136 – Grief in Buddhism 2: Some Buddhist Practices Helpful for Facing and Integrating Grief

136 – Grief in Buddhism 2: Some Buddhist Practices Helpful for Facing and Integrating Grief

by | May 21, 2020 | Buddhist Practice

Grief is love in the face of loss; do you want to stop loving in order to stop feeling grief? Of course not. But we also don’t want to be controlled or overwhelmed by it. There are a number of Buddhist practices that can help us as we practice with grief – trying to face it, and making sure we don’t impede our own grief process. What I’ll share in this episode isn’t by any means a developed or exhaustive process of grief work, it’s just a short list of Buddhist practices that can be beneficial.

Mini Episode – A Four “S” Approach to Shikantaza: Sit Upright, Still, Silent, Simply Be

Mini Episode – A Four “S” Approach to Shikantaza: Sit Upright, Still, Silent, Simply Be

by | May 16, 2020 | Meditation

Shikantaza, or the practice of “just sitting,” can be challenging. We’re asked not to try to control our meditative experience, but are we just supposed to sit there like a sack of potatoes and let habit energy have its way? I present a simple approach to returning to your intention whenever you have a moment of awareness in your sitting, and making that intention very simple and free from expectation of results. We simply intend four “S’s”: To sit upright, still, silent, and simply be.

136 – Grief in Buddhism 2: Some Buddhist Practices Helpful for Facing and Integrating Grief

135 – Grief in Buddhism 1: Buddhist Teachings on Grief and the Danger of Spiritual Bypassing

by | May 10, 2020 | Buddhist Practice

Grief in Buddhism: What are the teachings about it, and how are we supposed to practice with it? It’s often easy to suppress or bypass our grief. This may leave us stuck in one of the early stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, or depression), or unable to face reality or live with a fully open heart. Unfortunately, some Buddhist teachings may seem to suggest it’s better if we don’t feel grief. I explore the question of grief and how we can practice with it in Buddhism in a fruitful and beneficial way.

134 – Lotus Sutra 1: What Is Devotion, and How Does It Fulfill the Buddha Way?

134 – Lotus Sutra 1: What Is Devotion, and How Does It Fulfill the Buddha Way?

by | Apr 30, 2020 | Buddhist Texts

The Lotus Sutra is one of the oldest and most central sutras in Mahayana Buddhism. The sutra states repeatedly that people who perform small acts of devotion, such as making an offering at memorial to the Buddha, “have fulfilled the Buddha Way.” What does this mean? I think the Lotus Sutra, and Mahayana Buddhism more generally, is saying that we can transform the universe in an instant, that the smallest of our actions matters, and that the key to all of it is the state of our own mind and heart.

133 – Restaurando la maravilla: el hito de iluminación silenciosa de Hongzhi – Parte 2

133 – Restoring Wonder: Hongzhi’s Guidepost of Silent Illumination – Part 2

by | Apr 22, 2020 | Buddhist Texts, Zen Teachings

I continue in a second episode with my reflections on Chan master Hongzhi’s “Guidepost of Silent Illumination. I discuss the interdependence of absolute and relative and why that matters in real life; how skillful bodhisattva action arises out of zazen; how silence is the supreme mode of communication, and how serenity and illumination – calm and insight – are both contained in zazen.

133 – Restaurando la maravilla: el hito de iluminación silenciosa de Hongzhi – Parte 2

132 – Restoring Wonder: Hongzhi’s Guidepost of Silent Illumination – Part 1

by | Apr 8, 2020 | Buddhist Texts, Zen Teachings

In this episode and the next, I’m going to riff off of 12th-century Chan master Hongzhi’s short text, “Guidepost of Silent Illumination,” one of the most positive and encouraging Zen teachings a know. By “riff” I mean I’ll play off of, and spontaneously elaborate on, Hongzhi’s words, as opposed to explaining or analyzing them in an exhaustive or comprehensive way. I take this approach because it’s more fun, but also because “Guidepost of Silent Illumination,” like most Chan and Zen writings, is essentially poetry.

