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  hardie karges 6:51 am on July 12, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 496 ), language ( 200 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, children ( 3 ), Fear ( 6 )   

  Buddhism and the Wisdom of Children…  

  

  We (adults) pride ourselves at teaching our young ones how to make it through life, growing and learning, getting and spending, and all the other things that count for adulthood. But is that truly a worthwhile effort, and are they indeed really learning anything important? Sometimes it seems that all we are really teaching is how to fear the powers that be, and then the ability to lie, cheat, steal, and murder is merely a by-product of that more basic capacity to fear. 

  But shouldn’t they be teaching us a thing or two at the same time, like maybe how to laugh and play and enjoy the day as if there were never indeed one before and may never be another one after? I mean, have you ever met a child incapable of smiling? No, not that I can remember, but I know many adults who never seem to be able to summon up the courage to let go of their fears in that way for even a moment. But, wait a minute, you’re thinking, isn’t a child’s smile likely to turn into a frown without the slightest notice, and for even less reason?  

  And there’s the rub. Yes, for many a child, an emotion is only a transient sensation, as ephemeral as a passing cloud and with even less reason, merely the chatter of butterflies without vocal chords, just the flapping of wings in a season without time, meter or rhyme, while adults do the hard work of civilization. So, the middle path is always the sweet spot of reconciliation, the wisdom of age and the sensation of youth, coexisting in a crucible of truth, forever beholden to the divine principles that contrive us. Buddhism is the wisdom of men, as learned from children—and women. But that’s another story… 

   

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  hardie karges 12:10 am on June 28, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 496 ), dialectic ( 15 ), freedom ( 15 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), Hegel ( 6 ), language ( 200 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, mindfulness ( 38 ), Science ( 27 )   

  Buddhism and the Nine-fold Path: Right Freedom…  

  

  Too much freedom can sometimes work against us. And that’s the conundrum, of course, because we’re led to believe that freedom is something of the be-all and end-all of life in this world. But it’s not, not really. It’s most important in opposition to its opposite, i.e. prison, of the heart and of the mind. That’s the importance of freedom, the escape from prison. Too much freedom is not good, though. It’s chaos, with a total lack of control. As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. 

  That’s the Middle Path, of course, that nickel-and-dime philosophy that’s almost always right, without having to even think much about it. That’s the beauty of such simple math. Avoid extremes, and you’ll usually be right. If that means that you’re drinking lukewarm coffee, instead of the really hot stuff or the really cold, then so be it. Lukewarm coffee ain’t bad, not bad at all. If that means that you won’t burn your little fingers, then count your blessings. Ditto on the brain freeze. Do you really like that feeling so much, anyway?  

  But this is one of the most important parts of Buddhism, even if it’s not as sexy as the basic mindfulness of breathing in and breathing out. We have work to do, too, as adults we do, many of us householders and addicted to the haze and daze of life on this planet. We can’t all be monks. Some of us have to do the work so that the monks will have something to eat. That’s you and me, brother and sister, and we need some help. That’s where the Middle Path comes in, as helpful as Hegel’s dialectic as it is the Buddha’s spiritual path between luxury and lack.  

  That means that there is always a synthesis, a path forward, between the opposite poles of a dialectic, i.e. a dialog, a discussion, or a decision. And it never stops, like the evolution of species or consciousness. If I don’t know whether to plant early, for maximum growing season, or later, to avoid the heaviest rains, then I’ll split the difference, and keep a watchful eye on the skies. It’s almost like breath. The skies are getting cloudier now, and I know that is information that I can use. And I know that it usually occurs when the days and night are most equal. The sun tells me that when it sets upon the same hill at the same time every year. That’s science. That’s mindfulness. That’s Buddhism.  
   
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  hardie karges 9:33 am on May 31, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Attachment ( 3 ), Buddhism ( 496 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), language ( 200 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, philosophy ( 119 ), present moment ( 7 ), religion ( 174 )   

  The Buddhist Middle Path Between Bliss and Industry    

  

  The most difficult attachments are to (our) selves and (our) lives, which almost goes without saying, because what could be more logical and apparently natural? But it’s probably worth the effort to say it, because it may not be natural at all, maybe just the opposite, in fact. Because the only thing connecting it all is consciousness, and that hardly implies attachment, only awareness. This is a core principle of Buddhism, and nothing is more important.  

