This “Remove the Object Meditation” comes from the Buckeye Sangha and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh from his book, Reconciliation: Healing the Inner Child): Linji, the founder of Zen Buddhism in China, was fond of saying, “remove the object.” The object is the person or situation we’re thinking about, the story. So the practice is […]
The Best Season of Your Life
These words of wisdom from Wumen touched me the moment I read them. He was the compiler or and commenter on the Mumonkan (The Gateless Barrier) – a collection of 48 koans – stories, dialogues, questions or statements used to trigger enlightenment in Zen Buddhism and Chan Buddhism. This was one of the first books […]
The Sixth Patriarch of Zen
Master Huineng was the sixth patriarch of Zen. Remember, he was an illiterate who had to have the announcements on the bulletin board read to him. He had to have someone write his response to the fifth patriarch’s (Hongren) quiz. He tells us that “Constant sitting restricts the body.” It cannot help us to find […]
How to Regard All Beings
Here is a quote from Huineng on how to regard all beings. Other than the quote, which is from Tricycle.com, this is my recollection of his role in Zen Buddhism. Huineng was the sixth patriarch of Zen. He was born in 638 and died in 713 at the age of 75. He began his spiritual […]
Listen To The Voice Within Yourself
Dogen Zenji was the founder of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism. He lived during the beginning of the 13th century and brought the teachings of Chan Buddhism back to Japan from China. “Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. “Your body and mind will become […]
Bernie Glassman Talked At Google
Zen Master Bernie Glassman talked at Google very recently. This lovely new video about his teaching of Zen and his work with the homeless. He outlined something that is called, “mandala practice,” which is a holistic approach to social action. It involves five different types of energy: spiritual energy, training energy, social action energy, livelihood energy, and […]
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