Longtime musician, Buddhist teacher and practitioner, David Nichtern, gives some very wise and practical advice on how to reduce the thoughts and behaviors that contribute, often unwittingly, to the suffering in each of our lives.

1. The Enchanted Loom
Teasing sturdy threads from
neuroscience masterworks

2. Teasing 10
threads from
David
Nichtern’s …

3. Thread 1:
Sometimes tropical fish leave a tiny trail of
poop behind them as they swim around the
tank. Once they have completed one cycle
around, all of a
sudden the poop
is right in front
of them.
This is how
karma works.
(pg. 6)

4. Thread 2:
The Law of Karma
describes the precise
relationship between
actions and their
consequences,
what we think, say
and do. The Karma
exists whether we
know it or not.
(pg. 9)

5. Thread 3:
Passion (grasping)
is the desire to
include, aggression
(aggressing) is the
desire to exclude,
and ignorance
(ignoring) happens
when we don’t care
one way or the other.
(pg. 15)

6. Thread 4:
Our relationship to pleasure and pain deter-
mines which of 6 realms
we spend our time in:
1. The God Realm
2. The Jealous God
Realm
3. The Human Realm
4. The Animal Realm
5. The Hell Realm
6. The Hungry Ghost
Realm
(pg. 18)

7. Thread 5:
Dharma means seeing things as they are.
We are fundamentally good and whole
human beings.
We may have
layers and layers
of doubt and
insecurity, but
at the core, we
are basically
good.
(pg. 78)

8. Thread 6:
Karma can be the engine of imprisonment
or liberation. It refers to the evolution of
patterns of thought, emotions and behavior.
It is truly a
neutral
process
shaped
by our
intentions.
(pg. 89)

9. Thread 7:
Two things are crucial
to the development
of positive karma:
discernment – clearly
seeing the lay of the
land in any given
situation; and skillful
means -knowing what
action will be truly
effective.
(pg. 103)

10. Thread 8:
4 strategies shape a positive intention into
skillful action: pacifying aggressive situations
enriching impoverished situations; magnetiz-
ing isolated
situations;
destroying
harmful
situations.
(pg. 104)

11. Thread 9:
Gentleness and compassion have little to do
with having things conform to our agenda
or timetable.
(pg.111)

12. Thread 10:
Our confusion, anxiety and discomfort
are a significant part of the ground and
fuel of our
journey. We
cannot simply
repress them
and hope
wisdom will
remain.
(pg. 125)

13. Image Credits:
Title Page: http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans
Slide 3 - http://bit.ly/2n5lPQ2/
Slide 12 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Temporary-Discomfort-656370180
Slide 2 - http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/awakening-daydream
Slide 6 - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/412642384581564494/
Slide 5 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Persistence-of-Ignorance-63566892
Slide 11 - https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/#7ed6a7c37e4f
Slide 10 - http://bit.ly/2oCY9mV
Slide 14 - http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans
Slide 9 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Selfportrait-Stuck-in-Blue-4144963
Slide 8 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ugra-Karma-373999308
Slide 7 - https://myheadspacematters.nz/power-core-beliefs/
Slide 4 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Karma-164004184

14. Mark Brady, PhD
TheEnchantedLoom@gmail.com
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