Making friends with ourselves Cultural brainwashing Making friends with ourselves can be a challenging undertaking because we have been taught very quickly in life that we are lacking on this and that, and we should ain to be the best on whatever. There are things I’ve said to myself that I would never, ever say […]
Complaining: our ego’s favorite food Complaining is one of our ego’s favorite strategies for strengthening itself. We are complaining almost all the time about anything. It can be verbal, from thoughts but it is mostly subconscious as demonstrated using hypnosis. Facts: We are complaining about everything, even if there is nothing we can do about […]
Only genuine compassion is enough. Adapted from the writings of the Dalai Lama “It’s not sufficient, says the Dalai Lama, to simply think that compassion is important. We must transform our thoughts and behavior on a daily basis to cultivate compassion without attachment” What he just said is not an oxymoron and I will try […]
Actual reality, virtual reality, and spacetimes. A Zen perspective. It is 8 pm. Imagine yourself sitting in a movie theater and watching an exciting movie. In this setting there are 2 space-times: - Your space-time is your immediate surrounding (Space) at 8pm (Time) also called the present moment. - What is going on on the […]
Breathing: A Miracle Moment First, we sit comfortably on a cushion or a chair. Then we keep your back erect without straining or overarching and keep your chin horizontal. Close your eyes. If not, gaze gently a few feet in front of you w/o staring. Aim for a state of alert relaxation. Take three or […]
How to apply mindfulness in dealing with our suffering Edited from a Dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh Dealing with our suffering using the usual “fight”: We try our best to get rid of it our suffering. Psychologists like the expression, “getting it out of your system.” which is venting the cause of suffering. Some […]
The practice of awareness One of the first Zen practices I learned from my teachers was the practice of awareness. I am not talking about cognitive-based awareness such as “Yes I am aware of this or that meaning I know “. In this example, awareness is just an automatic recall process from our data-based knowledge. […]
The four foundations of Mindfulness as taught by the Buddha To be mindful is to pay attention / contemplate something w/o further judgmental, analytic, and decisional processes. It can be on a material object, thought, emotion, behavior. The 4 foundations of mindfulness are the fundamental teachings of the Buddha on meditation as the way to […]
Mindfulness in motion The first time I met my second Zen teacher was in his kitchen,14 years ago. He was peeling potatoes. Being absorbed with what he was doing, he did not notice me. I watched him for almost 1 min. and was puzzled how slow his movements were. It was like watching a […]
The power of equanimity How do we sustain our sanity in the face of sudden internal and external challenges? In Zen Buddhist the answer is equanimity. For many, the word equanimity implies passivity, coolness, indifference, even sort of “whatever” . The Pali word for equanimity is upekkha, which is effectively translated as” balance”. Visualize […]
