Commentaries on Meditation, Zen, Buddhism, and Mindfulness
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.
If you're visiting from Interesting South, the page you are looking for is here. Thanks for visiting!
It’s time to connect with the eSangha. Time to join and give thanks to those who have recently inspired me in some way.
In some texts, there is talk of ten dimensions, immeasurable kalpas, and Indra’s net. What are all these texts talking about? These are all trying to say we are an expression of life. That we are all living. Essentially by being, we are creating. We are the creation, and the creator.
I would like your help. I would like to tap into each of your personal experiences, your wisdom. In a few weeks I will be presentation a talk on Meditation to a room full of smart people who most probably haven’t thought about meditating before. I would like your help with what questions should I be trying to answer? What questions, did you have before/when you started meditating?
At Work in the Wild and Cultivated World. Wonderfully written by Wendy Johnson, a 30+ year monastic and head gardener from Green Gulch Farm Zen Centre. Wendy encourages us to enter the world of our physical and mental gardens.
Thich Nhat Hanh is quoted saying “Too many people distinguish between the inner work of our mind and the world outside. But these worlds are not separate. They belong to the same reality.” This reality is a non-repeating universe, “fresh and new every day”, as Wendy says.
Continue reading ‘Book Review:Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate’
Most of life is spent transacting or exchanging. We trade our time and skills for money. We trade that money for goods and services. This style of exchange is also deep in our Ego and interactions with people. When communicating, we often engage in pushing or pulling, missing the real.
Walking meditation plays an important role. We can use it as a mindfulness bridge, linking our sitting practice to our active, waking life. Sometimes it’s hard to move from mindfulness of sitting and bring it into the active world. Walking meditation is an active form of practice, reflecting how we live in the world. It allows us to move from the cushion and remain tapped into mindfulness. To have an active practice helps develop both our sitting and worldly mindfulness. In truth, they are different sides of the same coin.
D.T. Suzuki was quoted as saying that “before studying Zen, mountains are mountains. While studying Zen, things become confused. After studying Zen, mountains are mountains.” This was one of the first Zen sayings I heard, and it continues to resound in me.
Christmas is a time for giving. It’s a time for love, and a time to spread some Christmas loving cheer. Read on to see how you can participate, have some fun and be in the run to win a prize value of ~US$50, along with some really beautiful stories shared.
All you have to do is to write something on compassion. It could be anything you want, for example your definition of compassion. Still, in the spirit of Christmas, extra points will be awarded if there is a personal touch – because we want to connect in compassion.
Some ideas could be what you have done or will do for someone. Or perhaps the best kindness anyone has ever shown you.
Continue reading ‘Spread the Love NOW! Group Writing Project’
RSS Entries and RSS Comments
Hosted by Platform Nine
The Middle Way, tools helping with how to meditate
