The first fold of the Eightfold Path, Right View, is sometimes translated as Right Understanding and is explained by many commentators to mean that one has Right Understanding if one understands the Four Noble Truths. But that common explanation doesn’t jive with the Buddha’s words. He said the first fold of the Eightfold Path was… Continue reading Meat, Murder, Tofu And Zen
Category: Buddhism
Zen Precepts: Black or White?
I had the misfortune of taking a tour of a Buddhist temple in Orlando today. It was a spur of the moment tour, taken only because the tour group passed by us and a lady who worked at the temple suggested we (my wife and I) join it. The man leading the tour, which was apparently over,… Continue reading Zen Precepts: Black or White?
Zen: Happiness is a Warm Brain
With apologies to the late George Schulz, happiness is not a warm puppy. Puppies last a few weeks and then they’re dogs. And dogs don’t last very long, either. But a warm brain can last…forever? The Buddha spoke often against thoughts of eternal life after the present one has ended, so he would not be popular… Continue reading Zen: Happiness is a Warm Brain
Zen: Life Is A Dream
Putoshan, a dreamy place indeed Dreams are so easy to leave. We just wake up when we’re rested. It seems quite automatic. If this life is but a dream, a bubble, a flash of lightning in a summer storm as the Buddha said at the conclusion of The Diamond Sutra, why don’t we just wake… Continue reading Zen: Life Is A Dream
The Ambitious Zendo Project
The U.S. government estimates that the number of church buildings in the U.S. is about 330,000. Although census reports have determined that about forty percent of Americans are regular church-goers, studies conducted by religious organizations have indicated that the actual percentage is about seventeen and a half percent. A couple I know once decided to start attending church… Continue reading The Ambitious Zendo Project
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
Zen, Words And Nirvana
Mahamati asked the Buddha: “What do you mean by ‘nirvana’?” The Buddha answered the question but he prefaced his answer with definitions of nirvana propounded by “followers of other paths.” These “wrong” answers are instructive because we can see that some of them seem to be correct! For followers of some paths, the Buddha said, nirvana is:… Continue reading Zen, Words And Nirvana
The Zen Way To Nirvana
Let’s suppose you are the Master of a Buddhist sangha, or in Western terminology, an Abbot of a Buddhist monastery or convent. A student comes to you and asks: Is the world eternal or not eternal? Is the world finite or infinite? Is the soul the same as the body or is the soul one… Continue reading The Zen Way To Nirvana
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?