You have to accept your life. Acceptance does not mean "liking" it, nor does it mean that it's a good idea or a good thing. Acceptance simply means recognizing the truth.
One of the important teachings of the Buddha was that what we perceive and what we think are not necessarily the truth, as our p...
If we are not clear on our intention, then our life is haphazard and we just increase the suffering in the world. But if our intention is clear, it is possible in the moment of action, correct function can appear. Maybe in that moment, we put down our I, mine, me......our desire, anger, and ignoranc...
That's Zen mind. It's not about being perfect. It's not about doing everything right in such a way that someone will tell a wonderful story about you, and people will still be talking about it a thousand years from now. It's simply paying attention, meeting the moment, and helping. Our teacher, Zen ...
The First Noble Truth is "All things are suffering." Life is suffering. The word in Sanskrit is duḥkha. Sometimes it is translated as unsatisfactory." Situations in this world and our lives are not what we want them to be. There's almost always a gap between what we want and what is. As much as we c...
The question always comes to, “Why do that?” So now we’re present, now what? Is it for our own enjoyment? That’s okay, that’s nice; we all want our own enjoyment. But that brings us back to suffering because we’re only happy as long as it brings us joy. As soon as that joy is gone, we’re not happy a...
We think we understand what's good and what's bad, but we don't know. So just breathe! And then whatever happens, that's what happens. You learn from all of it. That struggle is powerful. That moment of bliss is also powerful. There is something to be gleaned from all of it. It's just the craving of...
If I can connect with what I am doing, I can stay grounded and pay attention to those reactions, see them and not get carried away with them. It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the good times or despair the bad times. But if I stay grounded, connected with something beyond my likes and dislikes, then the...
During the Buddha’s time, there was a farmer who had many problems. He told the Buddha all about how difficult his life was. The weather never cooperated with what he wanted. It was too wet or too dry, so his crops often failed. His wife was very critical of him, and his children didn't show any gra...
The basic teaching of the Buddha was that if you want happiness, don’t go chasing after the things that you want or like, and don’t push away the things that you don’t like. It's chasing after what you want and the resisting of what you don’t want that causes suffering. The very simple truth, the Bu...