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 […]
Reaching the Ultimate Dimension
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us about reaching the ultimate dimension. The ultimate dimension distinguished from the historical dimension of ordinary life. In ordinary life, we have pain. We have suffering. We have conflict. We have war. We have arguments. We strive for wealth, technology, sex, and power. We lose site of what we […]
The Kingdom of God is Now or Never
This lovely video, with its beautiful lotus flowers and plum blossoms, comes from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the nuns of Plum Village. The chant reminds us that the Kingdom of God is now or never! We may think that the Kingdom of God or the Pure Land of the Buddha is something in […]
What Christianity is Missing
Today is my continuation day! I am celebrating with my wife, son, and daughter. We will spend some of the time in the lovely Napa Valley. Just eleven days ago, my wife and I returned from a wonderful gastronomic tour of the Catalan region of Spain. We spent ten nights in Barcelona, where my other […]
The Way Of Transformation
I came across these wonderful words of wisdom from Karlfried Graf von Dürckheim through an old friend of mine who has undergone many recent transformations. I think he shared this quote from The Way of Transformation with me about a year ago, and it read it again today. The things that struck me about this quote […]
Each Other Doesn’t Make Any Sense
Rumi was a 13th century Sufi mystic. His ability to open our hearts helps to dissolve religious, social, economic, and personal boundaries. His poetry inspires us to consider friendship and connections with others to be sacred activities. Rumi spoke his poetry in beautiful words and images in such a way that I’m sure he recognized […]
Don’t Despair – Take Action
The response to Peter Cutler’s article about the bombings in Boston repeated in All You Need Is Love have sparked another very interesting set of comments from other OI members. In particular, Mitchell Ratner, posted an article on the website of the Still Water Mindfulness Practice Center in Washington, D. C. His article, Despair Is the […]
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