Taking your suffering for a walk Few years ago, my Zen Master Yangil Sunim (Sunim means teacher) asked me: “Ji Gong, how often do you practice suffering”. This is a classical Zen question and, like a Koan, it sounds incomprehensible, paradoxal, illogical and even stupid. The purpose of this kind of questions is to […]
The A,B,C of mindfulness meditation In practicing mindfulness, always start as a new beginning every time, that is start without knowing anything. When you take away everything that you know, you are left with pure awareness, breathing and compassion. Apply the same approach regarding your life: each day is a new […]
Interpersonal Relationships – A Zen Perspective Interpersonal relationships are relationships between you and the people that you contact during your daily lives; your spouse, your children, your siblings, your colleagues and the people outside your own sphere. Let us examine how the relationships are born, are developed, and how they may impact your daily lives. […]
From foe to friend A Zen perspective As we struggle with our emotional ego, we are developing mental habits that feed our pain. When we find ourselves suffering, we can notice the familiar negative feelings of guilt, shame blame, and anger. These are types of judgments that we pass on others and that others impose […]
Sensorial practice against distraction Staying focused can be hard, especially in an age when there are tons of distractions around you such cell phone and emails being the main culprits. Obliged to pay attention to something can be perceived being routine, dull or even boring. It can be challenging for our mind and body […]
Core human drives Humans differ from other animals in one very important respect: we are subjects to core desires which are infinite and will never be fully gratified. These preconscious and conscious core drives could keep us in a state of restlessness and other kind of negative physical and mental thirst. I will […]
Is your head twisted backward? July 5 20 Our calendar year of 365 days & 24 hours was created by the Egyptians around 4200 BC. Without a calendar planning will be impossible and life chaotic. Zen Masters love to ask if their students if their head is twisted to make them conscious of their addiction […]
“ Why me ! I shall not suffer.” Of course we never say “I shall not suffer” but silently we say “Why me” . This emotional defense mechanism is a fundamental part of our mind-based ego. It is so deep in our subconscious and so powerful from our Western education and philosophy that, even […]
Attributes of our ego: Our subconscious ego has zillion of way to express itself non-stop. The following attributes vary in frequency, prevalence and degree for each of us. Severe narcissism, paranoid, sociopath and even psychopathic behaviors are among the extreme forms requesting therapy. Here is the list in non-specific order. Few of them will […]
Zen mindfulness: the antidote to A.D.H.D. /Canadian Here are the latest ADHD stats from the CDC & American Psychological Association. 1) Attention span: Young: around 5 to 7min. (because, most of the time they are under guided supervision). Adult: around 3 to 4 min. Adult dog :45 sec. (adult) Goldfish: […]
