295 – El Poder de la Ecuanimidad

295 – El Poder de la Ecuanimidad

by | Mar 1, 2025 | Spanish Translations

Category: Práctica Budista, Enseñanzas Budistas ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 295   La ecuanimidad es un poderoso estado del ser que no sólo reduce nuestro estrés y sufrimiento, sino...
295 – El Poder de la Ecuanimidad

295 – The Power of Equanimity

by | Feb 28, 2025 | Buddhist Practice, Buddhist Teachings

Equanimity is a powerful state of being that not only reduces our stress and suffering but also enables us to respond effectively. However, in our efforts to achieve some measure of equanimity, we may end up stuck in the tentative calm of denial or in the coldness of indifference. True equanimity is clear-eyed, undefended, compassionate, and inclusive – but how do we cultivate it? I explore the virtue of equanimity from a Buddhist perspective.

294 – Diez Campos del Zen, Campo 10 – Conectando con lo Inefable, o lo que es más Verdadero

294 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 10 – Connecting with the Ineffable, or What Is Most True

by | Feb 17, 2025 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen

The tenth Field of Zen is Connecting with the Ineffable. Zen is not based on a belief in God in a theistic sense. However, at its core there is a strong emphasis on a much more profound, inspiring, significant, and hopeful Reality than the bleak, mundane, and discouraging one people sometimes experience in their ordinary daily lives. Call this “greater reality” anything you like – God, the Divine, That Which is Greater, Other Power, the Ineffable, the Great Mystery, the Great Matter of Life and Death – but you have tasted it at peak moments of your life. Zen encourages you to explore and deepen your relationship with the Great Matter.

294 – Diez Campos del Zen, Campo 10 – Conectando con lo Inefable, o lo que es más Verdadero

292 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 9 – Bodhisattva Activity: Enacting Vows to Benefit All Beings

by | Jan 31, 2025 | Ten Fields of Zen

The ninth Field of Zen Practice is Bodhisattva Activity, which is enacting vows to free all beings as well as yourself. The Bodhisattva Vows are an acknowledgment that you are interdependent with all beings and things, and such an aspiration can give a sense of purpose and direction to your whole life. Of course, it’s impossible to fulfill this vow literally, and when you try to put it into action it is no easy matter! It requires tangible engagement with the world, including other people. If you hide out in comfort, you’re unlikely to transcend self-centeredness. If you rely only on your own resources, you’re likely to exhaust yourself and limit your impact. How do you even decide what Bodhisattva Activity to undertake? There is much to be learned by practicing in this Field of Zen, which inoculates you against the delusion that you can attain true peace of mind by ignoring the suffering of others.

294 – Diez Campos del Zen, Campo 10 – Conectando con lo Inefable, o lo que es más Verdadero

290 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 8 – Realization: Direct Experience of Reality-with-a-Capital-R

by | Dec 28, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen

The eighth Field of Zen Practice is Realization, gaining a direct, personal experience of the truth. Realization helps you respond appropriately, allowing you to live by choice instead of by karma. Even more importantly, it gives you a larger perspective that can result in equanimity, even joy. There are different levels of truth, and the Dharma – Reality-with-a-Capital-R – is the biggest truth of all. Fortunately, it is a wonderful and liberating truth to wake up to. However, it’s important to understand that there is no “Realization” you can attain that means you know everything. The truth is infinite and there is always more to awaken to and embody.

294 – Diez Campos del Zen, Campo 10 – Conectando con lo Inefable, o lo que es más Verdadero

289 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 6 – Opening Your Heart: Self-Acceptance and Non-Separation (2 of 2)

by | Dec 18, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen

This episode is the second half of the seventh chapter of my book-in-progress, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. Listen to/read the previous episode (288) first, where I talk about the importance of Opening Your Heart and how that effort is viewed in the Buddhist tradition. In that episode I also discussed the four Brahmaviharas – goodwill, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. I finish the chapter in this episode by covering self-acceptance, practicing with the real, human relationships in your life, and Opening Your Heart in Sangha.

294 – Diez Campos del Zen, Campo 10 – Conectando con lo Inefable, o lo que es más Verdadero

288 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 6 – Opening Your Heart: Self-Acceptance and Non-Separation (1 of 2)

by | Nov 29, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen

The seventh Field of Zen Practice is Opening Your Heart. Working explicitly to open your heart not only benefits other living beings, it puts you in accord with the Dharma and supports all other aspects of your practice. You work on radical self-acceptance to make Awakening and compassion possible.  You work on real and personal relationships with other beings – overcoming your social fears, becoming more willing to be seen and known, learning to be authentic, and recognizing the Buddha-Nature manifested in others. Ultimately, self and other are not separate; in practice, you seek to manifest and realize this simultaneously.

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