#219 Black, White and Shades of grey by Harish (Sat. member) March 25th 18

                             Black, White and Shades of Grey by Harish member of our Sat. group

In our journey through life, we are constantly making decisions and passing judgments on one issue or another. The result of this process subjects us to emotional highs and lows. So how do we cope with the suffering brought on by this roller coaster ride of emotions and thoughts?

For around 30 long years Buddha meditated on this issue to find an answer to human suffering. He contemplated on the two paths that a person could follow. One was the path of punishment whereby a person denied himself the fulfillment of his desires and the pleasures of this world. The other path was one of indulgence. It was “live it up” attitude – eat what you want, buy what you want, do what you want and fulfill the desires of the senses.

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#218 MINDFULNESS on DESIRE March 11th 18

                                                            Mindfulness on desire

In Zen Buddhism, desire (I want), it opposite hatred (I don’t want)and illusion are considered our 3 main roots of unhappiness, struggle, disappointment and dissatisfaction because they are directly related to our ego-mind.

Many think that Zen spiritual life must be free from desire. This is misunderstanding Zen message.

Desire and hatred is day-to-day ongoing reality. Getting rid off our desires and hatred is impossible because our ego mind loves to dream.

As soon you wake up you want to sleep a bit more.

As soon you go to bed, you want, most of the time, to fall asleep fast.

At 4 PM even sooner, you want to go home and so on.

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#217 BEING MINDFUL TO …….NOTHINGNESS March 1st 18

                                                    Being mindful to …….nothingness

Being mindful to nothingness. This is one of these weird, and obscure wordings frequently found in Zen literature. How can we be mindful to nothing since being mindful is to focus on something x, y, z w/o analytic, discriminating or judgmental decision? What is nothing?

Here are few examples:

Can you do “nothing”? “Is nothing something?”

Can you thing about “nothing”?

Can an empty cup or gas tank being, beside air, full of nothing?

Can you listen to no sound?

What is a blank page? Empty of words?

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