Meditation Develops Certainty And Conviction

words-of-wisdom-17

In the Weekly Words of Wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das, Dudjom Rimpoche says that “If you do meditate, certainty and conviction will be attained.” I was immediately grabbed by this statement because certainty and conviction came up in my morning meditation yesterday. I was listening to a meditation recording by Kelly Howell called, The Secret to [...]

Dancing To The Rhythm Of Traffic

Gabriell Roth

Gabrielle Roth was one of my root teachers of all time. In the video, she is dancing to the rhythm of traffic with her son, Jonathan Horan. It came to me in an email from Jonathan. When I studied and worked with her in the 1970′s, it was a wonderful and heart opening experience. I [...]

See The World In A Moment

Zen Meditation Practices Instructions with Dainin Katagiri Roshi

Dainin Katagiri Roshi was a Soto Zen Master who died at the young age of 62 in 1990. This quote, “See The World In A Moment,” is from his treatment of time in the Zen tradition in his book, “Each Moment Is the Universe.” Katagiri Roshi was the leader of a sesshin (a Zen retreat [...]

Planting The Seeds Of Mindfulness

Planting The Seeds Of Mindfulness

Planting the seeds of mindfulness in children of all ages from 2-102 is an expressed wish of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (known as Thay by his followers). For example, he has been teaching pebble meditation for as long as I’ve known him. The video below is a preview of Planting Seeds: The Power of Mindfulness based [...]

What Should We Talk About?

What Should We Be Talking About

My dharma buddy, Bhikkhu Samahita, sent me an interesting email over the weekend. He basically answered the question, “What should we talk about?” Naturally, he was coming from the point of view of what the Buddha said. Not being one skilled in the art of small talk, I welcomed his words of wisdom. He writes [...]

The Mindful Art Of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

thay-doing-calligraphy

When I attended the 2011 retreat in Vancouver, British Columbia, I was treated to the mindful art of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay, meaning teacher, by his followers. The retreat was held on the lovely campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC). One of the highlights of the retreat was the Calligraphic Meditation [...]

2500 Years Of Social Revolution

Zen.Buddha

This quote by Roshi Joan Halifax came to me by email in December. This ties in with The Story of the Buddha from earlier this week and reflects on 2500 years of social revolution. Also, I have been listening to a podcast by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in which he talked about how the Buddha [...]

The Five Illusions

Jeddah Mali

Jeddah Mali is a spiritual teacher with roots in various forms of Buddhism. In this video, she teaches on fear, one of the five illusions. Before today, I had not even seen her name. Yet, this short video tells a lot about where she is coming from. One of the most interesting things she said [...]

The Next Buddha May Be A Sangha

Thich Nhat Hanh

The Weekly Words of Wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das were spoken by my teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. I have heard him say many times over the years of practice with him that the next Buddha may be a sangha – a community of practitioners working together to bring peace, love, and joy to [...]

Non-Attachment to Views

17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

This week’s Words of Wisdom from Lama Surya Das are from the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The 17th Karmapa is the leader of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. “When spiritual beliefs are used to build up walls between people, this is a total misunderstanding of the purpose of spirituality. Spirituality should mean coming [...]