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Nyoho: Making Even Our Smallest, Mundane Actions Accord with the Dharma – Part 1
Episode 87
We have a practice in Zen of trying to make even our smallest actions reflect the deep truths of the Dharma, including interdependence, impermanence,…
7 years, 6 months ago
Samvega and Pasada: Two Buddhist Emotions Indispensable for Practice
Episode 86
Samvega and pasada keep our practice alive and on course. Samvega is spiritual urgency arising three things: A sense of distress and disillusionment …
7 years, 7 months ago
I Shouldn't Feel Like This: A Practitioner's Conundrum
Episode 85
Buddhism teaches that you can change the nature of your experience by changing your own mind and behaviors - increasing the proportion of your life s…
7 years, 7 months ago
Two Paths to Meditative Concentration: Directed Effort Versus Letting Go – Part 2
Episode 84
I propose there are two paths to meditative concentration: directed effort (what the Buddha taught) and letting go (something we do in Soto Zen). One…
7 years, 7 months ago
Two Paths to Meditative Concentration: Directed Effort Versus Letting Go – Part 1
Episode 83
I believe some of our struggles in meditation could be eased if we recognized there are two paths to meditative concentration, or samadhi – directed …
7 years, 8 months ago
Buddhist History 10: Early Indian Buddhism - Stupas and Devotional Practice - Part 1
Episode 82
It's pretty typical to hear only one side of Buddhist history – that is, the side that focuses on what the Buddha taught, or the Dharma, and on the p…
7 years, 8 months ago
Five Steps for Positive Change without Waging War on the Self
Episode 81
It's natural and healthy to aspire to things like having more equanimity, being more generous, and overcoming negative habits – and, in fact, such as…
7 years, 8 months ago
Four Foundations of Mindfulness Practice and Similarities in Zen
Episode 80
In the last episode, I introduced the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as the Buddha taught them. Mindfulness means to remember something, or keep som…
7 years, 9 months ago
Buddha's Teachings 10: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
Episode 79
One of Buddha's central teachings was the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, about how you walk the Eightfold Path to liberation. Mindfulness, or sati,…
7 years, 9 months ago
The Ten Oxherding Pictures: Stages of Practice When You're Going Nowhere
Episode 78
The Ten Oxherding pictures are a Zen teaching, but many Buddhist practitioners are familiar with the experience of trying to motivate yourself to pra…
7 years, 9 months ago