The practice of awareness One of the first Zen practices I learned from my teachers was the practice of awareness. I am not talking about cognitive-based awareness such as “Yes I am aware of this or that meaning I know “. In this example, awareness is just an automatic recall process from our data-based knowledge. […]
The four foundations of Mindfulness as taught by the Buddha To be mindful is to pay attention / contemplate something w/o further judgmental, analytic, and decisional processes. It can be on a material object, thought, emotion, behavior. The 4 foundations of mindfulness are the fundamental teachings of the Buddha on meditation as the way to […]
Mindfulness in motion The first time I met my second Zen teacher was in his kitchen,14 years ago. He was peeling potatoes. Being absorbed with what he was doing, he did not notice me. I watched him for almost 1 min. and was puzzled how slow his movements were. It was like watching a […]
The power of equanimity How do we sustain our sanity in the face of sudden internal and external challenges? In Zen Buddhist the answer is equanimity. For many, the word equanimity implies passivity, coolness, indifference, even sort of “whatever” . The Pali word for equanimity is upekkha, which is effectively translated as” balance”. Visualize […]
If we leave our inner prosecutor that I will call Mrs./Mr. Negativity, unrecognized and unchecked, it creates a pattern of negative emotional roller coaster that can undermine our well-being and destroy our serenity. This prosecutor will accuse you of what we did /didn’t, should do/don’t with many negative feelings as consequence. These negative feelings are […]
Zen master If you look at the meaning of the word Maxim it is a ‘short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct’. I found it very fitting. The concept of a master or guru is central to many eastern philosophies. The idea is simple – in the world of darkness we need […]
Dialogue between a student and teacher about 3 topics: About suffering: Zen says that desire, hate, and illusions are the main causes of suffering and I have to be mindful of them in order to have better control of my emotions and delusion. Right? YES But if I want to control my desires, hate or […]
How the ego intellectualizes existence Angela I am struggling with the contrast between the roles that I perform, the clinging and aversion that are attached to these roles, and the desire to be free of it all. I know that my roles are just social constructs and are not “real” but as a mother, […]
Why boredom is exciting When we’re bored, we become uncomfortable and restless like a withdrawal from an addiction. In our Western culture, being bored carries the feelings loneliness, laziness or even being useless. Our self-image is wounded because our ego perceives boredom negatively, sort of failure. Our ego say “ I must be busy […]
DIALOG BETWEEN STUDENT AND HIS SPIRITUAL MASTER These 11 Q&A are presented to new monks and spiritual aspirants. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is a well-known Hindu saint who passed away in 1886. He suffered from throat cancer but did not let the disease to limit him. He led a very productive life and his many sayings have […]
