The mirage of ongoing happiness You will never find the word happiness in Zen literature. It is a Western dream even included in the US Constitution. It is a positive emotion and, like any positive or negative emotions it comes and goes. I identify 2 types of happiness based on their origins external or […]

                                       Taking your suffering for a walk Few years ago, my Zen Master Yangil Sunim (Sunim means teacher) asked me: “Ji Gong, how often do you practice suffering”. This is a classical Zen question and, like a Koan, it sounds incomprehensible, paradoxal, illogical and even stupid. The purpose of this kind of questions is to […]

                                                The A,B,C of mindfulness meditation In practicing mindfulness, always start as a new beginning every time, that is start without knowing anything. When you take away everything that you know, you are left with pure awareness, breathing and compassion. Apply the same approach regarding your life: each day is a new […]

Interpersonal Relationships – A Zen Perspective Interpersonal relationships are relationships between you and the people that you contact during your daily lives; your spouse, your children, your siblings, your colleagues and the people outside your own sphere. Let us examine how the relationships are born, are developed, and how they may impact your daily lives. […]

From foe to friend A Zen perspective As we struggle with our emotional ego, we are developing mental habits that feed our pain. When we find ourselves suffering, we can notice the familiar negative feelings of guilt, shame blame, and anger. These are types of judgments that we pass on others and that others impose […]