9 Attitudes for Mindfulness in Daily Life

The following 9 attitudes for mindfulness in daily life are presented in a series of short videos by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Seven of  9 attitudes for mindfulness were presented in the original version of his book, Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition): Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. In […]

We Are So Loved

We are so loved by the Universe and the wonders of life that we have everything we need to be happy right now in this very present moment. Here, Lissa Rankin, MD, teaches us some more factors of unconditional love. “One of my friends is in the midst of a dark night of the soul, […]

The Value of Diligence

One of the six paramitas, as Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches them is diligence. Other translations of the six paramitas call this one effort. The other paramitas are generosity, ethics, patience, concentration, and wisdom. The value of diligence is demonstrated when we commit to daily practice. We can also demonstrate the value of diligence […]

Practice Daily Meditation

The fourth of the Seven Principles of Mindfulness in Healing from the book, Healing with the Seven Principles of Mindfulness is to practice daily meditation. Here is why. Meditation strengthens the mind like exercise strengthens the body. With daily exercise, your muscles become toned and your body feels great. If you miss a day or […]

The Perfection Of Wisdom

You might think that all of the paramitas that we have studied so far lead to this one, the perfection of wisdom. While we have studied them in the order of generosity, ethics, patience, diligence, concentration, and now, wisdom, it is true that the can be studied and practiced in any order. Not only that, […]

Seven Pieces of Advice from Rumi

These seven pieces of advice from Rumi touched my heart. In generosity and helping others be like the river. In compassion and grace be like the sun. In concealing others’ faults be like the night. In anger and fury be like the dead. In modesty and humility be like the soil. In tolerance be like […]

The Six Paramitas

After almost two weeks of articles about giving and the six paramitas, we come to a great video by Pema Chodron from a retreat she led in 1999 called, “Awakening Bodhichitta.” Bodhichitta literally means “heart-mind,” and is refers to awakening the mind of love, compassion, and awakening. The subject of the retreat is the training […]

The Perfection Of Concentration

The perfection of concentration is the next paramita in the series of articles on the six paramitas taught by the Buddha. Paramita is a Sanskrit word meaning “crossing to the other shore.” By practicing the paramitas of generosity, ethics, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom, we cross over to the other shore from ill-being to well-being, […]

The Perfection Of Diligence

According to Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, the fourth paramita is the perfection of diligence. In previous articles, we learned that the Sanskrit word, paramita, means, “Crossing over to the other shore,” from ill-being to well-being. Perfection and completeness are also acceptable translations. The traditional way of talking about the perfection of diligence is to […]

The Perfection Of Generosity

In the previous post, The Power Of I Am, we saw that giving is one of the keys to experience the embodiment of God using the power of  I Am. In Buddhism, this corresponds to the perfection of generosity. It is one of the six paramitas or the practice of crossing over to the other […]