Bahiya and The Cosmic Joke This story comes from the Buddhist Suttas. Bahiya of the Bark-cloth was a wondering renunciate and arguably the Buddha's best student. One day Bahiya comes to wonder about himself, “Am I awakened? Am I an enlightened being?” So Bahiya asks a passing God—a Deva, “Am I awakened?” The Deva […]
How to practice ”Metta” or Lovingkindness Metta regroups loving-kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. In our Western culture, it is impossible to practice Metta to ourselves. We feel that we are unworthy, that it’s egotistical, narcissistic, and alien. The following is the actual teaching by the Buddha himself regarding Metta. "One of the beautiful principles of […]
Hope: how to practice hope the Zen way When your mind is wandering in the future ~ 70% of the time, hope becomes its default mode. We are expecting positive outcomes for ourselves, people, and events all the time, and it is okay. Dostoyevsky said, “There is no life without hope” Maybe. However, hope […]
Let me try to explain this metaphor: From the bottom up: The cup of the lamp is our material body. The oil is our restless mind. The wick is our ego. The flame is the end result of the ego. How does it work? Our non-stop thinking […]
Purpose of the Dharma talk and the student’s role “A Dharma talk is a lecture on a Buddhist topic to provide inspiration for integrating the Buddha’s teachings in daily life.” ( i.e. inspirational vs intellectual). The Buddha said I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the release from suffering; and yet he […]
Dharma: What is Ignorance? A Zen perspective There is a difference between ignorance in the common sense of the word and the Zen Buddhist meaning of the word. In the common sense of the word, ignorance is being unaware, lacking in general knowledge or understanding. This common kind of ignorance, when applied […]
Meditation. Its benefits: what we know in 2022 During the past two decades, we’ve discovered the beneficial impacts of mindfulness meditation. But the science behind mindfulness meditation has often suffered from poor study designs, lack of funding, and small effect sizes. As a result, there is still a lot we don’t understand about mindfulness […]
Gratitude Gratitude, as a quality of the heart, often escapes me. Like most people, I usually get carried away by the demands of everyday life, the endless to-do lists, the ongoing planning, and my over-active, problem-solving mind. Seldom do I stop and experience gratitude, and yet, I don’t think I’m alone in feeling as though […]
How to create a meditation routine even if you don’t want to Prerequisite: Understanding the rationale, purpose, and process of mindfulness meditation. Here is the “Do it” list to help you in creating a meditation practice routine Prioritize. You need to insert into your brain that meditation is just as […]
Series B2B: What is Meditation & what are its benefits? Part 1 In series B2B ( Back to the basics ) we will start by talking about meditation. Zen means meditation in Japanese, and meditation is, by far, the most important component of Zen Buddhism practice because : It contains all the keys […]
