by Domyo | Jul 4, 2020 | Buddhist Practice
How do we create a strong and sustainable Buddhist practice outside of a monastery? It takes determination, creativity, and flexibility. In some ways practice outside of a monastery is harder. We need to create structure for ourselves and build up good habits, but then the circumstances of our lives change, and our practice has to change. There are many competing demands on our attention and time, so we need to consistently maintain our practice (can’t just “set it and go”). We’re mostly doing this alone, relying on our own self-discipline instead of social support (or even “positive peer pressure”).
The key is giving our practice form, but also accepting that it will change, sometimes constantly; learning to hold it together like clay on a potter’s wheel but recognizing this is a dynamic process.
by Domyo | Jun 22, 2020 | Buddhist Teachings
All religions and spiritual practices have two purposes: 1) To relieve our suffering and 2) give us hope. Buddhism is no different, teaching us that all we need to do is awaken to reality and we will be free and at ease. However, as Buddhists we sometimes emphasize “relieving suffering” and leave it unsaid that, after being freed from your suffering, you will perceive things in a way that gives you hope, inspiration, and solace. The Buddhist teaching of suchness arose a couple hundred years after the Buddha, at least in part to address the need some of us feel to hear descriptions of the positive aspect of reality from the beginning of our practice.
by Domyo | Jun 12, 2020 | Buddhism Today, Buddhist Teachings
Despite the placid appearance of most Buddha statues and the Buddhist precept against indulging anger, there is a place for fierceness and compassionate anger in Buddhism. Especially when we’re faced with injustice or need to protect others, we may need the energy of anger or fierceness to make ourselves heard. I discuss how respect for appropriate fierceness and anger appears in Buddhist iconography and mythology.
by Domyo | Jun 2, 2020 | Spanish Translations
Categories: Budismo hoy, práctica budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 137 Encabezados: Ideas Generales del Podcast Ante todo esto, ¿qué significa ser un bodhisattva?...
by Domyo | Jun 1, 2020 | Buddhism Today, Buddhist Practice
Many American cities are on fire – literally – as tensions over systemic racism erupt. How do we enact our bodhisattva vows in the face of all of this suffering – caused by racism, the global pandemic, the breakdown of earth’s natural life support systems, and global heating? Our vow is to “save all beings” but – at least in terms of an individual’s goal – is impossible. How do we honor our bodhisattva vow in a vital and authentic way, as opposed to it being a largely irrelevant ideal?
by Domyo | May 22, 2020 | Spanish Translations
Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 136 Encabezados: ¿Cuál es el Objetivo? ¿Qué Significa “Procesar” Nuestro Duelo ? Atención plena al duelo Destapando nuestro reservorio...
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | May 11, 2020 | Spanish Translations
Categories: Práctica Budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 135 Este episodio y el siguiente tratan sobre el duelo en el Budismo: ¿Cuáles son las enseñanzas al respecto y cómo se...
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | May 1, 2020 | Spanish Translations
Category: Buddhist Texts ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 134 ¿Qué es la devoción y cómo cumple el Camino de Buda? El Sutra del Loto es uno de los sutras más antiguos y centrales...
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | Apr 23, 2020 | Spanish Translations
Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 133 Encabezados: La luz y la oscuridad son interdependientes (y por qué es importante) Medicina y veneno Silencio y habla La iluminación silenciosa contiene tanto calma...
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | Apr 9, 2020 | Spanish Translations
Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 132 Encabezados: Poesía y enseñanzas Zen Hito de iluminación silenciosa Espiritualmente solitario y lleno de asombro Brillante en la oscuridad, se manifiesta...
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | 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.
by Domyo | Mar 16, 2020 | Spanish Translations
Categories: Práctica Budista, Budismo Hoy ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 130 ¿Qué dice el Budismo sobre la práctica con miedo? El miedo es una respuesta natural que nos ayuda a...
by Domyo | 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.
