Category: Zen Meditation
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Sweeping Up Wood Chips
If one were to visit my home in the wintertime, they’d see wood chips all over the house. They end up on the floor, and on the chairs, and I’ve even found them in my bedroom. I use the wood chips in my chicken coop to provide nesting material and warmth to the birds. They’re…
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Create Pockets of Contentment (Dharma Talk)
I discuss Buddhist pure lands and the challenge of facing all of the world’s suffering. Using the pure land teaching I show how we can create small sanctuaries that save ourselves and others from harm. …
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Living Awareness – The Heart of Living Life | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ ΛWΛRΞNΞSS ∞
~ ღ ~ Living Awareness ~ ((( ॐ ))) ~ The Heart of Living Life ~ ღ ~ ~ ॐ ~ Awaken to Living Awareness ~ ॐ ~ As a natural continuation of the previous chapter, where we talked about Self-Awareness, this and the following two chapters will deepen our understanding of awareness – more…
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What Is Self-Awareness? | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ ΛWΛRΞNΞSS ∞
~ ღ ~ What Is Self-Awareness – Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ღ ~ Perhaps it is best to start the discussion about this topic with the following truth: one doesn’t have to look very far to see that we are merely semi-conscious beings – it is premature at best, and the height of…
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Sentimental Compassion and Other Demons
So, today I want to talk about demons (or yokai, in Japanese). You might have heard me refer to the threshold to the dojo as the demon-tripper. This is a traditional way of describing the purpose of the raised piece of wood that separates the dojo from the rest of the temple. Of course, we…
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SEWANEE SANGHA
For the past couple of months I have been practicing with the Sewanee Sangha, a student-led sitting group at the University of the South. Sam Kearley leads the group with great commitment, and the university has been very supportive, dedicating space in the Meditation Chapel of the beautiful All Saints’ Chapel. We sit for only…
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Living with Sadness
Today, I woke up feeling sad. All of my basic needs are met. I have a pantry full of food and a warm, safe place to sleep at night. Put simply, my life is going well by most objective standards. I have (almost) nothing to complain about. So, why am I sad? I don’t…
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Karma and Family Heirlooms
In pre-industrial America, it was common for family heirlooms to be passed down from one generation to another. A woman might wear her mother’s wedding dress to get married or a father might give his prized car to his son as a graduation present. Other times, the heirloom might be less descript; a bookcase that…
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7 Levels of Living Awareness | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ ΛWΛRΞNΞSS ∞
~ ღ ~ Living Awareness ~ ((( ॐ ))) ~ The Heart of Living Life ~ ღ ~ ~ ∞ ~ Self-Actualization ~ ∞ ~ This chapter is pretty much self-explanatory as it highlights the deeper levels of Living Awareness. You see, presence itself is our true nature, and the more we become aware of…
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What Is Living Awareness? | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ ΛWΛRΞNΞSS ∞
~ ღ ~ Living Awareness ~ ((( ॐ ))) ~ The Fountain of Youth ~ ღ ~ ~ ∞ ~ ~ ॐ ~ Awaken to ~ ॐ ~ • Living Awareness • ~ ∞ ~ And now, we can delve deeper into Living Awareness itself. As we learned from the previous chapter, Living Awareness is…