Anxiety:  Watching anxiety with awareness If you notice that you are becoming more and more anxious because you are stuck in the traffic and you may miss an important meeting, simply try to be fully aware of your anxiety. Make your mind competing with itself: the anxious one against the awareness one. But […]

                                                     Moon, lake, waves and wind  What is the relationship between the moon, the lake, the waves and the wind? What is the relationship between life, our mind and our thoughts and emotions? This is a metaphor and there is no difference between nature and us. When the night is silent and quiet the […]

       BODY MIND & CONSCIOUSNESS According to Zen Buddhism, mind and body are one entity enabling us to express our own self identity via physical, intellectual and emotional activity. Such triple experience of life is possible only thru our consciousness. Using a modern language: DNA/body/brain is the hardware, mind the software and consciousness the WI […]

                                                     Zen Buddhism in a nutshell     History: 2500 BCE ago Siddhartha Gautama aka “the Buddha =the awakened one” taught in the North East of India during 50 years following 6 years intensive mindfulness meditation practice trying to understand human suffering. Suffering, its causes and how to end it form became the core of […]

                                             Serenity: what is it, how to build it Serenity is not happiness. Serenity is our self-created inner peace. This is a permanent state of mind rather than a transient emotion like our usual happiness. On the other hand, our quest for […]

                       Happiness: What does it mean?   A Zen perspective   “We are happy if we get or do what we want” Where is the problem? “If “ is the problem: it creates a condition. The dictionary describes happiness as an emotional state of joy, pleasure and delight, a feeling that life is good. […]

I will be happy IF:   I got what I am looking for ....and don't get what I am avoiding.   I do what I want to do .... and don't do what I don't want to do.   He/She will nicer, smarter, richer, younger....   Etc....... By putting condition to happiness that is IF, […]

Suffering:  Definition, causes and cessation During his 50 years of public speaking, the Buddha (aka the awakened one) said many times that his is 2 main teachings are about human suffering and impermanence of people and things. The word suffering is a very restrictive translation of the Sanskrit word “Dukkha” founded in Zen Buddhism literature. […]

                                    KARMA: Intention, action and effects  Part 1 Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning “action”. The law of karma refers to the sequence: cause (intention) produces action which induces effect. Every good/bad volitional thought or action will bring a certain good/bad result in the short or long term future.                                                                         If my thoughts or behaviors […]

                                         Common problems encountered during meditation Asked if he is struggling sometimes while meditating the Dalai Lama replied: “ If I don’t struggle, I don’t meditate well” While practicing meditation, it is normal, even after many years, to encounter problem, difficulties and frustration. The best way to quit meditation is to judge how you are […]