  Because once you’ve become attached to yourself, then you will certainly become attached to your wife and your children and your job, as if nothing could be more natural. But there is something almost more natural, and that’s non-attachment. Imagine the bliss that becomes possible by simply being alive without transacting, becoming blissfully wet when it rains and playfully engaged when it dries? So, why don’t animals do that, then, as we imagine they do? 

  But they don’t, or not totally. Jesus has already been busted for claiming that birds don’t build barns, when in fact they clearly do. In the English language we call them nests. In fact, these birds are a full step ahead of those imaginary ‘present moment’ Buddhists, as they are more like Middle Path Buddhists, splitting the difference between bliss and industry, very much in the moment, but with an eye to the future, too. We humans were once like that, planting seeds but also practicing crafts. Cities should be unnecessary with the advent of high tech. Maybe we should try that.   

   
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  hardie karges 5:20 pm on May 6, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 496 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), language ( 200 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, religion ( 174 )   

  Buddhism: the Middle Path in an Imperfect World 

   
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  hardie karges 4:42 pm on April 16, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 496 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), language ( 200 ), Middle Path, samatha ( 5 ), Vipassana ( 18 )   

  Buddhist Meditation and Mediation of Extremes 

   
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  hardie karges 2:18 am on March 15, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: balance, Buddhism ( 496 ), DEMOCRACY ( 11 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), language ( 200 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, salvation ( 2 )   

  Buddhism 101: It is all a question of balance…   

  

  This is one of the not-so-secret secrets of Buddhism and much the meaning of the sometimes meandering Middle Path. If not that, then what would the Middle Path mean? A shortcut to salvation? There may or may not be something like salvation, but there is definitely no shortcut. If anything, Buddhism is hard work. Yes, that’s right. Because that Middle Path may not always be straight and narrow, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. 

  Which is the usual connotation of the phrase ‘straight and narrow; that it’s goddawful boring and devoid of all sensory pleasure. And there’s some truth to that.  After all, who drinks lukewarm coffee? No one that I know. We drink it hot, or we drink it cold, ginger-laced decaf or double express, unapologetic and often judging it by those very extremities of flavor. No one gets excited by Folgers or Maxwell House, but macchiato always gets a grin and even chicory gets good mentions, even if the caffeine content is not significant. 

  But there is more than a matter of taste and tastes at stake here. This is a matter of discipline, and other issues such as kindness and compassion are directly affected. Because , isn’t it sometimes hard to be nice to people with extreme positions? I’m asking this in the year 2026. The answer is yes, of course. So, it sometimes comes as a surprise that the words ‘polite’ and ‘politics’ have more than some distant connection in ancient Rome. No, they’re intimately connected. And both connotations support the concept of a Middle path. We’ll get there eventually. So, let’s get there politely. This is also the key to democracy.  

   
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  hardie karges 2:25 am on December 28, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 496 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), language ( 200 ), Mahayana ( 49 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, mindfulness ( 38 ), philosophy ( 119 )   

  Buddhism and the Karma of Intent…  

  

  If Buddhism is an open doctrine, it needs to be updated frequently. If it’s a closed doctrine, then it loses relevance over time. All of which is to say that the Buddha was a real person, with real thoughts and feelings, not just some otherworldly manifestation emanating from above in some transcendental livestream, as some of the Mahayanists might prefer it, they with bills to pay and demons to slay and Taoists just nipping at their heels waiting for the price of real estate to stabilize. 

  But dharma practice doesn’t have to be hard and cold. It can be soft and warm and still non-clinging. People think of something often referred to as ‘the law’ as something written in stone and cruel in its intentions. But that is not the case with Buddhism. Buddhism is a philosophy, and one that is measured by its results, not just its intentions. And those results are palpable, from the ‘calm abiding’ produced by meditation to the long-term mindfulness produced by ongoing practice.  

  If you’re in it for the bliss, then good luck with that, because it’s a bit uncertain and a bit difficult to measure subjectively or objectively. Personally, I prefer the increased certainty of lesser expectations that accompany devotion to the Middle Path that defines Buddhism. Because that is not a cheap shortcut designed to increase the coffers while padding the rolls. No, that is intrinsic to that which is Buddhism and which is honest to a fault. To avoid extremes is to avoid mistakes. The only certainty is negation, but that is not always a viable approach to a situation that needs action, karma, honest effort. 

