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 Leonard Koan
July 24, 2014 by
These words of wisdom from Leonard Cohen form what is called the Leonard Koan! Not much has to be said about the amazing singer musician Leonard Cohen. He is pretty famous in all circles. He is now turning 80 on September 21, 2014. Many people don’t know the other side of Leonard Cohen. He was […]
Walk on Earth
June 8, 2014 by
Today’s words of wisdom come from my Teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers. I have heard him say that the miracle is to walk on Earth, in many of the dharma talks, and in many of the books and magazine articles I’ve read by him. Thay quotes Linji (Lin […]
The Chan Practices Of Buddha Gate Monastery
March 22, 2014 by
There has been a lot of discussion about the 5 Contemplations on the OI1 discussion group lately. In the previous article I reported on some issues my dharma brothers were having and compared two versions of the 5 Contemplations with each other. One of the principle areas of discussion was related to the second contemplation, […]
6 Things Uniting in Harmony
December 26, 2013 by
The 6 things uniting in harmony to be remembered were spoken by the Buddha. These came to me in an email from Bhikkhu Samahita The Blessed Buddha once said: These six things are to be remembered in order to unite any community in harmony: Which six? Friendly Behavior both in public & in private. Friendly […]
Happy In The Present Moment
May 10, 2013 by
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known affectionately as Thay by his followers, consistently teaches us that “We have everything we need to be happy in the present moment.” “Happiness is here and now” is the name of the song in this video. It makes a lot of sense to me. We can be happy that we have […]
Buddha Gate Monastery
May 4, 2013 by
Last Saturday, my wife and I visited the Buddha Gate Monastery in Lafayette, California. The monastery is on 17 acres of beautiful land in what is know as the East Bay of San Francisco. [Read More…] The monastery is supported by the Chan tradition of Grand Master Venerable Wei Chueh who organized many monasteries in Taiwan as well as […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.