Continuation of post - a Buddhist group in my small rural town that meets monthly. It is Buddhists and Buddhist- adjacents and I am so pleased I found them. Synchronicity?
Jim, I really enjoyed this—thank you. You didn’t hand out spiritual shortcuts or moral prescriptions. You offered a thoughtful, grounded framework and trusted the reader to think. To feel. To actually work it through like grown-ass humans. That’s rare.
You weren’t telling us not to suffer—you were saying, “Here’s where suffering comes from, and here’s how to meet it with clear eyes and open hands.” That’s not bypassing. That’s growing the hell up.
The “liberate everything from needing to make you happy” bit landed hard. Not because I’m out here chasing joy from muffins or mood boards, but because the temptation to make meaning dependent on circumstances is sneaky—and relentless.
Also, the leaky faucet metaphor? Top shelf. That’s the human condition in three drips or less.
Thanks for writing something that honors both the pain and the process. It’s not enlightenment as performance—it’s wisdom with its sleeves rolled up.
Buddhism helped me understand the words of Jesus more clearly and with a more practical lens. What the Buddha taught is how Jesus could turn the other cheek.
If we want to be like either, we must see both our and others’ suffering, cultivate compassion to understand it, offer forgiveness and relief rather than judgment, and pass it on.
Good introduction, but a little too neat. The Buddha didn’t teach secular therapy, he taught liberation from the false view of self. Mahayana Buddhism, like the Christian mystics with Jesus' path, deepened this with skillful means and direct realization. If dukkha vanished by simply reframing expectations, we’d all be free already. The path is subtle and demands waking up—not just as an idea, but as a measurable shift in the brain and nervous system. Modern science has demonstrated this in long-term meditators. The change is real. The work is real.
"To “awaken” is to see things as they truly are, which is the secret to true liberation" When one awakens from a dream, does one feel liberated?? Upon awakening from the life dream, is there any Self remaining to be liberated?? Suchness remains- sometimes asleep, sometimes awake. "How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?" ~ Plato. Also this from Theodotus- "For as those that are most asleep, think they are most awake, being under the power of dream-visions very vivid and fixed; so those that are most ignorant think that they know most. But blessed are they who rouse themselves from this sleep and derangement and raise their eyes to the light and the truth."
Oh, goodness, what a great article! I am leaning toward Buddhist philosophy, my self and love how you explained this in such a succinct way. I have read many books on the subject and really love the late Thich Nhat Hanh along with many others out there. We are all Buddhas in the making, for sure! Thank you for all the additional links for me to delve into.
Thank you for this timely post. I only found you the day before yesterday ( through Jessica Bohme) and only four weeks ago I found’ at the age of 67, not that my age is really relevant,
At some level, I do feel most 'wisdom traditions' throughout the ages have been oriented towards what might now be deemed 'philosophical health-ing', perhaps something that is close(st) to 'the' human project...
Continuation of post - a Buddhist group in my small rural town that meets monthly. It is Buddhists and Buddhist- adjacents and I am so pleased I found them. Synchronicity?
Jim, I really enjoyed this—thank you. You didn’t hand out spiritual shortcuts or moral prescriptions. You offered a thoughtful, grounded framework and trusted the reader to think. To feel. To actually work it through like grown-ass humans. That’s rare.
You weren’t telling us not to suffer—you were saying, “Here’s where suffering comes from, and here’s how to meet it with clear eyes and open hands.” That’s not bypassing. That’s growing the hell up.
The “liberate everything from needing to make you happy” bit landed hard. Not because I’m out here chasing joy from muffins or mood boards, but because the temptation to make meaning dependent on circumstances is sneaky—and relentless.
Also, the leaky faucet metaphor? Top shelf. That’s the human condition in three drips or less.
Thanks for writing something that honors both the pain and the process. It’s not enlightenment as performance—it’s wisdom with its sleeves rolled up.
So well presented and explained! There is enough sustenance there to sustain me for a long long time. Thank you so much for sharing your insights. 🙏
Wow, great article!
Former Christian, current Buddhist-adjacent here.
Buddhism helped me understand the words of Jesus more clearly and with a more practical lens. What the Buddha taught is how Jesus could turn the other cheek.
If we want to be like either, we must see both our and others’ suffering, cultivate compassion to understand it, offer forgiveness and relief rather than judgment, and pass it on.
Good introduction, but a little too neat. The Buddha didn’t teach secular therapy, he taught liberation from the false view of self. Mahayana Buddhism, like the Christian mystics with Jesus' path, deepened this with skillful means and direct realization. If dukkha vanished by simply reframing expectations, we’d all be free already. The path is subtle and demands waking up—not just as an idea, but as a measurable shift in the brain and nervous system. Modern science has demonstrated this in long-term meditators. The change is real. The work is real.
Virgin Monk Boy
A good overview Jim.
Very thorough and easy to understand explanation. Thank you 🙏
"To “awaken” is to see things as they truly are, which is the secret to true liberation" When one awakens from a dream, does one feel liberated?? Upon awakening from the life dream, is there any Self remaining to be liberated?? Suchness remains- sometimes asleep, sometimes awake. "How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?" ~ Plato. Also this from Theodotus- "For as those that are most asleep, think they are most awake, being under the power of dream-visions very vivid and fixed; so those that are most ignorant think that they know most. But blessed are they who rouse themselves from this sleep and derangement and raise their eyes to the light and the truth."
Oh, goodness, what a great article! I am leaning toward Buddhist philosophy, my self and love how you explained this in such a succinct way. I have read many books on the subject and really love the late Thich Nhat Hanh along with many others out there. We are all Buddhas in the making, for sure! Thank you for all the additional links for me to delve into.
Thank you for this timely post. I only found you the day before yesterday ( through Jessica Bohme) and only four weeks ago I found’ at the age of 67, not that my age is really relevant,
Wonderful post, Jim. Thank you for sharing this.
At some level, I do feel most 'wisdom traditions' throughout the ages have been oriented towards what might now be deemed 'philosophical health-ing', perhaps something that is close(st) to 'the' human project...