Category: Christianity

Tranquil Wisdom Zen

  Don’t just sit there – do something! Conventional wisdom Don’t just do something – sit there! Buddhist wisdom This website is about practice; we try to minimize philosophy. As Red Pine says in his commentary on The Heart Sutra: Buddhism is better understood as a skill or an art to be practiced and perfected,… Continue reading Tranquil Wisdom Zen

Zen, Christianity and No Self

  The Buddhist doctrine of no self is often misunderstood even by some Buddhists. People with low self esteem are known to embrace it: See, it’s a good thing to have no self! But the doctrine does not mean that the self does not exist. It means that the self that does exist is a… Continue reading Zen, Christianity and No Self

The Rise Of Zen Buddhism

Years ago, having read the delightful novel Don Quixote, I decided to read a scholarly criticism of the book. It was filled with fascinating insights, including, for example, why Cervantes killed off D.Q. at the end (because he wanted to stop other authors from writing the further adventures of…) But the most interesting insight, one that had a… Continue reading The Rise Of Zen Buddhism

Zen Practice: Arousing the Mind

Rinzai Zen teachers assign koans to students in order to arouse the mind of the student. So we apply logic in order to answer the koan, as if it were a riddle, and the teacher tells us we are getting colder, not warmer. So we switch to non-logic and start giving Zen-like answers to the… Continue reading Zen Practice: Arousing the Mind

Zen Practice And Judgement

The famous Bible (Matthew) verse: “Judge not that ye be not judged” has two (2) meanings, I think. The obvious, mundane meaning is that the law of karma (the law of cause and effect) will operate and we will be judged by others if we first judge them. The second, deeper meaning is that the very… Continue reading Zen Practice And Judgement