ron – Page 3 – How To Practice Zen

Zen Yes, Religion No

It is OK to believe that exercise is good because there is evidence to support that belief. It is OK to believe that a vegetarian is healthier than a meat eater because vegetarians live longer than animal killers and have far fewer diseases and health crises. But it is not OK to believe that the… Continue reading Zen Yes, Religion No

Zen: Be Kind and Shallow

Many Buddhists have heard the story about the fellow who was a good meditator and was proud of it. He developed an arrogant personality and his acquaintances sometimes wished something would knock him off his self-made pedestal. But instead of an event that would deflate his ego, an event occurred that puffed him up even… Continue reading Zen: Be Kind and Shallow

Outflows, Inflows and Zen Practice

The irony of Zen is that more words have been written about it than any other branch of Buddhism although the central teaching of Zen is that it is a mind-to-mind transmission, outside of words, independent of scriptures. It’s way past time for Zen to get back to its roots, back to its silence. The… Continue reading Outflows, Inflows and Zen Practice

The Garden of Zen Practice

Buddhism teaches that there are three worlds: The world of sense desire (the crude one we’re in now; it has six realms and is often referred to as the six worlds), the world of form (a much more subtle world where sense desires have ended but the desire for bodily existence has not), and the… Continue reading The Garden of Zen Practice

Zen From An Unexpected Guest

Buddhism is a method of cultivating the mind. Since Buddhism affirms that the universe is governed by impersonal laws and not by any creator-god, it has no use for prayer, for the Buddha was a teacher and not a god. Buddhism regards devotion not as a religious obligation but as a means of expressing gratitude… Continue reading Zen From An Unexpected Guest

Mudita And Zen Always Win

Of the four Brahma Viharas, mudita is the one we find to be a little strange. When we cultivate mudita, we are never envious or jealous of anything. If we cultivate this Brahma Vihara well, we really don’t mind when the home team loses a big game; we’re happy for the people who rooted for… Continue reading Mudita And Zen Always Win

Zen Practice and the Sixth Fetter

In the list of ten fetters, the higher the number, the more subtle the fetter. The more subtle a fetter is, the less seriously we take it. So when we read what the sixth fetter is, we say: “Oh, that’s not so bad. I can break that fetter easily.” The sixth fetter is the desire… Continue reading Zen Practice and the Sixth Fetter

Greed, Zen and the First Paramita

When preparing to write on a Buddhist topic, I first read what others have to say on the subject. Then I try to find something original to say that might be eye-opening and helpful to a reader. I found one of the clearest, well-written discussions ever on the six paramitas while preparing to write this… Continue reading Greed, Zen and the First Paramita

Mean Zen, Good Results

So Time magazine tells us that the U.S. Marines are into Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. My first reaction was that using MBSR to increase the efficiency of a killing machine was a bad idea. Meditation is not a self-improvement program; quite the opposite, it lowers the boundaries between people until the meditator realizes that there… Continue reading Mean Zen, Good Results

Zen, Mindfulness, and Ignorance

This week’s Time magazine’s cover story reports that mindfulness practice is becoming a mainstream practice despite its Buddhist origins. People who won’t listen to monks in robes will listen to scientists, the magazine reports. Obviously, it is the monks who should be listened to. They won’t teach mindfulness to Marines so that they can become… Continue reading Zen, Mindfulness, and Ignorance