#255 The 8 PILLARS of Zen Philosophy & Practice Dec. 23th -18

The 8 pillars of Zen philosophy & practice

The following are not in specific order.

     1) Being mindful to the present moment and its content, the only existing reality.

That is to pay attention in a non-analytic and non-decisional way to the current and concrete reality of the NOW, the only reality that exists. In this space-time called NOW we experience true reality in many ways such as being mindful to our body, what we are doing, the use of our 5 senses to sense and scan our surrounding environment. Daydreaming in the past and future made of zillions of thoughts, feelings, regrets and expectations is definitely not Zen since they are the products of or restless mind and therefore pure virtual realities even if they exist.

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#254 The practice of Meditation: to be or not to be Dec 16-18

   The practice of Meditation : to be or not to to be

During a 2014 retreat in France, famous Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh asked:

“ Do you want to know what meditation is all about?”

His students were eager for the answer.

“He said: “ The secret of meditation is “thoughtless thinking” that is focusing w/o analysis, w/o judgment and w/o decision. It is practicing mindfulness in its purest form that is JUST BE……JUST BE IN THE NOW

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#253 WHAT A. EINSTEIN SAID about ZEN BUDDHISM Dec. 12th 18

WHAT ALBERT EINSTEIN SAID ABOUT ZEN BUDDHISM

 An interesting statement from a special mind.

“Zen Buddhism has the characteristics of what our modern world can expect for a so-called

“Universal religion” even if it is not a religion in its strict theological sense.

It transcends personal god or gods, avoids dogmas, theology, divinities, miracles and hierarchy.

It covers both the material and immaterial or spiritual worlds.

It is based from the connection, personal experience and empathy with all living beings and the world

around them, in a conscious mindful way, creating, therefore, a meaningful unity called “Oneness”, which will last forever and no one can explain.

 

 

#252 Meditation practice: difficulty, hesitation & doubt Dec 2nd 18

Meditation: difficulties, hesitation and doubts about our practice  Dec. 2nd 18

Maybe we have the will and good reasons such as dealing with our current issues to start meditation and keep doing it. Unfortunately, it does not work that way:

We simply are too busy with zillions of things on your plate to meditate.

We are lacking energy and discipline to sit still even for few min. every day and for many months.

We are struggling because our mind is constantly racing and we cannot control it as you wish and as

We have been told. Our mind is very talkative (~200,000 thoughts/day) and they cannot be stopped.

We doubt about meditation because you do not sense any immediate benefits from your ongoing

practice   and we don’t have the patience to wait for results.

We are finding many excuses to skip your group and solo practice and even decided to quit like 90%

of new comers after 3 months everywhere.

We don’t understand very well how meditation works or, even, we don’t believe in this Oriental practice.

Finally, we are, automatically judging negatively the quality of our meditation and its progress.

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