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 […]

Here ​is a simple way, but not the only one, to seek some serenity, comfort and security in our hectic and stressful life. Our body is living now but our mind is usually either in the past or future. They are not synchronized. This lack of being together is a main source of stress and […]

In this "Zen Mind Equation", the main positive attributes are in the numerator and their opposites in the denominator.                            Reality       Mindfulness      Now       Meditation     Others     Letting go ZEN MIND = ----------- + ---------------- + ---------- + -----------  + ------------ + ------------                          Illusion        Distraction        Past          Thinking          Ego           […]

A forgotten mindfulness exercise. Our mind loves to think…all the time even when we sleep. Latest neurological research ​estimates that we have around 45,000 thoughts/day and most of them are just “mental noise” or “mental spam”. We are thinking zombies on mind autopilot without too much control unless we learn a tool to reverse it. […]