As we saw recently in Worthiness, Thomas Merton was an American Trappist monk who was a friend of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers. They met together only one time at Father Merton’s monastery in Gethsemani, Kentuckey in 1966. They were both quite outspoken against the war in Vietnam. They […]
Why Sit?
April 11, 2014 by
These words of wisdom from Lama Surya Das are straight out of Tricycle magazine. He answers the question, “Why sit?” Basically, he is saying that sitting is necessary to cultivate contemplative practice to help us develop aspects of nonviolence and compassion. He is saying that we need to balance these practices with local political action, […]
Where Happiness Comes From
April 6, 2014 by
There have been many articles about where happiness comes from on Meditation Practices over recent months. Happiness is something we seek and some of us are fortunate enough to find every now and then. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that happiness can only be found in the present moment. One of the songs from […]
The Buddha Never Said
April 4, 2014 by
The Buddha never said, “There is no self.” When I first read this in Tricycle Magazine, I was as surprised as anyone. Yet, when I thought about it, I considered what Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches. He puts it like this: There is no such thing as permanent and separate. There’s nothing that can […]
The Way Of Transformation
April 2, 2014 by
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 […]
Walk In Peace
March 29, 2014 by
These words of wisdom for today come from my teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, who we call Thay. The picture and image reflect on the Thay’s principal teachings: walk in peace. I love this image and it reminds me of my days with Thich Nhat Hanh in 1997. It was a retreat on the […]
8 Ancient Beliefs
March 27, 2014 by
In a recent article in the Huffington Post, Alana Hall reported on 8 Ancient Beliefs Now Backed By Modern Science. These beliefs are embraced in Arianna Huffington’s new book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder, part of which is dedicated to scientific breakthroughs that often […]
Worthiness
March 25, 2014 by
These words of wisdom today come from Thomas Merton, an American Catholic writer, mystic, and friend of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. I have heard Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers, speak about Thomas Merton many times in recent years. The subject of worthiness comes up everyday in the life of followers […]
The Value Of Prayer
March 24, 2014 by
These words of wisdom from Lama Surya Das are music to my ears. Not only does he mention my teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in a very loving way, he, like me, was born into a Jewish family. Prayer was an important part of our daily lives. We said the morning shemah, the blessings […]
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, […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.