Posts in the “zen” category

Zen Wisdom: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

When I saw this just now it reminded me of the quote, “In enlightenment, death has no relevance to one's state of being.”

I’ve found this to be a good metaphor for practicing mindfulness 24 hours a day.

The actual practice is that whenever your mind wanders you gently bring your attention back to your breath. An important point is that just as you wouldn’t get angry at the spoon, you also don’t get angry at yourself for becoming less mindful; you just return your focus to your breathing.

(Sorry I don’t remember which book I saw this in at the moment.)

“The path is the goal.”

~ Gandhi

“In meditation ... we are not searching, we are not pulling or probing, we are just sitting and watching.”

~ Joseph Goldstein

If you’re interested in the Land of Enlightenment, it can be important to know that when you read a story about a Zen monk gaining enlightenment, that enlightenment may be for just an instant, not a lifetime. (So don’t feel bad if your moment(s) didn’t last.) This 90-second video explains this.

“Living in the midst of conflict is really bad for our health. High-conflict marriages, for example, turn out to be very bad for our health, perhaps worse than getting divorced.”

Zen priest, Harvard researcher, and psychiatrist Robert Waldinger explains the secret to a good life, including three key findings: Social connections are good for humans, loneliness is bad; The quality of your close connections is so important that it’s one of the key indicators of whether you’ll be happy and healthy later in life; Good relationships protect the brain.

Some of the abridged text is here on LionsRoar.com, the full TED talk is here on ted.com.

My method for trying to understand this fundamental essence – the presence of “something bigger” than me – was to examine intellectually all the reasons I could think of for the universe to exist and to try to envision what had “existed” before the universe came into being.

On the one hand, if there was nothing before creation, how could the “something” of the universe come from “nothing”? On the other hand, if there was something before the creation of the world, it must have always existed, without beginning. But how could “something” have no starting point, no first moment?

I was frustrated by these questions, and by not being able to envision the timelessness that went with “no beginning.” As a boy, I was continually preoccupied by such attempts to explain the world rationally. I was unable to recognize or accept the limitation of my logical mind, its inability to understand the nature of life beyond concepts of solid objects and linear time.

(I had these same thoughts back in high school, but these words are from the book, “Zen at Work.”)

“If you understand Zen, all work is the same.”

I just ordered The Science of Enlightenment: How Meditation Works by Shinzen Young. I haven’t read it yet, but he’s someone that I trust implicitly, and the preview of the book looks like what I’d expect from him. Like me — but way ahead of me — he’s interested in the science of meditation.

If you’re into lucid dreaming, LionsRoar.com has an interesting article, What is dream yoga and how do I do it?

Benedict Cumberbatch narrates a film about Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh titled, Walk With Me. You can see the movie preview here on YouTube, and learn more at WalkWithMeFilm.com.

“If you speak and act with a pure mind, happiness will follow you as a shadow clings to a form.”

~ from the Kung Fu tv series

“Perfect wisdom is unplanned. Perfect living offers no guarantee to a peaceful death. Learn first, how to live. Learn second, how not to kill. Learn third, how to live with death. Learn fourth, how to die.”

~ Master Po, Kung Fu

This is a smart photo about impermanence from this Twitter page.

“When you turn directly toward your own true nature, you discover that your spirit, your consciousness, is always free. With that discovery comes a wellbeing that manifests as joy.”

~ Jack Kornfield

“When people feel connected to others, that brings out their best selves. When people feel disconnected, their worst impulses often come out.”

From an interview with a Zen priest, who also happens to be the director of analytics for Facebook’s News Feed.

“There is always a Netflix to your Blockbuster. Nothing is static. Keep learning, or face the consequences.”

That’s a good quote from this Twitter link. It reminds me of the text in The Heart Sutra that says, “Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha.” I read once that the first part of it can be translated as, “Gone, gone, totally gone, totally completely gone.” That reminds me of Blockbuster.

Seeking enlightenment? There is no door. There is no spoon, either. ;)

LionsRoar.com has two good articles, Thirteen Buddhist apps and Ten leading thinkers choose their favorite Buddhist films.

Buddha was asked, “What have you gained from meditation?”

He replied, “Nothing!” Then he continued, “However, let me tell you what I have lost: anger, anxiety, depression, insecurity, and fear of old age an death.”