How to practice  ”Metta” or Lovingkindness Metta regroups loving-kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. In our Western culture, it is impossible to practice Metta to ourselves. We feel that we are unworthy, that it’s egotistical, narcissistic, and alien.    The following is the actual teaching by the Buddha himself regarding Metta.                                            "One of the beautiful principles of […]

                                         Hope: how to practice hope the Zen way When your mind is wandering in the future ~ 70% of the time, hope becomes its default mode. We are expecting positive outcomes for ourselves, people, and events all the time, and it is okay. Dostoyevsky said, “There is no life without hope” Maybe. However, hope […]

     Let me try to explain this metaphor:      From the bottom up:             The cup of the lamp is our material body.             The oil is our restless mind.             The wick is our ego.             The flame is the end result of the ego.      How does it work?             Our non-stop thinking […]

Purpose of the Dharma talk and the student’s role “A Dharma talk is a lecture on a Buddhist topic to provide inspiration for integrating the Buddha’s teachings in daily life.”  ( i.e. inspirational vs intellectual). The Buddha said I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the release from suffering; and yet he […]