Talking to ourselves and listening to our continuous inner voice is, by far, the most common activity of our mind. It is estimated that around 90,000 to 140,000 thoughts are produced every day. A very small proportion of this huge amount is decisional, but most of them are self-talking and listening to ourselves with w/any […]

I” Not knowing “ is understood as a mind empty of appropriate knowledge, at max,  being stupid. Knowing about x, y, and z is, a vital tool when decisions must be made all the time. Also, knowledge is assimilated with self-identification (I think therefore I am said Descartes), intelligence, respect, control, and power. However, when […]

                      Stop trying to define yourself The most common tools used for self-identification have to do with race, gender, personal and family history, physical appearance, education, knowledge, work we do, special abilities, social status, recognition, belief systems, and other collective identifications such as religious and political. So, we are spending a lot of time trying […]

                                                                       Short Zen Lexicon ACCEPTANCE:       An attitude towards serenity. The opposite is  Resistance causing suffering. ATTACHMENT:       #1 cause of suffering. Attachment to things, thoughts, ideas, etc..... AWAKENING:      Achieved when we realize and experience the factual realities of Life as opposed to the mind-made     fictional ones. AWARENESS:        Experiencing factual reality […]

Be still Activity and movement are our default modes, not just with our bodies but also with our minds always in motion. We rush around all day, always connected, doing things, talking, emailing, sending and reading messages, There is no time for stillness. In our society action and results are all-important, it is part of […]

               Awareness vs Thinking I am thinking hard to control my thoughts and emotions but I cannot succeed. So, what should I do said the student: “Don’t do,...... just be....... and you will achieve control of your mind..” replied the teacher. To control or even to be free of our thoughts and feelings is not […]

                                Original Self vs Acquired self    or   The doctrine of “ No-Self” XIII century Zen Master Dogen taught the following:                “ The daily practice of Zen and Zen meditation is to discover your true original self                   To discover your true self is to study your acquired self.                   To study your acquired […]

The practice of Metta or “loving-kindness” Metta is a Pali word, and like most ancient words, it encompasses multi meanings. Therefore, it cannot be translated into a single word. It can be summarized as an attitude of loving-kindness expressed towards all living beings including self and in all situations w/o seeking anything back for our […]

                                                  Being kind with our unkind demons Negative thoughts are our unkind demons popping up all the time out of our subconscious or from nowhere. Hundred of thoughts belong in this category:  anxiety, guilt, poor self-image, hatred, regrets, etc....  They disturbed us to the point that we repeatedly tried to get rid of them through […]

                                               Benefits of mindfulness-based meditation 2 In this talk, I will not describe again what mindfulness meditation is all about but look at its beneficial effects. Also, no one should look at mindfulness meditation as the Holy Grail which will fix all our problems. Over the last 25 years or so, science has been able […]