The more I tweet, the less I meditate. The more I blog, the less I meditate. I just finished an hour of meditation. Even the idea of communicating thoughts seems ridiculous. Tweets and blogs disrupt the silence, infringe upon the silence, make a mess of the silence. Those who tweet don’t know and those who… Continue reading Tweet, Blog or Practice Zen?
Author: ron
Founder of The Zen Practice Foundation. University of Tennessee, B.S., Industrial Engineering (1969). University of Florida, J.D. Law, (1973). Registered patent attorney.
The First Precept of Zen
The first precept of Buddhism, the one that drives many people away from Zen practice because they can’t keep it, is a call for not killing. It doesn’t say not to kill people. It says not to kill, period. See The Lankavatara Sutra. Following a precept results in a calm, soothed mind. The average vegetarian… Continue reading The First Precept of Zen
Zen And Buddha Name Recitation
Master Chin Kung and the Archbishop of Brisbane The Buddha spoke repeatedly of the Pure Abodes in the Pali Canon and taught that the sentient beings of the Pure Abodes were safely beyond the reach of the desire realm, never again to be reborn as a hell-dweller, a hungry ghost, an animal, a god of… Continue reading Zen And Buddha Name Recitation
Zen And Christian Cursing
I had a politically liberal friend, recently passed away, who said Jesus God! many times per day. Did you here what Rush Limbaugh said today? he would ask. Jesus God! What does that man use for brains? The Yankees beat the Rays 10-0 last night. Jesus God! And so on. He was proud of… Continue reading Zen And Christian Cursing
Zen Practice And Enlightenment
The Buddha identified four stages of enlightenment: Stream Entry (sotapanna), the Once Returner (sakadagamin), the Non-Returner (anagamin), and Buddhahood. The Buddha taught that Stream Entry is attained when the first three of the ten fetters are overcome: Those first three fetters are: 1) Belief in an independent, unchangeable/permanent or everlasting self, called atman in the Vedas, which belief… Continue reading Zen Practice And Enlightenment
MBSR Demotes Buddhism #Zen
Buddhism is not involved in a rivalry with any religion. It is a religion, as Roshi Philip Kapleau explained, only to the extent that we have to have faith that the practices lead to increasing wholesomeness. That’s almost like saying doing push-ups is a religion. We have to have faith that our muscles will develop… Continue reading MBSR Demotes Buddhism #Zen
Zen Mindfulness of Mind Objects
Venerable Ajahn Sumedo When our Zen (meditation) practice reaches the super-advanced stage of mindfulness of mind objects, we can start bragging that we are advanced, highly skilled practitioners (that is a hilarious joke so I hope you don’t break your ribs laughing; bragging about anything is something a practitioner at such an advanced level would… Continue reading Zen Mindfulness of Mind Objects
Mindfulness of the mind
After arriving at the Still Forest Pool, the eighth stage of Tranquil Wisdom meditation, discussed in the previous blog, we sit in equanimity, i.e, our mind is the Still Forest Pool, silent and unmoving. We await the appearance of a nimitta. Nimitta is the sign of nirvana. We are in the neighborhood of nirvana when it… Continue reading Mindfulness of the mind
Mindfulness of Feelings
The previous blog post discusses the first four steps of the Buddha’s sixteen step meditation popularly known as Tranquil Wisdom meditation. Now we can briefly discuss steps five through eight, the four steps that collectively develop mindfulness of feelings, the second foundation of the four foundations of mindfulness. When we experience the breath of the… Continue reading Mindfulness of Feelings
Zen Breathing: Diversity to Unity
Step one of Tranquil Wisdom meditation – In the words of the Buddha: “Mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.” That’a about as simple an instruction as possible. The key word is of course “mindful.” Throughout the day, we breathe without thinking about it. Step two: Awareness of long and short breaths In the… Continue reading Zen Breathing: Diversity to Unity