The 4 SEALS Part 1 SUFFERING They are called seals because they are the landmarks of Buddha's 50 years of verbal teaching. SUFFERING, IMPERMANENCE, NO-SELF and NIRVANA. They represent the 4 standing pillars of Zen philosophy & practice. Everything else depends on them.These words seem weird, complex and esoteric but we will see […]
Feeling being a victim : a Zen perspective One of the purposes of Zen practice is to offer an open heart to self and around us. But It is not easy to open up our own hearts, to open to the “I, me, myself, and mine”. The breakdown of any situation where you feel being […]
What is your problem? or dealing with our negativities “Problem” means that you are dwelling on an event, a situation or a person that is perceived negatively meaning generating a negative emotional response such as pain, anger, regret, etc.. Problems are small, gigantic, last a few min., few hours, a few years or forever. […]
What is consciousness? A Zen perspective Historically and still up to now, many of our greatest minds in philosophy, sciences, theology, A.I, have tried to explain the origin and mechanism of human consciousness (see ref.). They end-up with hundreds of different theories and explanations proving that none of them is currently satisfactory. Explaining consciousness through […]
The art of doing nothing Part 2: what to do when getting bored? When boredom strikes: We feel some void and the negative feeling of being uncomfortable, unproductive, useless, impatient, restless or even lazy in the current moment. When there’s nothing stimulating, flashy,, distracting or even work, we experience the urge to seek distractions a.s.a.p. […]
The art of doing nothing: Part 1 what is boredom, and what is triggering it? The negative impacts of being bored: […]
Proper Mindfulness Proper mindfulness, the seventh step of the Noble Eightfold Path, belongs to the category of mental discipline, along with proper effort and proper concentration. In everyday language, mindfulness, as defined by Webster’s dictionary, means “the quality of being mindful, bearing in mind; aware.” In this sense, it refers to attentiveness, keeping something in […]
Ignorance Part 2 What does that mean? Ignorance with desire/attachment/clinging (I want), dislike/hatred (I don’t want) is one of the so-called 3 poisons causing suffering. There is a difference between ignorance in the common sense of the word and its Zen Buddhist meaning In the Zen meaning, rather than a general lack of knowledge, ignorance […]
Ignorance with desire/attachment/clinging (I want), dislike/hatred (I don’t want) is one of the so-called 3 poisons causing our negativities called suffering. There is a difference between ignorance in the common sense, and its Zen Buddhist meaning. In the Zen Buddhist sense of the word, rather than a general lack of knowledge, ignorance means our illusions, […]
An attachment is an emotional bond +/- physical that is created between the Self and its image with something /somebody. All living beings have attachments, and we cannot deny, escape nor eliminate them because we need them, and because they are part of our genuine and social entity. Buddhist teachings identify extreme attachment such as […]
