Let Your Mind Settle

Here is a story and a quote that teaches you how to let your mind settle. You may want to do this prior to taking an action when you are disturbed or upset. In The Sun My Heart: From Mindfulness to Insight and Contemplation, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (known as Thay by his followers) […]

Compassion is Mandatory

In our world today, compassion is mandatory. It is mandatory because there are so many diverse interests. Compassion is necessary for us to develop tolerance for different points of view. Compassion is mandatory in order for us to develop non-discrimination. Many people still harbor discrimination towards people who are not like them. There is a […]

Compassion and Wisdom

Compassion and wisdom and are the  cornerstones of Buddha’s teachings.   Compassion and Wisdom | November 10, 2014 The one thing I always come back to is that compassion and wisdom are at the heart of the BuddhaÂ’s teaching. If you cannot find either wisdom or compassion in something, then I donÂ’t feel that it […]

The Better Way to Live Alone

My teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (known affectionately by his followers as Thay – teacher) , often teaches on the better way to live alone. His teachings are based on the words of the Buddha passed down orally until they were written down. These writings are called sutras. In this article, we are going to review Sutra […]

Taking Care of Our Families

Taking care of our families is just as important as dharma practice. Even though we are taught that “non-attachment is essential,” we must continue to love and support our family members. I find this teaching to be really essential. At a time when many of my friends were attending retreats away from their families, I […]

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 […]

Can We Avoid Becoming Complete Robots

D. T. Suzuki was one of the seminal figures in bringing Zen to the West. He noted that our modern civilization is dehumanizing us at a rapid rate, even back then when he wrote in the ’50s and ’60s, he could see this was already becoming true. Now it is worse than ever. Can we […]

Our True Home

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us that our true home exists in the here and in the now. There is only the present moment, and if we are present, we are home. We sing a song that goes like this: I have arrived, I am home. In the here and in the now. I […]

Listening to Your Body

Last weekend, I spent a long weekend with my wife and eight other friends in beautiful Carmel, California. Most of us get together on a monthly basis to meditate and dine together for a shabbos celebration. One of the main topics we talked about was listening to your body because your body never lies. Your […]

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

When I had my Ayurveda consult with Dr. Sarita Shrestha, I was told to learn the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra and chant it frequently. The sheet of paper that I got with it had the above graphic as well as the following text: The meaning of the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra The Sanskrit word maha means ‘great’, mrityu means […]