Tag: Mindfulness
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An Ancient Text’s Surprising Diagnosis for Modern Unhappiness
We are all engaged in a lifelong pursuit of happiness. It’s a fundamental human drive, yet for many, it remains an elusive goal, always just over the horizon. We follow the prescribed paths—career success, new experiences, material comfort—only to find ourselves back where we started, with the persistent feeling that we’re missing something obvious, as…
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The Ancient Secret to Seeing Clearly: Why ‘Spiritual Merits’ Aren’t What You Think
In our modern world, we’re swimming in a digital deluge, a constant static that fogs our perception and leaves us longing for stillness. In our search for clarity, a profound teaching from the ancient Lotus Sūtra offers a surprising perspective, reframing our entire understanding of what it means to truly see, hear, and experience our…
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Why the Buddha’s Wisest Disciple Suddenly Felt Like Dancing
Have you ever studied a subject so thoroughly that you believed you had grasped its entirety, only to encounter a single new idea that reveals an even deeper, more profound layer of truth you never knew existed? This moment of radical re-understanding can be both humbling and exhilarating. It’s the feeling of a familiar landscape…
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The Hidden Chapters: How a Textual Detective Story Is Reshaping a Sacred Buddhist Scripture
The Dhammapada is one of Buddhism’s most beloved, accessible, and widely-translated texts. For over two millennia, its 423 verses, neatly organized into twenty-six chapters, have offered profound wisdom in a simple and memorable format. Practitioners and scholars alike have revered this structure as a definitive presentation of the Buddha’s core teachings. But what if the…
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Why a Buddhist Demon’s Violent Threat is Really a Lesson in Compassion
We often turn to sacred texts expecting to find words of peace and solace. It can be jarring, then, to encounter a passage that sounds like a violent threat, especially when it comes from beings vowing to protect a sacred teaching. How can a demon’s harsh vow to split someone’s head into seven pieces become…
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Fifty Aeons Long
“Fifty Aeons Long” by The William Altig Choir is a hauntingly beautiful folk-blues meditation on time, freedom, and perception. The song explores how our suffering often comes from clinging to minutes, regrets, and imagined futures—when the truth is timeless and already here. With finger-picked acoustic guitar, slide accents, upright bass, and a baritone voice that…
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The Same Moon
A late-night story told on a worn-out porch, “The Same Moon” is a bluesy folk parable about an old teacher and a young student. It explores the timeless Zen wisdom of the “finger pointing at the moon”—the idea that teachings and scriptures are only signposts, not the destination itself. Driven by a fingerpicked acoustic guitar…
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Firewood and Flame
From the heart of the struggle comes a song of profound hope. “Firewood and Flame” is a raw, bluesy folk anthem for anyone who has ever felt weighed down by their own imperfections. With a sound that feels like it was born on a dusty porch at twilight, this track weaves a timeless story of…
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The Sky of Merit
A grounded folk-blues inspired by Chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra and the Eightfold Path “The Sky of Merit” is a grounded folk-blues meditation on wisdom, merit, and the Eightfold Path. Inspired by Chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra, this song strips away superstition to reveal the true heart of practice: seeing clearly and walking…
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The Dewdrop and the Sea
A stripped-down folk-blues meditation for anyone who’s ever felt the weight of the world on their shoulders. “The Dewdrop and the Sea” is a story about moving from the burnout of trying to fix everything to the quiet hope found in small, meaningful action. It’s a song about a simple truth: our individual acts of…
Mr. Altig’s Overview of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra 