How to assess our Body-Mind Energy Level The following is not, per se, a Dharma talk but an interesting exercise that I learned from a Tibetan monk living in Dharamshala with the Dalai Lama and was with us for a year at our temple in Toronto learning English. Before describing this very simple exercise to […]
Applying mind circuit breakers during the day We are doing zillion of things during the day in automatic mode, sort of being on cruise control. This “not being aware” automatism is a critical safety and protective tool because, without it, our mind will be always focusing on these automatic behaviors such as walking or touching […]
Mindfulness on the go: Resting your hands. Over time, I am trying to alternate so-called spiritual/philosophical Dharma topics with more practical ones. The following belong to the latter. How often do you pay attention to your moving hands? Almost never. Paying attention to something that we never do is a wonderful mind circuit breaker […]
Have you woken up yet? This question is the most alien one that you can ask someone not familiar with Oriental spirituality. She/He will look at you wondering if you are OK. In Zen Buddhism, to be awake is just to be, the ultimate goal to achieve permanent serenity. 2500 years ago and after […]
Dealing with our Negativities In the following, the term “Negativity” encompasses everything and anybody producing negative feelings such as unsatisfied desires, physical/emotional pain, hatred, delusion, ignorance, and many more. With mindfulness, we can deal better with our Negativities in life and, hopefully, find healing and freedom. There are mindfulness principles taught by Zen in […]
Claude Debussy was a French composer who lived and wrote music around the turn of the 19th century. In addition to the music he created, he is famous for saying, “the music is the space between the notes.” Such a simple phrase but so powerful too. We often think that the value in something, the […]
FOUR SPIRITUAL PATHS Our personality is made of three parts: The Physical Part (The Body), the emotional part, (the Mind), and the Rational part (the Intellect). Running like a thread through these three parts is our true Self: Consciousness, Soul, or Atma in Sanskrit. The Consciousness acts as the battery energizing the inert Body, Mind, […]
STEPS TO SPIRITUALITY Among the essential teachings of Buddha are: • Everything is impermanent, transient, and changing • Suffering or dissatisfaction with the world because we get attached to things we love and because of the earlier two teachings, we have to give them up. Impermanence Impermanence means that life as we know it is […]
The Nature of Consciousness from the perspective of Eastern Philosophy Just as the Bible and the Koran form the basis of Christian and Muslim beliefs, the Vedas ( literally means Books of Knowledge ) written by several saints and sages going back over 10,000 years ago, form the basis of Hinduism. The knowledge contained in […]
The Nature of Consciousness from the perspective of Eastern Philosophy Just as the Bible and the Koran form the basis of Christian and Muslim beliefs, the Vedas ( literally means Books of Knowledge ) written by several saints and sages going back over 10,000 years ago, form the basis of Hinduism. The knowledge contained in […]