131 – ¿Enfrentando la impermanencia? Afortunadamente, el Budismo tiene que ver con la vida y la muerte

131 – ¿Enfrentando la impermanencia? Afortunadamente, el Budismo tiene que ver con la vida y la muerte

by | Mar 26, 2020 | Spanish Translations

El punto central del Budismo no es otra cosa que la impermanencia, o el “Gran asunto de la vida o la muerte”. Nuestra práctica va mucho más allá de las trivialidades o creencias destinadas a hacerte sentir mejor con respecto a todo el asunto. En cambio, nuestra práctica se trata de una exploración directa y personal de la experiencia y las implicancias de estar vivo en un mundo donde no hay absolutamente nada a lo que aferrarnos. Excepto, por supuesto, a ese mismo hecho, y el hecho de que estar completamente vivo significa que no nos aferramos a nada en absoluto.

131 – ¿Enfrentando la impermanencia? Afortunadamente, el Budismo tiene que ver con la vida y la muerte

131 – Facing Impermanence? Fortunately, Buddhism Is All About Life and Death

by | Mar 25, 2020 | Buddhist Practice, Buddhist Teachings

Buddhism’s central point is nothing other than impermanence, or the “Great Matter of Life-and-Death.” Our practice goes far beyond platitudes or beliefs meant to make you feel better about the whole affair. Instead, the essence of our practice is a direct and personal exploration of the experience and implications of being alive in a world where there is absolutely nothing unchanging for us to hold on to. Except, of course, that very fact, and the fact that being fully alive means we don’t hold on to anything at all.

130 – Practicando con miedo en el Budismo

130 – Practicing with Fear in Buddhism

by | Mar 15, 2020 | Buddhism Today, Buddhist Practice

Fear is a natural response that helps us protect ourselves and our loved ones, but it can also be inappropriate and debilitating. Buddhist practice offers many ways to help us manage our fear. We start with mindfulness of fear in and of itself, and then become mindful of what feeds it versus what decreases it. We then act in ways that increase our equanimity. We also let go of expectations, assumptions, and narratives in order to decrease suffering and ground ourselves in the absolute aspect of reality.

129 – ¿Por qué es esencial la autoestima cuando el yo está vacío?

129 – Why Is Self-Esteem Essential When the Self is Empty?

by | Feb 28, 2020 | Buddhist Practice

Self-esteem is absolutely essential in Buddhist practice, but it may seem like self-esteem has no place in Buddhism. The Buddha taught us to stop identifying anything as I, me, or mine, because doing so leads to suffering. In Mahayana Buddhism we say the self is empty of any inherently-existing, enduring, independent self-nature. What exactly is it we’re supposed to hold in esteem, or have confidence in? If the main point is to transcend self-concern, isn’t self-esteem the opposite of what we’re going for?

128 – Actuar: Salir de Casa y Ayudar a los Demás (Budismo de Crisis, parte 3)

128 – Taking Action: Getting Out of the House and Helping Others (Crisis Buddhism Part 3)

by | Feb 19, 2020 | Buddhism Today, Buddhist Practice

Taking Action is the second area of practice in Crisis Buddhism. It means working to help alleviate or prevent the suffering we witness in the world by leaving our homes, interacting with others, and engaging in bodhisattva activity in an active, tangible way. In this episode I begin addressing three reasons we resist Taking Action: We don’t think it’s “our thing,” we don’t have the time or energy, or we don’t see anything we do that’s also worth doing.

127 – Dar Testimonio: Exponernos al Sufrimiento del Mundo (Budismo de Crisis, parte 2)

127 – Bearing Witness: Exposing Ourselves to the Suffering in the World (Crisis Buddhism Part 2)

by | Feb 10, 2020 | Buddhism Today, Buddhist Practice

Crisis Buddhism requires us to mindfully balance three essential areas of practice: Bearing Witness, Taking Action, and Taking Care. In this episode I discuss Bearing Witness, or exposing ourselves to the suffering of the world in all its forms in order to make wise decisions, activate our natural compassion, and awaken a sense of urgency. How do we Bear Witness without becoming overwhelmed, depressed, or despairing? We embrace it as a noble practice of compassion and wisdom.

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