Is meditation supposed to be boring? May be so. Think about it. During several minutes we sit still like a statue and focus on our body, on our mind anchor and incoming thoughts like a drill digging into the mystery of our inner self. This daily meditative exercise is just the opposite of what is […]
"Happiness from outside does not last, happiness from inside lasts forever". This is a modern translation of what the Buddha said some 2500 years ago and repeated many times by the Dalai Lama. Easier to say than to understand or to do. Where do we get our happiness? If good health is excluded I bet you that 99.9% of our […]
"Zen practice is bringing our mind and body together in the present moment to reflect mindfully and without judgment on living beings, events and surroundings as they are in reality and not as our ego-centered thoughts want them to be". Thanks. Ven. Ji Gong Sunim.
"We are free, every one of us. We are born free, and the bondage, restrictions, edges and limits that we find in our life are self-created by our mind. Beside the Law of the Land and Morality there are fundamentally no edges, no boundaries. Zen practice is an experience which has nothing to do with believing. Zen practitioners are not believers per se since […]
Sorry for the poor quality! 1) At birth: a living being #1 is created with consciousness (C) + the 4 other components. The 4 others components are the body (B), the 5 senses (S), the emotions (E) and the mental (M). 2) At death: among the 5 components (aggregates) only consciousness survives. It returns to […]
Having problems about Zen terminology? Below is one the best online glossary of Zen Buddhism terms. Just follow the link. Please note it may take times for the glossary to appear. http://www.zenguide.com/principles/zen_buddhism_dictionary_glossary_terms.cfm?selected=A Thanks. Ven. Ji Gong Sunim.
When people are happy and contented, they tend to take life for granted. It is when they suffer, when they find life difficult, that they begin to search for a reason and a way out of their difficulty. They may ask why some are born in poverty and suffering, while others are born in fortunate circumstances. […]
History: Buddhism was created around 2500 years ago following the 50 years long teaching of The Buddha (meaning the “awakened one”). Zen, a branch of Buddhism, was born in China 500 years later. Zen is the Japanese word for meditation. The Buddha meditated 6 years almost continuously before being "awaken" meaning 1) He realized the origins […]
This is a very legitimate question since Zen is a personal experience to achieve a " don't know mind" that is 1) To be able to scan and control the thoughts of our ego-centered mind and main source of discomfort and dissatisfaction and 2) To be free of concepts, preconceived ideas, opinions and judgment. If […]
Zen Buddhism is full of paradoxes in its literature, in its thinking and teaching. Here is an example: Question from a teacher: "Who are you? In your answer you cannot talk about yourself!". Does not make sense isn't it? Why such an attraction for paradoxes.? The existence of paradoxes does not mean that Zen is […]
