by Domyo | Jul 13, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
This episode, “Precepts: Transcending Self-Attachment,” is the third installment of chapter five of my book-in-process, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. In the first episode, I described the central role of Precepts in Zen and covered the Three Refuges, Three Pure Precepts, and two of the Grave Precepts. In the last episode, I talked about the Grave (serious, or weighty) Precepts 3-8. In this episode, I discuss Grave Precepts nine and ten, and talk about how we work with Precepts.
by Domyo | Jun 28, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
This episode is the second part of chapter five of my book-in-process, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. In the last episode, I described the central role of Precepts in Zen and covered the Three Refuges, Three Pure Precepts, and two of the Grave Precepts. In this episode, I talk about the Grave (serious, or weighty) Precepts three through eight. In the next episode, I’ll discuss Grave Precepts nine and ten, and talk more about how we work with Precepts.
by Domyo | Jun 26, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
The fifth Field of Zen Practice is living according to moral Precepts. The Buddhist precepts guide our ethical conduct, ensuring we minimize the harm we do to self and others. Such conduct is a prerequisite for the peace of mind we need for spiritual practice. The precepts also serve as valuable tools for studying the self; when we are tempted to break them, it alerts us to our self-attachment and reveals our persistent delusion of self as a separate and inherently-existing entity. Keeping the precepts familiarizes us with acting as if the self is empty of inherent existence.
by Domyo | May 30, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
The Fourth Field of Zen Practice is Dharma Study. In the last episode, Part 1, I talked about the value of Dharma Study and how best to approach it. Then I discussed how to go about deciding what you want to study. In this episode I offer a list of eight fundamental teachings I recommend becoming familiar with, along with suggested texts to begin your investigation of each topic. I’ll end with a discussion of how to engage the teachings you study in a meaningful way.
by Domyo | May 22, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
The fourth Field of Zen practice is Dharma Study, which is becoming familiar with and investigating Buddhist teachings. The texts and teachings in Buddhism include tools we can use for practice and inspirational guidance for our behavior, but the most critical part of Dharma Study is challenging the ideas and views we already hold, not acquiring new ones. The teachings describe Reality-with-a-Capital-R and invite us to investigate and verify the truth for ourselves. We don’t seek to acquire insight into Reality for its own sake, but because it is liberating and transformative.
by Domyo | May 14, 2024 | Buddhist Practice
We all have negative aspects of ourselves we want to fix, disown, or even expunge completely from our being, but even with practice some things are extremely hard to change. As we strive to break free of our less-than-helpful aspects of self, we typically employ violent means, ranging from subtle rejection to vicious and debilitating self-loathing that may even manifest physically. Regardless of the severity of the violence, it causes damage. Much more transformative than our typical approaches to change is to clearly see and accept whatever manifests within us, making a vow of complete, unconditional, inner nonviolence.
by Domyo | Apr 21, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
The third Field of Zen practice is Mindfulness, which is cultivating clear awareness of what is happening, moment by moment, within you and around you. Mindfulness is absolutely fundamental to Zen practice, allowing you to practice within all the other Fields. Without awareness, you can’t live your life by choice instead of by karma.
by Domyo | Mar 30, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
This is the third episode of three comprising the “Zazen” chapter of my book, “The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners.” I start by offering what I should have put at the beginning of my chapter on Zazen: Basic instructions for Zazen. I then discuss how my “Five Efforts in Zazen” suggest Zazen is a neat and linear process, but in actuality Zazen is a messy, organic, real-life experience. Finally, I talk about how to deepen your Zazen without getting caught up in self-centered striving.
by Domyo | Mar 25, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
This is the second episode of three comprising the “Zazen” chapter of my book, “The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners.” I finish my discussion of the five efforts of Zazen, covering becoming intimate with Life, seeing the true nature of Life, and being one with Life.
by Domyo | Mar 18, 2024 | Buddhist Practice, Ten Fields of Zen
This is the third episode in my Ten Fields of Zen Practice series, beginning my discussion of the second field of practice, Zazen, our “Total Response to Life.” In some ways, this is the most challenging chapter to write because so much can be said about Zazen. By its nature, Zazen is difficult – if not impossible – to describe in a completely satisfying way. It also is profound and has infinitely many aspects, so what do you choose to say about it in one chapter? I hope you will find the approach I have chosen to take useful.
