Supplementary Material - The Bardos in Everyday Life
Welcome to the Bardos in Everyday Life: Covid 19 Version support page. On this page, in sequential order (starting at the top with the most recent class) for each of the ten classes, you will find all the quotes, links to articles, references to books, additional material and anything else to assist you in this journey.
Relating to Suicide from a Buddhist Perspective
The difficult topic of suicide and the depression that often triggers it are complex issues. Biological, cultural, social, and psychological causes all conspire to spark these tragic events. How can we relate to suicide from a Buddhist perspective? Is there a way to help those inclined to take...
Best Time for Lucid Dreaming
People often ask me if there is a best time for lucid dreaming. There is, and it is in the morning hours. To most effectively learn lucid dreaming, it is important to understand and take advantage of our sleep cycles. There are times when it’s best not to disturb sleep, and other times when we can...
Holding Environment for Dying
There is a great deal we can do to help others as they die. The best thing is to create a proper holding environment for dying. What is a Holding Environment? The idea of holding environments was created by the psychiatrist and pediatrician Donald Winnicott. He used the idea of holding...
Make Your Spiritual Wishes Known by Writing a Dharma Will
A legal will is a document that says how you want your money and belongings to be distributed after you die. For Buddhists, in addition to having a traditional will, it is a good idea to also have a "Dharma Will." The ideas is to ensure that your caregivers implement the practices and teachings...
Meditation is Difficult Because Waking Up Hurts
Meditation is difficult because waking up hurts. And if we don’t understand why, we will run from the pain and abandon the path. There are countless people who have become spiritual dropouts, or who are lost in detours because they have not understood that hardship is part of the spiritual path....
The Four Reminders
The four reminders, or four thoughts that turn the mind, are an important preparation for death because they turn the mind from constantly looking outward to finally looking within. As with mindfulness, they provide another way to work with distraction. They bring the key instruction “do not be...
What Is a Lucid Dream?
A lucid dream is when you wake up to the fact that you’re dreaming, but you still remain in the dream—that is, you’re dreaming and you know it. Early History The term “Lucid dream” was hinted at by the scholar Marquis d’Hervey de Saint-Denys (1822–1892), but was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist...
How Meditation Affects the Brain
The world of neuroscience is revealing exactly how meditation affects the brain. I had the great honor to be invited to be subject on one of a series of studies being conducted on meditation. I was invited to the University of Wisconsin in Madison where the most thorough and cutting edge research...
How Far Are You Willing to Go to Wake Up
How Far Are You Willing to Go to Wake Up? In an interview with Lauren Krause of Trike Daily, Andrew explains how tapping into our lucid dreams can help us better understand—and even enhance—our waking life. Some nights, after we close our eyes, we soar over vast, moonlit deserts or tiptoe through...
