How to practice “R.A.I.N. “ to meditate on anxiety The Buddha himself repeated many times that a worried, restless, excited mind is the common denominator for suffering coming from either from desire, hatred, ignorance, or delusion since most of them trigger positive or negative anxiety. Stress and anxiety are our daily demons, and the #1 […]
Proper Intention Proper intention, which falls within the category of wisdom training, is the second step of the Eightfold Path. Intention, in this context, refers to the mental state that drives our actions and is considered a key factor in shaping our moral conduct and the consequences of our behavior. Our conscious or unconscious actions […]
MInd-body connection: how to explore your emotions by reading your body Oriental and Zen Buddhism consider the Mind and Body as an unbreakable single unit in which each part affects the other one continuously and at different degrees. Body functions, thoughts, and emotions are the jobs of our subconscious and conscious mind. If thinking does […]
Negative feelings: Pamper them!....the Zen way. Negative feelings are an important part, if not the default mode of our emotional mind. They can be permanent, transient, intense, or shallow. To name a few: regret, guilt, anger, worry, jealousy, sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, apathy, depression, pain, etc..the list is endless. Remember this: Negative feelings do not explain […]
Dealing with impermanence Zen says: “ Enjoy the best of the good because it will not stay. Accept the worst of the bad because it will not last” While dying from mushroom poisoning, Amanda, the fidel servant of the Buddha asked him: “Teacher: What is your most important teaching over the last 50 years?” Without […]
Who am I? True Self, Little Self, and Awakening What is the True Self? This is the state of being. It is found in consciousness or awareness's still, silent, and alert presence. Consciousness is incarnated in each of us for the purpose not only of being a functional human—see below the little self—but also of […]
Evidence-based beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation. A 2024 update Mindfulness meditation has nothing to do with sitting relaxed and daydreaming about this or that. The practice of mindfulness meditation is simple but demanding: focusing, in a mindful way, on a target, such as our breathing to anchor our wandering mind forcing it to slow down. […]
RIGHT VIEW “And what, monks, is Right View? It is monks, the knowledge of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering. This is called the Right View.” – Buddhist Scripture The Eightfold Path consists of eight interrelated steps leading to Nirvana. It […]
Being at peace with ourselves.A Zen perspective In the following, “peace” is synonymous with harmony, stability, contentment towards, eventually equanimity of our state of mind. How often your mood is restless / jitter? Surprisingly, most studies show that our emotional default mode is, to various degrees, on a “non-peaceful, restless state”, mostly in our subconscious […]
By tradition, we differentiate our thoughts from our emotions, but Zen is teaching us that they are, quite often, tightly entangled like 2 sides of the same coin. They are our mental twins. Therefore, a vicious circle can build up between our thoughts and emotions, feeding each other back and forth between our subconscious and […]
