Category: Zen Meditation
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Awakening From the Dream of Life (2/2) | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ ΛWΛRΞNΞSS ∞
~ ღ ~ Awakening From the Dream of Life 2/2 ~ ღ ~ During several subsequent years, I began to observe my surroundings even closer than before, and what I found was shocking to say the least. Whenever I looked around, no matter where I looked, I saw people sleepwalking through their lives, with each…
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Awakening From the Dream of Life (1/2) | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ ΛWΛRΞNΞSS ∞
~ ღ ~ Awakening From the Dream fo Life 1/2 ~ ღ ~ Perhaps it is best to start this chapter with the following thought: so far in our journey through this book, we have encountered many different aspects of life in several of its sections, each exploring different facets of the same, with a…
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The Boy Who Loved Dragons
The attrition rate of some professional schools — law schools or nursing, for example — is high. But not as high as the attrition rate in Zen training. Of course, the payoffs for those professional schools are tangible, bankable. There are no such promising returns on investment for the Zen student. Still, it always surprises…
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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…