A Mahayana term describing our essential nature as naturally tending toward awakening, or as being fundamentally awake and complete from the beginning.
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- Glossary
- Upcoming Episodes (subject to change):Get a sneak peek at upcoming Zen Studies Podcast Episodes on Buddhist Teachings, Practices, History, Texts, and Zen Teachings.
- Ten Fields of Zen Practice
- 269 – Making a Vow of Inner Nonviolence and Complete AcceptanceWe 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.
- 271 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Four (2 of 2) – Dharma Study: Wrestling with the TeachingsThe 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.
