When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No"
Zen (Seon) Buddhism values on experience over intellectual understanding. I have seen a lot of people contemplating things, but it didn’t seem to lead to too many places. I became very interested in people who had discovered something simple and significant than any intellectual, abstract under standing. Simplicity - That’s been one of my mantras. Look at the design of a lot of consumer products-t
“The coming of Buddhism to the West may well prove to be the most important event of the Twentieth Century.” Arnold Toynbee(18 89~1975) once wrote that of all the historical changes in the West, the most important-and the one whose effects have been least understood-is the meeting of Buddhism in the Occident. And when and if our era is considered in light of larger societal patterns and movements,
The Middle Way is the Buddha, and by coming to know the Middle Way, you come to know the Buddha. The Middle Way is neither a center nor a position of moderation. The Middle Way shuns extremes of right and wrong, good and bad, and other dualistic concepts. It is an absolute state achieved after integrating all contradictions and conflicts into one. Although most people perceive present reality as o
If we can’t see things properly, we can’t act properly. How can the blind walk a straight line? How can a dusty mirror reflect anything clearly? If you delude yourself, you will never understand the world around you. Open the eyes of your heart and look closely at yourself. Doing this does not require a new heart or new eyes; it does require that you have to find your true inner nature, just like
Everything vibrates with life in the spring. Even in the endless cycle of samsara, fragile sprouts breed life in the frozen ground. Yet, one of the unchanging principles of the universe is that which is born must eventually die. Everything is in transit, and repeats itself over and over again in a process of appearing and disappearing, manifesting and transforming. That’s because of the intricate
Our bodies are truly wonderful. Each body contains the whole cosmos. The four elements that comprise all things, earth, fire, water and air, also exist within us, and we can sense them. Each of us is like a wave on the surface of the ocean. We know that one wave is made of all other waves. The one contains the all and the all is found in the one. All things are inter-related in this world. That
One of the main causes of our suffering is the seed of anger inside of us. Anger is also a part of our body just like our internal organs. Recognize and embrace your anger when it manifests itself. Care for it with tenderness rather than suppressing it. Anger is born from ignorance and wrong perceptions. In the beginning you may not understand the nature of your anger, or why it has come to be. Bu
I am aware that my body is always changing. Every cell in my body will soon die and be replaced by a new cell. Strictly saying, I am not what I was yesterday. Still we have the tendency to think that we are the exact same person today we were yesterday. My five skandhas (aggregate) - body, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness - are like five rivers that are constantly flowing, c
Life is available only in the present moment. The Buddha said that happiness can only be possible in the ‘Here and Now.’ So go back and examine deeply your notions and ideas of happiness. Make a list of all the things that can make you happy right now: the beautiful clouds in the sky, the flowers in the garden, the sound of the running brook, the sound of singing birds, your beloved ones sitting i
In the teaching of the Buddha, we learn that our body and mind are not separate. Our body is our mind, and, at the same time, our mind is also our body. Anger is not only a mental reality because the physical and the mental are linked to each other, and we cannot separate them. In Buddhism, we call the body/mind namarupa. Namarupa is the psyche-soma, the mind-body as one entity. The same reality
Life is a sea of suffering and heartbreak. The first of Four Noble Truths is ' Truth of Suffering. The lack of this suffering equals happiness. If we were not capable of transforming the pain within ourselves, happiness would not be possible. Many people look for happiness outside themselves, but true happiness must come from within. Our culture tells us that happiness comes from having a lot of m
Most people live within the realm of delusion but since these delusions never cease, it is hard to realize that fact as it is. Because delusions cover the eye of the heart, we can not see what the delusion-free world is like. But once we get beyond the world of delusion and open up our mind’s eye, we can see that the brilliance of great wisdom shines forth throughout the universes. Then we als
If there were a clump of gold buried in a yard, people would dig and dig until they found it, regardless of how deep it was. However, the original, infinite, absolute jewel buried within us is incomprehensibly more precious than any clump of gold. So we should try to find this incredible jewel within us. Looking outside yourself for this treasure is just like living in a home made of gold and comp
‘Since there is this, there is that and since this happens, that happens. Since there is no this, there is no that, and since this dies, that dies.’ If two stalks support each other and one falls, the other falls as well. So is everything in this world. The Buddha spoke the Noble Truth that everything in the universe is interdependent, that everything is interrelated. The universal law of cause-a
The Buddha is not the only one to have given Dharma Talks. Everything throughout the universe always speaks the Dharma. Listen to the flowing water. It speaks the natural sound of Dharma. Even the huge boulders on mountaintops give Dharma talks infinitely greater than the buddhas found in temples. You're probably wondering how water, rocks, boulders and clumps of mud can give Dharma talks. But whe
The basic philosophy of Buddhism is the Middle Way. Buddhism is based in the Middle Way. Many people think that the ‘Middle Way’ means ‘moderation’ but that is a misunderstanding of Buddhism. The Middle Way is transcending the contradiction and confrontation between production and destruction, birth and death, so that they mutually convert into one - production is destruction and destruction is pr
Mahayana Buddhist teaching has a very clear path of truth. It begins with the insight that originally everything is fundamentally empty. When we perceive this truth, we can perceive our true nature. The first step toward this attainment is perceiving that all Dharmas do not exist. Our substance and universal substance are the same substance, and this substance is without self-nature. But we are at
All compounded things are like a dream, a phantom, a bubble, or a reflection. They are like dew or like lighting. Thus should you view them. These lines are a very important teaching in the Diamond Sutra. If you are attached to your thinking, then every thing has name and form. But name and form are always changing, changing, and changing. Therefore, everything is impermanent. Everything is like
When did this world begin? When does our mind begin? How does it change and how does it disappear? When a certain condition appears, then everything appears. When that condition disappears, then everything disappears. So if I am here, then something is over there. If I am not here, that thing disappears. Another way of saying this is, “You make your world.” We make our world: this is Buddhism’s b