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
Category: Anapanasati Sutta
Two Views of Anapanasati Zen
Of course the Zen school did not arise until a thousand or more years after the Buddha had passed away. However, in keeping with our use of the word “Zen” as meaning meditation, which it does, it is OK and accurate to refer to Anapanasati meditation. (We don’t want the search engines looking for “Zen”… Continue reading Two Views of Anapanasati Zen
Zen Koans and Mindfulness
Harnessing the power of what Ajahn Brahm jokingly refers to as super power mindfulness is the key to cracking open a Zen koan. Without it, a Zen student can struggle a lifetime with koans and never open the gateless gate. With it, the koans are seen and the gate opens. Tranquil Wisdom meditation, taught by… Continue reading Zen Koans and Mindfulness
Zen And The Ten Dharma Realms
This blog will highlight the content of howtopracticezen.com. There are only ten dharma realms according to the Mahayana (thirty one in the Theravada). Here goes: 1. Our ignorant, self-generated thoughts that lead to sadness and despair send us to the hell realm, the bottom of the ten; no one, no god, takes us there but ourselves. Antidote: Present Moment Awareness… Continue reading Zen And The Ten Dharma Realms
Can Zen Rename the Realms?
The ten dharma realms smack of religiosity. Whenever I tell my friends that Buddhism is not a religion of blind belief but a rational system of mental cultivation practices, they say: But your website speaks of hell realms, hungry ghosts and other such religious-sounding, old-fashioned things. They are correct. However, although Master Hsuan Hua speaks… Continue reading Can Zen Rename the Realms?
Are Zen Buddhists crazy?
Many Buddhists sit on a cushion every day, counting their exhalations. Many Buddhists practice loving kindness meditation every day. And the sixteen mindfulness steps of the Anapanasati sutta. Many Buddhists sit, just sit, every day. Many Buddhists work on a koan every day. And many Buddhists do all of the above, and much more, every… Continue reading Are Zen Buddhists crazy?
In Search of Zen Teachers
I got on Twitter with the primary goal of communicating with Zen and other Buddhist teachers. Unfortunately, some teachers collect followers but don’t follow back so they live on a one way street where there is no communication flowing to them. For example, Venerable Ajahn Brahm, arguably the most famous monk on the planet, has… Continue reading In Search of Zen Teachers
The Present Moment Of Zen
I see quite a few tweeple in the twitterverse who tweet every day that they are beginning a meditation with Insight Timer or have just ended a meditation using that app. I have always used a stick of incense as my timer but today I finally decided to give Insight Timer a try and… Continue reading The Present Moment Of Zen
Zen And Dreams Within Dreams
We can all agree that nothing happens in a dream. Most dreams are classified as anxiety dreams – we dream about what we worry about. More than once we have all awakened and realized with a sense of relief that we have been dreaming and all those worrisome thoughts were about something that wasn’t real. Any hack can… Continue reading Zen And Dreams Within Dreams
Zen Practice And Sakkaya Ditthi
Sakkaya ditthi, the wrong view of self, is the first of the ten fetters that bind unenlightened beings. Its counterpart or antidote is Right View or Right Understanding, the first fold of the Eightfold Path. Until we arrive at samma ditthi, the correct view of self, it’s hard to loosen the other nine fetters. Who practices… Continue reading Zen Practice And Sakkaya Ditthi