. When ownership, attachment, and emotional investment fall away there is nothing left to lose, but nothing has been lost either. In fact, we have actually gained the universe itself. We speak of a path as if to say there is an a...

Christianity in the West has been around far longer than Buddhism in the West. It has undergone profound changesand not good ones. If fact, it can be argued that present day Christianity is not the same as early Christianity. Eventually, Buddhism in the West will suffer the same fate. It will not be the Buddhism of the Buddha but something quite different. Historically speaking, there are two important exegesis in Christianity. The first is spiritual or commonly called gnostic which is related to the pneumatic man. The second is antignostic with a strong this-worldliness emphasis (I hasten to add literalism and historicism as subcategories). It is related to the psychic or animal man. This is the Christianity that has survived being successful at eliminating the gnostic, often in a violent way. Buddhism is also not without its own two important exegesis much like in Christianity. There is the aryan or noble exegesis of the Buddhas teachings and the common or prithagjana (P. puthujjan...