Blog

Dear Common Ground Friends, The Buddha's final words to his attendant Ānanda carry an unmistakable clairty and tenderness, inspiring us still more than 2,600 years later: "There are these roots of trees, these empty huts. Meditate, Ānanda, do not delay...

Dear Common Ground Friends, No matter the particular meditation technique one uses, Buddhist practice depends on developing a continuity and stability of present-moment awareness. So much of this path, the development of wisdom and compassion, depends o...

Dear Common Ground Friends, I’ve always appreciated the simplicity of the first noble truth. It can be translated like this: there is suffering. It is so ordinary that we can almost miss its depth. After all, we can all agree that life includes plenty of s...

Dear Common Ground Friends, I am guessing that I am not alone in experiencing challenges when communicating with those with different points of view. Whenever I feel the impulse to defend a point of view, I often notice the impulse to denigrate the other ...

In this passing moment karma ripens and all things come to be. I vow to choose what is: If there is cost, I choose to pay. If there is need, I choose to give. If there is pain, I choose to feel. If there is sorrow, I choose to grieve. When burning -- I cho...

Dear Common Ground Friends, One of the great lessons that life keeps extending, is how vast the expressions of lovingkindness or metta can be. We might notice lovingkindness as warmth of love or care. In other moments we may recognize metta through the a...

Dear Common Ground Friends, Sayadaw U Tejaniya asked a group of Dharma teachers once, “Are the Buddha’s teachings optimistic or pessimistic?” After waiting a bit while many of us squirmed trying to figure out how to respond, he answered the question him...

Dear Common Ground Friends, The scriptural texts which we rely on for the stories and the teachings of the Buddha are called suttas. Many of the lists, maps and the stories that you hear teachers at Common Ground speak about can be traced back to the s...

Dear Common Ground Friends, No matter the abundance of greed, hatred, and delusion being triggered in our hearts and in our world, let us make it our responsibility to set good in motion. The necessary first step is the cultivation of a heart that is sta...

Dear Common Ground Friends, I trust I am not alone in dreaming of a world where we share a common humanity and a deep care for one another—where we honor life, protect children, and tend to those most vulnerable among us. Yet it continues to be heartbrea...