Spacing our mind When we look, by definition, we always look at something or somebody. Cannot be otherwise. During the day, we look at zillion of visual objects such as screen, the road, the face of someone, your plate, your watch, your face in the mirror, etc.... We never look at the space existing […]
NEUROPLASTICITY: how to improve it. Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity is the ability of the brain to reorganize its wiring and create new ones by increasing its synaptic connections (we have over 100 trillions of them) that is connections between neurons (we have around 100 billions neurons or around 1,000 connections per […]
Being in control...are we ? It is a wonderful thing to be in control...or to believe that we are. When you are in control, you can pick what you want to do and when and where to do it. You can go left or right, eat this or that, start a hobby, change car, […]
Karma Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning “action”. The law of karma refers to the sequence: cause (intention) produces action, which induces positive or negative effects. Every good/bad volitional thought or action will bring a […]
Easy steps to be in the NOW “To experience reality is to be mindful to the now, away from the control of the mind using daydreaming.” Here is a list of few tools to consider. Don’t let your mind be a relentless time machine travelling from past to future: Being in the past […]
Enlightenment: demystification I am practicing Zen since 2002 and received the Spiritual Transmission from my teacher Yangil Sunim 5 years ago. It means I became “awakened” or enlightened and may teach. To be awake in a spiritual way means to mindfully experience the existing reality of the moment inside and around self. Nothing to boast […]
Serenity vs. happiness The following Serenity Prayer addresses our needs and the frustrations that arise when we don’t like, don’t want or cannot control how people, […]
SUFFERING: "NOW & ZEN/THEN" Zen Buddhism teaching has been criticized for putting too much emphasis on suffering meaning that everything that has a negative impact either physically or mentally. The word suffering is a poor translation. The Sanskrit word “Dukkha” means not only physical and mental pain but also any negative feelings such as […]
Worried about worrying This email was sent to me: “I am worried almost all the time and about everything. How do I work against it?” Anxiety is a growing mental state affecting all ages even the youngest ones. The causes are numerous and beyond the scope of this talk. “ Working against it” is […]
Spiritual and Material self-care When we talk about self-care, we usually referring to proper diet, exercise and sleep. This is only part of global self-care. In Zen, however, self-care is an oxymoron. Why? A fundamental teaching of Zen Buddhism is the concept of “no-self”. No-self does not mean that we don’t exist as living […]
