Tag: endurance

• 5 Surprising Lessons on Truth and Arrogance from an Ancient Buddhist Text

  

  Introduction: When Being Right Becomes a Prison We’ve all met them: people so utterly convinced of their own knowledge that their minds are sealed shut. Any new idea, no matter how insightful, simply bounces off their wall of certainty. It’s a frustrating encounter, but it’s also a window into a common human trap: the prison…

  William Altig

  October 30, 2025

  Chapter 17, Chapter 3, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Ajita, Arhatship, arrogance, Chapter Seventeen, Chapter Two, Distinction of Benefits, Ekayāna, endurance, expedient means, Five Thousand Departures, Kṣānti Pāramitā, Lotus Sūtra, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Māna, One Buddha-Vehicle, Prophecy of Persecution, Provisional Teachings, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Spiritual Pride, upāya

• The Light You Already Got

  

  A bluesy folk tale about a man who burned for a thousand years and a girl who smiled just once—and how they both found the same light. This song weaves an ancient Buddhist paradox into American roots music tradition. It’s the story of Strong-Heart, who gave everything—even setting himself ablaze for centuries—trying to reach enlightenment…

  William Altig

  October 14, 2025

  Chapter 10, music, Parables, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  #interfaith, #Truth, 1960s folk revival, 3am song, accessible wisdom, acoustic, acoustic blues, ageless wisdom, aha moment, ahead of time, alan watts blues, album track, all paths one, already enough, already home, alt folk, American primitive, american zen, Americana, americana archive, amness, analog, analog warmth, artisan, as above so below, attention, authentic, authentic emotion, authentic seeking, authentic voice, awakening, awareness, back to the land mysticism, balanced path, bare, based on ancient teaching, basic, be here now folk, beat zen, beatnik blues, beautiful mess, before and after the same, being itself, being not doing, bespoke, bluegrass adjacent, Blues, both and, both and neither, boundaried yes, breath, Buddha-nature, buddhist americana, buddhist folk, bus stop satori, call and response, Campfire Song, can’t shake it, canonical, chop wood carry water folk, classic, clear, coal miner’s daughter adjacent, coffee and contemplation, commune folk, compassionate refusal, Conscious Lyrics, Conscious Music, consciousness, Contemplative, core, country blues, craftsman, creative, cross cultural wisdom, custom, daily bread, dark night of the soul, dawn breaking, deep, deep cut, deep lyrics, delta blues, democratic dharma, depression era sound, dharma folk, dialectic folk, different rivers same ocean, direct, distinctive, DIY mysticism, documentary worthy, dust bowl folk, ear worm, earned wisdom, Earnest, East meets West, echo, effortless effort, effortless path, empty highway, endurance, Enlightenment, esoteric folk, essence, essential, eternal now, eternal return, everyday enlightenment, everyday sacred, existence, existential folk, exposed, extreme and simple, faith and effort, fermata, field recording adjacent, film music adjacent, fingerstyle guitar, fire and smile, Folk, Folk Blues, folk ecology, folk philosophy, folk religion, folk renaissance, folk tale, for sustained listening, fractals in folk, fresh, front porch blues, front porch sessions, fundamental, gentle force, genuine, glorious imperfection, golden mean, goldilocks dharma, good news folk, gospel blues, grace not works, grassroots spirituality, grocery store kensho, handmade, handmade holiness, Harmonica, Haunting, headphone music, heart, Heartfelt, hegelian blues, here, hidden wisdom, high and low, hippie trail, hold, holographic universe, holy text blues, honest, honest doubt, human, human and holy, hummable, I and thou, imaginative, imperfect, important, indie-folk, individual universal, inherent worth, inner light, inner outer, innovative, instant enlightenment, intelligent, intentional community music, isness, jack kerouac dharma blues, journey not destination, joyful noise, just as you are, just right folk, keeping it real, ken burns folk, kind rebellion, kitchen recording, kitchen sink spirituality, kitchen table folk, knower and known, koan blues, late night, laundromat liberation, legend reimagined, less is more, library of congress, literate, lived experience, lo fi, long drive music, long haul, Lotus Sutra, loving resistance, lyrical, many doors one room, marathon not sprint, meaningful, meditation music, memorable, microcosm macrocosm, middle way, Mindfulness, moderation, Modern Folk, mountain and valley, mountain mysticism, mountain song, mundane divine, mystery tradition, myth retold, naked, narrative song, neo traditional, new, new sincerity, Nichiren, no BS, no irony, no original sin, non dual folk, non striving, not a single, not too tight not too loose, nothing special, noticing, now, old soul music, old tale new telling, old time music, one day at a time, one of a kind, One Vehicle, open, open road, ordinary mind, original, original blessing, parable, paradox song, parking lot awakening, Patience, pause, peaceful power, pema chodron folk, people’s Buddhism, Perennial Philosophy, perseverance, personal political, philosophical, philosophical blues, philosophical folk, piedmont blues, pilgrimage song, plain, plain speech dharma, Poetic, porch music, post ironic, prairie dharma, presence, process not product, profound, prophetic, protest adjacent, question and answer, quiet strength, ram dass adjacent, Raw, real, real faith, real feeling, real talk, reality, recognition, redemption song, relaxed intensity, remembering, resonance, rest, reverberation, riddle song, room tone, roots music, roots revival, sacred and profane, sacred music, sacred story, scripture folk, seer and seen, self and other, Self-realization, separate waves one water, serious, significant, silence, simple, simple living, sincere, singable, Singer-Songwriter, Skillful Means, slow blues, slow burn, smart, smithsonian folkways, social consciousness, soft revolution, Soul, Soundtrack, space, spirit, spiritual americana, Spiritual Music, standard, statement and reply, stays with you, Storytelling, straight up, straightforward, stripped down, stuck in your head, subject object, substantial, suchness, sudden vs gradual, sustain, sustainable practice, sutra song, systems thinking, taking out trash dharma, talking blues, tape hiss, tathata, temperance, tender no, testimony, thesis antithesis synthesis, thich nhat hanh acoustic, this, this moment only, thoughtful, thus, Timeless, timeless present, traditional folk, train song adjacent, true sound, true story, trying not trying, undefended, unique, unity consciousness, universal spirituality, universal truth, vintage sound, visionary, voluntary simplicity, vulnerable, waking up, walking music, warm, washing dishes blues, weighty, whistle while you work, wisdom traditions, witness, witness and witnessed, wordsmith, working class mysticism, wu wei folk, you are enough, zen and the art of folk music, zen blues