   
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  hardie karges 2:16 am on December 21, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 496 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), karma ( 53 ), language ( 200 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, philosophy ( 119 ), silence ( 14 )   

   Buddhism and the Sounds of Silence…     

  

  Sometimes silence is the best way to celebrate. Not that celebration is necessary, ever, for any reason, but if it is desired, for some reason, then silence is not a bad way to go about it. Because our lives in this world have advanced beyond the simple survival of the individual and by extension the species, to the point where we are at the point of destroying everything we’ve accomplished by the fact that we have over-produced and over-reproduced.  

  Our individual lives are no longer in imminent danger. But the lives of the species are in terrible danger. And the well-being of the individual is similarly impacted, if no longer in immediate danger of destruction. Still, we have been very successful over the course of our existence, and if that calls for celebration, then let it be silent. Because silence is Buddhism’s secret weapon, best seen in the practice of meditation. And if we need to celebrate in order to propagate, then let it be here, in silence, not in the screaming of flesh. 

  The path is not always straight or easy. It often seems to go in circles. Patience is the key that unlocks the door to freedom. But this is not an absolute freedom in the Western sense, the freedom to do this and that. That’s a boy’s dream. Girls have responsibilities to fate and the future. That requires discipline and diligence, karma in the truest sense of actions and reactions. That requires little or no flash or flare, just dedication to the cause of righteousness–truth, beauty, and goodness. That is the Middle Path.

   
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  hardie karges 2:38 am on August 31, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: First Noble Truth ( 5 ), free will ( 7 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), meditation ( 255 ), Middle Path, morality ( 6 )   

  The Buddhist Middle Path in an Imperfect World 

  

  If there is a Middle Path, then there is a choice. And if there is a choice, then there is free will. That’s important, because if there is no free will, then there is no morality. And if there is no morality, then there is no right or wrong. The world is a jungle and anything goes, and if anything goes, then you can be assured that much of that will be bad. Because we may be a diverse group of unique individuals, or not, but I’m fairly sure tha the number of angels here is limited.

  The Buddha made it clear, and I agree, that this is not a perfect world, i.e. there is suffering, the First Noble Truth. How was he, and we, so sure of that? No one gets out of here alive. That’s how we know. When that changes, then maybe it will be time for a new philosophy and a new religion, but until then, we do the best we can in an imperfect situation. We can mitigate that suffering by lowering our expectations and being open to change, but many needs will still be unresolved, and many changes will be difficult.

  So, the Middle Path is not so hard, but it’s not so easy, either. That’s why it’s called the Middle Path. Because taking sides is easy, clear, and distinct, but often wrong. Following a narrow winding path is much more difficult, looking for signs to hopefully find the way through rugged terrain in troubling times. The important thing is to keep pushing forward and create a path if it’s not so obvious. Because the most obvious paths are like water, flowing downhill until they reach something bigger and better. Once you find flowing water, then you have found a path of little resistance, and there will be a way forward.

   
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  hardie karges 3:02 am on August 24, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 496 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 164 ), compassion ( 15 ), Hardie Karges ( 308 ), karuna ( 9 ), kindness ( 17 ), language ( 200 ), lovingkindness ( 16 ), meditation ( 255 ), metta ( 25 ), Middle Path, religion ( 174 ), Thailand ( 80 )   

  Buddhist Middle Path: Hold Your Applause 

  

  All you need is kindness. Compassion is good, too. These are the Buddhist foundational concepts known in the Pali language as metta and karuna, often combined in modern standard Thai language as mettakaruna. I guess that’s similar to the Christian compound word ‘lovingkindness’, but without all the gratuitous emotion, please. That’s more Christian than Buddhism has ever aspired to, and largely by design.

  Christians need to hug and kiss, often, while Buddhists could usually care less. Christians are emotion junkies, while Buddhists are cool as cukes, usually, salad dressing optional. So, Christians deliberately took that word from the Hebrew Chesed and translated it to lovingkindness to make a point. Then, when Buddhism came to the West, many practitioners figure what’s good for the goose… you know. But, by then, Buddhism has changed its character, and not necessarily for the better.

  But that’s one way to fight the charge of pessimism and nihilism: slather the special sauce, and Bam! Thailand becomes like the Philippines, all of a sudden, fiery and passionate. I suppose there’s no real harm, but it’s really not what Buddhism is in its essence–just the opposite. Emotions go up and down as if by design, while the Buddhist path steers towards the middle always. That’s not a hard rigid path, but it’s not seeking peak emotion, either. That’s American Photography Course 101, always seeking ‘peak emotion’. Good luck with that. I’ll follow the Middle Path.