Suffering: a mental habit Apart from external painful events, suffering is a self-generated mental habit: doubt, guilt, shame, resentment, regrets, anger, fear, frustration, blame, I want, I don’t want and many more. This mental habit is affecting not only you but also others and these persons may impose their mental habit on you. A […]
“I am awake” said the Buddha What did he mean? From over-thinking to awakening: a path towards serenity & compassion “ I am awake” declared suddenly and loudly Prince Siddhartha Gautama 2500 years ago after 9 years of ongoing meditation. This is why he received his nickname “the Buddha” meaning “the awakened one.” […]
The sunlight of awareness Is there a difference between consciousness and awareness? All experts consider the words as synonyms meaning: knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. Therefore, we should not try to differentiate the words to avoid being trapped in an non-productive sematic trap. When we go outside, and thru our 5 senses, […]
The root of the word meditation came from the Latin meditatio meaning, “To analyze”. This is the intellectual definition of meditation. There is another definition of meditation, less, analytic, less judgmental and more spiritual. This non- analytic view of meditation is founded in all spiritual practices and, above all, in the Oriental ones such as […]
Perception vs reality: role of acceptance Probably the hardest challenge in life is accepting how things, events and people are in reality and not how we perceive or want them to be. Perceptions are just that: not necessary based on fact, not necessary right or wrong. Many brakes are blocking our way to accept […]
Breathing: experiencing reality of the moment We are breathing around x20,000 every day. This automatic vital function is subconscious and the trigger reflex is controlled by the CO2 in the brain. Why breathing is considered so important in the practice of meditation in general, mindfulness, mindfulness-based meditation in particular, and many other techniques of relaxation? […]
What is Zen? Zen is so simple that any attempt to describe it with words is doomed to confuse people simply because Zen means experiencing the concrete reality of the moment that is in the NOW. Zen is made of: What we are: 1) Our relative self is a daydreamer, experiencing fictional reality under […]
Taking our sadness for a ride Sadness is a frequent emotion to endure. When severe and persistent it may become depression. Sometimes there is a good reason for being sad but, most often there is no reason at all. We can wake up sad or happy w/o any obvious reason. If somebody near […]
I DON’T KNOW BUT I THINK THAT.... This is a follow up on a recent Dharma Talk by Arnaud on building confidence during insecurity and incertitude. Zen perspective is based upon trying to understand the mechanics of how the mind operates so that we end up controlling the mind, rather than the mind controlling […]
Is suffering really necessary? During his 50 years of verbal teaching, the main message of the Buddha was that life is suffering. Suffering been understood in its generic meaning that is negativity. Was the Buddha a masochistic man? Not at all. In fact he was enjoying good times like anyone else. Suffering comes from […]