• When Patience Becomes Power: 5 Ancient Lessons for Handling Modern Life

  

  In our modern lives, we’re taught to brace for the constant barrage of criticism, personal attacks, and overwhelming hardship. The struggle is mentally and emotionally exhausting, often leaving us feeling fragile and depleted. But what if there was a different way—a method for cultivating an inner strength so profound it could not be shaken by…

  William Altig

  October 11, 2025

  Chapter 10, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Anutpattikadharmakṣānti, Avīci Hell, Bodhisattva Path, Buddha Nature, Buddhanusmrti, Chapter Ten, Compassion, Dharma Teacher, Dukkha, Ekayāna, emptiness, endurance, Equanimity, Eternal Buddha, Forbearance., Great Teacher Zhiyi, hōbō, Kṣānti Paramita, Latter Day of the Law, Lotus Sūtra, Mahayana Buddhism, Mahākaruṇā, Mappo, Nichiren, Non-Dual Reality, Non-Passive Endurance, Non-self, One Vehicle, Patience, Persecution, prajñā, Recollection of the Buddha, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Setting Boundaries, Skillful Means, Slander of the Dharma, Sticks, Stones, Suffering, Swords, Tathāgatagarbha, Tiantai, Tile-pieces, upāya, wisdom

• The Body That Burns Without Burning

  

  They said the old saint lit himself on fire, Twelve hundred years of light, arms ablaze, And I thought: how can I match that pyre With my small hands and ordinary days? The Sutra promises we all can wake Right here, right now, in skin and bone, But if the price is everything I break—…

  William Altig

  October 9, 2025

  Chapter 23, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  body as temple, Buddhist modernism, Buddhist Poetry, contemplative verse, contemporary religious poetry, daily devotion, doctrinal poetry, East Asian Buddhism, embodied practice, endurance, Enlightenment, faith under persecution, Gratitude, human resilience, Karmic Transformation, Lotus Sutra, Mappō, meaning in suffering, metaphysical poetry, mundane as sacred, Nichiren Buddhism, Perfect Offering, perseverance, philosophical poetry, religious philosophy, sacred ordinary, sacrifice reinterpreted, Shikidoku, Soteriology, Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Resilience, spiritual struggle, suffering and transformation, theodicy

• The One That Stays

  

  “The One That Stays” wrestles with an ancient question: How do ordinary people offer something sacred when the old stories demand the impossible? Inspired by Buddhist teachings about sacrifice and perseverance, this song explores the tension between spectacular acts of devotion and the quiet heroism of simply continuing—of getting up, showing up, and staying present…

  William Altig

  October 9, 2025

  Chapter 23, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Americana, bluesy folk, Buddhist Philosophy, contemplative music, contemporary folk, daily struggle, devotion, endurance, faith and doubt, folk pop, gospel influenced, human spirit, inner strength, meaningful life, ordinary heroism, perseverance, philosophical lyrics, protest song, Religious Poetry, resilience, roots music, sacred ordinary, social justice, soul folk, spiritual songs, standing firm, staying power, suffering and transformation, survival