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 […]
Impermanence: to be mindful to Asked what was the most important message of his 50 years teaching, the Buddha, without hesitation, replied these words. “Everything is transient, work diligently to appreciate and experience your impermanence.” It was his last words a few minutes before dying from mushroom poisoning. As Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki head […]
MINDFULNESS: BACK TO THE BASIS. What, How There is still confusion regarding the definition, meaning, and practice of the word mindfulness. So, let’s go back to the basics: Origin of the word: Come from the Pali word, “Sati”, which means literally “ the active, watching mind on something and in the moment ”. It has […]
How to assess our Body-Mind Energy Level The following is not, per se, a Dharma talk but an interesting exercise that I learned from a Tibetan monk living in Dharamshala with the Dalai Lama and was with us for a year at our temple in Toronto learning English. Before describing this very simple exercise to […]
