Last Saturday night, I attended a performance of A Song For All Beings to a packed house. Composed and produced by Jennifer Berezan and friends, A Song For All Beings is based on the Buddhist practice of metta and the four immeasurable minds or Brahma Viharas (divine abodes) of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and […]
Cultivating a Heart of Compassion
These words of wisdom from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh are about cultivating a heart of compassion. This is done by the practice of metta (loving kindness) meditation. We have seen many articles the speak to metta meditation. The approach in this Tricycle.com article by Thay (as Thich Nhat Hanh is known to his followers) […]
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 […]
The Importance of Faith in Buddhism
Sharon Salzberg is a frequent visitor to these pages. She is one of the original founders of the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, Massachusetts, along with Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield. I think her major contribution to Buddhism in the West is the way she writes about and teachs metta (loving kindness) practices. In these […]
Loving Kindness Meditation with Gil Fronsdal
It is with great pleasure that I present this Loving Kindness Meditation with Gil Fronsdal. The text is from his book, The Issue at Hand. The book is offered as a gift to the community. It is freely given and available online. I found this to be so instructive that I want to share this […]
Let My Heart Fly Open
Welcome to 2014. May this be the year that all your dreams come true. To begin the New Year with the right mindset, I’d like to offer the following metta practice. Metta is the Pali word for loving kindness. Loving kindness, in turn, is one of the Four Immeasurable Minds taught by the Buddha. The […]
6 Things Uniting in Harmony
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 […]
True Love Knows No Boundaries
One of the most beautiful teachings of the Buddha was his teaching that true love knows no boundaries. This idea was expressed in the metta sutta as a mother’s love for her child: Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, so with a boundless heart, should one cherish all living beings. […]
Equanimity
This is another quote from Weekly Words of Wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das. The subject is upekkha or equanimity, which is one of the four brahma viharas or “immeasurable minds” or “sublime abodes” that lead to liberation. What are the other three brahma viharas? Metta or loving kindness, karuna or compassion, and mudita or […]
Interview With One Of My Mentors
This online interview with one of my mentors inspired me to share it with you, my readers. I have decided to withhold the name of my mentor for the time being. This is quite different from all of my other posts, so please have a little patience. Interview With One Of My Mentors The text […]
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