Heaven & Hell ✪ Whether life feels like heaven or hell depends mostly on our state of mind even if we don’t have too much control of it. (We already talked about lack of control on our life in a previous session). We experience and judge life not always as it is but as […]
This is a true story occurring in Japan countryside during the 16th century. An old farmer and Zen Master for many years named Takahashi was returning from the fields at dusk with his son when both realized that his single labor horse was gone! “How unlucky you are!” shouted his friends and neighbors.... so sad...what […]
"I would like to share the below article related to all is void (that's word-for-word translation from Chinese classic Zen philosophy, i.e. emptiness), where it mentioned two Chinese ancient poems, plain but meaningful." Lois. Vivian Dong (China) and Jay McDaniel (US) Two Buddhist Poems: Commentary by Vivian Dong: When I was in high school, I would often worry about how I would do […]
We are receiving great educative comments from our members following our weekly Dharma talks (teaching). Many thanks to the senders: there interests and inputs will greatly enhance the quality of the teaching. Zen teaching is everything but dogmatic and will always benefit from anyone's comment. Feel free to contribute. October 2015: the question from Lorraine […]
You are somewhere....in control! “You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” Napoleon Hill author of Think and Grow Rich. 1937. On the picture: “ Someone may control his/her car but […]
Teacher: When and how often do we look at ourselves in a mirror? Student: When we brush our teeth, shave, comb our hair, clean our face, put and remove our makeup, also when we check how we look, etc. Teacher: How often do you look at yourself without doing […]
An expression of silence Have you ever try to listen to silence for a few minutes? If not try it because it is a wonderful exercise to teach your mind how to rest and be ...quiet J. What is quiet outside becomes quiet inside because our mind listens to “nothing” and does […]
Grasping a red coal The Buddha ( nickname = the awakened one ) said ~ 2500 years ago: “Holding anger is like grasping a red coal with the intent of throwing it back at the source of your anger. You are the only one to get burn”. “ Holding onto anger is like drinking […]
The precepts: The core ethical code of Zen Buddhism is known as the five precepts onto which 5 others are added. All of them are the distillation of Zen Buddhism existential principles dominated by “NOT HARM SELF, NOT HARM OTHERS” To live is to act ethically, and our actions can have either harmful or beneficial […]
A happy little cloud Even alone, and lost in the immensity of the blue sky this little cloud has realized that in fact he is far more than an insignificant and transient tiny cloud.
